Posts Tagged ‘restful sleep’
Sleep, Dreams and REM Sleep Behavior Disorder
Biology 202
1999 First Web Reports
On Serendip
Sleep, Dreams and REM Sleep Behavior Disorder Mahalia Cohen The discovery of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep suggested that sleep was not, as it was thought to be, a dormant state but rather a mentally dynamic one. Your brain is, in fact, very active in this state, almost to the level at which it is when a person is awake. Yet during this active stage in which most dreams occur, the movements of the rest of the body are completely stilled. To imagine this paralysis during dreams not occurring is a frightful image, since in many cases dreams are violent and active. When the neurotransmitters that control the movement of the body do not work properly the person develops REM sleep behavioral disorder (RBD).
While we are sleeping the sensory world is essentially revolving around us without our knowledge. Our senses of hearing, touch, taste, sight, and smell no longer function as they do when we are awake. Except for the threshold for each of these senses that each of us has while we sleep, our inner systems are working essentially free of input from the outside world. And yet people are able to have vivid dreams. The cortex can only pass into sleep mode with the help of the are of the brain called the thalamus. The thalamus is one of the two structures that make up the diencephalon, the lower part of the fore brain. Its main function in mammals is as the relay station of sensory information its way to the cortical center. Specific regions of the thalamus, as well as different nuclei process different sensory information on its way to the cortex.
In normal sleeping patterns a person usually passes through five phases of sleep, the fifth being REM. The sleeping human passes cyclically through these five phases throughout a night’s rest. These phases can be defined in electrical activity of the brain; much like the activity of the heart is often defined. The technique of measuring the electrical activity of the brain is call Electro-encephalogram, or EEG. When the electrical events of a person’s brain are graphed on a electrical magnitude versus time axis the graph of a person who is in different stages of being asleep or awake appear to have different levels of electrical activity occurring in the brain. (See (14))
Healthy Sleep Tips | National Sleep Foundation
The following ten tips can help you achieve sleep and the benefits it provides. These tips are intended for “typical” adults, but not necessarily for children or persons experiencing medical problems.
Finally, if you have trouble falling asleep, maintaining sleep, awaken earlier than you wish, feel unrefreshed after sleep or suffer from excessive sleepiness during the day or when you wish to be alert, you should also consult your physician. Be sure to tell him/her if you have already tried these tips and for how long. To check for possible sleep problems, go to our checklist, “How’s Your Sleep?”
1. Maintain a regular bed and wake time schedule including weekends.
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Natural Sleep Remedies and Sleep Medication for Insomnia Relief
Serenity in slumber
The complex nature of the brain can sometimes make the seemingly easy task of falling asleep difficult. For those young and old, sleep is a vital component of health.
It is essential that the time spent in slumber be quality sleep, deep and relaxing – to rejuvenate all body systems for optimum performance, as the brain needs adequate sleep to replenish itself on a cellular level. If this does not happen, we can expect ‘processing’ problems with mood, concentration, memory and thought processes all being affected.
Healthy Sleep: A Guide to Natural Sleep Remedies
Healthy Sleep 
A Guide to Natural Sleep Remedies Contents Introduction Many of us experience the occasional night of sleeplessness without any consequences. It is when the occasional night here and there becomes a pattern of several nights in a row that you are faced with a sleeping problem. Repeated loss of sleep affects all areas of your life: The physical, the mental, and the emotional. Sleep deprivation can affect your overall daily performance and may even have an effect on your personality.
If your insomnia continues for a long period of time it can cause problems in your relationships, compromise your productivity, and perhaps lead to other health problems. It can become a relentless cycle of worry and anxiety as night after night you toss and turn, wondering when sleep will come, wondering what is wrong with you. Insomnia and sleeplessness generally fall into three categories:
- “Initial” insomnia: where you have difficulty in falling asleep, generally taking 30 minutes or longer to fall into a sleep state.
- “Middle” insomnia: where after falling asleep you have problems maintaining a sleep state, often remaining awake until the early morning hours.
- “Late” or “Terminal” insomnia: where you awake early in the morning after less than 6 hours of sleep.
Insomnia can be the symptom of some medical conditions that may require your doctor’s advice and medical care. In those cases the cause will be treated, not the insomnia. If, however, your sleeplessness is due to a pattern of not sleeping, or because your body and mind find it difficult to settle into a state of relaxation necessary for sleep, this book offers you alternative choices for achieving healthy sleep without the use of prescription drugs. This document will teach you how to:
- Set the mood for a comfortable sleep atmosphere
- Prepare your body for relaxation
- Use colors to stimulate calmness and relaxation
- Understand the importance of exercise
- Use music and other relaxation techniques
- Relieve your mind of anxiety and worry
- Discover the importance of reducing stimulants
- Use herbal teas and warm drinks to promote relaxation
- Use herbs and vitamins to promote natural sleep
After reading this book you will have the information you need to turn your sleepless nights into restful ones, waking in the morning refreshed and alert rather than tired and anxious. All of the techniques and sleep-inducing aids in this book can be applied naturally and easily in your life. Get ready to embark on the journey of falling asleep naturally!
10 tips for better sleep
10 tips for better sleep If you’re having trouble sleeping, change your sleep habits for a better night’s rest. By Mayo Clinic staff
Feeling crabby lately? It could be you aren’t getting enough sleep. Work, household responsibilities and child care can make sleep difficult to come by. Factor in other unexpected challenges, such as financial worries, layoffs, relationship issues or an illness, and quality sleep may be even more elusive.
Sleep apnea, narcolepsy, RLS, Alternative therapies, mind
Alternative and Integral Therapies
Herbs and Herbal Therapies
Insomnia can be naturally relieved with herbal teas, infusions and baths. Professional herbalists do not prescribe herbs simply to treat symptoms such as insomnia but aim to correct the imbalances within the body that cause those symptoms. For example, sedative herbs such as hops and valerian are used to relax the nervous system to that you enjoy natural, restorative sleep. Each herb contains a variety of active constituents and has a main action and several subsidiary actions which determine the conditions for which it is most appropriate.
Causes, Symptoms, Treatment for Sleep Disorder
More Sleeping Disorders Treatments | FAQ’s
What are Sleeping Disorders? They say all you need is a good nights sleep to tide over your woes. But what happens when sleep is distorted? Believe it or not, the lack of sleep, or excessive sleep, can derail your entire life. Such disruptions in regular sleeping patterns are commonly referred to as sleep disorders. Proper sleep is an important factor for healthy living. When we sleep our body undertakes much needed maintenance work on a cellular level, regulating metabolism, heart rate, and breathing rates. Adequate sleep is also required for the efficient functioning of the immune and nervous systems. Every healthy individual requires at least 6-8 hours of sleep, in the absence of which sleep disorders can wreck havoc on the system.
Symptoms of Sleeping Disorders Sleep disorders are flagged off by extreme fatigue, lack of focus, constant irritability, slow reactions and reflexes, outbursts, difficulty staying awake during the day or the inability to fall asleep at night, restless sleep, mood swings, loud, disruptive snoring, physical discomfort during sleep, and morning headaches.
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- Age and sleep play catch
RELATED STORIES More health news Proven steps to a longer life Washing hands fight disease Heavy workers, hefty price Mammogram testing on decline More health news Today’s Top News Stories • 1 dead, 2 hurt in Mich. office shooting; police say suspect had worked there – 6:04 PM • AP Poll: Congress’ approval hits high point – 5:35 PM • Katrina claims stagger corps – 4:22 PM • National Guard tapped for Iraq tour – 3:04 PM • Edwards scared of ‘rabid Republican’ neighbor – 2:00 PM • Add USATODAY.com RSS feeds Age and sleep play catch-up 
Mimi Payne, 57, has her sleep “dissected” at the Sleep Disorders Center of Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center. By Dan MacMedan, USA TODAY
As the youngest of 76 million boomers move through their 40s, they’ll discover what many older Americans already know: The chances of enjoying restful sleep slowly but steadily decrease. The older the adult, the more likely he’ll have chronic insomnia, says Andrew Monjan, chief of neurobiology at the National Institute on Aging. Among twentysomethings, only about 1 out of 8 are insomniacs. By ages 50 to 64, it’s 1 out of 5. It rises to 1 in 4 over age 65. (Chat: Talk with Dr. Monjan, Thursday, 1 p.m. ET)
But insomnia is only part of the challenge. Snoring and sleep apnea — repeated short episodes of not breathing — also increase with age. About 3 out of 5 adults over 65 have some kind of sleep complaint, national studies show.
How to Fall Asleep Faster and Fight Insomnia Naturally
All Natural Tips for Falling Asleep Faster For all-natural rest try staying away from sleep aids, drugs and alcohol to help you fall asleep at night. Sometimes people with insomnia become excessively tired because they can’t sleep, they get desperate and then get addicted to a sleeping pill. Instead of using drugs you can take the approach to getting to sleep at night naturally.
If you have laid in bed tossing and turning but not being able to go to sleep, then you may want some help falling asleep. If you have been tired but just can’t fall asleep, but don’t want to take anything that isn’t natural keep reading. If you have gone a few days without restful sleep and have a period of insomnia you may need a little help getting to bed. Try some of the ideas below to fall asleep fast.