Archive for December, 2006

You know that sleep loss is not a just a nighttime problem.

Its effect can extend far into the daytime functioning.

You cannot substitute anything for a good night’s sleep.

Sleep loss causes depression:

In college students, depression is two times more common than in the general population, affecting approximately 20% of students.

Researchers believe that sleep loss contributes to high rate of depression in college students.

Attending college increases the incidence of both sleep problems and depression. Lack of sleep for more than two weeks is a risk factor for developing depression. Some people have sleep loss due to the work submission before the deadline. [Depression Management]

For many students, it’s an indication of achievement to function on minimal sleep, but lack of sleep carries risks. Sleep less than 6.5 hours per night is related with 1.7 times greater risk of disease and death.

Sleep loss causes:

• Automobile accidents (exhaustion is the leading cause)
• Illness such as colds and flu
• Mental illnesses
• Decreased academic performance

Sleep loss alters hormones and metabolism:

Sleep loss can decrease the capacity of even young men and women to perform metabolic functions, such as processing and storing carbohydrates or regulating hormone secretion.

Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a condition in which a person feels an unpleasant sensation in the legs when at rest or during sleep.

RLS produces an irresistible urge to move the legs.

The sensations can persist often, interrupting sleep throughout the night.

RLS can adults, elders, anemia patients and pregnant women. In half of the cases, the family history of the symptoms is reported.

A family history of the symptoms is reported in up to half of cases. Symptoms often increase during menstruation or menopause, and as many as 25% of pregnant women are affected.

People with RLS feel pulling, crawling, or tingling sensations. They get temporary relief when they move their legs.

Restless legs syndrome occurs in 26% of pregnancies, peaking in the 7th and 8th months but sharply decreasing around the time of delivery, an Italian study of more than 600 women revealed.

Although an association between restless legs syndrome (RLS) and pregnancy was first reported in 1940, a study by Mauro Manconi, M.D., of Vita-Salute University in Milan and associates is the first large epidemiologic study to explore the connection.

Restless legs syndrome affects more than 12 million people in the United States.

Restless legs syndrome is a movement disorder that causes uncomfortable sensations in the legs.

It causes sensations such as creeping, crawling, and tugging inside the legs.

If you lie down and try to relax, the symptoms become worse.

The symptoms occur during periods of rest like watching television, attending a meeting and before sleeping at night.

As a result, if you have restless legs syndrome, you may feel difficulty in falling asleep and staying asleep, which leads to exhaustion and daytime tiredness.

The discomfort of RLS is accompanied by an overwhelming urge to move the legs, which may relieve leg discomfort temporarily. Leg movement, such as walking, stretching and deep knee bends, seems to bring temporary relief. A leg massage or a warm bath also may help.

The causes of RLS include iron deficiency, pregnancy, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, kidney failure, varicose veins or peripheral neuropathy (nerve damage in the hands and feet). High caffeine intake (coffee, tea, and cola beverages, chocolate) also may be related to restless legs syndrome.

Insomnia is defined as difficulty falling asleep, difficulty staying asleep, or unrestorative sleep.

The complaint of insomnia can be caused by multiple factors.

Causes of Insomnia

Either by behavioral problems and bad sleep habits, medical problems, psychiatric problems, medications and drugs, circadian rhythm sleep disorders, or sleep disorders can result in insomnia.

Regardless of what originally may be the cause of insomnia, behavioral problems often are the main perpetuating problem. The two more common behavioral conditions are poor sleep hygiene and psychophysiologic insomnia.

Poor sleep hygiene means bad sleep habits. Bad sleep habits usually result from irregular sleep schedules, overuse of alcohol and caffeine, excessive daytime napping, poor sleep environments, or anxiety at bedtime.

Psychophysiologic insomnia occurs when you are negatively conditioned to sleeping in your bed. For instance, you experience some anxiety over an upcoming job evaluation. You go to bed and have difficulty falling asleep.

The next night you tell yourself that you didn’t sleep well the night before, so you have to get some sleep tonight. You become so tense trying to sleep that you have difficulty sleeping the second night. On the third night the same thing happens.

Sleep Apnea

The symptoms of sleep apnea are that the people who suffer from sleep apnea often experience daytime drowsiness, poor performance at work and depression.

A sleep apnea sufferer literally stops breathing when this happens, which is one of the most common and most frightening effects.

Experts say that the excessive relaxation of a person’s throat muscles during sleep results in sleep apnea.

Once diagnosed, treatment can help prevent or reverse the symptoms.

These sleep apnea treatments can include sleep position training, exercise, weight loss, quitting smoking, avoiding alcohol, using special oral or nasal appliances, or surgery.

Sleep apnea is one of the most dangerous and potentially deadly sleep disorders and should be treated as soon as possible.

Insomnia

Several factors such as psychiatric problems, continual stress, use of drugs or alcohol, a lack of exercise, excessive noise or light, and certain physical illnesses causes Insomnia.

If you have disrupted sleep for more than a few weeks and it is interfering with your ability to function normally during the day, then you should consult your doctor or make an appointment at a reputable sleep disorder to get some treatment.

Heartburn is the most common symptom of Gastro Esophageal Reflux Disease (GERD).

GERD is a condition in which stomach acid or bile flows back (refluxes) into your food pipe (esophagus) even when you are standing because the pressure in the abdomen (where the stomach is present) is greater than the pressure in the chest (where the esophagus is present).

This constant backward of acid can irritate the lining of your esophagus causing it to be inflamed and irritated.

The esophagus normally contracts (i.e., after swallowing), and this sends a wave down the length of the esophagus, pushing food down into the stomach and clearing the esophagus.

Thus, any stomach juices that reflux up into the esophagus are sent back down. Saliva also helps to neutralize the acid brought up into the esophagus. Since the esophagus is above the stomach when we are standing, this helps limit exposure of the esophagus to stomach juices.

If you are suffering with GERD, you have worse reflux after meals (because the increased content in the stomach leads to higher pressures) and at night (because when you lie down, you lose the protective effect of gravity).

If you are suffering from jet lag, Light therapy is an efficient treatment used to cure circadian rhythm sleep disorders.

Your body has an internal clock which tells when it is time to sleep and when it is time to awake.

This clock is located in the brain just above an area where the nerves travel to the eyes. This area is called the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN). Your clock controls the “circadian rhythms” in your body. These rhythms include body temperature, attentiveness and the daily cycle of many hormones.

Circadian means to occur in a cycle of about 24 hours. Circadian rhythms make you feel drowsy or alert at regular times every day. If you have circadian rhythm disorder, your natural sleep time will overlap with regular awake activities.

Your clock is set by exposure to bright light such as sunlight. Exposure to bright morning sunlight cures jet lag after a few days in most people.

Light therapy helps reset your clock if it is off. Light therapy is used to expose your eyes to intense but safe amounts of light for a specific and regular length of time. In many places, sunlight is not available at the proper time to be used as treatment.

Millions of people all over the world have problems sleeping.

Sometimes, it is a recurring problem called insomnia and sometimes, it might be the occasional night or two, every so often.

You have many options of sleep aids regardless of how your sleep problems came to be.

However, there are some natural sleep aids that can guide you to dreamland if you are reluctant to ask your doctor for prescription sleep drugs or other medical alternatives.

Herbs

Natural sleep aids through the use of herbs have been around for a long time. The Chinese, most notably, have been big proponents of herbal remedies for centuries and stand by their efficiency.

It is just in the past decade or two that herbs have been scrutinized more closely for their advantageous properties in treating everything from stomach aches to colds and to, of course, sleep problems. You should discuss with your doctor first before you decide to try one or more of herbal remedies.

Other medications you are taking might adversely react to the herbal remedies. Additionally, you should also know that these herbs are not sleep cures and will not always work the first time you take them. It may take a few times before you might notice the effects.