Guest Post Archives - Page 2 of 3

Is Your Mattress Contributing to Health Problems?

Obesity has become one of the biggest threats to the health of our population today. While few realize it, obesity can lead to a wide range of health problems, including sleep disorders. In turn, sleep disorders impact the quality and amount of sleep you receive. This impacts your productivity throughout the day and can even result in life-threatening health problems.

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

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Important:
The Sleep Blog does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Instead, this website provides general information for educational purposes only. Always seek the advice of a qualified health care provider if you have questions or concerns regarding any medical condition or treatment.

5 Things you need to know in order to get a good night’s sleep.

Getting a good night’s sleep is vital for maintaining our health and well being. Sleep allows us to function better in our daily lives and also serves a variety of purposes from restorative purposes to memory processing. That said, we’ve probably all had times when we’ve found it difficult to sleep, and many people suffer recurring sleep problems or even primary insomnia. So what can we do to get a good night’s sleep?

Of course, there are many over-the-counter remedies available to help you combat sleeplessness, but there are also plenty of tried and tested methods to help ensure that you get the best sleep you can get.

Stress: By far and away one of the most common causes of temporary or longer term insomnia is stress. Worrying about something and having an overly active mind can impinge on our ability to get a good night’s sleep.
There are a number of ways to combat stress, and many of them depend on the kind of stress you are suffering from. Most physicians recommend keeping a notepad by the bed to write down any worries before bed.

Exercise: is a great way to encourage sleep since by working your muscles and making them tired you can induce sleepiness by increasing your body’s need for rest. If you find it hard to sleep, try taking a brisk walk or going for a bicycle ride in the evening before bed. Raising your overall level of activity, especially if you lead a fairly sedentary life, will also help your longer term sleeping patterns, as well as having positive effects on your health!

Relaxation: It may sound almost contrary to the above, but relaxation should also be an important part of your daily life. If you’re someone who’s “on the go” all the time, you might find it hard to relax when it comes to bed time because your mind is still busy with the day’s events. Wind down in the evenings by reading a book before bed, taking a warm bath or even practicing slow stretching and deep breathing exercises.

Avoid caffeine, not just before bedtime, but also large quantities of caffeine during the day. Not only does the stimulant effect of caffeine in drinks such as coffee, tea or energy drinks keep you awake for longer, but caffeine also reduces your ability to get good quality sleep. Light, fitful sleep is almost as bad as not having any sleep at all.

Quality of bed: A good quality, comfortable bed and supportive pillows can make all the difference too and can stop you feeling achy and tired the next morning. Make sure that you have some thick blackout curtains to shut out the light, especially in summertime when the evenings are light – after all, it’s just as important to prepare your sleeping environment for a good night’s sleep as well as preparing your body.

Cole Watts writes on behalf of Golden Rest beds one of the largest online suppliers of adjustable beds,

When You Sleep – Where Does Your Body Go?

Guest Post by Genevieve who works in affiliation with Universal Health Services, Inc which has a variety of healthcare management companies.

Sleep walking is not at all unusual for children and young adults and mostly disappears with age. Minor sleep walking is no problem in children. They are safely locked in their house and any actions they may take are often instantly counteracted by the adults in the house. But what if you are one of the individuals who continue to sleep walk into adulthood? And what if you live by yourself?

I am one of those adults. The sleepwalking I engage in is entirely harmless and pointless and really does not require any sort of sleep therapy, but can actually cause a series of small annoying problems if not controlled. No matter how many times I double check my alarm clock before I go to bed, it is frequently turned off and occasionally turned to another time entirely when I wake. “Put it across the room,” you say? I will simple walk across the room to make the change.

For those who have digital dexterity while sleeping, sometimes moving an alarm clock across the room or programming more than one is enough. If you still manage to sabotage your wake up, using a phone or computer are options. These devices are far more difficult to change without being aware enough to go through several menus and pressing specific buttons. If you are worried about cold dialing your friends in the middle of the night, using a touch screen device can work magic. Not only do you have to select the right button, but you have to do it without any tactile clues! If you are not interested in purchasing electronics, look into getting a wakeup call service.

Sleepwalkers often engage in the most common behaviors they perform each day. For most people, eating occurs many times each day. A small snack probably isn’t harmful, but it is never fun to wake up to find your refrigerator has been open all night and there are crumbs on the counters and floor. If you find yourself making the occasional foray to the kitchen, consider placing the items you most frequently go for in multiple bags, preferably ones that make noise. Making sure that your refrigerator doors swings all the way closed without help can save on replacing perishables. Child locks on cupboards and drawers are a great way to prevent unconscious snacking.

Most of the problems caused by sleepwalking can be easily contained with a few small precautions. If you are prone to leaving your house, over eating or any number of more serious behaviors, it may benefit you to go to a sleep therapy center and see if they can provide any options.