EasySleepMusic.com

A nap during the day improves the brain’s ability to absorb new information, US scientists claim.

relaxing music http://www.easysleepmusic.com

Volunteers who slept for 90 minutes during the day did better at cognitive tests than those who were kept awake.

Results of the University of California at Berkeley study involving 39 healthy adults were presented at a conference.

A UK-based sleep expert said it was hard to separate the pure “memory boosting” effects of sleep from those of simply being less tired.

Sleep not only rights the wrong of prolonged wakefulness, but, at a neurocognitive level, it moves you beyond where you were before you took a nap Dr Matthew Walker, UC Berkeley

The wealth of study into the science of sleep in recent years has so far failed to come up with conclusive evidence as to the value of a quick “siesta” during the day.

The latest study suggests that the brain may need sleep to process short-term memories, creating “space” for new facts to be learned.

In their experiment, 39 healthy adults were given a hard learning task in the morning – with broadly similar results, before half of them were sent for their siesta.

relaxing music http://www.easysleepmusic.com

When the tests were repeated, the nappers outperformed those who had carried on without sleep.

Checks on brain electrical activity suggested that this process might be happening in a sleep phase between deep sleep, and dreaming sleep, called stage 2 non-rapid eye movement sleep, when fact-based memories are moved from “temporary storage” in the brain’s hippocampus to another area called the pre-frontal cortex.

Brain ‘inbox’

Dr Matthew Walker, who led the study, reported at the AAAS conference in San Diego, said: “Sleep not only rights the wrong of prolonged wakefulness, but, at a neurocognitive level, it moves you beyond where you were before you took a nap.

“It’s as though the e-mail inbox in your hippocampus is full, and, until you sleep and clear out all those fact e-mails, you’re not going to receive any more mail.

“It’s just going to bounce until you sleep and move it into another folder.”

However, Professor Derk-Jan Dijk, the director of the Surrey Sleep Research Centre, said that there was no clear evidence that daytime napping offered a distinct advantage over sleeping just once over 24 hours.

“The sleep-wake cycle is not as rigid as we might think – we have the capability to sleep in different ways.”

He said that while the brain effect reported in the study might be spotted in a laboratory setting, the picture became more clouded in the “real world”.

“The size of these effects are much more difficult to assess – if I have to learn something, for example, it’s easier to do this when I’m feeling awake and alert than when I’m sleepy.”

relaxing music http://www.easysleepmusic.com

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8524549.stm

Losing sleep may cause the brain to stop producing new brain cells, a study conducted by New Jersey’s Princeton University has found.

relaxing music http://www.easysleepmusic.com

The Proceedings of the National Academy of Science research on rats found that the hippocampus portion of the brain was directly affected by a lack of sleep for a long period, the BBC reported.

By depriving rats of sleep for 72 hours, the researchers found that those animals consequently had increased amounts of the stress hormone corticosterone, and produced significantly fewer new brain cells in the hippocampus.

When the rats’ sleep patterns were returned to normal a week later, their levels of nerve-cell production remained hindered for two weeks.

The lack of production appeared to prompt the brain to increase its efforts to maintain an appropriate balance.

British sleep expert Dr. Neil Stanley called the finding “interesting,” but said more study on sleep depravation might be useful.

relaxing music http://www.easysleepmusic.com

“It would be interesting to see if partial sleep deprivation — getting a little bit less sleep every night than you need — had the same effect,” he told the BBC.

Thanks,

Dr Sleep

My grandmother used to be up at the crack of dawn—not because she had to, but because her body clock had shifted to a different time frame with increasing age. My step-mother used to complain that after Dad retired, he woke up every morning before six. The connection seems inevitable—older people do not need as much sleep as younger folks do. While changes in sleep patterns may explain this situation to some extent, they do not address a fundamental problem–lack of sleep is not only unhealthy but potentially dangerous to the senior population.

a)The body chronically deprived of sleep is a walking time bomb. Consider some of these statistics from the National Sleep Research Project.

b)Seventeen hours of sustained wakefulness leads to a decrease in performance equivalent to a blood-alcohol level of 0.05%.

c)Research estimates that fatigue is involved in one in 6 road accidents. The 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill off Alaska, the Challenger Space Shuttle disaster and the Chernobyl nuclear accident have all been attributed to human errors in which sleep deprivation played a role.

d)As well, sleep compromises the immune system; it decreases your resistance to infections. A study at San Diego’s Veteran Medical Center discovered that reducing a person’s nightly normal sleep time by half decreases the activity of T-cells—the cells that destroy bacteria, viruses and tumor cells.

e)Young adults who are sleep deprived may be increasing their risk for diseases that accompany old age.

f)A recent study at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine suggests that sleep deprivation in older adults can lead to earlier death. The study involved tests that measured EEG sleep assessments. Results showed that those with low percentages of REM sleep were at the greatest risk. REM is an active period of sleep characterized by interval brain activity and rapid bursts of eye movement. REM is the brain wave stage of dreaming sleep (the theta stage) that is characterized by increased creativity, memory, healing and integrative emotional experience (what is usually called the “Ah-ha!” moment of insight and connection). There is no doubt that REM sleep contributes to the development of human imagination and consciousness.
There are, however measures that one can adopt to promote restful sleep. Like anything else, proper sleep can be encouraged through the maintenance of familiar and soothing routines— a ritual that is sometimes referred to as “sleep hygiene.”

1.Exercise: An exercise routine (30-40 minutes) four to five times as week is excellent not only for sleep promotion, but for cardiovascular health, weight maintenance, osteoporosis and diabetes as well. It’s like killing 5 birds with one stone! Both aerobic and resistance training can increase energy expenditure and lean body mass. As well, exercise is a natural mood enhancer because repetitive movement helps the body release its natural store of endorphins—the good feeling hormone.

2.Alpha and Theta-Wave CDs and relaxation music: Listening to soothing music or CD’s that help entrain your brainwave activities can definitely help you access Alpha and Theta brainwave states more readily. New technology is providing us with more accessible ways to tap into our subconscious mind and allow us to mould our behavior and emotions inside out.

3.Reduced liquids: Cut down on liquids in the evening as this will prevent frequent bathroom visits that interrupt sleep.

4.Reduced caffeine: Do not consume caffeinated products after 2 in the afternoon. Double check your medication as well; some drugs also disturb sleep. Anti-depressants, for example, can disturb normal sleep patterns and some barbiturates suppress REM sleep which can be harmful over a long period. Decongestants can also act as stimulants and beta blockers are known to cause insomnia.

5.Turn digital clocks away from your line of vision. Studies show that even the tiny luminous rays from a digital alarm clock can be strong enough to disrupt a sleep cycle. The digital light turns off a “neural switch” in the brain, causing levels of a key sleep chemical to decline within minutes.

6.Hot Bath: Researchers who studied female insomniacs (aged 60-70) found that those who had a hot bath before sleep spent more time in deep, slow brainwave sleep.

7.Avoid heavy, late meals that sit heavily in your stomach.

8.A glass of hot milk just before bedtime will also give your brain the amino acid tryptophan which the body converts to sleep-inducing chemicals.

9.Consult a doctor or dentist if you have a problem with sleep apnea, which can be controlled by a simple plastic appliance that fits in the mouth.

10.Last but not least, for those who are sleepless because of unresolved issues or problems—learn to make amends where changes can be made and lean to walk away (mentally and perhaps physically) when things cannot be changed. Pray and place everything in the hands of the Universe. Know that you are more than your problems.

Thanks,

Dr Sleep.

Over a million people worldwide rely on some form of prescription sleep medication. Many of these could sleep well or better without it. The trouble is these drugs are so habit forming, they don’t know how to stop taking them. They can’t get off the merry-go-round.

The thing that keeps us taking these drugs is fear. Fear of withdrawal, fear of never having a good night’s sleep again.

Indeed there will be some withdrawal when you stop taking prescribed sleep medication. This is called “Drug Withdrawal Insomnia”.

If you are an occasional user of sleeping pills, you will be able to achieve this quite easily. For those who depend on medication every night, expect a certain amount of discomfort especially at the beginning.

I would recommend any heavily addicted sleep medication user to consult their doctor while coming off the drug. Also it’s important to do this GRADUALLY. Suddenly stopping any medication isn’t recommended and may cause physical or emotional problems.

What to expect

You may have trouble sleeping for about 1 to 3 weeks, very rarely this may last longer. You may be pleasantly surprised if you have no rebound insomnia, however be prepared for it and know how to deal with it.

Just be patient and know that it is temporary. Your sleep will improve after this stage. Don’t lie awake worrying about how tired you are going to feel the next day. At least you won’t have the “hung over” feeling that sleeping pills gave you.

You may find you are dreaming more. This is because your REM sleep has been suppressed over time and your body is now compensating for this. This will lessen over time.

You may experience some physical symptoms of drug withdrawal such as anxiety, shaky hands, muscle tension and dizziness. Just accept that these will pass and don’t be alarmed.

There’s no need to throw away your sleep medication when you’ve decided to stop taking it. Just keep it in the bedroom as an “insurance policy”. That will stop any feelings of panic when you are having a bad night. Tell yourself, “I’ll take if I need it”. This may be enough to help you relax and sleep without taking it.

Keep a sleep diary. If possible start this before cutting down on your medication. You should gradually notice an improvement in your sleep as the weeks progress. This will help to build confidence in your ability to fall asleep on your own.

While going through this withdrawal, don’t forget to practice good sleep habits as follows:

No caffeine after lunch
Wind down gradually before bed
No TV in the bedroom
Read in bed only if this helps you sleep
Practice relaxation exercises.
Above all persevere and look forward to healthy sleep without drugs.

Thanks,

Dr Sleep.

I was recently discussing the subject of anxiety, stress, and sleep problems with a couple of my friends. All three of us had struggled with these issues and had experienced nervous breakdowns, stress leaves from work, anxiety medication and/or sleeping pills.

Today we are all living without medication, and have found our own unique ways of successfully dealing with stress and anxiety.

Our conversation made me think of how different each of us is. My friends and I all discovered methods to reduce stress and anxiety, and all three of us ultimately found success using a different routine. This shouldn’t be too surprising, seeing that my friends and I all have different occupations, hobbies, family situations, body types, fitness levels, personalities, etc. Some found that intense physical exertion was helpful, where others found success with lighter aerobic exercise. Meditation and aromatherapy was seen by some as a cure, and to others as boring and pointless.

Unfortunately, the literature on stress and sleep disorders generally offers the same advice for everyone, and rarely points out that there are no blanket remedies. If you don’t realize that stress and sleep remedies are individualistic, and may work better for some than for others, you may cause yourself a lot of frustration and (ironically) stress.

I’ve found most of the stress and sleep disorder remedy advice I’ve read on websites and in books to be helpful. At the same time, people should realize that only a small number of these tips may actually work for them.

My advice would be to try a variety of exercises and methods for sleep and anxiety. If you find something works, stick with it, but if it is not helping, move on and try something else. Don’t get frustrated if the first few methods you try don’t work for you. Remember, you are unique, and many of the stress and sleep tips you find may not be for you. Keep on searching and trying different methods, you’ll eventually come across a system that will work for you.

Thanks,

Dr Sleep.