Trouble sleeping not only causes us to feel fatigued during the day but it can also take a toll on our health and weaken our immune system. It turns out that those who do not get enough sleep are more susceptible to colds and stay ill longer. Why? Because during sleep, our immune system produces cytokines, small protein molecules that combat viruses and bacteria.

Sleep disorders, frequent waking up at night and shallow sleep can all cause disorders in our immune system — making us more vulnerable to disease and virus attacks. Therefore getting an adequate amount of sleep is important for our well being; average adults need 7-8 hours of sleep while school-age children need up to 9-10 hours (although individual needs may vary).

Here are some tips to help you get to sleep and stay asleep during the night:

-          Stick to a schedule. Go to sleep at the same time every night and wake up at the same time every morning.

-          Do not over indulge before bed. While it is important not to go to sleep hungry it is also crucial not to overeat. Have a light dinner at least 30 minutes before heading to bed.

-          Relax. Before bedtime, take an aromatic bath, read a book or listen to music.

-          Ventilate your bedroom – Experts agree that the most comfortable temperature for sleep is 65-70 degrees.

-          Avoid sleeping during the day. If you have trouble falling asleep and staying asleep then naps are not recommended as they may disturb your day/night sleep rhythms.

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, also known as SIDS, is the name for sudden and unexplained death of an infant younger than a one year old. It is estimated that each year over 7,000 babies die from SIDS in the United States It strikes families of all races, ethnic and socioeconomic origins. Determining the cause of SIDS baffles scientist all over the world. Even though we don’t have solid answers yet, doctors have isolated several risk factors that may play a role in SIDS, such as: stress in a normal baby, caused by infection or other factors, a birth defect, failure to develop and or a period of rapid growth when babies are especially vulnerable.

Ways to prevent SIDS:

-          Place babies on their back to sleep- this is the safest position for a baby to sleep in, placing them on their stomachs or sides nearly doubles the risk of SIDS.

-          Avoid sleeping with your baby in the same bed – even if it’s just a day nap.

-          Avoid smoking cigarettes during and after your pregnancy ,  protect your baby from second-hand smoke

-          Keep soft objects, toys, and loose bedding out of your baby’s sleeping area- those items could potentially cover your baby’s face and cause suffocation.

-          Place your baby on the firm surface, such as safety-approved crib mattress cover with fitted sheet

-          Avoid letting your baby overheat during sleep- Dress your baby in light sleep clothing and keep room at a temperature that is comfortable for an adult.

-          Make sure that your baby can move arms and legs freely during sleep.

For more information about crib safety visit: http://www.cpsc.gov/

To learn more about SIDS click on the link below:

http://www.babycenter.com/baby-sleep-safety

Taking naps during the day allows kids to memorize abstract information. Children less than a year-and a half old organize the structure of language and other information supplied by their everyday environment during nap time.

Regular naps at a young age are no waste of time claims psychologist Dr. Almut Hupbach, co-author of research conducted at the University of Arizona in Tucson. Children who take naps soon after learning are able to better grasp the essence of language structure.

In the first phase of the study researchers visited the homes of 24 healthy 15 month old babies. The experimenter played a 15-minute recording of a woman reading sentences in an artificially created, non-existent language while interacting with the infant. The recording contained 48 sequences requiring the child to track sequential dependencies between first and third word in the three word sentences (e.g. Pel-wadim-jic, vot-kicey rud, pel-deecha-jic). All children were then put to bed 4 hours after the visit. The next day, parents brought the infants to the lab and sat them in front of two speakers that alternatively played familiar and new sequences. The children clearly remembered, listen attentively and responded more vigurosly to the structure of the entire sequence from an earlier session than at the single word of the new sequence.

The second phase of the experiment also included 24 healthy 15 month old infants that listed to the same recording of the artificial language but did not fall asleep in the next 4 hours. Tested the next day the children showed no differences in behavior, regardless of weather the recording was already known to them, or completely new.

The team, which in addition to Dr. Hupbach included Professor Lynn Nadel, Dr. Rebbeca L. Gomez, and Dr. Richard R. Bootzin, concluded that sleep plays a beneficial role for a variety of cognitive functions during infancy. Taking naps contributes to the development of learning ability and memory in infants.

To read the full study on Nap-dependent learning in infants, click on the link below

http://web.arizona.edu/~tigger/Hupbach-Gomez-Bootzin-Nadel-sleep-09.pdf

10 Sleep Reduces Stress

Whether you are getting ready for a full night’s sleep, or just taking a nap, sleep can help to control your mental and physical stress levels. Sleeping can help to lower high blood pressure levels and elevated levels of stress levels. Today’s world is a fast paced lifestyle, so sleeping can definitely slow your stress levels.

9 Sleep Helps Athletic performance

Athletic performance is more important that some may think. Not everyone is going to be a super star athlete like Kobe Bryant, but receiving athletic grants or scholarships can go a long way for ones future. Athletic performance is linked to stronger social skills, improved classwork, and of course, fun. Resting up for the big game is very important if you want your performance to be top notch.

8 Sleep Improves Memory

When you are sleep deprived you often find difficulty concentrating, remembering, or even constructing clear thoughts. Sleeping helps your brain with rest/recovery and in turn your brain is busy organizing and sorting out thought or memories.

7 Sleep Helps Job Performance

This one almost seems like a no brainer, but still many of us wake up agitated, and our performance on the job suffers as a result. Without the necessary rest we are unable to perform complex problem solving skills, and find ourselves constantly playing catch up. Good sleep makes for good work.

6 Sleeping Helps Repair Your Body

Your body is constantly at war with the outside world. When we are breaking down muscles and draining our bodies physically, sleep can help to repair proteins that have been damaged. While this can be done out of sleep, the majority of protein repair happens in REM sleep. Sleep also helps to repair damaged skin cells that can lead to acne, or even scarring. A healthy body requires healthy sleep.

5 Sleeping Can Help You to Live Longer

Too little sleep is often correlated with a shorter life span. It is not quite spelled out whether sleep is a cause or an effect, but a healthy sleep schedule is related to longer years for a person. In 2010 a study in women between 60 and 70 showed more deaths occurred for those who got less than 5-6 hours of sleep each night; however too much sleep can also be harmful. A healthy balance of rest is required.

4 Sleep Helps Creativity

In addition to improving memory sleeping also is linked to creativity. Creativity is vital to many individuals in life. Without new inspiring ideas, the world will take much longer to develop. A good night’s sleep can help you to find that creative drive that you yearn for. Often times, writers block is associated with a lack of sleep.

3 Sleep Helps Your Heart

Everyone wants a strong healthy heart. Sleep plays a major role in helping maintain a healthy heart. Your cardiovascular system is always under stress and high blood pressure can be the main culprit. Sleep helps to keep cholesterol levels in check, which plays a major role in heart disease.

2 Sleeping Helps to Control Weight

If you are on a new diet plan, you may want to plan for an earlier bedtime as well. Diet and exercise are a key part to losing weight. Without proper rest and recovery diet and exercise may be useless. Your body needs to repair muscle proteins, and sleep can ensure that your diet is be maximized to its full potential. Otherwise, nutrients would be wasted, and you would be left feeling groggy.

1 Sleep Helps to Avoid AccidentsOn average one and six accidents are related to sleep deprivation. Sleepiness affects our decision making, and reaction time. On top of that, a winding smooth road is unfortunately, too relaxing, and falling asleep at the wheel is a very scary possibility. A combination of a lack of sleep and getting behind the wheel can be even more dangerous than alcohol related incidents.

Bonus! Sleep Helps with Depression

More and more in our fast paced world depression is affecting American’s lives. Depression can be caused by any number of things, and it can be a very serious condition. Sleep helps to control our irritability, and our anxiety, which are too of the leading contributors to depression. Sleep helps you to achieve more emotional stability, which can help you in almost every aspect of life.

Sleeping has endless health benefits. A good night’s rest can go a long way in today’s busy lifestyle. The average adult requires around 7-9 hours of sleep, so try to work that into your hectic lifestyle each night. Remember napping can always help too! A regular sleep schedule helps promote better sleeping habits and falling asleep faster.

This is a guest post authored by  Nicole Brinski

Could some of these problems – obesity itself and obesity-driven sleep disorders – be attributed to the quality of your mattress? It could be worth a closer look. Since sleep deprivation can result in over-eating throughout the day to increase energy levels and over-eating results in obesity, taking a look at the quality of your mattress, even if it feels “just fine” or “better than new,” may be a worthwhile and beneficial exercise.

Do you stir through the night? As a test, make a conscious effort to note the position you wake up in and ask yourself if that was the same position that you tried to fall asleep in. A tough question to answer, but you might be surprised.

According to research conducted by qMattresses.com, a website primarily dedicated to mattress reviews and sleep health, an older mattress will lack the support characteristics of a younger model. With a lack of support, specific pressure points in your body will become strained, causing enough discomfort that your brain triggers you to move. While this stirring relieves the strain on those pressure points, it actually disrupts the quality of sleep. Because the stirring is done subconsciously, the only indication of a restless night and poor sleep may be in the morning, when people wake up still feeling exhausted.

As a consequence of a poor night’s sleep, a lot of people will eat high-energy (most often high-sugar or high-carb) foods throughout the day to boost energy. Most of us know what these foods do to our physique; carbs are converted into sugars which, if not used to fuel the body, turn into fat. Sugars and fats also cause our bodies to crave more sugars, further perpetuating the cycle. Give it a few months or a year and, eventually, people are left with a weight problem. As mentioned earlier, weight problems often lead to sleep problems.

One by-product of obesity, snoring, is such a common sleep disorder today that most of us do not even consider it a disorder at all. It affects up to 50% of adults, most of which are male. Snoring can also be linked back to poor mattress support. Since most mattresses can be deemed “comfortable” when back-sleeping, a lot of people ignore the signs that their mattress needs to be replaced.

Do you snore? Try sleeping on your back. Try falling asleep on your side or stomach. A mattress with good support will allow you to fall asleep in a side-sleeping or stomach-sleeping position. A mattress with poor support will leave you uncomfortable. Untreated, snoring can lead to more serious sleep disorders like sleep apnea, a sleep disorder that deprives the brain of oxygen.

When you take a closer look, it is obvious how this self-perpetuating cycle of poor sleep, poor eating, chronic fatigue and poor mattress support can result in serious health problems down the road. In some cases, the cycle can be broken by improving sleep quality through a better mattress. If left unattended, however, a mattress that needs to be replaced will continue to cut into hours of quality sleep until the problem evolves into something more serious.

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This is a guest post authored by qMattresses.com

 What is insomnia?

Insomnia generally refers to trouble falling and staying asleep. As a medical term, insomnia is defined as any sleep-related disorder, such as difficulty of falling asleep and/or staying asleep. It is worth mentioning that insomnia can have various forms- from occasional, lasting only few days to chronic (which may last months).

Symptoms

The two main symptoms of insomnia are involuntary shortening of sleep and being unable to sleep despite feeling fatigue.

Causes

Insomnia affects different people for different reasons. The most common causes are:  psychiatric disorders such as depression, anxiety and stress. Other causes of insomnia include poor diet and leading an unhealthy lifestyle; people who drink alcohol or caffeinated beverages or eat late at night are more likely to suffer from insomnia. People who have a disturbed circadian rhythms due to working late night shifts or going to bed at varied times each night are more at risk of experiencing insomnia.

Treatment

Effective treatment of insomnia should be based on eliminating the primary cause based of the insomnia (somatic or mental disorders). There is range of treatments/methods for relief of symptoms of insomnia. A systematic treatment must be provided to regulate circadian rhythms, the elimination of stimulants (such as coffee and alcohol) and proper diet. In many cases, patients have improved their condition by practicing relaxation techniques.

In the most difficult cases, pharmacological treatment is used to fight insomnia. Sleep medications should not be abused – their use should take place for limited time and always under medical supervision.

Many people underestimate the dangers of insomnia. While in case of occasional insomnia there is not much reason to be concerned, chronic insomnia can lead to weakening of the immune system and disorders of the nervous system. Remember that our bodies need sleep to function properly. Fatigue, impaired memory, concentration and bad mood are just the first effects of insomnia.

This scenario may seem all too familiar, driving back from work, coming home from long weekend at the beach, and feeling tired but pushing through another 2 hours when you’ve already been driving for 6. Most of us drivers have been there, but many people do not realize the dangers of drowsy driving. Driving drowsy increases the likelihood that you will be involved in an accident, and the chances that you could be seriously injured or killed while driving.

Scientists compare driving tired to driving drunk, because, like alcohol, excessive sleepiness slows down our reaction times, decreases overall awareness and impairs judgment. Despite the dangers, an alarming 41 % of drivers admitted to having fallen asleep while driving, according to study released by AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.

Most of us know not to drive drunk or let a friend or a family member get behind the wheel while intoxicated, many of us don’t seem to act as responsibly when it comes to drowsy driving. Tiredness can be hard to recognize, even for the person driving, so here are some signs to look out for (from the National Sleep Foundation):

• Turning up the radio or rolling down the window to stay awake
• Impaired reaction time and judgment
• Decreased performance, vigilance and motivation
• Trouble focusing, keeping your eyes open or your head up
• Daydreaming and wandering thoughts
• Yawning or rubbing your eyes repeatedly
• Drifting from your lane, tailgating and missing signs or exits
• Felling restless, irritable or aggressive

There are a number of ideas being recommended to avoid falling asleep behind the wheel: drinking coffee , listening to the radio, pinching yourself are all quick fixes that are only short term, the fact is that the only remedy for avoiding drowsy driving accident is getting adequate amount of sleep.

Researchers are not sure exactly why the swaying from side to side has an effect on sleep but they suspect that the motion helps to relax, but it is also possible that it directly affects the brain sensors responsible for sleep and other functions such as memory. Scientist from Geneva believe that their discovery may help to develop new treatment for insomnia and rehabilitation after traumatic brain injury.

To read a full article about this study click on :http://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822%2811%2900539-2

We spend about one-third of our lives sleeping, and most of us know very little about how sleep affects our bodies. Here are five of the most commonly repeated myths related to sleep.

Myth #1          You can make up for lost sleep.

Fact: If you think staying in bed on the weekends is going to make up for a week worth of sleep, think again.  A new study shows that going long periods without sleep can result in a kind of “sleep debt” that can’t be simply undone. In fact, too much snoozing can disrupt your circadian rhythm. So you should try to provide your body with a consistent number of hours of sleep each night.

Myth #2          A good work out at night will make it easier to fall asleep.

Fact:  Exercising regularly helps your body to fall sleep, but only if it is done at least 3 hours prior to bedtime. A work out elevates your body’s temperature which makes falling asleep difficult.

 Myth #3         My brain needs sleep to rest.

Fact:  During sleep, the rest of your body rests while your brain constantly controls all of your body’s functions, repairs cells and memorizes new information.

Myth #4          Everyone needs about 8 hours of sleep.

Fact:  The amount of sleep needed varies from person to person and depends on other factors, such as the individual’s lifestyle. The better the quality of sleep, the less time it takes for our bodies to renew itself. Stress, poor diet, heavy alcohol consumption and inadequate sleeping conditions make it harder for us to part with the pillow and make us feel tired even after many hours of rest.

Myth#5           People are divided into “night owls” and “early birds”

Fact:  It is commonly believed that whether we like to get out of bed early in the morning or become more energetic during the night, genetics are to blame. The truth is that it all depends on your lifestyle and habits acquired over many years. This means that with a little will power the “night owls” can become “early birds.”

If you’re like me, waking up in the morning can be challenging. Hearing my loud alarm go off in the AM sometimes scares me to death and other times I can’t hear it at all. So how can this problem be solved? There’s an app for that!

Sleep Cycle is a Swiss-made iPhone app that offers a new approach to the way we wake up. During the night, we drift back and forth between light and deep sleep cycles; the key to feeling rested and relaxed is to wake up during the light sleep phase. The Sleep Cycle App claims to be able to help you do just that.

So, how does it work?

Placed under your pillow, Sleep Cycle uses a sensor called accelerometer that lets your mobile device track your movements throughout the night. Since your movement during sleep varies between the different stages of sleep, Sleep Cycle is able to track what stage of sleep you are in. As you approach the light sleep phase it will gently wake you up. It even lets you use your own mp3 music as a wake up tune. Just remember to charge your phone during the night as the app is constantly working and may drain your battery.

Do you use Sleep Cycle already – tell us how well it works for you.