Care For Your Sleep

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.

Have you ever had serious problems with your biological clock when you travel from Europe to the States? Have you ever thought, how do the people who regularly have to travel between the continents, manage their sleep problems? This can be really hard, you know. To help those people, as well as everyone who needs to adjust his biological clock, a group of scientists at the University of California-San Diego in association with three other research organizations developed a new innovative substance which received a name “longdaysin”. It can be effectively used to prologue your biological day for as much as 10 hours.

On the initial stage of the studies, the scientists from Japan leaded by Tsuyoshi Hirota found out longdaysin compound during their genetic researches. In order to find possible clues to creating a cure for cancer, the scientists experimented with luciferase genes by attaching them to human cancer cells. The scientists noticed that these genes caused changes in circadian rhythms of cells, this way prolonging the period of cell activities. A genetic research robot analyzed more than 120,000 possible compositions of molecular compounds to find out which of them were able to change the circadian rhythms of the cells the most.

Then, the results of these experiments were sent to San Diego University, where American specialists continued lab trials and managed to receive isolated longdaysin. American scientists worked with the samples of larval zebra fish tissues and by changing the concentration of the substance the researchers managed to receive correspondent chronobiological effects on the living cells. Further, the experiments were carried on with various mouse tissues.

Steve Kay, one of the specialists from San Diego university says: “Theoretically, longdaysin or a compound like it could be used to correct sleep disorders such as the genetic disorder familial advanced sleep syndrome, which is characterized by a clock that’s running too fast.” The scientists plant to continue their work and formulate a special medication which will help people stay awake longer is they need that. It can be helpful not only for travelers, but for those people who work shifts. Read more about the findings of this interesting research in the December issue of PLoS Biology.

Why sometimes we see colored dreams, and sometimes our dreams are just black and white? It is very interesting that decades ago, when the cinema was only black and white, people used to see exceptionally black and white dreams. According to a research of the specialists at Dundee University, people who grew up in 1940s – 1050s still see mainly black and white dreams, and 83% of those individuals who were born after 1960 see mostly colored dreams. At that, only in 7% of the situations modern people still see black and white dreams. That is how the movies or TV shows we watch in our childhood affect or play a role in our dream pattern formation. Interesting, isn’t it?

Red Color In Dreams: Red color is one of the most important colors, which can both be astonishing and mesmerizing, and cause anger and rage. Red is a color of fire, passion, sexual energy, emotions and activities. At the same time, it is a color of blood, fury and the devil, therefore some specialists tend to interpret this color as a symbol of sin.

This color symbolizes heart and our cardio-vascular system, which is often linked to symbolizing possible sicknesses and illnesses. People who see red color dominating in their dreams usually are creative and very active people, who have a great desire to live and enjoy this life in its full volume. Sometimes red color in our dreams can symbolize our urges to succeed and win, or looking for sexual adventures. This color is a sign of transformations, looking for ways out, feeling forceful and assertive, and feeling compassion and mercy. Red color in dreams can mean both joy, happiness, luck and irritability, blood, hate.

Pink Color In Dreams: Pink color is a derivative of red (to be proper, a mixture of red and white colors) and is an ultimate symbol of love and romanticism. It can also be understood as a symbol of motherhood and passion of motherly love. Pink color in dreams is a symbol of positive emotions and good health. It is a “female” color which is linked to tenderness, beauty, compassion, patience, tolerance, being sweet and lovely. If pink color is dominant in your dreams, it can mean that you are looking for a shelter to hide from your problems, or looking for love and tenderness, or you can be in need of a remedy to calm down and relax. Pink color in dreams is a sign of new things and new expectations in life.

Many of us like taking a nap in the daytime, but unfortunately just few of us can afford it. And it’s not too good, especially for those whose work and daily activities are closely linked to being focused and concentrated. The specialists from Utrecht University (the Netherlands) found out that a short daytime sleep is one of the most effective ways to increase our productivity. They are convinced that only 20-30 minutes of a good sleep in the afternoon is enough to relax. This short sleep will help us restore our energy, clear our mind, sharpen our problem-solving abilities and be ready for new challenges.

Moreover, the experts from Holland are convinced that this short daytime napping can play an important role in lowering the traffic accident occurrence and helping us avoid various traumas and injures linked to a lack of attention and inability to focus. They claim that their experiments have shown that having a regular 20-30 minutes daytime nap (at least 3-4 times a day) decreases the risk of having a stroke for almost 37%.

That is why having regular daytime sleep is not less important for every modern person than following a healthy diet, drinking sufficient amounts of water or doing enough physical activities on a regular basis. However, the researches say that it is possible to achieve the states results only in case if you have a short but very good rest. The best environment for such daytime napping sessions are, certainly, dark rooms with relatively low temperature. It is recommended also to use beds and do not sleep in a sitting position. Only this way your body can relax completely and take maximum from a short daytime sleep. How could we possibly have this luxury daytime sleep when we spend out days in the offices, the specialists have not specified.

Specialists say that about 70% of our dreams are colored. At the same time, dream researchers have discovered that we can actually recall the colors in our dreams only in about 30% of the situations. Certainly, the colors of our dreams are determined by our subconscious and dominant colors are linked to the highest emotional impacts in our daily life. Some studies suggest that dominant color of our dreams can be determined by our age, as well as by such factor our media exposure in our early ages. In particular, it matters what color was dominant in the movies we watched when we were children (between 3 and 10 years old).

Many scientists and dream specialists were interested in studying colors in dreams. They all agree that colors represent our emotional condition, feelings and thoughts, and even can be connected with our physical health. Colors emphasize the meaning of one or another symbol in our dreams and help to make our dreams more expressive. Do your frequently recall colors in your dreams? Do you want to know what does one or another color mean? Then, read the information below.

Let’s begin with blue, the color of the skies. Blue color in dreams is associated with tranquility, emotional balance and calmness. Seeing blue color dominant in your dreams mean that you are in a state of peace and harmony with your own world, that you are concentrated on your inner self , your spiritual needs and philosophic thoughts. This color is also linked to creative emotional state, art, culture and religion. It symbolizes trust, unity, hope and beliefs. This color can also be a sign of looking for a new relationship which would bring emotional contentment, a sense of harmony and belonging. Blue color is associated with the function of our thyroid gland. This is a color of emotions, intuition, peace of mind and spiritual balance.

Green is another very important color in our life. It is closely associated with our nature, plants and herbs, life, growth and energy. If green is the color that is dominating in your dreams, it means that you are looking for your place in this world, looking for recognition and respect of other people. This color means that for the moment you value stability and do not aspire to changes, you are ready to work hard and protect your possessions, you value your self-esteem and your own opinion the most. Green color is also linked to harmony and balance, emotions and communication with the outer world on various energy levels. Usually, this color is attributed to those people who are focused, detailed oriented and rely on their logic a lot. Finally, this is a color linked to gallbladder and its health. This is a color of development, growth, mental stability and intelligence.

(to be continued)