Dr. Curtis McElroy

Category: Sleep Disorders

  • Migraines and Insomnia: Improving Your Sleep

    Migraines and Insomnia: Improving Your Sleep

    Getting a good night’s sleep can be tricky. Your brain’s working overtime all day long and getting it to rest down for the night is the last thing it wants to do. The problem with not getting enough sleep is that it has a negative effect on practically every aspect of your life. Lack of sleep doesn’t allow your brain to work to its maximum potential.

    You’ll find it harder to focus and concentrate and your memory will start to lag. It also affects your mood by making you react negatively and more spontaneously without thinking things through first. In addition, studies have shown that getting too little sleep leads to weight gain. To top it off, it triggers migraines, which can turn your day into one big, pounding mess.

    In addition, it’s a well-known fact that migraines and the quality of your sleep are part and parcel of the same package, a little like the chicken and the egg. They hit 50% of the time between 4 – 9 am and are more common among those who suffer from sleep disorders, such as insomnia.

    Insomnia is defined as having trouble falling asleep or staying asleep for more than 5-6 hours. It’s one of the main reasons behind migraines because it disrupts your natural sleep rhythms, and a result, you’re stuck with throbbing, pounding, sometimes debilitating, headaches.

    Insomnia is also a trigger for mood swings, depression, and anxiety, which all can be contributing factors to migraine headaches. Moreover, it decreases daily functioning and impairs your quality of life.

    Read on to find out how you to get your circadian rhythm back in order and keep it that way to enjoy migraine-free, healthier, happier days.

    Try to go to bed at the same time each day, and get 7-8 hours of sleep per night. This allows you to get a regularly scheduled sleep schedule. The scientific reason behind it is that we go through four main stages of sleep; the deepest and most beneficial are the third and fourth stages, which are at their most powerful just right before we wake up.

    These stages are crucial for the production of dopamine and serotonin; the “feel good” hormones produced by your brain, and anytime their levels decrease, sleep problems arise as well as other disorders.

    1. Eliminate factors that sabotage your sleep.

    • Exercising late in the day
    • Eating protein at night

    • Going to bed hungry can keep you awake because the hormone that’s responsible for your hunger pangs makes your brain alert to get your digestive system ready for food. If that’s the case, eating a small snack will suffice to end your hunger pangs without making you feel too full.

    • Hidden sources of caffeine, like medications or drinks, can prevent you from getting enough sleep. If you take them close to bedtime, they can interfere with your sleep cycle.

    • Too much sleep can also trigger migraines. Sleeping in on the weekends and taking long naps will wreak havoc on your night’s sleep.

    2. Increase your quality of sleep naturally without medication.

    • Put your phone on silent an hour before your bedtime. This will help put distractions at a minimum.

    • Dim the lights in your bedroom and turn off the TV. Bright lights alert your brain and make it think it’s daylight, instead of getting it to wind down and get into sleep mode.

    • Lower the temperature on your thermostat. It’s been proven that the best temperature for optimal sleep should be around 60 to 68 degrees Fahrenheit. Just make sure you keep your hands and feet warm, even if it’s with just a sheet because these areas are the most problematic for those suffering from migraines and insomnia. Also, make sure your pajamas are made from natural material, like cotton or silk, or flannel in the winter – and doesn’t stick to your body as you sleep.

    3. Hydrate adequately throughout the day. Studies show that dehydration increases the risk of migraines, and is an unavoidable trigger. A mere 1.4% of fluid loss can result in headaches and difficulty concentrating.

    4. Make it a point to exercise regularly, preferably in the morning, which can help improve your mental abilities and increase your focus. It also boosts the level of endorphins in your system, “feel good” chemical messages in the brain known to decrease stress levels as well as reduce the effects of painful headaches. Getting a good workout also, helps get your sleep cycle back in order so you can wake up and go to sleep at regular times, and increase the amount of quality sleep during the night.

     

  • The Affects Of Sleep On The Immune System

    How Sleep Affects The Immune System

    Sleep is a vital part of our lives. We need our sleep in order to recharge our energy, set down our memory, and increase the function of the immune system. Inadequate sleep can lead to sleep deprivation which can increase your risk of infection.

    While some believe that not getting enough sleep and getting sick is just an old wives’ tale and yet there have been research studies showing that this is the case. Up to 70 million US adults don’t get enough sleep and it can affect the ability of the immune system to be ready to attack pathogens.

    Understanding the Connection

    A lack of sleep has been linked by research to numerous physical and mental health conditions, including those related to a poor immune system. Lacking sleep affects the ability of the immune system to protect people from getting flu, colds, and other infectious diseases.

    The immune system is a complicated assortment of different kinds of cells and proteins that have as their goal the elimination of foreign substances, such as cold viruses and flu viruses. There have been many research studies indicating that the T cells of the immune system are reduced when we don’t get enough sleep. There is also a risk of increasing the inflammatory cytokines in our system, which results in an increased risk of getting an infectious disease.

    This means that not getting enough sleep can suppress the immune function. You become more susceptible to all kinds of bacterial and viral infections.

    Sleep Deprivation and Fever

    It turns out that a lack of sleep affects more than just our ability to fight off colds and the flu. It also influences the way the body responds to these illnesses once we get them. Normally, when we get an infectious disease, we develop a fever, which is helpful in killing off the pathogens. When we get plenty of sleep, our fever response is better. Fevers tend to be worse at night but if we don’t sleep, we can’t mount the kind of fever necessary to fight off infections and the infections can be more serious.

    Vaccines and Sleep Deprivation

    There have been research studies indicating that we don’t respond the way we are supposed to when we get a vaccine against the influenza virus. We develop fewer antibodies when we get a vaccine if we don’t get enough sleep. It also takes longer for the body to react to the immunizations we are given. This leads to an increase in susceptibility to getting the flu, even if we have been properly vaccinated.

    Is Sleep Deprivation a Life or Death Problem?

    It appears that a lack of sleep influences the way we fight off many different kinds of health problems.

    There is research to suggest that those who are sleep deprived have an increased risk of death due to heart disease. The less we sleep, the higher are the levels of C reactive protein in the body. C reactive protein is one of the body’s markers for inflammation and inflammation can lead to getting a heart attack, stroke, or peripheral vascular disease.

    Research also tells us that people who do not sleep have a greater risk of death from all different types of disease. Those who get at least seven hours of sleep per night have the greatest chance for survival while those who get six hours or less of sleep per night suffer from increased mortality.

    How much sleep is necessary?

    Some people function okay if they don’t get enough sleep while others need a full seven to nine hours of sleep at night to have an adequate immune system. If you are prone to getting infections, look into the quality and quantity of sleep you are getting, as it may be a major factor into why you are getting sick all the time.

    Getting enough sleep

    The following are some good sleep hygiene tips you should consider adopting:

    • Not exercising right before sleep
    • Going to sleep and waking up at the same time every day
    • Not eating a big meal before sleeping
    • Avoiding alcohol before sleeping
    • Keeping the room quiet and dark
    • Avoiding stimulants before bed

    The more you can do to get a good night’s sleep, the better your immune system will function, and the less likely you will be to come down with an infectious disease.

  • Improving Heart Health By Getting The Right Amount Of Sleep

    Get the Right Amount of Sleep to Help Your Heart

    Watching what you eat and making sure you get plenty of exercise are both great health habits to have. But all your hard work can be undone if you don’t get the amount of sleep that you need.

    In fact, studies have shown that people who don’t get enough sleep have the same potential health risks as someone who doesn’t follow a healthy diet or exercise, or as someone who is obese.

    When you don’t get enough sleep, your organs are affected, including your heart. You can’t have a fully healthy heart if you don’t get enough sleep every night. Many people associate cardiovascular disease with genetics, smoking, diabetes, or a diet rich in red meat.

    Surprisingly enough, without getting the sleep your body needs, you’re at risk for cardiovascular disease and it doesn’t matter how old you are, whether you’re at a good weight for your body, or even whether or not you have bad habits that ordinarily contribute to poor heart health such as smoking.

    To lessen your chance of developing heart related disease, you can make sure you get at least seven hours of sleep every night. Studies have shown that not getting enough sleep can cause the health issues that you do have to worsen.

    Someone with diabetes may experience trouble keeping his or her levels within range. That in turn, can raise the risk of a heart attack or stroke. Not getting enough sleep changes the way that your body functions and causes elevated blood pressure and even widespread inflammation.

    You might think that in order to make sure you get enough sleep, that sleeping ten to twelve hours or more would be even better than getting at least seven. But that’s not necessarily true.

    When you sleep too long, you can raise your risk of heart related health problems. If you’re a young adult or adult, you need at least seven hours sleep but not more than nine.

    If you’re a senior citizen, then you need between seven to eight hours of sleep. The amount of sleep that teenagers need is different. Because their bodies and brains are still developing, they need between eight to ten hours up to eighteen years of age.

    Younger children between six and preteen need at least nine but not more than eleven. Before they start school, children should have between ten and thirteen. Toddlers need at least eleven but it’s normal for them to sleep as much as fourteen hours.

    Babies should sleep between twelve and fifteen hours depending on their age. One study showed that people who either didn’t get enough sleep or slept too much had greater odds of dying from heart attacks or heart failure.

    There are many reasons why many people don’t get the right amount of sleep. While some of it can be due to an underlying health problem such as sleep apnea, more often than not, the cause is external.

    One reason many people have trouble sleeping is because it’s not quiet enough. Noise can make it difficult to go to sleep and stay asleep. You might have tried various ways to block out the noise or ignore it, but you just couldn’t get a good night’s rest.

    What you need to help get rid of the noise so that you can sleep is a white noise machine.

    One of the best ones on the market is the HoMedics White Noise Machine. This machine lets you select up to six different soothing sounds for your sleep.

    You can pick rain, the sound of a brook, thunder, white noise, summer night or the ocean. The way that it works is that the sounds block noise based on frequency. The machine masks the noise in the frequencies that would normally jerk you out of sleep.

    Certain little and big noises alike wake you up because the frequency level of what you hear either goes up high or it drops down low. It’s the difference that your ears are attuned to.

    The machine keeps the sounds you’ll listen to at a steady frequency so all you hear is the pleasant, monotonous sound which works to relax you as well as block noise. You can use the machine during the day time as well if you need to concentrate on something and you can’t.

    Sounds work in the background to help your brain focus on whatever task it is that you’re doing. Most people save it for sleep because it does trigger relaxation and helps the body to get ready to sleep.

    You can even set this for how long you’d like it to play. All you have to do is engage the auto-off timer. When you choose this feature, you can pick whether you want it to play for just fifteen minutes or for half an hour.

    It also has the hour long choice. Not only is it useful for when you want to sleep through the night, but the sound machine is also great to use when you just want to take a nap and need to block out sounds.

    You have the option of listening to the sounds at the volume that’s right for you thanks to the adjustable sound control. So if there’s noise coming from next door neighbors or from others in your home, you can turn up the machine to block that out.

    While the machine is perfect for home use, you can take it with you on the go. It’s sized small enough to slip right into a corner of the suitcase and the design is tough enough to withstand travel.

    You can use the cord and play it using electricity or you can use batteries. If you choose the battery option, you’ll need to make sure you get a supply of 4 AA batteries to keep it operating.

Copyright @ 2017 DrCurtisMcElroy