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Sleepiness
Twenty percent of us complain of sleep problems. That's 50 million sleepy Americans. Not only do we not function as well as we should intellectually and psychologically, but lives are lost as a result of insufficient sleep.
Sleep expert Dr. Bill Dement, Director of the Sleep Research Clinics at Stanford University, sounds a loud alarm about our national state of sleep deprivation. He has drawn the attention of the scientific community to the high likelihood that sleep deprivation has been involved in several national disasters.
The initial step in improving sleep habits is to identify how we can encourage sounder sleeping. The two first sleep aids are a clearly defined dark/light cycle (you sleep when it's dark and are awake when it's light) and physical exercise. Dr. Abby King and colleagues have done a study at Stanford University ("Moderate Intensity Exercise and Self-Rated Quality of Sleep in Older Adults," Journal of the American Medical Association, 1997 vol. 277 pp. 32-37) and found that people with sleep problems who were put on a jogging program experienced greatly improved sleep. Sleep should come naturally, something that is earned--not externally conferred.
Do you avoid stimulants such as coffee and alcohol before you retire?
But as a physician, I know most people want sleep in a pill bottle. Too easily are sleeping pills perceived to be the answer. Often they make the problem worse. Most of the sleeping pills have side effects. But there is hope. Melatonin, which is recently available, is actually the natural body sleep producing compound that is released by the brain. Melatonin is available in the health food stores without a prescription. It is safe. The trouble is that what is on the shelf is not standardized. Some is stronger than others. So we don't exactly know how to use it.
When all else fails, many communities now have sleep clinics within their local health centers.
Dear Dr. Bortz:
I recently went to a sleep clinic to have some tests done. The final diagnosis: idiopathic central hypersomnolence, and treatment recommended the same as for narcolepsy. Start treatment with Vitelin: two and one half mg, one in AM, one four to six hours later. There was no REM sleep. Could you please explain this in layman turns. I am a cancer survivor. Has any of this to do with cancer? I thank you for taking the time to review my email and hope that you have time to answer it.
Dr. Bortz Says
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