Monthly Archives: May 2014

May 29 2014
Insomnia, Sleep Health, Sleep Testing

The Truth about Insomnia

Chronic insomnia (insomnia lasting over four weeks) is experienced by 40 million Americans. This means that on any given night in this country, 40 million people are experiencing the frustration of a poor night’s sleep. While for many of us sleep problems are temporary and are experienced during times of stress, for others, insomnia becomes a way of life.

What Is Insomnia?

  • Difficulty falling asleep
  • Difficulty staying asleep
  • Waking up too early and having difficulty returning to sleep

If you give yourself the right amount of time and the right environment for sleep, but you are still suffering the negative consequences of poor or lack of sleep, then you are dealing with insomnia.

How Insomnia Affects Us

Insomnia can impact both your physical and mental health. Here are just some of the symptoms sufferers report:

  • Mental and physical fatigue
  • Irritable and depressed mood
  • Difficulty with concentration
  • Strained interpersonal relationships

Recent research has also linked insomnia to the development of health conditions such as high blood pressure and heart attacks.

So in a nutshell, if you suffer from insomnia you are likely dealing with negative health consequences, and on top of that – straining your friendships and other relationships.

It’s time to take a quick test to see where you stand with your sleep. Answer eight quick questions that can give you a determination of your sleep health.  http://www.sleepinsights.com/quiz/quiz0.html?question_number_0=1&x=60&y=24

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May 09 2014
Insomnia, Sleep Health, Sleep Testing

The Productivity Issue

The expectations of society today have placed unhealthy demands on our time, and more than ever people are making up for those demands by cutting back on sleep.  Scientific research is revealing how sleep loss, and even poor-quality sleep can lead to an increase in errors at the workplace, decreased productivity, and accidents that cost both lives and resources.  It is becoming clear that the cost of insufficient sleep is much higher than most people recognize.

Recent Harvard Medical School research shows that one-third of workers in the U.S. aren’t getting enough sleep to function at peak performance, which reduces their ability to do their jobs property.  According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, 40.6 million (30% of U.S. adult workers) don’t get enough sleep.  That translates to 8.4 minutes of wasted time on the job which costs a shocking $63.2 billion in lost productivity.

More than the cost of lost productivity, lack of sleep plays a role in a number of otherwise avoidable disasters:

·         Investigators ruled that sleep deprivation was a significant factor in the 1979 Three Mile Island accident as well as the 1986 nuclear meltdown at Chernobyl

·         Investigations of the grounding of the Exxon Valdez oil tanker, as well as the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger have concluded that sleep deprivation also played a critical role in the accidents

·         According to the Institutes of Medicine, over one million injuries and between 50,000 and 100,000 deaths each year result from preventable medical errors, and many of these may be the result of insufficient sleep.

So just how much sleep do you need? The National Sleep Foundation suggests that the average adult needs between seven and nine hours of sleep a night. That’s not seven to nine hours that you devote to “bedtime.” It is the amount of time your body needs to be asleep.

How Much Sleep Do You Really Need?

If you are an adult who works most alertly and productively at 7.5 hours of sleep a night, then you should probably devote eight hours a night to the activity of sleep. The last-minute teeth brushing ritual as well as simply getting comfortable and falling asleep needs to be budgeted in your sleep schedule.

More importantly, sleep quality is vitally important to the productivity equation. Lack of proper sleep is as hampering and dangerous as not enough time to sleep. How is your sleep quality?

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