Whether you know it or not, caffeine is a colorless and flavourless addictive drug that is found in many of the foods and drinks that we all consume. It is also found in a number of medicines where it is useful as a cardiac stimulant and as a mild diuretic to increase urine production. Foods and drinks such as coffee, tea, chocolate, cocoa and colas all contain caffeine, which can be the cause of insomnia and sleep deprivation.
Sleep is essential for the human body to function properly and lack of sleep can begin affecting daily functions and the thought process. For some folks sleep is a time to dread because they never feel rested. From sleep apnea, to snoring, to anxiety disorders, these conditions can disrupt your much-needed rest to the point where you cannot function in your daily life. Other things that can prevent you from getting a good nights sleep include where and how you sleep. Specifically, the condition of your bed, mattress and even the bed linen can all contribute to how well you sleep and how you feel when you wake up.
When you close your eyes and drop off to sleep, do you really know what is going on inside your body? Although you may think that you are at rest, not every part of your body is doing the same. For instance, the brain is sending out all sorts of signals, many of which are controlling the various stages of sleep you will be going through.
How much sleep any one person needs really depends on age and state of health. For most people, how restful you feel after a night’s sleep defines how your demeanor will be for the following day. Everybody's sleep patterns are different, so one person may need eight to ten hours of continuous sleep to feel rested while another might only need about six hours. The quality of sleep is what really counts and although you may say that you get eight to ten hours of sleep a night, quantity does not account for much if the quality of sleep is not so good.
Hands up if you have ever suffered from the winter blues. You know the feeling when you wake and it is dark - you go to work or school in the dark and then you come home and it is dark again. Add to this the cold weather and grey gloomy skies, it is no wonder that around ten million folks in the US alone suffer from the symptoms of winter depression otherwise known as Seasonal Affective Disorder or SAD during the winter months.
Although you may not realise it, the environment in which you sleep can make a big difference in the actual quality of sleep that you get each night. Things such as room temperature, noise and light levels and even your bed mattress can have a profound effect on the quality of sleep that you experience. Here are some tips on how to sleep soundly and improve sleep quality.
A burning chest pain characterizes gastro esophageal reflux or GERD, also known as heartburn. Another typical symptom is a sensation of food being regurgitated back into the mouth with a sour acidic taste. Asthmatic breathing, coughing and hoarseness can also accompany this disorder. Occasionally, gastro esophageal reflux can mimic the symptoms of a heart attack, and is often mistaken for one hence the reason for the common heartburn name. This disorder is caused by acid "backing up" into the esophagus during sleep, a condition that can be treated with either medication or natural remedies.
Studies have shown that folks can live longer without food than they can without sleep. Shakespeare commented on the restorative nature of sleep calling it "nature's soft nurse". As well as humans, all mammals, reptiles, and birds also need to sleep but why do we need to sleep. Even though the exact reasons why sleep is important remain a mystery, we do know that during sleep many of the body's major organ and regulatory systems continue to work actively. Some parts of the brain actually increase their activity dramatically, and the body produces more of certain hormones.