healthy living tips by Dr.Vina

According to statistics from Mayo Clinic, as many as one in 10 Americans have chronic insomnia, and at least one in four has difficulty sleeping sometimes. In general there are three types of insomnia, ordered from the lightest to the most serious:

Transient (short term) insomnia lasts from one night to a few weeks. Nearly everyone occasionally suffers from transient insomnia due specific and temporary problems (such as anxiety, stress or as simple as jet lag). If this form of insomnia is prolonged, the insomnia is classified as intermittent (on-and-off).

Acute insomnia is the inability to have a consistent quality sleep pattern for a period of between 3 weeks to 6 months.

Chronic (on-going) insomnia is regarded as the most severe. It persists almost nightly for at least a month.

Photo by Sunchasers

Sleep is one of the most basic and important human needs. Lack of quality sleep for a long period of time can seriously degrade our health and sense of well-being. To maintain our health stamina, therefore it is very important to have enough quality sleep everyday.
In practice, however, virtually everyone of us has occasional sleepless nights due to a number of reasons: stress due to chasing the deadline, drinking too much coffee or alcohol, heartburn or anxiety. The unhandled sleepless nights can lead to insomnia which is generally defined as a sleep disturbance characterized by an inability to sleep and/or inability to remain asleep for a reasonable period.

To prevent or otherwise curb insomnia, it is important to know ahead of time of its signs and symptoms before it is getting worse. When you experience one or more of the following symptoms for a reasonable period of time, seek help from or consult your doctor:

• Feeling edgy or restless when trying to fall asleep
• Prolonged wakefulness after a short sleep
• Sporadic periods of sleeplessness, alternating with periods of sleepiness at inconvenient times or excessive sleep
• Falling asleep until very late at night or even early morning (3 am) followed by nightmares

Remember that lack of quality sleep can affect not only your mood and energy level, but also your health as sleep helps foster your immune system. Some reasonable strategies implemented into your daily routines can substantially improve your sleep quality.

Credit: Photo by Matyas Huszar

Background. Basically stress can be viewed as our body' s response to defend itself. This is useful in many emergency situations (getting out of fire, wild animals or other external threats). However it cause physical syndrome if it happens for too long. In addition, stress is also thought by scientist to worsen auto-immune disease by affecting two glands in the brain -the hypothalamus and the pituitary.

Sources. Any kind of changes in your life can be a source of stress including the positive one like job promotion. Stressor is also unique to each personmeaning that what is stressful to you might not affect other people. Common source of stress includes: death of spouse or family members, loss of job, illness, injury, financial problem, moving, and having a baby. Another source of stress is major depression itself, which has been found to raise the level of stress hormones such as cortisol, with their subsequent effects on the hippocampus and other parts of the brain.

Symptoms. Our body reacts naturally to any stressor. The symptoms that we can feel when we are stressed out are:

• Headaches
  
• High blood pressure
• Lack of sleep or insomnia
  
• Problems with relationships
• Shortness of breath
  
• Stiff neck
  
• Stomach upset
• Weight loss or gain
  
• Panic and anxiety
  
• Back pain
  
• Constipation or diarrhea
  
• Depression
  
• Fatigue
  

Treatment. Researchers at Uni Chicago have identified stress as the prime
force that bends a person's brain toward violence and aggression. The good news
is that there are effective treatments today both pharmacological and
psychological, not only for people with depression but also for those with many
other disorders.

Prevention. To cope better with the stress, maintain positive attitude towards your life in general. The way you view and interpret changes in your life greatly affects your stamina in dealing with the stress. Finally, I save the best for last. To protect yourself from your daily stressors, eat good and balanced food and exercise regularly 3-4 times a week. Food and exercise can do wonders to maintain your wellness and sense of well-being.