The Symptoms and Causes of Hypersomnia

Hypersomnia is a disorder characterized by excessive sleepiness. It is a condition that is opposite to insomnia, in which people have trouble staying awake during the day. People who have hypersomnia are able to fall asleep at any point in time, whether it be during work or while they’re driving. The National Sleep Foundation has reported that up to 40% of Americans have experienced hypersomnia symptoms at some point in their life.

How the Extra Hour of Sleep from the End of Daylight Savings Affects You

Hopefully, everyone pushed their clock back an hour at 2 AM on Sunday Morning! November 6^th ended the 8-month stretch of Daylight Saving Time, which started on March 13^th of this year and shifted an hour of daylight to our evenings. What happens to our sleep now that the days have fallen back to standard time? There are both pros and cons when pushing the clocks back an hour.

Can’t Sleep? Your Mattress May be the Cause

Sleeplessness affects many people worldwide. With approximately 30-50% of the population suffering from insomnia, the inability to fall asleep or stay asleep throughout the night, it is important to figure out the causes of sleep deprivation. Many causes of sleeplessness include stress, anxiety, and emotional or physical discomfort, but have you ever stopped to think that your mattress may be the cause?

Is Your Child Sleep Deprived?

It doesn’t matter what how old you are, getting enough sleep is vital to memory development and living a healthy life. As you age, the amount of sleep required to function at optimal performance decreases, yet you may overlook sleep deprivation as a reason your days are sluggish and you feel unmotivated. But let’s focus on how sleep deprivation can affect our kids; it may be worse than you previously thought.

The average child, aged between 3 and 12, needs roughly 10-13 hours of sleep per night. The younger the child is, the more sleep they will need. Sleep plays an important role in brain development, coordination and can often cause developing attention disorders like ADD (attention deficit disorder). One issue parents may face is not recognizing if their child is sleep deprived. It can sometimes be hard as we mistake these telltale signs for normal child-like behavior. Some of the signs to watch for are:

How to Stop Hitting the Snooze Button on Your Alarm Clock

It’s 6:30 AM and your alarm clock starts blaring in your ear, jolting you from your night’s rest. In your mind, all you keep thinking is “just a little longer,” so you groggily roll over and hit the snooze button. Sound familiar? The average person hits the snooze button 3 times before getting out of bed. Therefore, we all are victims of snoozing our alarm clocks to get that extra 9 minutes of sleep, but how can this impact the rest of our day?

The History of Memory Foam Mattresses

Almost everyone knows what a memory foam mattress is, but do you know how one of the most comfortable mattress options was created? In 1966, NASA’s Ames Research Center set out to produce a material that would increase the comfort in aircraft cushions. During take-off, astronauts had to deal with pressure that was generated from gravitational forces. Memory foam helped to relieve this tension because its properties would conform to the astronauts’ bodies, and absorbed the shock from lift-off.

The Science of Beauty Sleep

Everyone has heard the phrase “beauty sleep” used in everyday conversation, but did you know that getting more sleep does actually make people more beautiful? When people are sleep deprived, the consequences show in their physical appearance. A lack of sleep has been linked to depression, exhaustion, and weight gain – all of which are hard to outwardly hide.

The more time a person spends sleeping, the more likely they are to appear well rested and healthy. A study done in Sweden last year gave more insight on how sleep affects beauty. Twenty-three participants were photographed after a normal night’s sleep and then again after a night in which they were deprived of sleep. Sixty-five observers who got to share their opinion of the appearance of each person then rated participants. As it turns out, the photos of sleep-deprived people were rated as less healthy, less attractive, and more tired.

The 5 Benefits of Napping

Have you ever taken a midday nap and felt guilty about it? Many people have a stigma that napping is a sign of laziness or weakness, when in actuality, it’s very healthy for your body. In today’s society, it is common to become sleep deprived due to the amount of stress placed on jobs and other responsibilities. Sleep deprivation takes a toll on every person’s body after awhile, and a good way to make up for your lack of sleep is by taking a nap. Sleep experts suggest taking a nap that lasts between 15-30 minutes. A study showed that 20 minutes of sleep during the day is more effective than 20 minutes of extra sleep in the morning. Napping has proven to have many benefits for your health and mind, which are all listed below…

How Technology Affects Sleep

We have all heard the saying mind over matter. This concept is especially true when it comes to sleep and the use of modern technology. Today’s society as a whole is sleep deprived, which in turn can reap havoc on a person’s day-to-day functionality and even their health. While oversleeping can harm your personal health, becoming sleep deprived can have equal side effects. Although the reasoning behind lack of sleep or sleeping too much differentiates from person to person, technology has been said to be a primary reason.