Power Napping: 6 Steps to a Great Nap

The concept of napping is a tricky thing. Some people find napping to be a waste of time. Others see it as counterproductive since long naps could be the reason we can’t fall asleep at night. However, we find that napping, when done right, can be that extra oomph to becoming more productive and creative. Power naps can restore wakefulness and fight fatigue so that you are less lethargic after waking up. Those several minutes of shut-eye can help with your memory, cognitive function, and motivation so that you can be the best worker you can be. But all of this can be possible under one condition: You nap the right way.

One of the first steps to taking a great power nap is to make your napping environment as dark as possible. Since it’s unnatural to sleep in the middle of the day, it’s best to turn off the lights, close the blinds, or even wear a sleeping mask.

Another thing to do is to make sure it’s as quiet as possible. Distracting sounds like traffic from the street or office talk from down the hall can keep you from dozing off. If ear plugs don’t work for you, then try listening to some relaxing music or even investing in a white noise machine to drown out the noise of a busy day.

Not only should you quiet your surroundings, but you should quiet your mind as well. Racing thoughts will definitely keep you from dozing off. We know this sounds really difficult, but try not to think of anything. Just calm your mind and let your thoughts take you to a peaceful slumber.

Something that might be on your mind and keeping you from sleeping is guilt. We know it can feel odd and just plain wrong to take a break for yourself to sleep in the middle of the day, but just think of these fifteen minutes as an investment rather than a waste of time. Your abilities to be even more productive post-nap are certainly worth the sacrificed fifteen minutes of power napping.

We’d like to stress that this should be a power nap. This nap should be short, quick, and to the point! Be sure not to start a full cycle of sleep. This will leave you feeling even groggier when you wake up hours later. These long and lingering naps are what we find to be counterproductive. Keep the power nap short and sweet. Fifteen to twenty minutes should do the trick!

Since this is such a short nap, we recommend that you consume caffeine right before. I know, I know. Sounds crazy, right? Well, a cup of coffee will put some soothing warmth in your belly that will make it so much easier to drift off, and the caffeine will start working around the time when you wake up. A cup of coffee will help you doze off and then give you more energy and mental focus when the time comes.

We hope you found these tips useful and helpful! We all need at least fifteen minutes of “me-time” at some point during the day. Why not let it be the investment of power napping? Happy napping!

 

The Link between Sleep Apnea & Diabetes

As many of you may know, sleep apnea is known to cause fragmented sleep and intermittent hypoxia, otherwise known as moments of oxygen starvation. Researchers are now telling us that these symptoms of sleep apnea are associated with the development of Type 2 diabetes and heart disease—among other things…

A professor at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore states that seventy to eighty percent of patients with Type 2 diabetes are also victims of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). This revelation can be explained by the fact that the on-and-off breathing from apneas and hypopneas not only starves the sleeper of oxygen, but it also places stress on their metabolic balance. This imbalance can stimulate the production of excessive adrenaline which can increase their resistance to insulin. Diabetes is then encouraged to advance.

Sleep apnea has a link not just with diabetes, but cancer too. Those moments of intermittent hypoxia—when your body is literally starved of the oxygen it needs multiple times every night—can set off a cellular process, otherwise known as mitochondrial dysfunction, which is significant in the onset of cancer. In other words, the lack of oxygen your body gets because of sleep apnea could eventually lead to cancer.

It’s no secret that OSA must be successfully treated not just for healthy energy levels and quality of sleep, but for the patient’s long term health as well. Sleep apnea is linked to so many more complications like heart disease, heart failure, a rise in blood pressure, and even stroke. If you or someone you love has sleep apnea, be sure to get the proper treatment right away in order to avoid any long term health effects.

Sleep Apnea & 50% of Women

If you’ve been keeping up with our blog, you know that we discussed that sleep apnea, previously thought to be just the men’s problem, actually affects women too. (For those of you lost and curious, here’s the link to our post: https://sleepbusiness.wordpress.com/2012/08/23/sleep-apnea-does-not-discriminate/) Well, it turns out that not only does sleep apnea occur in women, but it occurs in a whopping fifty percent of women too!

A new Swedish study of 400 women between the ages of twenty and seventy recently came out with its startling results. Funded by the Swedish Heart Lung Foundation, this study determined that half of the women had mild-to-severe sleep apnea. Four hundred women were chosen from a larger random population sample of 10,000 and were given overnight sleep tests. They answered a questionnaire and were monitored while they slept with sensors attached to their bodies. These sensors measured their heart rate, their eye and leg movements, their blood oxygen levels, their airflow, and even their brain waves. Needless to say, they were monitored very closely for more accurate results.

Researchers found that half of the women had mild-to-severe sleep apnea. In addition, half of the subjects experienced at least five episodes an hour of not breathing for longer than ten seconds, which is the minimum definition of sleep apnea. This disruption of breathing was then followed by a significant drop in blood oxygen levels. In the women who had hypertension or who were obese, researchers found that the numbers for sleep apnea were even higher—eighty to eighty-four percent! This is because hypertension and obesity are two known risk factors for sleep apnea.

It turns out that age also plays a role. The team found that sleep apnea is more common in older age groups. Of the women who were ages twenty to forty-four, one-fourth of them had sleep apnea. Fifty-six percent of women ages forty-five to fifty-four had sleep apnea. And of the women ages fifty-five to seventy, an alarming seventy-five percent of them had sleep apnea.

So what’s the point of all of these statistics? Why do we care? Well, we care because it’s been said that mild sleep apnea, although not as severe, does not go away—it just gets worse over time. So even though it may be mild and manageable now, it’s only bound to get worse. In addition, sleep apnea has been tied to greater consequences such as a higher risk of stroke, heart attack, and even early death. Not only that, but women who have sleep apnea are more likely to develop memory problems and even dementia than women who sleep soundly every night. So you see, it doesn’t just stop at a lack of sleep. No, so many more things, worse things, can come out of this.

 

Teens & Sleep Disorders

The scariest thing about sleep disorders could be that so many victims go undiagnosed. Parents, we just want the best for our children, right? Well, listen up because this could be your teen that we’re talking about. If your teenager has a hard time falling asleep at night, if it’s a battle to get them out of bed every morning, or if they’re sleepy throughout the day, they could be displaying a pattern of disturbed sleep. Your teen could be diagnosed with sleep disorders like narcolepsy, insomnia, restless leg syndrome (RLS), sleep apnea, and nocturnal enuresis, or bed wetting. The significance of this lies in the fact that this pattern of disturbed sleep could be an early warning sign of even greater problems to come.

Not to mention all of the complications that go hand-in-hand with a lack of sleep! A sleepy teenager is more likely to experience problems with cognitive function. This could lead to greater problems in the future such as the development of learning disabilities, memory impairment, personality changes and depression, daytime sleepiness, mood swings, drowsy driving, poor grades, and even weight gain. In other words, if your teenager isn’t getting enough sleep because of sleep disorders that should be treated but aren’t, fighting to get them out of bed in the morning could be the least of your worries. A lack of sleep is a problem in itself, but the consequences of sleep deprivation tend to permeate into other aspects of life outside of the bedroom like school, relationships, and even health.

There are several things that you should be on the lookout for in your teens. Most common sleep disorders among teenagers include nocturnal enuresis, otherwise known as bed-wetting, sleep terror, rhythmic disorder (moving in sleep), insomnia (a lack of sleep or a disturbed sleep), teeth grinding (oftentimes due to stress), sleep walking, and sleep talking. If your teen displays any of these common sleep disorders, be sure to get the proper treatment for your loved ones before you start to see the chain reaction of consequences reach outside aspects like grades!

There are even things that you can do to prevent the development of sleep disorders and to get a good night of sleep for your kids. For example, cutting down their consumption of soft drinks, cold coffee, and nighttime snacking of chocolates will encourage a healthy sleep schedule for your teens. In addition, relieving or even reducing stress related to their studies will make getting to sleep a lot easier for them. Make sure that the television and video games are turned off at night too!

When it comes down to it, parents should stay aware and pay attention. Make it a habit to sleep at a proper time, and your children will be more likely to follow your example. Activities like listening to soft music and reading books encourages a healthy sleep pattern a lot more than violent video games and late night sitcoms. We know how important sleep is for a growing body and mind. We also know how much you love your children. We all want what’s best for the next generation!

Sleep Apnea Increases the Risk of Cancer

Recent studies have revealed an association between the severity of sleep apnea and an increase in cancer mortality. In addition, more studies have suggested increasing cancer incidence among sleep apnea patients and that the spread of cancer is associated with sleep apnea. We already knew that sleep apnea is associated with a myriad of other complications like heart disease. But the fact that there’s now a link between this sleep disorder and cancer, one of the most infamous utterances, really packs a punch.

In the first study, more than 5,600 patients from seven sleep clinics in Spain were observed to examine the connection between sleep apnea and cancer mortality. Researchers used the hypoxaemia index to measure the severity of sleep apnea. This index measures the amount of times that a person experiences low levels of oxygen in the blood during the night. (Less than ninety percent oxygen saturation is considered to be low.) The results were unmistakably startling. The subjects who had approximately double the relative risk of cancer mortality were patients with severe sleep apnea. These subjects spent more than fourteen percent of their sleep with low levels of oxygen in the blood.

Interestingly enough, there is a higher association in men and younger people. Another important piece of information to add is that patients who didn’t consistently use their CPAP device—the gold standard of treatment that offers continuous positive airway pressure to help breathe during sleep—had an increased relative risk (odds ratio 2.56) of death from cancer.

In the second study, the findings depicted an increase in all-type cancer incidence in people with severe sleep apnea. Even more startling was the fact that this association stood even when usually-determining factors such as age, sex, weight and other co-morbidities of participants were controlled for.

In a third study, researchers used a mouse model of the skin cancer melanoma to examine tumor spread (metastasis) and to discover if this was associated with sleep apnea. Researchers found that the metastasis was more abundant in mice that intermittently breathed hypoxic air with low levels of oxygen—which is comparable to the effects of sleep apnea—compared to those who breathed normal air during the experiment.

It’s important to note that these findings only prove an association between sleep apnea and cancer—it does not prove that sleep apnea causes cancer. Nonetheless, this discovery brings us one step closer to beating cancer—and we are once again shown how serious and severe the effects of sleep apnea can be to our health and wellbeing.

 

Sleep Tips for College Students

It’s back-to-school season, and the homework assignments and projects are welcoming us all back to another school year. Parents and children know how much time and effort go into making sure this school year is a success from driving the kids to school to staying up late to finish homework. And for those of you in college, the time and effort put into school are multiplied…

I’m sure all of you have heard that a good night’s sleep consists of at least seven to eight hours of sleep. But did you know that adolescents need a seemingly impossible eight to nine hours of continuous sleep a night? The very same adolescents that are pulling all-nighters cramming for their final exams… It’s no wonder that studies suggest that our teens are only getting about six hours of sleep a night. We all know how important sleep is for the body and mind, so we thought that a few tips to improve your college student’s sleeping habits wouldn’t hurt!

 Exercise will not only fight the obesity that plagues our country—and leads to obstructive sleep apnea—but it can promote healthy sleeping habits as well. Just be sure to exercise before the early evening—maybe in the morning to jumpstart your day!

Make sure to avoid caffeine after 2pm. Doing so will help you get to bed more easily without caffeine in your system. Save the coffee for the morning!

Try not to eat or drink late at night. If you can do without the midnight snacking, it’ll be easier to form better sleeping habits. It’s better to eat a lot for breakfast and cut down your meal portions as it gets later in the day. Food is for energy, right? Well, you need as much energy as possible at the start of your day than at the end when you’re trying to go to sleep. You should keep in mind that it’s important not to go to bed hungry either. Moderation is key!

We know that this next one can be tough—especially for you social network enthusiasts out there—but try not to use electronics before you go to bed. Activities like surfing the web and texting will keep the brain stimulated, and that’s not something you want to do when you’re trying to wind down for the night. On top of that, the bright screen of your laptop, phone, or iPod is comparable to a morning walk in the sun when it comes to waking up. We can understand if you need to finish up your essay before you sleep, but if you can help it, try not to use electronics before you sleep!

Your bed should be a place to sleep—and that’s it. Do your studying or TV watching somewhere else. Keeping your bed as a place strictly for sleep, sex, and sickness will make it easier to associate the sheets with sleep instead of other things!

Avoid taking naps, especially after 3pm. If you absolutely need to, your nap should be no longer than twenty minutes. Napping too late for too long could keep you up when it’s bedtime. Besides, if you had a good night of sleep the night before, you shouldn’t need to take naps.

Finally, the most essential part to a healthy sleep routine is a regular schedule. As a college student, you may start your days at different times because of the different classes you take each day. This may sound crazy, but try not to sleep in on days when you don’t have early classes. Waking up around the same time every day will help you create a healthy sleep routine. Don’t forget to set a reasonable bedtime!

We hope that these tips will help make the transition from summer bliss to, well, school a little bit easier. Have a great school year!

The Story on Sleep Apnea & Socioeconomics

Here at N2Sleep, we believe that sleep apnea is a sleep disorder not to be taken lightly, and that everyone struggling with sleep apnea deserves proper treatment. But regarding crucial proper diagnosis and treatment, the reality is that not everyone receives the necessary help to fight this sleep disorder. This is because of the variations in socioeconomic status in society. So how exactly does poverty affect proper diagnosis and treatment?

The less fortunate from economically disadvantaged backgrounds are disproportionately affected by a wide range of serious health problems. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services refers to this inequality as “health disparities.” These disparities include heart disease, diabetes, stroke, cancer, obesity, asthma, HIV/AIDS, pregnancy complications, increased infant mortality, and even dental disease. As you can probably imagine, these health problems reduce their quality of life as well as shorten their lifespan.

As if that weren’t enough, sleep disorders and sleep deficiencies negatively impact more individuals from disadvantaged neighborhoods and of racial and ethnic minorities instead of the more fortunate. Those of color and from poorer neighborhoods are a lot more likely to suffer from sleep deprivation and to have bad sleep quality. These sleep deficiencies most likely lead to higher blood pressure, abnormalities in blood sugar, weight gain and obesity, and many other complications. Why is this? Well, sleep disorders and sleep deficiencies could be from a variety of environmental exposures, occupational or psychosocial conditions, or even from genetics.

Sleep apnea in particular is very common in minority groups and in persons from disadvantaged neighborhoods. As such, the less fortunate have been reported to have noted decreases in the body’s oxygen levels, to experience frequent awakenings during the nights, to suffer from a release of stress hormones, to have spikes in their blood pressure, and to experience an increase in risk for developing even more health complications. These possible developments include high blood pressure, diabetes, early death, heart failure, stroke, abnormal heart rhythms, and even pregnancy complications. While these are problems that are normally associated with adults, it should be noted that children can be affected too. Your kids could fall victim to increases in blood pressure, a predisposition to diabetes, and behavioral problems like attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.

We’ve talked about the results. Now let’s discuss some of the reasons for the sleep disorders and sleep deficiencies that haunt much of society’s poorer neighborhoods. Tobacco smoke in the environment adds on to an increase in exposure to poor air quality. This cause and effect relationship, when paired with more air pollution factors, can result in chronic inflammation of tissues near the throat—which is very closely related to sleep apnea and other sleep disorders. And what’s even worse is that all of this goes under-recognized and inadequately treated in people that need help the most. These are the people that don’t receive regular medical care. Their doctors focus too much on their known medical problems and ask too little about sleep problems. These are the people that don’t know enough to ask for help. In addition, disadvantaged neighborhoods receive inadequate treatment because of their limited resources.

So how can we fix this? How can we change how socioeconomics negatively impacts proper diagnosis and treatment when it comes to disadvantaged neighborhoods? The health of low-income people must be improved. This can happen in a variety of ways, such as improving nutrition, making health care accessible, and even something as simple as improving sleep. This can improve alertness and daytime functioning as well as reduce the risk of developing chronic diseases like diabetes and heart disease. We think it’s safe to say that primary care providers should be able to recognize sleep apnea in their patients, and that it’s a definite must to understand the best way to support treatment in minority and low-income populations.

Sleep & Academic Success

If you’ve gone to high school or college, there’s a very good chance that you’ve been acquainted with all-nighters. We all know how easy it is to succumb to procrastination. Staying up later than normal to get a few more hours of studying in is something that all students do at least once in their academic careers. But does that really do the trick? A new study has pointed out that students are likely to give up sleep in order to study towards the end of high school. Not only that, but this habit becomes more and more prevalent going into college.

This new research, conducted at the University of California, Los Angeles, observed the daily and yearly variation of those students who give up sleep in order to study more. Not surprisingly, researchers stated that skipping out on sleep in order to get a few more hours of studying in is actually counterproductive. The fourteen-day study dealt with 535 students from the ninth grade, the tenth grade, and the twelfth grade from various high schools in the Los Angeles area. The researchers noted that the students were a mix of socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds. Each student from each group of 535 kept a diary to record how long they studied and how long they stepped. In addition, they noted whether or not they experienced two academic problems or something taught in class that they didn’t understand. They also marked if they didn’t do so well on a test, quiz, or homework assignment.

Researchers found that sacrificing sleep to study more was actually connected with doing more poorly on a test, quiz, or homework assignment—not with how well they comprehended things in class, as previously thought. In other words, those extra hours of studying that students take out from sleep are actually what add on to the likelihood of poor performance on academic assignments. The researchers pointed out that these findings are in no way meant to encourage teens to spend less time studying. These results are just supposed to show that students who sacrifice sleep to study more are more likely to have academic problems the next day.

We all know how important academic success is. Luckily, the researchers from this study included a few tips in their report for struggling and sleepy students out there! A few things you can do to make sure you get enough sleep and feel confident with your studying include keeping a consistent study schedule throughout the week, using school time to the fullest, and rather than giving up sleep, you could sacrifice time spent on other less essential activities to study.