Growing Bolder Community

With so much research going on in the field of sleep it is good that they have dedicated a week to helping people get a better nights sleep. This weeks research talks a great deal about the fact that as our economy deteriorates so does our ability to sleep. This leads to a more stress related society. I too am being hit by the economy just like everyone else is but I understand that it is an...

For those who have sleep apnea a CPAP is your introduction to the first good night sleep you have had in a long time. The problem is that you have to get used to it. So what is it and how does it work. To put it simply a CPAP is a very fancy air compressor. That is not to say you can go to Wal-Mart and buy and an air compressor and use that because I am sorry that will not work. When...

Since this is sleep awareness week and also FCAT week in Florida it would appear that the nature of the test would have an affect on the sleep of our children. It turns out it does. It also turns out that it matters what type of personality they have. The problem is that children need sleep to be able to learn, store and retrieve memory effectively and to grow. This is worse for children who...

I have been in health care for over 20 years. I can honestly say that my patients have never been better informed and neither have I. The ability for new ideas and new research to be shared in an open forum and to allow patients and caregivers to discuss issues and to give each other help has changed how healthier is administers. There are certain drawbacks like incorrect information being...

Its 2 am and you are still awake or you have worken up for the third time or even worse you have woken up because it feels like someone cranked the furnace all the way up. Your sleep will change as you are going through menopause, that is a fact. But you need to be aware of what is normal and what is not. You also need to make sure that you get treated for these problems. In one study...

This is an area that has not had enough research. The general consensus is that either ADD causes sleep disturbances like insomnia and fragmented sleep (sleep that is not continuous.) Or that sleep deprivation can bring on the symptoms of ADD/ADHD. So how do you know what to look for? How do you know what came first? The first thing is to look for obvious signs of a sleep disorder. Does...

The idea that treating just one symptom at a time is how medicine has worked. In recent years doctors have been taking a more holistic approach in caring for their patients. This has allowed research to be done looking at how such a thing as pain, both acute and chronic are associated with sleep. Thsi issue is important on many levels. With our community getting older this issue of pain...

You have seen the commercials with the moth. Take a pill and you will sleep. Or the one for the over the counter medication, you don’t even have to talk to your doctor to take that. Many people do not want to take medication. For those looking for alternatives to medicine you might want to look at exercise. This will not overcome a sleep disorder such as restless leg syndrome or sleep...

Home sleep testing has been very controversial over the last year. The idea of home sleep is can be threatening to a lab. This is not the case. I believe that this type of testing is perfect for those patients who refuse to come in to a sleep lab, a person who has no insurance or a large deductable, or the person who is in an area where there is a long wait. The home sleep equipment...

Fibromyalgia patients have to learn to deal with chronic pain. The problem is that pain and insomnia cause a vicious cycle of increased pain and decreased sleep. Insomnia has been shown in many studies to decrease a patient’s pain threshold. Treating insomnia can be quite difficult. Medications are usually the first line of treatment. They work well in the beginning but patients build up a...