Sleep Well

The other day I read about yet another new diet — this one an anti-carb plan imported from France.  Do you ever feel like everywhere you look there’s some new fad diet?  Some claim you should only eat protein, others that you should only eat raw greens, and still others think you should only consume liquids.  Most of these diet plans are ineffective (and some of them seem downright dangerous), and they all overlook one important aspect that can affect what and how much we eat: sleep. (more…)

There’s been a lot in the news lately about people who work the late shift and have trouble staying awake, in particular about air traffic controllers.  One group of people who seem to have developed a system to avoid the same problems of falling asleep on the job, even in the face of extreme sleep deprivation: nurses. (more…)

Lack of sleep can make doing almost everything we need to do much more difficult.  Trying to do a job while sleep deprived often leads to poor job performance, something we all want to avoid.  This can be particularly problematic for those who make important and far-reaching decisions about the lives of others, such as politicians and ER doctors, to name a few. (more…)

Do you think you can function on four hours of sleep?  What about if you got four hours for two nights?  What if you only got four hours of sleep every night for a week — do you think you could function normally then?

The answer for almost all of us is no.  Most of us need about 6-8 hours of sleep a night –  the exact number is different for each us.  While we may claim that we can function on 5 or so hours of sleep, the truth of the matter is that if you’re only getting 5 hours of sleep each night, you are very, very sleep deprived. (more…)

If you’re one of the 18 million Americans who suffer from Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA), you know that one of the most helpful forms of treatment is the CPAP machine.  People with OSA  stop breathing repeatedly during their sleep, often for a minute or longer, and as many as hundreds of times during a single night.  CPAP stands for Continuous Positive Airway Pressure. Basically, CPAP works like a vacuum cleaner in reverse by pushing air down a person’s throat while they are sleeping to help keep their airway open, so breathing is possible.

Left untreated, sufferers of sleep apnea suffer from poor quality sleep and chronic sleep deprivation, leading to health issues that can be life-threatening: weight gain, diabetes, and cardiovascular problems. The benefits of CPAP use are pretty clear. (more…)

One of the strangest and most interesting things about sleep is dreaming.   Dreams are a very complex phenomenon, and while some may reflect what we are worrying or thinking about during the day, some are just plain weird.  The most memorable and emotionally powerful dreams happen during the REM (rapid-eye movement) phase of sleep, which is the stage of sleep when our brains are most similar to a wakeful state.

Dreams can tell us a lot about ourselves — including, perhaps, whether we are likely to develop Parkinson’s disease.  Parkinson’s is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system best known for the shaking or tremors that often accompanies it. It is an incurable, chronic disease and gradually affects the muscles and mental capacity, seriously afflicting the lives of the patient and his or her immediate relatives.  In popular culture, Parkinson’s is well associated with Michael J. Fox, who suffers from the disease and is one of the most public and vocal figures promoting research and better treatments. (more…)

We make hundreds, even thousands of decisions every day.  Some are easy — like what to have for breakfast, or what to wear to work; some are much harder — like how to spend money or educate our children.  We know that without a good night’s sleep making those tough decisions is even more difficult, though everyone from business executives to politicians often makes important decisions on too little sleep. (more…)

Photo: iStockphoto

The routine of all-nighters is familiar to anyone through their own experiences in college or from TV and movies: it’s the night before a big test, you realize you’ve never taken the plastic off the textbook, and you have nine hours to stay up all night and learn everything. Or maybe you need to stay up all night for a presentation at work?

Sounds fun, right?  It turns out, however, that you may have been better off just going to sleep. (more…)

Have you ever noticed that in  many iPad and tablet ads people have their feet up while they use their devices? The idea must be that the product is so easy, so relaxing, you could even use it in bed.

People love to use their electronic devices in the bedroom. And who can blame them, when we have so many small gadgets that offer us news articles, e-books, and games in one tiny package? If you use your smartphone as an alarm clock, chances are high you’re literally going to bed with some form of electronic device. You aren’t alone. (more…)

Our guest blogger is Dr. Wes Burgess, a specialist in evaluating and treating depression, bipolar disorder, ADHD, and panic disorder. Dr. Burgess is the author of The Depression Answerbook, The Bipolar Handbook, The Bipolar Handbook for Children, Teens, and Families, and Manual del Trastorno Bipolar. He is a practicing psychiatrist in Los Angeles.

As a psychiatrist, one of the most common questions I am asked by my patients, friends, and colleagues is, “Wes, what do my dreams mean?” The simple answer is, “Probably not what you think!” (more…)