30 Days to Better Sleep: Focus on Weight Loss
Your ability to sleep well at night may be profoundly affected by being overweight or obese. The extra weight may contribute to various sleep disorders, including obstructive sleep apnea, obesity hypoventilation syndrome, and restless legs syndrome. There is a complex interplay between sleep and metabolism, and sleep deprivation may contribute to weight gain. What is the best way to lose weight? Focus on weight loss, including diet and exercise, and you may find that you are able to sleep better.
The greatest concern related to being overweight or obese is the effect that this can have on breathing during sleep. The mos...
Source: About Sleep Disorders - January 25, 2013 Category: Sleep Medicine Source Type: news
30 Days to Better Sleep: Quiet Your Restless Legs
Resting at night depends on getting to sleep easily and staying asleep. Aside from insomnia, one of the sleep disorders that can make it difficult to fall asleep is restless legs syndrome (RLS). What is this condition and what are the major causes of RLS? Frequent bouts of restlessness in your legs may require treatment, so what are the options? Learning if you have RLS and finding an effective therapy will certainly help you to sleep better.
Restless legs syndrome, or RLS, is a commonly experienced but infrequently discussed condition. It may affect up to 20% of adults. It typically involves an uncomfortable or disagreea...
Source: About Sleep Disorders - January 24, 2013 Category: Sleep Medicine Source Type: news
30 Days to Better Sleep: Snoring and Sleepiness Equals Sleep Apnea
In reviewing the articles in this blog series, you may have become convinced that the only thing that affects sleep is not sleeping as part of insomnia. However, there are many other sleep disorders that can contribute to difficulty sleeping and waking refreshed. One of the major contributors to excessive sleepiness during the day is trouble breathing at night, best characterized by sleep apnea.
Sleep apnea occurs when the upper airway collapses during sleep. Tissues in the airway, from the nose past the soft palate to the base of the tongue, may obstruct the flow of air. When this occurs, this obstruction may be partial ...
Source: About Sleep Disorders - January 23, 2013 Category: Sleep Medicine Source Type: news
30 Days to Better Sleep: Address Underlying Mood Disorders Including Anxiety and Depression
Sleep walks hand in hand with mood. Anyone who has tried to go to bed upset knows that time is spent tossing and turning instead of sleeping. It is good advice to not go to bed angry, but what about other negative feelings? Mood problems such as anxiety and depression can severely affect sleep. Consider how addressing these psychiatric conditions may help you to sleep better.
In order to sleep, we have to ensure that certain conditions are meant. It is a rich tapestry with the integration of distinctive elements. Some of these are physical; we have to have been awake long enough to feel sleepy, for instance. Some of these...
Source: About Sleep Disorders - January 22, 2013 Category: Sleep Medicine Source Type: news
30 Days to Better Sleep: Don't Take Naps
What's the harm in taking a nap? If you have difficulty sleeping at night, you may do well to cut out napping during the day. How do you know if your nap is harming your ability to sleep?
There are plenty of people who can get by taking a nap during the day with no ill effects on that night's sleep. Unfortunately, there are others who will struggle falling asleep as a result. The ability to sleep is dependent on two factors: homeostatic sleep drive and circadian rhythm. Sleep drive builds throughout the day: the longer you stay awake, the stronger the desire to sleep. It is similar to hunger and the desire to eat: the lon...
Source: About Sleep Disorders - January 21, 2013 Category: Sleep Medicine Source Type: news
30 Days to Better Sleep: Restrict Your Time in Bed, Consolidate Your Sleep
Our beds can be a place of almost heavenly repose, where we retire at the end of a full day and restore our bodies and minds with sleep. This may not always be the case, however. When the bed becomes a place of turmoil and struggle, the night filled with wakeful anguish, it is not what it could be. If you struggle with insomnia, limiting the amount of time spent in bed may actually help you to sleep better.
Insomnia is characterized by difficulty falling or staying asleep. People with it will often spends hours lying awake in bed at night. Although some light sleep may occur, the desire for sound sleep is diminished by th...
Source: About Sleep Disorders - January 21, 2013 Category: Sleep Medicine Source Type: news
30 Days to Better Sleep: Instead of Trying to Sleep, Change the Focus to Rest
Have you ever really tried to fall asleep? The more effort that is attempted, the harder it is to doze off. Why is it hard to fall asleep when it becomes the focus of our attention? Consider what to do when you have difficulty falling asleep and why it can be helpful to change the focus to rest.
Insomnia is commonly characterized by difficulty falling or staying asleep. Whether this occurs at the start of the night, or after an overnight awakening, difficulty falling asleep may be worsened by an active mind. It can be helpful to change the focus: rather than striving and struggling to sleep, the focus should shift to obta...
Source: About Sleep Disorders - January 19, 2013 Category: Sleep Medicine Source Type: news
30 Days to Better Sleep: For a Racing Mind, Make a List
It can be hard to get to sleep when you have a lot of things on your mind. For people with insomnia, characterized by difficulty falling or staying asleep, this is a frequent occurrence. Difficulty sleeping may provoke anxiety, and one technique to ease a racing mind is to make a list.
Why does anxiety disrupt sleep? The time before falling asleep should be relaxing. If it becomes a source of anxiety or stress, it can be far more challenging to fall asleep. Anxiety, stress, worry, or tension will provoke alertness. In a state of anxiety, your mind is triggered to keep you safe. Part of this is maintaining vigilance to you...
Source: About Sleep Disorders - January 18, 2013 Category: Sleep Medicine Source Type: news
30 Days to Better Sleep: Manage Your Stress with Relaxation Techniques
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<p>Stress can have a major impact on your ability to fall and stay asleep. Feelings of anxiety, worry, and tension can lead to <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&zu=http://sleepdisorders.about.com/od/commonsleepdisorders/a/What_Is_Insomnia.htm">insomnia</a>. Sometimes the cause is obvious: a lost job or loved one, a big project at work, an examination, a divorce, a trauma, and so on. In other circumstances, the underlying trigger may be less evide...
Source: About Sleep Disorders - January 17, 2013 Category: Sleep Medicine Source Type: news
30 Days to Better Sleep: Don't Lie Awake in Bed at Night
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<p>This is it. In 30 days of lessons to improve your sleep, this is the one you print out and hang above your desk. This is the one you e-mail to your family and share among your social networks. This is the lesson that, once mastered, will guarantee you sleep better for the rest of your life. It is simple, common sense, and the heart of it all: Don't lie awake in bed at night.</p>
<p><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&zu=http://sleepdisorder...
Source: About Sleep Disorders - January 16, 2013 Category: Sleep Medicine Source Type: news
30 Days to Better Sleep: Avoid Heartburn at Night
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<p>There are few things as miserable as waking with the discomfort of <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&zu=http://sleepdisorders.about.com/od/causesofsleepdisorder1/a/Heartburn_and_Sleep.htm">heartburn</a>. As you make progress in sleeping better, one of the key milestones is avoiding heartburn at night.</p>
<p>Heartburn goes by many names: reflux, gastro-esophageal reflux disease, GERD, water brash, acid indigestion, or pyrosis. I...
Source: About Sleep Disorders - January 15, 2013 Category: Sleep Medicine Source Type: news
30 Days to Better Sleep: Decrease the Frequency of Trips to the Bathroom to Pee
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<p>There is nothing worse than having to wake up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. Once you get to sleep, the last thing you need is a full bladder waking you up. For some people, these awakenings may even evolve into difficulty falling back asleep, a symptom of <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&zu=http://sleepdisorders.about.com/od/commonsleepdisorders/a/What_Is_Insomnia.htm">insomnia</a>. How can you decrease the number of tri...
Source: About Sleep Disorders - January 14, 2013 Category: Sleep Medicine Source Type: news
30 Days to Better Sleep: Get Exercise at the Right Time
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<p>Chances are that, unlike the man pictured above, you won't fall asleep while exercising. Quite to the contrary, exercise is alerting and revs up both the body and mind. If it is poorly timed, this may make it more difficult to fall asleep, leading to <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&zu=http://sleepdisorders.about.com/od/commonsleepdisorders/a/What_Is_Insomnia.htm">insomnia</a>. Why does exercise disrupt sleep? When is the bes...
Source: About Sleep Disorders - January 13, 2013 Category: Sleep Medicine Source Type: news
30 Days to Better Sleep: Stop Smoking and Start Sleeping
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<p>You know you should stop smoking. Perhaps it has even been a recent New Year's resolution. There are plenty of reasons to quit smoking, but could improving your sleep be one of them? How does smoking cigarettes affect sleep?</p>
<p>In the consideration of sleep, any products that contain nicotine can be lumped together: cigarettes, cigars, pipes, hookah, and so forth. Nicotine is the key ingredient. Nicotine is what, potentially, can disrupt your sl...
Source: About Sleep Disorders - January 12, 2013 Category: Sleep Medicine Source Type: news
30 Days to Better Sleep: Cut Out the Caffeine
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<p>Caffeine can be one of the great joys of life. No matter your preferred indulgence - coffee, espresso, cappuccino, tea, hot chocolate, soda pop, or energy drinks - it can give your energy and spirit a boost. But, unfortunately, it may also disrupt your sleep. For people who have difficulty falling or staying asleep, symptoms of <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&zu=http://sleepdisorders.about.com/od/commonsleepdisorders/a/What_Is_Insomnia.htm">insomnia...
Source: About Sleep Disorders - January 11, 2013 Category: Sleep Medicine Source Type: news
