By Jobee Knight
Stress can come from a variety of sources such as a troubled relationship, a bad job condition, illness, financial pressures, the hormonal changes that accompany aging, or just plain old not getting enough good food and rest.  Sometimes the pressures of life can interfere with our sleep.  Stress manifests on the physical level by an outpouring of the adrenal hormone cortisol.  The adrenal glands are small triangular-shaped glands that sit on top of each kidney.

Cortisol has a stimulating effect and can promote wakefulness at the very time when one is trying to fall asleep. Scientists have recently discovered that increased blood levels of cortisol exist in people with chronic insomnia.  Research has also uncovered that in the presence of elevated cortisol levels, the amount of calcium is rapidly reduced in the body – a mineral that’s widely known to assist with relaxation and sleep. Read the rest of this entry

Sleeping the day away can lead to insomnia, and that can be costly to treat. “This can be fairly common when people don’t have a regular schedule, if they’re on vacation, or unemployed,” says Dr. Michael J. Breus, WebMD’s sleep expert and author of the Sleep Doctor’s Diet Plan.

The insomnia borne of oversleep can lead to obstructive sleep apnea and hypertension; co-payments for related medications run $30 to $40 per month. Sleep aids like Tylenol PM run another $15 a month. And being up all night in the Internet age can lead to torching an extra few dollars on books at Amazon.com or downloads at Apple’s iTunes store. [ Read Complete Post at FORBES ... ]

Dr. Jin Zhou, DC, is now accepting new patients with sleep apnea who is unable to tolerate CPAP or any device and/or failed to benefit from standard surgeries, with a possible conservative approach by ZHT (Zhou’s Hypoxicology Therapy), a natural therapy with seven year clinical observations. Sleep Apnea is a well-known deadly disease, if without proper clinical management, among increasing population.

CPAP is the Gold Therapy for sleep apnea, in addition to standard surgeries, but a significant number of sleep apnea patients failed to tolerate or benefit from standard CPAP or any device, and/or standard surgeries. ZHT therapy may provide an alternative natural approach for those sleep apnea patients without any available choices or clinical results from standard medical treatment. As an alternative chiropractic care, ZHT is not covered by most health plans. ZHT therapy costs may range from about $200-$350 for the initial visit and $57 – $150 for the subsequent visits. ZHT Appointments are available to patients nationwide without any need for referral. Read the rest of this entry

SleepApneaDisorder/[ Press Release ]/ FRAZER, Pa./ May 6, 2011 / At the Society of General Internal Medicine’s 34th Annual Meeting in Phoenix, Ariz. today, Cephalon, Inc.  presented positive results from a phase IV trial of nearly 400 people with excessive sleepiness associated with shift work disorder. In the trial, NUVIGIL® (armodafinil) Tablets [C-IV] improved shift-workers’ overall clinical condition late in their shifts (i.e., 4:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m.), including the commute home, compared to placebo. The key secondary endpoint of the study was to assess global function, as measured by the Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF), and patients taking NUVIGIL experienced a greater improvement in GAF score compared to those patients taking placebo. Shift work disorder occurs when the body’s internal sleep-wake clock is out of sync with the individual’s work schedule – their bodies tell them to go to sleep when their work schedule needs them to stay awake. The primary symptoms of shift work disorder are excessive sleepiness and insomnia. Read the rest of this entry

[Associated Press ] /European Union antitrust regulators said Thursday they are investigating whether drugmakers Cephalon and Teva were working to keep a generic version of sleep-disorder drug Provigil out of the European market.

Cephalon Inc., based in Fraser, Pa., and Israel-based Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., one of the world’s largest generic drugmakers, in 2005 settled patent disputes relating to Provigil — which is also known as Modafinil — in the U.K. and the U.S. Teva agreed not to sell its generic version of Provigil in the EU as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway before October 2012, the EU’s competition watchdog said. Read the rest of this entry

A new study from the University of Colorado at Boulder has found that people who take one of the world’s most commonly prescribed sleep medicines are significantly more at risk for nighttime falls, potential injury, and memory impairment. The study, which involved twenty-five healthy adults, showed 58 percent of the older adults and 27 percent of the young adults who took a hypnotic, sleep-inducing drug called zolpidem showed a significant loss of balance and impaired thinking-ability when awakened two hours after sleep.
 
Zolpidem is a generic drug that is marketed under a number of different brand names, including Ambien, Zolpimist, Edluar, Hypogen, Somidem and Ivedal.  “These findings are important because falls are the leading cause of injury in older adults, and 30 percent of adults sixty-five and older who fall, require hospitalization each year,” said Associate Professor Kenneth Wright, lead study author. Read the rest of this entry

With the National Sleep Foundation reporting that six out of ten Americans suffer with insomnia several nights a week and 25% of the U.S. population uses sleeping drugs (known as “hypnotics”), an increasing number people these days are looking for natural sleep remedies. In recent research studies, it was discovered that both walnuts and tart cherries contain significant levels of the natural sleep hormone melatonin, and may therefore be a natural, food-based way to get a better night’s sleep.

Russel Reiter, Ph.D., a professor of cellular biology at the University of Texas Health Science Center says, “Relatively few foods have been examined for their melatonin content.  Our studies demonstrate that walnuts contain melatonin, that it is absorbed when it is eaten, and that it improves our ability to resist oxidative stress caused by toxic molecules called free radicals.  Walnuts also contain large amounts of omega-3 fatty acids, which have been shown to inhibit certain types of cancer and to keep the heart healthy.” Read the rest of this entry

By Jobee Knight

The abuse of prescription pain medications is at an all-time high.  A recent White House study reported a 400 percent increase in the number of people admitted to treatment centers and emergency rooms for abusing prescription pain drugs. The increase was tracked during the 10-year-period from 1998 to 2008 and it spans every gender, race, education and employment level, and all regions of the country. A government representative from the Substance Abuse program said, “The non-medical use of prescription pain relievers is now the second-most prevalent form of illicit drug use in the Nation”

A battle has been raging for some time between potent natural remedies and addictive drugs and medicines.  This is mostly due to the lack of easily understood knowledge about which natural options have been proven effective.  In 400 B.C. the “Father of Medicine” Hippocrates said to his students “Let thy food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food”.  Mother Nature has provided us with two natural remedies for pain and insomnia that are backed by scientific studies as well as the test of time – calcium and magnesium.  Read the rest of this entry

‘Tis the season for holiday stress.  From last minute shopping, to getting less sleep, to making ends meet financially, to consuming more sweets and drinks at holiday get-togethers.  Americans are faced with many more physical and emotional pressures during the holidays. Recent research studies and surveys in the areas of sleep, eating, and finances are shedding some light on actions one can take to lessen the stress load.

The market research firm Harris Interactive recently conducted a “Holiday Stress Index” study. The poll was based on a nationwide sample of 2,173 adults in the U.S. eighteen years and over.  Ninety percent of the respondents said they experience some level of stress and/or anxiety about the holiday season. However this year, more than a third (38 percent) said they expect to feel more stress and anxiety in this holiday season due to the current economy.  Read the rest of this entry

By Jobee Knight

Each of us has our own source of stresses in our lives.  Whether we take these home from the workday or they exist in the home itself, sometimes the pressures can interfere with our sleep.  Stress manifests on the physical level by an outpouring of the adrenal hormone cortisol.  Scientists have recently discovered that increased blood levels of cortisol exist in people with chronic insomnia.  Some individuals may be suffering from a sustained activation of the body’s system for responding to stress.  Related research has also uncovered that in the presence of elevated cortisol, the level of calcium is rapidly reduced in the body – a mineral that’s known to assist with relaxation and sleep.

In a study from the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (1), investigators monitored the sleep of eleven patients with insomnia and thirteen people without any sleep disorder.  Blood was collected every thirty minutes for twenty-four hours, and levels of the adrenal stress hormones were monitored.  The researches found that the average levels of adrenal hormones measured were significantly higher in the insomniacs than in the control group.  The insomniacs with the highest degree of sleep disturbances secreted the highest amount of cortisol, particularly in the evening and nighttime hours. Read the rest of this entry

By Jobee Knight

Sleeping well is a highly valued thing.  According to an article in the United Kingdom’s “Daily Telegraph”, a good night’s sleep has been voted life’s “Greatest little pleasure”.  The poll, which interviewed 3,000 people in the UK, asked them what their greatest little pleasures in life were. The British company “Bachelors” conducted the survey.  The sleep theme showed up in other places as well, with “Little pleasure” number three being “Sleeping in newly laundered bedding.“ Number six was “Cuddling up with a loved one in bed”.

Chronic insomnia contributes to sleepiness during the day, increased accidents and illness, and may have an adverse effect on concentration, interpersonal relationships and the ability to handle stress.  Because good sleep is so vital to health, scientists continue to pursue the trail of finding things that enhance its quality and quantity.  Dr. Ramakrishnan, a professor at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, says, “Exercise improves sleep as effectively as sleeping drugs in some studies.”  His study found that on average, exercise increases total sleep time by 42 minutes. Read the rest of this entry

“Fulda Unitang Herbs Sleep Plus”, an unauthorized product promoted as an herbal sleep aid, has been found to contain high levels of the undeclared drug estazolam and may pose serious health risks to consumers. Estazolam is a prescription sedative that can impair mental alertness; it can also be habit-forming and should only be used under the supervision of a healthcare practitioner.

Consumers who have purchased or used “Fulda Unitang Herbs Sleep Plus,” including pregnant or breastfeeding women, children, the elderly, people with respiratory (breathing), kidney or liver problems, people with depression and those with a history of substance abuse; and retailers who may have this product in stock.

Health Canada conducted a laboratory analysis of the product and found each capsule to contain 1.8 mg of estazolam, which is roughly equivalent to the maximum daily recommended dose for healthy adults. Taking the product as directed on the label (1-2 capsules daily) may result in consuming an amount that exceeds the recommended dosage. Read the rest of this entry

Cherry juice could hold the key to a good night’s sleep, say scientists.

Volunteers who drank a glass of unsweetened cherry juice in the morning and evening enjoyed more shut-eye than when they drank the same amount of other juices, a study found.

Curing insomnia has become one of the biggest health challenges of the modern age.

About one in four adults suffer from it and a fifth regularly get fewer than five hours’ sleep a night. Read the rest of this entry

Melatonin is one among the several natural hormones. The pineal gland located within the brain of a human body secretes ‘melatonin hormone’. The “pineal gland” is almost equal to the size of a pea. To be very precise, it is exactly located just above the middle of the brain.

Pineal Gland, Light, and Melatonin

The pineal gland acts like the internal clock of the human body specifically the brains. This internal clock is responsible for commanding the brain that it is time to go to the bed or when to sleep. Read the rest of this entry