Sleep Study Findings

Posted on September 10, 2011 by admin

Sleep Study are available to anyone who suffers from any type of sleep disorder. As part of our powerful sleep solutions this article will answer some of the questions that you may have.

Are you aware that you will spend almost one third of your life sleeping? During the time our body is awake the nerve cells constantly active become more or less fatigued. This is why you may need a nap some times during the day. Sleep gives the body cells a chance to throwing out the waste and the opportunity to repair themselves. To insure a recovery period from such fatigue, we undergo the periodic loss of consciousness known as sleep. Sleep is a very important function, and though we may put off going to sleep, it will eventually take over.

Necessity and importance of Sleep

Sleep is a usual and necessary part of our survival and having a good sleep solution plan is essential to brain function. As each person rests, the body rejuvenates, so that it will be ready to function properly the next day. What happens when you body gets too much or too little sleep. The brain causes stress on the body and you become easily irritated and grumpy. When you sleep you are giving your body a mini-vacation. Sleep also gives your brain a chance to sort things out. Although it is not known what functions take place in the brain while you are sleeping, it is believed that this is the time that the brain sorts and store information, replace chemicals or corrects imbalances, and solves problems in the body.

Sleep is a type of unconsciousness state, and is essential to good health. It refreshes the body and the mind, and helps the body heal from trauma of the day. If you get enough sleep regularly every night you will feel and work better.

Sleep effectiveness

Sleeping and waking are part of your internal clock controlled by your brain. How much sleep should a person get each night? The amount of sleep a person needs depends a lot on his or her age. As an example babies sleep about 14-15 hours, while older people need only 7-8 hours each night. Most kids between the ages of 5 and 12 years old somewhere in between need 10 to 11 hours of sleep. Some kids might need more and some need less. However, can we have less than 8 hours of sleep? Find out more!

It depends on the individual. Some people need a great deal of sleep, while others require only a minimum of sleep. The individual needs to get the amount of sleep necessary to feel alert, healthy, and totally fit. If an individual is dragging during the night then he needs to get more sleep. Some people may require more sleep due to their circadian rhythm and their metabolism. Their body processes may require more time, so they may need more sleep to rest and restore their body.

Skipping one night’s sleep can make a person irritable and inept. Once a person misses two nights of sleep, that person will have problems thinking and doing things. The brain can no longer do their normal tasks as well. After five nights without sleep, a person will hallucinate. Eventually, it becomes impossible for the brain to give its directions to the rest of the body without sleep.

The amount of sleep not only affects your mortality but also your personality. Some people are by nature long sleepers, and some are short sleepers. Studies show that people, who tend to sleep longer, tend to be more introverted and creative. People who require less sleep tend to be more extroverted and concrete.

Whether or not you are a long sleeper or a short one, getting too few hours of sleep can make one cranky and less energetic, which the majority of people have probably experienced. Continual lack of sleep can lead to mental issues such as depression, deprive one of thinking clearly, and hinder the quality of work.

Recorded brain waves have helped in the study of the different stages of sleep. The studies have indicated that there are four stages of sleep that occur in cycles each lasting about ninety minutes.

When you first fall asleep, your brain waves will slow down, as you become more relaxed. As you experience the third stage your body and mind become more unaware of the world outside. The fourth stage is the deepest stage in the cycle known as Rapid eye movement, which is the stage in which most people dream. After ten or more minutes of REM sleep, the sleep cycle repeats. This goes on all through the night at least three or four times. During REM sleep, not only do your eyes move around quickly, your heart rate increases, and your automatic body processes speed up. These periods last about twenty minutes a stretch and occur four or five times during the night, alternating between REM sleep and non-REM sleep. During this time your body functions slow down and you get your deepest sleep.

Myths of Sleep

If you sleep longer, you’ll be more awake and have more energy in your life. Getting more sleep than your body needs actually will rob you of energy and damage your effective sleeping patterns. If your body sleeps longer than it needs to you put stress on a number of other factors such us your melatonin hormone levels, your exposure to sunlight, and your body temperature rhythm.

Sleeping for longer than normal periods of time or trying to catch up on sleep only weakens your effective sleep system, which in turn can lower your immune system.

You need to Catch Up on Sleep that you have missed. Unless you have not slept for several days, there is no need to catch up on sleep. During the first 3 – 4 hours of sleep is when we experience most of State 3 and Stage 4 sleep. Sleeping longer than you usually do is not beneficial in anyway.

I feel low on energy; I must not be getting enough sleep. Quantity is not the answer here, quality is. People have a tendency to think that sleep is a very basic thing. The truth is that sleep is actually quite a complex system that most of us take for granted. Due to the fact that most people do not understand how our inner sleep system works, we aren’t aware of the actions being taking that are damaging our effective sleep systems and patterns that are depriving us of energy.

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Sleep Apnea And Snoring

Posted on September 8, 2011 by admin

Of all the snoring related physical ailments, arguably the most severe and ironically least understood is a condition called Sleep Apnea. These two words should be emblazoned in the minds of every snorer, and anyone who lives with or cares about the safety and well being of a snorer.

The word apnea in the term sleep apnea derives from the Greek term for absence of breathing. That, in a nutshell, gives a sense of how dangerous sleep apnea can be; it literally refers to a condition where breathing stops during sleep.

There are two types of sleep apnea:

1) Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) – This most common form of apnea occurs when throat muscles relax.

2) Central Sleep Apnea – This form of apnea occurs when the brain fails to send proper signals to the muscles that control breathing.

Sleep apnea and snoring are directly linked because during snoring the airway of the trachea is constantly subjected to repetitive collapse and obstruction; in fact, it is that collapse and obstruction that leads to the vibration that, ultimately, manifests itself as audible snoring. Obstructive Sleep Apnea thus occurs when, due to that continuous collapse of the airway, breathing actually stops.

Although Obstructive Sleep Apnea occurs two to three times as often in older male adults, it can affect young or old, male or female. Even children can have sleep apnea, a problem more common than once thought.

Certain factors can put you more at risk of getting sleep apnea:

Obesity & excess weight (leading to an enlarged neck and excess soft tissue in the trachea)

Enlarged adenoids and/or tonsils (airway can become blocked when tonsils or adenoids are too large)

Sex and age (older men are more likely to suffer from sleep apnea than women are)

Drinking alcohol (sedates the throat muscles and causes them to collapse)

Cigarette smoking (which inflames the upper airway)

While death is obviously possible due to Obstructive Sleep Apnea (and subsequent lack of breathing), there are many very serious effects that, while not fatal, are most certainly severe.

Even when it is not fatal, Sleep apnea deprives the body of essential oxygen; and hence, overall blood oxygen levels are reduced and concurrently, carbon dioxide levels rise. This can lead to toxic buildup that can cause heart disease, stroke, and brain damage.

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Helpful Tips For Overcoming Sleep Problems For Your Baby And You

Posted on September 6, 2011 by admin

Sleep needs

Did you know that newborn babies need 21 hours sleep a day and children from six months to two years of age need at least 12 hours sleep? Sleep deprivation can cause problems for everyone in the family: fractious babies during the day, exhausted mothers and an anxious, stressful atmosphere.

Sleep deprivation

Sleep starvation is a huge problem for today’s parents. A survey of 2,000 new parents and 2,000 people aged 55 to 65 was carried out by Mother and Baby and Yours magazines.

It found today’s parents try all kinds of things to get their babies to sleep through the night, including taking the infant into their own bed. In contrast, parents in the 1960s and 1970s tended to say their babies had slept peacefully in their own cots.

Today’s parents

New mothers of young babies reported that, on average, they only have three and a half hours sleep a night, compared to five hours which the older generation said they used to get.

Two thirds of those surveyed said this ” sleep starvation” left them feeling bad-tempered, with the same proportion reporting irritation with their partner. Other problems included being tearful, forgetful, depressed, more accident prone or clumsy, unable to function properly, and irritable with their baby.

So what’s different?

In the 60s and 70s roles tended to be more clear-cut. Fathers went to work and earned the money, mothers stayed at home and brought up the family.

Mothers today often feel they are expected to bring up the family and earn money doing something interesting. This situation can create anxiety: family members can often be living miles away from each other, so there’s very little support for the parents.

30-40 years ago you probably had relatives living nearby who could help with babysitting and be there to offer advice – generally to calm the situation. I saw a lot of young families while running a homeopathic clinic in Bristol. They rarely had family support nearby. Here in Cornwall it is noticeable that there is more family support, possibly because this is primarily a rural area, strong in traditions.

Vicious circle

Anxiety breeds anxiety. If you’re feeling tense and anxious the chances are that your baby will pick up on this and react in a similar way, so you get caught in a vicious circle. When other family members come home they pick up on it too.

Obviously when you’re getting up several times a night to breast-feed you’re going to feel very tired, but there is a great difference between being tired and tense and tired and relaxed.

The chances are that if you have periods of time when you can relax then your quality of sleep will improve. Your baby will pick up on this and learn to relax as well and your baby’s quality of sleep will improve because of this.

Sometimes a baby can be irritable simply because he or she hasn’t had enough sleep. When a young baby isn’t sleeping at all well it can affect the whole family. Obviously with new born babies disruption is expected but when the problem persists, sometimes for years, the results can be devastating.

Benefits of good sleep

While your baby is sleeping his or her cells are being regenerated, so the quality and amount of sleep is very important in the development of your infant.

Often over-stimulated babies calm themselves by looking away, yawning or sucking on their lips – this self-relaxation increases their parasympathetic activity and reduces sympathetic nervous activity.

In plain English the parasympathetic nervous system chills us out and the sympathetic nervous system stresses us out.

The two systems work side by side to create a flow in the system. However, for example, through lack of sleep, this balance gets thrown out and your baby is more stressed out then muscles tense up and blood vessels are constricted.

In this culture, with all its inherent pressures, people’s Sympathetic systems very often stay on guard, unable to give in to the softer, more gentle flows of the Parasympathetic system.

If we’re used to being tense we might not even think it a problem if our baby is also tense – and, as with adults, a chronic state of tension leads to stress related symptoms and illness.

What can help?

Learning to relax for a start. There are many forms of relaxation. Yoga, meditation, tai chi, pilates – these are just a few choices. There may be classes nearby or you could watch a video at home to learn the right moves.

Start early

During pregnancy, especially the final trimester, there can be anxiety about the impending birth. Regular listening to relaxing music to help create a relaxed state during pregnancy can actually help during the birth itself. By the time your baby is born, your body will have learned to relax even more deeply to the music, as a conditioned response.

Mothers-to-be are encouraged to play music to their unborn babies because research has shown babies can respond and be soothed by soft music both before and after birth. According to Dr. Thomas Verny, author or ‘The Secret Life of the Unborn Child’ your baby can kick in time to music from 25 weeks. The right musical stimulation can enhance development, encourage sucking and promote weight gain in newborn babies as well as help them to be relaxed and calm.

A relaxing day

Imagine the difference you could make to your life by getting into the habit of relaxing through activities like yoga, meditation or listening to calming music every day – especially if you set a regular time. It’s worth it.

If you and your baby are more relaxed then sleep is going to be a lot easier. If your baby is spending his or her time in a relaxed and calm state during the later part of the day or around the time you would like him or her to start dropping off, it can only help.

We’re the same – if we’ve just been dancing away at a party we’re hardly likely to be in the mood to sleep straight afterwards – we’d be buzzing – so why should babies be any different?

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Understanding Insomnia

Posted on September 4, 2011 by admin

Sleep disorders are part of a broad category encompassing a variety of conditions that affect sleep. Insomnia, sleep apnea, narcolepsy, restless leg syndrome are the most common, but sleep disorders also include sleep walking, hypersomnia, and night terrors. There isn’t enough space to provide an in- depth explanation for each, so starting with insomnia, the four most common ones will be explored properly.

Literally meaning no sleep, insomnia is one of the most common sleep disorders: everyone has lain awake all night, has woken up in the middle of night, has woken up hours too early. Insomnia takes its toll on your health, on your peace of mind, on your wallet. When you don’t sleep enough, you’re tired and irritable, unable to concentrate. You lose money by getting in accidents because you’re exhausted, by being unable to work.

There are two types of insomnia: acute and chronic. Acute insomnia is temporary, lasting no more than a month, caused by the situation or environment: after traveling and being jet lagged, after losing your job. It occurs when relationships end, when you lose someone close to you. As the situation gets better, as things return to normal, you begin to feel better, and you sleep.

Chronic insomnia is more serious, lasting a month and more. Chronic insomnia can be the result of a larger condition, a symptom of an underlying condition. Illnesses, other sleep disorders, and psychological or physical conditions can all wreak havoc with sleep. In this case, talk to your doctor. The right treatment will help the larger condition, which will in turn help you sleep.

Chronic insomnia can also be a condition by itself, not simply one side effect of something else. This type of chronic insomnia can be the result of biological factors like having a too high body temperature, changes in your metabolism rate, or increased brain metabolism.

Of course, insomnia, chronic, or acute, could always just be the result of poor sleep habits: smoking cigarettes, drinking caffeine, sleeping odd hours. And, depression and stress are major causes of insomnia.

Treatment of insomnia can be as simple of following tips for sleeping well, practicing good sleep habits. Sleeping aides can help, but talk to your doctor first. Not sleeping quickly gets old: if you’re sleeping poorly, talk to your doctor, follow the tips for sleeping better.

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The First Key To A Good Night’s Sleep

Posted on September 2, 2011 by admin

As the evening progresses towards bed time you need to start preparing your body for sleep. At this point in the day your mind and body requires a soothing bedtime routine in order to relax. Bed time routines are a significant sleep aid if you follow them consistently. Your body and mind need to have consistency at this time so that you can learn to fall asleep naturally.

Once you have read this book you should decide on a sleep improvement plan and apply it for at least a week before making changes to your routine.

Your sleep improvement plan should include a bedtime and a waking up time. In addition you should keep a list of the herbs, vitamins, and teas you have tried and how well they aided your sleep.

Because your body requires consistency and adjusts only slowly to change you need to stick to each new routine for a week or two before you adjust it. If you are still experiencing difficulty sleeping after you have tried sleep plan for a week or two, you can then make appropriate adjustments. The key to finding an insomnia cure that works for you is to be consistent and determined.

Your first goal should be to establish a regular sleep schedule. Keeping a regular sleep schedule means waking up each morning at the same time, even when you have the time to sleep in longer. Sleeping longer in the morning will only make you feel groggy and disoriented; it will not make you feel more rested.

According to leading sleep experts you should get an average of seven to eight hours of sleep each night but this sleep has to be balance in order to be restful. You can’t make up for a late night by sleeping in. Lost sleep can’t be recovered so, if you find that you’ve lost some hours of sleep one day, your best course of action is to struggle through that day and resume your sleep schedule that night.

It is important to realize that a regular bedtime routine is imperative to your goal of achieving natural sleep. Create a routine that will prepare you for sleep. Try to get ready for bed at the same time each night. The first step in creating a successful bed time routine is to determine which hours make the most sense for you. Once you have chosen a bed time, stick to it.

This course will suggest many sleep aids and insomnia cures which you can include in your bed time routine; however, your routine can be as simple as brushing your teeth or reading a book at the same time every night. Whatever routine you decide on it will be a way of telling your unconscious mind that it is time for you to fall asleep. Your routine needs to be as relaxing as possible so that your mind can rest. Just before bed is not the right time for stimulating music, exercise, or conversations.

In order to be sleepy at bedtime, make sure that daytime naps are not part of your daily routine! Even a short cat nap taken during the day will confuse your body’s ability to differentiate between day and night sleeping.

To prevent yourself from napping and thus triggering insomnia later in the evening, make an effort to try staying active when you are feeling tired during the day. When you feel sleepy during the day, you can exercise or eat a small piece of fruit to increase your energy level.

Natural remedies work differently for each individual, so don’t become discouraged if you have to adjust your nightly routine a few times. Think positive thoughts as you design a sleep routine that is right for you. With perseverance and determination you will conquer your insomnia and achieve natural sleep.

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