Only in studies will people be perhaps convinced of the abnormalities and issues that lack of sleep bring. Health are expected to be at the top of the list and for today, it has to do something with weight.

Ideally, we hear about people losing weight due to lack of sleep. But in a strange twist, a study proves that lack of sleep can be a cause for gaining weight and eventually lead to obesity.

A study carried out by the University of Washington showed how some genetic traits could impact on BMI. The study which made use of twins turned out that those who slept for less than 7 hours were twice likely to experience genetic effects tied up with weight gain over the ones who slept for more than 9 hours.

Those who slept for less than seven hours had higher BMIs on average, and the researchers attributed 70 percent of the differences to the genetic effects.

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Obesity and sleep deprivation issues are already health risks on their own and when you combine both, it may lead to a serious death risk. Sleeping pills have their share of issues and as per findings by a family physician and epidemiologist from the Jackson Hole Centre for Preventive Medicine, obese persons may want to beware.

It seems that people suffering from obesity are seen as vulnerable and such would be catastrophic for people taking sleeping pills. Pills were found to be tied with longer pauses in breathing and from there you can see how the mortality rate may eventually set in, with reference to breathing problems for the people having their share of obesity problems.

These findings are based on the Scripps Clinic-led study of almost 40,000 patients, according to a Scripps Clinic statement.

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It is no secret that people who need to adjust their sleep habits may have health issues and with the expected implementation of the Daylight Savings Time, it is perhaps easy to say that you should watch out for your heart.

According to University of Alabama at Birmingham associate professor Martin Young, Ph.D., in the Division of Cardiovascular Disease, the chances of suffering a heart attack is higher rises the Monday and Tuesday following DST.

Apparently there is no definite reason associated with the said issue although it seems that it all boils down to the body or Circadian clock to which human cells are run.

“The internal clocks in each cell can prepare it for stress or a stimulus. When time moves forward, cell clocks are anticipating another hour to sleep that they won’t get, and the negative impact of the stress worsens; it has a much more detrimental effect on the body.”

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Unstable breathing when sleeping would normally lead people think about obstructive sleep apnea. But it seems that is not all that you would have to worry about based on a study which have associated improper breathing during sleep as possibly a link to behavior disorders.

The improper breathing patterns would normally churn up snoring where about one in ten children snore. But a study published in Pediatrics seem to have shown that there is some neurological issues which include hyperactivity and aggressiveness closely tied with the sleep deprived victim’s relationships.

This isn’t the first study to link children’s sleep issues with behavioral problems, but it was big enough – with some 11,000 youngsters involved – to rule out other possible causes.

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Sleeping pills can help you sleep but health-wise, there is no question that some health risk is at stake. And apparently if people rely on them too much, there is the possibility of death after a study showed that the said drugs carry a substantially increased risk of death for those who are prescribed.

Over a two-and-a-half-year period, they compared the death rates among more than 10,500 people who received sleeping pill prescriptions with those of more than 23,600 others — matched for age, state of health and other factors — who had not received such medication. The average age of the study group was 54.

Overall, there have been issues associated with sleeping pills. And while they do intend to help a person get the proper amount of sleep, the side effects persist. This includes increased depression which may eventually trigger suicide if they are not careful.

Aside from that, sleeping pills also interfere with motor and cognitive skills, which makes driving dangerous, and can cause sleep apnea, which can lead to heart problems.

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Going over some blogs, I found this curious post over at Tech Crunch. Presumably it seems to be something that was intended to be a joke, considering that the Tech Crunch HQ claims that sleep is not among the things that are in mind when working over there.

However, this brings us to think, sleep is indeed essential and although some may deny it, a few minutes of nap time does help in the productivity area, something shared by one of the commenters over there.

Everything started from a simple email with NapQuest on the subject. The whole thing seems to be an excerpt from special rooms designed for some people who work over 8 hours a day to take some nap or so.

While some may find it hilarious, on the health aspect, the request does seem reasonable. Either that or go home early. Then again, that would mean more pressure at work or allowing the company operations to suffer due to lack of work done for the day.

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You may have probably heard or read somewhere that lack of sleep is likely to be tied up with obesity and today we find an interesting highlight that may sort of explain the whole issue. Ordinarily, lack of sleep may make you think you are forced to eat less with the notion that you would prefer to sleep than eat. But an experiment proved otherwise.

Apparently the trick was done using some photos of food on 12 normally weighted men. They did not sleep and after some scans showed a high level of activity that is associated with hunger. They were reportedly hungrier even without sleep compared to the ones who got some nap.

The heightened desire to eat is what the scientists call “Hedonic Stimulus Processing”. So if you want some good advice, try to get some sleep and forget that notion of sleeping over eating when needed. It may make a difference in calories, especially if you are trying to lose weight.

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Don’t look now but it seems that another area of concern tied up with the problem of sleep apnea seems to be that of deafness or hearing loss. The discovery was courtesy of a study from Japan, wherein sudden deafness was more likely traced to that of a previous diagnosis of sleep apnea.

Hence, it is advisable to have yourself checked for sleep apnea just in case you incur such sudden hearing losses. The bad part about it is on determining if sleep apnea treatment can also address the deafness issue.

It may be possible that sleep apnea, which is known to increase the buildup of plaque in blood vessels, could affect vessels in areas of the brain that control hearing, or vessels that feed the nerves responsible for hearing.

But it looks like the study needs more evidence to support the claim. Just the same, it would be best to go to a specialist to determine if deafness and sleep apnea are indeed tied up.

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Most people nowadays are busy trying to burn those excess calories solicited from the just concluded Holidays and while many feel that exercise and cutting down the food intake is all that it takes to do so, hold on a second.

While controlling food intake and exercise may do that, do not forget the most important factor of all – SLEEP. Studies have shown that people would need 7.5 to 8.5 hours of sleep to truly reap the benefits of dieting.

Studies have demonstrated that lack of sleep leads to an increase in the hormone ghrelin (which tells the body to eat) and a decrease in the hormone leptin (which tells your body to stop eating).

Paired with a reliable bed and doing away with the vices like TV, do not overlook the value of sleeping properly. It may play a big difference when it comes to dieting and your overall health of course.

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Still wondering why a good night’s sleep makes a big difference? Well, perhaps this keynote from Jessa Gamble can somehow brief you on the reason why. Health is an immediate answer for this of course but if you want a more straight-to-the-point explanation, one of the things that will be affected is your body clock.

Sharing her research with some folks, Jessa bares how quality rest time is a key element to productivity and more importantly one’s health.

Jessa bares that the sleeping patterns of people living in environments without any artificial light at all experience true wakefulness during non-resting hours due to the high quality of sleep they get in the evening.

Hence, Jessa Gamble appeals to her audience and concerned readers that in a time of 24-hour business days, longer work periods and night shifts, we should somehow offset the damaging effects these instances would have on our body.

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In all, yawning is not something done because a person is bored. It serves as a cooling agent of sorts as far as medical implications are concerned. Doctors may be able to use excessive yawning as a way to identify patients with conditions that affect temperature regulation.

“The brain is exquisitely sensitive to temperature changes and therefore must be protected from overheating,” they said in a University of Maryland news release. “Brains, like computers, operate best when they are cool.”

So now you know!

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Sleepless

“Basically, the lonelier individuals had sleep that was more broken up. There was more movement during the night, more periods of short sleep duration, more tossing and turning,” Kurina said by phone.

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The call is in debate right now but with the growing number of infant deaths although the academy states there is no evidence that bumper pads prevent injuries and say they pose a potential risk of suffocation, strangulation and entrapment.

In short, for parents, the intent to use or not to as far as these crib bumper guards are concerned are left entirely to them. Your call folks!

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Soft is not safe as far as Dr. Rachel Moon is concerned. This conclusion however is not a new one. If you recall, pillows or cushions have been found to be dangerous for babies who sleep. Issues such as SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) or accidental suffocation therein have become key problems which make them hazards for babies.

Having pillows and cushions do indeed make sleeping comfortable for babies, in the same way that we adults find comfort in them. However, as far as babies are concerned, doctors recommend the use of “firm sleep surfaces” which really means a bed with a sheet that is put over the pillows and tucked tightly.

This is another study you may have come across, so just consider it a reminder that whatever we think that is comfortable may not necessarily be hold true all the time. Babies deserve all the comfort of course but looking out for the realities as far as their manner of sleeping is another.

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Sleeping in installments (or fragments) has long been known to produce issues as far as memory impairment is concerned and it seems that some Stanford sleep researchers have affirmed this claim by using mice to prove it further. They reportedly injected some virus containing a red fluorescent protein that was made to target brain cells involved in the waking stages.

Apparently, what the scientists found were observations of poor memory due to the fragmented sleep issue. In fact, it seems that poor overall sleep quality, interference with some specific part of the sleep cycle or annoyance from constantly being woken up have been key factors in explaining these issues.

Other than these findings, other human disorders can similarly interrupt sleep that include Alzheimer’s disease, alcoholism and sleep apnea. All have been associated with memory problems which may eventually affect learning ability, whenever new skills and information are not as strongly retained.

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Staying or laying bed for longer spells will result into something called Decbitus ulcers or something that is commonly known as bed sores. This is something normal for bed-ridden patients who often have prolonged pressure to their skin for lying in one place for too long.

And for this reason, a new type of bed comes out, aptly called the Intelligent Bed. The bed can reportedly imitate the movements of a healthy person during sleep, doing it by initially lodging the person’s movements as they sleep. The frames of the bed are made from smart materials which can be easily adjusted as needed by the person using it.

Swiss institute Empa developed the Intelligent Bed and is currently undergoing field tests in clinics and hospitals. The bed should be made available in Switzerland before the year ends.

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We all know how passive smoking or third hand smoke can affect non-smokers but apparently it doesn’t stop there. Babies who find themselves sleeping in smoker’s rooms are at risk of collecting level of nicotine which may eventually stick to their hair.

This was proven through a Spanish study where hair samples from 252 babies younger than 18 months who slept at their smoking parents room were collected. Based on the collected hair samples, nicotine levels were found on 83% of the folks who bared that they did smoke in their rooms.

The study also found that cigarette smoke toxins are still present in homes even when parents try to take action to protect their children’s health, such as smoking by a window, ventilating bedrooms after smoking, or smoking when the baby is in a different room or not in the house.

Hence, for the smoking parents who want to look after their kids, you may want to reconsider smoking somewhere else. Better yet, try to find a way to kick the smoking habit!

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While a lot of people don’t really have the luxury of sleep over in the disaster-hit Japan, there is one person being urged to get some shuteye. He is no other than Japanese Spokesman Yukio Edano, a tireless workhorse, relaying every development via Twitter since tragedy came to Japan.

Edano’s exhaustion became a cause for concern among many of Japan’s Twitter users who started the hashtag #Edano_Nero (Nero translates to “go to sleep” in Japanese). He is one of the many heroes trying to inform people and perhaps the world on the devastation but just like anyone else, rest is a need. And based on reports, it looks like Edano has taken the call to get some sleep for now. Sleep well “Jack Bauer of Japan” you need it!

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We all know how people are very much attached to their dogs, taking them anywhere and others who sleep with them. Then again with consideration to your health, you may want to reconsider sleeping with your pooch once you hear this.

Apparently Plague, a Category A bioterrorism agent may be inherited for such a practice. This developed after two cases in the United States last year were traced to people who slept with dogs. They suffered from severe illness which can be passed on to another person. Also, it triggers what planners bluntly term “public panic and social disruption”

The culprit? It seems that fleas are to blame here. Though some people make it a habit to bathe their dog, fleas can act as carriers that include Y.pestis. These are normally contracted from rodents, creatures that your mutt are surely to be exposed too.

The solution? Either buy your dog a flea collar, make sure he is properly bathed and disinfected or better yet, avoid sleeping with them altogether.

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You can add another problem that you may encounter if you sleep poorly with rheumatoid arthritis. It seems that a study has proven that people who suffer from poor sleep are likely to suffer from RA or rheumatoid arthritis mainly due to pain and fatigue symptoms.

The study came from the University of Pittsburgh where based on information shared by patients, researchers found that 61 percent of participants were poor sleepers and 33 percent reported pain that disturbed their sleep at least three times per week.

The researchers say functional disability possibly may affect depression, pain severity, and fatigue, which in turn may affect sleep quality. However, it is also likely that sleep quality may worsen pain and fatigue and increase risks of depression.

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Soda drinkers listen up. While you may be forced to limit your soda intake, you may want to watch your sleeping habits. A study shows that if you are not careful, you may be at risk of a heart disease. This study is from the University of Miami, where 2,500 soda drinkers were evaluated.

They found those who drank diet soda daily were 61 percent more likely to have a vascular event such as a stroke. They found chronic short sleep produces hormones and chemicals that increase your risk of developing heart disease. Sleeping less than six hours a night gives a 48 percent greater chance of developing or dying from heart disease.

Though a study, you may want to consider this concern. Sleep issues are growing to date so if you want to stay healthy, be aware of these findings to make sure you don’t be part of it.

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Mothers were believed to be suffering from sleepless nights, especially the one’s who have just given birth due to their breastfeeding itineraries. However it seems that this claim is not true. A study was able to prove this, negating the belief that by breastfeeding causes less sleep.

This should be a relief for babies in particular since we breastfeeding has always been known to be the best milk for babies. However, due to health (sleep concerns) issues, some mothers have fended off breastfeeding for fear that they may eventually suffer.

There has been an “urban myth” that women who breastfeed get less sleep which may cause some to hesitate to do so.

Caring for a newborn is challenging enough, without being sleep-deprived, and some research has even suggested poor sleep after childbirth may increase the risk of postpartum depression.

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For the kids who find themselves suffering from cough and colds, an old time practice of using vapor rub is still the best solution. The ancient practice has been used to soothe kids (and even adults) who had coughs and colds which help them in their respiratory problems and thus affecting their sleep. And with the support of the folks over at the Penn State College of Medicine, it looks like vapor rub application is still the best way to go.

Vapor rubs, containing menthol, camphor and eucalyptus oils, have been used for over a century without published evidence to support their use. The most common side effect cited with the use of the vapor rub was a burning sensation of the skin which seems to be natural. And with the cold seasons coming, there is no doubt you better get hold of these vapor rubs just in case.

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If you have tried all efforts to slim down, then perhaps sleep is the answer to losing some excess pounds. Weird as it may seem, a study was able to prove this and overall showed that a good night’s sleep is your ticket to a better body and better life.

During the study, adults were asked to sleep for 8.5 and 5.5 hours. The researchers measured loss of fat and lean body mass and found that those people who slept 8.5 hours per night lost 56 per cent more body fat than those who slept only 5.5 hours.

People with shorter sleep lost almost twice muscle mass. So if you are relying on what it says whenyou tip the scales, muscle weighs more than fat hence possibly damaging previous weight loss attempts.

The researchers found that lack of sleep caused an increase in a hormone called ghrelin in the blood. Ghrelin reduces energy expenditure, stimulates hunger, promotes retention of fat, and increases glucose production in the body.

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Everyone has varying sleep schedules but have you noticed any changes to your body lately? Well if you see some bulges, chances are you may have to change your sleep schedule or else face the fat!

Apparently staying up late can affect metabolism, something that helps you burn those excess calories. And a new study from the Ohio State University and the University of Haifa in Israel found through mice, that people may suffer from obesity when their sleep cycle is disrupted by exposure to light.

Getting a restful sleep and making sure not to eat too close to bed time are two guidelines often associated with weight loss. Now we know that it isn’t just about eating at night, it’s about maintaining a consistent restful sleep cycle in order to maintain a steady metabolism.

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SIDS has been known as a key identifier as far as infant deaths are concerned and October has been designated as the month to observe and make people aware of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. SIDS is a case where healthy babies, normally the sleeping children, die with no immediate cause to be found.

This condition is the number one cause for infants from one month to one year of age, with most deaths occurring between two and four months. The American Academy of Pediatrics has released a set of guidelines for parents to be more cautious on SIDS:

• Put your baby to sleep on his or her back.
• Be sure your baby is placed to sleep on his or her back when staying with relatives or at child care.
• Don’t Smoke.
• Select bedding carefully.
• Keep your baby close by.
• Offer a pacifier.
• Moderate room temperature.

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It looks like women don’t have to sleep like crazy to live longer. Apparently they will need only 5 to 6 hours of sleep to live longer, thanks to some research claims.

The study was made on 459 elderly women in America found that those who slept for between five and six and a half hours a night had the longest survival rates.

In their first study they worked out peoples’ sleeping habits using wrist activity monitors, which are able to tell whether a person is awake or asleep by how much they move and then count up the overall hours of sleep a night.

They established that those who had more than six and a half hours sleep a night or less than five were far less likely to be alive today. Long term studies show that those who drop down to five hours or fewer face a 70 per cent extra risk of dying from all causes.

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If you are conscious about your weight, then exercising may not be the only solution. In fact, you can probably sleep on it! Especially if you are in your teens, a study suggest that the best ways to fight calories and the fat is to sleep regularly.

This is not the first time we have heard of the link between obesity and sleep loss. It has been reported by other studies that lack of sleep may alter levels of hormones that regulate one’s appetite, but only a few tried to see the influence of sleep loss on a person’s eating habits.

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6 hours, 8 hours and so on. These are the numbers that people believe to be the magic number for sleeping properly and leading a healthy life. Not so.

The magic number is really 7, the median for sleeping hours and the key towards leading a healthier life. This includes naps which should identify if you are at risk of aligning yourself in contracting a cardiovascular disease.

Sleeping fewer than five hours a day, including naps, more than doubles the risk of being diagnosed with angina, coronary heart disease, heart attack or stroke, the study conducted by researchers at West Virginia University’s (WVU) faculty of medicine.

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For sure a lot of people cannot sleep with all the noise around them. This would largely depend on which area you are situated in. Which leads us to ask, does wearing earplugs damage our ears?

As far as blocking off noise, they are not damaging to your ears. However, it seems that if you look a bit further, long-term use may cause ear wax to build up. Ear plugs block the outward flow of ear wax that our bodies naturally produce in order to self-clean the ears. Foam plugs are often pushed in too far, which can also pack the wax deep inside your ear canal, and possibly against the eardrum.

Well that is a thought for you to consider. Either you can live with occasional use of earplugs or maybe transfer to a quiet and more soothing place to sleep in.

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Our brains need the proper recharging and this can only be experience with proper sleep. Apparently we all have our ups and downs and the stress from everyday thinking and decision making will take its toll on the human brain.

Hence, it is not surprising to note why in the initial stages of sleep that energy levels increase in the brain region found to be active during the waking hours. These results suggest that a surge of cellular energy may replenish brain processes needed to function normally while awake.

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We have identified many types of factors that may hinder sleep and one which was left out has to be pollution. Pollution has caused a lot of havoc, affecting our health and posing a problem for everyday breathing. So is it any surprise that pollution is another environmental factor affecting sleep?

It isn’t surprising at all. Just thing of it, breathing polluted air? How can you breathe easy when you are off to lala land? Now the next best thing is to perhaps take some precautionary measures or perhaps relocate to nature-filled surroundings. Otherwise, you can expect some heart problems, the respiratory system of which will likewise encounter some problems in the process.

The study appears online ahead of the print edition of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

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How Miley Cyrus can sleep when she is on the road is a mystery and the singer-actress claims it is her way of fending off jetlag. While this is understandable, her solution to so-called jetlag seems to be something she may want to reconsider.

For one, sleep is where she gets her energy from and while she does try to make up for it when does get back home, the wear and tear of sacrificing sleep will sooner or later catch up with her. At 17 years old this may not be felt but rest assured that not sleeping to fight of jetlag will start to set in as she grows older.

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Having chronic insomnia is not really surprising as far as health issues are concerned but it seems that a new study has discovered that it could very well be three times deadlier. Though the scientists declined to associate insomnia with mortality, it seems quite alarming at how a person’s life would eventually be sped up as far as living is concerned.

Chronic insomnia was defined as experiencing difficulty falling asleep, problems getting back to sleep, awakening repeatedly or waking too early. These symptoms occurred more than five times per month. These findings were presented at an Annual sleep meeting held in Texas.

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It seems only natural that being free from stress, especially for the working class, will lead to better sleep. It makes sense considering sleep also relies on how you are psychologically stable. Relax and let the issues at work be left in the office, never bring it at home.

A sense of organization for an individual as far as putting his daily duties and routines is perspective can go a long way. Sleep can be solicited from addressing all that needs to be done which can lead to a worry-free life as well. Besides, sleeping better means being more fresh when you report for work the next day.

Hence, put things in priority. Do not take your work for granted and place yourself in a predicament which you may eventually be sorry for. Do your work and perform according to your job description. It will speak well as far as your job performance is concerned and also leave you sleeping better regularly.

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Coffee has always been known to help people stay awake but can also be addicting. You can perhaps liken it to smoking which to many is a hard habit to break. Immediate withdrawal is perhaps close to imminent failure but incremental or withdrawal can be done to try and regulate coffee intake.

But that may be easier said than done, especially for people who consume 600 to 700 grams of coffee. The withdrawal syndrome usually occurs 18 to 24 hours later. It consists of severe fatigue, irritability, mood swings, headache and flu-like symptoms. This can be avoided by a gradual taper.

Hence a better approach would be to decrease consumption by one cup every two days to help yourself get off the caffeine addiction as far as coffee is concerned.

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People who have gone through cancer are bound to have problems and this includes sleep. After going through various chemotherapy and radiation procedures, a new study has revealed that yoga can help in this area and also cut back on sleeping medications.

The study included 410 cancer survivors who had completed treatment in the previous two years and had been experiencing sleep problems for at least two months. All but 16 of the patients were women, and 75 percent were breast cancer survivors. In addition to the standard post-treatment care that everyone received, half of the study participants attended 75-minute yoga sessions twice a week for a month.

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Wisconsin got a multi-state settlement from drug maker Astra-Zeneca for marketing an anti-psychotic drug which did not gain FDA approval. The said drug was aimed towards treating sleep problems such as insomnia and other psychiatric conditions.

Astra-Zeneca denied these claims and chose to settle the issue rather than let the drug issue get out of hand. At $4 million, that was indeed some issue which cost them a lot of dough!

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For the elderly folks, valuing their way of living for the remaining years of their lives should be given focus. And if you think that surrendering them at Assisted-Living Facilities (ALFs) is the best alternative is the best solution, guess again. It seems that thanks to a study, their way of living is placed in jeopardy, especially if you talk about the value of sleep that they should be getting.

Elder people need longer hours of sleep and if this study by the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society is consistent, this is one area that they are sorely lacking.

This study looked at the sleep habits of 121 older people living in ALFs in the Los Angeles area and found that on average they slept about six hours per night and for about one and a half hours during the day. The most commonly reported factors contributing to “trouble sleeping” included waking up in the middle of the night or early morning (60.3%) and the inability to fall asleep within 30 minutes (59.5%).

Now those are disturbing numbers and facts. So if you do plan to surrender your folks to a retirement home or ALF, make sure that they are getting the proper means of living, especially for the remaining years of their lives.

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For the people out there who are pretty much concerned about their skin, here is something for you. While many leave skin care to the dermatologists or those skin creams to take care of their skin, the best and natural way is to sleep. A good night sleep (or sufficient) is the best way to combat skin problems like aging.

Particularly for women, sleeping at the required number of hours is your best bet to take care of your precious skin issues. Mind you, this means natural sleep cycles meaning trying to oversleep and catch up is not counted. Ideally an adult should sleep for an average of seven to eight hours, or at least six hours a day. Sleeping for 10 hours or more can result in unhealthy skin.

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For all the workaholics and people who mythically believe that they can be more productive by sleeping less, heed this warning. A new study has found that people who sleep less than 6 hours are putting themselves at risk, possibly leading to early death if they are not careful.

Results of the research indicate that people who sleep less than six hours a night were 12% more likely to die prematurely over the 25 year period than those who slept for 6-8 hours consistently. Researchers described the link between insufficient sleep and early death as “unequivocal.”

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Though there was no questions concerning their safety, it seems the matter of their actual use and purpose is the one being put into question. Hopefully though, no side effects will be reported which for now is zilch.

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Technology may yet offer something beneficial, particularly for the people who have poor eyesight. A new kind of contact lenses called Corneal Refractive Therapy Lens (CRT) may improve eyesight. They only need to be worn when a user sleeps after which people can look forward to better vision the following day.

There are a few drawbacks however, as those contact lens wearers with long-sightedness will not be able to use the CRT lens.

(Source) Contact Lenses

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Sleep would normally be contribute to weight gain but it seems that it can be a good way to stay slim as well. At least that is what some researchers found when normal-weight young men consumed extra calories when they had just four hours of sleep the night before compared to when they slept for eight hours.

Given the findings and the fact that people have been sleeping less and getting fatter over the past few decades, “sleep restriction could be one of the environmental factors that contribute to the obesity epidemic”, the researchers wrote in the American Journal Of Clinical Nutrition. Care to try it?

(Source) Asia One

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Sleep Apnea has been known to be associated with heart problems and apparently that is the case in this new study connecting stroke. OSA doubles the risk of stroke in men and also increases the danger in women. Data was taken from the Sleep Heart Health Study.

Men with moderate to severe sleep apnea are three times more likely to have a stroke than men with mild or no sleep apnea while the increased risk of stroke in women with obstructive sleep apnea was significant only in cases of severe apnea thanks to a study which was published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

(Source) Web MD

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For sure a lot of us have the habit of sleeping with our blankets or anything on our bed covering our head. But now it may be wise to try and avoid this habit, that is if you want to avoid diseases like Alzheimer’s disease. A study can attest to that.

The study found that sleeping with the head partially or fully covered by bedding would result in a 92.8% chance of suffering from either an early stage, middle stage, or late stage of dementia, by the age of 70.

The study considered that sleeping in a restricted air space would result in a depletion of oxygen over time accompanied by an increase in carbon dioxide through re-breathing, the repeated inhalation of exhaled air. This can result in episodes of hypoxia.

(Source) Press

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A new kind of facial skin that can help rejuvenate the skin is now being sold across the UK. This is the same cream reportedly being used by celebrities such as Kylie Minogue and Jennifer Lopez. StriVectin Overnight Resurfacing Serum, made from prickly pears and pink seaweed, is dubbed “sleep in a bottle” by beauticians due to its ability to revive skin while people sleep.

The cream is designed to moisturize the skin every night and is suitable for all skin types. People aged over 30 should especially use the cream as the rate of cell renewal declines.

(Source) Telegraph

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After a partnership with Milton Hospital, Sleep Health Centers have now been opened to help develop and manage the sleep medicine program. Starting this month, the new Sleep Health Centers will be performing diagnostic sleep studies at Milton Hospital with plans to open a clinic offering CPAP therapy in the future.

In addition to conducting sleep studies, Sleep HealthCenters provides physician consults, patient monitoring, patient education, and follow-up care for Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) patients including Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) devices. Sleep HealthCenters is the largest provider of comprehensive sleep services in New England.

(Source) Press

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The best way to hone up sleep education is to perhaps insert them into the daily programs in school. Special sleep sessions covering sleep issues like avoiding late night TV, keeping a bedtime routine and sleeping for at least nine hours are only some of the valuable topics kids should be taught.

This can dramatically improve the sleep problems some kids and teens have to deal with, most of whom have been sleep deprived due to bedtime after midnight. With this new sleep sessions, kids and teens may yet get to sleep better, live healthier and most important of all, improve in their academic performance.

(Source) Telegraph

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Two former day care workers from Ohio have been charged with three counts of child endangering and three counts each of misrepresentation by childcare provider for slipping an OTC supplement into candies to make kids sleep during nap time.

Parents complained that their kids looked groggy after being picked up from the day care and were notified of the malpractice when a co-worker notified police in December that Hartley and Scott gave the children melatonin in candy. Melatonin is a naturally occurring hormone that helps control sleeping and waking cycles. Possible side effects of the supplement form include dizziness, abdominal discomfort, headaches, confusion, sleepwalking and nightmares.

Pamela Hartley and Donna Scott got most serious charges that could be applied.

(Source) AP

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