Worries over the global COVID-19 pandemic were wrecking my sleep. These bedtime stories really helped.
For most of my life, falling asleep hasn’t been much of an issue for me. For a while, it wasn’t necessarily for the right reasons — I was so exhausted from work stress and not getting enough sleep in general, I would drift to sleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. But eventually, I made the effort to establish a bedtime routine and stick ...
Continue Reading →Some parents have resorted to turning off the Wi-Fi to help their kids get better rest.
It’s no secret that teenagers like to stay up late and then rush around like mad in the morning to get ready for school. Then, they probably spend a chunk of the weekend catching up on sleep. But what drives these teen sleep habits?
One common explanation is that in our hunter-gatherer days, teenagers took over the night-owl watch period of keeping the group safe, ...
Continue Reading →Research suggests there’s a connection between a healthy gut and healthy sleep, but it’s not yet clear whether interventions to improve one can help the other.
The gut microbiome is the community of trillions of bacteria that reside inside every person’s digestive tract. And during the past decade, research into the microbiome and its role in human health has been one of the hottest and most revelatory areas of medical science.
It seems like every week, a new study offers fresh insights ...
Continue Reading →Anyone can be a little irritable after a night of too-little shut-eye. But if you have sleep apnea, the effects on your mood may be far greater.
Even one night of restless sleep is enough to put a damper on your mood. But if you’re consistently not logging enough shut-eye, you may also find yourself feeling anxious and depressed.
People who have excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) are more likely to have mental health conditions such as depression, according to the National Sleep ...
Continue Reading →Eating cheese at night can do more than disrupt sleep.
According to a recent study sponsored by the British Cheese Board, the long-held myth that cheese can seriously affect your night’s sleep might have some truth to it. Researchers found that different types of cheese provoked different kinds of dreams. Blue cheese resulted in the most bizarre dreams including talking animals, vegetarian crocodiles and warrior kittens. Cheddar yielded dreams of dancing celebrities. Leicester evoked dreams of the past, while Lancashire created ...
Continue Reading →Finding the right treatment, revamping your sleep routine, and adopting these healthy habits can help you fight fatigue.
There’s no substitute for a good night’s sleep, but if you have obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), getting a good night’s sleep is easier said than done.
More than 18 million adults in the United States are estimated to have sleep apnea, according to National Sleep Foundation (NSF). Although the condition is common, it often goes unrecognized and undiagnosed, says Jose Mendez, MD, director of ...
Continue Reading →Having a dry, itchy scalp is an annoying skin condition. Find out why your scalp is itchy so you can take steps to get some relief.
Is itchy ever a good thing? The answer has to be never. And when it comes to your scalp, this kind of irritation is often accompanied by embarrassing flakes. Here, skin and scalp experts explain what could be causing your scalp to itch.
Dandruff is the most common culprit to blame for an ...
Continue Reading →Sleep aids help millions of Americans get a good night’s sleep, but experts agree they’re not a long-term solution.
About 70 million Americans have a sleep disorder or are sleep deprived, something that can affect their quality of life and pose serious health risks. Many of these people turn to medication at some point to help them get a good night’s sleep. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 4 percent of adults age 20 and older ...
Continue Reading →Between 10 to 30 percent of the population will experience symptoms of insomnia at some point in our lives, but what can we actually do about it?
Signs of insomnia are trouble falling or staying asleep, waking up too early, not getting enough sleep even though you have the time and correct environment for it, and your physical and mental health being affected the next day. Lack of sleep can have consequences for your heart, such as a heart attack or ...
Continue Reading →Your smartphone offers a number of apps all promising to help you get better sleep, but it can’t solve everything.
A number of new smartphone apps promise to help you get a better night’s sleep — but only if you tuck your phone in bed with you. Can this technology actually be helpful? Or will the light from your smartphone just be another distraction and source of disrupted sleep? Find out whether there’s evidence to back up these claims.