lack of sleep

Sufficient sleep diminishes risk of diseases

2. December 2015 von Redaktion Leave a Comment

You can hear it at the bus or on the train: coughing and sneezing, on every corner someone is blowing his or her nose, the wave of flu is taking its course. When you are having a bad sleep or sleep too less you are more prone for catching something yourself. Because, a lack of sleep enhances the risk of diseases.

Every human being knows by himself, how much sleep he needs. The optimal sleeping duration individually depends on age, body structure and sex. But this applies to all of us: sleep is vital. When you are sleeping sufficiently and disturbance-free you don’t have to worry, because, sleep is the best precondition for health and fitness. But, when you are sleeping too less or even bad you run into danger of harming your body. US scientists of the Carnegie Mellon University have proven that too less sleep is affecting the immune system and abets colds. Furthermore, it is risk for numerous chronical diseases like overweight, high blood pressure, depressions and cardio-vascular-diseases. And, lack of sleep might involve potential dangers like disorders of the circulatory system and digestive organs or increased heart attack risk.

The psyche is suffering, too
Several studies prove that the psyche is suffering under a serious lack of sleep. The ability of concentration is reduced, the human being is jumpy, irritable and distrustful. This might even go so far that so-called “stress-sleepers” become prone to depressions and hallucinations. When you are having a bad sleep, are tense, anxious or angry you run into danger of sliding into a stress-spiral. Besides the above mentioned complaints this might even lead to burnout. Unfortunately, in many cases chronical diseases are the consequence. Often it is not recognized that our sleep is a valuable asset. Here, even the most basic fundaments for healthy sleeping are missing.

The basis for healthy sleep
Healthy sleep needs the proper “hardware”. Basics are a high-quality slat frame, perfectly matching mattress and overlay, the proper cover and an anatomically optimal pillow. Besides the hardware, the mental “software” is necessary. We know it all: in problematic situations, especially before falling asleep we tend to brooding which might even lead to attacks of thoughts. By that, we are all churned up inside and falling asleep is impossible. Here, it is advisable to learn positive rituals. A warm tea, a relaxing bath or a short evening-walk before going to bed work miracles!

Fit and efficient through sleep

20. October 2015 von Redaktion Leave a Comment

Being really fit -– that is something, everyone wishes for. Because, physical and mental fitness is part of a healthy and successful life. And right here can be said: sleep really is the best medicine. That is not just a common saying, also modern science re-discovers sleep and its forces as a preventive medical tool. Healthy sleep is wellness at home and proves the trend towards making sleep aware. Studies and experiences with top-athletes show, that sleep is perfectly suitable to enhance fitness and performance.

More and better sleep brings athletes forward
Since a couple of years, sports science is interested in these connections. Because, findings of sleep research and sleep medicine prove the intuition of top-athletes to turn the focus on recreation, regeneration and sleep, too. Numerous studies proved that lack of sleep has a negative influence on performance ability of athletes. Now, they have turned the tables and found out that athletes not necessarily have to train more to enhance their performance. US scientists found out that only some additional sleep makes a big difference -– as well physically as mentally.

The study was conducted with a University-Basketball-Team. At first, the team players kept their usual sleep rhythm for two weeks. But then they were told to sleep as much as possible. Regular tests revealed a clear effect: not only the sprinting speed improved by 7 % on an average but the players also made significantly more free-throw-hits. Furthermore, they were in a better mood and felt less exhausted than at the beginning of the examination.

The study was focused on a prolongation of sleep –- in long term, this leads to a contrary, meaning negative, result. Too much sleep is just as problematic as too less sleep. The perfect way is to improve as well the awake-sleep- as the activity-recreation-rhythm and thereby the improvement of the sleeping quality with the bioenergetic sleep-healthy concept®.

This too is a reason, why nowadays numerous top-athletes take advantage of the bioenergetic sleep-healthy concept®. By that they are using the focused optimization of sleep like the “most natural, best and cost-effective doping”, so to say. And this with just positive side effects: a variety of world records, personal bests and gold medals!

Sleep-doping
So, it is possible to use healthy, recreational sleep as natural and side-effect-free doping for enhancement of performance. But, the other way round should not be disguised: more and more people try to dope the sleep with medics. Surely, there exists medical necessity to use sleeping pills. But, in any case this should be only a temporary solution since sleeping pills are not able to influence the actual cause of bad or disturbed sleep. Furthermore, since long sleep medics turn the attention to the fact that sleeping pills often are ineffective but create side effects and addiction. Here, herbal medicines offer more effective as well as side-effect-free alternatives! And at this point briefly mentioned: like sleep-analysis and HRV-measurements verifiably proof, sleep medics biologically impair sleep.

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Lack of sleep? Hands off the buffet!

24. September 2015 von Redaktion Leave a Comment

Result of a survey of the “Sleep and Neuroimaging Laboratory” of the University of California is, that lack of sleep has a deep impact on our brain activity, in this case on the frontal lobe. The frontal lobe has significant participation on the behavior control as well as on the making of complex decisions. On the other hand, instinct-controlled brain regions are not influenced. This leads to the fact that higher brain functions are not able to counteract instinctive acts. Simplified, this is the explanation for why our brain is not able to choose appropriate food when suffering under a lack of sleep.

Another study revealed that lack of sleep activates certain reward centers of the brain that demand unhealthy and high-calorie food for reaching rewarding effects. With help of the so-called functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) US scientists tracked down the connection between eating behavior and degree of alertness.

The Columbia University Medical Center carried out these investigations and analyzed the brain activity of 25 men and women. There were two different preconditions: once, the participants were well rested and once they had a lack of sleep. In both situations, the scientists showed the participants pictures of healthy and of unhealthy food. After comparing the fMRI-recordings they noticed that the brain areas that were active during watching the unhealthy-food-pictures were inactive while watching pictures with healthy food. This finding is limited to a neuronal pattern limited to lack of sleep, like scientist Marie-Pierre St-Onge emphasizes. Therefore, for tired people unhealthy food is very eye-catchingly and rewarding. Result is an increasing consumption of these foods and the typical ravenous appetite.

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Sleep disturbances – a widespread disease

20. August 2015 von Schlafexperte Prof. Dr. med. h.c. Günther W. Amann-Jennson Leave a Comment

A lot of mental and physical diseases might change the duration of sleep. Chronical lack of sleep, sleep disturbances and no longer restful sleep are frequent problems and in turn might cause or favor themselves mental and physical health disturbances. In the western industrial countries we must assume that about 50 % of the population has sleep disturbances and biologically insufficient sleep. About 10 % of them have a chronical one and therewith require treatment of their sleeping disturbance. By the way, there are more than 90 different forms of disturbed sleep! The most frequent are fall asleep and sleep through disturbances as well as the waking up too early. According to official statistics, only in Germany more than 25 million employed are affected by fall asleep and/or sleep through problems. In total, 36 million complain about an insufficient recreation of sleep, out of these, 24 million additionally suffer under daytime sleepiness and 30 million under too short sleep (sleep debt). In the special ambulatories for sleep medics, physical diseases, mental disturbances, excessive alcohol consumption, medicines and other drugs account for more than two thirds of the sleep disturbances.

Sleep disturbances that last longer than four weeks or occur several times per week are considered to be chronical and need professional clarifying. The list of physical diseases that may cause sleep disturbances or sleeplessness is long: respiratory diseases, diabetes, epileptic fits, heart failure.

But, the most frequent forms of sleep disturbances arise due to wrong sleep hygiene, mistakes and myths around sleep, stress and unconscious mental conflicts or nightly anxiety and “obsessive brooding” with depressive patients or people with anxiety disorders. It is known that working in shifts may disturb the sleep-wake-cycle as well as misuse of alcohol, drugs and intake of medicines. The more medicine has to be taken the bigger the effects on sleeping behavior and the course of the sleep are to be awaited. Further quite frequent sleep disturbances are restless legs — just in the evening when you want to fall asleep, the legs painfully start to itch and twitch. Or sleep-apnoea-syndrome (pathological snoring with respiratory arrest). At the sight of the variety of possible sleep disturbances, urgently measures have to be taken as well for the concerned people as for the arising burden of the health care system. These measures should surpass the often medical or technical remedies. At the same time, one always should focus on cause study.

Accordingly manifold is the range of specialist disciplines that deal with the treatment of sleep disturbance: from sleep medics to psychologists, psycho-therapists and neurologist to specialist for respiratory or heart diseases. Without a cooperative partnership of these different specialist disciplines it is hardly possible to get a successful diagnosis as well as therapy of sleep disturbances. Especially, when it includes information about sleep disturbances as well as holistic and preferably natural approach for removal or sleep enhancement.

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The sleep debt-alcohol-syndrome

3. April 2015 von Schlafexperte Prof. Dr. med. h.c. Günther W. Amann-Jennson Leave a Comment

In the field of road safety there is a new finding that so far has not been taken into account. If an accident is happening due to alcohol, very often a lack of sleep and above all an accumulated lack of sleep is the real cause or at least a significant co-fact! This high interaction of sleep and alcohol has been discovered by a study of the Henry Ford Hospital Sleep Disorders Center in Detroit. A group of volunteers slept ten hours per night for one week, a further week eight hours and in a third phase simulated a sociable weekend and slept only five hours per night for two nights. In the morning after each phase all volunteers either got a small dose of alcohol or a placebo. Afterwards, their degree of impaired attention was determined by an awareness- and performance-test.

After the participants got their small dose of alcohol after the week with ten hours of sleep, the impairment of this group was slightly higher than of the group with the placebo. After sleeping only five hours per night for two nights, the same amount of alcohol had a much stronger effect. The participants got very sleepy and were hardly able to stay awake.

With this finding, everyone is able to enormously raise his or her own road safety, just by completely avoiding alcohol in a phase of consistent lack of sleep! Because, even a minor alcohol consumption in combination with a prevailing sleep debt can lead to the so far sparsely noticed “sleep debt-alcohol-syndrome”, that is having an extremely sedating effect and is leading to a fatal exhaustion at the wheel.

So – on a day with a minor sleep debt you are very much able to drive after a little drink but on the other day with a huge sleep debt and the same amount of alcohol you will become to a hazard for yourself and for others.

Help for sleep-cheated managers

27. March 2015 von Schlafexperte Prof. Dr. med. h.c. Günther W. Amann-Jennson Leave a Comment

Healthy sleeping supports performance and career

The one who sleeps well and sufficiently is healthier and is more productive – actually a platitude. But still, many managers are suffering under a chronical lack of sleep and tiredness. Frequent trips aboard, connected with jet-lag, high working- and deadline-pressure and being available almost 24 hours a day care for a distinctive sleep debt. And this is leading to stress symptoms, back pain and the danger of burn out.

More and more often scientific studies prove the consequences of this chronical tiredness: manager with too less or bad sleep are more irritated, less focused, clearly make more mistakes and more often make wrong decisions than well rested ones. Furthermore, they more often suffer under heart diseases and tend to back pain and depressions besides susceptibility to stress.

When having a lack of sleep, the entire hormonal balance gets mixed up, since the release of important hormones like melatonin, cortisol, leptin or prolactin is suppressed. Out of this reason, the immune system is constantly weakened and the metabolism disturbed which in turn may lead to overweight.

In addition to that, the aging process is happening rather more rapidly. Meanwhile, this whole development is having an effect on to the costs of enterprises and insurances. Because, people who have a bad sleep are sick more often.

It is assumed that a group of managers affected by a chronical lack of sleep is imposing costs three times higher than well rested executives. The personal price that tired managers are paying is even higher, because, the loss of health, vitality and of high spirits is finally threatening the own career, too.

The One Who Sleeps Better is Working More Efficiently

Long since, managers have learnt from top athletes that the performance is depending on inner biological rhythms. We are able to provide a better strength- or thinking-performance at certain times, depending on how our inner clock is working. Most people are having their highest performance between 10.00 and 12.00 a.m.. At this time, they are working concentrated and are thinking creatively. Towards lunchtime up until 3 p.m. the performance curve is leveling off, before the next peak is arising between 4.00 and 8.00 p.m.. But this is very strongly depending on our sleep behaviour. Out of my long-term experience as sleeping expert and sleeping coach, I know, that the one who is sleeping in rhythm is in any case more productive and more efficient.

Good Sleep Supports Intelligence and Creativity

People, who are sleeping sufficiently and healthy are doing a lot of “brain-work” during sleeping – and this on the highest level. Because, in their subconscious they are better processing their daily impressions. By that, experiences and knowledge gets sustainably anchored. This as well enhances intelligence and creativity as improves memory. I can only advise managers, who are preparing a lecture or an important meeting for the next day, to go over their manuscript or agenda before going to sleep, again. Because during sleep, our brain is processing the contents.

Healthy Sleep Needs Fundamental Aspects

Besides a sufficient amount of sleep, you will need a bed and sleep surroundings that is fulfilling all expectations to be able to have a sound and recreational sleep. Like a top athlete is needing a good equipment, for good sleep you will be needing a good sleeping underlay. An orthopedic high-quality slat-frame, a thereupon aligned natural rubber mattress, the proper cover as well as pillow – all made from high-quality, natural and pollution-free materials, belong to that. Sheep wool has proved itself to be the best used material for the changing seasonal climate. Furthermore, the correct room climate is mandatory for healthy sleep: perfect are 16 – 18 degrees Celsius as well as a humidity of at least 40 per cents. On your sleeping place you should avoid noise, light stimuli and electromagnetic pollution as far as possible.

Sleeping good and sufficiently can be learned

Actually, healthy sleeping would neither need special methods nor a strategy. But, due to our way of living and job-related stress this has changed massively during the last years. To consciously and purposefully optimize your sleep a participation of an expert or sleeping coach is more than useful. Because, when you are dealing with the basics of sleep you will get to know what is taking away your sleep which in turn makes it possible to work against that. Clearly, the worst way is to take pills, which are even intensifying your chronical tiredness.