What The World Series and jet lag have In common?

What The World Series and Jet Lag Have In Common

Well I can share with you that last night after enjoying one of the most exciting baseball games ever, and along side a few of my fellow friends we paid a price. That cost came in the form of less sleep. Personally I felt as though I just walked off the airplane from a long trip. It was game 6 of the World Series between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Texas Rangers and what is arguably one of the greatest series games ever played and it ended after midnight. I had been posting and tweeting on Facebook and Twitter sharing the ups and downs of the game with all who were willing. It was in the 11th inning  and David Freese took a 3-2 pitch and drove it to deep center field to break the 9-9 tie game with one of the most exciting happenings in baseball a walk off home run. It was crazy an my online celebration continued well after the game we were all to excited to go to sleep.  The next morning the walls were buzzing on my social networks. Everyone was chatting about their lack of sleep. Some  joked about taking role call while others said they felt like the lack of sleep resembled jet lag, a feeling that our beloved Cardinals share all too often I’m sure and especially during this years World Series.

This got me to thinking about today’s blog having to do with a recent new study that was released that seem to explain the feeling jet lag we  all experience when we travel.  Have you ever traveled from west to east? Well the jet lag  we experience and the Differences we feel when traveling seems to be the responsibility  within our brains. This feeling is actually a big disruption of our circadian clocks.  Forget the alarm clock that wakes you in the morning, this is a clock  in your body that sets itself and is believed to be the primary reason we experience jet lag. It often affects people more so when they’re flight takes them west to east, as apposed to the opposite direction and seems to have been solidified in a recent new animal study. Our circadian clock makes necessary regular adjustments to stay in sync light cycles of day and night. The circadian clock does this by advancing or delaying its time clock in reaction to light. These corrections usually happen with no notice. When this routine is interrupted by rapid light and dark changes in the light-dark cycle, in particular when we travel or take a long flight. Previous studies show delaying or advancing the brains clock occurs in altered pathways in an area of the human brain called the suprachiasmatic nucleus.

This newest study has indicated that the molecular mechanisms within these brain pathways are considerably different. Science has known for years that within humans and other living organisms, advances are harder to achieve than delays. One of the best examples of this, compare the jet lag experienced in a trip coming from Europe back to the USA, Associate professor of biology Horacio de la Iglesia, from the University of Washington, said in a university news release. “One of the reasons may be that these two forms of resetting the clock involve different molecular mechanisms at the clock level,” he suggested. According to the researchers scientific findings from studies that included hamsters looks to help in efforts and help develop possible remedies related to jet lag, according to the researchers. The study was published online recently in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Photo Getting dirty By Herkie http://www.flickr.com/photos/dherholz/4568730107/

This was a recent interview with Dr Ojile from the Clayton Sleep Institute on Fox 2 News in St Louis. Can Back Ground Noise Be the Key To Getting To Sleep?

Are countless thoughts keeping you awake at bedtime? John Pertzborn All the time. Angie Mock, Some back ground noise can actually be the key to relaxation That’s what Dr. Ojile says, he is from the Clayton Sleep Institute. You were just talking to Angie about some issues she’s having? All laughing Angie say’s she has plenty of them trust her as she says she busted out a few yawns just moments ago. She asks Dr. Ojile to talk about it a little.

Dr. Ojile: It’s tough to change shifts like your doing but one of the issues that’s come up is that there is a resort in Europe that’s now providing each of their guests with background music to sleep. We’re starting to see this trend around the country and in some of the areas around the world and in resorts and it applies to peoples homes as well. Some folks, and this is a strategy more than a scientific issue they need a little bit of white noise or what we call background noise to ease themselves into sleep.  You were playing some of that as we started the interview, sometimes its rainforest, sometimes it’s trickling water, they’re different sounds that are very benign, they’re not disruptive and they’re not loud.

John Pertzborn, is that the same thing, I know people that can’t fall asleep unless they have the radio or the television set on?

Dr. Ojile, It is a similar tactic but this is a healthy approach. With those other issues the brain tends to get focused on what’s on the TV, So for instance if what you need to go to sleep is a certain late night show, you cycle through sleep periodically about every 90 minutes during the night. When you get up during one of those 90 minute periods, that show is not going to be on any longer so your brain has gotten tuned into that versus the repetitive calming sound. So this is a little better strategy and again its not as much scientific as just part of your total sleep health and behavior picture but it’s very easy to perform if you need it.

John Pertzborn, It looks like the buzzer on The Price Is Right.

Dr. Ojile, That’s exactly right; it’s a very simple device. These are very inexpensive and they are very simplistic. You can adjust it to what ever you like from rain to ocean to waterfalls.

Angie Mock. This is basically to drown out not necessarily sirens or anything that’s going on in the background but just to kind of help give a relaxing…

Dr Ojile, that’s a very good point some of it is for relaxing but there can be a few minor back ground sounds. It’s certainly not going to drown out thunder or an ambulance. So that’s really what it’s for. It’s to give you this gentleness to go to sleep. It can work in some patients. I think this is a very interesting trend you’re going to see this as you go to more and more hotels. There is several hotels in the country that will give you a package when you check in which is actually a CD of music that you can put in your room and listen to on your clock radio, DVD player, CD Player etc. Some will have the music where you can just turn it on your remote control. Your going to see more of this as the resort industry tries to accommodate the needs of their residents who are our patients and see that there is a value there.

John Pertzborn, So in other words , invest in this technology you will make a million?

Dr Ojile, (Laughing) I can’t say that.

John Pertzborn, It’s a great idea though

Angie Mock, Absolutely, Why we have you here do you have any other tips for people having trouble getting to bed at night and sleep?

Dr Ojile, I think key thing is to look at this as something secondary to do. The standard things for getting to bed are still the key issues. Regularizing your bed time, regularizing your wake time, and winding down an hour our two before you go to sleep and trying not to change shifts to often.

John Pertzborn, Without looking at the internet and things that stimulate you and eating gassy foods.
Dr. Ojile Technology is the biggest issue for sure for our society today.

By Jennifer Adams of The Jennifer Adams Design Group

Video Transcript of Bedroom Colors for Better Sleep

When it comes to your bedroom there’s no right or wrong color pallet. What you really need to determine first is the look and the style that works for you. I tend to find that the most commonly asked for look is more tranquil because it helps you to sleep and it’s more conducive to relaxing. That’s my personal preference. So I recently redid my bedroom so I’m bringing you in so you can see the tranquil color pallet that I chose.

From a design standpoint there are so many different colors you can use to achieve a tranquil look it’s not all about ivory. Here are some colors that I thing can work very well. You can do a soft butter cream you can even do a white. White is just very classic and very calming. There are some nice soft sages, a sky blue, even a mountain blue, or a dark chocolate brown, it just depends on how you use it so you want to combine it well with the wall tone. If you’re going to do the butter cream it’s nice to do another butter cream color on the wall, and then maybe contrast with some pops of white. Look how sweet that is.

With the sages you could bring in a light sage or a darker green wall and then pop again with white or even this ivory like the ivory tones I have in my room. You can then also then take some of these sky blues the powder blues and periwinkles and bring those with a white and that’s just absolutely beautiful and I think that’s tranquil. Another color that’s very current right now are the lavenders you can that with white or with the ivories or even with a soft beige wall that work really well. Something that I really like to do is bring in a really dark chocolate wall and combine that with a white it makes the white pop you can really even get some really pretty white draperies and make that work.

There are some big no no’s when it comes to tranquility in your bedroom. It doesn’t mean you can’t have these colors it’s just colors that aren’t very restful. I don’t often recommend black it just doesn’t feel restful to me. Bright yellows that’s to loud and to jarring. Reds are another one it’s just not as calming. I’m not even a big fan of navy blue if you want a calming look. So just stick with more of the softer tones.

My personal favorite color tones for a tranquil bedroom are more the ivory and beiges. You’ll notice I have it all over my bedroom to include the walls, even the bench at the foot of the bed, my duvet cover, the blanket, the sheets and the fabric on the headboard. The way I make it work I change the textures up. So the bench it velvet my duvet is just a sheet fabric same with the blanket its similar fabric but has a different texture then the sheets and then a velvet again up at the headboard. The way that I make it work and really pop is I just add a little bit of color and a little bit of texture with grounded chocolate brown and it makes the ivory really stand out and sparkle a little bit more. Further to add a little more contrast I have a darker wood tone because that is a nice contrast between the light fabric and the dark wood and the lighter walls. Then to wrap that wood tone around the room I have it in the nightstand and I also brought that same tone up into the lamp and then again into the armoire where I have the TV because. It’s really important if you really want a tranquil feel to not have a TV just right out there in the middle of the bedroom. You want to disguise it.

A few other things to consider when you are putting together a tranquil master bedroom is get rid of all of the kid paraphernalia. Remember this is a place for you to rest and not have anything to think about. Also get rid of the exercise equipment and a desk is an absolute no in your master bedroom.
I don’t feel pressure to fill up every space like you’ll notice a lot of my walls are blank because you don’t need to have a lot when you’re trying to get a tranquil environment just a couple throws and some candles just don’t over design keep it simple.

by sunshinecity

If you could do 1 thing to change your health for the better, that would not cost you a dime, and didn’t require an expensive diet or exercise regiment would you consider it?

As you get ready for summer we must wade through the springtime both literally and figuratively, and along with spring comes great fluctuations in temperature that make everyday dressing tough. Cool temperatures in the morning compel us to leave home wearing a jacket to return home in warmer temps only to forget it.

We can barely prepare for what to wear each morning for drastic changes in weather on a spring day so is there anything we can do to prepare for the springtime cold and flu season?  Springtime is a prime time of year to come down with the common cold and your sleep could be the key to cold prevention and better health for you and your family. According to a recent WebMD article and leading physicians William Ellert, M.D and Diwakar Balachandran, MD getting a good night of sleep or the lack of it affects your immune system in significant ways.

Sleep loss not only plays a role in whether we come down with a cold or the flu but

it also influences how we fight illnesses by means of fevers when we do ultimately come down with such ill health.

Sleep and Immunity: Understanding the Link

Not getting an adequate amount of sleep has been associated to a whole host of mental & physical health problems, as well as those that initiate from an impaired immune system. Our body has a natural weapon called the immune system which is quite complex it is intended to protect us from ailments, colds, and even the flu, but when it is not performing up to snuff, it fails to do its job correctly.

What Are the Consequences Of Less Sleep?

• A weakening of the body’s immune system.
• Sick days
• Less Energy
• Decrease your body’s ability to take action against bacterial infections or colds
• How Sleep helps

Sleep controls the release of a hormone that stimulates cells that boost the immune system and just like a well maintained vehicle which performs better and is less likely to break down a well-tuned immune system is critical in our body’s defense against the cold virus. People often ask how much sleep is needed to help steer clear of the common cold?  A minimum of seven hours of sleep is the easiest way and studies show that people who don’t are three times more likely to catch a cold when they fall short of that minimum. So make your bedtime more healthful and your life more energetic and productive and get some sleep your health may depend on it.

Are you having cover cohabitation issues? Does your sleeping partner wake you; steal your blankets, sheets, or covers throughout the night? Is there a way out of this sleep disturbed night that will save the relationship? Cohabiting sleepers whether its one of the adults or one of the kids we are always looking for a magic solution to a problem that has plagued many of us for years, cover snatching. Today’s article will put many of you one step closer towards a resolution.  The great thing especially for couples is that it is easier than you thought and it won’t require the most extreme of measures, the dreaded separate twin beds.

Problems that often come from sharing Blankets and Sheets:

• Not conducive for a good night of sleep
• The blanket thief
• Waking up cold
• Insufficient amount of covers for both sleepers
• Unfavorable sleeping conditions
• Cannot wrap up in blanket

Cute Pocket Photo by xadrian
Looking no further than my own bedroom was the inspiration for this article. Interestingly at the beginning of our marriage the first thing Kathy and I had to do was acknowledge that there was a real problem with our sleeping situation. I am in love with my wife and she is in love with me but neither of us is in love with the idea of waking up more tired than when we went to sleep.

Both of us had never shared covers with another till our marriage.

One of the biggest problem that I found was waking up cold in the middle of the night only to notice that I had been robbed by a blanket thief and to make it worse I could positively identify this common cover crook out of a lineup. I positively ID her as my wife. OK the truth be told I am the very restless one I don’t think I have a sleep disorder, but I do find it hard to unwind and my mind is always preoccupied with thoughts of the day. The fact is this was usually the cause of the tossing and turning that led to the eventual blanket stealing.

I love my wife, I love sharing our space, and we wanted to keep it this way. We did not enjoy sharing “my” covers. Our answer to the problem was to use separate blankets and sheets. Both of us could go back to doing what we did best. Be a blanket hog. We are both able bundled up and coverd up. Whirl and roll the blankets and sheets into a cover frenzy back in warmth and comfort without disturbing the other.

Agreeing to sleep with separate blankets allows…

each of you to not only keep warm but also sleep undisturbed from the tug of war that is blanket and sheet sharing. It is not exactly the traditional way to make a bed before bedtime but there is nothing hard about it. We grab our blankets and throw them on the bed and we’re good to go. We simply store our king bed spread out of the way till morning when at that time if we so choose we can make our bed and hide our secret to better co sleeping.