Archive for June, 2007

Jet lag is a condition which results from crossing one or more time zones.

Jet lag starts in nerve cells of the hypothalamic region of your brain which regulate temperature, sleep and timing such as circadian rhythm.

Your internal brain system does not react quickly to changes such as skipping ahead several time zones. When circadian rhythm is disturbed, you experience jet lag symptoms.

Symptoms of jet lag are loss of appetite, insomnia, reduced concentration, muscle pain and stiffness, joint swelling and stiffness, stomach problems, high injury rates, fatigue, disorientation and reduced aerobic fitness performance.

If you do not take precautions, jet lag can last long and can be very unpleasant and uncomfortable. Whenever you cross a time zone, it requires a full day to recover from jet lag.

Exercising before travel, during travel and after the travel can reduce the symptoms of jet lag. You have to take care of yourself. Eat healthy food, exercise, get plenty of sleep and drink plenty of water to stay hydrated.

You can perform cardio workout, interval training or weight training with some intensity while traveling. When you are traveling in the flight, you have to get up and move often and perform simple stretching exercises.

If you consume alcohol at bedtime, it decreases the time required to fall asleep after initial stimulating effect.

Due to the sedative effect of alcohol, many people with sleep problems consume alcohol to promote sleep.

But, alcohol consumed within one hour of bedtime disrupts the second half of the sleep period.

You will be awakened from dreams and return to sleep with difficulty which leads to sleep problems.

If you continue the alcohol consumption before bedtime, the sleep inducing effect of alcohol may decrease and its disruptive effects continue to increase. This sleep disruption can lead to daytime sleepiness and fatigue.

Elderly people are at higher risks because higher levels of alcohol are achieved in blood and brain than young people after consuming equivalent dose.

If older people consume alcohol before bedtime, it can lead to unsteadiness if walking is attempted during the night with increased risks of falls and injuries.

According to the studies, alcohol consumed six hours before bedtime can increase wakefulness during the second half of sleep. With alcohol consumption, there are increased effects of sleep deprivation.

A new study has found that people with obstructive sleep apnea are at increased risk of developing type II diabetes, independent of other risk factors.

In obstructive sleep apnea, the upper airway narrows or collapses during sleep.

There will be partial arouses throughout the night hundreds of times which disrupts your sleep.

Obesity is the major risk factor for obstructive sleep apnea. Hypertension, stroke and heart disease are also associated with obstructive sleep apnea.

The study looked at 593 patients at the VA Connecticut Health Care System referred for evaluation of sleep disordered breathing. Patients are asked to spend a night in the sleep laboratory to undergo a sleep study known as polysomnography [Polysomnogram Test].

The researchers followed the subject for up to six years and found that patients diagnosed with sleep apnea had more than two and half times the risk of developing diabetes compared with those without the night time breathing disorder.

Depending on the severity of sleep apnea, patients were divided into two groups. Researchers found that the more severe the sleep apnea, the greater the risk of developing diabetes.

According to new study, sleep apnea is associated with a greatly increased occurrence of pregnancy induced diabetes and blood pressure.

According to the study, when a women’s weight is taken into consideration, sleep apnea is associated with a doubling of the occurrence of gestational diabetes and a four fold increase in the risk of pregnancy induced hypertension.

The upper airway narrows or collapses during sleep in obstructive sleep apnea.

A brief partial arousal disrupts sleep hundreds of times during night. The major risk factor for sleep apnea is obesity.

Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP)

The most effective treatment for sleep apnea is with the device called continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP). It delivers air through a mask keeping the airway open while the patient is asleep.

Researchers analyzed data from all pregnancies associated with sleep apnea, pregnancy induced high blood pressure and gestational diabetes. 452 had sleep apnea out of almost four million deliveries.

67 had sleep apnea out of the 167,227 women who had gestational diabetes. 166 had sleep apnea out of the 200, 902 pregnancies with pregnancy induced high blood pressure.

Many people either suffer from snoring or live with person who snores.

Do you or someone have snoring problem?

Are you looking for a cure how to stop snoring?

Snoring is irritating and also a sign of serious health problems.

You should know how to stop snoring if you or someone in your family snores.

The important step in how to stop snoring is to know what the cause is. As there are different causes, make sure you know the exact cause of snoring. Wrong treatment will cause the sufferer to lose hope.

Are you overweight?

Being overweight can cause snoring. The reason is snoring is the result of air passing through a narrow throat opening.

The throat will be normally wide, but in obese people muscles become loose causing the throat to close while sleeping. In case of obese people, the remedy for stop snoring is to exercise and lose weight.

If you are taking elevator, take stairs. Park the vehicle far away from the entrance in the parking lot. Special throat exercises can strengthen throat muscles. If you have trouble to start exercising your whole body, start with throat exercises.

Insomnia and depression go hand in hand.

Disturbed sleep is the characteristic of depression.

80% of people with depression are experiencing insomnia that is a difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep.

Another symptom of depression is early morning awakenings. 15% of depressed people sleep excessively.

Insomnia is more than a symptom of depression and it unleashes the mood disorder.

Insomnia is an early warning sign of depression. Disturbed sleep actually bring on depression, setting in motion an array of forces in the nervous system that result ultimately in a depressive mode.

If you treat insomnia, it can delay the first episode of depression or at least keep it from becoming chronic. It is not only that depressed people wake up early and get less sleep.

The make up of their sleep is shattered. Normally, four to five times a night you cycle through periods of deep, relaxing sleep, marked by slow waves if the brain is monitored electronically.

Then you burst into dream sleep, marked by brain activity and rapid eye movements. People who are depressed fall quickly into REM sleep. The duration and intensity are unusual, intense and long lasting.

Many people do not believe that snoring is a sleep disorder.

But, it is a sleep disorder which has many health complications.

As you already know, it affects your relationships with whomsoever you share the bed.

You become frustrating and irritating when you see that all the snoring cures never work for you.

You have gone to bed at the same time every night, you have changed your lifestyle and you have used different nasal strips but you still snore away.

Despite using all these things, still you are snoring, then it could be sign that you need something more permanent. A snoring implant helps you and is very safe for you.

You can use snoring implant if:

• You are sleeping on your side and not on your back but still snoring continues.
• You have tried different type of pillow to elevate your head and still you snore through the night.
• Being obese is the cause for snoring, but you are at ideal weight and suffering with snoring problems.
• Home cures are not working for you and you don’t have health problems like allergies or lifestyle habits like smoking.

Sleep apnea is a disorder that can seriously affect your health and quality of life.

Have you tired trying with all the treatments for sleep apnea?

Acupuncture is one of the best treatments for sleep apnea.

Acupuncture is one of the oldest alternative treatments for the treatment of many medical problems including sleep apnea.

Alternative treatment is preferred for sleep apnea treatment due to various advantages over conventional treatment. Acupuncture is well accepted because it avoids the risk of side effects as it includes natural treatment.

According to the assumption made in traditional Chinese medicine, your body is supposed to function properly. When all are in harmony, body will function properly.

You have to in certain way to make your body work properly. You have to consider diet, exercise, mental and spiritual well-being that contributes to harmony.

When something is out of order, there is a definite reason. It is the search of underlying cause rather than concentration on symptoms that make acupuncture recommended treatment for sleep apnea.

Acupuncture involves application of fine needles into the human body into one or more of the 2,000 acupuncture points.