Sleep and Psychiatric Disorders

There is no evidence that sleep disorders are a cause of psychiatric disorders. But sleep and psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia and depression are closely related. Psychiatric disorders are the leading cause of insomnia, the inability to sleep. In addition to insomnia, people with psychiatric disorders have other sleep problems, including sleepiness during the day, fatigue, and nightmares.

Difficulties with sleep can make psychiatric disorders worse by making the person confused or frustrated, as well as more sensitive to pain and other medical problems.

People who are depressed have a tendency to wake up early, and then cannot fall asleep again. This can make their depression worse, since the amount of sleep a person gets has an effect on his or her illness. People who don't have a psychiatric illness but suffer from insomnia are more likely to develop a disorder like depression later in their life.

How to Sleep Better

'Sleep Hygiene' Solutions for Better Sleep

From having occasional difficulty sleeping to insomnia, there is a lot you can do to get a better night's sleep, feel refreshed when you awake, and remain alert throughout the day. It's called "sleep hygiene" and refers to those practices, habits, and environmental factors that are critically important for sound sleep. And most of it is under your control.

There are four general areas important to sleep hygiene:

* Our circadian rhythm, or 24-hour cycle

* Aging

* Psychological stressors -- those factors can cause difficulty falling asleep and disturb the quality of your sleep

Sleep, Travel, and Jet Lag

Jet lag can occur when people travel quickly across several time zones, causing their internal biological rhythm to be out of synch with the new destination time. Sleep problems tend to be more common when people travel from west to east as it is more difficult to advance than to delay sleep time.

Coping With Jet Lag

To avoid jet lag, it is important to adapt yourself to the routine of your destination time zone as soon as possible. The following suggestions might help you avoid sleep problems when traveling:

* Several days before traveling, try to gradually adjust your sleeping habits to the destination time zone.

Better Sleep Tips for Business Trips

Road warriors need sound sleep to be at their peak.

Business travel and sleep do mix; they have to, or you will be far less productive than you may think. Business travel demands high performance amid stress, hectic schedules, heavy meals, and late nights -- all a recipe for poor sleep.

If more of us realized the importance of sleep to performance, not to mention health, we would get a lot more done and feel a whole lot better doing it. Losing as little as one and a half hours for just one night reduces daytime alertness by about one-third. Excessive daytime sleepiness impairs memory and the ability to think and process information. Sleep deprivation also leads to mood alterations, attention deficits, slower reaction times, and increased risk for accidents. And sleep deprivation is cumulative, building a sleep debt that must be paid.

Sinusitis

Sinusitis is an inflammation of the nasal sinus which usually caused by bacterial or viral infection. Allergic reactions or other responses to environmental agents such as dust, pollen, plant spores and even pollutants in the form of chemicals in the air can also cause sinusitis. Other possible causes of sinusitis includes excessive dryness in homes and offices from dry-air heating and air-conditioning systems, immunologic, nasal obstruction from tumors, polyps or a deviated septum, as well as structural problems such as narrow drainage passages.

Some of the common symptoms of chronic sinus infection includes headache that occurs for weeks at a time and is often notably worse in the morning, a pressure across mid face between the eyes, postnasal drip and nasal congestion. The classic symptoms of acute sinus infection are fever, raspy voice, nasal obstruction, loss of sense of smell, purulent nasal discharge and facial pain or headache that is sometimes aggravated by bending over. Less common signs of sinusitis include sore throat, puffy eyes, snoring, bad breath, coughing, fatigue, bronchitis, a chronic cold and stuffy ears.

You Love Supporting the Fight Against Breast Cancer, But Beware of "Pinkwashing" Say Some

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, and you're probably seeing a lot of pink when you go shopping--from the mall to the grocery store. While it's great to see companies jump on the fund-raising bandwagon for one of the deadliest diseases for women, some experts are criticizing what they say is "pinkwashing"--fund-raising they believe may not be so great for breast cancer research after all...

Fried chicken for the cure? Some experts say not so fast.

You bought a pink spatula and a pack of batteries with a pink ribbon on it because you believed you were supporting breast cancer research--and you were. Many companies give generously during the month of October, Breast Cancer Awareness Month, to nonprofit organizations spearheading breast cancer research.

Let's Talk About Cankles

You know the term "cankles," right? They're described as "chubby ankles" or calves that stretch down to the ankle region without much definition. One major nationwide gym is waging war on cankles, and here's why it kind of bugs me...

Gold's Gym has designated July as "Cankle Awareness Month." According to their Web site: "The word comes from the combination of 'calf' and 'ankle.' It occurs when the calf merges with an obese or swollen ankle."

Gold's claims that cankles are the "fastest growing aesthetic affliction in the United States"--even more than muffin tops and saddle bags. "Millions of people across the country are currently affected by cankles and millions more are at risk," they write on their "Say No to Cankles" Web site. "In fact, it is estimated that if current trends continue, by the year 2012 Cankles will surpass Love Handles as the number one aesthetic affliction in the world."

Today's Meditation - Stop Comparing Yourself to Others

“Preserve your confidence.”

It’s so easy to compare yourself to others. When you use others as your measuring stick, you usually come up short. You convince yourself you’re not as clever, beautiful, thin or talented.

Lasting satisfaction and confidence comes from appreciating yourself and all that you have to offer. Equating yourself with others eats away at your confidence and leaves you feeling inferior.

Remind yourself of these simple truths. You are a unique and special person, exactly as you are. Your loved ones love you for whom you are. You’re one-of-a-kind and you’re irreplaceable.

With convictions such as these, your confidence is secure, just as it should be.

6 Great Bridal Shower Theme Ideas

As in weddings, themes can tie bridal showers together and create an easy template for party fun. Here are some great bridal shower themes.

1. Around the clock:

For this theme, guests are assigned an hour of the day and are asked to bring a gift corresponding to that hour. For 7AM, the guest might bring an espresso machine. For 5PM, they might bring cocktail glasses or dinner plates. Refreshments can also correspond to the hours of the day and breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner, and dessert foods may all be served. You could use clocks and timepieces for decorations and could use sunflowers, morning glories, or four o’clocks for floral decorations. "Rock Around the Clock" by Bill Haley would be a good music opener, and a cake decorated with a clock face could round out the theme.

Can a vegetarian diet cut cancer risks?

Last night I had one of the most amazing meals of my life at Restaurant Daniel here in New York: Pressed duck, a classic French dish that--not to get too graphic--consists of roast duck, duck blood, and whatever juices you get after pressing the duck carcass in a wine-press like device. It was amazing. This morning I awoke to news of a 12-year study of 60,000 people in the UK and New Zealand that suggests that eating a vegetarian diet may help cut your cancer risk. Am I ready to give up the gory carnivorous pleasures of pressed duck and other meaty delights? I don't think so. But I do support the flexitarian cause, i.e., eating meat only occasionally and making the most of it when I do. If you're ready to take the vegetarian (or flexitarian) plunge, here's a three-step plan:

How Much Folate Do You Need?

This essential B vitamin is found in beans, fruits and vegetables.

Every time the body makes new cells, it needs folate, the B vitamin that’s abundant in beans, fruits and vegetables—leafy greens in particular. Folate is essential for processing vitamin B12, and recent studies suggest it might help protect against Alzheimer’s disease, colorectal cancer and strokes. Folate also helps prevent neural-tube birth defects (NTDs), such as spina bifida. In fact, since 1998 when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration began requiring enriched cereal grain products (including white flour, pasta and white rice) to be fortified with folic acid—the form of the vitamin used in supplements—the incidence of NTDs has dropped by about 25 percent.

What to Do When Life Becomes too Exhausting?

When my phone rang the other week I was excited to hear the voice on the other end. It was Diane, my first roommate in Montreal who had disappeared from my life when she decided to go to culinary school several years ago. Now a professional chef, this former take-out junkie was painting pastries while I was still focused on helping millions of Americans cut out their carbs during my extended stint in the diet industry.

It only took minutes before she blurted out the words "I'm exhausted," which for me conjured images of a primer, plumper Demi Moore from that scene in St. Elmo's Fire where she said something along the lines of "I never thought I would be this tired at 24." But at 37, it was not a make-believe Hollywood coke habit that Diane was tired of supporting, it was the demands of life faced on her own.

Insider Tips From Medical Specialists

What your doctor doesn’t have time to tell you in an all-too-brief appointment.

The Oncologist Says

Edward T. Creagan, a professor of medical oncology at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, in Rochester, Minnesota

* Turn down the grill. When meat is charred at a high temperature, amino acids in the meat break down and form carcinogens. “Lower the flame or move the rack up higher,” says Creagan. Cooking may take longer, but you’ll avoid the risks.

* Adopt a furry friend. Spending time with an animal produces endorphins (which can enhance immunity) and the hormone oxytocin (which fosters a sense of well-being) and decreases the stress hormone cortisol, says Creagan.