Your Kid Is Suffering From Sleep Deprivation - Not Laziness

How many parents dread trying to get their teenager out of bed each morning for school?  Neither alarm clock, music nor clanging of spoons on metal pots seems to make them move an inch.  You have to wonder whether your teen is just trying to avoid going to school or really is that tired.

Even though teens may look like adults, be as tall as the adults and desperately want to act like an adult, their bodies are still developing. As a result, teens need much more sleep than most get.

Long after you go to bed, your teen is watching a video, talking on the phone and instant messaging several friends at once. Unless a parent pulls the plug on late night amusements, many teens are awake well past midnight even though they have to catch the 7:45 AM school bus. That's going full tilt for 14-18 hours a day and trying to get by on six hours or less of sleep!

No wonder high school teachers hate first period because so many students are barely awake. It's tough to teach over the snoring. Or teens show up at school with high caffeine drinks to stay awake. Fact is, there's no substitute for sleep and repeating this sleep deprivation pattern over time is dangerous.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that over 100,000 auto accidents are caused by inattention due to fatigue. More than half of those tiredness related accidents involve teen drivers. You can deny that staying up late is a problem, but poor concentration and slower reflexes prove that you're wrong.

If your teen doesn't get enough sleep, don't be surprised when grades fall. It's not possible to study and retain information when your mind is tired and stressed out. And here's another concern, sleep loss is associated with depression.

Whether your teen isn't sleeping because of staying awake to worry or if the sleep deprivation is altering their self-image, the fact is that teens need eight to nine hours of sleep to be healthy, active and alert.

What can you do to make sure your teen gets a good night sleep? Set rules and keep them. If necessary, take the television and computer out of the teen's room until balance is restored.

Make it a household rule to turn off the television, video games and other electronic stimuli at least thirty minutes before bedtime. Ask your teen to turn off the cell phone at bedtime. If that does not work, take the phone over night. Nothing is going to happen that can't be left in a voice mail and heard the next morning.

Use two clocks without a snooze alarm. If your teen fails to get moving before the second alarm rings, then you do the wake up call. Waking up ten minutes before the bus is no way to start the day.

Teens need to have at least half hour to get up, shower and have a snack, power bar and juice to start the day. Be stubborn in requiring that your teen gets more sleep. If you do, you'll see an improvement in your teen's mood, attitude, grades and alertness.

The Best Sleep Aids Are?

Not getting enough sleep can be detrimental on both your mental and physical well being.  At the very least, you'll feel cranky or like you're in a cloud when you don't get enough sleep.

At its worst, a loss f sleep can begin impairing your physical health. A lack of sleep has been linked to an increased risk of heart disease, depression, obesity, and even cancer! If you want to stay healthy, you'll get plenty of rest.

But what if it doesn't come that easy for you? What if you craw into bed by 8 o'clock and can't drift off to dreamland until five hours later? That happens to many men and women, and if you're one of them, you might want to seek out the best sleeping aids on the market, which are:

"    Sleep Apnea Masks - if you find you're snoring and gasping for breath as you stop breathing during the night, a sleep apnea mask might be the cure for you. These masks force air through your airways, helping you get a good night's rest, but also potentially saving your life.

"    Sleep Mattresses - it might just be a better mattress that you need. Is yours old or outdated? Is it too firm or not firm enough? You might want to invest in a mattress that can help cradle you into a slumber.

"    Sleep Medication - there are a variety of prescribed and over the counter sleeping aids in medicinal form that might help you fall asleep (and stay there) for a full night's duration. Start with an over the counter version and if that's not effective, ask your doctor what prescriptions might be available to help you.

"    Sleeping Hypnosis Aids - hypnosis is used to treat all sorts of disorders, including insomnia. You're not put into a trance where you're out of control, but you do learn how to relax into a state of peace and rest. There are all sorts of do it yourself hypnosis for sleep products on the market if you'd prefer not to see a professional.

"    Sleeping Herbal Solutions - there are many herbs that are known to promote rest and relaxation. It may be as simple as having lavender vapors surrounding you as you try to get into a deep sleep.

Getting a good night's rest is important for you to achieve today. Don't put this off until your brain is in a cloudlike fog where you're not thinking clearly enough to make informed decisions about what treatment is best for you - take it into your hands today and test the various methods mentioned above to see what works best for you.

Sleep Apnea Is More Than Just Snoring - It Can Be Deadly

Sleeping near a person who snores can seriously interrupt sleep. "If only the snoring would stop," you think. Then it does. Peaceful as it is, that's not always a healthy sign. Snoring is related to a condition known as sleep apnea.

If you have sleep apnea, your nighttime breathing is interrupted and doesn't return promptly. Sleep apnea can be a life threatening condition. The airflow into your body is delayed by more than 10 seconds.

That may not sound like much, but it's a serious situation. This breathing interruption can happen up to five times in an hour during sleep.  If you snore loudly and nightly, you're at higher risk for sleep apnea than the occasional snorer.

Other signs of sleep apnea are episodes of daytime fatigue and emotional distress or skill deficits when you're tired. Sleep apnea seems to start most often in middle age and afflicts more men than women.

Risk factors for sleep apnea are:

1.    Overweight by more than 120% of your appropriate body weight

2.    Large neck girth. That's determined by using a tape measure. The danger level is 17" or greater for men and 16" or greater for women.

3.    Hypertension whether treated or untreated by medication

4.    Narrow nasal passages

A medically supervised sleep study is needed to diagnose sleep apnea.  A home monitor can be used for children as well as adults to monitor breathing interruptions.  You have a number of options for treating sleep apnea.

You can be fitted for a dental appliance, an orthodontia device that you wear at night. Basically this appliance changes the tongue placement so that the airway is clear for breathing.

Losing weight is also important to moderating sleep apnea. Along with losing weight, you need to be in an exercise program. Many people report that their sleep apnea completely disappears once they lose weight and get back to a normal, healthy range.

Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) masks are worn over the nose and mouth to force air into the nasal passages in a continuous flow. This may not be the most comfortable way to sleep, but it has been highly effective and most people get used to the machine and rely on it to deliver a good night's sleep.

If all else fails, there are surgical procedures such as widening the palate, restructuring nasal cavities or taking out the tonsils to aid in a sleep apnea disorder.  Make sure you don't ignore your snoring and mistake it as something harmless because if it's sleep apnea, you're putting your life at risk!

Fatigue and Narcolepsy - When Do They Swap Places?

Have you ever felt so tired during the day that you had to pull off the road and take a short nap? That daytime fatigue was probably the result of working late, lack of sleep or stress that interrupts quality slumber.

Once you get some rest, you're fine. But if you have narcolepsy, you can fall asleep during the day without warning.  Even if you get plenty of sleep at night, you still fall asleep during daylight hours.

No matter how you try to fight it or how many triple shot lattes you drink, you can't force yourself to stay awake.  Before being diagnosed with narcolepsy, you were likely the subject of jokes and criticism.

You aren't lazy and you aren't faking. This is a very real medical disorder. If the condition worsens, it can interfere with your job, driving, social life and severely limit your normal activities.

Common symptoms of narcolepsy are:

1.    Falling asleep one or more times during the day, even if you had enough sleep at night.

2.    You suddenly feel like your legs won't support you. The feeling is one of fatigue - not fainting - and you are aware of the weakness that overcomes you

3.    You can't avoid falling asleep even when you're doing things you enjoy like spending time with family and friends, participating in a sport, enjoying a hobby or attending a special event that you really wanted to attend.

Over 200,000 people in the United States alone have been diagnosed with narcolepsy and that's probably a much smaller number than those who are affected and don't know what the problem is.

This occurs equally in men and women, usually starting in adolescence. While there's no medical proof that this condition is genetic, narcolepsy seems to occur in families with 8-12% having at least one close relative with this condition.

The way to find out if you have narcolepsy is with a sleep study and a polysomnogram. These are medical tests that are interpreted by a physician who specializes in sleep disorders.

If you're diagnosed with narcolepsy, you may be given prescription medication. You can also help yourself by making lifestyle changes, such as avoiding stressful activities or working too late before going to bed.

Explain your condition and symptoms to family, friends and supervisor at work. You want people close to you to understand that your daytime sleepiness is not laziness, avoidance or lack of motivation but a medical problem that needs attention.

Exhausted But You Still Can't Sleep?

Toss, turn, yawn, stretch, shift, toss some more - but you just can't get to sleep. When you prepared for bedtime, you were so tired you thought you might fall asleep brushing your teeth.

But the clock face flashes 1 o'clock in the morning and you're still not asleep. If this is a regular problem, you may have insomnia. Your sleep problems may be related to other medical conditions.

Breathing problems, back or leg pain, acid reflux and indigestion can disturb the body in ways that make sleep difficult no matter how tired you are.  Emotional problems can also mess with your sleep.

If you're feeling depressed, anxious or having obsessive thoughts, your mind just doesn't shut down enough to allow sleep. If you experience a major loss, during the grieving period, sleep can be complicated.

Lifestyle changes can also cause sleep interruptions. Starting a new job with different hours that you are use can take time to adjust your sleep cycle. Staying up too late while watching television or surfing the Internet doesn't give your body enough time to wind down from the day for effective sleep.

Constant stress at work or school that you just can't let go of will definitely make a good night's sleep elusive.  Trying to drown your frustrations in alcohol, caffeine, or through smoking will only cause more sleep interruption problems.

If you're tired of being tired all the time, here's what you can do to overcome insomnia:

1.    Reset your body clock by getting on a reasonable schedule. Don't try to exhaust yourself with exercise, work or activity as a way to fall asleep. You already know that doesn't work. Write down a schedule that allows an hour to prepare for sleep. Take a warm shower, turn off the TV and electronic communications and turn on some calming music (an instrumental CD, not the radio). Stretch and slide into bed at the time scheduled.
2.    Don't focus on going to sleep, think about relaxation. Visualize a pleasant, satisfying, relaxing place and see yourself in that place.
3.    Gradually turn down the lights. This gives your body time to wind down better than going from fully lit room and monitor screen to dark room.
4.    As you are resetting the sleep cycle and find yourself getting tired too early, increase your light exposure. Go outdoors in the sunshine or turn up the light in the room. The body responds to light and dark cues for sleep.
5.    Cease any work or stressful activity at least three hours before bedtime. Let go the frustrations and allow your mind to focus on less intense things.

When insomnia can't be managed by another other means or interferes too much with normal activities, you may need to get prescription medication. Whatever you do, don't self medicate with over-the-counter sleep aids at night and wake-up pills during the day. That makes the problem worse. Don't take any sleep medications unless monitored by a physician. You want to cure insomnia not acquire a drug problem.