Care For Your Sleep

Archive for the ‘Sleep disorders’ Category

It is estimated that currently, over 60 million citizens of the United States suffer from chronic insomnia. This is a very common sleep problem linked to a chronic lack of sleep, inability to fall asleep at night, frequent waking up and prolonged periods of sleep deprivation. There is a great deal of various techniques and various sorts of treatment to insomnia, which include using special stress management and relaxation techniques, medications and herbal remedies, aromatherapy and other alternative treatments, undergoing special therapeutic programs and so on. Though such practice as yoga is usually not valued too high as an effective treatment for insomnia, there are theories and even books written on the effectiveness of this ancient therapeutic approach.

There are 7 most effective yoga poses that can give any of us a proper end-of-day relaxation and stress relieve. Check out these simple stretching exercises which can work great as an interesting alternative treatment for insomnia.

Asana 1: Forward Bent. This is one of the most common and basic poses which is widely practiced and included to most of individual yoga programs. Known also as Uttanasana, this forward bent pose involves hard bending over and trying to make your forehead go far to touch your keen. Though it obviously can be quite hard to achieve to many people, Forward Bent pose is a very relaxing one for the muscles of our legs, shoulders and our back.

Asana 2: Wide Legged Forward Bent. This is another very common yoga pose known also as Prasarita Padottanasana. It is very similar to the previous one, and the only difference is doing the same movement when your legs are spread several feet apart. It is enough to remain in this pose just for 20-30 seconds in order to bring a great relief to your spine and your brain. Also, Wide Legged Forward Bent is supposed to be one of the best and the most effective yoga poses for back leg and back muscle stretching.

Asana 3: Child’s Pose. This is one of the best yoga poses to rest and relax, and the main advantage of this pose is that it can be used by everyone, even those who are just the beginners in yoga. Known as Balasana, this pose involves kneeling on the floor and placing the buttocks on your heels, then separating the knees as wide as the hips. It is possible to leave your arms rest on the sides, or stretch them out in front of the body. Child’s Pose is recommended as a great technique to relieve anxiety, stresses and insomnia.

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It is possible to say that childhood cancer survivors are very special people because they are both very lucky and very unlucky. It’s a great luck to survive any type of this terrible disease, and at the same time its a great misfortune to live all difficulties and sadness of cancer in the childhood. Certainly, such conditions are supposed to have not only psychological consequences, but also other serious prolonged outcomes. Those include fatigue, attention and memory problems, sensitivity, and many others. According to recent study, published recently in Cancer, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, impaired cognitive health and constant sleep problems are very common among childhood cancer survivors.

The conclusions were based on interviewing about 1,426 people who survived various types of childhood cancer between 1970 and 1986. All of them were treated and later on supervised by the specialists of the Childhood Cancer Survivor Center which was the main institution responsible for the study. Other experts were invited, including Kevin Krull, of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis.

According to the publication, about 20% of the childhood cancer survivors had certain cognitive health problems, mainly impaired memory and attention losses. At that, the specialists found out that those patients who reported about poor sleep, chronic insomnia and fatigue, are from three to four times at higher risks of suffering from attention and memory problems than the survivors that have no sleep disorders. Besides, it seems that the mentioned cognitive problems are not linked to the effects of chemotherapy, radiation, as well as the age of the patient. “These findings suggest that improved sleep quality and reduced fatigue may help to improve attention and memory functions in survivors,” Dr. Krull comments on the findings of the research.

Those who suffer from chronic sleep disorders are well aware of how this everything happens. If you missed that special point, just several minutes which you could have used to fall asleep, there’s no point in turning and tossing in your bed anymore. You’ve lost your chance, my friend! In such case, most likely you will not be able to fall asleep till the morning, and your risks of feeling restless, exhausted and worn out in the morning are huge. However, recently American specialists found a new way to fight against insomnia. They say that the most effective strategy to beat it is getting out of bed as soon as you realize that you can’t fall asleep.

A group of scientists leaded by Daniel Buysse at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine studied sleep patterns of 79 old adults (average age 72) who suffered from chronic insomnia. The participants used to undergo seances of special therapy, which included behavioral treatment or reading educational materials about sleep disorders. They were all recommended getting out of their beds in case if they could not falls asleep for 15-20 minutes.

The experiments lasted for 4 weeks and after this period of time, about two thirds of the participants reported about considerable improvements and positive response on the behavioral intervention they underwent. Some of the participants were even convinced that they managed to get rid of insomnia completely. Moreover, after 6-months period of time, the participants were invited to the research facilities again to monitor their sleep patterns. Scientists were surprised to see that no one of the participants did not demonstrate tendencies to developing more of sleep disorders.

“A lot of insomniacs spend a lot of time lying in bed worrying about their sleep, among other things.If you’re not ready to fall asleep, don’t lie down in bed and try to force yourself to sleep. And if you wake up in the middle of the night and don’t fall back asleep easily, get out of bed. You don’t want to have any linkage between the experience of lying in bed and being awake,” says Thomas Neylan, a specialist at the University of California. Every fifth person on Earth suffers from chronic insomnia. It is a very serious problem which in most cases leads to serious mental disorders and somatic diseases.

Statistics says that about 30% of current world’s population is very well familiar with insomnia. It may seem that there’s nothing much new to discover about such a common sleep disorder. It has been a subject of scientific interest for many decades, and there’s really a lot known about causes and side effects of insomnia. However, according to a study published by the Mental Health Foundation, insomnia could have more negative effects on our life than we actually expect. Apart of bringing us various cardiovascular problems, depression, immune deficiency, inability to lead an active lifestyle and perform good at work, insomnia is likely to be linked to poor interpersonal relationships. And the scientists at the Mental Health Foundation claim that insomnia should be actually treated as a very serious and dangerous disease which can affect our life quality to a great extent.

About 6,800 participants were invited to take part in this online research which became the biggest of this kind of study in the United Kingdom. It turned out that those who regularly suffer from insomnia and a regular lack of sleep are 4 times more likely to be affected by various personal and family relationship problems, three times more likely to feel depressed and mentally exhausted, as well as very often suffer from such things as a lack of concentration, low energy levels and inability to focus at work.

According to Dr. Dan Robotham of the Mental Health Foundation, one of the study leaders, the most dangerous thing is the circle which all people who suffer from regular insomnia have to enter. He underlines that insomnia and a lack of sufficient amounts of sleep escalate and cause a lot of mental problems, which in turn bring to even worse lack of sleep at night. “It is crucial that people are aware of the effective ways of breaking that spiral by improving the quality of their sleep. Employers, schools and public health bodies also need to know how they can identify and support people suffering from sleep disorders,” he underlines. Read more about the results of these extensive study in the Great British Sleep Report which was recently published online.

The most updated statistics says that every one of three people suffer from occasional or chronic insomnia, and there’s hardly an adult person in the world, who is not familiar with any of sleep disturbances. Sleep difficulties and insomnia are much less common in men than in women, and if modern young people more tend to have problems with falling asleep when it’s the bedtime, the elderly are most likely to suffer from frequent waking ups at night and having problems with falling asleep again. The scientists are concerned and go on looking for effective natural sleep aid for all age groups.

Recently, the results of an interesting and very promising study were published in the Journal of Medicinal Food. The specialists at the University of Rochester, the University of Pennsylvania and VA Center of Canandaigua united their forces for studying possible effects on sleep duration of such common natural product as tart cherry juice. This delicious berries are famous for their high content of melatonin, a type of antioxidant responsible for sleep cycle duration. This substance can induce sleep and improve wakefulness in the morning.

A group of 15 volunteers was invited to participate the studies. Adult people who suffered from chronic insomnia were offered to drink a glass of fresh unsweetened tart cherry juice twice a day: in the morning and before the bedtime. At that, some participants were given a similar type of fresh juice mix with no tart cherry juice. The trials lasted for 14 days, and as a result, those who were regularly receiving tart cherry juice treat on a daily basis reported about certain improvements in their sleep quality. Also, their sleep cycle increased for 17 minutes in average.

These results made millions of insomnia victims hopeful about receiving a new effective natural remedy for this terrible problem in the nearest future. An American specialist Dr Russel Reiter, of the University of Texas, says that this study could help to find out the ways to stimulate body’s supply of melatonin, necessary to boost sleep. “Cherries may help regulate the sleep cycle and increase sleep efficiency, including decreasing the time it takes to fall asleep,” he commented on the importance of the findings of the study to American mass media.