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11
Feb

An interesting article on medicine net, including some tips and sleep aids | sleep aid

Author: Lee Shawn

best sleep aid can be a catCreative Commons License photo credit: Ella Mullins

Today I found a real gem. It is this articles on medicine net. At first glance the article seems long but it is interesting and has a lot of information. I recommend you find a time and read it. I specially like the 13 tips given on page 2 of the article, maybe one of them is your best sleep aid! Maybe a combination of some of them is your best sleep aid. I attached a few quotes from the article, as a teaser, so you do find the time to read it.

“… Sleep was long considered just a uniform block of time when you are not awake. Thanks to sleep studies done over the past several decades, it is now known that sleep has distinctive stages that cycle throughout the night. Your brain stays active throughout sleep, but different things happen during each stage. For instance, certain stages of sleep are indeed for us to feel well rested and energetic the next day, and other stages help us learn or make memories…”

“… In brief, a number of vital tasks carried out during sleep help maintain good health and enable people to function at their best. On the other hand, not getting enough sleep can be dangerous-for example, you are more likely to be in a car crash if you drive when you are drowsy…”

“… Health: Sleep is also important for good health. Studies show that not getting enough sleep or getting poor quality sleep on a regular basis increases the risk of having high blood pressure, heart disease, and other medical conditions… ”

“…Hormones released during sleep also affect how the body uses energy. Studies find that the less people sleep, the more likely they are to be overweight or obese, to develop diabetes, and to prefer eating foods that are high in calories and carbohydrates…”

Here is the link again, just click here to read the article. Do not forget to return here and leave a comment telling us if you liked it and what part of it was informative for you.

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7
Feb

Classification of sleep disorders may help you to find your best sleep aid

Author: Lee Shawn

If you do not know it by now, sleeping is a widely researched topic. Its importance keeps both the academic and heath system interest high and the research funding keeps flowing in. One key result of this research is a well developed classification system for sleeping disorders. I think it is both interesting to know the basics of it and could be beneficiary when looking for the best sleep aid. Below is a brief intro to this classification system, with some references. Since I am not a researcher or and MD, this by no means intends to be a scientific review, merely a summary that can give you a general idea.

Sleeping disorders are classified by the “International Classification of Sleep Disorders” (ICSD). The ICSD is a resource created by a group of sleep research organization from around the world. One interesting way of classifying sleep disorder is:

  • Dyssomnias
  • Parasomnias
  • Sleep Disorders Associated with Other Disorders

natural sleep aid
Creative Commons License photo credit: BoVa…

Dyssomnias are problems associated mainly with the process of falling asleep and maintaining a good night sleep, I guess that most of you (and me) fall in this category. The parasomnias are the problems that happen while we sleep and include anything from grinding your teeth while you sleep to sleep walking. Teeth grinding while you sleep is more common than you imagine and besides the damage it does to the teeth and joint at the base of the jaw, it (badly) affects the quality of sleeping. The last group disorders is associated mainly with mental, neurological and medical conditions, this group includes sleep disorders related wtih panic and anxiety disorders, alcoholism and mood disorders.
Another interesting grouping, mainly within the dyssomnias is to intrinsic and extrinsic sleep disorders. The intrinsic sleep disorders include narcolepsy, posttraumatic hypersomnia, obstructive sleep apnea syndrome, the itching restless legs syndrome and the well known psychophysiological insomnia. The extrinsic sleep disorders include inadequate sleep hygiene, alcohol-dependent sleep disorder, nocturnal eating (drinking) syndrome and the self describing environmental sleep disorder.


Now you might wonder why this is important to you, the answer is quite simple. As always, a good diagnosis is half of the solution. For example, if you understand that your sleep problem is due to environmental sleep disorder, one that has to do with inadequate temperature in your sleeping environment, the fix might be simple and your obvious sleep aid will be proper heating (or cooling). If it is noise, better isolation can do wonders. On the other hand, let’s suppose you grind your teeth, your first line sleep aid might be a mouth guard (also known as night guard) – a soft cover to your upper/lower teeth the reduces the damage and inhibits (to a limited degree) the urge to grind your teeth.
In the case of the way too common issue of inadequate sleep hygiene – the lack of persistent and effective sleep habits – a slow building of regular sleep habits, with a predetermined schedule will be a very good place to start.

To those of you who like numbers and great amount of details, here are 2 links where you can find a copy of the ICSD:

Further reading:

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