Sound Sleep Guide

Archive for October, 2006

The term vice is popularly applied to various activities considered immoral by some; a list of these might include the use of alcohol and other recreational drugs, gambling, recklessness, cheating, lying, selfishness. It is also used in reference to police vice units who persecute crimes associated with these activities. Often, vice particularly designates a failure to comply with the sexual mores of the time and place: sexual promiscuity, homosexuality.

Behaviors or attitudes going against the established virtues of the culture may also be called vices: for instance, effeminacy is considered a vice in a culture espousing manliness as an essential element of the character of males.

If you suspect you need more ZZZ’s, here are ten tips to help you get them:

Maintain a regular bed and wake time schedule including weekends. Our sleep-wake cycle is regulated by a “circadian clock” in our brain and the body’s need to balance both sleep time and wake time. A regular waking time in the morning strengthens the circadian function and can help with sleep onset at night. That is also why it is important to keep a regular bedtime and wake-time, even on the weekends when there is the temptation to sleep in.

Establish a regular, relaxing bedtime routine such as soaking in a hot bath or hot tub and then reading a book or listening to soothing music. A relaxing, routine activity right before bedtime conducted away from bright lights helps separate your sleep time from activities that can cause excitement, stress or anxiety which can make it more difficult to fall asleep, get sound and deep sleep or remain asleep. Avoid arousing activities before bedtime like working, paying bills, engaging in competitive games or family problem-solving. Some studies suggest that soaking in hot water (such as a hot tub or bath) before retiring to bed can ease the transition into deeper sleep, but it should be done early enough that you are no longer sweating or over-heated. If you are unable to avoid tension and stress, it may be helpful to learn relaxation therapy from a trained professional. Finally, avoid exposure to bright light before bedtime because it signals the neurons that help control the sleep-wake cycle that it is time to awaken, not to sleep.

Create a sleep-conducive environment that is dark, quiet, comfortable and cool. Design your sleep environment to establish the conditions you need for sleep – cool, quiet, dark, comfortable and free of interruptions. Also make your bedroom reflective of the value you place on sleep. Check your room for noise or other distractions, including a bed partner’s sleep disruptions such as snoring, light, and a dry or hot environment. Consider using blackout curtains, eye shades, ear plugs, “white noise,” humidifiers, fans and other devices.

Sleep on a comfortable mattress and pillows. Make sure your mattress is comfortable and supportive. The one you have been using for years may have exceeded its life expectancy – about 9 or 10 years for most good quality mattresses. Have comfortable pillows and make the room attractive and inviting for sleep but also free of allergens that might affect you and objects that might cause you to slip or fall if you have to get up during the night.

Use your bedroom only for sleep and sex. It is best to take work materials, computers and televisions out of the sleeping environment. Use your bed only for sleep and sex to strengthen the association between bed and sleep. If you associate a particular activity or item with anxiety about sleeping, omit it from your bedtime routine. For example, if looking at a bedroom clock makes you anxious about how much time you have before you must get up; move the clock where you won’t see it.Stay away from the activities that cause you anxiety.

Have your evening meal at least 2-3 hours before your regular bedtime. Eating or drinking too much may make you less comfortable when settling down for bed. Don’t have a big meal right before bed Spicy foods may cause heartburn, which makes it harder to fall asleep at night and may cause stomach upset. Try to restrict fluids close to bedtime to prevent nighttime awakenings to go to the bathroom, though herbal teas and milk may help you fall asleep faster and stay asleep.

In general, exercising regularly makes it easier to fall asleep and contributes to sounder sleep. A rigorous workout routine right before bed will make it hard to fall asleep. In addition to making us more alert, our body temperature rises during exercise, and takes as much as 6 hours to begin to drop. A cooler body temperature is associated with sleep onset. Do your workout routine with three hours to spare before bedtime. Late afternoon exercise is the perfect way to help you fall asleep at night.

Avoid caffeine (e.g. coffee, tea, and soft drinks, chocolate) close to bedtime. It can keep you awake. Caffeine is a stimulant, which means it can produce an alerting effect. Caffeine products, such as coffee, tea, colas and chocolate, remain in the body on average from 3 to 5 hours, but they can affect some people up to 12 hours later. Even if you do not think caffeine affects you, it may be disrupting and changing the quality of your sleep. Avoiding caffeine within 6-8 hours of going to bed can help improve sleep quality. To determine how much caffeine you ingest daily, check out our Caffeine Calculator.

Stay away from (e.g. cigarettes, tobacco products. Used close to bedtime, it can lead to poor sleep. Nicotine, which is a stimulant, will make it harder to go to sleep if you smoke before bed. When smokers go to sleep, the withdrawal symptoms may keep them awake as well. Nicotine can cause difficulty falling asleep, problems waking in the morning, and may also cause nightmares. Difficulty sleeping is just one more reason to quit smoking. And never smoke in bed or when sleepy!

Avoid alcohol close to bedtime. Though many people believe alcohol calms them, it actually disrupts sleep, causing nighttime awakenings. After a night of getting tanked up, your sleep will be not as peaceful as you might think.

If you have trouble falling asleep, maintaining sleep, awaken earlier than you wish, feel unrefreshed after sleep or suffer from excessive sleepiness during the day or when you wish to be alert, you should also consult your physician. Be sure to tell him/her if you have already tried these tips and for how long.

Try natural sleep aids. There’s science behind that warm glass of milk: the tryptophan in it increases serotonin, a natural sleep enhancer. Some doctors suggest herbal treatments such as passion flower, valerian and kava kava, but only to get your sleeping patterns back on track. Then, quit taking them.

Deprived of Sleep – America’s Sleeping Disorder Nightmare

Sleep deprivation is an overall lack of the necessary amount of sleep. A person can be deprived of sleep by their body and mind, insomnia, or actively deprived by another individual. Sleep deprivation is sometimes used as an instrument of torture, but it has also been shown to be an effective treatment of depression and other mental illnesses as well.

Sleep deprivation is a common condition that afflicts 47 million American adults. Common causes include: not allowing enough time for sleep, sleep disorders such as obstructive sleep apnea, narcolepsy, and myoclonus, excessive worry or depression, repeated awakenings from noise, working at night and travel across time zones, medical conditions that cause pain, breathing problems, and mental illnesses such as depression. Symptoms can interfere with memory, energy levels, mental abilities, and emotional mood. A study conducted by the University of Chicago Medical Center in 1999 indicates that the condition drastically affects the body’s ability to metabolize glucose, leading to symptoms that mimic early-stage diabetes. Sleep deprivation is sometimes used as a torture device but studies show that it has been an effectiv
e treatment for depression and other mental illnesses. Sleep deprivation is very unhealthy and may also result in irritability, blurred vision, slurred speech, memory lapses, confusion, hallucinations, queasiness, insanity, and eventually death. Getting less than six hours of sleep per night can affect coordination, judgment, and reaction time.

Exhaustion, fatigue and lack of physical energy are common sleep deprivation symptoms. Lack of sleep affects our state of emotions, causing pessimism, sadness, stress and anger. The National Sleep Foundation (NSF) has suggested that social problems such as road rage may be caused, in part, by a national epidemic of sleepiness. Sleep deprivation increases the risk of motor vehicle and work accidents and results in decreased productivity.

The brain needs sleep to function at its highest potential. Without adequate rest, the brain’s ability to control speech, access memory, and solve problems are affected. The effect on physical energy is also startling: when glucose metabolism falls, healthy people show signs of age and diabetes at an early age. These physical reactions disappear when the test subject is allowed to rest properly. Driving and other activities can become dangerous without sufficient rest.

Emotional stress or excitement can interfere with sleeping patterns, as can some medical conditions and medication. Food additives and caffeine can also make falling asleep difficult.

Over seventy identified sleeping disorders can disrupt normal nighttime patterns, and more disorders may yet be discovered

Fortunately, most of these disorders can be treated successfully. Symptoms of a possible sleeping disorder may include: insomnia, excessive snoring, the feeling of choking, bad dreams, and abusing sleep aids.

The right amount of sleep is different for every person. While the majority of adults should spend between eight to nine hours asleep, very few people are able to function well on 3-4 hours of sleep per night. The time a person spends asleep also changes with age:

0-24 months: 13-17 hours

Two year olds: 9-13 hours

Ten year olds: 10-11 hours

Sixteen to 65 year olds: 6-9 hours

Over 65 years: 6-8 hours

Here are some sleep tip habits for a good night’s rest. Stay away from caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol, especially later in the day. Have a light snack (but avoid eating a large meal) shortly before bedtime. Go to bed and get up at the same times each day, even on weekends. Get regular exercise early in the day. Keep your bedroom cool, dark, and quiet. A fan or soft music can help disguise distracting bedtime noise. Use your bed for only sleep and sex. Before bedtime, do muscle-relaxing exercises or take a warm bath. Don’t take sleeping pills unless your doctor prescribes them. Avoid daytime naps unless they last less than 1 hour and are taken before 3 PM. Try counting sheep or counting backward, which can lull some people to sleep. If you lie in bed awake for more than 30 minutes, get up, go to a different room and read or watch television, and return to bed when you feel sleepy. For a medical diagnosis and treatment, check with your general practitioner. Be on your way to a better night’s sleep and a better, more alert state of mind!

Probably everyone is familiar with snoring. If you don’t snore, you’ve probably shared a room or bed with someone who does. Although snoring is often the butt of many jokes and used for comedic effect on TV and in movies, snoring can actually be a serious medical condition. Many people view snoring as a harmless nuisance, but in reality, it can indicate underlying health problems. Snoring can take a toll on the quality of you and your sleeping partner’s sleep, as well as your overall health.

Mild Snoring, Severe Snoring, and Sleep Apnea

Many people mistakenly make no distinction between mild snoring and sleep apnea. Regular, mild snoring occurs when a person experiences some sort of congestion or airway obstruction, resulting in loud breathing sounds during sleep. Most of the time, snoring is a normal phenomenon that occurs when a person is experiencing congestion, enlarged adenoids or tonsils, or when a person abuses of alcohol or sedatives. Mild snoring can usually be alleviated by avoiding alcohol consumption, the use of sedatives, or by sleeping on one’s back. Indeed, most people who are experiencing mild snoring can find relief simply by turning to sleep on their sides. If snoring is caused by congestion caused by a cold, flu, or sinus infection, symptoms will usually subside as the illness gradually passes.

Severe snoring can indicate more serious health problems. Severe snoring occurs when a person experiences regular, chronic snoring. When a person is experiencing severe snoring, they will snore no matter what sleeping position they take. If you tend to awake yourself or your sleeping partner with your snoring, chances are your snoring is more severe than mild. Also, if you find yourself experiencing fitful sleep, and wake feeling fatigued even after several hours of sleep, you should consult your doctor. You may need to be observed at a sleeping clinic to find out the degree and possible causes of your snoring.

Sleep apnea is often confused with snoring since it produces similar sounds. The basic distinction is that snoring is simply a sound a person makes while sleeping, while sleep apnea causes a person to stop breathing several times during the night. Sleep apnea is a serious sleep disorder that occurs when a person experiences an obstruction in breathing, causing a pause of up to ten seconds in breathing. These pauses of breath can occur up to 30 times during the course of one night’s sleep! When a person suffers from sleep apnea, they will wake several times a night to regain breath. Many times, people are not aware that they suffer from sleep apnea, and only become aware when their sleep partner observes the symptoms. In rare cases, sleep apnea left untreated can prove fatal.

The Social Aspect of Snoring

Snoring is not only a medical concern. Snoring can also take quite a social toll. A person who snores may keep their sleep partner awake, and cause their quality of sleep to decline. The snorer’s sleep partner may also worry about their partner’s health, especially if they also suffer from sleep apnea. Both the snorer and their sleeping partner may experience sleep deprivation and insomnia that in turn leads to irritability, daytime fatigue, restlessness, and overall lack of energy and productivity. In serious cases, a person’s snoring may even drive their sleeping partner out of the bedroom, and into the respite of a quieter room.

The Health Risks of Snoring

Excessive or chronic snoring can be indicative of more serious medical problems. Not only can snoring cause serious sleep deprivation, it has also been linked to various health problems. Snoring has been associated with obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, and a greater chance of getting a stroke.

The most obvious health risks of snoring include increased daytime fatigue and sleepiness, low energy, inability to think clearly, and a compromised immune system that is more susceptible to getting colds, flu’s, and other illnesses.

Because snoring reduces the amount of oxygen that reaches the brain, it may also exacerbate a person’s vulnerability to developing adult onset diabetes, hypertension, stroke, and heart disease.

What Can You Do to Reduce Your Chances of Snoring?

The best thing you can do to prevent snoring is to make proactive lifestyle adjustments. Maintain a healthy weight, get regular exercise, avoid smoking and overuse of alcohol or sedatives, and avoid dairy products or other difficult to digest foods before bedtime. Many people can greatly reduce the occurrence of snoring simply by sleeping on their sides, and sleeping without a pillow, or at least a flatter pillow.

If you find yourself counting shadows on the ceiling or watching the numbers tick by on your alarm clock, then you are definitely not alone. Millions of people all over the world have problems sleeping. With some, it is a recurring problem called insomnia and with others, it might be the occasional night or two, every so often. Regardless of how your sleep problems came to be, you have a plethora of options in regards to sleep aids. However, if you are reluctant to ask your doctor for prescription sleep drugs or other medical alternatives, there are some natural sleep aids that can guide you to dreamland.

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 effectiveness. It is just in the past decade or two that herbs have been scrutinized more closely for their beneficial properties in treating everything from stomach aches to colds and to, of course, sleep problems. If you decide to try one or more of herbal remedies please note that you should discuss them with your doctor first. Other medications you are taking might adversely react to the herbal remedies. In addition, 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.

One of the oldest and commonly tried and true methods of falling asleep is the cup of herbal tea before bedtime. Chamomile is known for its soothing properties. Ginseng and catnip are other herbs that make for a great, soothing cup of tea with light sedative properties. Valerian is also another herb that is popular as a sleep aid. It comes in various forms, including tea. However, if you are not a tea person, valerian is also available in supplement form. Research studies into valerian show that for the most part, it does not have any side effects for the general population. It is important to note that valerian is one of the herbs that might take a few weeks for it to really take full effect in your body, so patience would definitely be a virtue in this instance.

Melatonin supplements also help with guiding you to dreamland. It is a naturally occurring hormone in the brain that is produced at night to help you feel drowsy enough to sleep. Now, you can receive melatonin naturally through consuming foods loaded with tryptophan. Tryptophan is an amino acid found in such foods as turkey, soy and milk products. That is why you always hear about a glass of warm milk inducing sleep sometimes. It seems that this amino acid tryptophan kicks off the production of melatonin, which helps you sleep. If you don’t eat enough of the foods that have tryptophan, then chances are that you would need boost in the form of melatonin supplements.

There are other herbal remedies that many people tout for their sleep enhancing properties. Teas made from passion flower, red clover, peppermint or lemon balms are sometimes consumed before bedtime. In addition, supplements of St. John’s Wort, kava kava and hops have some firm believers in their properties too. Or course, natural sleep aids do not necessarily mean herbal remedies. They could also mean non-traditional methods like acupuncture, self-hypnosis, meditation and acupressure. Changing lifestyle habits and routines are a non-medical, natural way to help engage a more restful sleep too.

Missing out on a restful night’s sleep brings people to a number of various measures to try and help them deal with the sleep deficit. It could be something as simple as incorporating exercise into your daily routine or rearranging your furniture to follow feng shui practices of harmony. Perhaps practicing deep breathing exercises might help your body and mind relax enough to fall asleep. Visual imagery and muscle relaxation techniques are also other natural alternative sleep aids.

You really need to sit down and determine what factors may be causing your sleepless nights. Depending on what your problem might be, you would then be able to base your choice on the best alternative natural sleep aid that would suit your needs.