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Lack of Sleep
In order to find out if you are suffering from a lack of sleep you should answer these three questions: Are you always staring at the roof instead...
How Diet Affects Your Sleep...
What you eat during the day and evening can affect your sleeping patterns. If your diet consists of a high amount of processed foods you may want...
Sleeping Bag Ratings - A New Idea
It seems that sleeping bag ratings have no consistency.
Temperature ratings are still determined entirely by the
manufacturers of the bags. My...
A New Mattress for Better Sleep
Many people complain that they always feel too tired despite getting plenty of sleep; little do they know that the mattress they are sleeping on...
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Sleep Defined |
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Sleep Defined: Sleeping is as natural as going to work for most of us, it is the regular state of natural unconsciousness observed in all mammals. It is heavily influenced by circadian rhythms and by hormonal and environmental factors as well. Sleeping
has a restorative function for the brain and body, as evidenced by the symptoms that result when an individual is deprived of sleep.
The functions of sleep is being increasingly studied in specialized sleep laboratories throughout the world. Not only insomnia, but also more recently elucidated sleep disorders such as sleep apnea and narcolepsy are evaluated in
these facilities.
Before advances in the fields of neurology, neuroscience, electronics, and genetics were made, scientists studied the behavioral characteristics of sleep, such as its pattern, depth, and varying frequency.
A device called an electroencephalograph is used for recording the electrical impulses generated by the brain
and individual genes relating to sleep-related brain function, such as the
circadian rhythm, are isolated.
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End your insomnia and sleep problems tonight with effective sleep solutions!
Don’t spend another night struggling to fall asleep!
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Sleep regulation
The cycle of sleep and wakefulness is regulated by the brain stem, external stimuli, and by various hormones produced by the hypothalamus. Certain neurohormones and neurotransmitters are highly correlated with sleep and wake states. For example, melatonin levels are highest during the night, and this hormone appears to promote sleep. Adenosine, a nucleoside involved in generating energy for biochemical processes, gradually accumulates in the human brain during wakefulness but decreases during sleep. Researchers believe that its accumulation during the day encourages sleep. The stimulant properties of caffeine are attributed to its negating the effects of adenosine.
The suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) of the hypothalamus plays an important role in the regulation of circadian rhythms. The SCN is influenced by external light and generates its own rhythm in isolation. In the presence of light, it sends messages to the pineal gland that instruct it to cease secreting melanin.
Thus, three processes, each influenced by hormonal, neurological, and environmental factors, underlie sleep regulation:
· A homeostatic process determined by prior sleep and wakefulness, determining "sleep need".
· A circadian process determining periods of high and low sleep propensity, and high and low REM sleep propensity.
· An ultradian process.
The interrelationships and relative importance of each process and system remain uncertain.
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TODAY'S NEWS:
A new study says men who reported having insomnia and who slept less than 6 hours a night were four times more likely to die over a 14-year period when compared to men who reported sleeping well. Sleep researcher and psychiatrist Alexandros Vgontzas explains the finding.
Men with insomnia have a fourfold higher death rate than those who sleep at least 6 hours a night, a 14-year study finds. It's not yet clear whether women with insomnia also die sooner.
According to U.S. research from Pennsylvania State University, men who have chronic insomnia, and sleep less than six hours per night on average, have a much greater risk of premature death than women.
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Memory is highly dependent on sleep. REM sleep appears to help with the consolidation of spatial and procedural memory, while SWS helps with the consolidation of declarative memories. When experimental subjects are given academic material to learn, especially if it involves organized, systematic thought, their retention is markedly increased after a night's sleep. Mere wrote memorization is retained similarly well without an intervening period of sleep.
REM sleep (or Active Sleep) seems to be particularly important to the developing organism. Studies investigating the effects of Active Sleep deprivation have shown that deprivation early in life can result in behavioral problems, permanent sleep disruption, decreased brain mass (Mirmiran et al. 1983), and an abnormal amount of neuronal cell death (Morrissey, Duntley & Anch, 2004).
According to the Ontogenetic Hypothesis of REM sleep, the activity occurring during neonatal REM sleep is necessary for proper central nervous system development (Marks et al. 1995).
Given sleep's heterogeneous nature, it is difficult to describe a single "function" of sleep. Based on current knowledge, it is apparent that it has many functions.
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Narcolepsy - The Management of a Common Sleep Disorder
Narcolepsy, a chronic and commonly diagnosed sleep disorder, affects over a quarter of a million Americans each year (approximately one person in...
Sleeping Pills - Facts and Tips
Frequently called sedatives, nerve pills or muscle relaxants,
sleeping pills are drugs used to reduce anxiety, nervous
tension, sleeping problems...
Can't Sleep, Can't Wake Up?
It’s 3.00am in the morning and you are even past the desperate stage. You’re resigned to no sleep. Your mind freewheels. If you’re officially...
The Main Cause of Insomnia?
Copyright 2005 Wendy Owen
Well in my opinion the main thing that keeps us tossing and turning at night is worrying about not going to sleep.
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