The introduction about sleep

　　Sleep is a behavioral state that is a natural part of every individual’s life. We spend about one-third of our lives asleep. Nonetheless, people generally know little about the importance of this essential activity. Sleep is not just something to fill time when a person is inactive. Sleep is a required activity, not an option. Even though the precise functions of sleep remain a mystery, sleep is important for normal motor and cognitive function. We all recognize and feel the need to sleep. After sleeping, we recognize changes that have occurred, as we feel rested and more alert. Sleep actually appears to be required for survival. Rats deprived of sleep will die within two to three weeks, a time frame similar to death due to starvation.

It is not normal for a person to be sleepy at times when he or she expects to be awake. Problem sleepiness may be associated with difficulty concentrating, memory lapses, loss of energy, fatigue, lethargy, and emotional instability. The prevalence of problem sleepiness is high and has serious consequences, such as drowsy driving or workplace accidents and errors. Lifestyle factors and undiagnosed or untreated sleep disorders can cause problem sleepiness. Lifestyle factors include not getting enough sleep, having an irregular sleep schedule, and using alcohol or certain medications. Of the more than 70 known sleep disorders, the most common are obstructive sleep apnea, insomnia, narcolepsy, and restless legs syndrome. Large numbers of individuals suffering from these sleep disorders are unaware of—and have not been diagnosed or treated for—their disorder.
Problem sleepiness can be deadly. Approximately 100,000 automobile crashes each year result from drivers who were “asleep at the wheel.” In a survey of drivers in New York State, approximately 25 percent reported they had fallen asleep at the wheel at some time.Crashes in which the driver falls asleep are especially common among young male drivers. One large study found that in over 50 percent of fall-asleep crashes, the driver was 25 years old or younger.In addition to the high risk of automobile crashes, problem sleepiness can cause difficulties with learning, memory, thinking, and feelings, which may lead to poor school and work performance and difficulty with relationships. Furthermore, problem sleepiness leads to errors and accidents in the workplace.
Very few textbooks for high school students provide any scientific information about changes that occur in the body during sleep and how those changes affect our ability to move and think. Of course, we’ve heard that a good night’s sleep will help us perform better on a test the next day, but is this based on scientific fact, or is it just a continuing myth? The lack of information in textbooks may be due to the fact that sleep research is only recently gaining recognition. A great deal remains to be learned through scientific studies, including an answer to the key question, What is the function of sleep? Although its function remains unclear, research is providing a great deal of information about what happens in the brain and body during sleep and how the body regulates sleep.

10 Worst Ways to Ruin Your Sleep

　　1.Eat a large meal or drink lots of fluids right before bed.
There’s nothing like a full bladder or stomach to disrupt your sleep. Getting up to urinate will interrupt sound rest, so drinking too much before bed may mean multiple trips to the bathroom during the night. Eating a large meal near bedtime may provoke heartburn symptoms when you lie down that can make you uncomfortable.
2.When you can’t sleep, just lie there and suffer.
If you are having trouble getting to sleep, the last thing you need to do is lie there awake. If this happens chronically, as may occur in insomnia, you may learn to associate your bed with anxiety and not being asleep. Rather than tossing and turning, try a relaxing activity like reading.
3.Try to sleep somewhere that is too cold, too warm, or too noisy.
It’s no use trying to sleep somewhere that is stimulating to our senses. If the stereo is blaring, the lights are on, and it’s stifling, how can you expect to sleep? Subtle variations on this theme will likewise make it hard to catch a few winks.
4.Take prolonged naps.
This one may be a little controversial. Some cultures promote the midday nap, and many people swear by them. If you sleep well at night, it may not be a problem. However, if you are having trouble sleeping then, the last thing you need to do is to add fuel to the fire by sleeping some during the day. Naps diminish your ability to sleep at night, and excessive daytime sleepiness may suggest a sleep disorder.
5.Use your bedroom as a stimulating multipurpose room.
Filling your bedroom with televisions, gaming systems, computers, telephones, and other gadgets will ensure a plethora of stimulation will be at hand. Unfortunately, none of these will help you to sleep better. Using them just prior to bed will prompt your brain to be active, and this is the last thing you need to fall asleep.
6.Enjoy an alcoholic drink, cup of coffee, or cigarette just prior to bed.
Though grandpa may have always enjoyed an alcoholic “nightcap” to get to sleep, this is actually not helpful. It may cause you to feel a little drowsy, but it fragments the stages of your sleep and makes it more disrupted. Caffeinated beverages like coffee, tea, soda pop, and foods like chocolate work as stimulants to keep you awake. Likewise, nicotine from a cigarette will ruin your ability to sleep, and the craving associated with withdrawal may wake you during the night. These things should be avoided in the six hours before bed.
7.When you get busy, just sleep less.
We all get busy for different reasons, and it’s easy to find extra time in the day by sleeping less. Why waste eight hours in bed? Wouldn’t you rather be watching television, playing on the internet, or spending time with your friends or family? Unfortunately the quality of the time we spend awake is significantly impacted by not getting enough rest. If you cut back on sleep, you may find that you aren’t gaining much if you spend the day bleary-eyed and befuddled.
8.Stay active until the moment you hop into bed.
Sleep is a quiet, relaxing activity, so it doesn’t make much sense to try to transition to that directly from something that is quite the opposite. Our bodies don’t do well with abrupt changes. The same is true for getting ready to sleep. Quiet sleep rituals such as reading, listening to calming music, or taking a nice bath helps prepare us mentally and physically for sleep.
9.Exercise before bed.
Although it is ideal to exercise every day -- and this will likely ensure a good night’s sleep -- doing it right before bed is a bad idea. It causes difficulties as your body will be revved up when you should be winding down.
10.Vary your sleep time from one day to the next.
We are creatures of habit, and our sleep is no exception. If you go to bed and get up at different times every day, your body will have no sense of when it is supposed to feel tired and sleep. This ultimately depends on our natural clock called the circadian rhythm, and varying the times we are asleep can negatively influence it. By keeping a consistent schedule, we are able to sleep better.

Obstructive sleep apnea affects many people

　　Obstructive sleep apnea affects more than 12 million people nationwide. Daytime sleepiness and weight gain are usually the first symptoms that come to mind. Intimacy problems are an oft-overlooked aspect of untreated sleep-disordered breathing. Sleep apnea can cause erectile dysfunction in men and a loss of libido in women.
A recent study published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine looked at the prevalence of sexual dysfunction in women with sleep apnea. A sample of 80 women diagnosed with sleep apnea and 240 women without the disorder completed questionnaires about sexuality. Findings show female patients with sleep apnea had much higher rates of sexual problems.
A similar study conducted in 2009 used questionnaires to examine the prevalence of erectile dysfunction and sexual problems in men with sleep apnea. Almost 70 percent of men diagnosed with sleep apnea had erectile dysfunction, compared to 34 percent without the sleep disorder.
Sexual dysfunction may be linked to sex hormones such as testosterone. These hormones rise with sleep and drop when sleep duration or quality is insufficient. Brief wakings from sleep apnea secretly wreak havoc on your sleep quality, which can lower hormone levels.
Before you turn to that ubiquitous little blue triangle for help, find out if sleep apnea is causing your sex problems. The easiest way to know for sure is by getting an overnight sleep study at an AASM-Accredited Member Sleep Center. Common treatments for sleep apnea such as CPAP or oral appliance therapy can improve your sleep quality and intimacy so you won’t need to take a pill every time you want to be intimate.

The Secret to Summer Sleep? Get a Hammock…

　　Scientists are suggesting that to make the most of your afternoon siesta you should lie down in a hammock. A team of researchers at the University of Geneva found that the swinging motion “exerts a synchronizing action in the brain that reinforces endogenous sleep rhythms.”

They conducted a study on twelve healthy male volunteers, ages 22-38, who were all good sleepers, non-habitual nappers with no excessive daytime sleepiness and low anxiety levels. The man were asked to nap on a bed that was either stationary or rock gently. Gentle swinging meant that the study participants fell asleep faster, they spent more time in the deep sleep phase and over all got a better quality sleep.
Researchers are not sure exactly why the swaying from side to side has an effect on sleep but they suspect that the motion helps to relax, but it is also possible that it directly affects the brain sensors responsible for sleep and other functions such as memory. Scientist from Geneva believe that their discovery may help to develop new treatment for insomnia and rehabilitation after traumatic brain injury.

Too Tired? 5 Ways To Get More Zzzs

　　If you think that you can skimp on sleep during the week and make up for it on the weekend—and still perform your best at work—you’re mistaken.

A recent study found that sleeping late on the weekend isn’t enough to help you recover when you’re sleep deprived, especially if you’re a guy.
In the study, presented at Sleep 2011, an annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies, subjects were restricted to six hours per night of sleep for six nights and then allowed to sleep 10 hours the next two nights. They were given cognitive tests throughout the week.
In men and women, their performance decreased dramatically after being sleep deprived, and did not improve after the two nights of recovery sleep. Although people reported they felt less tired after the longer nights of sleep, their performance was as poor as it was in the midst of their sleep deprivation.
But compared to men, women felt less sleepy and had a smaller drop in their performance when they were sleep deprived, and they experienced greater improvements after they were allowed to sleep later. That may be because women tend to spend more of their sleep time in the more restorative “slow-wave” sleep than men.
“Women with a higher amount of deep sleep can handle better the effects of one work-week of mild sleep deprivation, and their recovery is more complete after two nights of extended sleep,” said the lead researcher, Dr. Alexandros N. Vgontzas, director of the Sleep Research and Treatment Center at the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center in Hershey, Pa.
Women may be wired to have a deeper more restorative sleep because their child-rearing responsibilities cut into the amount of sleep they get.
Most Americans report getting about six hours and 55 minutes of sleep on average weeknights, but we need from 7 to 9 hours of shut-eye. Eking out even another half hour of sleep for many of us could make the difference between good and poor productivity the next day.
To find the time, take this advice from the experts:
1. Don’t watch TV before bed. Your bedtime routine may include watching TV, but you’d probably go to sleep a lot earlier if you skipped Parenthood or the 11 p.m. news, not to mention Letterman. DVR your favorite late-night shows and grab a book instead. Read for a half an hour and hit the hay.
2. Log off early. About 95 percent of Americans use some type of electronics like TV, computer, video game or cellphone within the hour before bed. But computers, cell phones and other interactive media are stimulating and can disrupt the sleep-onset process even more than watching TV. If you need to use your computer in the evening, do it right after dinner and give yourself a limited amount time to check your e-mails or catch up on Facebook. It’s so easy to spend hours on the computer without realizing how much time has passed.
3. Don’t drink to get to sleep faster. Though drinking alcohol may help you fall asleep, it increases the number of times you wake up throughout the night, making your sleep less restorative.
4. Don’t exercise after 8 p.m. Exercising right before bed (within three hours of bedtime) can stimulate your body and make it more difficult to wind down and fall asleep.
5. Alternate late nights. If you must watch TV or stay up late on certain nights, don’t do it every night. Give yourself every other night to make it up. Otherwise your sleep debt will add up and will affect your performance all week.

Tips for Sleeping During Pregnancy

　　Sleeping during pregnancy can be a big problem for many women. Sometimes the issue is that you have way too much on your mind, so it becomes difficult to settle down for sleep. Other times, sleep problems are caused by the general discomfort that's common in the second and third trimesters. Many women also experience sleep problems brought on by the need to empty their bladders more often than usual. Some scientists actually think that pregnancy sleep problems might be related to hormonal changes that are meant to get you used to waking up every few hours like you'll have to do with a newborn!

You're already likely to be exhausted during pregnancy, so don't let extra sleep problems create even more tiredness in your life. Instead, use these tips to help you get a better night's sleep, no matter what trimester you're in.
Don't drink a lot of water or other fluids right before bed. Certainly you need to up your intake of water and other healthy fluids during pregnancy, but you don't have to do it right before bed. A few hours before bed, start tapering off your fluid intake. If you get thirsty, have just enough sips of water to quench your thirst. This can dramatically impact your ability to stay in bed asleep longer instead of getting up to use the bathroom!
Ease lower back pain with extra pillows. It's best for pregnant women in the second trimester or later to sleep on the left side, which gets the most blood flow to the uterus and kidneys. However, this might be uncomfortable for you at first. Sleeping with your knees bent with a pillow between them can help. Experiment with placing pillows behind your back, too, since this can help support your lower back and ease that pain that often comes with later stages of pregnancy.
Sleep during the day if you can't sleep at night. If possible, take naps during the day. You'll probably need more sleep than usual during your first and third trimesters, and daytime naps can help. Some women actually have an easier time sleeping and getting comfortable during the day, so don't be afraid to sleep then if that's what works for you. Just make sure you're getting your rest!
Exercise for at least thirty minutes a day. Most women in normal pregnancies are encouraged to exercise every day. Talk with your healthcare provider before starting a regimen, but exercise may help you sleep better. It can burn of excess energy, calm your mind, and loosen sore muscles to make sleeping easier. Great exercises for pregnant women include walking, swimming, yoga, and aerobics.
Don't force yourself to sleep. One of the worst things you can do is to try to force yourself to sleep when you can't. Go to bed, and try to fall asleep for about fifteen minutes. If you just can't sleep, feel free to get back up and read, do some needlework, or whatever will make you sleepy. Forcing yourself to sleep will probably just make your brain stay active longer, so try to work with your body instead of against it!

Neck pain can result from poor posture, injury, stress, disease, and other sources. Most of the neck pain, back pain and shoulder pain can be prevented by specially designed Neck Pillow. In order to get good nights sleep on is advised to get the pillow in the line of your body and thus it helps the neck and gives the support to the head and neck. When traveling, it will be great for carrying and for sleeping in hotels. It can be folded for traveling purpose. You can easily fill in water and drain out water anytime, anywhere at your convenience. Since hotel pillows are traditional thick and fluffy, you will find out that the pillows are not comfortable at all because they are not designed for your specific needs, you will be much more comfort and sleep better with it.

Baby Sleep

Sleeping is one of the most important things for us to maintain our health. Proper sleep affects how we perform throughout the day. The better we sleep, the better our performance. In spite of the importance of sleep, most pillows were not designed to properly support the body to ensure a good night’s sleep.
The perfect height of a pillow should be 8 to 15 cm because a pillow which is too high will lead to the neck being bent forwards, thus affecting backbone muscles, as well as the blood circulation of the brain, resulting in backbone diseases, pressing the blood vessels and nervous system, aches etc. In serious cases, uneasiness while resting, pressure in the throat and resulting in serious snoring.

A pillow which is too low will result in excessive flow of blood in the brain, blood vessels in the brain being expanded and experiencing pressure. Uneasiness of the head after the sleep, swollen eye lids are common signs and therefore are bad for those who have high blood pressure. You will need to replace your pillow once your pillow gets older. As your pillow gets older it becomes uncomfortable, lumpy and may have as much as 10% of their weight made up of dead dust mites and droppings. Dust Mite does most of their attacking at night while you are asleep. You will find that it is very difficult for you to get a good night sleep with your old uncomfortable pillow.

Getting back in sync with your body’s natural sleep

Good sleep strategies are essential to deep, restorative sleep you can count on, night after night. By learning to avoid common enemies of sleep and trying out a variety of healthy sleep-promoting techniques, you can discover your personal prescription to a good night’s rest.

Do you want to be productive, mentally sharp, emotionally balanced, and full of energy all day long? The way you feel during your waking hours hinges on how well you sleep at night.The key is to experiment. What works for some might not work as well for others. It’s important to find the sleep strategies that work best for you.

The first step to improving the quality of your rest is finding out how much sleep you need. How much sleep is enough? While sleep requirements vary slightly from person to person, most healthy adults need at least 8 hours of sleep each night to function at their best.

Getting back in sync with your body’s natural sleep–wake cycle—your circadian rhythm—is one of the most important strategies for achieving good sleep. If you keep a regular sleep schedule, going to bed and getting up at the same time each day, you will feel much more refreshed and energized than if you sleep the same number of hours at different times. This holds true even if you alter your sleep schedule by only an hour or two. Consistency is important.

Set a regular bedtime. Go to bed at the same time every night. Choose a time when you normally feel tired, so that you don’t toss and turn. Try not to break this routine on weekends when it may be tempting to stay up late. If you want to change your bedtime, help your body adjust by making the change in small daily increments, such as 15 minutes earlier or later each day.

Wake up at the same time every day. If you’re getting enough sleep, you should wake up naturally without an alarm. If you need an alarm clock to wake up on time, you may need to set an earlier bedtime. As with your bedtime, try to maintain your regular wake–time even on weekends. Nap to make up for lost sleep. If you need to make up for a few lost hours, opt for a daytime nap rather than sleeping late. This strategy allows you to pay off your sleep debt without disturbing your natural sleep–wake rhythm, which often backfires in insomnia and throws you off for days.

The power of sleep

Regularly skimp on “service” and you’re headed for a major mental and physical breakdown. It’s not just the number of hours in bed that is important—it’s the quality of those hours of sleep. If you’re giving yourself plenty of time for sleep, but you’re still having trouble waking up in the morning or staying alert all day, you may not be spending enough time in the different stages of sleep—especially deep sleep and REM sleep. By understanding how the sleep cycles work and the factors that can lead to those cycles being disrupted, you’ll be able to start getting both the quantity and the quality of sleep you need.Many of us want to sleep as little as possible—or feel like we have to. There are so many things that seem more interesting or important than getting a few more hours of sleep. But just as exercise and nutrition are essential for optimal health and happiness, so is sleep. The quality of your sleep directly affects the quality of your waking life, including your mental sharpness, productivity, emotional balance, creativity, physical vitality, and even your weight. No other activity delivers so many benefits with so little effort!

Sleep isn’t merely a time when your body and brain shut off. While you rest, your brain stays busy, overseeing a wide variety of biological maintenance tasks that keep you running in top condition and prepare you for the day ahead. Without enough hours of restorative sleep, you’re like a car in need of an oil change. You won’t be able to work, learn, create, and communicate at a level even close to your true potential. Your internal 24-hour sleep-wake cycle, otherwise known as biological clock or circadian rhythm, is regulated by processes in the brain that respond to how long you’ve been awake and the changes between light and dark. At night, your body responds to the loss of daylight by producing melatonin, a hormone that makes you sleepy. During the day, sunlight triggers the brain to inhibit melatonin production so you feel awake and alert.

This sleep-wake cycle can be disrupted by factors such as nightshift work, traveling across time zones, or irregular sleeping patterns, leaving you feeling groggy, disoriented, and sleepy at inconvenient times. The production of melatonin can also be thrown off when you’re deprived of sunlight during the day or exposed to too much artificial light at night, disrupting the sleep-wake cycle and preventing you from getting the sleep you need.

Most sleeping stylies

Since the emergence of symptoms of chest pain was not recognized by the sufferer, GERD while sleeping also called asymptomatic silent reflux or heartburn. These symptoms will disappear when you wake up, so that felt just being tired because sleep is not qualified. In addition, the position of sleep can also affect the rise of stomach acid. Aka Spinchter valve that limits the stomach into the esophagus with the channel will be weakened if the side sleeping position to the right, so it is more advisable to sleep on your left.To be able to sleep more soundly, you should not eat before bedtime triggers stomach acid such as acidic or spicy foods, alcohol and chocolate. It could also chew gum before bed, because it can increase saliva production which will neutralize stomach acid.

Normally the body can be arranged for during sleep urinary tract can hold up to 6-8 hours.However, in some conditions such as diabetes and advanced age, such a regulatory function does not run so often wake to urinate. The condition of frequent urination at night is called nocturia and generally make people disturbed his sleep because of frequent waking. There also are not awake, but sleep so restless because the body constantly sends signals to the brain that the bladder is full. The fix is ??relatively easy, ie, with not too much to drink for 3 hours before bedtime. Limit consumption of tea, coffee and alcohol because they are diuretics or shed the urine so that it can aggravate nocturia.

Grinding teeth during sleep or bruxism is a neurological disorder that is often not realized by the sufferer, unless there are other people who reminded him. Another form of bruxism jaw is clamped with a very strong pressure. Although not realized, bruxism is very disturbing relaxation of facial muscles so he could not sleep well. Not infrequently the pressure that occur during the night causing pain in the jaw bone, so that less and less quiet sleep. Because it deals with neurological conditions, bruxism should be consulted to the dentist although several tools such as dental bearings can be purchased alone. Usually, doctors also recommend people with bruxism to stop chewing gum because his mouth movements are often carried away in his sleep.

Restless leg syndrome or restless leg syndrome causes the legs would not stop moving while sleeping. Movement is diverse, ranging from kicking to constantly change positions of the crosses to the left move to right all night.This syndrome usually occurs during sleep entered the phase of rapid eye movement (REM) so he could not sleep soundly. Though unconscious, the body requires energy to move my legs a little not so normal that when I wake up feeling tired. Because it is not known exactly what causes it, restless leg syndrome is rather difficult to overcome. But according to some studies, vitamin B in the online red, spinach and vegetables can reduce the symptoms that accompany restless legs syndrome.

Breathing through the mouth to make the supply of oxygen to the brain and muscles is reduced, so the body becomes unfit waking. Breathing through the mouth also risk triggering the most severe snoring or is airway obstruction or sleep apnea.If the saliva dripping and leaving a spot on the pillow and in the corner of the lips, it was a sign mouth continually open during sleep. Respiratory likely to occur through the mouth or mouth breathing, not through the nose like normal people breathe.　　　　
Bruxism and restless leg syndrome is actually included in the category of REM Behavior Disorder or behavioral disturbances in REM phase. Another term for sleep disorders such as parasomnias that this is not normal is defined as behavior that is done without conscious during sleep. There are many other forms of parasomnias, including sleep talking (ngelindur), sleep walking (walking in his sleep), sleep texting (sending SMS while sleeping) and even sleep eating (eating while sleeping). There is again the most exhausting, namely having sex while asleep or seksomnia.

Restless legs syndrome disease

One type of RLS usually starts early in life (before 45 years of age) and tends to run in families. It may even start in childhood. Once this type of RLS starts, it usually lasts for the rest of your life. Over time, symptoms slowly get worse and occur more often. If you have a mild case, you may have long periods with no symptoms.

Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a disorder that causes a strong urge to move your legs. This urge to move often occurs with strange and unpleasant feelings in your legs. Moving your legs relieves the urge and the unpleasant feelings.

People who have RLS describe the unpleasant feelings as creeping, crawling, pulling, itching, tingling, burning, aching, or electric shocks. Sometimes, these feelings also occur in the arms.

The urge to move and unpleasant feelings happen when you're resting and inactive. Thus, they tend to be worse in the evening and at night.Another type of RLS usually starts later in life (after 45 years of age). It generally doesn't run in families. This type of RLS tends to have a more abrupt onset. The symptoms usually don't get worse over time.

Some diseases, conditions, and medicines may trigger RLS. For example, the disorder has been linked to kidney failure, Parkinson's disease, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, pregnancy, and iron deficiency. When a disease, condition, or medicine causes RLS, the symptoms usually start suddenly.Medical conditions or medicines often cause or worsen the type of RLS that starts later in life.

Sleeping could lower your blood pressure

In the research, more than 270 healthy men ages 19 to 64 who were not taking blood pressure medication wore automatic blood pressure cuffs. They were first asked to lie down face up and later were told to turn over on their stomachs.Yasuharu Tabara of Ehime University School of Medicine in Ehime, Japan, noted that high blood pressure during the night can increase the risk of a night time heart attack, reports Patient Health International.

In almost all the men, their overall blood pressure dropped significantly when they were face down. And 25 of the men experienced an even more dramatic decrease of more than 15 points when they just turned over onto their stomachs.

In addition, systolic blood pressure, which is the force blood exerts on the artery walls when the heart beats, fell by as much as 15 mmHg in response to moving into the prone position, compared with the supine position, reports Patient Health International.

"These findings indicate that sleeping position could influence blood pressure," the researchers said. "Marked change in blood pressure during sleep by turning the position may need to be further studied as a possible cause of the cardiovascular events during the sleep."

Bad insufficient sleep could cause diseases

While we often consider sleep to be a “passive” activity, sufficient sleep is increasingly being recognized as an essential aspect of health promotion and chronic disease prevention in the public health community.

Insufficient sleep is associated with a number of chronic diseases and conditions—such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity, and depression—which threaten our nation’s health. Notably, insufficient sleep is associated with the onset of these diseases and also poses important implications for their management and outcome. Moreover, insufficient sleep is responsible for motor vehicle and machinery-related crashes, causing substantial injury and disability each year. In short, drowsy driving can be as dangerous—and preventable—as driving while intoxicated.

More than one-quarter of the U.S. population report occasionally not getting enough sleep, while nearly 10% experience chronic insomnia. However, new methods for assessing and treating sleep disorders bring hope to the millions suffering from insufficient sleep. Fundamental to the success of all of these efforts is the recognition that sufficient sleep is not a luxury—it is a necessity—and should be thought of as a “vital sign” of good health.

The idea of best sleeping

How do we achieve this ideal 7.5 hours of sleep each night? Breus explains that “sleep is a sensory experience, and requires all five senses to have a good night’s rest.” He says these five bedroom essentials correlate with our five senses and are necessary to sleep soundly.

The idea of this sleep diet comes from his book “Beauty Sleep,” the paperback version of an earlier title “Good Night: The Sleep Doctor’s 4-Week Program to Better Sleep and Better Health.” When asked why 7.5 hours is the magic number, he explains to DietsInReview.com that the average sleep cycle lasts 90 minutes, and the average person has five of these cycles each night. Basic math puts you at 7.5 hours as the ideal amount of sleep necessary to let your body lose weight. Any additional sleep is beneficial, but you will not lose any more weight. "More sleep doesn’t make a tremendous difference," Breus says.

He also suggests that on the whole our nation is sleep deprived, and it’s this deprivation that is aiding our growing obesity epidemic. He says “sleep is not the cure [for obesity], but I definitely think it’s a contributing factor.” We asked if sleep had any positive influence on childhood obesity and his response was that there isn’t a great answer to that yet. He says they do know that when kids are sleep deprived, there are signs of weight gain, however, more research in this area is still needed.

Why is sleep so important? Getting enough quality sleep affects your weight, as well as other health issues. When you’re getting that 7.5 hours of quality sleep each night, he says everything from circulation to a reduction in blood pressure (or hypertension) will be enjoyed, as well as weight loss. When you’re sleep deprived, he explains that the metabolism slows and you get more of some hormones and less of others. Ghrelin is the “go” hormone, it tells you to eat, and leptin is the "stop" hormone, it tells you to stop eating. “It’s a pretty bad situation when you have more go and not enough stop,” explains Breus, and it’s this discrepancy in hormone levels that prevents us from losing and enables us to gain weight. In fact, when we’re feeling sleep deprived, he referenced a study from the University of Chicago in which they found people are more likely to choose high-fat, high-carb foods over healthier choices.

Bad dreams or nightmares

Young boys and girls affected by these problems with sleep will ordinarily talk out loud on their sleep and often sleep walk as well.In no way limited to children by any means, night terrors may have an impact on adults too, and are most of the result of strong psychological worries. The use, or improper use of alcohol is often the reason in grown-ups suffering from night terrors.Sleepwalking is a little of a happening where person appears to be awake, but in reality is actually still asleep. The sleepwalker will probably have no memory of their night time behaviour.Nightmares are sleep issues connected with quite intense images creating panic and worries.

If perhaps a person is awakened after a nightmare, they can commonly illustrate their dream in great depth. And then the individual ordinarily has a great deal of difficulties returning to sleep, and is suffering from sleep problems and a lack of sleep. Bad dreams or nightmares are caused by any number of reasons like a condition, loss of a loved one, stress or even a negative response to medications. You have to look for medical help if perhaps bad dreams continue and spark a lack of sleep a few times a week.Night time terrors are sleep disorders which show up every time a particular person quickly awakes from sleep in a hysterical or frightened state of mind.

Even though someone may seem to be up, they're probably in a state of distress and incapable of effectively communicate. In short, they will respond to spoken communication and are not entirely awake. These sleep problems ordinarily keep going around 10-15 minutes, and next the person affected does not suffer from insomnia, and is in the position to get back sleep. However, it is impossible the person will likely have any recollection of the horrifying events the following morning.Nighttime terrors are relatively common among youngsters with about 5% of three to five year-olds affected.