How to sleep during the holidays

How Does Sleep Influence Atherosclerosis? A Population-Based Study of a Large Study Using Self-reported Data and Evidence from Civil Service Employees

Poor sleep — including poor quality, abnormal quantity and fragmented sleep — has been linked with cardiovascular disease and cardiovascular disease-related deaths before, but less had been known about the specific associations between sleep regularity and atherosclerosis.

The diseases that had a higher risk included diabetes, cancer, coronary Heart Disease, stroke, heart Failure, chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, chronic kidneys disease, liver disease, depression, dementia, mental disorders, Parkinson’s and arthritis.

The study can have some limitations. White men were the majority of the subjects. The researchers say the civil servants also tend to be a little healthier than the general population. And the study relied on self-reported data, which is considered less reliable than if people were in a sleep study in which scientists could directly observe how the person was sleeping.

Sharon Cobb, who has worked on sleep research and was not involved with the new study, said it’s important because it provides more evidence that sleep and chronic conditions are related.

Adam Knowlden, a health science associate professor at the University of Alabama who was not involved in the new research but is working on a different large sleep study, explains that other research shows that sleep is a restoration process that produces and regulates hormones in the body.

Hormones regulate things like appetite, metabolism, sex drive, blood pressure and heart rate, body temperature, and circadian rhythms. Chronic health problems such as fatigue, body aches and blood pressure are thought to occur if the body does not produce adequate hormones due to a lack of sleep.

Establish a sleep schedule first. Training your body to go to bed at a consistent hour and get up at the same time every day makes getting a regular night’s rest easier.

The Role of Sleep in Cardiovascular Diseases: A Study Using a Wireless Sensor Network to Measure Sleep Habits in the At-Home Environment

Heart disease is the No. 1 killer in the country, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Someone in the US dies from cardiovascular disease every 34 seconds.

The American Heart Association has a list of good health things that include eating healthy, being physically active, smoking cessation, controlling cholesterol, and managing blood sugar and blood pressure.

The participants wore a wristwatch that tracked their sleep and wake history and kept a sleep diary for seven days. The at- home sleep study was performed to measure breathing, sleep stages, waking during the night and heart rate.

Poor sleep habits “are ubiquitous” among Americans, the study says, including among the study participants. A majority of them did not sleep more than seven hours a night. According to the CDC, an adult can get between seven and nine hours of sleep a night.

There’s increasing evidence that people who don’t sleep enough often have a poor diet, Makarem said. That may in part be because sleep is a restorative process that, among other things, produces and regulates hormones that can make you feel full or hungry. You may end up eating more calories when the hormones are out of whack.

What Is The Best Way To Get Your Sleep? Dr. Prather’s Advice for Coping with Nightime Ambiguities and Anxiety

She hopes future studies will provide additional evidence of a connection between good health and good sleep and prompt more providers to ask questions.

The worst thing is that much of that advice is actually wrong. The misinterpretation of scientific findings, poor methodologies, and in some cases the need for a good story to sell to the public have perpetuated the myth that there is only one surefire way of getting “good sleep.”

“No one ever says, ‘I was awake in the middle of the night, and I was only thinking of good things,’” Dr. Prather said. Throughout the day, we might be too busy to linger on our thoughts, but at night, when we try to let our brains pause without distractions, “our thoughts can get very, very loud,” Dr. Prather wrote.

To beat back nightime rumination and anxiety, Dr. Prather recommended in an interview devoting part of your day to worry. Block out 10 to 20 minutes to write down what you’re anxious about, or just think about it, without searching for a solution. If you do that consistently, he said, your worries won’t seep into the night — and if they do, you can remind yourself that you have a dedicated time to address them the next day.

Stress and holidays seem to go hand in hand. To cope, many people often steal hours from their sleep to pack in all the cooking, shopping, gift wrapping, parties and family time.

Holiday Sleep Problems Wellness: Restoring Your Feelings of Sleep by Walking Around the House and Near Your Dish and Moving Toward Your Neighborhood

“Even a night or two of short sleep can have short term effects on your health, mood and wellbeing,” said sleep specialist Kristen Knutson, an associate professor of neurology and preventive medicine at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, in an email.

An associate professor at Rutgers University in New Jersey said large meals can cause fatigue as the body tries to digest the food.

Eating smaller portions and taking breaks to check in with your body on how full you are can help, said sleep specialist Dr. Raj Dasgupta, an associate professor of clinical medicine at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California.

When a delicious meal is close by, this tip can help reduce your feelings of being sleepy, I know it seems cruel.

Your holiday plate needs to be less heavily laden with high-cholesterol, high-fat foods. These substitutions “slow digestion such that people feel full longer,” Malin said.

Water intake is another approach that could be considered. Consuming adequate water before your meal can help extend your stomach and make you feel full.

Exercise also helps counteract feelings of sluggishness, Malin said. Even standing and moving around the house or neighborhood can help reset that “tired” switch.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/23/health/holiday-sleep-problems-wellness/index.html

Holiday Sleep Problems Wellness: Eat Before You Go To Sleep, and Eat When You Are Not Feeling Sick After a Big Meal

And don’t keep eating and eating until the wee hours. Decreased Digestion can lead to indigestion, which can cause acid reflux that can wake us up.

We should not eat for more than 2 hours before going to sleep. If you are hungry before bed a light snack is okay She said via email that heavy, rich food should be avoided.

All those holiday sweets, especially if consumed on an empty stomach while waiting for the meal, can cause swings in blood glucose, or blood sugar. Keeping your blood steady throughout the day is best for the body.

The crash feelings are caused by drops in blood sugar because of the clearance in bodily cells. He said that consuming sugar based foods later in the evening can promote bursts of energy that can make it harder to fall asleep.

We drink a bit too much because alcohol protects the brain from it’s effects. We will be sleepy. However, halfway through the night, the liver will have finished metabolizing the alcohol into a stimulant called acetaldehyde, according to Dr. Bhanu Kolla, an addiction psychiatrist and sleep medicine expert at the Mayo Clinic.

It would take about 8 pounds for turkey to have an effect. Instead, it’s the rich, processed foods, such as candied sweet potatoes or pecan pie, that are making you feel tired.

It’s not a good idea to lay down after a big meal, even if you have heartburn. Also, if you are someone who dealing with insomnia, I would not recommend taking a nap,” he said.

If you have trouble sleeping and don’t get a good night’s sleep the night before, a 15- to 20-minute nap is fine. There is no reason to blame the turkey for the nap.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/23/health/holiday-sleep-problems-wellness/index.html

How much should you do if you are afraid of falling asleep? A cognitive behavioral therapy study revealed that exercise decreases anxiety and improves sleep

If you suffer from anxiety, depression or seasonal affective disorder, you should be watching your sleep.

She said that calming strategies can include taking a bath, meditating or listening to soothing music.

Knutson said that leaving a notepad by the bedside could help quiet your mind if you need to fall asleep.

“Studies have shown that exercise enables individuals with insomnia to fall asleep faster, sleep longer, and enjoy better sleep quality,” he said. “Exercise is also great way to relieve stress and depression that have been common issues for people during the holidays.”

“Exercising improves sleep by reducing sleep onset, meaning it takes less time to fall asleep and decreases the amount of time you are lying in bed awake during the night,” Dasgupta said.

However, sleep has recently become yet another aspect of our lives that causes endless worry, rather than being enjoyable. We are trying to get the perfect night’s sleep. As a consequence, many of us are now afflicted by sleep anxiety, a condition in which people worry about not falling asleep or staying asleep. In a study in Nature & Science of Sleep published in 2018, it was reported that this type of anxiety is caused by a cycle of increased stress and leads to poorer sleep.

Consider the advice to avoid light from screens before sleep. One of the main studies exposing individuals to 4 hours of use on its bright light setting prior to bed has been supported by this guideline. The result was that sleep onset was delayed by only two minutes a day. The biological impact was meaningless because the results were statistically significant.

A lot of recent studies shows that a healthy sleep pattern can be based on our individual needs rather than being one-size-fits-all. This was shown very clearly, for instance, in a recent study that my group at Oxford University conducted with a cohort of adolescents between the ages of 14 and 15. In that group, the average level of insomnia was in the normal range, and we gave participants cognitive behavior therapy for insomnia (CBTi) to reduce stress and improve their sleep. The results show that, on average, this intervention had no impact. The group that did have insomnia had CBTi improve their sleep, as it showed by the close scrutiny of the data. That insight would have been completely missed had we only analyzed the average data.

Twelve Weeks to a Sharper You: a Guided Program for Understanding Your Brain and Its Well-Behaved Self-Estimation

Editor’s Note: CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is a practicing neurosurgeon and the author of the new book, “12 Weeks to a Sharper You: A Guided Program.”

Your DNA is the core of your body, but how that behaves tells the story. In the future, interventional therapies that include a combination of lifestyle habits and drugs may help those stories end well. You can use a free app on your phone to track your cognitive decline over time, and it will also help you make suggestions for you in the future that are tailored to you. The six keys above will give you a strong foundation, unless we have technology at our fingertips.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/27/health/12-weeks-to-a-sharper-you-sanjay-gupta-wellness/index.html

How to be hydrated: 12 weeks to a sharpen you Sri-Arakesh-Puta-Wellness

Skip the crash diet and simply work on following the S.H.A.R.P. protocol: Slash the sugar and salt; Hydrate smartly; Add more omega-3 fatty acids from dietary sources; Reduce portions; and Plan ahead. The S.H.A.R.P. protocol is the easiest way to gravitate toward healthier foods in general and minimize the amount of processed, brain-busting junk. If you want to focus on one thing, it’s best to start with the sugar. The average American consumes nearly 20 teaspoons of added sugar daily, most of that in the highly processed form of fructose, derived from high-fructose corn syrup. My guess is that a lot of this sugar intake comes in the form of a liquid – soda, energy drinks, juices and flavored teas. You will take two steps when you switch to water with sugar-laden drinks. That is how to be hydrated.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/27/health/12-weeks-to-a-sharper-you-sanjay-gupta-wellness/index.html

How much do you need to improve your hippocampus? A simple guide to deep breathing exercises to help you prioritize restorative sleep?

On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the most extreme, how would you rate your stress level? What if I told you that stress is now considered a trigger for silent neurodegeneration, which occurs years before symptoms develop? Scores of well-designed studies routinely show that chronic stress can impair your ability to learn and adapt to new situations, and subtly erode your cognition. The hippocampus is the brain site that stores memories and is damaged by stress. So, by reducing stress, you not only help preserve cells vital to memory You increase focus,concentration and productivity. Don’t let toxic stress get in the way of keeping sharp. It’s possible to engage in an activity that’s peaceful, meditative and stress-reducing during breaks. It can be as easy as walking in nature, journal writing, spending time with a pet, or even daydreaming. Download an app today that will give you a guided tour through a deep breathing exercise you can practice daily. I use a meditation routine that calms me down in 90 seconds or less. I simply close my eyes, pay close attention to my breath, and picture my worries in clear bubbles directly in front of me that float weightlessly up and away.

Are you getting restorative sleep? Sleep is not a state of neural idleness as many people think. The body undergoes a critical phase during which it needs to replenish itself in a variety of ways that affect every system, from the brain to the heart. You can think of sleep as your brain’s rinse cycle for clearing out junk that could contribute to decline and disease. You should prioritize sleep as a priority over anything else. And start with your bedtime routine. Prepare for a good night of sleep by not looking at the screen until an hour before bed. I used to have a 30 minute pre-sleep prep time, but it was cut in half the next day.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/27/health/12-weeks-to-a-sharper-you-sanjay-gupta-wellness/index.html

What you can do to save your brain from Alzheimer’s disease: Habits that prepare you for long-term well-being and lifelong health

Do you learn something new every day? Studies show that people who stay mentally challenged longer are less likely to end up with Alzheimer’s disease or other dementias. Retire late, or never at all. Pick a route to destinations that are familiar. Brush your teeth with the non-dominant hand. Skip the solitary games and crossword puzzles and pick up a new hobby that involves other people. The final key brings me here.

When it comes to brain health, we need social connection to thrive. A friend needs to be contacted today. Invite a neighbor over for dinner. Go for a walk with a buddy and talk about your problems. Devote your time to those relationships. The strength of our connections with others can predict the health of both our bodies and our brains as we go through life. Good relationships protect us. They are a secret sauce to a long, sharp life.

The ultimate goal is to build what’s called cognitive reserve, which is what scientists call “brain resiliency.” Lowering your risk of neurodegenerative issues is possible if you have more cognitive reserve. When you have a backup set of networks in the brain, you should be able to deal with anything that happens. There are more chances for success if we have more backup plans. Well, the same is true for our brain’s hard- and soft-wiring. The most important way to establish a reserve is to do so over time, because your risk for decline increases with age.

Don’t forget that cognitive decline isn’t necessarily inevitable. Research shows that healthy habits you incorporate into your daily life can help protect your brain health for the long term. Think of health as a “top-down” project. Everything else will follow if you focus on your brain. Happy New Year!

Dr. Abhinav Singh, medical director of the Indiana Sleep Center and a sleep professor at Marian University College of Osteopathic Medicine, likes to answer this question with an analogy. Think of your ability to sleep as though it were a car, he said. As it ages and clocks more miles, it begins to fall apart; it needs more repairs, and its ride becomes less smooth.

Women are more likely to report that they have bad sleep than men. And sleep begins to elude them earlier in life, usually starting around the menopausal transition (or the years leading up to menopause), which typically begins between 45 and 55, according to the National Institute on Aging.

The Effect of the Atherosclerosis Sleep Habits on Cardiovascular Health Results from an Observational Study at the National Institute of Cardiology

Atherosclerosis is the buildup of plaque in arteries, according to the American Heart Association. This plaque is made up of cholesterol, fatty substances, cellular waste products, calcium and fibrin, a clotting agent in the blood. As plaque accumulates, the blood vessel walls become thick, which reduces the amount of blood flow in the body. Atherosclerosis can lead to cardiovascular health conditions, including coronary heart disease, angina, heart attacks, strokes and carotid or peripheral artery disease.

Researchers didn’t know whether irregular sleep caused the condition or not, since they only found an association between the two.

He said that the heart needs to rest as it slows and blood pressure dips. The cardiovascular system is stressed over time without that regular rest.

“Interrupted sleep — especially (in) those with sleep apnea — usually releases catecholamines like adrenaline, which can do all sorts of things if it’s a chronic problem,” Freeman said. It can be a sign of stress or anxiety if sleep disruptions do not stop.

It’s not just quality and quantity of sleep, but regularity, that sleep specialists are talking about. He was not involved in the study.

There were five healthy sleep habits, and each was assigned a number. People were scored on how many of their hobbies they had.

After about four years, researchers compared those scores with National death index records to see if their sleep behaviors contributed to an early death.

The team took into account other potential causes for a higher risk of dying, like alcohol consumption, lower socio-economic status and the like.

Obstructive Sleep Apnea: When a Men’s Body Becomes Unsteady, Its Significance, and How to Monitor It

“Women with obstructive sleep apnea often get underdiagnosed or misdiagnosed because they may not present with the classic symptoms that we see when we’re evaluating men,” Dasgupta said. Maybe we need to ask different questions or check parameters, or something is not right here.