Sleep Problems?

The amount of sleep we each need varies and depends on many factors
including age. Infants generally require about 16 hours a day, while
teenagers need about nine hours on average. For most adults, seven to
eight hours a night is considered to be the best. However, some people
may need as few as five hours or as many as ten each day. Women in the
first three months of pregnancy often need more hours of sleep than
usual.

   Sleep loss can affect us in many more ways than we realize. It was
reported at a San Diego medical conference, by Dr. Sanjay Patel of
Case Western Reserve University that women who fail to get enough
sleep at night are at risk of gaining weight. In a long term study of
middle-aged women with 16 years of follow-up it was found that those
sleeping five hours or less per night were 32 per cent more likely to
gain as much as 33 pounds or more. In addition 15 per cent were likely
to become obese as compared to women who slept seven or more hours per
night.

  Based on a 2005 survey by the National Sleep Foundation experts
suggest that teenagers and younger children are not getting the sleep
they need and can exhibit a variety of emotional and behavioral
problems that include moodiness, trouble concentrating and focusing in
school. Professionals may misinterpret these problems as
manifestations of attention-deficit or adjustment disorder rather than
sleep deprivation.

  The amount of sleep a person needs also increases if he or she is
deprived of sleep in previous days. While we may become adapt to a
sleep-deprived schedule, our judgment, reaction time and other
functions are still impaired. Experts say that if we feel drowsy
during the day, even during boring activities, we haven?t had enough
sleep.

  If you routinely fall asleep within five minutes of lying down, you
may have severe sleep deprivation. The widespread practice of
?burning the candle at both ends? in Western industrialized
societies has created so much sleep deprivation that what is really
abnormal is now almost the norm.

  Going to bed at a regular time every night and getting up at the
same time every morning is a key to establishing proper sleep
patterns. Daily exercise of 20 to 30 minutes about five or six hours
prior to going to bed often helps people sleep.

  Proper diet and avoiding caffeine including non-herbal teas, coffee,
diet sodas, soft drinks and chocolate also leads to sleeping well. A
bad mattress can also cause sleep deprivation so make sure you have a
comfortable bed and pillow.

  For more information contact me, Dr. David Wade, DC. at 256.237.9423
or email drwade@wadechiropractic.com. Next month I will discuss some
more strategies to improve sleep.

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Love & Light!