Suicidal Thoughts and Sleep Problems: A Deadly Combination

Have you ever wondered what happens while you sleep? It's simple really: your brain cells replenish, your body grows and your mental state resets for the day ahead. There are recommended hours of sleep for specific age groups for a reason. The younger you are the more your body needs to develop and therefore the more sleep you need. Ignoring your sleep, like most teenagers and young adults do, can impact your health in ways you probably haven't thought about before.

There are various disorders that can affect your sleep like insomnia, sleep apnea and snoring but did you know sleeplessness can severely impact those suffering from depression? Depression on it's own can be a debilitating illness. Couple that with sleeplessness and you're facing a huge wall:

The link between sleep problems and suicidal thoughts and behaviors is made starkly clear in new research from The University of Manchester, published in the BMJ Open.

In this study, conducted by researchers from the University's School of Health Sciences alongside the University of Oxford, 18 participants were interviewed about the role sleep problems have on suicidal tendencies.

Three inter-related pathways to suicidal thoughts were identified arising from sleep problems. The first was that being awake at night heightened the risks of suicidal thoughts and attempts, which in part was seen as a consequence of the lack of help or resources available at night.

Secondly, the research found that a prolonged failure to achieve a good night's sleep made life harder for respondents, adding to depression, as well as increasing negative thinking, attention difficulties and inactivity.

Finally, respondents said sleep acted as an alternative to suicide, providing an escape from their problems. However, the desire to use sleep as an avoidance tactic led to increased day time sleeping which in turn caused disturbed sleeping patterns - reinforcing the first two pathways.

Via: http://www.news-medical.net/news/20160824/Night-time-sleep-problems-increase-risk-of-suicidal-thoughts-and-attempts.aspx

If you or someone you know suffers from depression you are most likely painfully aware of how difficult it can be to lead a normal life. There are plenty of treatments available, with or without medication, that can make depression manageable. But it's difficult to completely get rid of it. When your enemy is your own mind it's very difficult to win the war.

When you can't sleep, you can't quiet your mind. The dark thoughts tend to plague you in the night when you're defenseless. Human beings are not meant to be nocturnal. We're meant to sleep in the night and be productive in the day. Failure to adhere to this causes disruptions in our sleep patterns and makes it difficult to function as a member of society.

That is not to say that those who work strictly at night aren't productive. Those who work during the night tend to sleep during the day for the recommended number of hours they are supposed to be getting. That's completely different than someone who sporadically sleeps during the day in order to recover from the loss of sleep during the night.

Those who suffer from depression need to make sure they are sleeping properly. It may help to keep a sleep journal and log the amount of time, and when, they are actually sleeping and take it to their health care provider. If their sleep is too fragmented their health care provider can suggest other ways to obtain a consistent amount of sleep. What is the underlying sleep problem? Does the patient suffer from sleep apnea or snoring? There are simple ways to manage those disorders. The more information you can bring in with you to a medical appointment the better your health care provider can help you.

Let's all try to get the best sleep we can to keep the dark thoughts at bay.

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How Much Sleep is Actually Enough?

Depending on what stage of life you’re at you might be thinking that it’s not a big deal if you sacrifice your sleep to get ahead in life. Sure, you can live on four hours of sleep a night so that you can make sure you watch all the episodes of that popular show on Netflix or work the three jobs to afford your fancy car. Our minds like to tell us all kinds of things and sometimes we shouldn’t listen to them. Is your brain a medical professional? Probably not. You might like to think you are because of your personal connections or what you read online but unless you went through grueling medical school, you probably aren’t a doctor or nurse.

There is a reason we’ve been told we need no less than eight hours of sleep. It’s not just a random magical number; it serves a purpose.

Humans need sleep just as much as they need food or water. Sleep is an indicator of overall health and well-being. The amount of sleep one needs depends on a number of factors like age, quality of sleep, previous sleep deprivation, etc.

Most people accumulate what is called “sleep debt” wherein people try to make up for sleep lost during the week during the weekends. But that doesn’t really work. In fact, getting as little as three to four hours of sleep a night is as bad as pulling an all-nighter. Staying up for 24 hours straight and then driving is like driving with a blood-alcohol content that is considered legally drunk in all 50 states.

Shortage of sleep can be blamed for nearly 100,000 traffic accidents, 76,000 injuries, and 1,500 deaths every year. So how much sleep do you need?

The National Sleep Foundation in 2015 came out with a study that recommends different amounts of sleep based on age. The study had 18 researchers comb through 320 research articles to come to its current “sleep time duration recommendations.”

Children aged six and above need at least nine to 11 hours of sleep and teenagers need eight to ten hours of sleep. Seven hours of sleep should do for some but sleeping for over 11 hours a day can cause health issues. But some teens may need some extra sleep during puberty.

Via: http://www.medicaldaily.com/whats-minimal-amount-sleep-we-need-stay-healthy-395429

It’s important to eat a balanced meal and it’s important to drink plenty of water. Just like these basics that have been drilled into us since our youth, sleep is something that is required to have a healthy life. It does get harder as we get older and various stressors come into our lives. Demanding jobs, young children or pets that require a lot of attention tend to eat into our sleep time.

You are the master of your body and it’s up to you to make sure that your temple is in great shape. As much as you schedule in your weekly workout or that coffee date with the guy/girl next door, you need to make sure that you get proper sleep or you’ll pass out into your latté which will probably end your dating chances for a while.

So draw yourself a nice lavender bubble-bath after dinner and try to leave the list of chores and to-dos out of your brain until you’ve had a nice soak. Have a warm cup of tea or milk before you head to slumber land and give yourself the appropriate time to nod off before your alarm screams in your ear.

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Say Ah: What’s in Your Mouth?

Snoring is a common sleep disorder although many just brush it off. Some people think snoring is caused solely by eating or drinking too much before bed, sleeping on your back or being sick. While these can contribute to snoring, the fact of the matter is that there are physical components of snoring. While you sleep your whole body relaxes, right? The means more than just your mind; your muscles relax as well. When the muscles in your mouth and throat relax they can cause your tongue to fall to the back of your throat and block your airways.

This causes that snoring sound we are all too familiar with. The kind that can only be remedied with a stop snoring mouthpiece like the ZQuiet (http://snoringmouthpiecereview.org/zquiet). If the situation is intense, snoring may also be a sign of sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is a disorder that causes a person to stop breathing completely, for a few seconds, dozens of times a night. There are other physical betrayals for sleep apnea:

Enlarged uvula can lead to snoring and obstructive sleep apnea. Among normal adults, 45 percent are occasional snorers and 25 percent are habitual snorers. Most commonly seen in males, snoring may be a result of an obstruction, so it should be considered a serious symptom to address with your doctor.

There are numerous causes for snoring, including poor muscle tone of the tongue and throat, excessive bulkiness of throat tissue, long soft palate or uvula, or obstructed nasal airways.

Snoring can result in a health condition known as obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), which is when a person stops breathing numerous times throughout the night. Being overweight or having high blood pressure can contribute to OSA, but another common cause is an enlarged uvula, the dangling piece of flesh at the back of the mouth.

The role of uvula is not fully understood, but its possible functions are assisting with speech formation and production of saliva.

Inflamed or swollen uvula is the main symptom of a health condition uvulitis, which can contribute to sleep apnea. If the uvula becomes very swollen, it may even reach the tongue, causing an obstruction. Other signs and symptoms of a swollen uvula include redness, as well as difficulty breathing or swallowing.

If your uvulitis does lead to sleep apnea, you may also suffer from high blood pressure, daytime headache, constant low energy or fatigue, and weight gain. Treating enlarged uvula and sleep apnea is important for reducing your risk of complications.

Enlarged uvula treatment methods

You should see a doctor for your enlarged uvula if you experience severe pain, difficulty breathing, uneasiness due to lack of oxygen, severe pain or difficulty swallowing, grunting and choking, pus or blood from the uvula, or if you stop breathing throughout the night.

Via: http://www.belmarrahealth.com/enlarged-uvula-can-lead-to-snoring-and-obstructive-sleep-apnea/

Snoring can be a very real indicator that you or someone you love suffers from sleep apnea. The problem with this disease is that it can often go undiagnosed for those who live alone or for those who brush off their snoring issue. It is imperative if you snore, and have continued to do so even after you've tried to stop it, that you meet with a health care professional. You may need to undergo testing in a sleep lab to find out if you suffer from sleep apnea. Don't wait until it's too late!

The blog article Say Ah: What’s in Your Mouth? Find more on: The Snoring Mouthpiece Review Blog

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Sleeping Before Dusk Can Cause Heart Danger

Surely you remember the prime of your youth: staying up until 3am working on that final paper for your course or playing video games until midnight. As we get older our bedtimes tend to creep ever forward. We have more stresses in our lives and therefore need more time to recuperate from the long days we sludge through. But having an early bedtime could be a massive warning sign, especially for men:

Men who want an early night could be showing a warning sign of heart problems, medics have warned.

A study of 2,400 adults found that among men, bed times were significantly earlier among those suffering from high blood pressure.

On average, those with the condition - one of the key risks for heart disease - retired for the night 18 minutes earlier than those without it.

And once they got to bed, those with high blood pressure were significantly more likely to spent the night tossing and turning, the Japanese study found. 

Researchers said the desire to turn in early could be a clue to health problems which might otherwise be missed.

While early nights were linked with higher blood pressure, getting more sleep was unlikely to do anything to help the condition, they cautioned. 

Despite going to bed earlier, those with high blood pressure managed no more sleep overall - and scored significantly worse in tools used to measure the quality of slumber. 

On average, those with high blood pressure - also called hypertension - scored 5.3 in assessments, where a score of five or more indicted poor sleep quality. 

Among those with normal blood pressure, the score was 4.7, according to the study findings, presented at the European Society of Cardiology, in Rome.

Lead researcher Dr Nobuo Sasaki, from Hiroshima University, said: "Early bed times were associated with hypertension independent of anything else.”

Via: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/08/31/early-bed-time-could-be-warning-sign-for-heart-problems-in-men/

It’s very important to listen to your body. Is it strained? Is it weak? Is it tired? If your body is trying to tell you something you might not be listening close enough. As we age, we start ignoring what our bodies try to tell us in favour of what our minds tell us we can and cannot do. There will come a point in your life where eating an entire large pepperoni pizza on your own is going to cause serious gastrointestinal problems. Sure, you might have been able to pack a whole pizza away in your twenties, but maybe now you’re in your forties and pizza is not your friend.

The same can be said for sleep. Are you really so tired that a 7pm bedtime is appealing? What kind of work do you do? If you don’t do anything overly physically taxing and your commute isn’t that long, wanting to hit the hay so soon after supper is your body’s way of telling you that something is wrong.

Make an appointment with your medical professional about a sleep study. Remember, we’re supposed to have a full physical at least once a year, possibly more often if you have other health concerns. Sleep is a wonderful thing and lying around in bed every once in a while isn’t really a bad thing. But we’re not teenagers any more. Staying up late and sleeping in until lunch is only going to cause problems, not solve them.

Don’t put off what important concerns and make sure that you address them right away. Chances are if you want to sleep that early, and actually do, you might not be getting the restful sleep you want. This is only going to create more concerns. It’s time to wake up and smell the coffee, my friends.

 

The following blog post Sleeping Before Dusk Can Cause Heart Danger was originally published on SnoringMouthpieceReview.org

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If You Want Good Grades, Get Some Sleep

It’s the time of year again. Students are swarming schools all over the country from kindergarten all the way to university and college. It’s back to school and that means a more regimented schedule should be implemented for everything. This includes parents as well as students. For those who are finding themselves in post-secondary for the first time might have a harder time trying to control themselves. Safeguards, like parents, might not be there and the newfound sense of independence and freedom could very well be their undoing.

If you want to be successful at anything in life, you need to put your best effort into it. This holds true for education. Lack of sleep can be the simplest cause of your undoing when it comes to performing in the workplace, and at school:

College students who deprive themselves of sleep are more at risk of losing academic success, according to health professional Dr. Keith Willmore.

Willmore, medical director of the BYU Student Health Clinic, said there is definitely a connection between lack of sleep and poor academic performance. He said cognitive functions are worsened due to sleep deprivation.

“Most students tend to stay up much later and sleep in, resulting in both less quantity and quality sleep,” Willmore said in an email.

Daniel Kay, an assistant professor of psychology, explained there is a danger for students when it comes to this “sleep debt.”

“‘Sleep debt’ as it’s called, accumulates over time,” Kay said. “So if an individual obtains 15 minutes less sleep than is needed on a nightly basis, after a week or two that starts to add up, and can have an impact of daytime functioning that is as great as going a whole night without sleep.”

An article written by Dr. Ronald D. Chervin and Dr. Shelley D. Hershner, published in the Journal of Nature and Science of Sleep, states “the consequences of sleep deprivation and daytime sleepiness are especially problematic to college students and can result in lower grade point averages, increased risk of academic failure, compromised learning, impaired mood and increased risk of motor vehicle accidents.”

Students who slept for more hours had higher grade point averages than shorter sleepers, according to the article.

The article also said “students with sleep disorders probably do not achieve optimal academic performance, and up to 27 percent of students may be at risk for at least one sleep disorder.”

Via: http://universe.byu.edu/2016/09/06/health-officials-say-lack-of-sleep-can-negatively-affect-students-grades/

University and college are not cheap, by any stretch of the imagination. Even if you’re lucky enough to be the recipient of a scholarship or have family who are able to pay the way, that’s still a hefty chunk of change. You don’t want all the hard effort you put into your courses to go down the drain because you’re having issues with your sleep schedule. Lack of sleep can be brutal for your health.

Like any other health concern you might have, you should visit a doctor if sleeping, or lack of sleep, is happening more often than not. It could be that you’re suffering from insomnia or maybe you snore in your sleep and need to wear a mouthpiece. It doesn’t have to be a struggle if you get help for it sooner rather than later. You just have to take charge of your life and if that means missing out on a party or two so you can get some proper sleep and not bomb that final exam in two days, then maybe that’s what you need to do.

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Can A CPAP Machine Do It All?

Sleep is a precious commodity that we all need in order to survive. During sleep is when our bodies grow, our brain cells replenish and our emotions reset. Regardless of age everyone needs to get a good night's sleep. There is a reason that children need to sleep more when they're very young: they're growing and without sleep those little bodies can't get much bigger.

Even as adults if we neglect to get a proper sleep we can wake up feeling restless, irritated and just downright cranky. This will impact our daily lives in various ways. But what if you can't get sleep? There are those who suffer from sleep disorders such as insomnia, sleep apnea and snoring. Suffering from a sleep disorder impacts your sleep. Either you can't sleep or you can't get quality sleep. Both are detrimental to your physical and emotional health.

When you have sleep apnea you actually stop breathing several times a night. Certainly, this is obviously very concerning and the continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine was designed to blow continuous bursts of oxygen into the sleepers airways in order to keep them breathing through the night. Complicated and expensive, yes, especially when compared with something as simple as the ZQuiet mouthpiece (http://snoringmouthpiecereview.org/zquiet). But can CPAP machines do more than help with sleep apnea?

An international study led by Australian sleep specialists has shown machines designed to help people with sleep apnoea do not reduce the risk of heart attack or stroke, but significantly improve quality of life.

The study of more than 2,700 sleep apnoea sufferers with cardiovascular disease estimated 25 per cent of middle-aged men and 10 per cent of middle-aged women suffer from sleep apnoea.

The Sleep Apnoea Cardiovascular Endpoints (SAVE) study monitored sleep apnoea patients with a pre-existing vascular disease over four years in 89 hospitals in Australia, New Zealand, India, the US, Spain and Brazil.

Researchers were looking at whether a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine would prevent major cardiovascular events including heart attack and stroke.

Irishman David Cahoon emigrated to Australia more than a decade ago after undergoing heart bypass surgery in the UK in 1994.

"I've always been a terrible snorer," Mr Cahoon told the ABC.

In England he had been prescribed a rubber mouthpiece designed to hold his jaw forward at night to reduce his snoring, but until he came to Australia he did not realise he had sleep apnoea.

Early testing at the Flinders University Sleep Lab in Adelaide indicated Mr Cahoon's breathing was being interrupted 53 times an hour while he slept.

Most days Mr Cahoon found it difficult to stay awake.

Via: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-08-28/cpap-machines-do-not-reduce-risk-of-heart-attack-or-stroke/7792624

Now that researchers know what a CPAP machine can't do, they can focus on addressing those concerns. There is no doubt that the CPAP improves quality of sleep which in turns leads to a better quality of life. A better quality of life leads to a better outlook for the future and allows us to be more positive and productive in our everyday lives. You never thought that sleep could be so important, did you?

While it may be disappointing to learn about the shortcomings of the CPAP machine, it just gives researchers more drive to find a better solution to such an important problem. Perhaps an addition to the CPAP machine will address the issues with heart disease or maybe a new medication will do the trick. When it comes to research the disappointments are just as important as the discoveries: they can all lead to a solution. You can rest easy knowing that there are people hard at work trying to find out how to keep you healthy and hale, during your states of consciousness and unconsciousness.

Can A CPAP Machine Do It All? was initially seen on TSMR Blog

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Can You Afford to Ignore Your Snoring?

Unless you live comfortably as a member of the 1%, chances are you are attempting to be financially savvy by implementing a budget and adhering to it. The world costs money and we can only work ourselves to death so often before we really do die in our boots.

In order to be ready to put in those long hours either during your commute or at the office you need to make sure you're getting a good night's sleep. There are several variables that will impact your sleep health: your stress level, whether or not you consume drugs or alcohol before sleep and your overall sleep health. Many people have unhealthy relationships with their sleep which impacts their productivity during the day. Do you snore? Are you sure? Maybe no one has ever told you that you snore, but you still wake up feeling tired and like you didn't get a wink at all.

This can be very dangerous for your health. You can face other problems that can end up costing you a lot of money:

ASM (American Academy of Sleep Medicine) declared that 29.4 million of residents in the country are suffering from obstructive sleep apnea. Sadly, only 20% of them know about it. In effect, the country spends $149.6 billion dollars for the treatment and the long term health consequences that results from it. If sleep apnea is not treated, this will significantly reduce the productivity of the individual. Numbers of vehicular accidents will also rise and workplace injuries.

Sleep apnea results to daytime sleepiness once untreated. This can be very risky, especially to drivers since they will be prone to road accidents 5 times more than those who don't have any snoring issues. Hence, they will be more vulnerable to crash on the road.

Sleeping with someone who snores can be very irritating. And you can't just take this for granted since this can be a symptom of a serious medical issue. In U.S., one out of 10 people has this problem which costs the country billions of dollars per year.

'In sleep apnea, the mouth's muscles do not work properly. Hence, every short period of time, the person stops breathing', said Dr. Jennifer Caudle; a family medicine doctor in New Jersey. Sometimes, the person does not even know he has sleep apnea, Caudle said. Not knowing that you have this condition will put you in trouble. Once you stop breathing, you will snore, disrupting your normal sleep pattern. As a result, you will experience sleepiness and fatigue. If left untreated, this results to increased blood pressure, obesity, heart ailment and diabetes.

Via: http://www.newswatchngr.com/snoring-costs-the-country-149-6-billion-dollars-annually-66551

Medical care isn't cheap and the longer you ignore a problem the worse, and more expensive, it will get. There are simple ways to deal with snoring, if that's the affliction you suffer from. First and foremost you should meet with a sleep specialist and get yourself tested. You may need a referral from your primary health care provider. Your healthcare provider can also discuss various options with you. A mouthpiece like the ZQuiet (review here) may help alleviate your snoring if that is your issue.

Maybe you suffer from a sleep disorder because you have a lot of stress in your life. Or maybe you're a bit overweight and need help losing the pounds. Whatever the case may be, speaking to a professional and getting some insight and assistance is the first thing that should be on your list.

Once you've identified the problem, you can work on the solution. The faster you catch it the better off you'll be. This way you can save your hard earned money for something more gratifying, like that deluxe edition convertible or that expensive pair of shoes. Whatever your guilty pleasure is, wouldn't it be nice to have a bit more cash to spend on it?

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Anti-Snoring Solutions Making Big Bucks

When something is unpleasant, there will be someone out there in the world that wants to invent something to make it stop. Snoring has been around for as long as human beings have had mouths, but only in recent years have anti-snoring devices become big players in the market.

There are dozens of appliances and gimmicks to try and now surgery designed to help reduce or eliminate snoring is on the rise. This is good news for those who invest in stocks and also for those who suffer from snoring. The more industries and companies that are out there trying to design and develop something to combat this issue means you will have a lot of options to choose from. This also means a lot of research is going into developing a new and improved device so you no longer have to settle for your grandmothers nasal strips.

Global anti-snoring devices and snoring surgery market is expected to reach USD 1.84 billion by 2024, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. The anti-snoring devices and snoring surgery market is anticipated to witness a lucrative growth during the period 2016 to 2024. The factors contributing towards the growth of the market are the growing awareness levels about the ill effects of snoring, rising elderly and obese population, the presence of an unexploited consumer base, and the increasing consumption of alcohol and cigarettes. However, factors such as the cost prohibitive nature of the products, limited efficacy of the presently available treatments, and the presence of an unpropitious reimbursement scenario are likely to hinder the growth of the market.

The market is segmented into anti-snoring devices and snoring surgery segments. The anti-snoring devices segment includes oral appliances, nasal devices, position control devices, chin straps, tongue stabilizing devices, and expiratory positive airway pressure therapy devices. The surgery segment includes uvulopalatopharyngoplasty, laser-assisted uvulopalatoplasty, radiofrequency ablation, sclerotherapy, pillar procedure, and others. North America and Europe are the major shareholders of this industry due mainly to the increasing awareness associated with available treatment options and the eventual rise in popularity and adoption of these products. The Asia Pacific region is expected to witness high growth as a consequence of the untapped population base characterized with a snoring condition, higher levels of awareness regarding the effects of snoring, and the presence of well-established players in the sector.

[...]
Further key findings from the study suggest:

• North America is estimated to lead the industry with the largest market share in 2015.This growth is attributed to the rapidly increasing popularity and the resultant high market penetration of such treatment devices. Asia Pacific is expected to exhibit the highest growth rate owing to the large untreated population and the rising awareness levels with regard to treatment options and the notorious health consequences associated with this condition.
• In surgery, somnoplasty is estimated to be the fastest growing segment due largely to factors, such as low cost, reduced surgical trauma, less invasive, and chances of fewer complications in comparison to the traditional surgery procedures.

Via: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/anti-snoring-devices-and-snoring-surgery-market-worth-18-billion-by-2024-grand-view-research-inc-588810781.html

If you've been suffering from snoring and have tried a lot of what's out there, you may not have to wait too long before something new comes into your view. If the market increases like the article above says, the chances of a surefire solution to such an annoying problem can't be far behind.

In the meantime, by far the most effective snoring solution on the market happens to be here. Not only is the GMSS a leader in its class; it is also practically the only widely available TSD mouthpiece out there. You'll probably want to look at this solution first before you try anything else.

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