Research has been shown that person’s physical health can be affected with bad sleep. The amount of sleep one can get also influence one’s decision making. According to the study published in the March 1st issue of the journal SLEEP, sleep deprivation impairs the ability to integrate emotion and cognition to guide moral judgements.
The study was conducted by William D.S. Killgore, PhD, and the colleagues at the Walter Reed Army Institute of research. It was focused on 26 healthy adults who made judgements about the appropriateness of various courses of action in response to three types of moral dilemmas on two separate occasions: at rested baseline and again following 53 hours of continuous wakefulness.
Good Night Sleep
Lack of sleep can result in stress, lack of concentration, moodiness, memory loss, lower motivation and fatigue. It is important to get a good night sleep otherwise it may lead to different sleep disorders. More than eighty percent of people suffering from depression are suffering with sleep problems.
At present, one of the most common problems is Sleep deprivation. In fact the Better Sleep Council surveyed a thousand adult respondents and discovered that more than 30% of them confessed to not getting enough sleep each night.
Here are 101 ways to get good night sleep for those who experience difficulty in getting sleep.
http://www.sleepdisordersguide.com/blog/good-night-sleep-101-ways/
Showing posts with label sleep. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sleep. Show all posts
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Napping may be the answer
Are you feeling tired and run-down in the middle of the afternoon? Is your energy level dropping like a rock into a lake? Coffee is NOT the answer, but taking a nap might just be the ticket. Cats take naps all the time. They seem to be perfectly healthy. Of course, I have never been able to actually communicate with any of my cats to see if they feel rested after a nap. :-)
You may be victimizing yourself by not getting enough sleep at night. Maybe you feel you just don't have the time to sleep 8-10 hours a night. You have just got so much to do. Or maybe you are like me, and are so excited about whatever you are doing that time just seems to fade out, and suddenly it is several hours later--perhaps 3 am in the morning. Ooops!! Can you say "time management problems?"
I have found that if you are going to take a nap, don't take a long one. If you do, you will go into deep sleep, and when you wake you will be especially groggy. Your body will crave even more sleep, especially if you are sleep deprived. Then you will wake up far more tired than when you drifted off to sleep.
I believe it was Albert Einstein (although it might have been somebody else) who used to take a kettle and turn it upside down. Then he would hold a spoon in his hand above the kettle. Just as soon as he fell asleep, his hand would relax, the spoon would fall, and there would be a loud clang as the spoon hit the kettle. That would awaken him. Obviously, this is a very short nap. But it is better to err on the side of short than long. And on the practical level, your boss may not begrudge you a short nap, but you might lose your job if you slept all day at your desk.
From personal experience, I think about half an hour is just about right. You don't go into a deep sleep in half an hour, but you can experience some much needed rest. And you won't wake up groggy, but refreshed. Can you say "catnap." My felines are feeling fine. :-)
So try napping when you are tired. It just might help.
David A. Youngs
You may be victimizing yourself by not getting enough sleep at night. Maybe you feel you just don't have the time to sleep 8-10 hours a night. You have just got so much to do. Or maybe you are like me, and are so excited about whatever you are doing that time just seems to fade out, and suddenly it is several hours later--perhaps 3 am in the morning. Ooops!! Can you say "time management problems?"
I have found that if you are going to take a nap, don't take a long one. If you do, you will go into deep sleep, and when you wake you will be especially groggy. Your body will crave even more sleep, especially if you are sleep deprived. Then you will wake up far more tired than when you drifted off to sleep.
I believe it was Albert Einstein (although it might have been somebody else) who used to take a kettle and turn it upside down. Then he would hold a spoon in his hand above the kettle. Just as soon as he fell asleep, his hand would relax, the spoon would fall, and there would be a loud clang as the spoon hit the kettle. That would awaken him. Obviously, this is a very short nap. But it is better to err on the side of short than long. And on the practical level, your boss may not begrudge you a short nap, but you might lose your job if you slept all day at your desk.
From personal experience, I think about half an hour is just about right. You don't go into a deep sleep in half an hour, but you can experience some much needed rest. And you won't wake up groggy, but refreshed. Can you say "catnap." My felines are feeling fine. :-)
So try napping when you are tired. It just might help.
David A. Youngs
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Back to the Medical Supply Store
Hey guess what? Well, you would never guess, so I will simply tell you. I have had the CPAP machine almost two weeks now. They called up and told me to bring in the unit I am using because they needed to download the information that it has been quietly gathering regarding my sleep habits using the CPAP machine. When I got there, the nice lady disassembled my CPAP machine into its two basic componants: the air pump, and the moisturizing unit. Then she pulled out the memory card from the air pump unit.
She slid the data card into a card reader and presently was able to tell me that since I have been using the CPAP machine, I no longer stop breathing more than 90 times an hour. NO! Now I have been stopping breathing only 2.7 times an hour. I asked how a person could stop breathing .7 times. ;-)
The nice lady has a wicked laugh, very much like the Riddler had in the first Batman movie. Remember the Riddler laying there on the ground after he fell from the building? He had this incredible laugh that went on and on. And then we found out it was just a recording of a laugh.
Any way, she then put together my final machine without the data card. Did you know that I can get a new mask every three months? She recommends getting one at least every six months. We talked about my painting the mask black and running around at Halloween going, "Luke, this is your father," like Darth Vader in Star Wars. Maybe I should change that to "trick or treat."
I have the CPAP machine set up to auto start when I start breathing. It is so neat to take a couple of deep breaths and suddenly the CPAP machine comes on and pumps your lungs just pack full of air.
I sure have a pile more energy now I am using the CPAP machine.
Happy sleeping and great dreams
David A. Youngs
polybids@yahoo.com
http://polybids.blogspot.com
She slid the data card into a card reader and presently was able to tell me that since I have been using the CPAP machine, I no longer stop breathing more than 90 times an hour. NO! Now I have been stopping breathing only 2.7 times an hour. I asked how a person could stop breathing .7 times. ;-)
The nice lady has a wicked laugh, very much like the Riddler had in the first Batman movie. Remember the Riddler laying there on the ground after he fell from the building? He had this incredible laugh that went on and on. And then we found out it was just a recording of a laugh.
Any way, she then put together my final machine without the data card. Did you know that I can get a new mask every three months? She recommends getting one at least every six months. We talked about my painting the mask black and running around at Halloween going, "Luke, this is your father," like Darth Vader in Star Wars. Maybe I should change that to "trick or treat."
I have the CPAP machine set up to auto start when I start breathing. It is so neat to take a couple of deep breaths and suddenly the CPAP machine comes on and pumps your lungs just pack full of air.
I sure have a pile more energy now I am using the CPAP machine.
Happy sleeping and great dreams
David A. Youngs
polybids@yahoo.com
http://polybids.blogspot.com
Friday, March 16, 2007
Sleep Clinic, sleep test, CPAP machines and health
Well, I went to the sleep disorder clinic. They said I had to go to sleep by 11:00 pm. Have you ever been under stress to go to sleep, especially in a strange bed and in a strange environment? Well, I said "Okay." But since it was only 7:00 when I got there it was only about 8:00 when I got done filling out my paperwork. Of course I was supposed to have the paperwork all done and sent in weeks ago, but.... I lost it after it arrived in the mail.
But after I finished my paperwork, a nice older lady nurse showed me to my very own private bedroom. I had no idea how the sleep clinic test was supposed to work. But guess what.... there is a very nice short video tape that tells you exactly what they are going to do and how testing proceeds.
After I watched the video, I sat on the bed. It felt quite comfortable. I had brought my own pillow. If you ever do go for a sleep test, be sure to bring your own pillow. It makes all the difference between getting sleep and staying awake. At least for some people.
The nice nurse came in and showed me how to operate the cable television. Wow!! I have not seen television in almost a year. Well, maybe a few local channels, but not CABLE television. I was excited. I found a couple of old Star Trek episodes with Captain Kirk. Somewhere around 10:30 the nurse came in and woke me up. Apparently I had already fallen asleep.
Now this is where things get interesting. They glue about 20 leads all over your body. Two to each leg, a couple on the chest, and most of them around your head. And they use this very sticky goo that keeps the leads attached. Fortunately several months ago I had elected to do the very short haircut thing for two reasons. I'll get into the reasons in a moment. But first I have to tell you, there are these really strange wire sensors that literally go part way into your nose to see if you are breathing though your nose. They partially restrict your nose breathing so that makes life more challenging from then on. But I had cut my hair very short now for about a year. Why???
First, I am going bald. No!!! I don't want to go bald, but I don't have the money to buy Rogaine or some other medication to use every day to regrow my hair. The other reason was a matter of cost. Some time in the last year or so haircuts have climbed up in cost at the local hair cutting place in the mall. So I elected to buy my own electric razor with all those length attachements. I now give myself a haircut (free) in about 20 minutes. I use attachement #3 which gives me about 3/8 inch hair.
Any way the nice nurse glued all these electrodes all over my head. I guess that is to determine what type of sleep you are enjoying. She even had me put a couple of leads down each pant leg and glued leads on my calves. These are to see if I move my feet in my sleep. I thought I would never fall asleep again as I was experiencing some difficulty breathing since I got this amazing cold last week. It was a doozy. Any way, I felt some very real congestion in my chest and had difficulty in breathing in enough air to relax and go to sleep. But eventually I guess I drifted off.
Now when you awake, they warn you not to hardly move, or you will disturb all these wires from the leads all over your body. I awoke at about 12:15 and had to go pee. The bathroom is down the hall. So I said "Hey, I got to go to the bathroom" and immediately a voice out of nowhere said, "I'll be right there." The nice nurse came in and disconnected the leads from the recording machine. Then she wrapped all these leads around my neck and tied them in a knot. And I went off to the bathroom down the hall.
And after a few minutes I came back and she reattached me to the recording machine. I went back to sleep experiencing the same difficulty breathing. Then I woke up again at 1:30. Same routine.
Except after she had reattached all my cables she said, "let's try this" and pulled out what was obviously a mask to put over my nose. I asked, "do you think I need this?" The nurse replied, "Does the pope live at Rome? Do bears sleep in the woods?" Remember now, my sinuses are clogged to the max from this amazing cold I am experiencing. After hooking up what looked a whole lot like a miniature vacuum cleaner hose to this machine, she turned it on. Air was pumped under pressure to the mask, where I was supposed to breath it in. But... no go. So I asked for a mask to cover both nose and mouth. At first the nurse said, "It isn't going to work, because you have a beard." But after realizing I could not breath at all, she relented and brought me a bigger mask. It worked great. The air was slightly pressurized and it made breathing a whole lot easier.
I fell asleep almost instantly. As I was drifting off I thought, "this is what Darth Vader uses too!"
I almost woke up several times, but simply continued breathing and went back to sleep." Then the urge of nature woke me up. I spoke "Luke, I am your father." But inside the mask, no one could hear me. So I pulled off the mask and said, "Hey, I gotta go to the bathroom again." The nurse came in and started pulling off all the leads. I said, "wait a minute. I thought this study was supposed to go till 6:00 am and it is only 5:30." She said, "by the time you go potty, come back and get all hooked up again, it will be almost 6:00. Your study is over."
When I got to my feet, I had the most incredible sensation I have had in years. No... it wasn't pee running down my leg. It was energy. I had energy upon waking. It felt like I was back in college again. I went to the bathroom and then came back. The nurse was of course gone. So I went to her station and told her... "Hey, I have energy!! This CPAP machine really works." "She grinned mischieviously and said, "you think so huh?" Then she told me that I had stopped breathing repeatedly before she put the mask on me. She said, "if there ever was a candidate for the CPAP machine, it is you."
But I did not get one right then. Noooo!!! I had to wait for a medical doctor to interpret the results of my repeatedly stopping breathing while sleeping, and then compare it to the data collected after the CPAP machine was hooked up. But she assured me that they would definitely find in my favor (I would get a CPAP machine.) But it would take time. She then warned me that I would "hit the wall" when I tried to sleep again that night.
She was absolutely right. It was very hard to sleep. I slept restlessly and awoke so groggy I went back to sleep. Almost the whole day went by before I started to feel awake. I thought, "I can't wait for my very own CPAP machine."
If you snore loudly, go get a sleep study at a sleep disorder clinic. Perhaps you need a CPAP machine too.
David Youngs
http://polybids.blogspot.com
But after I finished my paperwork, a nice older lady nurse showed me to my very own private bedroom. I had no idea how the sleep clinic test was supposed to work. But guess what.... there is a very nice short video tape that tells you exactly what they are going to do and how testing proceeds.
After I watched the video, I sat on the bed. It felt quite comfortable. I had brought my own pillow. If you ever do go for a sleep test, be sure to bring your own pillow. It makes all the difference between getting sleep and staying awake. At least for some people.
The nice nurse came in and showed me how to operate the cable television. Wow!! I have not seen television in almost a year. Well, maybe a few local channels, but not CABLE television. I was excited. I found a couple of old Star Trek episodes with Captain Kirk. Somewhere around 10:30 the nurse came in and woke me up. Apparently I had already fallen asleep.
Now this is where things get interesting. They glue about 20 leads all over your body. Two to each leg, a couple on the chest, and most of them around your head. And they use this very sticky goo that keeps the leads attached. Fortunately several months ago I had elected to do the very short haircut thing for two reasons. I'll get into the reasons in a moment. But first I have to tell you, there are these really strange wire sensors that literally go part way into your nose to see if you are breathing though your nose. They partially restrict your nose breathing so that makes life more challenging from then on. But I had cut my hair very short now for about a year. Why???
First, I am going bald. No!!! I don't want to go bald, but I don't have the money to buy Rogaine or some other medication to use every day to regrow my hair. The other reason was a matter of cost. Some time in the last year or so haircuts have climbed up in cost at the local hair cutting place in the mall. So I elected to buy my own electric razor with all those length attachements. I now give myself a haircut (free) in about 20 minutes. I use attachement #3 which gives me about 3/8 inch hair.
Any way the nice nurse glued all these electrodes all over my head. I guess that is to determine what type of sleep you are enjoying. She even had me put a couple of leads down each pant leg and glued leads on my calves. These are to see if I move my feet in my sleep. I thought I would never fall asleep again as I was experiencing some difficulty breathing since I got this amazing cold last week. It was a doozy. Any way, I felt some very real congestion in my chest and had difficulty in breathing in enough air to relax and go to sleep. But eventually I guess I drifted off.
Now when you awake, they warn you not to hardly move, or you will disturb all these wires from the leads all over your body. I awoke at about 12:15 and had to go pee. The bathroom is down the hall. So I said "Hey, I got to go to the bathroom" and immediately a voice out of nowhere said, "I'll be right there." The nice nurse came in and disconnected the leads from the recording machine. Then she wrapped all these leads around my neck and tied them in a knot. And I went off to the bathroom down the hall.
And after a few minutes I came back and she reattached me to the recording machine. I went back to sleep experiencing the same difficulty breathing. Then I woke up again at 1:30. Same routine.
Except after she had reattached all my cables she said, "let's try this" and pulled out what was obviously a mask to put over my nose. I asked, "do you think I need this?" The nurse replied, "Does the pope live at Rome? Do bears sleep in the woods?" Remember now, my sinuses are clogged to the max from this amazing cold I am experiencing. After hooking up what looked a whole lot like a miniature vacuum cleaner hose to this machine, she turned it on. Air was pumped under pressure to the mask, where I was supposed to breath it in. But... no go. So I asked for a mask to cover both nose and mouth. At first the nurse said, "It isn't going to work, because you have a beard." But after realizing I could not breath at all, she relented and brought me a bigger mask. It worked great. The air was slightly pressurized and it made breathing a whole lot easier.
I fell asleep almost instantly. As I was drifting off I thought, "this is what Darth Vader uses too!"
I almost woke up several times, but simply continued breathing and went back to sleep." Then the urge of nature woke me up. I spoke "Luke, I am your father." But inside the mask, no one could hear me. So I pulled off the mask and said, "Hey, I gotta go to the bathroom again." The nurse came in and started pulling off all the leads. I said, "wait a minute. I thought this study was supposed to go till 6:00 am and it is only 5:30." She said, "by the time you go potty, come back and get all hooked up again, it will be almost 6:00. Your study is over."
When I got to my feet, I had the most incredible sensation I have had in years. No... it wasn't pee running down my leg. It was energy. I had energy upon waking. It felt like I was back in college again. I went to the bathroom and then came back. The nurse was of course gone. So I went to her station and told her... "Hey, I have energy!! This CPAP machine really works." "She grinned mischieviously and said, "you think so huh?" Then she told me that I had stopped breathing repeatedly before she put the mask on me. She said, "if there ever was a candidate for the CPAP machine, it is you."
But I did not get one right then. Noooo!!! I had to wait for a medical doctor to interpret the results of my repeatedly stopping breathing while sleeping, and then compare it to the data collected after the CPAP machine was hooked up. But she assured me that they would definitely find in my favor (I would get a CPAP machine.) But it would take time. She then warned me that I would "hit the wall" when I tried to sleep again that night.
She was absolutely right. It was very hard to sleep. I slept restlessly and awoke so groggy I went back to sleep. Almost the whole day went by before I started to feel awake. I thought, "I can't wait for my very own CPAP machine."
If you snore loudly, go get a sleep study at a sleep disorder clinic. Perhaps you need a CPAP machine too.
David Youngs
http://polybids.blogspot.com
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