Learning to Recognize Symptoms of Stress
The nagging headache starts at the office. You feel tired. You’re having trouble concentrating. Your productivity starts to suffer, and you begin to wonder if you’re coming down with the flu. By the time you get home you’re ready to tuck yourself into bed. The chills and fever never materialize but your symptoms don’t go away. While persistent headaches, fatigue, frequent forgetfulness and decreased productivity can be signs of illness, stress is often the culprit. Stress can affect your body physically, can impair thoughts and emotions, and can...
read moreLack of Sleep Increases Risk of Dying
That sleepless night that makes you grouchy and tired the next day can be a killer — literally. New research shows that getting less than 5 hours of sleep a night increases your risk of death from cardiovascular disease. In a study of 4,600 men and women aged 35 to 55, researchers at University College London and the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom found that women who slept less than 8 hours per night had a higher risk of dying from cardiovascular disease than men. Differences in hormone levels may play a role. According to data recently published in the journal Sleep,...
read moreTalk Yourself to Sleep
Using talk therapy to help insomniacs fall asleep produced better results than commonly used sleep medications, according to a new study released this week. In a Canadian study of 160 chronic adult insomniacs, researchers at Laval University in Quebec, Canada compared talk therapy to the popular sleep aid zolpidem, which is sold both generically and under the brand name Ambien. Because long-term use of sleep medication carries the risk of dependency, researchers are searching for drug-free alternatives to help chronic insomniacs fall asleep and sleep longer. Insomnia is a common sleep...
read moreWhat You Do Before Bedtime Matters
We don’t fully understand the mechanism of insomnia (defined as difficulty initiating or maintaining sleep). But some theorists believe untimely central nervous system arousal plays a large part. Our brains are always on, however when we think hard about something, our brain is more activated or aroused than when we are not consciously thinking about something (acting on autopilot). Caffeine to too close to bedtime can increase brain arousal as can bringing work home and doing stressful work before bed. We don’t know how long it takes for the mind to wind down after doing...
read more
