Tag: sleep positions

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SLEEP SUNDAY – LET’S TALK ABOUT HOW VITAMIN D DEFICIENCY CAN CAUSE SLEEP PROBLEMS…

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VITAMIN D is really important for our bodies because it helps regulate the amount of calcium and phosphate in the body. This is necessary for keeping bones and teeth healthy. A lack of vitamin D can impact several areas, including your back, muscles and your immune system as well as your sleep.

The National Library of Medicine writes that “by comparing the lowest verse highest levels of serum vitamin D, we found that participants with vitamin D deficiency (VDD) had a significantly increased risk of sleep disorders.”

The Sleep Doctor writes that “research indicates that Vitamin D may influence both sleep quality and sleep quantity. Researchers analyzed the sleep patterns and Vitamin D levels among a group of older adult men and found that Vitamin D deficiency was associated with less sleep overall and also with more disrupted sleep. The study included 3,048 men ages 68 and older.”

What they found was that low degrees of Vitamin D were connected to a few issues with sleep. Low Vitamin D increased the probability that you could experience poor sleep (sleeping less than 5 hours a night). The National Sleep Foundation recommends that adults should get 7–8 h sleep every day, albeit sleep demands may vary in age and gender.

A lack of vitamin D is termed a vitamin D deficiency and can lead to bone deformities such as rickets in children, and several conditions in adults. If you are spending a lot of time indoors, the NHS suggests you should take 10 micrograms of vitamin D a day to keep your bones and muscles healthy. Dietary vitamin D is available in foods such as oily fish, cod liver oil, red meat, fortified cereals, fortified spreads and egg yolks.

You can get vitamin D in three ways: through your skin, from your diet, and from supplements. Your body forms vitamin D naturally after exposure to sunlight. But too much sun exposure can lead to skin ageing and skin cancer, so many people try to get their vitamin D from other sources. Other benefits of vitamin D include healthy lung function and cardiovascular health. Some studies suggest that vitamin D may reduce the expression of certain genes responsible for cancer development.

Vitamin D deficiency can lead to a loss of bone density, which can contribute to osteoporosis and fractures (broken bones).

Severe vitamin D deficiency can also lead to other diseases. In children, it can cause rickets. Rickets is a rare disease that causes the bones to become soft and bend. African American infants and children are at higher risk of getting rickets. In adults, severe vitamin D deficiency leads to osteomalacia. Osteomalacia causes weak bones, bone pain, and muscle weakness.

Source: The National Library of Medicine, Back Pain Blog, The Sleep Doctor The National Sleep Foundation

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SLEEP SUNDAY – LET’S TALK ABOUT WHAT WE CAN TAKE TO HELP US SLEEP…

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What do you take to help you sleep?

I have probably covered most things on Sleep Sunday so it’s quite difficult to find something genuine to write about that might help your sleepless night become a good one so I decided to write today on herbal/natural sleep aids and also gummies which I truly found helped me get through some tough nights.

Melatonin is a hormone that plays a key part in regulating your natural body clock. You can take a manmade version of melatonin for short-term sleep problems (insomnia). It makes you fall asleep quicker and less likely to wake up during the night. It can also help with symptoms of jetlag. Studies have shown that melatonin improves sleep quality, particularly in the elderly. Melatonin is used to treat sleep problems in people aged 55 and over. It can sometimes be prescribed to help with sleep problems in children and to prevent headaches in adults. Melatonin is available on prescription only. It comes as slow-release tablets and a liquid that you drink.

Take Valerian as it is thought to have a sedative effect. Studies have shown that the root of the valerian makes getting to sleep easier and increases a deeper sleep. For thousands of years, the herb valerian has been used as a sedative in Europe and Asia. Many people throughout the world use it to treat insomnia and anxiety. It seems to give people better-quality sleep. It may also help them fall asleep faster.

Eat more leeks and onions or garlic and artichokes as they contain prebiotic fibres that fuel the healthy bacteria in our gut and can have a profound effect on our health and sleep.

Try a herbal remedy with hops, passionflower and Valerian.

A handful of other studies looking at clinical models also suggest that chamomile tea may help people relax. Sleep Tea – by Niche Tea has a chamomile and lavender blend that naturally eases tension, while the lemon blam creates a mile tranquilising effect. Sweet Dreams Tea – by Infinitea which has soft camomile and sweet apple notes, tempered with light mint. A luxury medley of flavours which include Apple, Lavender, Camomile, St. John’s wort, Lemon balm, Licorice, Fennel, Peppermint, Valerian, Natural flavours (organic compliant).

Lavender which has been around for years and years but of course is not something you can digest but again is available in tea form or you can use drops on your pillow, lavender eye masks, sprays for your pillow and even diffusers.

And The Mail recently wrote that “There is some evidence from good quality clinical trials that some herbal remedies can improve sleep. Saffron extract, passionflower and ashwagandha root have all been studied. ‘The effects weren’t huge, but there were no increased adverse reactions,’ says Dr Selsick. ‘So they’re worth trying.’ Also available in pharmacies and health-food shops are supplements such as valerian (aka ‘nature’s Valium’) and magnesium, which is an essential mineral for health. A magnesium deficiency is thought to cause restless sleep.”

I have recently found SureSleep from the company DNA to really help me sleep better. I would normally wake up several times with pain and then find it difficult to get back to sleep but these have really helped me settle down and go back to sleep again. Each capsule contains 400mg SureSleep (Prunus Cerasus, Rhodiola Rosea, Valerian Root).

Source: Niche, Infinitea NHS Web MD DNA

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SLEEP SUNDAY – LET’S TALK ABOUT SLEEP DEPRIVATION AND THE PROBLEMS IT CAN CAUSE…

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Some facts about sleep deprivation and pain.

What is sleep deprivation?…

According to the Sleep Association – Sleep deprivation is defined as not obtaining adequate total sleep. When someone is in a chronic sleep-restricted state they’ll notice excessive daytime sleepiness, fatigue, clumsiness, and weight gain or weight loss. In addition, being sleep-deprived affects both the brain and cognitive function.1

Interestingly, there’s a subset of cases whereby sleep deprivation can actually lead to an enhanced mood, alertness, and increased energy. Note that relatively few studies have compared the different effects between chronic partial-sleep restriction and acute total sleep deprivation, and the total absence of sleep over long periods of time has not been studied in humans. That being said, long-term total sleep deprivation resulted in death in lab animals.

Many Fibromyalgia and chronic pain sufferers say they feel lucky if they get 5 hours of sleep a night.

Do you ever find yourself stuck in a vicious cycle?

Pain makes it difficult to sleep, but sleep deprivation means the body cannot repair itself – making the pain worse. Healthline points out that people with chronic pain don’t necessarily see improvements in sleep once their pain is resolved.

In fact, the pain often only continues to worsen until sleep is addressed. This may be related to the fact that some people with chronic pain may battle anxiety which in turn may cause stress chemicals such as adrenaline and cortisol to flood their systems. Over time, anxiety creates overstimulation of the nervous system, which makes it difficult to sleep.

The National Sleep Foundation points out that sixty-five per cent of those with no pain reported good or exceptionally good sleep quality, while only 45 per cent of those with acute pain and 37 per cent of those with chronic pain did the same. Additionally, 23 per cent of those with chronic pain reported higher stress levels, compared with 7 per cent of those without pain.

Those with acute or chronic pain are more likely to have sleep problems impact their daily lives. Among people who’ve had sleep difficulties in the past week, more than half of those with chronic pain say those difficulties interfered with their work. That drops to 23 per cent of those without pain.

People with pain are also far more apt than others to report that lack of sleep interferes with their mood, activities, relationships, and enjoyment of life overall.

People with pain also feel less control over their sleep, worry more about lack of sleep affecting their health and exhibit greater sleep sensitivity. They’re more likely than others to say environmental factors make it more difficult for them to get a good night’s sleep. These factors include noise, light, temperature, and their mattresses alike, suggesting that taking greater care of the bedroom environment may be particularly helpful to pain sufferers.

While both chronic and acute pain is related to lost sleep, the survey indicates that chronic pain is an especially powerful problem. Indeed, one in four people with chronic pain, 23 per cent, say they’ve been diagnosed with a sleep disorder by a doctor, compared with just 6 per cent of all others.

Sleep station comment that It’s a never-ending battle and a vicious circle between sleep disturbance and pain. In some there may be an element of chicken and egg – is the pain-causing sleep problems or is the mediocre quality of your sleep making your pain feel worse?

Pain can, for example, be the main reason that you wake in the night, and these interruptions during the night can lead you to get less sleep, and most important of all, less excellent quality restorative sleep. This sleep deprivation can lower your pain threshold and your tolerance for pain and thus can make your pain feel worse.

PubMed writes “Chronically painful conditions are frequently associated with sleep disturbances, i.e. changes in sleep continuity and sleep architecture as well as increased sleepiness during daytime. A new hypothesis, which has attracted more and more attention, is that disturbance of sleep cause or modulate acute and chronic pain.”

Source: Sleep Association Healthline Sleep Foundation Sleep Station Pub Med