Get A Grip At Sleep Or Lose Your Life

Sleep deprivation may exist in three basic categories. One, when you have a hard time falling to sleep at night. Two, if you find it easy to get to Slumberland and last there for a few hours or minutes, only to awake in the middle of the night and never be able to return to sleep. And three, when you have short sleep patterns at night yet you wake up early at dawn no matter how insufficient your sleep was.

More often than not, sleep deprivation is caused or influenced by behavior; sometimes voluntary but rarely intentional; you just won't hear someone giving himself a hurrah for deliberately cutting off his sleep hours! If your lifestyle or work results to the disruption of what can be considered normal sleep patterns, you are at risk of depriving yourself with adequate sleep. Sleep deprivation is a direct result of the choices or preferences that you make for yourself.

But the real problem with chronic lack of sleep is that it can set off other disorders. And you are lucky if your lack of sleep leaves you only with inability to concentrate or a bad temper the next day. There are cases where sleep deprivation can lead to much more serious disorders such as these two infamous conditions.

Heart Diseases

Experts have found that people who have inadequate sleep unnecessarily increase their risk to heart ailments. In fact, such risk is more than double than for those who manage to have enough hours of sleep.

The link between heart diseases and sleep deficiency can be explained by the increase in the levels of stress hormones in the body every time a person has sleep deficit. The increased stress hormones are used by the body to keep it on alert status despite total lack of sleep. But sadly, these stress hormones are also responsible for increasing one's risk to heart attacks and propelling higher blood pressure.

In essence, lack of sleep can cause low inflammatory indicators in your blood vessels. While these inflammations can be negligible at low levels, they can however make you more susceptible to cardiac arrest or stroke if left unchecked and unchanged for a long time.

Obesity

Sleep deprivation has been linked to obesity. This also supports findings that point to obese people having less sleep than people with healthy weight levels. Current studies show overwhelming proofs that chronic lack of sleep can undermine one's metabolic rate and affect a person's eating habits.

Lack of sleep can alter hormonal levels, which in turn, triggers bigger appetite. And as sleep deprivation is a big factor that causes fatigue and stress, it also brings about an unhealthy change in a person's diet; primarily characterized by a person's inclination towards fast food eating habits. Bigger appetite and fast food consumption are two recipes for obesity which can all start from sleep deprivation.

But here's the good news. Chronic sleep deprivation can be easily treated. To deal with this problem you only need to change your current sleep patterns. The best and often the only way to treat this disorder is to start increasing your sleeping time until you can easily get no less than eight hours of sleep each day. And then, you stick to it.

If you find it hard to get sufficient sleep at night, you should make time to visit a sleep specialist. Apart from detecting what factors cause your sleep problems, a sleep specialist can help you fix your daily sleep patterns. You can also enhance the quality of sleep you get by using products like Sedamine.

Insomnia: Dangers & Treatment of Sleep Deprivation

Do you suffer from sleep deprivation? You know by now how you feel without a good night sleep: tiredness, irritability and a loss of concentration are high on the side effects list for insomnia. Therefore, it is very important that you find your cause of insomnia and an insomnia cure as soon as possible.

Sleep deprivation and sleep apnea affects our nervous systems by leaving us drowsy and unable to concentrate. Even losing sleep a few nights a week can significantly impair your ability to function and decrease the quality of your life. Not getting enough sleep also leads to poor memory. If sleep deprivation continues, hallucinations and mood swings will develop. In the same vein, sleeping problems are common in both mental and physical disorders including schizophrenia and depression, stroke, cancer, and head injuries.

Insomnia treatment and cure: For getting a proper sleep at night, do the following:

Sleep only when sleepy. This reduces the time you are awake in bed.

If you can not fall asleep within 25 minutes, just get up and do something boring until you feel sleepy. Sit quietly in the dark listen to some nice relaxing music. Do not expose yourself to bright light while you are up.

Do not take naps. This will make you tired at bedtime. If you just cannot make it through the day without a power nap, sleep less than one hour, before 4 pm.

Go to bed and get up the same time every day. When your sleep cycle has a regular rhythm, you will feel much better.

Refrain from exercise at least four hours before bedtime. Regular exercise is recommended to help you sleep well, but the timing of the workout is important. Exercising in the morning or early afternoon will not interfere with your sleep.

Develop sleep rituals. Listen to relaxing cds, read something soothing for twenty minutes, have a cup of warm milk, and do relaxation exercises.

Avoid caffeine, nicotine and alcohol at least four hours before bed. Caffeine and nicotine are stimulants that interfere with your ability to fall asleep. Alcohol may seem to help you sleep in the beginning as it slows brain activity, but you will end up having a restless night.

Have a light snack before you go to bed. If your tummy is too empty, that can interfere with sleep. However, if you eat a big meal before bedtime, that can interfere as well.

Take a hot bath ninety minutes before bedtime. This will relax your body and will help you fall asleep.

Make sure your bedroom and bed are quiet and comfortable.

Getting a good night's sleep is as important as having a proper healthy diet and exercising to keep a healthy body. A good nights' sleep makes your skin look fresh and it also helps make your brain more alert. Though in a busy lifestyle we always try to sacrifice sleep for work but it is very important that you set aside enough hours for some good old-fashioned beauty sleep. The average person needs eight hours of sleep, while infants need sixteen hours of sleep, and teenagers need about nine hours.

Scientists believe that sleep maintains and repairs our bodies and minds. Every night we cycle through three stages of sleep ranging from light sleep to deep sleep, and finally, to rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. A complete sleep cycle takes ninety to one hundred minutes on average. While we sleep our brains are using important neuronal connections that might otherwise get worse from lack of activity. During deep sleep, brain activity that control emotions, decision-making processes, and social interaction stops, allowing us to maintain optimal emotional and social functioning when we are awake. Cell repair and cell growth takes place to combat the affects of stress and UV rays in this stage as well. Hence, deep sleep is really beauty sleep.

Sleep also strengthens our immune system and helps our bodies fight infection. This is because our immune system releases a sleep inducing chemical while fighting a flu or an infection. Sleep helps the body conserve energy and other resources that the immune system requires to mount an effective attack. Start your insomnia treatment as soon as possible to prevent sleep deprivation.

Insomnia or Sleep Deprivation

Insomnia is mainly associated with people who cannot sleep at all, however there are many types of Insomnia which prevent people from sleeping. Types of insomnia include; inability to sleep through the night, difficulty in falling asleep,waking early in the morning & being unable to sleep again & more commonly lack of quality sleep.

On average adults require between 7-8 hours of sleep per night, however this figure can vary from person to person. As people get older they may tend to require less sleep at night but then nap during the day. Young babies spend most of their day asleep whilst school age children require about 10 hours sleep per night.


Insomnia has many symtoms including: Lying awake a long time before falling asleep. Waking up several times during the night. Awaking early in the morning and then not being able to fall asleep again. Feeling tired & un-revitalised. Feeling irritable during the day. Inability to concentrate or function correctly during the day.

Insomnia may result from many factors including: Drug Use - Withdrawal from certain drugs can lead to insomnia, such as hypnotics -prescribed for short term insomnia, alcohol, antidepressants, diet pills, beta blockers & corticosteroids. Psychiatric Problems - Stress, depression, dementia or anxiety can lead to insomnia.

Physological Problems - Your environment may cause insomnia, noise, light, jet lag, snoring or movement by a partner & physical activity before bedtime ( sports or reading ). Physical Problems - Insomnia may be caused by physical conditions such as; headache, arthritis, hot flushes & parkinson disease. In treating insomnia drugs should only be used as a last resort as they have side effects & can be addictive.

The first cause of action in treating insomnia should be to eliminate any underlying causes. Steps you can take to eliminate these causes are: Restricting your intake of caffeine, alcohol & Nicotine. Taking regular exercise during the day. Keeping a good sleep environment - quiet & not too light. Educating yourself about sleep & relaxation.

Counselling - Talking to a professional may help you to get to the underlying causes of your insomnia. Preventative action you can take to stop insomnia occouring include: Do not eat a big meal before going to bed. If noise is a problem wear ear plugs. If you cannot sleep, get up and occupy yourself for a short time & then try again. Try not to nap during the day. Keep to a routine before bedtime so that you create a mindset for sleep.

Sleep Deprivation and Traffic Accidents

Ten years ago, a former colleague of mine, a fine teacher and person, was tragically killed in a car accident in British Columbia. He was on vacation with his daughter who miraculously survived the accident. What happened was a classic case of sleep deprivation: my friend was anxious to make his way to a chosen destination and despite his fatigue and the fact that he had been on the road for over 6 hours, he made the decision to drive through the night. He never made it there.

That there is a direct correlation between sleep deprivation and traffic accidents cannot be disputed. In 1998, 24,318 deaths were cited from accidents related to sleep deprivation in the US. There were as well 2, 474,430 disabling injuries resulting from accidents where decreased mental efficiency and attentiveness due to sleep loss was the major causative factor. In fact, a major review conducted in 1996 suggested that the oil spill of the Exxon Valdez, the destruction of the space shuttle Challenger, the nuclear accident at Chernobyl( costing over 50,000 lives) and the near nuclear accidents at the Three Mile Island and Peach Bottom reactors were all associated with sleep deprivation of the personnel involved.

Sleep deprivation is often caused by sleep disorders which are unknown to the subjects themselves. Sleep apnea, for example, is a common cause for sleep deficit. A study at the Sleep Disorders and Research Center of Stanford University Medical School showed that truck drivers identified with sleep disordered breathing had a two-fold higher accident rate than drivers without sleep-disordered breathing. Sleep disordered breathing, commonly known as sleep apnea, affects 15 million people in the United States. This condition, characterized by suffocation and oxygen deprivation which wake the subjects up several times in the course of the night, is responsible for daytime sleepiness and fatigue. Put these subjects on the highway and we have a recipe for disastrous traffic accidents.

Perhaps an examination of the influence sleep deprivation has on our mental acuity and performance level can shed light on how we can protect ourselves and others from the disastrous consequences of sleep fatigue.

What happens to you when you are sleep deprived? According to the Traffic Research Center, these are the influences of sleep deprivation on performance:

a) Slower reaction time: sleeplessness slows down your reflexes; reaction time slows down, preventing you from stopping in times of danger.

b) Decrease in concentration levels: When you are overly tired, your attention span decreases. Most people are subject to a decrease in attention every 90-120 minutes; however, sleepiness makes this decrease even worse and it can cause accidents when you fall asleep at the wheel.

c) Disorder in information processing: Sleepiness is very much like being under the influence of alcohol or drugs. When you are sleepy, your mental and psychomotor skills diminish. In one study, a group of subjects were kept awake for 28 hours; another group was given alcoholic drinks every half hour. When both groups were tested for hand-eye coordination, the ones who were sleep deprived performed equally bad as the ones with 0.5 blood alcohol level.

What are the factors that have a direct effect on a driver�s tiredness?

a) The amount of time the driver has been on the road. When a driver has been on the road for 8 or more hours, his driving performance is impaired. The risk of accidents increases.

b) The amount of sleep the driver had the night before. Not having any sleep for 16 hours has a serious impact on driving performance. Research shows that the sleeping period of drivers who are involved in road accidents are shorter than the ones of those who had sufficient sleep.

c) Sleep disorders and Obesity. Sleep disorders like sleep apnea or narcolepsy in truck drivers are a major risk factor. In the same Stanford University Study mentioned above, even weight can seriously affect the frequency of traffic accidents. Obese drivers with a body mass more than 30 kg also presented a two-fold higher accident rate than non-obese drivers.

d) Environmental factors. The lack of resting and parking facilities for drivers is another factor that contributes to the accident rate.

What can we do to ensure that we get adequate sleep?

a) Set up a bedtime ritual�the same time to bed, the same routines like reading in bed or listening to relaxing music.

b) See your doctor if you have snoring or breathing problems, daytime fatigue, morning headaches, night time choking episodes. You could have sleep apnea which can be treated with new devices and technology.

c) If you are overweight, take the steps to bring down your weight. Obesity is a common factor in sleeplessness.

d) Get into a routine of exercise during the day. Do not exercise after 7Pm as the activity could be over stimulating and prevent you from sleeping.

A simple thing like sleep is nothing to be dismissed. More and more studies are revealing a direct link between our nighttime and daytime experiences.

How To Treat Sleep Deprivation Using CPAP

Treating sleep deprivation using CPAP is considered as an effective treatment strategy. Sleep derivation is the condition in which the patient cannot experience a continuous sleep. Sleep deprivation is considered to be one of the serious disorders since it may lead to many other risky medical conditions.

The usual sleep deprivation treatment methods focus on the cure of the underlying cause of the disorder and its associated symptoms, to give a permanent cure for the patient. However, the discovery of the sleep deprivation cause will not be easy most times, hence, the medical field has been constantly searching for a solution for sleep deprivation. Today, CPAP is considered as one of the best solution for sleep deprivation.

CPAP, Continuous Positive Airway Pressure, is a treatment method for sleep deprivation mainly for the types caused because of breathing problems such as sleep apnea and hypnoapneas. The breathing problems while sleeping may be due to obstructions such as relaxed muscles in the air passage while normal breathing pressure will not be sufficient to overcome these obstructions.

The principle of CPAP is based on this fact and it is designed in such a manner to provide compressed air with necessary pressure, which will be sufficient to induce the normal respiration.

In CPAP treatment, a mechanical device is the main part, which can control the air pressure. The CPAP apparatus includes the machine and air outlet, which looks like a mask. The modern versions of CPAP are designed in convenient shapes such as pillows.

While lying on the bed, the mask has to be put on the face and air path will be directed straight into the nostrils. During the sleep it will provide the air in the required pressure continuously, as its name indicates, and avoids the disturbances in the sleep.

The amount of pressure to be used for air supply, called titrated pressure, is the most important factor in the CPAP treatment. It has to be determined from overnight sleep studies in the laboratory. Sleep technician can program the particular titrated pressure value in the machine and the machine will deliver air in the particular value every night.

There are different types of machines available in the market. In automatic CPAP machines, the usually recommended pressure values will be already recorded in it and the sleep technician has to just choose the value. In some models humidifiers are integrated in CPAP apparatus to avoid the dryness of the compressed air.

CPAP is considered as a successful treatment method for sleep deprivation since in most cases, patients can completely recover from their sleep problem. However, it will be uncomfortable for some patients to start the treatment as the masks will be disturbing for them.

In conclusion, the evidences show that they will soon get ride of the uneasiness and will become comfortable with it. CPAP in sleep deprivation treatment can thus, attribute a good quality sleep to many people and save them from the danger of serious risks.

In addition to sleep treatment in adults, it is also useful to treat premature infants.