The importance of sleeping

I'm learning that sleep is tied to good health and that tie can't be broken. I've learned that with broken sleep, my fibromyalgia bothers me more. I'm more stressed (no surprise there) and I even begin to gain weight when I don't get enough sleep! I've had a tendency for a long time to nap in the afternoon. Napping, I see from the article I just read, is actually a good thing--if it's the right length. If I sleep too long, I enter a deeper cycle which makes it harder for me to wake up and makes it harder for me to fall asleep. So now I've got to train myself to set my alarm clock to go off a lot sooner than I have been!

Sleep Benefits: Power Napping for Increased Productivity, Stress Relief & Health
From Elizabeth Scott, M.S.,
Your Guide to Stress Management.
Stay up to date!
The Benefits of Sleep and The Power Nap
Why A Power Nap? Facts on Sleep:
While small children typically take naps in the afternoon, our culture generally frowns upon mid-day sleep; however, even in those who get enough sleep (but particularly in those who don’t), many people experience a natural decrease in drowsiness in the afternoon, about 8 hours after waking. And research shows that you can make yourself more alert reduce stress and improve cognitive functioning with a nap. Mid-day sleep, or a ‘power nap’, means more patience, less stress, better reaction time, increased learning, more efficiency and better health. Here’s what you need to know about the benefits of sleep and how a power nap can help you!
How Much Sleep Do You Need? The body needs 7-8 hours of sleep per day; 6 hours or less triples your risk of a car accident. (Interestingly, too much sleep--more than 9 hours--can actuallybe harmful for your health; recent studies show that those who sleep more than 9 hours per day don’t live as long as their 8-hour-sleep counterparts!)

The Effects of Missed Sleep: Sleep is cumulative; if you lose sleep one day, you feel it the next. If you miss adequate sleep several days in a row, you build up a ‘sleep deficit’, which impairs the following:


Reaction time
Judgment
Vision
Information processing
Short-term memory
Performance
Motivation
Vigilance
Patience
Fatigued people also experience more moodiness, aggressive behaviors, burnout and more stress.
The Benefit of a Power Nap: Studies show that 20 minutes of sleep in the afternoon provides more rest than 20 minutes more sleep in the morning (though the last two hours of morning sleep have special benefits of their own). The body seems to be designed for this, as most people’s bodies naturally become more tired in the afternoon, about 8 hours after we wake up.

How Long Should I Sleep? When you sleep you pass through different stages of sleep, known together as a sleep cycle. These stages include light sleep, deep sleep (which is believed to be the stage in which the body repairs itself), and rapid-eye movement sleep, or REM sleep (during which the mind is repaired).

Many experts advise to keep the nap between 15 and 30 minutes, as sleeping longer gets you into deeper stages of sleep, from which it’s more difficult to awaken. Also, longer naps can make it more difficult to fall asleep at night, especially if your sleep defecit is relatively small. However, research has shown that a 1-hour nap has many more restorative effects than a 30-minute nap, including a much greater improvement in cognitive functioning. The key to taking a longer nap is to get a sense of how long your sleep cycles are, and try to awaken at the end of a sleep cycle. (It’s actually more the interruption of the sleep cycle that makes you groggy, rather than the deeper states of sleep.)

As there are pros and cons to each length of sleep, you may want to let your schedule decide: if you only have 15 minutes to spare, take them! But if you could work in an hour nap, you may do well to complete a whole sleep cycle, even if it means less sleep at night. If you only have 5 minutes to spare, just close your eyes; even a brief rest has the benefit of reducing stress and helping you relax a little, which can give you more energy to complete the tasks of your day.

Tips For a More Effective Nap If you want to obtain more sleep, and the health benefits that go with getting enough sleep, here are some tips for more effective napping and sleep at night:


Avoid caffeine after 3pm. It’s a stimulant that can disrupt your sleep and stay in your system longer than you think; its half-life is four to six hours!
If you don’t want to nap a long time, set an alarm.
If you don’t have time for a power nap, or don’t feel comfortable napping during the day, try meditation; it gives your body a rest and produces slower brain waves similar to sleep.

Us Women Aren't Treated As Aggressively For Diabetes II

I read this article from "Everyday Health" and it made me mad. I thought about all the months when I was "pre-diabetic" and didn't know it. As for now...I am not going to willingly let this happen to me. I am getting the best care I can!

U.S. Women Lagging in Diabetes Care, Study Suggests


Published: 06/18/07
MONDAY, June 18 (HealthDay News) -- In a finding that partly challenges the conventional wisdom that women live longer than men, a new study suggests that the medical advances of the last few decades against diabetes haven't benefited women.

Researchers found that the death rates of diabetic men dropped in recent decades, while those of diabetic women increased. It's not clear why the discrepancy exists.

"I do not have a clue," said Dr. Larry Deeb, president of medicine and science for the American Diabetes Association (ADA), when asked why women are falling behind. "But I do know that it argues that something we're doing isn't right. If you're a woman, and you have diabetes, it may be we're not aggressive enough about taking care of you."

In the new study, researchers led by Edward Gregg, an epidemiologist with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, examined health surveys spanning 1971 to 2000 to determine the death rates of Americans with diabetes. The researchers looked at about 27,000 people.

They found that among diabetic men, the death rate from all causes dipped from 42.6 to 24.4 deaths per 1,000 persons between the two time periods.

Among men, "their mortality rates have declined," Gregg said, "and they've kept pace with their non-diabetic counterparts."

But among diabetic women, the death rate actually rose from 18.4 to 25.9 per 1,000, even as the life span of non-diabetic women grew longer.

Death rates from cardiovascular disease, in particular, stayed steady among women with diabetes while dropping among diabetic men.

The researchers reported their findings in the June 18 online edition of the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Why are women with diabetes at such high risk? "We can speculate on a few possibilities, that risk factors for things such as heart disease haven't declined as much among women as in men," Gregg said. "Another possibility is that women haven't gotten as aggressive or comprehensive treatment as men have over the years."

The ADA's Deeb, who's familiar with the study findings, said the research appears to be sound. "I don't think we can discount it," he said. "I think it's real."

An estimated 9.7 million American women have diabetes, and almost one-third of them don't know it. Women with diabetes are more likely to have a heart attack, and at a younger age, than women without diabetes, according to the ADA.

Diabetes is at least two to four times more common among black, Hispanic, American Indian, and Asian/Pacific Islander women than white women. The risk for the disease increases with age. Given the increasing life span of women and the rapid growth of minority populations, the number of women in the United States at risk for diabetes is increasing, the ADA said.

Meanwhile, a new U.S. study released Monday said that women are now about as likely as men to get recommended screening tests and treatments to manage their diabetes.

According to the latest News and Numbers from the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, for Americans age 40 and over with diabetes:

The percentage of women who report being given three key recommended exams for diabetes -- blood sugar, retinal and foot -- increased from 37 percent in 2000 to 47 percent in 2003. During the same period, the percentage of men who reported receiving these exams rose only 3 percent from 46 percent to 49 percent.
The proportion of women whose blood sugar level was optimal increased from 38 percent for the period 1988 to 1994 to 47 percent for 1999 to 2002. In contrast, the proportion of men with optimal blood sugar level fell from 44 percent to 43 percent during the period.
In spite of the narrowing disparities between the genders, less than 60 percent of Americans, as a whole, receive optimal care for their diabetes.

Less than 60 percent of us receive optimal care! Why is that? Does it have to do with insurance issues?

Menopause Changes How I Should Treat My Diabetes!

There is some information in this article that I didn't know. I didn't realize that estrogen protected the heart and I didn't realize that hormones affected insulin and levels of glucose! This is important to me, especially now that I've been one year without a period. I'm post menopause, technically!

Hormones and Blood Sugar: A Message for Women
Shifting hormones can cause shifting blood sugar levels.


Like anything else that affects your hormones, menopause can change how you need to treat your diabetes. Menopause occurs when production of estrogen and progesterone slows and finally stops. Many women achieve menopause (technically, that's when periods have stopped for a full year) between the age of 45 and 55, but it could be sooner or later for you. Unpredictable changes in estrogen and progesterone levels affect your blood glucose levels during the 10 years leading up to menopause, so it's important to be aware of the possible effects starting in your late 30s to early 40s.
Estrogen and progesterone counteract the effects of insulin in your body, so when these hormones are high, your blood glucose may also be high. When levels of these hormones fall, your blood glucose may be lower than you expect — and if you don't adjust your treatment plan, you may develop hypoglycemia. If you use insulin or diabetes pills, you may need to decrease the dose. Watch for the signs of menopause: the top two are irregular periods and hot flashes, but you may also notice sleep disturbances and skin changes. When you notice these symptoms, be wary of low blood glucose and monitor your levels more often.

Also, be aware that estrogen protects your heart, and you lose that protection after menopause. You also may notice that you tend to gain weight, especially in the abdomen, which is a heart disease risk factor. Take extra time to care for your heart now.

How Sleep Affects Your Weight

This is from Dr. Weil's newsletter:

Research suggests that appetite-regulating hormones are affected by sleep and that sleep deprivation could lead to weight gain. In two studies, people who slept five hours or less per night had higher levels of ghrelin - a hormone that stimulates hunger - and lower levels of the appetite-suppressing hormone leptin than those who slept eight hours per night. So make sure getting adequate sleep is near the top of your optimum health checklist!

Yeesh! I have interrupted sleep due to insomnia--have trouble falling asleep and then I get up early to get Tomas off to school. So if I take a nap later and I have a total of 7 hours, does that help? Or do I need to get 8 hours uninterrupted? Have to check this out...

A Somewhat Dismal Update

I haven't spiralled totally out of control but I've been very discouraged with my lack of progress over the last six months. In fact, I've done a big backslide! I've gained 10 pounds and my most recent sugars show my A1C has gone from 6.5 to 7.5. I feel like I'm having mood swings and suspect I may actually have some bipolar going on after all. This is a check list I plan to show to all my doctors:

GENERAL
__X__ Fatigue, made worse by physical exertion or stress
__X__ Activity level decreased to less than 50% of pre-illness activity level
__X__ Recurrent flu-like illness
____ Sore throat
____ Hoarseness
__X__ Tender or swollen lymph nodes (glands), especially in neck and underarms
____ Shortness of breath (air hunger) with little or no exertion
__X__ Frequent sighing
____ Tremor or trembling
__X__ Severe nasal allergies (new allergies or worsening of previous allergies)
__X__ Cough
__X__ Night sweats
____ Low-grade fevers
__X__ Feeling cold often
__X__ Feeling hot often
____ Cold extremities (hands and feet)
____ Low body temperature (below 97.6)
____ Low blood pressure (below 110/70)
____ Heart palpitations
__X__ Dryness of eyes and/or mouth
__X__ Increased thirst
__X__ Symptoms worsened by temperature changes
____ Symptoms worsened by air travel
__X__ Symptoms worsened by stress

PAIN
__X__ Headache
__X__ Tender points or trigger points
__X__ Muscle pain
____ Muscle twitching
__X__ Muscle weakness
____ Paralysis or severe weakness of an arm or leg
__X__ Joint pain
____ TMJ syndrome
__X__ Chest pain

GENERAL NEUROLOGICAL
__X__ Lightheadedness; feeling "spaced out"
__X__ Inability to think clearly ("brain fog")
____ Seizures
____ Seizure-like episodes
____ Syncope (fainting) or blackouts
____ Sensation that you might faint
__X__ Vertigo or dizziness
___X__ Numbness or tingling sensations
__X__ Tinnitus (ringing in one or both ears)
__X__ Photophobia (sensitivity to light)
__X__ Noise intolerance

EQUILIBRIUM/PERCEPTION
__X__ Feeling spatially disoriented
__X__ Dysequilibrium (balance difficulty)
__X__ Staggering gait (clumsy walking; bumping into things)
____ Dropping things frequently
____ Difficulty judging distances (e.g. when driving; placing objects on surfaces)
____ "Not quite seeing" what you are looking at

SLEEP
__X__ Hypersomnia (excessive sleeping)
__X__ Sleep disturbance: unrefreshing or non-restorative sleep
__X__ Sleep disturbance: difficulty falling asleep
____ Sleep disturbance: difficulty staying asleep (frequent awakenings)
____ Sleep disturbance: vivid or disturbing dreams or nightmares
__X__ Altered sleep/wake schedule (alertness/energy best late at night)

MOOD/EMOTIONS
__X__ Depressed mood
____ Suicidal thoughts
____ Suicide attempts
____ Feeling worthless
____ Frequent crying
__X__ Feeling helpless and/or hopeless
__X__Inability to enjoy previously enjoyed activities
__X__ Increased appetite
____ Decreased appetite
__X__ Anxiety or fear when there is no obvious cause
____ Panic attacks
__X__ Irritability; overreaction
__X__ Rage attacks: anger outbursts with little or no cause
__X__ Abrupt, unpredictable mood swings
____ Phobias (irrational fears)
____ Personality changes

EYES AND VISION
____ Eye pain
__X__ Changes in visual acuity (frequent changes in ability to see well)
__X__ Difficulty with accommodation (switching focus from one thing to another)
____ Blind spots in vision

SENSITIVITIES
____ Sensitivities to medications (unable to tolerate "normal" dosage)
____ Sensitivities to odors (e.g., cleaning products, exhaust fumes, colognes, hair sprays)
____ Sensitivities to foods
____ Alcohol intolerance
____ Alteration of taste, smell, and/or hearing

UROGENITAL
__X__ Frequent urination
____ Painful urination or bladder pain
____ Prostate pain
____ Impotence
____ Endometriosis
____ Worsening of premenstrual syndrome (PMS)
__X__ Decreased libido (sex drive)

GASTROINTESTINAL
__X__ Stomach ache; abdominal cramps
____ Nausea
____ Vomiting
____ Esophageal reflux (heartburn)
____ Frequent diarrhea
____ Frequent constipation
____ Bloating; intestinal gas
____ Decreased appetite
__X__ Increased appetite
__X__ Food cravings
__X__ Weight gain (10 lbs)
____ Weight loss (____ lbs)

SKIN
____ Rashes or sores
____ Eczema or psoriasis

OTHER
____ Hair loss
____ Mitral valve prolapse
____ Cancer
____ Dental problems
____ Periodontal (gum) disease
____ Aphthous ulcers (canker sores)

COGNITIVE
____ Difficulty with simple calculations (e.g., balancing checkbook)
__X__ Word-finding difficulty
__X__ Using the wrong word
__X__ Difficulty expressing ideas in words
____ Difficulty moving your mouth to speak
____ Slowed speech
____ Stuttering; stammering
__X__ Impaired ability to concentrate
__X__ Easily distracted during a task
____ Difficulty paying attention
__X__ Difficulty following a conversation when background noise is present
____ Losing your train of thought in the middle of a sentence
____ Difficulty putting tasks or things in proper sequence
____ Losing track in the middle of a task (remembering what to do next)
__X__ Difficulty with short-term memory
____ Difficulty with long-term memory
____ Forgetting how to do routine things
____ Difficulty understanding what you read
____ Switching left and right
____ Transposition (reversal) of numbers, words and/or letters when you speak
____ Transposition (reversal) of numbers, words and/or letters when you write
____ Difficulty remembering names of objects
__X__ Difficulty remembering names of people
____ Difficulty recognizing faces
____ Difficulty following simple written instructions
____ Difficulty following complicated written instructions
____ Difficulty following simple oral (spoken) instructions
__X__ Difficulty following complicated oral (spoken) instructions
____ Poor judgment
__X__ Difficulty making decisions
____ Difficulty integrating information (putting ideas together to form a complete picture or concept)
____ Difficulty following directions while driving
____ Becoming lost in familiar locations when driving
____ Feeling too disoriented to drive

This is my action plan for now:

I'm going to test my sugar 2 hours after my heavy meal (keep forgetting to do the fasting)

I'm going to re-read The Insulin Resistance Diet, something the authors suggested when you fall off track. I'm going to make healthier food choices and be aware of what I'm putting into my body

I'm going to try and swim a half hour 3 times a week

I'm going to journal more about my health

We Have The Heaviest Kids Under 5!

Hello, I'm back and here's a timely article:

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NJ Starting Agency to Battle Obesity
By: LINDA A. JOHNSON (Wed, May/30/2007)


TRENTON, N.J. - New Jersey's health department is escalating the battle against the bulge by starting a new Office of Nutrition and Fitness to better coordinate programs to prevent obesity.

The agency is particularly needed in New Jersey , possibly the first state to create such a government body.

The Garden State has the highest percentage of overweight and obese children under age 5, at 17.7 percent, according to a 2004 survey by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Dr. Fred M. Jacobs, commissioner of the state Department of Health and Senior Services, said young people are a crucial target for the new agency because it's easier to instill good diet and exercise habits to prevent obesity in the young than to reverse weight problems later; adults almost always gain back any weight they lose , and then some.

Jacobs says he wants to tackle the obesity problem through education, support groups and encouraging physical activity, rather than by banning particular foods. One goal is to "de-normalize" the massive portions served in restaurants.

"I want to do that without creating a further stigma on individual people," Jacobs said. "It's bad enough when you're fat that people think less of you. I don't want the government piling on."

He is mulling the idea of having schools notify parents, via report cards, about children with weight problems.

Morton Downey, spokesman for The Obesity Society, which represents doctors, researchers and others in the field, said he knows of no other state with a dedicated agency fighting obesity, although federal grants in recent years have helped numerous states develop plans to fight obesity. He called New Jersey's initiative a very encouraging step that could become a national model.

"There's not really been an institutional base for people with ideas to go to gain support for their ideas" and funding for new programs, Downey said.

Obesity has become the country's No. 2 cause of preventable death, after smoking. Excess weight raises risk of heart disease and stroke, type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, asthma, depression, arthritis and several types of cancer.

In New Jersey, almost 23 percent of residents are considered obese and another 37 percent are overweight, according to the CDC.

Setting up the anti-obesity agency was one of many recommendations in the New Jersey Obesity Prevention Action Plan, written by a large task force established by the state Legislature.

Jacobs said the new agency will begin operations within weeks, and may be able to win more federal and private grant money. He said it will coordinate spending of more than $2 million in nutrition and fitness programs, including promoting physical activity at all ages, providing fresh fruit and vegetables to eligible women, children and senior citizens, and encouraging breast-feeding, which can reduce the baby's chances of a weight problem later.

Other state agencies will be working with the health department. The Agriculture Department, for example, has been boosting the number of farmers market bringing fresh produce to seniors and city residents whose local stores don't stock much produce, said its head, Charles Kuperus.

More than half of all schools have already complied with the department's new rules limiting the amount of high-calorie, high-sugar foods available, a strategy meant to prevent kids from bypassing nutritious lunches and getting french fries or snacks from vending machines, he said. Every school is expected to be in compliance by the September deadline.

,,,

On the Net:

NJ Obesity Prevention Action Plan: http://www.nj.gov/health/fhs/documents/obesity,prevention.pdf

The Obesity Society: http://www.naaso.org/


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Article's URL:

http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/94-05302007-1354091.html