Here are thirteen reasons why you need your sleep! Insufficient sleep can lead to obesity. The lack of sleep puts your alters natural hormone levels, causing an increase in the ghrelin hormone, increasing your appetite and a decrease of the leptin hormone, which curbs your appetite. People with a sleep disorder tend to have worse […]
Archive | July, 2013
CDC Declares Sleep Deprivation a Public Health Epidemic
In March of this year, the CDC posted a statement concerning the general publics sleeping habits. They explained that a variety of hazardous mishaps, such as vehicle crashes, medical or occupational errors, and industrial disasters, and a plethora of health issues, like hypertension, diabetes, depression, cancer, obesity, were all contributed to insufficient sleep. The ages […]
Your Tablet May Be Keeping You Up at Night
A study conducted at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, found that at least two hours of exposure to a tablet device reduced melatonin, a hormone that helps promotes sleep, levels by twenty-two percent. Melatonin also regulates your internal clock and plays a role in the sleep cycle. This is a concern for researchers since 90 percent […]
An Afternoon Nap Restores the Brain
A new study has found that a brief siesta in the afternoon is exactly what the brain needs to operate at its best. Researchers at the University of California at Berkeley collected 39 young adults and asked them to take a memory-based test, then let 20 of the participants take an 100 minute nap. The […]
A Better Night’s Sleep Might Depend on Your Caffeine Intake
For many of us, a daily cup of joe in the morning is as routine as brushing our teeth or combing our hair. Forty-three percent of Americans are likely to drink coffee or some form of caffeine to get a jolt of energy. But what they may not know is that it takes six […]
Insomnia Blues: The Facts
Insomnia is the most common sleep complaint among Americans today. While it is usually referred to as the inability to stay asleep or fall asleep, it can also be explained as waking up and not feeling rested or restored. Acute insomnia is typically one to seven nights long, but chronic insomnia can last months or […]
Sleep Apnea Patients are at Higher Risk for Cancer
New research has made a startling discovery connecting cancer and sleep apnea. First: What is sleep apnea? Sleep apnea occurs when a sleeping person’s airway becomes narrowed, blocked or floppy causing air pauses or air decline which deprives the body of oxygen. It has already been linked to cardiovascular disease and obesity as well. Researchers […]
ADHD or Just Not Enough Sleep?
The rate of children diagnosed with hyperactivity disorders in the United States only continues to increase, but there is a possibility many of these children simply are unable to get a restful nights sleep, or are suffering from sleep apnea. Often sleep apnea and disorders such as A.D.H.D. in children have the same general symptoms: […]
Understanding the Different Phases of Sleep
Sleep can be a fickle friend at times. Everyone’s body needs sleep, but that doesn’t always mean it’s possible. What is your brain missing out on as you desperately attempt to drift into dreamland. Researchers are beginning to believe that a regular sleep cycle goes through various stages and that each stage is for a […]
Memory Decline in Older People Linked to Lack of Sleep
As we age, our ability to process and retain new information decreases. While this has been widely accepted, there has been little explanation of why until recently. A report just released by the journal of Nature Neuroscience, concludes that as we get older, structural changes in our brains over time can cause a lower quality […]
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