Why can’t we sleep?

by Olga Achou

Why can’t we sleep? Let us count the ways:

We are over-caffeinated (coffee, soft drinks, energy drinks, snacks) and over-medicated (prescription and over-the-counter drugs, including alcohol), wreaking havoc with sleeping patterns.

We are over-wired (video games, Web browsing, social media, texting) and overstressed (money, work, relationships, overloaded schedules), making us too restless to doze off when we should.

We are overworked (longer hours, night shifts incompatible with our biological clocks) and overweight (perhaps a chicken-or-egg deal, as different studies have found that one leads to the other.

Any degree of sleep deprivation will impair performance:  in the classroom or at the working desk. But the biggest risk of sleep deprivation is car crashes.
-Insomnia victims have trouble falling or staying asleep in a setting with adequate conditions for sleep; this becomes chronic insomnia if it lasts more than three weeks.

-Most adults need seven to nine hours of sleep a night. The amount a person needs is genetically determined.

–Anyone who uses an alarm clock is by definition sleep-deprived, because if the brain had received the amount of sleep it wanted, you would have woken up before the alarm went off.

–Melatonin is a hormone, secreted daily by the brain’s pineal gland, that helps maintain the body’s sleeping cycle.

But why sleep is so important?
Certain stages of sleep are needed for regeneration of neurons while other stages are used for forming new memories.

– No sleep = No motivation to make good food choices. A high carb breakfast with no proteins sets you up for a day of blood sugar fluctuations. All of which goes straight into waistline.

-With sleep deprivation,  glucose metabolism problems might predispose one to diabetes.

-There is evidence that sleep deprivation can lead to hypertension, heart problems and a higher risk of strokes.

SOLUTIONS
– Avoiding late eating and drinking, keeping the room cool and dark, winding down before bedtime by having a warm bath — can improve or resolve  acute insomnia but not chronic insomnia.
-No TV or PC in the bedroom.
-For chronic insomnia, cognitive behavioural therapy is more effective than medications. Medication often is useful for acute insomnia.
-Naps of 30minuts can help when person can’t stay awake or will have late-night event. I discourage napping when anyone has problems falling or staying asleep at night.
– Supplementation; Magnezium, Taurine 500-1000mg , 5HTP, melatonin 3-6mg, Tryptophan, herbal formulation