Insomnia Help 4 Friends: March 2024

Sunday 31 March 2024

Running is a miracle cure for insomnia

From e.vnexpress.net

Seven years ago, following a doctor's advice to start running, I had only one wish which was to cure the insomnia that had plagued me for six years since giving birth in 2011.The initial steps weren't easy as chronic insomnia had weakened me. For the first eight weeks, I could only walk and run for 30-40 minutes, which was a significant effort.

Back then, my dream was simply to run a continuous 5 km to improve my sleep and health. But that distance seemed unreachable as I could only run 300-400 m at a time. It took two months of waking up at 4:30 a.m. and persisting with short runs before I could finally run 4.7 km around the HCMC's Independence Palace. Along with my running progress, my sleep gradually became more stable and deeper. Feeling a marked improvement in health was the motivation I needed to keep running. After six months of training, I managed to run 10 km, a major accomplishment for me. Being part of a running community, I learned that many runners can achieve 10 km in just one or two weeks. Yet for others like me, each new distance milestone requires a lot of effort, endurance, patience and determination.

In 2017, when running wasn't as popular as it is now, my pursuit of 21 km and then 42 km seemed strange to family and friends. My mother, despite loving exercise, always worried about me, and my father, a doctor, believed running too much wasn't good for joints and overall health.

Therefore, each new milestone I reached was both a joy and a concern for my parents. They were happy to see their daughter healthy but worried I might overdo it, become too skinny or ruin my skin. But I knew my body well and how it adapted to daily, monthly and yearly training.

Kacey Ngo during a marathon in Ho Chi Minh City in 2023. Photo by Kacey Ngo

After seven years, running became a "miracle cure," almost completely curing my insomnia. My body became firmer, healthier and more youthful. Particularly during times of sorrow or fatigue, a few running laps would lighten my mood and dispel negativity.

Participating in races and interacting with other runners, I've heard many health-related stories about the benefits of running. Everyone seemed to gain something positive from running. One impressive story was about a man who overcame hepatitis B thanks to running. Before running, he weighed 85 kg with a severely inflamed and fatty liver, leading to a weak body, difficulty walking and shortness of breath. He doubted he could fight the disease, but after over a year of persistent running, he completely recovered and lost 10 kg.

In one fun run, I witnessed him finish 21 km in nearly three hours. While everyone else sat down to eat and suggested he should rest, he kept going and was determined to complete his run.

"Running is so miraculous, I will stick with it for life," he said to me with a beaming, sweat-drenched smile.

Even in my own family, more members have taken up running. My two sisters and brothers-in-law have completed 21 km and aim for 42 km. Seeing tracklogs and witnessing positive physical transformations and health improvements among friends and family on social media, I feel validated in my choice to start running seven years ago.

https://e.vnexpress.net/news/marathon/running-is-a-miracle-cure-for-insomnia-4726520.html

Wednesday 27 March 2024

Sleep Coaching vs. Sleep Therapy: What's the Difference?

From menshealth.com

Where to get a little extra help in feeling more rested

TOSSING AND TURNING because of stress, bad dreams, and 2 a.m. bathroom breaks are all things that keep you from getting a good night's sleep. So can snoring, having irregular breathing patterns, or feeling like you need to move as soon as you doze off. When you're going through life bleary eyed, you might seek out a sleep coach to help you get some rest.

“Sleep coaching is a broad term,” explains Rakesh Bhattacharjee, M.D., a spokesperson for the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. “It doesn’t have an overseeing body or code of ethics, meaning they are more of a consultant that can provide support, advice, or education about sleep.”

If you have a sleep disorder, sleep coaches can’t make an official diagnosis of a sleep disorder or prescribe treatment, Dr. Bhattacharjee says. Usually, a better way to improve your sleep is with sleep therapy under the guidance of a physician who specialises in sleep.

YELLOW DOG PRODUCTIONS//GETTY IMAGES

About a third of American adults don’t get the recommended seven to nine hours of sleep a night, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This can increase the risk for many different health conditions, like heart disease, stroke, obesity, and depression. So, taking steps to solve your sleep problems is crucial.

Most people who don’t regularly get enough sleep likely have a sleep disorder, such as insomnia or restless leg syndrome, or a problem like depression or anxiety, says Eric Yeh, M.D., a sleep medicine physician at University Hospitals in Cleveland, Ohio.

While these individuals could benefit from some aspects of sleep coaching, Dr. Yeh says they usually need a specific treatment, such as cognitive behavioural therapy or medication, which can only be provided by a trained and certified medical professional.

What’s the difference between sleep coaching and sleep therapy?

Sleep coaching is often associated with sleep training for babies, where parents receive education, support, and advice for improving their child’s sleep, Dr. Yeh says. However, sleep coaches also work with adults in the same vein.

A sleep coach can help people with non-medical aspects of sleep issues, says Alex Dimitriu, M.D., a board-certified physician in psychiatry and sleep medicine and founder of Menlo Park Psychiatry and Sleep Medicine. This might include suggesting changes to a sleep environment and holding people accountable for following the recommendations. But, they can’t diagnose sleep disorders or prescribe treatments—which you might need to solve your sleep problems.

But, he adds, “It’s not hard these days for anyone to call themselves a ‘coach’ in various fields.”

The Society of Behavioral Sleep Medicine actually urges caution when using a sleep coach, as there are no specific training requirements or regulatory bodies that oversee their work. Instead, the organization recommends working with a licensed physician or mental health professional with experience in sleep.

A sleep specialist is a physician who’s board-certified to diagnose sleep disorders, including sleep apnoea, insomnia, or restless leg syndrome, and prescribe treatments, Dr. Yeh says. Sleep therapy can treat these conditions using medications, behaviour modifications, mental health treatment, and other therapies, depending on the specific condition.

Who needs sleep coaching or sleep therapy?

Anyone who struggles to get restful sleep most nights or has concerns about their sleep can benefit from sleep therapy, Dr. Bhattacharjee says. Start by talking to your primary care physician, who can make a referral for a sleep study. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine also has an online tool to find a local sleep specialist.

People often worry about what is and isn’t normal about their sleep, Dr. Yeh says. “Having a consultation with a sleep medicine specialist is always beneficial—maybe even if it’s just for reassurance.”

What Sleep Therapy Involves

When you see a sleep specialist, they’ll discuss your medical history and ask a series of questions about your sleep, like how much you sleep, whether falling asleep is difficult, if you wake up during the night, and if you feel rested during the day, Dr. Yeh says.

MASKOT//GETTY IMAGES

Sleep disorders have specific diagnostic criteria that doctors look for, he adds, and the exact treatment varies depending on the sleep problem. For example, people with sleep apnoea may need a CPAP machine, sleep aids may be needed for insomnia, and other medications are prescribed for narcolepsy or restless leg syndrome.

Cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia might also be recommended, Dr. Dimitriu says. This typically involves sleep restriction therapy to help ensure you’re asleep 80 percent of the time you’re in bed, stimulus control therapy to establish the relationship that your bed is just for sleeping and sex, and cognitive therapy to dive into your beliefs about sleep.

Sleep hygiene is another key part of sleep therapy. This can include recommending new habits, such as cutting off caffeine at a certain time every day, avoiding naps, putting your phone away before bedtime, and establishing a bedtime routine.

Eating a healthy diet and getting more exercise can improve sleep, too, Dr. Dimitriu says. “I tell my patients they need to be more vertical during the day to sleep better horizontally at night.”

In sleep therapy, you might also be asked to keep a sleep log to track your progress, he adds.

How long does it take to work?

Everyone and their sleep issues are unique, so there’s no set timeline for seeing results, Dr. Bhattacharjee.

Some people might start seeing improvements within a few weeks, Dr. Dimitriu. It might take several months or years for others, Dr. Yeh adds.

The effectiveness of sleep therapy often depends on the individual’s “level of execution,” or how well you follow a sleep specialist’s recommendations and treatments, Dr. Yeh says.

“A lot of this is behavioural changes and behavioural changes require motivation, require buy-in, and require a good relationship between the provider and the patient,” he adds.

https://www.menshealth.com/health/a60242784/guide-to-sleep-coaching/

Consistently exercising 2–3 times a week over the long term linked to lower current insomnia risk

From medicalxpress.com

Consistently exercising 2–3 times a week over the long term is linked to a lower current risk of insomnia as well as the ability to clock up the recommended 6–9 hours of shut-eye every night, suggests an international 10-year study published in the open access journal BMJ Open.

Regular exercise is associated with better overall health, and several studies have suggested that physical activity promotes better quality sleep and may improve symptoms of chronic insomnia, note the researchers.

But it's not entirely clear how much gender, age, weight (BMI), overall fitness, general health, and exercise type contribute to this association, they add.

To explore this further, the researchers assessed the frequency, duration, and intensity of weekly physical activity and symptoms of insomnia, nightly sleep clocked up, and daytime sleepiness among middle-aged adults from 21 centres in nine European countries.

The 4,399 study participants (2,085 men; 2,254 women) were drawn from the European Community Respiratory Health Survey.

They had answered questions on the frequency and duration of physical activity at baseline (ECRHS II;1998–2002) and on physical activity, insomnia symptoms (Basic Nordic Sleep Questionnaire; scale 1–5), sleep duration and daytime sleepiness (Epworth Sleepiness Scale) 10 years later (ECRHS III; 2011–14).

Participants who reported that they exercised at least two or more times a week, for 1 hour/week or more, were classified as being physically active.

Over the 10-year period, 37% (1,601) of participants were persistently inactive; 18% (775) became physically active; 20% (881) became inactive; and 25% (1,082) were persistently active.

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

Participants in Norway were most likely to be persistently active, while participants in Spain, followed by Estonia, were most likely to be persistently inactive.

Persistently active participants were more likely to be men, younger, and to weigh slightly less. They were also less likely to be current smokers and more likely to be currently working.

After adjusting for age, sex, weight (BMI), smoking history, and study centre, those who were persistently active were significantly (42%) less likely to find it difficult to fall asleep, 22% less likely to have any symptoms of insomnia, and 40% less likely to report 2 or 3 (37% less likely) insomnia symptoms.

Insomnia symptoms were also independently associated with age, female gender, and weight.

As for total nightly hours of sleep and daytime sleepiness, after adjusting for age, sex, weight, smoking history, and study centre, persistently active participants were most likely to be normal sleepers, while the persistently inactive were least likely to be in that category.

The persistently active were significantly (55%) more likely to be normal sleepers, significantly less likely (29%) to be short (6 hours or less), and 52% less likely to be long sleepers (9 hours or more). And those who became active were 21% more likely to be normal sleepers than those who were persistently inactive.

The researchers acknowledge that they weren't able to objectively assess changes in physical activity levels between the two time points and that all the elements relied on subjective assessment via questionnaire.

But they nevertheless conclude, "Our results are in line with previous studies that have shown the beneficial effect of [physical activity] on symptoms of insomnia, but the current study additionally shows the importance of consistency in exercising over time because the association was lost for initially active subjects who became inactive."

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-03-week-term-linked-current-insomnia.html

Tuesday 26 March 2024

How to fix your sleep schedule without pulling an all-nighter

From popsci.com

Sleep experts recommend several strategies for resetting an out-of-sync circadian rhythm

Sleep is one of the most essential activities for human health, but it’s also one of the most neglected. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 14.5 percent of adults occasionally have trouble falling asleep. Whether because of work or mindlessly scrolling on your phone, staying up late can throw off your circadian rhythm—the internal clock that tells your body when it’s time to sleep and stay awake.

So how do you get your sleep cycle back on track? Some online communities have suggested pulling an all-nighter as a quick sleep hack for “resetting” your circadian rhythm. The idea is that forcing yourself awake increases sleep pressure—the urge to sleep more that increases the longer a person is awake—allowing you to knock out at your preferred time. While this may have worked for a person or two, it’s not a recommended practice.

Pulling an all-nighter will actually make sleep problems worse, says Michael Breus, a clinical psychologist known as “The Sleep Doctor.” If your sleep schedule is already off, depriving the body of even more sleep can worsen a person’s cognitive function—stunting their problem-solving, memory, and creative thinking skills. A person’s reaction time also drops dramatically, which can increase the risk of drowsy driving accidents.

Thomas Kilkenny, the director of the Institute Sleep Medicine at Northwell Health in New York City, points out that sleep deprivation is considered a form of torture banned in the Geneva Conventions—treaties that list protocols for humanitarian treatment during war. “To voluntarily do this is not a good idea and we should try to do whatever we can to avoid that.”

There’s no way to shift the timing of your circadian rhythm in one night. It actually takes roughly 28 days for your circadian rhythm to reset fully, says Breus. The good news is that while it might take some time, there are other effective methods for getting your sleep schedule back on track. Sleep doctors told Popular Science several strategies to get back into your normal sleep schedule.

You need more sleep. DEPOSITPHOTOS

How to fix your sleep schedule

Wake up at the same time every day

If you normally wake up around 8 AM, but last night you didn’t get to bed until 3 AM, Kilkenny recommends still getting up at your usual wake-up hours. You may have to deal with a day of grogginess, but the trade-off is being more likely to maintain your normal sleep schedule. “If you’ve had a bad night, you’ll just have to pretend that one night never happened and get right back into that routine,” Kilkenny says.

You may feel tempted to sleep a few extra hours or sleep in on the weekends. Still, Breus says staying consistent with your normal sleep schedule stabilizes the circadian rhythm and establishes a pattern for sleep and wakefulness. This also means not napping after a poor night of sleep. Kilkenny says a nap will throw off your sleep cycle and make it harder for your body to feel tired at night naturally.

Set aside time for purposeful worrying

Insomnia is often a result of high stress levels. The body can’t shut down for the night when your brain is actively racing with thoughts of a potential threat, whether that’s a lion prowling your campsite or the stress of paying for rent next month.

Kilkenny advises practicing a technique called purposeful worrying. Like its name, purposeful worrying involves setting aside five to 15 minutes everyday to think and feel anxious about anything troubling you. Giving yourself a time limit to worry about your problems will help manage stress without draining too much of your energy. It also provides an opportunity to really think and plan out solutions to overcome these fears.

When you have a realistic plan for overcoming the problem, the initial concern is not so scary anymore. “The brain has a tendency not to revisit something it’s already figured out,” adds Kilkenny. “You’re much less likely to get into bed and bring up the worry again.”

Exercise in the morning or afternoon

Going to bed physically tired helps increase sleep quality. Ideally aim to exercise every day, even if it is a 20-minute walk in the park. If you do exercise, Breus advises not to exercise four hours before bedtime.

Body temperature normally increases during the day and slowly drops during the night. When you exercise too close to bedtime, your core body temperature increases, which can give a wrong signal to the circadian rhythm that you need to be awake. Breus explains that giving time to let your body temperature cool down makes you more sleepy.

Prep the body for sleep

You want to make sure your body is set up for rest. Kilkenny recommends avoiding bright lights as they can disrupt your circadian rhythm and lower melatonin levels. This includes turning off all electronics an hour or two before bed and having the bedroom lights dimly lit or off completely. Try to use the time to meditate or read to put yourself in a relaxed state.

Breus also says not to drink coffee past 2 PM. Caffeine has a mean half-life of five hours, meaning that by 7 PM, about half will be out of your system. Another beverage to limit is alcohol, as it is associated with poor quality sleep and frequent wakings throughout the night. If you decide to drink, Breus advises only consuming two drinks and having them three hours before bed.

It may take a while for your sleep schedule to adjust after a couple of bad nights, but it is possible. Although there are some cases where health problems may cause chronic insomnia. If you continue to have trouble sleeping or your insomnia gets worse, consider speaking with a therapist, sleep specialist, or your doctor to get to the root of the problem.

https://www.popsci.com/diy/how-to-fix-your-sleep-schedule/

Monday 25 March 2024

Routine is key to healthy sleep habits, but shift work, holidays and overseas travel can turn that upside down

From abc.net.au

Are you one of those people who wakes up automatically — just before your alarm goes off?

Many humans like routine, and if you are a person who works regular hours, you might find you open your eyes in time to stop the alarm off just before it rudely wakes you.

How does the brain know it's time to wake up? It's all about the body clock.

Sleep and respiratory physiologist Peter Catcheside from Flinders University said when an individual's 24-hour body clock (otherwise known as the circadian clock) lines up with their sleep system, it has a good sense of what time it is.

"By the end of the night, close to our normal waking time, it’s already run through the sleep processes that it needs to run through during the night, so it's naturally coming towards waking up," he said.

"So it's really that body clock sensation of time of day which is helping us to wake up at the right time of day."

The body clock likes routine

People have a "master clock" deep in their brain, designed to keep them in step with the actual day-night cycle.(Pexels: Miriam Alonso)

Health experts say getting a good night's sleep is important for our health and wellbeing, and sticking to routines for going to sleep and waking up at about the same time is the best way to maintain that.

But if you are among the increasing numbers of shift workers starting at different hours of the day or night, a new parent, travelling overseas or on holiday hoping to catch up on lost sleep, routine is likely to be out the window.

People with changing sleep patterns are likely to have irregular light exposure and disrupted exercise and meal routines, all of which affect their body clock and have negative health effects, according to the Sleep Health Foundation.

A disrupted body clock can lead to jet-lag, insomnia or shift work disorder, and play a role in chronic diseases and mental health problems, Professor Catcheside said.

"When we don't get enough good quality sleep and when our body clocks are out of phase with our normal daily schedules our brains don't function and the rest of our body is on the wrong time to function at its optimal," he said.

'Holiday mode' changes routines

Sleep experts say despite the obvious benefits of holidays, a change in habits can create ongoing problems including insomnia.

Director of the centre for sleep science at the University of Western Australia, Jennifer Walsh, said many people started holidays in "sleep debt", so their bodies try to make up for lost sleep.

But going into "holiday mode" where you sleep in or go to bed earlier than usual can change regular patterns.

"It can cause problems with our sleep down the track, so some people will go into a pattern where they don't sleep well and that might perpetuate and turn into insomnia, that's the biggest risk," she said.

More alcohol, caffeine and food while catching up with family and friends during festive or cultural holidays can also exacerbate things, Dr Walsh said.

Shift work sleep routine

About 10 to 15 per cent of shift workers may suffer from "shift work sleep disorder" characterised by insomnia-like symptoms, excessive sleepiness and fatigue.

That is a significant proportion of people working outside nine to five, which in Australia equals about 16 to 20 per cent or about 1.6 million employees, associate professor in the department of health sciences at Macquarie University, Christopher Gordon, said.

People with sleep disorders and shift workers can benefit from what's called a "shift work sleep routine" to maximise their potential for shut eye, Dr Gordon said.

"[It involves] going to bed at the same time, trying to wake at the same time, reducing things like caffeine and alcohol before you try to go to sleep [as well as] heavy meals, and really trying to get that routine established," he said.

"There's other things you can do with your environment such as making the room very dark and if you can't do that, possibly wearing an eye mask and using ear plugs can also help."

'Nudging' the body clock

Researchers are trialling the use of glasses which shine a blue-green light into the eyes of the wearer at a particular time of day based on their body clock.(Supplied: Flinders University)

In the hope of addressing some of these body clock problems, Professor Catcheside and a team of researchers at Flinders University are investigating personalised sleep regimes.

"We want to solve one of the biggest ongoing problems in sleep medicine, by devising a practical way to reliably track and treat people with a body-clock timing problem," Professor Catcheside said.

Doctors and psychologists are largely using guesswork unless they have data based on the individual's body clock, Professor Catcheside said.

The team is developing technology for a personalised tracker which would measure the daily core body temperature, a key marker of when the body clock is most sensitive to being influenced by light.

"That would be new technology that could automate the process of tracking when the body is timed each day, giving information back to users about when is a good time to try and go to sleep and when to get up, and also when is the best time to get blue light exposure," Professor Catcheside said.

The good news is that initial results show that light exposure at the right time should help "nudge" a person's body clock in the right direction.

"The timing of therapy is critical because the body clock is most sensitive to blue-enriched light for only a few hours a day and can be advanced or delayed depending on light exposure timing," he said.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-03-24/body-clock-knows-to-wake-up-just-before-the-alarm-clock-goes-off/103310370

Sunday 24 March 2024

Better sleep for shift workers: guidelines for fatigue management

From abc.net.au

Shift workers are being urged to nap strategically and make the most of transition days as part of a world-first study that's compiling best-practice sleep guidelines.

The CQUniversity study has brought together 50 international sleep and shift worker researchers to compile 18 guidelines that ensure shiftworkers get a decent amount of shut-eye.

Lead author Alex Shriane said the aim was to take all the usual sleep advice given to the general population and make it applicable to shift workers.

"The challenge lies in shift workers having to sleep at all hours of the day and night … and trying to do those things quite contrary to your natural bodily circadian rhythms," she said.

The guidelines have recently been published in Oxford University's Sleep Journal and include using a sleep schedule, a bedtime routine, and only using your bed for sleeping and intimacy.

Many sleep guidelines remain the same for most people — such as exercising, creating a comfortable sleep environment, and being mindful of alcohol, caffeine, and nicotine intake.

Other tips are tailored to help shift workers transition back to their natural sleep cycle on their days off.

Though it depends on the shifts, Ms Shriane said exposure to light could help with this transition.

"When you come home from a night shift, you can have that brief sleep in the morning, but then get up, get outside into some bright natural light," she said.

"And then go back to bed reasonably early that evening."

Drinking alcohol close to bedtime could initially make you sleepy, however, it could also impact on the quality of sleep, Ms Shriane said.

The guidelines recommend shift workers nap strategically.(Pexels)

Lived experience

Ms Shriane was inspired to research the topic after spending a decade working shifts as a paramedic.

"I found myself in the same boat that many shiftworkers do where you get burnt out, you get sick, there's weight gain, it impacts your mood," she said.

Ms Shriane used her lived experience for the research to find a solution for the estimated 2.25 million shiftworkers in Australia.

However, Ms Shraine said the guidelines might not work for everyone.

She said each person responded differently to shiftwork, depending on age, gender, the type of work they did, and the shifts.

"It's going to be a lot of experimentation for the individual," she said.

Changing shifts 'harmful'

As for whether the study could help inform better rostering, Ms Shraine said it was very difficult to come up with a "one size fits all" solution.

"We don't have a gold standard model," she said.

"We do know that when you're changing your shifts a lot … a day shift today, and then a night shift tomorrow, and then back to a day shift — that sort of model is particularly harmful."

She said the best approach was to assess each individual as they started in shiftwork and create a personalised roster.

The topic has been of much debate in the mining industry in recent years.

Jason Hill, the Mining and Energy Union's industry safety and health representative, said sleep was a big issue in the sector, with the Queensland coal mining industry reporting 33 incidents related to fatigue in 2022.

"It's important to have a proper rest period away from work each shift," Mr Hill said.

"We recommend that anyone in the industry shouldn't do any more than 12 hours per shift."

The union recommends no more than seven day shifts in a row and less than that for night shifts.

Mr Hill said, in mining accommodation camps, everyone on a single block should also be on the same shift to avoid sleep disruptions.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-07-31/shiftworker-sleep-guidelines-better-rest/102657780

Saturday 23 March 2024

Insomnia: Symptoms, Causes, Treatments

From msn.com

Diagrammatic Representation of Health Condition Insomnia