7.4 : Average number of hours of sleep a person gets on weekends.
23: Minutes it takes most people to fall asleep.
61: Percent of people who sleep with someone else.
31: Percent who sleep alone.
12: Percent who sleep with a pet.
45: Percent of people who say they don’t nap.
35: Percent who say they take two or more naps a day.
(Source: National Sleep Foundation’s 2005 Sleep in America Poll )
Take this true-false sleep quiz
1. Sleep is a time when your body and brain shut down for rest and relaxation.
False. Although it is a time when your body rests and restores its energy levels, sleep is an active state that affects both your physical and mental well-being. Adequate restful sleep, like diet and exercise, is critical to good health. Insufficient restful sleep can result in mental and physical health problems and possibly premature death.
True. Many people doze off unintentionally during the day despite getting their usual night of sleep. This could be a sign of a sleep disorder. Approximately 40 million Americans have sleep disorders, including sleep apnea, insomnia, narcolepsy, and restless legs syndrome. An untreated sleep disorder can reduce your daytime productivity, increase your risk of accidents, and put you at risk for illness and even early death.
3. If you snore loudly and persistently at night and are sleepy during the day, you may have a sleep disorder.
True. Persistent loud snoring at night and daytime sleepiness are the main symptoms of a common and serious sleep disorder, sleep apnea. Another symptom is frequent long pauses in breathing during sleep, followed by choking and gasping for breath. People with sleep apnea don’t get enough restful sleep, and their daytime performance is often seriously affected. Sleep apnea may also lead to hypertension, heart disease, heart attack and stroke. However, it can be treated.
4. Opening the car window or turning the radio up will keep the drowsy driver awake.
False. Opening the car window or turning the radio up may arouse a drowsy driver briefly, but this won’t keep that person alert behind the wheel. Even mild drowsiness is enough to reduce concentration and reaction time. The sleep-deprived driver may nod off for a couple of seconds at a time without even knowing it - enough time to kill himself or someone else. Nodding off while driving causes an average of 56,000 reported crashes each year, claiming more than 1,500 lives.
5. More people doze off at the wheel of a car in the early morning or midafternoon than in the evening.
True. Our bodies are programmed by our biological clock to experience two natural periods of sleepiness during the 24-hour day, regardless of the amount of sleep we’ve had in the previous 24 hours. The primary period is between about midnight and 7:00 a.m. A second period of less intense sleepiness is in the midafternoon, between about 1:00 and 3:00. This means that we are more at risk of falling asleep at the wheel at these times than in the evening-especially if we haven’t been getting enough sleep.
6. Narcolepsy is a sleep disorder marked by “sleep attacks.”
True. People with narcolepsy fall asleep uncontrollably - at any time of the day, in all types of situations - regardless of the amount or quality of sleep they’ve had the night before. Narcolepsy is characterized by these “sleep attacks,” as well as by daytime sleepiness, episodes of muscle weakness or paralysis and disrupted nighttime sleep. Although there is no known cure, medications and behavioral treatments can control symptoms, and people with narcolepsy can live normal lives.
7. The primary cause of insomnia is worry.
False. Insomnia has many different causes, including physical and mental conditions and stress. Insomnia is the perception that you don’t get enough sleep because you can’t fall asleep, stay asleep or get back to sleep once you’ve awakened during the night. It affects people of all ages, usually for just an occasional night or two, but sometimes for weeks, months or even years. Because insomnia can become a chronic problem, it is important to get it diagnosed and treated if it persists for more than a month.
8. One cause of not getting enough sleep is restless legs syndrome.
True. Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a medical condition distinguished by tingling sensations in the legs - and sometimes the arms - while sitting or lying still, especially at bedtime. People with RLS need to constantly stretch or move their legs to try to relieve these uncomfortable or painful symptoms. As a result, he or she has difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep and usually feels extremely sleepy and unable to function fully during the day. Good sleep habits and medication can help.
9. The body has a natural ability to adjust to different sleep schedules such as working different shifts or traveling through multiple time zones quickly.
False. The human body’s biological clock programs each person to feel sleepy during the nighttime hours and to be active during the daylight hours. So people who work the night shift and try to sleep during the day are constantly fighting their biological clocks. This puts them at risk of error and accident at work and of disturbed sleep. The same is true for people who travel through multiple time zones quickly; they get “jet lag” because they cannot maintain a regular sleep-wake schedule. Sleeping during the day in a dark, quiet bedroom and getting exposure to sufficient bright light at the right time can help improve daytime alertness.
10. People need less sleep as they grow older.
False. As we get older, we don’t need less sleep, but we often get less. That’s because our ability to sleep for long periods of time and to get into the deep restful stages of sleep decreases with age. Older people have more fragile sleep and are more easily disturbed by light, noise, and pain. They also may have medical conditions that contribute to sleep problems. Going to bed at the same time every night and getting up at the same time every morning, getting exposure to natural outdoor light during the day, and sleeping in a cool, dark, quiet place at night may help.
(Source: the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, one of the National Institutes of Health (www.nhlbi.nih.gov/cgi-bin/ tfSleepQuiz.pl#3)
Learn how clearing the nasal passages through yoga and pranayama can help fight sleep apnea.
Avoidance of being overweight by special care on diet, exercise and stress management can prevent the condition. Diet management includes:
*Avoid tamasic foods ( non-vegetarian foods, fried or fermented or stale foods) in dinner
*Sleep with empty stomach by leaving a gap of at least 2 hours between dinner and going to bed.
*Increase the quantity of fibre by including more of green leafy vegetables, salads and fruits in the diet.
*Avoid constipation.
Regular exercise through walking before going to bed is important to improve the quality of sleep and reduce the heaviness that leads to snoring. Practice of 21 rounds of Nadishuddhi Pranayama before going to bed is very valuable in reducing the problem of excessive snoring which is one of the major complaints in sleep apnea. Sleeping on your side is recommended.
Simple stretching and relaxation exercises of yoga can increase suppleness, enhance mental and physical relaxation, and improve the quality of sleep. Yoga is suitable for people of all ages. Do the exercises every day.
Exercices
Starting position: Sit with legs straight
The trunk of the body is upright and relaxed. Place the hands about 10 cm behind the body with the fingers pointing outwards
Inhaling bring the left arm to the right side and place the palm or the fingertips beside the right buttock on the floor.
Exhaling bend the left leg and place the foot on the outside of the right thigh on the floor. The body should be upright. The left buttock should remain in contact with the floor. Turn the upper body and head to the right, looking back over the right shoulder.
Holding the breath remain in this position for a long as comfortable.
Inhaling return to the starting position. Repeat the exercise to the other side.
(info from http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/oct282005/living1341220051027.asp)
Snoring should be considered a medical symptom that affects more than a third of the U.S. population (44 percent of men and 28 percent of women). It may be the result of underlying, treatable conditions, or may herald a more serious risk to health.
Snoring that interrupts sleep — either the patient’s or the bed partner’s — should be brought to the attention of the snorer’s primary-care physician. Getting input from the snorer’s bed partner is also valuable in assessing the significance of the snoring. In some instances, referral to a specialist or to a sleep disorders center for testing will be appropriate.
The causes of snoring and exacerbation of snoring noise levels can be both physical and behavioral. Determining the cause of snoring and implementing strategies to address the underlying condition can be beneficial in reducing noise levels. For example, being overweight contributes to collapsing the air passageway during sleep, so weight loss and/or shifting sleeping position to your side can alleviate snoring in some cases. Snoring also can be brought on by chronic nasal congestion, a crooked partition between your nostrils (deviated nasal septum) or consuming too much alcohol before bedtime. In these cases, a nasal decongestant, surgery and less alcohol, respectively, should improve the condition.
In the past, most doctors agreed that snoring alone was not a serious medical condition unless it actually developed into a complete blockage or collapse of the air passageway and a cessation of breathing, a condition known as sleep apnea. Today, there is significant clinical evidence that snoring can be an indication of other serious medical conditions, including high blood pressure, especially in young adults. The most notorious medical condition closely associated with snoring is still obstructive sleep apnea syndrome, which requires the sleeper to awaken to begin breathing again.
Sleep apnea results when the sleeper’s airway is completely blocked, so that no air is supplied to the lungs for at least 10 seconds or more at a frequency of at least five times an hour. Excessive daytime sleepiness is a frequent complaint of individuals with this condition. During this process, the sleeper will have a simultaneous drop in blood oxygen levels and an increase in blood pressure, which can become potentially dangerous and requires medical treatment with a continuous positive airway pressure device, or CPAP. This simple device blows air into the mouth or nose with enough pressure to keep the airway open.
Other treatments for snoring and obstructive sleep apnea syndrome include mandibular advancement devices, which make the lower jaw and the base of the tongue jut forward, and a variety of new surgical procedures, which, because they are invasive, are always the last resort. The choice of treatment for this particular condition is best determined by a sleep study at an accredited sleep facility.
(info By DR. JANICE E. NEVIN from http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051011/HEALTH/510110303/-1/NEWS01)
Snoring may seem on the the surface, to be a fairly trivial ailment, but it can cause enourmous stress, tension in relationships and even affect people’s work, as lack of sleep prevents sufferers from being able to perform properly.
Snoring is caused by air passing over the soft tissues in the palate and making a noise. During the waking hours, our muscle tone prevents this happening, but once relaxed, there is less room for the air to pass through. Of course, this doesn’t make everyone snore, but for some, it is a precondition for snoring. Other factors that can make it worse include smoking, excess weight, congestion or even a small deformity in the airway.
Another more serious sleep problem is sleep apnoea, a condition where the sufferer temporarily stops breathing during sleep. This automatically forces the person to wake up in order to start breating again. Needless to say, this doesn’t exactly make for a restful night. Sleep apnoea is difficult to self-diagnose and patients are usually diagnosed at sleep clinics, where special equipment is used to monitor sleep.
These devices look a little bit like a boxer’s gum shield and although they are probably not that conducive to a romantic night in, at least you should get some sleep.
Over three and a half million people snore. Four out of ten men and up to three out of ten women. Millions of partners and neighbours suffer sleep disturbed nights too.
The noise of snoring is caused by parts of the nose and throat, in particular the soft palate, vibrating as you breath in and out. At night, muscles that help keep your airways open relax and become floppy, the airways narrow, vibrate more, so snoring is more likely.
Alcohol and also sleeping tablets relax these muscles more and being overweight puts pressure on the airways.
A nose blocked by a cold, allergy, nasal polyps, or damaged and crooked from playing rugby for example, means you’re likely to breathe through your mouth making snoring more likely.
Smokers are twice as likely as non-smokers to snore because their airways get inflamed and blocked.
Prods, kicks, and punches from your partner, the threat of divorce, and complaints from the neighbours are all common. You may also be suffering with obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA).
One can stop snoring by no late night alcohol and maintaining your ideal weight. Raisinge the head of the bed too. Sleeping on your back makes snoring worse. Keep on your side by sewing a ball into the back of your pyjama top. If you don’t wear pyjamas wedging a pillow under your back creates the same effect.
Clear your nose by humidifying the air in the bedroom, inhaling steam, and rubbing a few drops of eucalyptus or olbas oil onto your pillow-case before going to bed. Antihistamine tablets and / or an anti-inflammatory nasal sprays help. Always check with the pharmacist that they’re suitable for you, especially if you’re taking other medicines.
Obstructive sleep apnoea - characterised by loud snoring, interrupted breathing and multiple nighttime awakenings - is more than a nuisance. It can be a real threat to health, due to its links to obesity and cardiovascular disease.
Almost 80 percent of blacks have common signs of obstructive sleep apnoea, while only 55 percent of whites do, according to a study presented at the American Academy of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery annual meeting, which began Sunday in Los Angeles.
“Here you have a population that’s at far greater risk to have the problem, and that’s more likely to be adversely affected by sequelae of the disease, like hypertension and obesity,” said Dr Michael Friedman, chairman of head and neck surgery at Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Medical Centre in Chicago. On top of that, “they’re less likely to get the treatment they need,” he said.
Friedman said that it’s important to identify sleep apnoea early on, because there are more treatment options available at that stage.
Only 18 percent of blacks said they had ever left the bedroom due to spousal snoring, while 30 percent of white spouses said they had done so. When asked if snoring was “normal,” 32 percent of blacks said it was compared to just 19 percent of whites.
“Obviously, there is less of a sensation that [sleep apnoea] needs to be addressed or treated” among blacks, said Friedman.
“One of the main reasons people come in for treatment is because of the snoring, and their partner complaining about the snoring,” noted Dr Kelvin Lee, director of the division of general otolaryngology and sleep surgery at the New York University Medical Centre.
“From this study, it appears that in the black community there isn’t a perception of snoring being a problem. That’s a big opportunity for outreach and education,” he said.
Lee said his only real issue with this study was that people were diagnosed with sleep apnoea using the OSA score, rather than traditionally recognized sleep studies.
Snoring can be a serious problem
Both Friedman and Lee said it’s important for people to realise that sleep apnoea can be a serious problem, and the sooner it’s treated, the better.
“This is not something where you’re going to die tomorrow, but it puts such a strain on the system, it can give you high blood pressure and heart trouble because your body has to compensate. It’s dangerous to have sleep apnoea long-term. You’re probably more likely to die earlier if you don’t treat it,” said Lee.
Friedman said that, along with getting a sleep study to diagnose sleep apnoea, it’s a good idea to also see an otolaryngologist for a full range of treatment options.
(info from HealthDayNews)
Fact : there are probably as many cures for snoring as there are people complaining about someone snoring. Over 300 anti-snoring devices and cures have been registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Offices. They include the familiar remedy -– a tennis ball in a sock sewed on the back of your pajamas, which supposedly keeps you from rolling over on your back and snoring. Sticky strips to hold your nostrils open, mouthwashes and nasal sprays are other commonly advised cures.
Let’s face it : the various devices promoted as snoring cures usually work well only in mild cases and do not relieve sleep apnea. Nasal infections and allergies should be treated. A Continuous Positive Airway Pressure machine, also known as a CPAP mask is a device you wear on the nose while sleeping to decrease snoring and sleep apnea. Dental appliances can also be used to prevent the tongue from falling back. For heavy snoring, surgically correcting obstructive conditions in the nose, pharynx, or uvula by laser-assisted uvulopalatoplasty may be the only solution.
In order to know which snoring cure is right for you, an interview with the doctor, and possibly an interview with your spouse or anyone else in the household who has tolerated your snoring, is usually enough for a diagnosis of the severity of snoring. A medical history, which includes questions about alcohol or tranquilizer use; past ear, nose, and throat problems; and the pattern and degree of snoring will be completed and a physical examination will then be performed to determine the cause of the problem. Thereafter, a snoring cure is recommended.
More than a third of Scottish snorers are single compared to only 25 per cent in the rest of the UK, according to a survey published recently.
The findings reveal how the condition can cause family tensions and break up relationships and highlights the fact that many sufferers do not know where to go to get effective treatment.
(info from http://news.scotsman.com/uk.cfm?id=1892302005)
Myth: Snoring is a common problem, especially among men, but it isn’t harmful.
Sleep apnea is characterized by pauses in breathing that prevent air from flowing into or out of a sleeping person’s airways. People with sleep apnea awaken frequently during the night gasping for breath. The breathing pauses reduce blood oxygen levels, can strain the heart and cardiovascular system, and increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.
Snoring on a frequent or regular basis has been directly associated with hypertension. Obesity and a large neck can contribute to sleep apnea. Sleep apnea can be treated; men and women who snore loudly, especially if pauses in the snoring are noted, should consult a physician.
(info from The National Sleep Foundation)