If you are interested in learning more about living a healthy, quality lifestyle in SWFL, check out some ebooks that you can consume and distribute as you please.
Just fill out the form below and indicate what particular lifestyle interest you may have. You will be directed to the ebook download page.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Work at Home is a Good Fit for People with Fibro and Other Physical Challenges
Times are indeed tough. There is a lot of competition out there for jobs. Stress levels are at an all time high. A lot of the stress comes from having lost a sense of control in one's life. People need to find small ways to get that control back. This will help one focus on "can do" things instead of being overwhelmed by negatives; no matter what causes them.
If you are unemployed and/or have special reasons for not working outside of your home you should consider starting an online business. You don't have to be an internet guru and buy all the internet marketing products in order to succeed. Simply hire someone who has taken the route to becoming knowledgeable about online marketing. Put your focus on your business and your interests and outsource whatever is necessary but exists outside of your expertise.
During my hiatus from this blog (which is fun for me) I developed a marketing team to do just that for small businesses and solopreneurs (well that was fun too;). I going to put some clips in from a post I made on another blog I have http://no-drugs-fibro-treament.com so you can see the offer I made there for Update Small Business.
If you are unemployed and/or have special reasons for not working outside of your home you should consider starting an online business. You don't have to be an internet guru and buy all the internet marketing products in order to succeed. Simply hire someone who has taken the route to becoming knowledgeable about online marketing. Put your focus on your business and your interests and outsource whatever is necessary but exists outside of your expertise.
During my hiatus from this blog (which is fun for me) I developed a marketing team to do just that for small businesses and solopreneurs (well that was fun too;). I going to put some clips in from a post I made on another blog I have http://no-drugs-fibro-treament.com so you can see the offer I made there for Update Small Business.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Neurofeedback
Neurofeedback is the child of the biofeedback movement that was all the rage in the 1970s. And though neurofeedback did spring from that 70's rage, it actually takes an opposite approach than that of biofeedback.
Essentially, biofeedback sought to have the mind influence and relax the body. Neurofeedback has the body, it's motions and activities influence the brain's waves. No, it is not mind control and it is not sci-fi. It is really powerful and has had remarkable results with addressing ADHD without the use of drugs. Now, since there has not yet been sufficient research to satisfy the medical (and drug) community, physicians are reluctant to recommend neurofeedback by itself. But if you do your own internet research and go to the scientific journals you will find a lot of compelling information that supports the successful use of neurofeedback with ADHD, depression and to a lesser degree ptsd and fibromyalgia.
ADHD patients that have gone through a complete neurofeedback regiment report long term results that are symptom free without the use of drugs.
There is one catch though. Neurofeedback can cost as much as $100 per session and ADHD patients may need as many as 40 sessions (1x per week). Insurance may or may not cover it. All things considered though - it is a small price to pay to be able to get results and not be on drugs.
Here is link to find a provider near you:
http://directory.eeginfo.com
Essentially, biofeedback sought to have the mind influence and relax the body. Neurofeedback has the body, it's motions and activities influence the brain's waves. No, it is not mind control and it is not sci-fi. It is really powerful and has had remarkable results with addressing ADHD without the use of drugs. Now, since there has not yet been sufficient research to satisfy the medical (and drug) community, physicians are reluctant to recommend neurofeedback by itself. But if you do your own internet research and go to the scientific journals you will find a lot of compelling information that supports the successful use of neurofeedback with ADHD, depression and to a lesser degree ptsd and fibromyalgia.
ADHD patients that have gone through a complete neurofeedback regiment report long term results that are symptom free without the use of drugs.
There is one catch though. Neurofeedback can cost as much as $100 per session and ADHD patients may need as many as 40 sessions (1x per week). Insurance may or may not cover it. All things considered though - it is a small price to pay to be able to get results and not be on drugs.
Here is link to find a provider near you:
http://directory.eeginfo.com
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Building Self Esteem - a key building block in mind/body universe
This article was originally published 4 years ago. The material is timeless and worth revisiting.
Read about how a few simple changes in can lead to developing great self esteem in children and help avoid some of the physical woes that can result later on in life due to unresolved emotions.
What does a good person look like?
A magazine cover might suggest a thin model with glossy hair and bright white teeth. A TV commercial might suggest a muscular businessman in a sparkling SUV.
But, for our children, must success and character be defined by possessions rather than personal power, by glamour rather than gold-heartedness?
Parents have to wonder sometimes if they can convince their children that what's inside is what matters, when kids are bombarded with so many superficial, outside factors. Yet hope may be found in strategies such as those in "Character Matters: How to Help Our Children Develop Good Judgment, Integrity, and Other Essential Virtues." Parents and teachers can use advice from the book, by developmental psychologist Thomas Lickona, and pointers from area experts to bolster a child's self-concept and value system.
Lickona believes that the key to success in life is a solid sense of character -- an attribute that appears to be waning, according to the 2002 Report Card on the Ethics of American Youth issued by the Josephson Institute for Ethics in California.
The national survey of thousands of high school students showed that, in the past year, three out of four students admitted to cheating on an exam, about four in 10 said they had stolen something from a store, and about four in 10 said they would lie to get a job.
To combat these behaviors, experts suggest parents adopt a zero-tolerance policy for disrespectful speech and behavior. But do so in a proactive way, cautions Lickona, who also serves as a professor at the State University of New York at Cortland. Teach by example, he says; explain to children why it is wrong to lie and cheat.
Todd Snyder, a licensed mental health counselor with a private practice in Sarasota and a father of two boys, has been working with abused and neglected children for 15 years. Snyder said that now more than ever he notices that children are overwhelmed with pressure, both from the media and from their parents, to be "perfect."
The capitalist, commercially driven culture in which American children grow teaches them to seek external fulfillment, Snyder said. Children consequently end up striving for a superficial identity that is defined by appearances and the accumulation of materials, rather than by inner joy.
To lessen this pressure to be "the best," Snyder suggests parents avoid using such words around their children as "have to," "must" and "should" -- words that create an environment of absolutes and lofty expectations.
Children need to feel they have the ability to shape their reality, and parents do their children a disservice when they undermine their child's personal power.
Pam Parmenter, quality assurance director for Project Childcare in Bradenton, said it is crucial for parents to be present, especially between the ages of 6 and 9 when children have not yet moved from the pre-operational stage of cognitive development into the concrete operational stage. These children still think in pictures, therefore, and cannot fully distinguish between fantasy and reality.
And the violence, sexual content and sarcasm they view on TV screens do not register as fictional, or even as good or bad; it's at this point that parents must step in and make evaluations with a child, turning the dialogue into a character-building lesson.
This can be done in a variety of ways. Children can learn to opt to take the steps instead of the elevator, to ride their bikes instead of hitching rides in their parent's car. A healthier child will feel more energetic and willing to take successful risks, as opposed to a couch potato who will learn the habit of taking the easy way out in life, Parmenter said.
And when a child does a good job, parents should avoid offering a mere pat on the back. An explanation is due, too.
"Empty praise," as Parmenter calls it, does not help a child to understand why he or she did something right or wrong.
Specific positive reinforcement is a tool Dorothy Aldor has employed in her 40-year career working with children. An instructor at Little People's Place, a Sarasota nursery school, Aldor has watched children's attitudes change throughout the past four decades. When children are given the privilege of being the teacher's helper, or the one who passes out the arts and crafts supplies, they feel a positive sense of authority, Aldor said. It gives them hope that they can excel.
"There is always something you can do to make them feel big and important," she said.
For Rick Smith, this "something" is offering a child a hands-on approach to learning, particularly about the sciences. The teacher at Harllee Middle School in Bradenton believes that children are most empowered when they feel that they are in control of their destiny.
When teachers and parents demonstrate faith in a child's ability to problem-solve, the child learns to trust him or herself, and to formulate opinions. Smith has worked in education for 16 years, and his students have received national-level awards for their environmentally conscious beach clean-up and Reef Ball projects.
"We've got to give kids a vision," Smith said. "We have to give them a chance to say, 'This is what I think.'I make sure they know I'll be here to support them," he said.
Lem Andrews III, a basketball coach at Booker High School in Sarasota and a father of three, said participation in athletics can be an effective way to nurture a child's inner and outer strength.
What children act out on the court often mirrors the rest of their life -- they win some, they lose some, and they have to learn how to handle both end results. Andrews pushes his team to its full potential and avoids harsh criticism of mistakes, always trying to celebrate players' strengths without overlooking their weaknesses.
"You address losses like you do failures in life -- that's what makes you successful and stronger," Andrews said. "If we win the championship and we didn't learn how to be unselfish players, we just won an award."
Cora Taylor, a mother of three and a licensed mental health counselor for adults and children at Crossway Counseling and Learning in Port Charlotte, said self-esteem is like a three-legged stool. The first leg is belonging, the second is feeling worthwhile and the third is feeling capable.
Parents can tackle all aspects by engaging in age-appropriate activities with their children. For children younger than 6, parents can create a corner of the house where it is acceptable to make a mess during creative exercises. Let them finger-paint and do papier mâché without worrying about spilling glue on the furniture.
For children older than 6, parents should make an effort to spend time with their child's friends, to head to museums or beaches, and to sit in the bleachers during Little League games. All of these pro-social behaviors instill a sense of importance in a child.
If a child complains that he or she does not want to go to school on a given day, an incorrect response would be to assert, "Too bad; you're going anyway," Taylor said.
Instead, the parent should ask the child why he or she is hesitating to go, and react to what a child is feeling rather than what he or she says.
Teenagers, in particular, need attention from their parents, even though the youths often claim to want little to do with their parents. This is the time when adolescents are beginning to question everything around them, and endeavoring to find an identity.
"Teenagers, when they are coming into their own, will start challenging all the values Mom and Dad have taught them," Taylor said. "They need to know it's safe to do that."
Last modified: March 18. 2004 7:34AM
taken from the Herald Tribune Archives Southwest Florida
http://www.artificialreefs.org/Articles/Reefballesteem.htm
Read about how a few simple changes in can lead to developing great self esteem in children and help avoid some of the physical woes that can result later on in life due to unresolved emotions.
What does a good person look like?
A magazine cover might suggest a thin model with glossy hair and bright white teeth. A TV commercial might suggest a muscular businessman in a sparkling SUV.
But, for our children, must success and character be defined by possessions rather than personal power, by glamour rather than gold-heartedness?
Parents have to wonder sometimes if they can convince their children that what's inside is what matters, when kids are bombarded with so many superficial, outside factors. Yet hope may be found in strategies such as those in "Character Matters: How to Help Our Children Develop Good Judgment, Integrity, and Other Essential Virtues." Parents and teachers can use advice from the book, by developmental psychologist Thomas Lickona, and pointers from area experts to bolster a child's self-concept and value system.
Lickona believes that the key to success in life is a solid sense of character -- an attribute that appears to be waning, according to the 2002 Report Card on the Ethics of American Youth issued by the Josephson Institute for Ethics in California.
The national survey of thousands of high school students showed that, in the past year, three out of four students admitted to cheating on an exam, about four in 10 said they had stolen something from a store, and about four in 10 said they would lie to get a job.
To combat these behaviors, experts suggest parents adopt a zero-tolerance policy for disrespectful speech and behavior. But do so in a proactive way, cautions Lickona, who also serves as a professor at the State University of New York at Cortland. Teach by example, he says; explain to children why it is wrong to lie and cheat.
Todd Snyder, a licensed mental health counselor with a private practice in Sarasota and a father of two boys, has been working with abused and neglected children for 15 years. Snyder said that now more than ever he notices that children are overwhelmed with pressure, both from the media and from their parents, to be "perfect."
The capitalist, commercially driven culture in which American children grow teaches them to seek external fulfillment, Snyder said. Children consequently end up striving for a superficial identity that is defined by appearances and the accumulation of materials, rather than by inner joy.
To lessen this pressure to be "the best," Snyder suggests parents avoid using such words around their children as "have to," "must" and "should" -- words that create an environment of absolutes and lofty expectations.
Children need to feel they have the ability to shape their reality, and parents do their children a disservice when they undermine their child's personal power.
Pam Parmenter, quality assurance director for Project Childcare in Bradenton, said it is crucial for parents to be present, especially between the ages of 6 and 9 when children have not yet moved from the pre-operational stage of cognitive development into the concrete operational stage. These children still think in pictures, therefore, and cannot fully distinguish between fantasy and reality.
And the violence, sexual content and sarcasm they view on TV screens do not register as fictional, or even as good or bad; it's at this point that parents must step in and make evaluations with a child, turning the dialogue into a character-building lesson.
This can be done in a variety of ways. Children can learn to opt to take the steps instead of the elevator, to ride their bikes instead of hitching rides in their parent's car. A healthier child will feel more energetic and willing to take successful risks, as opposed to a couch potato who will learn the habit of taking the easy way out in life, Parmenter said.
And when a child does a good job, parents should avoid offering a mere pat on the back. An explanation is due, too.
"Empty praise," as Parmenter calls it, does not help a child to understand why he or she did something right or wrong.
Specific positive reinforcement is a tool Dorothy Aldor has employed in her 40-year career working with children. An instructor at Little People's Place, a Sarasota nursery school, Aldor has watched children's attitudes change throughout the past four decades. When children are given the privilege of being the teacher's helper, or the one who passes out the arts and crafts supplies, they feel a positive sense of authority, Aldor said. It gives them hope that they can excel.
"There is always something you can do to make them feel big and important," she said.
For Rick Smith, this "something" is offering a child a hands-on approach to learning, particularly about the sciences. The teacher at Harllee Middle School in Bradenton believes that children are most empowered when they feel that they are in control of their destiny.
When teachers and parents demonstrate faith in a child's ability to problem-solve, the child learns to trust him or herself, and to formulate opinions. Smith has worked in education for 16 years, and his students have received national-level awards for their environmentally conscious beach clean-up and Reef Ball projects.
"We've got to give kids a vision," Smith said. "We have to give them a chance to say, 'This is what I think.'I make sure they know I'll be here to support them," he said.
Lem Andrews III, a basketball coach at Booker High School in Sarasota and a father of three, said participation in athletics can be an effective way to nurture a child's inner and outer strength.
What children act out on the court often mirrors the rest of their life -- they win some, they lose some, and they have to learn how to handle both end results. Andrews pushes his team to its full potential and avoids harsh criticism of mistakes, always trying to celebrate players' strengths without overlooking their weaknesses.
"You address losses like you do failures in life -- that's what makes you successful and stronger," Andrews said. "If we win the championship and we didn't learn how to be unselfish players, we just won an award."
Cora Taylor, a mother of three and a licensed mental health counselor for adults and children at Crossway Counseling and Learning in Port Charlotte, said self-esteem is like a three-legged stool. The first leg is belonging, the second is feeling worthwhile and the third is feeling capable.
Parents can tackle all aspects by engaging in age-appropriate activities with their children. For children younger than 6, parents can create a corner of the house where it is acceptable to make a mess during creative exercises. Let them finger-paint and do papier mâché without worrying about spilling glue on the furniture.
For children older than 6, parents should make an effort to spend time with their child's friends, to head to museums or beaches, and to sit in the bleachers during Little League games. All of these pro-social behaviors instill a sense of importance in a child.
If a child complains that he or she does not want to go to school on a given day, an incorrect response would be to assert, "Too bad; you're going anyway," Taylor said.
Instead, the parent should ask the child why he or she is hesitating to go, and react to what a child is feeling rather than what he or she says.
Teenagers, in particular, need attention from their parents, even though the youths often claim to want little to do with their parents. This is the time when adolescents are beginning to question everything around them, and endeavoring to find an identity.
"Teenagers, when they are coming into their own, will start challenging all the values Mom and Dad have taught them," Taylor said. "They need to know it's safe to do that."
Last modified: March 18. 2004 7:34AM
taken from the Herald Tribune Archives Southwest Florida
http://www.artificialreefs.org/Articles/Reefballesteem.htm
Monday, June 16, 2008
Coffee and Stress
Coffee Beans May Be Newest Stress-Buster By Ed Edelson, HealthDay Reporter - Fri Jun 13, 8:47 PM PDT
Provided by: HealthDay
96% of users found this article helpful.
- FRIDAY, June 13 (HealthDay News) -- Just sniffing that first hot cup of coffee in the morning may help ease some stresses you might be feeling, a South Korean trial indicates.
When rats inhaled the aroma of roasted coffee beans, a number of genes were activated, including some that produce proteins with healthful antioxidant activity, the researchers reported.
"The meaning of it is not totally clear yet," said Dr. Peter R. Martin, director of the Institute of Coffee Studies at Vanderbilt University. "What it does show is that coffee smells do change the brain to some degree, and it behooves us to understand why that is happening."
The findings, from a team led by Han-Seok Seo at Seoul National University in South Korea, were expected to be published in the June 25 issue of the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.
The experiment was done with laboratory rats, some of whom were stressed by being deprived of sleep. The researchers did detailed genetic studies that showed the activity of 11 genes was increased and the activity of two genes was decreased in the rats that smelled the coffee, compared to those who did not. In effect, the aroma of the coffee beans helped ease the stress of the sleep-deprived rodents.
The experiment provides "for the first time, clues to the potential antioxidant or stress-relaxation activities of the coffee bean aroma," the researchers wrote.
And they added, "These results indirectly explain why so many people use coffee for staying up all night, although the volatile compounds of coffee beans are not fully consistent with those of the coffee extracts. In other words, the stress caused by sleep loss via caffeine may be alleviated through smelling the coffee aroma."
"They used the latest in technology to see how brain expression of RNA changed," Martin said. RNA is the molecule that carries out the instructions encoded in genes. "This is just the beginning of a very interesting line of investigation," he added.
The aromatic compounds responsible for coffee's odor may be antioxidants, "but they are not the same as the major antioxidants that are in the drink," said Joe A. Vinson, a chemistry professor at the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania.
Chemically, the antioxidants in liquid coffee are polyphenols, Vinson said. Those in the aroma are heterocycle compounds containing sulfur or nitrogen atoms.
"There are two ways to get things into your system, and the quickest way is to smell them," Vinson said. "Caffeine gets into the brain via the blood stream. Here, aromatic molecules get into the brain through the olfactory system. The levels in the air are parts per million, so obviously these are minor components in the air. But they are doing something."
Previous studies have shown that coffee consumption can reduce depression and suicide risk, as well as relieve stress, effects generally attributed to the caffeine in coffee, the researchers noted. But while some 900 compounds that float away from the bean have been identified, this is the first study to assay their possible effects, they added.
It's too early to recommend that people feeling stress sniff coffee to ease their way, Martin said. But, he added, "people who don't even drink coffee are fascinated by the odor of it. Ever since my little boy was two years old, he has loved the odor of coffee. I have always thought that coffee has some mystic quality, and there is some deep historical basis for it."
More information
The latest on coffee health research is available from the Coffee Science Information Centre.
Provided by: HealthDay
96% of users found this article helpful.
- FRIDAY, June 13 (HealthDay News) -- Just sniffing that first hot cup of coffee in the morning may help ease some stresses you might be feeling, a South Korean trial indicates.
When rats inhaled the aroma of roasted coffee beans, a number of genes were activated, including some that produce proteins with healthful antioxidant activity, the researchers reported.
"The meaning of it is not totally clear yet," said Dr. Peter R. Martin, director of the Institute of Coffee Studies at Vanderbilt University. "What it does show is that coffee smells do change the brain to some degree, and it behooves us to understand why that is happening."
The findings, from a team led by Han-Seok Seo at Seoul National University in South Korea, were expected to be published in the June 25 issue of the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.
The experiment was done with laboratory rats, some of whom were stressed by being deprived of sleep. The researchers did detailed genetic studies that showed the activity of 11 genes was increased and the activity of two genes was decreased in the rats that smelled the coffee, compared to those who did not. In effect, the aroma of the coffee beans helped ease the stress of the sleep-deprived rodents.
The experiment provides "for the first time, clues to the potential antioxidant or stress-relaxation activities of the coffee bean aroma," the researchers wrote.
And they added, "These results indirectly explain why so many people use coffee for staying up all night, although the volatile compounds of coffee beans are not fully consistent with those of the coffee extracts. In other words, the stress caused by sleep loss via caffeine may be alleviated through smelling the coffee aroma."
"They used the latest in technology to see how brain expression of RNA changed," Martin said. RNA is the molecule that carries out the instructions encoded in genes. "This is just the beginning of a very interesting line of investigation," he added.
The aromatic compounds responsible for coffee's odor may be antioxidants, "but they are not the same as the major antioxidants that are in the drink," said Joe A. Vinson, a chemistry professor at the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania.
Chemically, the antioxidants in liquid coffee are polyphenols, Vinson said. Those in the aroma are heterocycle compounds containing sulfur or nitrogen atoms.
"There are two ways to get things into your system, and the quickest way is to smell them," Vinson said. "Caffeine gets into the brain via the blood stream. Here, aromatic molecules get into the brain through the olfactory system. The levels in the air are parts per million, so obviously these are minor components in the air. But they are doing something."
Previous studies have shown that coffee consumption can reduce depression and suicide risk, as well as relieve stress, effects generally attributed to the caffeine in coffee, the researchers noted. But while some 900 compounds that float away from the bean have been identified, this is the first study to assay their possible effects, they added.
It's too early to recommend that people feeling stress sniff coffee to ease their way, Martin said. But, he added, "people who don't even drink coffee are fascinated by the odor of it. Ever since my little boy was two years old, he has loved the odor of coffee. I have always thought that coffee has some mystic quality, and there is some deep historical basis for it."
More information
The latest on coffee health research is available from the Coffee Science Information Centre.
Monday, June 9, 2008
Sleep Does Wonders for Your Body
Sleep: A Necessity, Not a Luxury By Dennis Thompson, HealthDay Reporter - Sun Jun 8, 8:49 PM PDT
Provided by: HealthDay
95% of users found this article helpful.
- SUNDAY, June 8 (HealthDay News) -- The pace of life gets faster and faster, and people try to cram more and more into every minute of the day.
As things get more hectic, sleep tends to get short shrift. It's seen as wasted time, lost forever.
"For healthy people, there's a big temptation to voluntarily restrict sleep, to stay up an hour or two or get up an hour or two earlier," said Dr. Greg Belenky, director of the Sleep and Performance Research Center at Washington State University Spokane.
"But you're really reducing your productivity and exposing yourself to risk," Belenky added.
That's a message doctors are trying to spread to Americans, including the estimated 40 million people who struggle with some type of sleep disorder each year.
Before Thomas Edison invented the light bulb in 1880, people slept an average of 10 hours a night. These days, Americans average 6.9 hours of sleep on weeknights and 7.5 hours a night on weekends, according to the National Sleep Foundation.
"The group of people getting optimal sleep is getting smaller and smaller," said Dr. Chris Drake, senior scientist at the Henry Ford Hospital Sleep Disorders and Research Center in Detroit. "When a person's sleep drops to six hours or less, that's when a lot of things become very problematic."
While experts recommend seven to eight hours of sleep each night, the amount needed for an individual can vary.
But lack of sleep affects a person in one of two ways, Belenky said. First, sleeplessness influences the day-to-day performance of tasks.
"The performance effects are seen immediately," he said. "You short-change yourself of sleep, and you see the effects immediately. You can make a bad decision. You can miss something. Have a moment's inattention, and you're off the road."
The longer-term effects of sleep deprivation involve a person's health. Doctors have linked lack of sleep to weight gain, diabetes, high blood pressure, heart problems, depression and substance abuse.
"Hormones that process appetite begin to get disorganized," said Drake, who's also an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral neuroscience at the Wayne State University School of Medicine. There's a decrease in the amount of leptin, an appetite-suppressing hormone, when a person gets too little sleep. At the same time, ghrelin -- a hormone that stimulates appetite -- increases with a lack of sleep.
Too little sleep also interferes with the body's ability to regulate glucose and can cause inflammation leading to heart problems and a rise in blood pressure. "There's a stress response to being in a sleep loss," Belenky said.
The types of people not getting enough sleep also break down into two groups. First, there are those who make the conscious choice to go without enough sleep.
"It's sort of part of the culture," Belenky said. "People pride themselves on getting little sleep. You'll hear people bragging, 'I only need six hours a night.' So there's a macho element here."
On the other hand, there are people who are suffering from sleep disorders. These disorders include:
* Insomnia, an inability to go to sleep or stay asleep.
* Sleep apnea, or breathing interruptions during sleep that cause people to wake up repeatedly.
* Restless legs syndrome, a tingling or prickly sensation in the legs that causes a person to need to move them, interrupting sleep.
Someone suffering from any of these problems should visit their doctor or see a sleep specialist, Belenky said.
Sleep apnea, the most prevalent sleep disorder, can have particularly serious long-term effects if left untreated. "You're waking up out of sleep to breathe. You can't sleep and breathe at the same time," Drake said. "It's a risk factor for developing major cardiovascular health effects."
Some people who have trouble sleeping will resort to mild sedatives like Ambien and Lunesta.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently asked the makers of these sedative-hypnotic drugs to strengthen their warning labels. This action followed reports of dangerous allergic reactions, as well as a host of bizarre behavioral side effects that include sleep-driving, making phone calls, and preparing and eating food or having sex while asleep.
Drake and Belenky both consider sleeping pills to be fine for the short term if taken properly.
"Sleeping pills are a temporary solution," Belenky said. "If you're upset about something or have situational insomnia, or you're trying to sleep at the wrong time of day because you've traveled across time zones, they are effective."
But, both doctors noted the pills will do nothing to help a chronic sleep problem. "They don't address the pathology of their sleeplessness," Drake said.
The U.S. National Institutes of Health offers these tips for getting a good night's sleep:
* Stick to a regular sleep schedule.
* Avoid exercising closer than five or six hours before bedtime.
* Avoid caffeine, nicotine and alcohol before bed.
* Avoid large meals and beverages late at night.
* Don't take naps after 3 p.m.
* Relax before bed, taking time to unwind with a hot bath, a good book or soothing music.
* If you're still awake after more than 20 minutes in bed, get up and do something relaxing until you feel sleepy. Anxiety over not being able to sleep can make it harder to fall asleep.
More information
To learn more, visit the National Sleep Foundation.
http://health.yahoo.com/news/healthday/sleepanecessitynotaluxury.html
Provided by: HealthDay
95% of users found this article helpful.
- SUNDAY, June 8 (HealthDay News) -- The pace of life gets faster and faster, and people try to cram more and more into every minute of the day.
As things get more hectic, sleep tends to get short shrift. It's seen as wasted time, lost forever.
"For healthy people, there's a big temptation to voluntarily restrict sleep, to stay up an hour or two or get up an hour or two earlier," said Dr. Greg Belenky, director of the Sleep and Performance Research Center at Washington State University Spokane.
"But you're really reducing your productivity and exposing yourself to risk," Belenky added.
That's a message doctors are trying to spread to Americans, including the estimated 40 million people who struggle with some type of sleep disorder each year.
Before Thomas Edison invented the light bulb in 1880, people slept an average of 10 hours a night. These days, Americans average 6.9 hours of sleep on weeknights and 7.5 hours a night on weekends, according to the National Sleep Foundation.
"The group of people getting optimal sleep is getting smaller and smaller," said Dr. Chris Drake, senior scientist at the Henry Ford Hospital Sleep Disorders and Research Center in Detroit. "When a person's sleep drops to six hours or less, that's when a lot of things become very problematic."
While experts recommend seven to eight hours of sleep each night, the amount needed for an individual can vary.
But lack of sleep affects a person in one of two ways, Belenky said. First, sleeplessness influences the day-to-day performance of tasks.
"The performance effects are seen immediately," he said. "You short-change yourself of sleep, and you see the effects immediately. You can make a bad decision. You can miss something. Have a moment's inattention, and you're off the road."
The longer-term effects of sleep deprivation involve a person's health. Doctors have linked lack of sleep to weight gain, diabetes, high blood pressure, heart problems, depression and substance abuse.
"Hormones that process appetite begin to get disorganized," said Drake, who's also an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral neuroscience at the Wayne State University School of Medicine. There's a decrease in the amount of leptin, an appetite-suppressing hormone, when a person gets too little sleep. At the same time, ghrelin -- a hormone that stimulates appetite -- increases with a lack of sleep.
Too little sleep also interferes with the body's ability to regulate glucose and can cause inflammation leading to heart problems and a rise in blood pressure. "There's a stress response to being in a sleep loss," Belenky said.
The types of people not getting enough sleep also break down into two groups. First, there are those who make the conscious choice to go without enough sleep.
"It's sort of part of the culture," Belenky said. "People pride themselves on getting little sleep. You'll hear people bragging, 'I only need six hours a night.' So there's a macho element here."
On the other hand, there are people who are suffering from sleep disorders. These disorders include:
* Insomnia, an inability to go to sleep or stay asleep.
* Sleep apnea, or breathing interruptions during sleep that cause people to wake up repeatedly.
* Restless legs syndrome, a tingling or prickly sensation in the legs that causes a person to need to move them, interrupting sleep.
Someone suffering from any of these problems should visit their doctor or see a sleep specialist, Belenky said.
Sleep apnea, the most prevalent sleep disorder, can have particularly serious long-term effects if left untreated. "You're waking up out of sleep to breathe. You can't sleep and breathe at the same time," Drake said. "It's a risk factor for developing major cardiovascular health effects."
Some people who have trouble sleeping will resort to mild sedatives like Ambien and Lunesta.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently asked the makers of these sedative-hypnotic drugs to strengthen their warning labels. This action followed reports of dangerous allergic reactions, as well as a host of bizarre behavioral side effects that include sleep-driving, making phone calls, and preparing and eating food or having sex while asleep.
Drake and Belenky both consider sleeping pills to be fine for the short term if taken properly.
"Sleeping pills are a temporary solution," Belenky said. "If you're upset about something or have situational insomnia, or you're trying to sleep at the wrong time of day because you've traveled across time zones, they are effective."
But, both doctors noted the pills will do nothing to help a chronic sleep problem. "They don't address the pathology of their sleeplessness," Drake said.
The U.S. National Institutes of Health offers these tips for getting a good night's sleep:
* Stick to a regular sleep schedule.
* Avoid exercising closer than five or six hours before bedtime.
* Avoid caffeine, nicotine and alcohol before bed.
* Avoid large meals and beverages late at night.
* Don't take naps after 3 p.m.
* Relax before bed, taking time to unwind with a hot bath, a good book or soothing music.
* If you're still awake after more than 20 minutes in bed, get up and do something relaxing until you feel sleepy. Anxiety over not being able to sleep can make it harder to fall asleep.
More information
To learn more, visit the National Sleep Foundation.
http://health.yahoo.com/news/healthday/sleepanecessitynotaluxury.html
Monday, May 26, 2008
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