Monthly Archives: July 2014

The search for a good night’s sleep is by no means restricted to the residents of the United States, as evidenced by a recent announcement from a mattress manufacturer in India. Furniture manufacturer Nilkamal has been making a name for itself recently by attempting to create mattresses that address and resolve specific issues and problems that arise while its customers are asleep. Its most recent entry into the market is a mattress that it claims will offer the bed partners of habitual snorers some relief by muffling the sounds emanating from their partner.  Continue reading →

There are many pleasures to sleeping in on a Saturday or Sunday morning. Sleeping late or lying in bed and reading the newspaper or having a leisurely weekend breakfast can be a luxury well-worth indulging in, but if you’re sleeping in because you think that doing so will make up for all of the sleep that you’ve lost over the course of the week, think again. The idea that you can binge on sleep in order to be recharged for the following week is simply counterproductive, and can often end up making you feel worse. Continue reading →

When it comes to rugby, Australians take the game seriously, and the New South Wales rugby team has been representing the state of New South Wales for over 100 years in the annual State of Origin series, a sort of World Series of Soccer that pits the home team, known as the Blues, against the team from Queensland.  As this year’s training camp began in Coffs Harbour, team members found themselves with a new piece of equipment – a high tech sleep monitor worn on their wrists at all hours of the day and night outside of actual practices. The monitors are a part of the plan from the New South Wales team’s sports science unit, which is tasked with making sure that every aspect of the players’ performance is being accounted for. The staff knows that sleep and nutrition are key factors in performance, as well as in recovery. Continue reading →

When it comes to solving your sleep problems, there are probably a number of resources that are on your mental checklist. These might include a visit to the pharmacy for an over-the-counter sleep aid, the App Store on your cell phone looking for a good sleep-whispering program or an electronics store for a sleep monitoring device, a mattress store for a new bed, or your doctor. Many people have found tremendous success seeking treatment from psychologists and psychiatrists who offer cognitive behavioral therapies, and some may need help from sleep laboratories, where they submit to overnight tests in which professionals monitor their activity, respiration, brain waves and more.  Yet few seek help from the medical profession that is often likely to offer a quick and easy solution to their problem – their dentist. Continue reading →

When we think of Consumer Reports, we tend to think of the publication (and now website) where we turn for reviews of refrigerators and vacuums, not for tips on how to get past sleepless nights. But a recent study conducted by the venerable organization asked 8,900 people who had already volunteered that they never (or almost never) have a hard time falling asleep about the secret to their sleeping success, and folks were happy to provide the answers.  The answers are surprisingly simple, free and easy to introduce into your daily routine.  Continue reading →

It seems like every day there is more information in the news focusing on the relationship between sleep and our health, and the information about how lack of sleep effects children has been of particular concern. Establishing good sleep patterns at an early age can not only set your child up for healthy habits in the future, it can also protect them from some truly serious medical conditions, and help them socially and educationally as well.  A recent study out of the University of Illinois has gone one step beyond encouraging parents to make sure that their children get to bed on time. It suggests that dramatic improvements can also be made by improving the amount of sleep that the parents get themselves. Continue reading →