Archive for the 'Sleep Deprivation' Category

Americans are working over time than the average work per day. As the productivity and competition are increasing, the work burden on each individual is increasing. Deadlines are given to complete that work.

To meet these deadlines, many people take the work to home apart from working full time at the job. After working fulltime at the job, you reach home. After reaching home, you have to look after your children, cook for all of them and make the home clean.

Most of the elderly people suffer with the problem of sleep deprivation because according to their age, the capacity of sleeping will also decrease.

This situation is not applicable for all elderly people, but out of 100%, 40% will be suffering with this problem.

Sleep deprivation in elderly people is a problem which occurs due to lack of sleep at elderly age.

Generally the rest time required for the people is considered as the sleep time.

Without proper rest necessary for your body according to your age and stress levels, several health problems will result and your mind will be disturbed.

Here are some of the tips to get rid of sleep deprivation in elderly people:

• Perform exercise daily for 30 to 45 minutes to get required sleep necessary for your body. Exercise is helpful for attaining good sleep and your total cardiovascular health will be healthy by adding exercise in your daily routine.
• Cut down or reduce the intake of the liquids in the evening time to avoid the sleep deprivation. By doing this, you can prevent the disturbance of frequent visits to bathroom at the night time.

Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) is caused by many factors. Monthly hormonal changes can cause PMS. In the premenstrual phase of a woman, fluctuating hormone levels and calcium levels interfere with the serotonin of the brain.

When serotonin is not utilized properly by the brain, your mood, anxiety and sleep can be affected.

The hormones present in woman’s body make the changes in the body and fluctuate throughout your reproductive years to cause PMS.

The symptoms of PMS include anxiety, headaches, weight gain, insomnia, bloating, irritability, breast tenderness, acne, bloating, moodiness, cramps and cravings for carbohydrates and sweets.

According to the studies, low levels of estrogen and progesterone increase awakenings at nighttime and NREM sleep.

Women who suffer from PMS have less deep sleep during the entire month, not just during premenstrual week. The common sleep complaints in women who have PMS are insomnia, hypersomnia [Hypersomnia Treatment], nightmares and daytime sleepiness.

Disturbed sleep can have significant effects on daytime performance if sleep loss occurs for several days without recovery sleep.

In older women, if eight hours sleep is restricted to five hours or less for as little as few days, their daytime performance deteriorates on tasks like memory, problem solving and reaction time. Disturbed sleep can also have the risk of occupational injuries. Daytime alertness will be decreased.

Disturbed sleep in older women:

Number of factors can affect older women’s sleep. Stress, changes in hormone levels, illness, and sleep environment can impact the sleep.

Psychological stress effects older woman’s sleep more than hormonal changes. Older women have to concentrate on job, social interactions and family.

Sleep is essential to our health. If you have lack of sleep, it can result in poor health, fatigue and weight gain.

Many of you know that sleep deprivation can decrease your concentration and make you irritated, but not realize that it can actually lead to weight gain.

To understand the relationship between lack of sleep and weight gain, you should know the quality of sleep you need. If you are an adult, you need seven to eight hours of sleep every night. If the amount of REM (rapid eye movement) sleep is decreased, it can lead to increased intake in food.

Role of hormones in weight loss and gain

Leptin and ghrelin are the hormones that play a role in weight loss or weight gain. Leptin helps in controlling your appetite while ghrelin helps in stimulating your appetite.

When you don’t get enough sleep, it will be a disaster to your body. When you have lack of sleep, your body responds to it and produces more ghrelin hormone which is appetite inducing. Therefore, not only your sleep affects but your appetite will also be increased.

Stress is the natural consequence of extended work hours and the increased demand on your productivity.

As the technology is moving much faster, creativity and productivity are increasing. You have to move faster to reach your goals in order to reach your creativity and productivity.

So, stress becomes normal part of your life. You don’t even notice that stress is the cause for serious health problems in you. You will never think that your sleep problems can be due to stress. Due to less time for relaxation and leisure, you become sleep deprived.

Once you are sleep deprived, you experience difficulty in falling asleep or staying asleep, waking up in between the sleep and not able to sleep again. When you are sleep deprived, it results in daytime sleepiness. It also affects your mood, performance, concentration and behavior.

How stress affects your sleep?

Stress makes your muscles tense and prevents you to be in the relaxed state, which is necessary for sleep. Not only extended work hours, children and modern living also cause stress, which affects your sleep. Managing and preventing stress is the main thing for a healthy and peaceful sleep.