How Much Sleep Do You Need?

The number of hours of sleep you need to stay healthy and alert differs according to your age.

Sure, you’re eating your vegetables and fruits and squeezing in exercise at least 20 minutes a day, but are you getting enough sleep, too? The latest sleep recommendations from the National Sleep Foundation may make you want to think twice about skimping on essential shut-eye. Sleep is key to your physical health and emotional vitality, but just how many hours of sleep you ...

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Acting Out Your Dreams? It Could be a Sign of Parkinson’s Disease

Normally when we go into REM sleep, we become paralyzed. The only muscles that continue to work at routine levels are the diaphragm and the eye muscles. However, some individuals who lack this inhibition and can move while dreaming. In these folks, dreams are frequently violent and result in harm to themselves or a bed partner.

We know that this disorder seems to be more common in middle-aged men, although by no means is it exclusive to them. We also know ...

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Is Fibromyalgia to Blame for Your Sleep Problems?

Sleep disturbances are among the most common symptoms of fibromyalgia, a chronic condition affecting the spinal cord and brain that causes people to feel pain and fatigue, and affects concentration. In fact, along with the tiredness, pain, and psychosocial distress, sleep disturbances are a core feature. In the last few years, it has become increasingly clear that treating the associated sleep disturbance improves the daytime symptoms of fibromyalgia.

Here are eight things you need to know about fibromyalgia and sleep.
  1. It is ...
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When “Opposites Attract” Includes Sleeping Habits

Is your significant other your polar opposite when it comes to sleep habits? You’ll sleep better with these tips.

Opposite may attract, but when your sleep styles don’t match, you could have an unexpected kind of bedroom drama going on.

Kylie Brusch, a public relations professional in California, has met some obstacles to falling asleep since moving into a new place with her boyfriend. “He is an incredibly heavy sleeper and falls asleep almost instantly and anywhere,” she said. “I am an ...

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Things Science Knows about Dreams

Recent research has uncovered how men and women’s dreams differ, why some people remember their dreams, and more.

Decoding Dreams

Sweet dreams, horrible nightmares, dreams forgotten before you open your eyes — researchers have been poring over dream journals and monitoring brain activity in attempts to understand what we dream about, why we dream, the emotions behind dreams and nightmares, and male and female differences in dreaming. Studies are just beginning to tap the vast science of dreaming, but here’s what ...

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Do You Need a Smart Bed?

Today’s smart beds could have a higher IQ than the people sleeping on them. Use these tips to bone up on mattress shopping.

Move over, iPad and Galaxy — the latest entry in the smart technology market is your bed.

The Sleep Number X12, a mattress introduced at the 2014 International Consumer Electronics Show, promises to revolutionize sleep. The mattress responds to voice-activated commands to adjust firmness and elevation settings, can give you massage, and uses a non-invasive technology called SleepIQ to ...

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Best Pillows for Side Sleepers

Not all pillows are created equal. If you sleep on your side, these are the best pillows for you.

When it comes to pillows, one size does not fit all. Not only do different body types require different pillows, but your sleep style also makes a huge difference in the type of support you need from a pillow. And more specifically, if you’re someone who sleeps on your side, you need extra support to fill the space your shoulders create between ...

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10 Reasons You’re So Tired

Here are 10 reasons why you feel sleepy, plus how to fix them.

If you’re regularly exhausted by mid-afternoon, you’re not getting enough sleep, according to John Garcia, MD, a sleep specialist at Gillette Children’s Specialty Healthcare in St. Paul, Minn. Lack of sleep can be dangerous: Tired people are more likely to have car accidents, and chronic tiredness can increase your chances of developing diabetes and hypertension. Surprisingly, you may be sabotaging your own efforts to get some rest. Here’s ...

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Snacking While Asleep? The Truth About Nocturnal Eating Disorders

Do you wake in the night and eat? Sleep eating is more common than you think.

Sure, everyone likes a good bedtime snack, but for some people, nighttime eating stretches beyond that final bowl of ice cream before turning in. These people find themselves inadvertently snacking the night away, either knowing or unknowingly, in the form of nocturnal eating disorders, or NEDs.

There are two types of these eating disorders, nocturnal eating syndrome (NES) and sleep-related eating disorder (SRED). The main difference ...

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Odd Things People Do in Their Sleep

Sleepwalking is actually a type of sleep disorder called a parasomnia. Learn even more uncommon things people do while asleep, from eating to having sex.

Some sleep disorders are actually quite common. Most people talk in their sleep, and some are prone to sleepwalking.

But other parasomnias are more unusual, like sleep sex or sleep crime. “Parasomnia is abnormal behavior that occurs during sleep,” says David A. Neumeyer, MD, a sleep specialist at the Lahey Clinic in Burlington, Mass. “Some of ...

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