Monthly Archives: November 2014

Being able to get a good night’s sleep makes an important difference in how you feel the next day. It helps you think clearly and perform well on both physical and mental tasks, and getting enough sleep on a regular basis is important for your overall health and well being. But all too often we do small things that interfere with our ability to sleep. You know what I’m talking about – little things like having a cup of coffee too late in the afternoon, or staying up and playing on our electronic devices far too late. But chances are your list of self-defeating activities doesn’t include something that most people are doing — getting up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and switching on the light along the way. Continue reading →

There are a remarkable number of similarities between infancy and the elderly, and one of them is the difficulty in sleeping though the night. Infants awaken frequently because they need to eat — there is no doubt about their need for sleep. And yet when the elderly complain of not being able to sleep through the night we tend to think that as we age we need less sleep instead of assuming that – same as with young children – we are being awoken by the impact of needing to go to the bathroom or because of medications or illness. Continue reading →

According to a recently-conducted survey one third of adults say that their sleep problems are directly connected to their spouse keeping them awake or waking them up, and in most cases they’re doing it with their snoring. Continue reading →

With sleep deprivation at epidemic levels in the United States, people are searching for ways to get the rest that they need. Though most sleep specialists believe that sleeping pills should only be used for brief periods of time and prefer that patients try to find and treat the cause of their sleeplessness, they also understand that there are some times when people simply need to turn to medication. If you are considering discussing sleeping aids with your physician, it’s a good idea to know what your different options are. Keep in mind that though each of the medications listed below is commonly used to treat sleeplessness, of the options presented below only the first three have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration specifically for the treatment of insomnia. The others are medications created to treat other conditions that some physicians prescribe for their sedative properties. Continue reading →

People who study sleep and circadian rhythms have long suggested that there is real importance in maintaining a regular schedule that roughly follows the same schedule as the dawning and setting of the sun. Now a new study published in the journal Occupational & Environmental Medicine has strengthened that argument as it reveals that an irregular schedule can have an impact on cognitive abilities. Continue reading →