OTC Sleep Aids May Affect Driving

A news study revealed that the danger by a person taking medication for anxiety depression and insomnia is equal to the danger that an alcohol impaired driver imposes while on the road.

Considering that such drugs change brain functioning and could impair a patient’s driving ability, researchers from Taiwan encourage physicians to advise their patients not to drive while taking medications like OTC sleep aids. 

In his own words which were quoted below, the lead researcher, Hui-Ju Tsai of the National Health Research Institutes in Zhunan said:

"Our findings underscore that people taking these psychotropic drugs should pay increased attention to their driving performance in order to prevent motor vehicle accidents,"

The researchers came up to the result of the study upon participating approximately 5,200 people involved in fatal car accidents and then compared their drug use with that of more than 31,000 people with no record of any severe traffic accidents.

The said study that was published in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology last September 13, suggested that those people involved in car accidents were more likely to have been taking psychotropic drugs for any span of time.

Incidentally, based on previous research, there was a link found between certain drugs used to treat anxiety and insomnia, known as benzodiazepines and car crashes. Other than that, the researchers also inspected the effects of anti-depressants, anti-psychotics and latest medications used to treat insomnia, known as Z-drugs.

It could be remembered that almost a couple of months ago, the estranged wife of New York governor, Andrew Kuono and daughter of Senator Robert F. Kennedy, Kerry Kennedy was involved in a car accident that led to her arrest. Accordingly, the incident was blamed to sleeping pill which Kennedy probably mistakenly taken instead of her daily thyroid pill.

Going back to the said study, the researchers further claimed that the link between benzodiazephines and car accidents was also found to both Z-drugs and anti-depressants. They also pointed out that, however, even high doses of antipsychotics were not directly associated with an increased risk of serious car accidents.

Furthermore, Tsai stated in the journal’s news release that physicians and pharmacists should prefer safer treatments and natural sleep remedies, give their patients with accurate information and advise them not to drive while taking certain psychotropic medications.

Moreover, the study found out that the higher the dosage of the psychotropic drugs, the higher the patients’ accident risk increases.

Meanwhile, the researchers claimed that patients should not be refrained from taking their medication. They just have to consult their doctors if they are concerned about the increased risk of car accidents.

Although the recent study revealed a link between psychotropic medication and car accidents it does not impose a cause-and-effect relationship, reminded by the researchers.

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Experts Reveal 4 Foods to Avoid Before Bed Time

Everyone loves to eat or have a mid night snack before going to sleep. However, research revealed that mid-night dining can have a negative effect on our sleep. Provided that there are some foods that aid us to get to sleep, there are also foods that should be avoided before going to bed.

Experts provided 4 foods that we should avoid before bed time:

Pasta

Although it is easy to prepare a bowl of pasta, it is not the best food to eat before bed time. According to experts, pasta is full of carbohydrates. Therefore, if we go the sleep right after eating pasta, carbohydrates will be turned into fat. Other than that, its other ingredients like oil, cheese, and tomato juice is another source of fat. In addition to that, pasta contains glycemic index which contains high-sugar level. High amount of sugar affects the blood-sugar levels in the body that may cause sleep disruption.

Ice Cream

A scoop of ice cream before bed time might be the most delicious treat. However, its effect into our body is not as soothing as its taste. Ice cream has a high content of fat. Eating a scoop of ice cream before bed time will allow the body to burn all the fat before you sleep while its sugar content will give us an energy boost which will make us awake all night. Worst of all is that some research studies show a link between eating food with high-sugar content and nightmares.

Pizza

If you prefer to stay awake all night, then have a slice of some greasy pizza. Pizza is actually a heavy meal. Just a slice of pizza can make your stomach to go into overdrive. Moreover, its tomato sauce contains a high concentration of acidity which can cause acid reflux and heartburn. High-fat and acid content foods will make you active and awake all night. 

Alcohol

It is no longer surprising to know that drinking alcoholic beverages will do no good to your sleep. It is true that alcohol can somewhat send people to sleep, but its sleeping effect does not last for so long. Studies show that alcohol interrupts the restorative process of our body while we sleep which can cause several wake-up calls. Furthermore, those people who drink alcohol to send them to sleep tend to develop an alcohol dependency which may eventually cause serious addiction problem. Experts suggest that rather than drinking alcohol, it is best to go after healthy sleeping aids to help us fall asleep.

Experts further claimed that if you want to ensure a complete and undisrupted sleep, avoid the above-said foods before going to bed.

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Study Found Link between Children Snoring and Behavioral Problems

A new study found out that those children who persistently snore during their early childhood may be more possibly to have behavioral problems like aggression and hyperactivity.

In a recent study, the researchers include 249 pairs of mother and child and found that those children who snored at age of 2 to 3 were mostly 3.5 times more possibly to have signs of behavioral problems when compared with those who did not snore at the said age or those who only snored during any of those years. Among the kids who snored at both ages, 35 percent of which showed signs of behavioral problem while only 10 percent of those who do not snore and 12 percent in kids who only snored for a year, showed such signs of behavioral issues.

The said findings revealed the importance of getting a good night sleep according to the researchers.

The study’s lead author, Dean Beebe said that he and his team are aware that if naps are taken away from preschoolers and then give them challenging tasks, they become grumpier. Beebe is the director of the neuropsychology program at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.

The researchers tracked down the history of children beginning during the pregnancy of their mother until they were 3 years old. The researchers conducted interviews with mothers every several months to get knowledge of their children’s sleeping patterns and other activities. Also, the researchers met with the children every to evaluate levels of behavioral issues in a face-to-face setting.

The findings come after the previous work showing a link between snoring and behavioral issues especially when the snoring is constant.

Snoring imposes health problems. A person who snores could probably mean that the person is having difficulty in breathing during sleep. Such difficulties could be the result of anything from a cold or allergies or enlarged adenoid glands. In each of the said cases, snoring causes problems through distracting sleep, restricting oxygen and requiring more effort to breathe.

Beebe further implies in his statement that what we see in cartoons wherein snoring signifies sleep is opposite from the reality.

In cases of cold, snoring is not problematic if it only occurs in a short span of time. It only becomes problematic if it becomes consistent over months or years since it can affect a child’s mod and brain as well.

Incidentally, children who do not get a good sleep will not be as easygoing as the other children, and will be more possibly to have behavioral issues because of this grumpiness. Consequently, adults will come to expect aggressiveness from the child and may treat him or her in a different manner.

Coming from a neurologists’ point of view, lack of proper sleep inhibits the growth of pathways between brain neurons.

Beeber explained that the brain constantly remodels through early childhood, with link being strengthened being and weakened.

Addressing the problem regarding the underlying cause of snoring can help to reverse said effects. Unfortunately, parents don’t realize the problems with snoring. Therefore, the condition often goes untreated.

In children with conditions and other related sleeping problems, doctors encouraged parents to buy natural sleeping supplement for safety concerns.

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Guides on how to get a good night’s sleep

The increasing rate of people who suffer some sort of sleeping difficulty is much more rampant now than it was approximately ten years ago. People are so busy nowadays. There are bills to pay, deadlines to meet, a demand in your social circles. Juggling all those tasks is not easy and time is always short. The solution that most people think of is to have shortened sleeping time, thus endangering their health in the process.

It is a well-known fact that sleep is one of the body’s coping mechanisms, and it is the process of restoring energy. A night of good sleep can do a lot of wonders. Certain studies show that sleeping well during the night can not only make you perform well but also gives you a positive disposition. People who get eight hours of sleep are lesser prone to heart ailments such as stroke. Sleep deprivation can lead to serious heath issues. As much as possible, get as much sleep as you can. But be careful not to oversleep. Oversleeping does not make up for lost sleep. What is lost can never be regained. Oversleeping will only wear you down instead of giving you a perk-up.

Good sleeping habits are essential in your over-all health. So do not take it for granted and try to do these things to have long and sound sleep:

The right thing to do in order to have a good night’s sleep is to establish a sleeping pattern. Be sure you sleep at the exact time you need to every night. Eight hours of sleep is ideal, but if you really find it hard to do so, seven or six will do. But make sure to follow this pattern and you’re on your way to having a good sleep.

It is also advisable to stay off any kind of beverages that include caffeine. Coffee, sodas, and energy drinks are not necessary if you had substantial amount of sleep.

Eating the right kind of food also makes a lot of difference. Replace your diet of fast food gourmet to more natural fruits and vegetables that will go well in your plan of having a natural aid to sleep. (Some of these aids are available in the nearest drug store too if you want to take them.)

Exercise helps a lot too. It increases blood circulation and can help you have a well-rounded lifestyle. By the end of the day, you will have a good reason to go to sleep.

All of these tips will go to waste, however, if you do not find it in yourself to make it work. It is easy to find excuses such as being busy and does not have enough time. Being a well-rounded individual starts form having a good night’s sleep.

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Sleep Deprivation Blamed for Pilot’s March Rant

The pilot of a JetBlue airline who went on a frightening in-flight rant way back in March, causing the flight to be diverted, was having a “brief psychotic disorder” brought by sleep deprivation. A psychologist was called at the hearing to testify. The psychologist’s testimony that was given last week was shown in court papers released today.

Witnesses said that the JetBlue pilot, Clayton Osbon, 49, was flying a New York to Las Vegas jet liner on  March 27 when the jet went on a rampage in the cabin, raving about the Sept. 11, 2001, creating allusions to terrorists and yelling, “Guys, push it to full throttle”.

According to a criminal complaint, Osbon also yelled jumbled comments about Jesus, September 11, Iraq, Iran and terrorists. The plane was carrying 131 passengers and six crew members.

One passenger told news reporters that the captain went crazy, came of the other end of the plane, ran back to the cockpit, shouted out numbers and then started banging on the cockpit door.

Fortunately, a passenger with knowledge about operating jet subdued Osbon. Therefore, the flight was diverted safely to Amarillo, Texas. Consequently, Osbon was suspended from his duties and charged with interfering with flight crew instructions.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office did not argue the psychologist’s testimony on July 3 and a federal judge in Texas found Osbon and a federal judge in Texas found Osbon not guilty due to a reason of insanity.

The U.S. District Judge Mary Lous Robinson said that Osbon seems to suffer from a severe mental disease of defect that weakened his ability to appreciate the nature, quality or wrongfulness of his behavior.

Osbon was subsequently sent to a mental health facility in Fort Worth for further treatment.

During the investigation following the incident, authorities found out that large numbers of pilots have reported for duty every day after having only a few hours of what fatigue experts referred to as “destructive sleep” in crowded crew lounges and often called “crash pads”.

Many critics and even authorities claimed that prevalent pilot fatigue is putting airline passengers at risk and may already have claimed lives.

On the other hand, the airline claimed that it continues to comply with the modified rules established by the Federal Aviation Administration in December that require a 10-hour rest period for pilots between flights and 30 consecutive hours off within a week.

A spokesperson from the JetBlue said that Osbon was still employed at the airlines on an inactive status. On August, Osbon is expected to have another hearing. A judge will determine whether he can be permanently released of admitted to a facility.

Although, sleep deprivation can be treated with natural sleep remedies, fatigue cannot be resolved by such aids. Therefore, pilot’s fatigue should be given with proper attention.


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Sleep Disorders and Its Causes

Sleep disorders are disturbances of a person’s sleep cycle or the quality of sleep. Based on statistics, approximately 40 million Americans are believed to suffer from chronic sleep disorders, with millions more affected on an occasional manner. Doctors have defined more than 70 different types of sleep disorders.

Below are some of the most common sleep disorders and its definition.

Insomnia – it is the sense of poor quality sleep, including the inability to fall asleep or stay asleep. Since people differ in their required amount of sleep, there are no fixed standard that define insomnia. Insomnia is very common among Americans and in fact, it occurs in 30 percent t 50 percent of the general population. Nearly 10 percent of the population may suffer from chronic (long standing) insomnia.

Sleep apnea – it is characterized by a reduction or pause of breathing during sleep. Central Sleep apnea occurs when the brain failed to send signal to the muscles to breath. As a result of which, no muscular effort to take a breath occurs.

Moreover, in obstructive sleep apnea, the brain sends the signal to the muscles but although the muscles make an effort to take a breath, the process becomes unsuccessful because of the airway that becomes obstructed and prevents an adequate flow of air.  Meanwhile, in mixed sleep apnea, it is when both central sleep apnea and obstructive sleep apnea take place.

Restless leg syndrome – it is also referred to as nocturnal myoclonus. It is characterized by uncomfortable sensations in the legs and an uncontrollable desire to move the legs. The abnormal sensation commonly occurs in the lower legs shortly after going to bed and during the early stages of sleep, these series of leg movement often last up to an hour. The abnormal sensations brought by the RLS are quite inconsistent. Sensations are in fact described as crawling, creeping, pulling, drawing, tingling, pins and needles or prickly discomfort. However, cramping is not included in its character.

Narcolepsy – it is a disease of the central nervous system that eventually resulted uniformly in excessive daytime sleepiness. The disease is characterized by loss of muscle tone called cataplexy, distorted perceptions called hypnagogic hallucination and the inability to move ot talk called sleep paralysis. Other symptoms of narcolepsy include disturbed sleep and automatic behaviors. Unfortunately, the affected person carries out certain actions without their consciousness. All of the said symptoms of the disease may be present in various combinations and degrees of severity.

Some sleep disorders can be treated with natural sleep remedies. However, in severe cases, it is strongly recommended to seek medical attention from professionals to give you the right prescription. 

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Smoking and Head Injury Linked to Rare Sleep Disorder

According to a research published in the June 27, 2012 online issue of Neurology, smoking, head injury, pesticide exposure, farming and lack of education may be risk factors for a rar sleep disorder that results to kicking or punching of a person during sleep. Neurology is the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

People with a sleep behavior disorder called REM do not have the usual lack of muscle tone that takes place during rapid eye movement or REM sleep, enabling them to act out their dreams. Sometimes, the movement can be violent, causing injury to the person itself or to their bed partner. The disorder is approximately to occur in 0.5 percent of adults.

The study’s author, Ronald B. Postuma, MD, MSc, said that until present, he and his co-researchers do not know much about the risk factors for the disorder, except the fact that the disorder is more common in men and in older adults. Postuma is with the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) in Montreal and a member of the American Academy of Neurology. Postuma further claimed that since it is a rare disorder, it was difficult to gather information about enough patients for a full study. In fact, Postuma and his team worked with 13 institutions in 10 countries to get a completely analyse the disorder.

The disorder can likewise be a forerunner to neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s disease and a kind of dementia. Studies have revealed that more than 50 percent of people with REM sleep behavior disorder continue to develop a neurodegenerative disorder after several years and even decades.

Due to the said correlation, the researchers claimed that they wanted to further investigate to determine whether the risk factors for REM sleep behavior disorder were similar to those for Parkinson’s disease or dementia.

The results were mixed. While smoking has found to be a shielding factor for Parkinson’s disease, people who smoked were found to be more possibly to develop REM sleep behavior disorder. Meanwhile, exposure to pesticide is a risk factor for both disorders. Studies have presented that people who drink caffeinated drinks are less possibly to develop Parkinson’s disease. However, the study found no relationship between drinking coffee and REM sleep behavior disorder.

The study includes 347 people with REM sleep behavior disorder and another 347 people who did not have the disorder. 218 of which had other sleep disorders and some 129 had no sleep disorders.

Those participants with REM sleep behavior disorder were 43 percent more possibly to be smokers, with 64 percent of those with the disorder having ever smoked, compared to 56 percent of those without the disorder. Participants were 59 percent more possibly to have had a head injury with loss of consciousness from the past, 67 percent were more possibly to have worked as farmers and more than twice as possibly to have been exposed to pesticides through work. Also, those with the disorder had lesser years of education, with an average 11.1 years, compared to 12.7 years for those without the disorder.

In such circumstances of rare sleep disorder, natural sleep remedies seems to be far impossible to resolve the problem. Further studies are definitely needed for the treatment of such disorder.

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Does Sleep Deprivation Really Impose Cancer Risk?

Having cancer is a probably the worst thing that may ever happen to one’s life even if the disease was diagnosed at its early stage and treatable. For the time being, discovering treatment for the disease are still underway.

Surprisingly, several experts speculated that there have been connections made between sleep and cancer.  

There is no doubt that getting the right amount of sleep is beneficial for both healthy people and those who are fighting against cancer. However, there is firm evidence that people who sleep less than six hours a night could be more possibly to have dangerous polyps in their colon or rectum compared to those who are well-rested. In a study published by the journal, Cancer last October, it showed that there was a link found between sleep duration and risk of polyps, which are directly associated with the risk of colon cancer.

Polyps is the abnormal growths detected through a colonoscopy. It can develop and become cancerous tumors. In fact, it exactly happens in about 10 percent of most cases.

According to the National Cancer Institute, this year, more than 140,000 Americans was foreseen to be diagnosed with colorectal cancer, and some 51,000 of which will die from the disease.

Researchers at Case Comprehensive Cancer Center at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland studied 1240 men and women who visit their hospital for regular schedule of colonoscopy. The researchers found out that 338 of the said figure have polyps. It accounts for 27 percent of the total number of participants.

The researchers analyzed the sleeping patterns of the participants and found a higher rate of polyps in people who reported having sleep deprivation or less than 6 hours of sleep a night than those who sleep seven or more hours every night.

The difference in sleep time between the polyp patients and those without the lesions was actually small, in fact, it is only an average of 19 minutes. However, more polyp patients admitted they slept for much less than six hours, while some said they slept more than seven hours.

Nevertheless, people should not be alarmed since even if this newly discovered association is underlying, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll have colon cancer.  The study only shows that sleep deprivation can be a cause of polyps to occur. Also, the study reflects the fact that those people who do not get the right amount of sleep at night might have the same chance for developing colorectal cancer like the others who are at high risk for illnesses.

The researchers further remind people that the said study is just one in a thousand of studies to come.

It is no longer surprising if sleep deprivation can cause polyps that can be more likely to result in cancer in the future since we all know that sleep deprivation can cause a lot of health threats to one’s health. Therefore, to prevent all illnesses that may occur, stop the main root of all problems, the sleep deprivation by taking natural sleep aids.

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Change your Bad Sleeping Habits

Bad sleeping habits are usually the most common problems encountered within our modern society. People used to stay up to late and get up too early. Most often, drugs, chemicals and work are factors that interrupt sleep and people tend to over-stimulate themselves until midnight.

Below are some important sleeping habits to replace your old and harmful way. Some of this may seem like common-sense but are commonly disregard by many.

Set a regular bed time and wake up time

Don’t allow bedtime and awakening time to drift. Set a proper regular proper time of sleeping and be sure that you can get the right amount of sleeping time that your body need. The body “gets used” to falling asleep at a specific time. However, it will only happen when you are sleeping at a fixed time. Sleeping is very essential whether you are a student, working or even retired.

Avoid napping during daytime

If you sleep throughout the day, it is no longer surprising if you will not be able to sleep at night. Usually, late afternoon is the time when most people feel so sleepy. Thus, people will take a nap at that time. This is not actually a bad thing to do, but thirty-minutes to one hour of sleep will do for your sleepy head so that you can still have a good night sleep.

Avoid alcohol a few hours before bedtime

When talking about alcohol, people usually believe that alcohol helps them sleep but it is actually a false belief. I few hours after an alcohol intake, you will feel its wake-up effect as the alcohol level in your blood starts to fall.

Avoid caffeine and other stimulating foods before sleeping time

It’s no doubt caffeine has a stimulating effect into the body. Drinks with caffeine include coffee, tea, sodas. Meanwhile, stimulating foods includes spicy foods, sweets and chocolate. Said foods can affect a person ability to sleep.

Have a regular exercise but not before bed time

Regular exercise particularly in the afternoon can help you to have a deep sleep during night. However, a strenuous exercise a couple of hours before bedtime can give you a hard time to sleep.

Bad sleeping habits can bring s lot of health risk to a person. Even if you are taking natural sleep aids to help you sleep, it would be non-sense if you are not practicing proper sleeping habits.

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Effect of Sleep Deprivation to Immune System Presents Physical Stress

A study looks at white blood cell counts after 29 hours of continuous wakefulness. Severe sleep deprivation shocks a person’s immune system into action, presenting the same type of prompt response revealed during exposure to stress, according to a new study.

Researchers from Netherlands and United Kingdom compared the white blood cell counts of 15 healthy young men under normal condition and severely sleep-deprived conditions. The great differences were seen in the white blood cells commonly known as granulocytes. It revealed a loss of day and night
rhythmicity, together with increased numbers, especially at night.

Future study will show the molecular mechanisms behind this immediate stress response and investigate its role in the development of diseases related with chronic sleep loss, according to the study’s lead author, Katrin Ackermann, Phd. Ackerman further said that if the study will be confirmed with more data, it will definitely have implications for clinical practice and for professions that comes with long-term sleep loss like rotating shift work.

Previous researches have linked sleep restriction and sleep deprivation with the development of diseases such as obesity, diabetes and hypertension. Others have revealed that sleep helps achieve the functioning of the immune system, and that severe sleep deprivation is a risk factor for immune system deficiency.

For the said study, white blood cells were categorized and observed from 15 young men following a strict schedule of eight hours of sleep each day for the entire week. The participants were exposes to at least 15 minutes of outdoor light within the first 90 minutes after waking up and refrain from taking alcohol, caffeine or medication during the last three days of the study. All of which was designed to alleviate their circadian clocks and minimize sleep deprivation before a thorough clinical study. 

White blood cell counts in a normal sleep and wake cycle were compared to the numbers produced during the second part of the study, in which blood samples were collected during 29 hours of continual wakefulness.

Ackerman and her team eventually concluded that granulocytes quickly reacted to the physical stress of sleep loss and directly reflected the body’s stress response. Ackerman is a postdoctoral researcher at the Eramus MC University Medical Center Rotterdam in the Netherlands.

There are lots of effective ways to avoid sleep deprivation such as over the counter sleeping aids and other sleep inducing foods.

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Bad Sleeping Habit Linked to Lower Grades in School

Bad sleeping hygiene was found to be attributed with decreases in grade-point average in school. Although, students who have evening classes initially experience the greatest decline in grade-point average (GPA) from high school to college, as the classes of the students shift towards day time, their grades improve.

The result of the said study suggests that poor sleeping hygiene was associated with a lower grade-point average in high school. Sleep hygiene usually worsened as college days begins, and poor sleep hygiene tended to pursue through the senior year. Students whose sleep hygiene gets worst during college days present a greater risk of decline in their grade point average.

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine said that sleep hygiene involves habits and behaviors that aid in a healthy sleep. Common examples of such proper sleeping habits include setting a relaxing bedtime routine and avoiding caffeine few hours before bed time.

One of the principal investigator and lead authors of the study, Jennifer Paszka, PhD, an associate professor of psychology at Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas, said that sleep hygiene is a set of voluntary behaviors which one can change.

Paszka further explained that if they are related to college performance, then the students themselves could make small changes to help them do better. Paszka said that it makes sense if students will have a good sleep to help them achieve flying colors in college.

Also, the said research found differences according to “chronotype” that presents the time of day when a person chooses to be awake. Students who have evening class means that they have natural preferences to stay up later at night, revealed greater declines in grade point average transitioning from high school to college and had a lower freshmen grade point average of 2.84 compared with daytime students with grade point average of 3.18. Said night time students shifted greater toward a daytime chronotype by the senior year of college, when there were no longer significant grade point average differences between chronotypes.

Peszka said that the said study found out that night time students were shifting their clocks during their time in college to be more like morning larks and regular robins and probably that shifting helped their academic performance improve.

Meanwhile, Peszka together with other co-authors, Peszka David Mastin, PhD from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and John Harsh from the University of Southern Mississippi studied 89 students who provided access to their high school and college academic records. Before their freshmen year of college, during summer, they accomplished a series of questionnaires about their sleep preferences, sleeping habits and the way they sleep during their high school days.

A total of thirty-four students completed the same questionnaires at the end of their first year in college and 43 participants accomplished the questionnaires after their senior year. Chronotype was determined using the Horne-Ostberg criteria.

The researchers found out that students may be able to improve their academic performance by understanding their chronotype and following sleep proper sleep hygiene recommendations.

At SLEEP 2010, Peszka, Mastin, Harsh along with other colleagues reported that poor sleeping hygiene was linked to higher scores on a measure of perceived stress among college students. It also comes with higher scores on both the exhaustion and cynicism subscales of a tool that measured “burnout”, a level of global exhaustion characterized by over fatigue, reduced job efficiency and depressed mood.

Students with bad sleeping habits are suggested to seek relief from natural sleep aids, to somehow have a complete rest, according to experts.


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Sleep Deprivation Can Trigger Sleepwalking

In a research from the Universite de Montreal, it is highly suggested that people who sleepwalk should maintain a regular bedtime to avoid unwanted strolls at night. Somnambulism which mainly affects up to four percent of adults, can bring mental confusion or attacks of amnesia in those affected individuals as they wander unresponsive to their environment.

In a recent edition of the Annals of Neurology, study authors Antonio Zadra, Mathieu Pilon and Jacques Montplaisir explained how they evaluated 40 suspected sleepwalkers. Each of the participants of the study research was referred to the Sleep Research Centre at Sacre-Coeur Hospital, a Universite de Montreal teaching hospital from August 2003 to March 2007.

The study’s lead investigator, Antonio Zadra said that sleep deprivation can trigger sleepwalking in individuals with such condition. Keeping a regular bedtime and avoiding sleep deprivation is strongly recommended for sleepwalkers if they wish to end their late night stroll.

People who participated in the said study agreed to have their standard sleep patterns monitored during a preliminary all-night assessment. During a following visit, patients were asked to stay awake all night and remained under the continuous supervision.

By the nest morning, participants were allowed to have a recovery sleep after they had been awake for 1 day and an hour. Participants were recorded through a video tape during each sleep periods as the research team assessed their behavior, such as playing with bed sheets to trying to jump over the bed rails.  Participants were assessed on a three-point scale based on the density of their actions.

Results of the study were surprising. During a standard sleep, only half of the participants exhibited some 32 behavioral episodes while during the recovery sleep, 90 percent of the patients exhibited a total of 92 behavioral episodes.

The study also revealed that sleepwalkers, previously thought to suffer from an inability to sustain slow-wave or deep sleep, had increased difficulty in passing from slow-wave sleep to another sleep stage of to be totally awake following sleep deprivation. The research likewise revealed that objective methods can now be used for investigating and diagnosing sleepwalking, said Zadra.

Sleep deprivation has a lot of consequences that might bring to an individual. However, sleep deprivation can be avoided by following proper sleeping habits. Even people who find it difficult to fall asleep can seek help from natural sleep remedies.

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Sleep Deprivation Influenced by Race, Ethnicity and Nationality

In two studies of sleep that was included at the representation at SLEEP 2012, sleep differences among American’s based on race and ethnic background were reported.

The first study was conducted by the State University of New York (SUNY) and included 400,000 participants from the National Health Interview Survey Between 2004 to 2010. The study revealed that Americans who were naturally born in the United States tend to sleep longer than the recommended seven to nine hours amount of sleep each night. Meanwhile, those Americans who were born in Africa tend to sleep less than six hours while Indian born Americans tend to sleep an six to eight hours each night.

According to the study’s lead author, Abhishek Pandey, MD, they believe that social desirability might be playing a significant role in the self-reported data. Pandey further said that inadequate sleep might be more rampant in the population than the actual self-report data, but maybe over or under-reported to project a better image of a person’s observed sleep health.

On the other hand, sleep researcher at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago observed the sleep measurements of 439 randomly selected men and women from Chicago and includes surveys regarding sleep quality and sleepiness during daytime. The study shows that white participants sleep a lot higher than the other groups while blacks have the poorest quality of sleep. The study also found out that Asian had the highest reports of sleepiness at daytime.

According to the study’s lead author and principal, Mercedes Carnethon, PhD, such racial and ethnic differences in sleep continued even following statistical adjustment for heart diseases risk factors that they have long known to be associated with poor sleep like body mass index, diabetes and high blood pressure.  Carnethon added that they have excluded participants who had history of mild to moderate sleep apnea. Therefore, the said differences in sleep are not attributable to basic sleep disorders but represent the sleep experience of a healthy subgroup of the population.

Pandey’s study also revealed that foreign-born Americans were less possibly to report short or long sleep than U.S.-born Americans following adjustments for effects of age, sex, education, income, smoking, alcohol-intake and body’s weight and emotional distress.

Researchers concluded that habitually sleeping longer or shorter than the recommended seven to nine hours for adults can be linked to several higher risks like cardiovascular disease, stroke and accidents and mental and emotional disorders. 

The study’s goals were in relation with the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) Workshop on Reducing Health Disparities: The Role of Sleep Deficiency and Sleep Disorders. Its main goal is to better understand inadequate sleep, particularly across population subsets as well as to shed hope on acculturation and miscegenation.

Sleep deprivation is very common among Americans. Therefore, many of them rely on natural sleep remedies and other sleep aids.

Teen Sleeping Beauty Wakes Up After Long Sleep

The 15-year old British girl, Stacey Comeford finally woke up after a couple of months sleep. Comeford is suffering from a rare neurological disorder called Kleine Levin Syndrome.

Kleine Levin Syndrome or also known as sleeping beauty syndrome is characterized by recurring periods of period of excessive amounts of sleep. During the onset of its episode, the person affected becomes drowsy and sleeps for most of the day and night and will only wake up to eat or go to the comfort room.

Most individuals affected by the syndrome are not able to attend school or work or even care for themselves like Comeford.

Comeford actually missed nine exams and even her own birthday in the recent episode of her syndrome. She claimed that explaining her condition to other people is the hardest thing to do for her. All over the world, only about 1,000 people are affected by the said syndrome.

According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), Kleine Levin Syndrome majorly affects adolescent males and can often result in a person sleeping for up to 20 hours at a time.

Unfortunately, there is no treatment or cure for the disorder. Nevertheless, as a person ages, usually he or she abandons the condition, most commonly over the course of eight to twelve years.

The NINDS further described the symptoms as episode onset always comes in a sudden, and may be associated with flu-like symptoms. The symptoms is also characterized by excessive food intake, irritability, childishness, hallucinations and an abnormally uninhibited sex drive may also be observed during an episode.

Whenever an episode is about to occur, there is never a warning. According to Comeford’s mother, there was one time when she found her daughter fast asleep on the kitchen floor. Cameford might only get up to go to the toilet or get a drink but she is not totally awake, said by the mother.

Cameford‘s smother further said that that she even investigated by the local education authority thinking that she was intentionally keeping her daughter off from school. Later on, when Comeford’s condition was diagnosed, said local education authority stopped from investigating.

Ironically, a lot of people who suffer from sleep deprivation do everything such as taking sleeping pills and other best sleeping aids just to fall asleep for several hours enough to power them up for the whole day, while people with such condition suffer from overly long sleep wishes to overcome such syndrome.

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Bad Sleeping Habits Increase the Odds for Diabetes

Inadequate sleep or irregular sleeping habit may lead to increased odds of diabetes and obesity, according to researches.

The study conducted by the researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston stemmed from  observing 21  healthy persons in a completely controlled environment for six weeks, controlling their diet, activities and hours of sleep and sleep disturbance.

The study started and ended with participants sleeping an optimal 10 hours a nigh, but in three weeks interval, participants were requested to sleep at all different times of day and night, ensuring that they got just five and a half hours of sleep a day.

Thereby, the researchers concluded that prolonged sleep restriction along with sleep disturbance lessened the participant’s resting metabolic rate and increased glucose concentrations in the blood after meals due to lower insulin secretion by the pancreas.

Said effects could translate into weigh gain and a risk of diabetes. Therefore, in a study published in the journal Science Translation Medicine, it was explained how graveyard shift workers may suffer from disruptions to their “internal biological clock” or the so called circadian rhythm.

Also a neurologists and lead study author Orfeu M. Buxton, affirmed the such results support the finding from several researches showing that in people a pre-diabetic condition, graveyard shift workers are more likely to have a full-progress on diabetes than day shift workers.

Oftentimes, graveyard workers find it hard to sleep during the day, therefore, they can encounter both circadian disruption working at night time and inadequate sleep during day time, added Buxton.

Furthermore, Buxton noted that evidence is clear that having the right amount of sleep is important for health and that for best effect, sleep should be done at night.

If staying up awake all night and sleeping during day time cannot be avoided due to a daily job routine, it is advisable to take natural sleep aid to help you from falling asleep at day time.


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Be Sure You’re Getting the Right Amount of Sleep

The amount of sleep that a person need in a daily basis depends on several factors which particularly include age.

• An infant requires about 16 hours of sleep a day
• Teenagers requires about 9 hours of sleep a day
• Adults need an average of 7 to 8 hours of sleep a day
• Women during the first trimester of pregnancy, needs some more hours of sleep than the usual

According to experts, if you feel sleepy during the day, even during strenuous activities, it simply means that you are not getting enough sleep.

It should be noted that the amount of required sleep of a person increases as he or she had been deprived of sleep in the past few days. Having inadequate sleep from the previous days will demand the body to repay the sleep shortage. Apparently, people don’t adapt to getting less sleep than the body requires. Although a person may get used to a sleep-depriving schedule, the individual’s judgement, reaction time, perception and other functions are still impaired.

Below are several consequences that a sleep deprivation may bring into a person:

• Memory gap
• Depression
• Weakening
• Higher risk of disease
• Increase in perception of pain

Many studies in fact pointed out that sleep deprivation is dangerous. In a study, sleep derived people were tested using a driving simulator or by performing a hand and eye coordination task. The study found out that sleep-deprived people are as worse as intoxicated ones.

Also, sleep deprivation increases alcohol’s effect on the person’s body. Therefore, a stressed person who drinks alcohol will be more likely to become impaired than someone who is well rested.

According to statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), sleepy drivers are responsible for about 56,000 vehicle accident and 1,500 deaths every year.

Drowsiness is the last step of the brain before eventually falling asleep. As a result of which, driving while drowsy can often lead to a disastrous occurrences. Even caffeine and other stimulants cannot overcome the effects of severe sleep deprivation.

The National Sleep Foundation said that a person has the following signs and symptoms, then, he or she is too sleepy to drive safely.

• Having trouble keeping eyes focused
• Can’t prevent yawning
• Can’t remember driving the last few miles

In such instances, it is strongly recommended for sleepy drivers to refrain from drowsy driving since many studies have already suggested that sleepy drivers are as risky as drunk drivers.  Therefore, to avoid getting inadequate sleep, always seek enough time to have a complete sleep. For people who find it hard to fall asleep, there are lots of natural sleep remedies available to end your sleepless nights.

Understand Different Types of Sleep Disorders, Treatment and Signs and Symptoms

In U.S., over a quarter of Americans experience occasional sleep deprivation according to a 2010 statistics released by the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Some factors seen as the most common cause of sleep deprivation is the busy nature of modern lifestyles. For some, serious sleep disorders affect both rest and health.

Most often, sleep disorders are often undiagnosed. Although a lot of people know that eight hours of sleep is very significant, only few people are aware about sleep disorders. Therefore, most people tend to disregard sleep problems. Popular culture often underestimates the need for sleep disorder treatment.

People nowadays simply accept the fact that lack of sleep is an unavoidable part of modern life. But, in truth and in fact, sleep plays a vital role in one’s life particularly in wellness and health.

According to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, there are a total of 81 different sleeping disorders that exist. Some of those disorders are as follows:

• Insomnia
• Narcolepsy
• Night terrors
• REM sleep behaviour disorder
• Sleep apnea
• Sleep walking
• Restless leg syndrome
• Snoring
• Teeth grinding or bruxism

Sometimes, people’s popular beliefs about sleep disorders are sometimes misleading. Many people don’t know that snoring is a sleep disorder. Snoring can be a sign of sleep apnea, which causes breathing interruptions during sleep and worst, it can result in serious health complications or even death.

Identifying sleep disorders can be tough since few people know about the conditions.

Possible sign of sleeping disorder include excessive daytime sleepiness, insomnia, irritability and difficulty thinking and snoring.

The following signs and symptoms may be an indication that a person has sleep disorders:

• Has difficulty in falling asleep
• Waking up often
• Waking up too early
• Falling asleep too quick

Treatment to sleeping disorders depends on the kind of sleeping disorder that a person has. Treatment includes the following:

• Medication
• Changes to sleeping habits
• Surgical procedures

Treatment for sleep disorders restores normal sleep patterns and helps prevent the many health complications that come along with the sleeping disorders. Increasing public awareness helps people understand the need for sleep disorders treatment. However, when it comes to sleeping disorder treatment, natural sleep remedies are always the best cure.

Avoid Sudden Death Caused by Sleeping Pills through Natural Sleep Aids

In a new study published by BMJ Open, a journal that is part of the British Medical Journal family publications, it revealed that pharmaceutical sleeping pills used to alleviate insomnia are more likely to put a person in higher risk of cancer and sudden death.

The study suggest that the pharmaceutical sleeping pills content, benzodiazepines, non-benzodiazepines, barbiturates and sedative antihistamines are 4.6 times more possibly to cause death. In fact, people taking the pills are more possibly to die within an average of two and a half year than those who do not take the pills.

The researchers evaluated and analysed data on more than 33,000 for the study and almost one third of which, were taking sleeping pills to treat their insomnia. After adjusting for other risk of factors, the researchers found out that within roughly two years after starting to take the pills, 1 out of 10 sleeping pill patients died while merely 1 out of 10 patients not taking the drug died.

Depending on how often an insomniac person took sleeping pills, the overall death risk was as much as 530% higher than the death rate of patients who do not take the pills. The findings clearly illustrate an absolute and casual link between sleeping pills and higher mortality. Aside from the increased risk of sudden death, sleeping pill users were also found to have an approximately 35% elevated risk of developing cancer compared to non-users.

The researchers said that the meager benefits of hypnotics, as critically reviewed by non-profitable groups, would not justify significant risk. The 2010 supplemental files in an estimate, revealed that the pills may have associated with 507,000 excess deaths in USA alone.

In every research regarding sleeping pills, conclusions are not far similar. Every research ends in one and only conclusion suggesting that the pills can reduce a person’s life span. Therefore, researchers highly recommend the people to take the natural sleep aids than the pharmaceutical ones to avoid the risk of cancers and sudden deaths.

Sleeping Aids Spending by NHS Reaches £50 M

Recent figures revealed a significant increase in the use of sleeping pills saw National Health Service (NHS) spending on the drugs reached about £50 last year.

Compared to 14.5 million prescriptions of sleeping pills in 2007 to 2008, some 15.3 million prescriptions were handed out in 2010 to 2011, based on figures revealed by the NHS.

In 2010 to 2011, a Freedom of information request showed health trusts spent £49.2 million on the drugs, up from £42 million three years ago. It was actually an increase of more than 17%.

According to statistics, the highest number of prescriptions for sleeping pills was distributed in the North West area, wherein more than £8.5 million on almost £2.5 million rely on best sleeping aid.

One of the best sleeping aids was in fact prescribed to more than 5.2 million patients across the country, making the drug more popular.

In U.K., more or less a third of people are thought to have dilemmas on insomnia, which can eventually lead to a distressing problem for many.

Health chiefs have voiced out their concerns regarding the frequent use of sleeping pills which can lead to “psychological dependency”.

NHS business director at the Co-operative Pharmacy, Mandeep Mudhar said that the agency’s research reveals that millions of people suffering from a sleep deprivation vastly depend on sleeping pills.

While usage has constantly boosted, its cost to the NHS have risen unevenly, with costs going up at a higher rate.

However, some sleeping pills are commonly recommended for short period of time use only since it can lead to psychological dependency and lose their effectiveness as time passed by.

The NHS encourages people who are suffering from insomnia to use natural sleep remedies or consult a doctor first before taking any sleeping pills.

In a recent study which involved 10,500 people taking the drugs found that sleeping pills that are commonly prescribed by physicians in U.K. increase the risk of death more than a cigarette.


Several drugs used in the U.K. include benzodiazepines, non-benzodiazepines, barbiturates and sedative anti-histamines.

In another study from experts at the Jackson Hole Center for Preventive Medicine in Wyoming and Scripps Clinic Viterbi Family Sleep Center in California, found that people taking sleeping pills were 4.6 times more likely to die during a 2.5 year period compared to those who are not sleeping aid dependent.

Therefore, before taking any sleeping pills, always seek prescription from your doctor for natural sleeping remedies to avoid early death risks.

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End Sleep Deprivation through Natural Sleep Aids

Insomnia is one of the many sleep-related disorders. It is a sleep problem defined as the inability to fall or stay asleep. 

Some of the most common causes of insomnia are as follows:

• Psychological factors
• Substance abuse
• Drug side effects
• Asthma
• Inadequate sleep
• Stress

In recent statistics, the NIH calculated that fifty to seventy million Americans have sleep-related disorders. About 25% of the elderly and nearly 10% of the general population suffer from insomnia.

Practicing good sleeping habits is the key to the success of insomnia treatments and natural sleep aids are as follows:

• Never take afternoon naps more than an hour
• Regular exercise
• Use your bed only when sleeping
• Do not drink alcohol, coffee or tea before bed time
• Never smoke at night
• Do not go to bed with empty stomach
• Relax for an hour before sleeping
• Do not take sleeping pills unless prescribed by doctors

Sleeping pills can be dangerous and they can also lose their effect after several weeks which can lead to loss of sleep again. Always prefer for the natural sleep aids.

Also, provided below are the some of the natural sleep aids and complementary medicine:

Relaxation techniques and hypnotherapy

This is a very useful help for people with insomnia. It is highly recommended that people should learn relaxation techniques since it can help to have a deep sleep.

Herbal cures

It includes chamomile and other herbal medicines since it has a relaxing effect. A cup of chamomile tea an hour before bed time is strictly recommended while the herbs hop and valerian also have a beneficial calming effect which can also be used to treat insomnia. Drinking herbal tea is much safer and more effective than drugs whether the insomnia is mild or moderate.

Aromatherapy

This is very helpful in treating insomnia. Lavender contains sedative and calming effect. The oil can be added in bath or take a light massage with some.

Although, the above said natural sleep aids came from nature, it is still best to consult a health care professional before taking any natural treatments especially if the insomnia is severe. It is important to know the main cause and best cure for the sleep disorder to avoid harmful effects which can be brought by bad medications.