Monday January 30, 2012
It always seems to sneak up on you, but this year you can be prepared for when Daylight Saving Time changes.
First, it will be important to know the precise date when Daylight Saving Time begins and ends. (You might also note that it is Daylight Saving Time and not Daylight Savings Time, with an "s".) In the United States, the prearranged dates to "spring forward" and "fall back" land in March and November. In the European Union, where the arrangement is called Summer Time, the time changes fall on different dates in March and October.
Second, you might ease yourself into the transition. It always feels great in the Fall to get that extra hour of sleep when you set your clocks back at 2 a.m., but shorting yourself an hour of sleep in the Spring makes it hard to get up. You can make this more tolerable by slowly adjusting your bedtime over the few days prior to the change each Spring. When the time change occurs, your circadian rhythm will be a little more forgiving.
Finally, take these time changes as an opportunity to really consider whether you are meeting your sleep needs. You might ask, "How much sleep do I need?" It varies on an individual basis, but the average works out to be about 8 hours. Are you getting enough? If not, take the opportunity of the twice yearly clock changes to focus on making sleep the priority that it should be year round.
Read More About Time Changes:
Follow me on Twitter or Facebook to receive notice of all the latest updates to this site.
Monday January 30, 2012
There are three basic scenarios that might suggest you have insomnia: trouble falling asleep, trouble staying asleep, or sufficient sleep that is not refreshing. However, how do you know if you really have insomnia?
In most situations, it is possible to diagnose insomnia by simply telling your symptoms to your doctor. However, there are times when further testing might be necessary.
As an example of when you might need further work-up, if your insomnia is not responding to standard treatments such as sleeping pills, you might question the diagnosis. Other sleep disorders can also lead to unrefreshing sleep, and these might need to be excluded as a cause of your complaints. There are tests for insomnia that can identify these other conditions.
The most common arrangement is for an overnight sleep study called a polysomnogram that is typically done at a sleep lab. It might sound foolish to pay money to prove that you cannot sleep, but these studies are very helpful in identifying the quantity and quality of the sleep that you do get. Most importantly, other causes of your difficulties can be ruled out.
In some cases, it may not be insomnia. If you have a reduced sleep need or if you don't meet your actual sleep needs by restricting the amount of time you spend in bed, your troubles may represent different conditions.
To determine whether or not you have insomnia, you might start by reading about the condition. Afterwards, you might want to discuss the matter with your physician and consider whether further testing might be necessary to rule out other sleep disorders.
Read More About Insomnia:
Follow me on Twitter or Facebook to receive notice of all the latest updates to this site.
Monday January 30, 2012
If you have been told that you have sleep apnea, you still may not understand exactly what this means for you. What causes the actual events called sleep apnea?
Sleep apnea is a common condition in which the upper airway collapses during sleep. The explanation for why this occurs has to do with how the muscles around the throat and trachea are unable to keep the airway open. When it collapses, this interrupts breathing. If the airway does not collapse completely, however, it may also result in something called hypopnea. In the mildest form, the collapse of your airway may just cause snoring. Ultimately, sleep apnea may have many different causes from alcohol to sleep position to obesity, all of which affect your ability to breathe.
Fortunately, there are treatment options available to keep your airway from collapsing, including continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) and a similar treatment called bilevel (or BiPAP). These supportive treatments can effectively eliminate sleep apnea and prevent the risks associated with the condition, including sudden death.
Read More About Sleep Apnea:
Follow me on Twitter or Facebook to receive notice of all the latest updates to this site.
Monday January 30, 2012
If you have suffered from the scary phenomenon that is sleep paralysis, you might be left wondering about possible treatment options. How can you treat sleep paralysis?
The treatment of sleep paralysis is not always necessary. In many people, reassurance about what is happening is all that is needed. Some people find it useful to read about other people's sleep paralysis experiences.
In some cases, it may be part of a condition called narcolepsy, and this would require its own treatment. If the sleep paralysis occurs more frequently or becomes disruptive to your life, you may be interested in entertaining your treatment options. It may be a matter of reducing your stress and addressing other risk factors for sleep paralysis. In addition, there are medications available that might be helpful.
If you are interested in learning more about getting your sleep paralysis treated, you may want to speak with your doctor about your options.
Read More About Sleep Paralysis:
Follow me on Twitter or Facebook to receive notice of all the latest updates to this site.
