It is an unfortunate fact of life that spending the majority of our adulthood at a job is a reality. In addition to an American workday that averages 9.5 hours, a Sleep in America poll we looked at found that each week, Americans are spending more than four extra hours working from home – a statistic undoubtedly fueled by the post-pandemic climate.
The Ways Alcohol Affects Sleep and the REM Stage
You should know by now that a good night’s sleep is necessary for our well-being and overall health, but were you aware that consumption of alcohol and drugs can actually impact sleep in negative fashions? Indeed, they can, and in this post we’re going to look at the different ways substances can influence your sleep patterns, right up to and including the arrival at the REM (rapid eye movement)
How Weight Affects Obstructive Sleep Apnea
In obese people, fat deposits in the upper respiratory tract make the airway narrow, leading to a decrease in muscle activity in this region and, ultimately, apneic and hypoxic episodes – thus, sleep apnea. These episodes lead to an oxygen decrease in both blood vessels and body tissues, and this decreased oxygenation is a contributor to tissue hypoxia, the primary aggressor of atherosclerosis.
From Awake to REM: Understanding the Stages of Sleep
When we’re young, we really don’t think about it too much, but after we’ve put some years behind us and have to catch a good night’s rest in order to function at a job in the adult world, we come to understand the value of sleep. According to research we’ve looked at and analyzed, the average human being spends a third of their life sleeping, and it should come as no surprise that good sleep equates to good health.
The Good, The Bad and The Restless: Understanding the Negative Effects of Stress on Sleep
Sleep, like anything else, can be good or bad in quality, and often times it’s everything in-between – including restless. One of the major causes of this broken, restless sleep is stress…Read more
Supplements and Their Role in Better Sleep
Most of these will be over-the-counter remedies (i.e. “sleeping pills”) from either name brand companies or generic variants, yet the results should remain the same: assistance in lulling yourself to sleep when your mind and/or body just won’t let you.
How Counseling Can Help with Sleep Habits
As many as a third of American male adults – according to research culled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – aren’t getting enough sleep on a regular basis…and that’s an alarming statistic when you break it down. There are a myriad of possible factors at play here with regard to why someone could be struggling to sleep peacefully, the more common reasons having to do with mental health issues or poor “sleep hygiene.”
Back-to-School (in a Crazy World): Sleep Tips for Students
Before you know it, it’ll be back-to-school time, and for those of you with children who may be heading back to the classroom this fall, you know how difficult, challenging and downright strange – in some places – the whole education subject has become over the past year. From accusations of indoctrination methodologies to the battle over masks, nothing is as easy as it once was in the world of parenting…and being a student.
Tips for Sleeping Well at Home When Suffering from Insomnia
Simple lifestyle changes can make a world of difference to the quality of sleep you experience, and if you are suffering from insomnia, there are many steps you can take to change both behaviors and lifestyle to help you get to sleep.
In this post, we’re going to share some tips from our Kansas City Sleep Specialist, Dr. Abid Bhat, that will have you sleeping well at home in no time.
Insomnia: Separating the Facts from the Fiction
There are far too many common misconceptions and myths concerning sleep, and being experts in the field, we hear them quite frequently. Sometimes, they can be written off as “old wives’ tales,” but there are other times the inaccurate information can turn out to be serious and even dangerous. To this end, we have decided to create this article that will hopefully separate the facts from the fiction when it comes to common myths about sleep.