All Stories Tagged With: "sleep"
9 Ways to Boost Your Immune System and Avoid Being a Victim of the Flu Season
Drugstores and Wallmarts are promoting walk-in flu shots for the “flu season.” The late and early months of each year seem to be when more of us catch colds and come down with the flu. So what measures can you take to ensure you are not sidelined with nagging colds or a debilitating flu episode without turning to dangerous flu shots?
Insomnia Costs $63.2 Billion Annually, Affects 23% of US Workers
Insomnia is often overlooked as an uncommon sleeping disorder with no global consequence. Insomnia is characterized as difficulty falling asleep and remaining asleep. New research from Harvard Medical School is now shedding light on the effects of insomnia.
Sleep is Essential for Academic Success
Sleep is very important, especially for young children who are in school. Researchers from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) say that 3-5 year olds need 11-13 hours of sleep each night, while 5-12 year olds need at least 10-11 hours.
This Bad Habit Increases Your Risk of High Blood Pressure by 80%
Sleep is a precious biological resource affecting everything from mental clarity to fat loss, and new research has found that it may even be associated with your blood pressure.
This Herb Could Be the Solution to Your Sleep Problems
Valerian extract may be the solution you’ve been looking for in order to get a quality night’s sleep. A recent study evaluated the effects of valerian extract on postmenopausal women and found that this herb provided great benefits for the ability to sleep at night.
10 Eating Habits that Will Make You Fat
Eating fat won’t make you fat, but any one of these 10 bad eating habits may be contributing to your growing waistline. Many of these you may not even notice you are doing!
7 Reasons You May be Waking Up Tired
You should wake up feeling refreshed with a clear mental focus and peak physical comfort. When you are sleeping for 7 or 8 hours and you still don’t feel refreshed in the morning, there is something to be concerned about.
Incomplete Sleep Habits Harm Memory Function
According to a study on mice conducted by Stanford University, disrupting sleep made it harder for mice to recognize familair objects. Sleeping in fragments, as opposed to a full night’s rest, affects the brain’s ability to build memories.
Sometimes Sleeping on the Job May Be a Good Thing
Top U.S. officials who have taken a hard line against air traffic controllers napping on the job are missing an opportunity to improve air safety, sleep experts say. Studies have shown that short “power naps” have a rejuvenating effect, improving reaction time and critical thinking for people impaired by drowsiness, said Dr. Alon Avidan, associate professor of neurology and associate director of the sleep disorders program at the University of California, Los Angeles.
9 Tips to Fall Asleep Faster
Having trouble falling asleep at night? ABC News spoke with Michael Breus, a clinical psychologist and author of “The Sleep Doctor’s Diet Plan,” for these suggestions: Breus said the most common reason people have trouble falling asleep is that they cannot turnoff their mind. Breus uses a variety of distraction techniques, one of them is telling people to count backwards from 300 by 3s.
One More Way Plants Help Human Health
A tiny plant called Arabidopsis thaliana just helped scientists unearth new clues about the daily cycles of many organisms, including humans. This is the latest in a long line of research, much of it supported by the National Institutes of Health, that uses plants to solve puzzles in human health.
Emotional Abuse in Childhood May Disrupt Sleep Decades Later
Emotional abuse in childhood can lead to sleep disruption in old age, a new study finds. In analyzing nearly 900 adults aged 60 and older, researchers found that seniors who were emotionally abused by their parents decades earlier were at greater risk for poor sleep quality years later. “A negative early attachment continues to exert an influence on our well-being decades later through an accumulation of stressful interpersonal experiences across our lives,” study author Cecilia Y. M. Poon, said in a news release from the Gerontological Society of America.
Lack of Sleep ‘Kills a Man’s Sex Drive’, Study Concludes
A study has found that men with poor sleep patterns have significantly lower levels of testosterone, which results in a lack of sex drive. Experts say that reduced levels of the hormone can bring a host of other negative consequences for young men, including reduced libido and poor reproduction. They can fail to build enough strength through muscle mass and bone density, leading to low energy levels, poor concentration and fatigue.
Poor Sleep Tied to Incontinence, Impotence
Sleep problems are associated with erectile dysfunction and urologic conditions such as incontinence, according to the results of two new studies. The first study examined the relationship between obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and erectile dysfunction. OSA is a disorder that occurs during sleep, in which a person’s upper airway temporarily collapses, causing them to stop breathing. The study included 870 men with an average age of 47.3 years and an average body mass index of 30.2, which is considered obese.
Which Sleep Position is Healthiest?
Your preferred p.m. pose could be giving you back and neck pain, tummy troubles, even premature wrinkles. Here are the best positions for your body — plus the one you may want to avoid. The Best: Back position Good for: Preventing neck and back pain, reducing acid reflux, minimizing wrinkles, maintaining perky breasts. Bad for: Snoring The scoop: Sleeping on your back makes it easy for your head, neck, and spine to maintain a neutral position.
Why Women Wake Before Men
Differences between males and females abound, of course — but some are found in the oddest places. New research has found that women tend to have shorter, earlier sleep cycles then men. This makes women typically go to bed earlier and get up earlier in the morning. It could also cause women’s higher rates of insomnia and seasonal depression. “This has implications for how easily they can fall asleep and how well they can stay asleep,” said study researcher Jeanne Duffy of Harvard Medical School.
Lack of Sleep is a Risk Factor for Colon Cancer
An inadequate amount of sleep has been associated with many ailments, including obesity, heart disease, and diabetes. Now colon cancer can also be added to the list. A study found that people who average less than six hours of sleep per night had an almost 50 percent increase in the risk of colorectal adenomas. Adenomas are precursors to cancer tumors that can turn malignant if left untreated.
Poor Sleep Might Worsen Diabetes
People with diabetes who sleep poorly have higher blood glucose levels and a more difficult time controlling their disease, a new study shows. Researchers compared 40 people with type 2 diabetes to 531 people without the blood sugar disease. The investigators looked at potential links between sleep quality, blood glucose levels and other measures of diabetes control. “We found that in those with diabetes, there was an association between poor sleep quality and worse glucose measures,” said study leader Kristen Knutson.
Too Much or too Little Sleep May Accelerate Cognitive Aging, Study Shows
A study in the May 1 issue of the journal Sleep describes how changes in sleep that occur over a five-year period in late middle age affect cognitive function in later life. The findings suggest that women and men who begin sleeping more or less than 6 to 8 hours per night are subject to an accelerated cognitive decline that is equivalent to four to seven years of aging. Results show that the sleep duration at follow-up of 7.4 percent of women and 8.6 percent of men had increased from “7 or 8 hours” per weeknight at baseline.
Less-Than-Optimal Sleep May ‘Age’ the Brain
For middle-aged adults, sleeping less than six or more than eight hours a night is associated with a decline in brain function, British researchers contend. The magnitude of that mental decline is equal to being four to seven years older, the researchers said. “There is an expectation in today’s 24-hour-a-day society that people should be able to fit more into their lives,” said study author Jane Ferrie, a senior research fellow in the department of epidemiology and public health at University College London Medical School.
