Tag: sleep

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How To Get a Higher Night time’s Sleep

How To Get a Better Night's Sleep

If you don’t commute to work, it can be easy to spend your entire mornings inside. But exposure to sunlight serves an important purpose: It shuts down the release of melatonin, a hormone that promotes sleep. “Most brain fog in the morning is caused by continued melatonin production,” said Michael Breus, a clinical psychologist and the author of “The Power of When.” “When sunlight hits your eye, it sends a signal to your brain to tell the melatonin faucet to turn off.” Aim to get at least 15 minutes of sunlight first thing every morning.

Working from home — sometimes from our beds — has erased a lot of the boundaries between work and sleep. But turning your mattress into an office can condition your brain to view your bed as a place that makes you stressed and alert, which can lead to insomnia. That’s why sleep experts say you have to reserve your bed for two activities only. “The bed is for sleeping or sex,” said Dr. Rosen. “If you’re not doing either of those things, then get out of bed. If you have the luxury of going to a different room, then that’s even better. You have to break the association of being awake in bed.”

The pandemic led people to cut back on physical activity. But exercise is the easiest way to improve sleep, said Dr. Breus. “Sleep is recovery,” he added. “If you don’t have anything to recover from, your sleep isn’t going to be that great.” At least 29 studies have found that daily exercise, regardless of the type or intensity, helps people fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer, especially among people who are middle-aged or older. According to the Sleep Foundation, people with chronic insomnia can fall asleep about 13 minutes faster and gain up to 20 extra minutes of sleep per night by starting an exercise routine. One caveat: End your exercise at least four hours before bedtime, otherwise it could interfere with your sleep by raising your core body temperature, said Dr. Breus.

Caffeine has a half-life of six to eight hours and a quarter-life of about 12 hours. That means that if you drink coffee at 4 p.m., “you’ll still have a quarter of the caffeine floating around in your brain at 4 a.m.,” said Dr. Breus. Avoiding caffeine in the evening is a no-brainer. But ideally you should steer clear of caffeine after 2 p.m. so your body has enough time to metabolize and clear most of it from your system.

If you drink alcohol, limit yourself to two drinks in the evening and stop at least three hours before bed. Alternate each drink with a glass of water. Because alcohol is a sedative, some people drink a nightcap to help them fall asleep faster. But alcohol suppresses REM sleep and causes sleep disruptions, which will worsen the overall quality of your sleep. “The closer you drink to your bedtime, the worse your sleep is going to be,” said Dr. Breus.

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The occasional bout of insomnia is nothing to fret about. But if you make changes to your sleep routine and nothing seems to help, then it might be time to see a doctor. A sleep specialist can determine whether you need cognitive behavioral therapy, medication or another treatment. Or it could be the case that you have an underlying sleep disorder, such as restless legs syndrome or sleep apnea. A doctor would evaluate you to find out.

If you need help, go to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine’s website, sleepeducation.org, and enter your ZIP code to find a local sleep doctor or provider. “Don’t suffer in silence,” said Dr. Abbasi-Feinberg. “Ask for help if you need it. There are sleep physicians everywhere, and that’s what we’re here for.”

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Health

For Sleep Apnea, a Mouth Guard Could also be a Good Different to CPAP

For Sleep Apnea, a Mouth Guard May be a Good Alternative to CPAP

But many patients find sleeping with a face mask less awkward or uncomfortable than using a CPAP machine. The technical term for these devices is mandibular advancement device, so named because it pushes the mandible forward, which in most people helps keep the airway open. There are many variations of these devices in drug stores, but a dentist can design a more effective personalized device and modify or customize it if necessary. The patients in the laryngoscope study were all reexamined after the initial adjustment and most adjustments needed over a period of two to four weeks.

“We recommend a custom device made by a dentist,” said Dr. Benjamin. “And you should be retested to see how well it works. There are subjective and objective improvements that should be pursued. “

But there are people for whom neither CPAP nor dental devices work, either because they cannot use them consistently and correctly, or because the devices themselves do not solve the problem if they are used correctly. Various effective surgical procedures exist for these patients.

The most common is soft tissue surgery, which involves modifying or removing tissue from the back of the mouth. Depending on the structures and muscles of the mouth, the surgeon can trim the soft palate and uvula, remove the tonsils, shrink tissue with a heated instrument, straighten a crooked septum or change the position of the tongue muscles – all with the aim of improving airflow.

There are also bone surgeries that move the jaw forward to increase the total breathing space, a procedure that can involve a lengthy recovery period.

In 2014, the Food and Drug Administration approved a device called the Inspire Upper Airway Stimulation. This is a small device that is implanted under the skin like a pacemaker. Using two electrical wires, it detects the breathing pattern and stimulates the nerve that controls the tongue to move it out of the way and allow the air to flow freely. Implantation is a daily surgical procedure that takes about two hours.

“It doesn’t change the anatomy, and recovery is easier than with other surgeries,” said Dr. Maria V. Suurna, Associate Professor of Otorhinolaryngology at Weill Cornell Medicine, who specializes in sleep apnea surgery. “It’s effective. It has the lowest complication rate of any surgery.

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Health

FDA approves new gadget worn in the course of the day to cut back loud night breathing and sleep apnea

FDA approves new device worn during the day to reduce snoring and sleep apnea

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved a new device that can help prevent sleep apnea and snoring – and that doesn’t have to be worn at night.

People who snore – and their partners – have very few options in the market right now to alleviate their suffering. And a lot of what is available involves uncomfortable mouthguards or noisy C-Pap machines.

Approved on Friday, the eXciteOSA device is the first of its kind to be approved to treat sleep apnea and snoring by improving tongue muscle function by electrically stimulating the tongue through a mouthpiece worn for 20 minutes a day. It helps retrain the tongue to prevent it from collapsing backwards and blocking airflow while you sleep.

Obstructive sleep apnea is widespread and occurs when the upper airway becomes repeatedly blocked during sleep, reducing or completely blocking airflow. If left untreated, OSA can lead to serious complications such as glaucoma, heart attack, diabetes, cancer, and cognitive and behavioral disorders.

“Obstructive sleep apnea not only affects the quality of sleep, it can also have other serious health effects if left untreated. Today’s approval provides a new option for thousands of people with snoring or mild sleep apnea,” said Dr. Malvina Eydelman, director of the Ophthalmic, Anesthetic, Respiratory, ENT, and Dental Devices Bureau at the FDA’s Center for Equipment and Radiological Health.

The eXciteOSA mouthpiece has four electrodes, two above the tongue and two under the tongue. It provides electrical muscle stimulation in sessions that consist of a series of electrical impulses with periods of rest in between. It is used once a day for 20 minutes while you are awake, for 6 weeks, and then once a week thereafter.

The agency said the device reduced loud snoring by 20% in 87 of the 115 patients studied. Of the patients who all snored, 48 also had mild sleep apnea.

The most common side effects observed were excessive salivation, tongue or tooth discomfort, tongue tingling, tenderness to filling, metallic taste, gagging, and tight jaw.

The FDA has granted Signifier Medical Technologies marketing authorization.