Posts Tagged ‘sleep’
Sunday, August 29th, 2010
Awaken Your Sleeping Giant
It’s been almost a year now since I retired from the grinding schedule of retail sales. I’ll never miss the mandatory work on weekends and holidays. I’ll never miss the ten to twelve hour days during the week. The missed ball games, the missed school functions, and the missed quiet free time to just “be there” for my wife and for my three sons will always haunt me. The past week’s joyous celebration of my youngest son’s wedding, the time gifted to me in my retirement, and Glenn Beck’s inspirational “Restore the Honor” gathering in Washington, D.C. today have awakened my sleeping giant. I have, after sixty-two years, done an instant replay of my life. It’s the kind of review that people usually see when they have a near death experience. That sleeping giant, your inner true self, once found, releases an amazing inner calm. The inner calm empowers your mind to focus, to love life, to relax, and to sleep like a baby.
Society today teaches us to disguise our inner selves. We are taught to hide our true feelings and to mask them with a hardened, defensive body armor. We are taught in our early childhood by our parents and our teachers that the world is a cruel place. The bullies are everywhere. They will make fun of our weaknesses and our mistakes. They will step on us in their efforts to promote themselves as more powerful, more intelligent, or more privileged. The more we expose our inner selves the more vulnerable we become. We are taught that “white lies” are okay as long as they are used to protect ourselves or our loved ones. Once the “white lies” begin, the telling of them becomes easy. The truth is stretched further and further until the “white lies” begin to darken. The magic of the “white lies” grows with the realization of their power. The power of the lie soon darkens its color. We realize quickly that the lie can be used to gain power, to defeat the competition, to hold others in our grasp. The lies told by others soon define us. Their criticism eventually defines us. We identify with and believe the negative feedback. Our true self, our inner soul, tunnels further and further beneath the surface of our increasingly hardened armor.
The cynicism displayed by the electorate today, the tea party movement, and the dissatisfaction with Congress and the President reflected in the polls today are all direct results of the lies we hear coming from their mouths. The electronic age has given us the recording tools we need to hold them accountable for what they have said vs. what they have done. We see now how they have gained their power. We hear them referring to us as the “regular” people or the “general public.” Some have even referred to us as the “little” people. The elite media has joined the people in power in Washington. They try to tell us how we should think. The politicians tell us that they know what is best for us and that they will do it regardless of what we think. Judges are increasingly joining their ranks in defying the referendums approved by the electorate, many of which have been repeatedly approved by the electorate. Our legislators, in Washington and in the states, have forgotten what inspired our Founders to declare our independence from Great Britain. The following phrases from our Declaration of Independence may be worth reading (a skill missing from most legislators today) and remembering:
- “HE (the King of England) has combined with others to subject us to a Jurisdiction foreign to our Constitution, and unacknowledged by our Laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:”
- “FOR suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with Power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.”
- “That to secure these Rights (Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness) Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government…”
- “—And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm Reliance on the Protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.”
We have accepted the lies of our legislators for too long. We have accepted their lies for so long that finding the truth has taken way too much time. We are in the process of awakening the sleeping giant of truth. The hundreds of thousands who gathered at the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial reflected upon truth, honor, and the virtues of Faith, Hope, and Charity. Medals of Honor were awarded to heroes who have exemplified those virtues. The Medal for Faith went to Houston Minister C.L. Jackson. The Medal for Hope went to Albert Pujols whose foundation is dedicated to the victims of Down’s syndrome. The Medal for Charity was given to Jon Huntsman, a billionaire philanthropist who has dedicated himself to the eradication of cancer, to the homeless, to the ill, and to the underprivileged. His lifetime contributions to his causes have well exceeded 1.2 billion. His book, “Winners Never Cheat: Everyday Values We Learned as Children (But May Have Forgotten)” and the second edition, entitled “Winners Never Cheat: Even in Difficult Times,” are both best sellers. Mr. Huntsman’s intention is “to die broke” as he has donated his fortune to cancer research.
Honor was also given by Sarah Palin to military heroes present at the rally. Marcus Luttrell, Navy Cross for Heroism awardee and author of “Lone Survivor” was there. He, along with his fellow Navy Seals decided to release a couple of Afghan goat herders despite fears of Taliban attacks on their observation post. Their “honor” resulted in the largest loss of life in Navy Seal history. Another hero lost his hands in Fallujah and still guided his men to safety. Another had endured five years of torture and imprisonment at the Hanoi Hilton prison.
The time has come for all of us to return to the truth and heroism of “thine own self.” As Shakespeare said in Hamlet:
“This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.”
–Polonius’ last advice to his son, Laertes
In order to accept truth we need to become the masters of our thoughts. We need to recognize our weaknesses and appreciate our strengths. Yes, we will risk the exposure of our vulnerabilities, but truth will bring forth new life and forge new strengths. When we become honest with ourselves, we do not need the approval of others. Our emotions can free their bonds of suppression, releasing a freedom that exhilarates the soul; a freedom that allows us to walk in love, to relax in peace, and to sleep like a baby.
Once we find our own “sleeping giant” we can demand the truth from others. Only then can we restore the honor envisioned by our Founders for our Government.
Copyright 2010. All rights reserved to Ronald Czarnecki.
Tags: "Restore the Honor", Congress, Declaration of Independence, defensive body armor, electorate, founders, Glenn Beck, government, heroism, inner calm, legislators, lies, Medal of Honor, President, sleep, sleeping, sleeping giant, tea party, true feelings, true self, truth, white lies
Posted in Appearances are Deceiving, Inspiration, Sleepless and Tired | No Comments »
Sunday, August 15th, 2010
The Brain after REM Sleep
Having spent nearly twenty years in the retail mattress world, I used to hate to hear the words, well, I think we’ll have to sleep on it.” The “ha, ha” that followed for the pun on “sleep” in a mattress store was humor wasted on a salesperson who had heard the phrase at least a couple of times a day, every day for the last twenty years. The words usually meant that the customer was too confused by the choices or too fearful of making the wrong decision. The wrong decision on a mattress purchase can definitely impact one’s “quality of life.” Sleep deprivation is a growing problem in today’s increasingly stressful world even with a good mattress set to sleep on. The fear of making a decision usually results in procrastination. Delays often stretch into years beyond the knowledge that action needs to be taken. Many critical decisions in life suffer the same thought processes, the same fears, and the same delays. It’s easy to say, “Let’s just sleep on it,” and delay the decision for another day. With each day of indecision the problem intensifies. We lose more and more sleep and the problem persists. Recent scientific experiments have found that “sleeping on it” and “dreaming about it” will actually help to solve the problem, enabling us to find the solution and to conquer the problem.
Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep is the answer. Sarah Mednick, PhD., and assistant professor of psychiatry at UC San Diego, has shown in her studies that REM “directly enhances creative processing more than any other sleep or wake state.” ScienceDaily.com reports that her findings show that REM sleep fosters the formation of associative networks in the brain.” Dr. Mednick says that “for new problems, only REM sleep enhances creativity.”
Dr. Mednick used a Remote Associates Test (RAT) to test for creativity in her participants. They were shown multiple groups of three words (such as: cookies, heart, and sixteen) and were then asked to come up with a fourth word that could be associated with all three (sweet was a good answer). Participants were tested in the morning and again in the afternoon. Some were allowed a nap with REM sleep, some without REM sleep, and some with only a quiet rest period. Memory tests were done on all three to test for prior exposure to this problem, but none were detected, eliminating memory biases. The participants with non-REM sleep and those with a quiet rest period showed no improvement in the afternoon test. The REM sleep group showed an almost 40% improvement over the others in their afternoon tests. Dr. Mednick hypothesizes that REM sleep alters the neurotransmitter systems to allow for new associative networks from previously unassociated information. The new associative networks lead to “creative problem-solving.”
Dr. Robert Stickgold, PhD., and assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, has done similar experiments proving that people who “sleep on it…feel less cluttered in the morning. Much of the excess detail is gone, and the important facts seem clearer.” William Cromie from the Harvard Gazette reported on Dr. Stickgold’s experiment with the computer game Tetris. In it players must position falling blocks and place them into filled lines. Gaps in the lines lose the game. Players going to sleep on game days were woken up every few minutes during the first hour of dozing to ask them about their dreams. Most players dreamt of images falling or rotating. Some of the dreams went from the colored experiments to black and white images, from the experiments conducted with musical background to silent ones. There were no memories of the room, the chairs, the desk, or the keyboard; only the falling, rotating pieces. Less relevant information seems to get discarded by the brain during the dream processing period. “Your memory isn’t large enough to store all the minor things you experience every day,” according to Dr. Stickgold. The participants who improved the most after their sleep were those who had slept for eight hours, time enough for ample sessions of both slow-wave and REM sleep. Those who didn’t dream at all about the game did not improve at all. More details can be found in Scientific American.
What seemed most amazing to Dr. Stickgold was the fact that the amnesiacs in his experiments also reported Tetris images in their dreams. Amnesiacs supposedly cannot remember anything due to damage to the hippocampus, the area of the brain where memories first form. He concluded that sleep-onset images don’t come through the hippocampus, as previously thought. He believes they go directly to the cortex where associations form.
Dr. Stickgold suggests that during dreams, “communications between the hippocampus and the cortex are cut off. Bits of memory float around…the brain attempts to paste them together to form some sort of coherent “story.” Sometimes that story provides a valuable insight or association.” He thinks that “these dreams involve a search for new and creative ways to put memories and ideas together. They can make associations that we wouldn’t make when we’re awake.”
Dr. Mednick, Dr. Stickgold, their associates, and other researchers continue to seek more answers as to why we should “sleep on it” before making our decisions. The “pun” expressed to a mattress salesperson will certainly not elicit many laughs, but we can now understand why “sleeping on it,” “dreaming about it,” and, subsequently,”conquering it” makes a lot of sense.
Sleep tight, dream well, and have fun with your decisions!
Copyright 2010. All rights reserved to Ronald Czarnecki.
Tags: associative networks, brain, creativity, decision, dream, fear, free association, non-REM, problem solving, REM, retail mattress, sleep, sleep deprivation, sleep on it, solution
Posted in Dreams, Frozen in Fear, Inspiration, Our Amazing Brain | No Comments »
Thursday, August 12th, 2010
- Sleeping (left) vs. awake (right) synaptic protein brain cell images of fruit fly. Credit: Courtesy of UW Health Public Affairs
The scientific world studying the relationship between sleep and the brain is wrapped in a cloud of controversy. The discussion and the experiments continue in the effort to clarify the exact roles played by REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep and non-REM sleep in the learning processes of the brain. One side of the argument asserts that REM sleep is the VCR that records and re-records the important details of the day’s waking hours. The other side argues that REM sleep is when the hippocampus and the pre-frontal cortex disconnect allowing for free association, new connections, creativity, and solutions to complex problems. It will probably be years before we know which theory is correct, but we do know that sleep deprivation inhibits the learning process. Ask a student whether he would stay up all night tonight studying for a final if he had another final to study for the following night. The answer would probably be something like, “Are you nuts? I’d be brain dead tomorrow. There’s no way!” Sleep is the synaptic protein burner. It is the critical catalyst to new learning. While science attempts to discover where and when the burning occurs, we can rest assured that “sleep allows the brain to regroup after a hard day of learning.”
Giorgio Gilestro, Giulio Tononi, and Chiara Cirelli have found in their research at The University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health that synaptic protein levels “drop by 30 to 40% during sleep.” “The brain uses up to 80% of its energy to sustain the synaptic activity” of the day’s ever-changing impressions. Their studies have shown that four pre-synaptic proteins and one post-synaptic protein in the brains of both fruit flies and rats rise during waking hours and fall after sleep. ScienceDaily.com reports that the researchers believe “sleep—by allowing synaptic downscaling—saves energy, space and material, and clears away unnecessary “noise” from the previous day.” The refreshed brain “is then ready to learn again in the morning.” Tononi hypothesizes that the weakening progresses throughout the cycling in and out of REM and non-REM sleep, leaving only the strongest connections.
Paul Shaw, PhD., and assistant professor of neurobiology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, supported Gilestro, Tononi, and Cirelli’s findings in his study of fruit fly brain cells. He found, according to ScienceDaily.com that new brain synapses form during learning experiences. When the fruit flies slept the new synapses deceased. When sleep deprived, the fruit flies did not show the decrease in new synapses. Shaw explained that “there are a number of reasons why the brain can’t indefinitely add synapses, including the spatial constraints of the skull.” His theory gave ScienceDaily.com the title for their article: “Sleep May Help Clear Brain for New Learning.”
The contrarian view is supported by data compiled by Marcos Frank of the University of Pennsylvania. ScienceNews.org reports that his experiments with kittens show that “sleep strengthens connections between brain cells rather than weakening them.” Ripple activity during sleep appears to replay the synaptic firing in the same sequence as the actual daytime experience when the kitten was exploring his new maze.
Matt Wilson from MIT found that rats and mice experienced replay of the day’s events during slow-wave or non-REM sleep, “but the timing is compressed.” REM sleep replays events “in real time, and not always in the same order as the way they actually happened.” He attributes the difference in timing to the hippocampus/cortex connection.
Sciencenews.org reported in the same article a study by Robert Stickgold and Erin Wamsley at Harvard Medical School which found that humans who dreamt during a nap after playing with a virtual reality maze performed better than those who did not. More remarkable was the fact that those who thought of the maze as they were falling asleep or who dreamt of the maze before they awoke performed ten times better than other nappers. Stickgold postulates that REM sleep temporarily disconnects the hippocampus and the cortex. The interrupt frees the cortex for disparate associations and solutions. “What your brain is leaving you with in the morning is a memory which is less accurate, but more useful,” he says.
The arguments over strengthening connections and weakening connections during sleep and REM vs. non-REM sleep benefits will continue to be studied and debated for years. Gilestro, Tononi, Cerelli, and Shaw have proven that synaptic proteins decrease during sleep and increase while we’re awake. Sleep, we know, is an indispensable catalyst to learning. Our body needs to drink of its refreshment. Our brain needs to consume its food for survival. Dr. Shaw says, “Right now a lot of people are worried about their jobs and the economy, and some are no doubt losing sleep over these concerns. But these data suggest the best thing you can do to make sure you stay sharp and increase your chances of keeping your jobis to make getting enough sleep a top priority.”
Ready for a nap? Or, will you be going to bed early tonight?
May your dreams be “synaptic protein burners.” Shopping for Sleep? Please click HERE, or look for it at Amazon.com
Copyright 2010. All rights reserved to Ronald Czarnecki.
Tags: brain, brain dead, brain synapses, catalyst, cortex, fruit flies, hippocampus, learning, memory, non-REM, REM, sleep, sleep deprivation, slow-wave sleep, survival, synaptic downscaling, synaptic protein
Posted in Dreams, Our Amazing Brain, Shop for Sleep, Sleep Deprived, Sleepless and Tired | No Comments »
Tuesday, July 20th, 2010
Insomnia
Circadin® “not only improves the onset of sleep, but also improves the quality of sleep” says Nava Zisapel, company founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Neurim Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Zisapel, a Professor of Neurobiology at Tel Aviv University, reports that people who take the drug “have better daytime functioning and an improved quality of life.” The drug stimulates the body’s natural melatonin production. Her prolonged release formula of a mere 2mg dosage mimics the pineal gland’s production of the sleep inducing hormone. Melatonin production normally begins at dark, peaks at around 2am, and then gradually disappears at daylight. Dr. Zisapel began her work in 1992 and she received approval to market it in 2007. The European Medicines Agency (EMEA) at that time approved it for the short term (3 week) treatment of primary insomnia in patients over 55 years of age. The drug, unlike traditional sedatives, does not impair cognitive functions the following day, nor does it impair psychomotor skills. There are no abuse or dependency risks. Insomniacs, numbering nearly a third of the world’s population, will be cheered by the European Commission’s July, 2010 approval to expand the treatment duration from 3 weeks to 13 weeks. Circadin® is the first insomnia treatment approved for the extended length of time. It is currently marketed in Australia, Thailand, and Israel. US, Asian, and Latin American markets are in the registration process.
Insomnia, defined as the “difficulty to initiate or to maintain sleep,” affects almost all adults at one time or another. Transient (symptoms less than a week) insomnia and short term insomnia (one to three weeks) can occur as a result of jet lag, indigestion, shift work schedule changes, noisy sleep environments, stress, and recent medical situations. Long term (more than 3 weeks) or chronic insomnia is usually caused by psychological or medical conditions such as depression, pain, heart disease, acid reflux, asthma, sleep apnea, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s, brain tumors and strokes. Delayed or untreated insomnia costs America $42 billion dollars a year in healthcare costs. The seriously sleep deprived insomniacs have been limited to prescription sleep aids with their risks of dependency and abuse, or to over the counter antihistamines with their residual drowsiness hazards. The FDA has consistently discouraged natural supplements since they have no jurisdiction over them. They have issued warnings against the use of the natural alternatives of valerian, melatonin, and kava.
Circadin® is now in use in over 33 countries. It is naturally preferable to prescription sleep aids and their over the counter competitors. It’s time for the FDA to approve it for the sleepless and tired insomniacs of the USA. Everyone deserves a good night’s rest!
Copyright 2010. All rights reserved to Ronald Czarnecki.
Tags: Circadin, FDA, good night's rest, insomnia, Israel, melatonin, Mother Nature, Nava Zisapel, Nerium Pharmaceuticals, prescription, sleep, sleep apnea, sleep deprived, sleepless and tired, stress
Posted in Our Amazing Brain, Sleep Deprived, Sleepless and Tired | No Comments »
Tuesday, June 29th, 2010
The bedtime cell phone calls
A recent survey found that 82% of Americans don’t leave home without their cell phones and 50% of Americans sleep with their phones nearby. 56% of Americans regularly use the alarm clock feature. Globally 67% use the alarm clock feature requiring them to have their cell phones in close proximity to their beds. Texting has become the focus of communication for teens today. 87% of the texting teens admitted to sleeping with, or next to, their phones. With a third of US teen cell phone owners texting more than a 100 texts a day, many of these are occurring at night while in bed. Cell phone use has been found to reduce sleep. Its use at bedtime, according to research detailed by Geoffrey Lean in The Independent, increases the time it takes to reach the deeper stages of sleep and decreases the time spent in those valuable stages of sleep. Deep sleep deprivation “can lead to mood and personality changes, ADHD-like symptoms, depression, lack of concentration and poor academic performance.”
The study, funded by the Mobile Manufacturer’s Forum, embarrassed themselves with the scientists’ findings that “components of sleep believed to be important for recovery from daily wear and tear are adversely affected by exposure to 884 MHz wireless signals.” The researchers believed that the radiation was activating the brain’s stress system making the subjects “more alert and more focused, and decreasing their ability to wind down and fall asleep.” Almost half of the people in the study also reported to be “electrosensitive” experiencing headaches and impaired cognitive functions.
A much larger study followed 1656 Belgian teenagers for a year. The research found that most of them used their phones after going to bed. Those that did so once a week were three times more likely to report feeling “very tired” than those who did not use them in bed. Those who used them in bed more than once were five times more likely to report feeling “very tired.” Dr. William Kohler of the Florida Sleep Institute said “Anything that disrupts the integrity of your sleep will potentially have adverse consequences in functioning during the day, such as grouchiness, difficulty concentrating, and in children hyperactivity and behavior problems.”
James Horne and his colleagues at the Loughborough University Sleep Research Center in England found that cell phone signals disrupted brain wave patterns “long after” the cell phones were turned off. The subjects in his study, as described by Douglas Field in Scientific American, also had difficulties falling asleep. They found that delta wave patterns characteristic of stage two sleep (50% of total sleep) were negatively affected for nearly an hour after the phone was shut off. His findings and those of others are stimulating additional research into electromagnetic radiation and its affect on mental behaviors. Sensitivity to such low level radiation raises concerns of mind control.
The cell phone, while exhibiting negative influences on deep sleep, is soon to become a critical tool to the sleep deprived. Dr. Phillip Low has found the way to link a single channel EEG to a SPEARS algorithm which is capable of mapping an entire night’s worth of brain activity. His company, NeuroVigil, uses an adhesive, wireless sensor or a head strap to monitor the brainwave activity. “NeuroVigil’s sleep monitoring solution streams and records the patient’s EEG data through their cell phone or smartphone.” Dr. Low, a 30-year-old neuroscientist is about to market his iBrain device (the size of two pennies) which, according to Daniel Heimpel of the Huffington Post, will “revolutionize the study of sleep, speed the diagnosis of disease, and tap into the multibillion dollar sleep and neurodiagnostics markets.” Until now, sleep tests have averaged more than $3,000. The cost has been prohibitive for the more than seventy million Americans suffering from sleep disorders. The sleep tests have previously required hook-ups to multiple electrode systems and overnight stays in uncomfortable strange laboratory environments not at all conducive to regular sleep patterns.
The data from the iBrain may unlock keys to cures and/or medications for sleep apnea, insomnia, and other sleep disorders. It will assist in the pre-market testing of pharmaceuticals of the future. The pharmaceutical companies, the Defense Departments, and the transportation industries are all knocking on Dr. Low’s door. They would all like a piece of Dr. Low’s brain as well as his company but he has decided to run his company on his own terms.
Dr. Low’s brain, the iBrain, and your cell phone may provide the keys to the gateway of your brain…and the solution to your sleep problems. A dream comes true?
Copyright 2010. All rights reserved to Ronald Czarnecki.
Tags: brain, cell phones, deep sleep, depression, electromagnetic radiation, iBrain, medications, mind control, sleep, sleep apnea, sleep deprivation, sleep deprived, sleep disorders, sleep problems, sleepless and tired
Posted in Appearances are Deceiving, Our Amazing Brain, Sleep Deprived, Sleepless and Tired | No Comments »
Wednesday, June 9th, 2010
Sleepy, stressed nurse
The pandemic of sleep deprivation is costing the national economy more than 56 billion dollars a year. These costs have been well documented and proven in many studies. The costs to the health of our doctors and nurses are only beginning to be disclosed. The costs to patients’ health and lives will probably remain clothed by the disinfected, sterile sheets used to cover our helpless and totally dependent bodies. The white code of silence in the health industry is more pervasive than the blue code of silence practiced by our law enforcement agencies. Legal consequences of sleep deprivation’s gangrenous effects in the health industry will keep the facts locked in the icy drawers of the basement morgue.
A recent study of 80 registered nurses conducted by the University of Maryland found that serious sleep deprivation was infecting the industry. The “common practice” of successive 12 hour shifts is increasing the risk of health problems and is increasing the odds of “making patient errors.” 12 hour shifts have been a trend since the nursing shortages began in the 70s and 80s. Jeanne Geiger-Brown, PhD, RN, and associate professor with the school of nursing at UMD, says that nurses often prefer the long shifts and the extra time off to normal 8 hour shifts. The problem with successive 12 hour shifts is that over 50% of those shifts last longer than 12.5 hours. When commute times and responsibilities at home are added to the long workday, there is very little time for sleep. Nurses reported an average sleep time of 5.5 hours between shifts and an even lower average of 5.2 hours for night shift nurses. They reported “extremely fragmented“ sleep. Fragmented sleep is not restorative and the resulting sleep deprivation takes its toll.
A study reported by Reuters in London found that people who work 10 or 11 hours a day have a 60% greater chance of an adverse heart event than those who work an 8 hour shift. One or two hours of overtime did not show an increased risk. Workplace stress by itself “may be as hazardous to your health as smoking, high cholesterol and other conventional risk factors for cardiovascular disease” according to a Wall Street Journal report on Canadian research. It is difficult to imagine a more highly stressed working environment than a hospital emergency room.
The negative effects of sleep deprivation are: a lack of focus and attention; slowed thinking and reactions (similar effects to drinking); apathy; weight gain; high blood pressure and heart disease; a weakened immune system; and depression. These effects can then lead to self-prescribed sleep aids at night and stimulants for work-time wakefulness. That combination can be deadly in the hands of those entrusted with our healthcare. The death of the infected healthcare providers will take time. The effects of weight gain, high blood pressure, heart disease, weakened immune systems, and depression take time to wreak their havoc on the human body. Nurses and doctors in a sleep deprived state have the immediate potential to accidentally take the lives of the patients entrusted to their care.
Intern work hours were reduced in 2003 from 100 hours a week to no more than 80 hours a week. They are also “limited” to no more than 30 hours in a shift. Those shifts can be repeated every third day. Harvard researchers found that 84 percent of the more than 4000 interns surveyed reported (despite risk of career ending repercussions) work hours in violation of the standards. Their fatigue and lack of concentration is resulting in driving while drowsy car accidents, needlesticks, and scalpel accidents. They risk blood borne illnesses to themselves and associates, errors in prescription recommendations, early burnout from the stresses of the profession, and depression.
Researchers from the UCSD School of Medicine, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), found that the parietal lobes of the brain (responsible for arithmetic performance) are much less active following sleep deprivation. Gregory G. Brown, PhD., associate professor of psychiatry at UCSD, said “…there is not a brain system to come on line to compensate for the negative effects of sleep deprivation.” Arithmetic calculations are used countless times a day by doctors and nurses computing doses of medications and in the planning and execution of operational procedures. The following photos from the December 1999 issue of NeuroReport illustrate the findings.
Photos from the December 1999 Issue of NeuroReport
Sleep deprived brain activity, as shown on the bottom, compared to well rested brain activity shown on the top, certainly endangers the life of the patient. The red areas show least intense activity and yellow areas show most intense activity. The calculations might easily result in deadly mistakes. Jeanne Geiger-Brown cited a study of 393 nurses on 5,317 shifts that found “the odds of making errors by those who reported working more than 12 hours in shifts was three times greater than nurses who reported working 8.5 hour shifts.” She was co-author of an article called “Is it Time to Pull the Plug on 12-Hour Shifts?”
Those 12-hour shifts are not likely to end soon. The shortage of doctors and nurses is worsening once again. It is bound to get even worse as we get closer to the salary constraints of a government administered healthcare system. The white code of silence in the health industry will then be cloaked by a second layer of government cover-up of the life-threatening shortage of sleep deprived healthcare providers. Will there be enough drawers in the icy basement morgues for our future healthcare recipients?
Copyright 2010. All rights reserved to Ronald Czarnecki.
Tags: brain, cardiovascular disease, depression, fatigue, health industry, healthcare, heart attack, medications, nursing, pandemic, shifts, sleep, sleep deprivation, stress, victims
Posted in Appearances are Deceiving, Sleep Deprived, Sleepless and Tired, Worried and Stressed | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, May 18th, 2010
Blue Light Box
Yellow Goggles
Blue light therapy and yellow goggles are becoming essential equipment for sleep disorders, for depression, and for seasonal affective disorder. Advanced sleep phase syndrome, delayed sleep phase syndrome, periodic insomnia, shift work sleep disorders, and jet lag are all related to circadian rhythm interruptions. Photoreceptor cells in the retina have been discovered that are directly linked to the “circadian pacemaker” of our brain: the pineal gland. The pineal gland produces melatonin which is the hormone responsible for our sleep-wake cycle. Daylight suppresses melatonin production and darkness stimulates its production, increasing sleepiness. Kate Le Page, in a recent article, traced the birth of light box therapy to the sanatoria of Europe in the 1870s. Sunlight was found beneficial to the treatment of bacterial diseases common at the time. Scandinavian countries, where the sun is in short supply for much of the year, have taken light therapy more seriously than the rest of the world. A light “shot” can be found on the menu in Finland cafes where you can drink your coffee while receiving your light therapy at the table. Sweden has equipped many cold war bomb shelters with full spectrum lights for therapy purposes. Russia is using light therapy to reduce worker sick days and to increase productivity. Their research has found a link between light therapy and an increase in the body’s ability to cope with pollutants and to boost immunization effectiveness.
Steven Lockley, Charles Czeisler, and George Brainard have done extensive studies on the utilization of blue light to combat sleep issues. They have found that blue light contains more energy than white light and it can be more efficient utilizing less time and energy to alter the sleep-wake cycles. Lockley, in the Harvard University Gazette, suggests that blue light “may be a powerful countermeasure for the negative effects of fatigue for people who work or study at night.” Blue light proved more beneficial than green light in reducing sleepiness, speeding reaction times, and focusing attention.
Dr. Joshua Gooley, in Annals Academy of Medicine, details more specific prescriptions:
- For later sleep-wake times and phase delay shift:
- Evening bright light therapy before bed, dim light after wake time.
- For earlier sleep-wake times and phase advance shift:
- Morning bright light therapy after wake time, dim light prior to bedtime.
- For entrainment of sleep-wake cycle and phase advance shift:
- Morning bright light therapy after wake time, when sleep episode occurs during night.
- For adaptation to shift work and large phase delay shift:
- Bright light therapy in evening/night, dim light after work, strict adherence to regular sleep-wake times.
- For jet lag, eastward travel, and phase advance shift:
- Morning bright light therapy after wake time (home time), dim light prior to bedtime.
- For jet lag, westward travel, and phase delay shift:
- Evening bright light therapy before bedtime (home time), dim light after wake time.
Blue light boxes are available from many sources. The time required to affect a shift should be 15 to 30 minutes over a period of a couple of days. The light source should be placed 1 to 2 feet above the subject and not directly in line with the eye. The photoreceptors linked to your circadian pacemaker detect the light from the bottom of the retina. During dim light periods yellow goggles should be worn for 1 to 2 hours in order to filter out the blue light spectrum.
The best information I found on light therapy for treating depression and seasonal affective disorder (SAD) comes from psycheducation.org. Light therapy was proven to be as effective as antidepressant medication therapy with far fewer side effects. Its use, however, for depression and SAD should take place under a doctor’s supervision. Treatments were initiated at 30 minutes a day and decreased to 15 minutes for maintenance through the winter months. If you are a night owl, your treatment should occur as late as 8 or 9 am. If you are a lark, your treatment should occur as early as 5 am. The therapy works best when applied 8 to 9 hours after the onset of melatonin secretion. The time will be relative to your particular circadian rhythm. An excellent quiz to help determine your rhythm and optimum treatment times and durations can be found at cet-surveys.org.
Get ready for the blue lights and the yellow goggles. Before too long they will be mandatory equipment for our sleep deprived and depression plagued world. Until then, enjoy the sun and the natural cheer it brings!
Copyright 2010. All rights reserved to Ronald Czarnecki.
Tags: blue light, circadian rhythm, depression, fatigue, insomnia, jet lag, light box, light therapy, melatonin, pineal gland, retina, SAD, Seasonal Affective Disorder, sleep, sleep deprived, sleep disorders, sleep-wake cycle, sleepiness, sunlight, therapy, yellow goggles
Posted in Appearances are Deceiving, Our Amazing Brain, Shop for Sleep, Sleep Deprived, Sleepless and Tired | No Comments »
Thursday, May 13th, 2010
Worried and Stressed?
A recent NCERx poll, detailed on sleep-deprivation.com, of over 4000 people disclosed some alarming statistics relative to the vicious pandemic afflicting our stress filled and sleep deprived world. 74 per cent of the respondents said that they received less sleep than they needed. Even more alarming is the fact that 46 per cent of those “missed their requirement by 3 or more hours.” 93 per cent of them agree that driving while sleep deprived is as dangerous as driving while intoxicated and 29 per cent admit that they themselves are “driving dangerously when sleep deprived.” The majority (65%) said that stress was the most common cause of their sleep problems. A Better Sleep Council survey found the same percentage of Americans losing sleep due to stress, 32% losing sleep at least one night a week, and 16% reporting “stress-induced insomnia.”
Worry and its resulting stress unleash serious effects on our body, our feelings, and our behavior. According to the Mayo Clinic your body may experience headache, back pain, chest pain, heart disease, heart palpitations, high blood pressure, decreased immunity, upset stomach, and sleep problems. Stress can influence our thoughts and feelings moving us toward anxiety, restlessness, irritability, depression, sadness, anger, insecurity, lack of focus, burnout, and forgetfulness. Stress can alter behavior resulting in overeating, under eating, angry outbursts, drug or alcohol abuse, increased smoking, social withdrawal, crying spells, and conflict.
The biochemistry of stress takes the nervous system from a state of normal into an adrenalin pumped state of overdrive. The adrenal gland, the pituitary gland, the hypothalamus, and the brain stem are the primary participants in our response to stress. They are responsible for the production and release of cortisol, norepinephrine, and epinephrine. These three hormones are critical to our survival. They promote the proper functioning of the brain. Cortisol directly affects our sleep/awake cycle and keeps our inflammatory and immune systems under control. Norepinephrine and epinephrine work together to control the “fight or flight response,” glucose levels, cholesterol levels, increased memory, and increased blood pressure, heart rate, and muscle response. These stress responses all take place very quickly and they should last only one to two hours.
The stresses of modern society tend to last much longer than the stresses of past societies. Our schedules are packed more tightly. The recession has tightened our budgets to the breaking point. The electronic media draw more attention than ever to the problems, tragedies, and crimes occurring every day. Our stress levels are not likely to be relieved after one to two hours. The stress results in a lack of sleep. We talk to our associates and friends about how we can’t sleep. They console us and talk to us about their similar difficulties. Soon we believe that this is “normal.” One of the startling statistics in the NCERx poll was the finding that more than a third of the respondents “suffered in silence and had never sought any treatment to help them sleep.” Caffeine during the day and sleeping pills at night offer temporary relief. Our society has become addicted to caffeine and energy drinks. Unless the underlying stresses are relieved, the dangers of sleep deprivation are increased, and the pandemic spreads.
Here are some simple and effective remedies to attack the stressors:
- Dark chocolate. It helps reduce the blood pressure. Only 1 oz per day!
- Sunlight. Whenever possible, sit in the sun; or, even better, take a walk in it.
- Exercise. Schedule it at least three hours before bedtime.
- A family discussion every night after dinner. Discuss the day’s trials and solutions.
- Quiet time for reading. Reading before bedtime, instead of TV, works wonders.
- Laughter is a great stress reliever. Rent a good comedy movie or play some games.
- Music soothes the soul. Keep it calm and relaxing!
- A warm bath, shower, or massage will divert your attentions.
- Positive motivational quotes will inspire confidence, persistence, and determination.
- Time with the pets. They sometimes offer better therapy than humans.
- Hugs, love, and sex provide great stress relief.
- Napping during the day for 30 minutes is more beneficial than the extra 30 minutes in the am.
- Daydreaming of your favorite vacation spots or experiences will lift your spirits.
- A good mattress is essential to a good night’s rest.
- A healthy diet, focusing on tryptophan rich foods, high carbohydrates and low to medium proteins.
- A bedtime snack of apple pie and vanilla ice cream. Keep it high in carbohydrates and calcium and low in protein. Make it an hour before bedtime.
- A prayer before bedtime to thank God for another day of the blessings of life and the gifts He has given you.
These remedies cost virtually nothing. Implementing them will reward us with a good night’s rest and a happier life!
Copyright 2010. All rights reserved to Ronald Czarnecki.
Tags: brain, depression, good night's rest, insomnia, napping, pandemic, remedies, sleep, sleep deprivation, sleep deprived, stress, worry
Posted in Diet, Sleep Deprived, Sleepless and Tired, Worried and Stressed | No Comments »
Monday, May 3rd, 2010
Couple Napping
Most people, including the elderly, think that they need less sleep as they get older. The myth is perpetuated by the fact that the elderly find it more difficult to get a good night’s rest. They are plagued by medical problems, the medications prescribed to treat them, and circadian rhythm issues; all of which interfere with a quality rest. The data seems to suggest that elderly people get an average of a half an hour to an hour less sleep per night than teenagers and young adults. The sleep is also more fragmented with more frequent awakenings and less deep sleep. The data is also supported by discussions with the elderly who are much more apt to complain about their aches, their pains, and their sleeping patterns. Accepting the data is one thing, but accepting the myth that older people need less sleep will lead many down a dangerous path.
Study after study has supported the fact that memory consolidation, memory reconsolidation, and cognitive functions are enhanced by sleep. Robert Stickgold and Matthew Walker have studied and written extensively on the importance of sleep to memory consolidation and reconsolidation. It is their conclusion that “the rapidly growing body of evidence suggests that many of these processes are optimally engaged during sleep.” Sleep is just as important for the elderly as it is for the young. The processes continue as long as we live.
Professor Sean Drummond, a psychologist at the University of California, speaking at the American Association for the Advancement of Science, said, “Older adults benefit from getting as much sleep as they got when they were in their thirties. This varies from person to person but whatever you slept when you were 35 should be the same when you are 75.” He further commented, according to Richard Alleyne writing in the UK’s Telegraph, that “The quality of sleep may go down but they must maintain the quantity. This will have relevance to age related cognitive decline.” Professor Drummond proved in a test of “older adults, averaging age 68, that insufficient sleep severely affected the brain’s ability to function.” He suggests seven to eight hours of sleep for optimum performance and says that less than six hours will reduce “the ability to carry out tasks and remember things.”
The more fractured sleep of the elderly requires a more diligent attention to obtaining the recommended seven to eight hours. Naps in the early afternoon are a good way to add some extra time to the log book. Early afternoon is better than late so that it doesn’t interfere with the time it takes to fall asleep at night. The nap should be 90 minutes to 120 minutes for a deep sleep, creative nap. A shorter 30 minute nap will provide a performance “pick me up.” Both will add benefits to the mind and heart. Napping is discussed in greater detail in “The Challenge for Power in Napping: Short for Performance, or Long for Creativity?”
Kate Devlin, a Medical Correspondent for the UK’s Telegraph, reported on a recent study done in China, which has the largest population of elderly people in the world. The researchers found that when the 2,800 people aged 100 or older were asked how many hours a day they slept, including naps, “on average, the participants said they slept for around seven and a half hours a day.” Even more remarkable was the finding that they were “almost three times as likely as the other age groups to sleep for 10 hours a day or more.” A recent study in Britain, quoted by thaindian.com , showed that the fastest growing segment of the world population is the “oldest old,” or those that are over 80 years old. In Britain that segment will increase by a third in the year 2020. It is apparent that the majority of this segment of the population is healthy and there may be a link between the “quality of their sleep and the chances of living to an old age.”
Hopefully the myth of older people needing less sleep will catch you napping in the future. Make the effort to obtain your optimal seven to eight hours. Sleep, memory, cognition, and longevity may be your link to the “Fountain of Youth.”
Dan Scott's "Fountain of Youth"
Sleep Well and Nap Well.
Copyright 2010. All rights reserved to Ronald Czarnecki.
Tags: brain, circadian rhythm, cognition, deep sleep, discovery, elderly, fountain of youth, good night's rest, longevity, medications, memory, napping, performance, rest, sleep
Posted in Inspiration, Our Amazing Brain | No Comments »
Wednesday, April 28th, 2010
The Tail's Meaning
Now that you are in the market for sleep, the challenge posed by the retail mattress world is a difficult one. There are so many choices that most shoppers will be easily confused. Confusion is a valuable ally to the mattress retailer. The sea of white is intimidating. They look similar, but they are very different. Many have the same name, but have different “tails.” The “tails” are your guides to the comfort challenge. The “tails” refer to the tailoring and the layering of materials on top of the support system in the mattress. “Pillow top, Euro top, and plush top” are the tails that follow the model names. An example of a name and tail would be the “Bristol Pillow Top,” the “Bristol Euro Top,” and the “Bristol Plush Top.” Your challenge is to find the style (“tail’) and the comfort level that best suits you and how you sleep. A fourth “tail,” intentionally omitted, is the “firm” or “tight top.” The firm versions are meant for people who are looking for a flat, hard surface. They are not looking for comfort.
“Comfort” can be defined as a “state of ease or well being;” “relief from affliction;” or “something that affords physical ease and relaxation.” Our stress filled world is more sleep deprived than ever. Most people admit to an average of 6 to 7 hours of sleep per night. If those hours are spent tossing and turning and trying to get comfortable, then you are sure to become a sleep deprived victim of your mattress set. The incredible costs and dangers of sleep deprivation have been noted in a prior article. The keys to your comfort challenge are to find a mattress that keeps your spine straight and one that does not create pressure points. Answering the spinal alignment question requires a test of both the spring system or foam support layers (in a foam only mattress) and the top comfort layers to see whether the mattress keeps your spine in a straight line. This can be done with a simple visual test while in the bed. Ask your partner to tell you whether your spine is straight from your neck to the base of your spine. If the hip area sinks, the mattress is too soft. If the hip area angles skyward, then the mattress is too firm.
The pillow top and the euro top can be easily recognized by two distinct tape (rope-like) edges running along the top sides of the mattress. The extra tape edges allow for more layers to be placed on top of the mattress support system. These layers are your main comfort layers. They may contain memory foam, latex foam, convoluted foam, natural fibers such as wool or silk, space age temperature regulators such as cool max, and ticking (fabric) woven with cotton, silk, or bamboo. A single tape edge sewing down all of those layers would create a definite “roll off the edge” feel which would limit the effective sleeping area of the mattress. The difference between the pillow top and the euro top is that the pillow top has a distinct indentation between the tape edges. The euro top (sometimes called a box top) does not have an indentation between the tape edges. Its side panel is a very neatly tailored “box.” The euro top is often much thicker than the pillow top and may contain additional edge support to eliminate the “roll off” effect. Keep in mind that these thick mattresses will require deep or extra deep pocketed sheets. Some are so thick that a queen mattress will require king blankets and spreads in order to cover their sides when made.
The pillow top and the euro top are designed for maximum comfort and minimum pressure point stress. The pillow top or the euro top would be a good choice for a lighter person, for a side sleeper, or for a person plagued by pressure sensitivity problems at the shoulder, the hip, or the arm. Memory foams and latex foams offer excellent contouring to the body without creating pressure. Heavier people may find that these pillow tops will allow their hips to sink into the mattress too far. A v-shaped kink in the line of the spine will cause muscles to pull, creating discomfort, soreness, and a restless tossing and turning at night. Heavier people will be better advised to consider the plush top mattresses.
Plush top mattresses have only one tape edge. They are not as thick as the pillow tops and the euro tops. They do not contain layers as thick as the other two, but they often contain the same foams, fibers, and ticking. The comfort advantages you find in the pillow tops and the euro tops are still available in the plush tops, but you will notice a slightly firmer feel because you are closer to the support system in the mattress. If you are heavier, your spine will stay straighter in a plush top mattress. A lighter person may experience the “hip in the air,” kink in the spine effect which will cause problems with pulling muscles and with pressure points. The plush tops offer money saving advantages to the budget conscious since they usually cost quite a bit less than the pillow tops and the euro tops. If body impressions are a concern for you, plush tops are much less prone to noticeable impressions than their brethren, although some imprinting is normal in all mattresses.
Hopefully this “tail” will assist you in your shop for sleep . May your happy ending be a “good night’s rest.”
Copyright 2010. All rights reserved to Ronald Czarnecki.
Tags: challenge, comfort, decision, euro top, good night's rest, mattress, pillow top, plush top, pressure, retail, sleep, sleep deprivation, straight spinal alignment, support, tails
Posted in Dazed and Confused, Shop for Sleep | No Comments »
