Your brain clock is a cluster of brain cells in the hypothalamus that determines your sleep-wake time and is regulated by light and darkness, explains Delwyn Bartlett, a sleep psychologist with the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research in Sydney. Here’s how to keep it on track:

* Wake up at the same time every morning, even on weekends. This is more important than going to bed at the same time every night. “Waking up at the same time cues your brain to release sleep-wake hormones at the right time,” she says.

* Get the light right. Melatonin, the sleep hormone that gets your brain ready for sleep, needs diminishing levels of light to help it kick in. Bright light – or staring at your laptop – can delay its effects. Keep lights in the bedroom low before you go to sleep. Have curtains that let you wake up to morning light.

* Check your blankets. To feel sleepy, your body temperature needs to fall. An overheated bedroom or an electric blanket turned up too high can make it hard to sleep. But a warm bath an hour before bed can help your temperature fall. The warm water artificially raises your temperature, which then has to come down once you’re out of the bath.

* Think about what you drink and eat before bed. Drinks containing caffeine – coffee, tea, cocoa and cola – can keep you awake. Although caffeine’s stimulant effect is strongest in the first hour or so after taking it, it can still be in your system eight hours later. While alcohol helps you doze off quickly, drinking too much too close to bedtime can backfire. One drink might be OK but too much can fragment your sleep because of falling blood-alcohol levels that can wake you up later in the night.

* Eat earlier rather than later. Have dinner at 9pm and your body will still be digesting it when you’re in bed – and keeping you awake. As for a good bedtime snack, aim for something easy to digest that includes carbohydrates – warm milk or soy milk, wholegrain toast or a banana.

* Create a sound barrier. Earplugs can help, as can white noise, which means using sounds such as a fan to mask more disturbing noises. The fan can help cool you down if you overheat.

* Get regular exercise – being physically active can help you get a better night’s sleep. But not too close to bedtime – exercise can perk you up and make it hard to nod off.

* Have a snoring refuge. I’d never suggest couples sleep in separate rooms but having a spare room to retreat to occasionally when your sleep is broken because he’s snoring or you’re overheating – or both – can really help.

What about pills to help you nod off?

On prescription

Prescription drugs, such as benzodiazepines, have their place for the occasional sleepless night, to help you cope with jet lag or for short-term help with grief. But taking them continuously for more than two weeks can make you develop a tolerance to them so they don’t work as well.

Over the counter

Valerian is a common ingredient in herbal sleep remedies but studies of its effectiveness are mixed. An Ayurvedic herb, withania somnifera, has a traditional use as a sleep-inducer but, as with other traditional herbs, it often pays to get a therapeutic dose prescribed by a good herbalist rather than to self-prescribe. Other over-the-counter remedies are based on sedating antihistamines – prolonged use isn’t recommended as they can make you drowsy during the day.

source article: theage.com.au

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You probably know at least one person who snores. It could be your partner, parents, grandparents, or even Uncle Ned or Aunt Sophie that snore at various noise levels.

Some laugh and make jokes about it, but it can be a symptom of a serious disorder called obstructive sleep apnea. And if it is obstructive sleep apnea, then it is no laughing matter; that individual needs to get evaluated by a sleep specialist.

what is snoring?

Snoring is a noise produced when an individual breathes (usually produced when inhaling) during sleep, which in turn causes vibration of the soft palate and uvula (that thing that hangs down in the back of the throat).

The word “apnea” means the absence of breathing. Unfortunately, men are hit with more bouts of disruptive snoring than women. Sorry guys, but even if you don’t think you snore, you probably do.

treatment for snoring

The most important point to make about the treatment of Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA), or Snoring Syndrome, is that effective treatment requires several related problems to be treated simultaneously. At least the following need to be addressed:

Lifestyle factors
The impression is growing that to a large extent, many cases of obstructive sleep apnea and snoring may be related to Western culture. The risk of significant obstructive sleep apnea increases with the numerous factors described below, many of which are problems currently rampant in our society. Correction of OSA generally requires that these factors be eliminated. At times, elimination of these factors completely resolves the problem.

Weight
Excessive weight brought about by a sedentary lifestyle, too many rich foods, or by medically related situations such as thyroid problems, is probably the leading factor contributing to OSA. Bed partners almost invariably make the observation that the larger their snoring spouse becomes, the louder the snoring bellows, and the more often they hear snoring pauses followed by snorts, and a resumption of breathing (i.e., apneas — episodes of obstructed breathing). Conversely, in a large percentage of patients, weight loss down to an ideal weight has reversed the process.

Smoking
Smoking has numerous undesirable effects on the body. Most pertinent to OSA are the obstructions to the airway which cigarette smoking causes: swelling of the mucous membrane in the nose, swelling of the tissue in the throat, and blockage of the small vessels in the lungs. Therefore, add this to another list of reasons why you should stop this nasty habit.

What other factors may be the culprits?

more contributing factors

Alcohol
It is the partial collapse of the airway (breathing tube between nose, mouth and lungs) that is the immediate cause of snoring, and its complete collapse that is the immediate cause of apnea. Alcohol causes too great a relaxation of the airway during sleep. This, and other effects of alcohol on the body, means that it can either cause or greatly contribute to the development of loud snoring and apnea.

Organization of sleep
There are two periods of sleep which, given the right circumstances, are especially vulnerable to the development of unstable breathing. These are Stage 1 sleep, which should only occur when a person is first falling asleep but can occur many times during the night if sleep is poor; and REM sleep, which is the time when dreaming most frequently occurs.

If a person has very unbalanced sleeping habits during the week, it can result in the development of very significant respiratory instability during sleep. It’s that simple: unstable sleeping patterns lead to unstable breathing. Therefore, all you need to do is regulate your sleep by getting at least 7.5 hours of it per night. Sometimes, this is all that is required.

Medical problems
Anything that can lead to a blockage of the nose, throat, or lungs potentially plays a role in the development of OSA.

Pertinent nasal problems include allergies to air-borne particles such as animal dander, and dryness of the nose because of a wood-burning stove. Factors that can block the throat include large tonsils, large adenoids, excessive amounts of fatty tissue, and at times, the enlargement of some of the complex tissue at the back of the throat. In these cases, surgery can help by removing unwanted or excess tissue.

Snoring can also be a symptom of diabetes or hypothyroidism. Therefore, sometimes the best treatment for snoring and apnea is to go to the source of the problem and treat the medical problem itself.

lifestyle before surgery

On a final note, if you are an excessive snorer, and constantly get complaints from friends and loved ones, look at your lifestyle very carefully first. Try changing some bad habits to good ones, and exercise more.

If after all this, you still snore excessively, then I suggest you go see a physician or a nose, ear and throat specialist. Always make surgery your last resort. Even though proven to be safe, surgery can still do damage to your pockets, when all you needed to do was quit smoking or join a gym.

To all you snorers out there, sweet dreams.
Source

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