Can't Sleep?
Try listening to some music.
Having trouble sleeping? Turn on some slow, soft music. A recent study published in the Journal Of Advanced Nursing A
sleep pattern study found that people with sleep problems showed improvement after listening to soft music.
Sleep may be affected by the aging process. The study involved two groups of people between the ages of 60 and 83
with difficulty in sleeping. Participants were screened using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and the Epworth
Sleepiness Scale. People in the group suffered from depression, cognitive impairment, or medical or environmental
problems that interfered with sleep.
Users of sleep medication, meditation, or caffeine at bedtime were excluded.
Half the participants were given a choice of six soft, slow music tapes and were instructed to listen to the music
for 45 minutes before trying to fall asleep. The control group listened to no music.
The results: Those who listened to music experienced physical changes, including lower heart and respiratory rates
that led to more restful sleep.
"The difference between the music group and the control group was clinically significant," stated lead author
Hui-ling Lai of the Buddhist Tzu-Chi General Hospital and Tzu-Chi University in Taiwan. She went on to say that the
group who listened to music showed 26 percent improvement in the first week and that figure continued to rise the
longer they kept up the practice.
Music works as a sort of sedative and could be a method of improving sleep without the use of medication, especially
in older people who often take far too much medication already.
Remember, you should listen to slow, soft music. Fast, loud music would have the opposite effect, so avoid loud rap,
heavy metal or rousing orchestral music
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Understanding stress
Stress can be short-term (acute) or long-term (chronic). Acute stress is a reaction to an immediate threat — either
real or perceived. Chronic stress involves situations that aren't short-lived, such as relationship problems,
workplace pressures, and financial or health worries.
When you're unable to cope with the circumstances, a physical stress response occurs to meet the energy demands of
the situation. First, the stress hormone adrenaline is released. Then your heart beats faster, your breathing quickens
and your blood pressure rises. Your liver increases its output of blood sugar, and blood flow is diverted to your
brain and large muscles. After the threat or anger passes, your body relaxes again.
You may be able to handle an occasional stressful event, but when it happens repeatedly, as with chronic stress, the
effects multiply and compound over time.
"The response to stress is highly individual," says Edward Creagan, M.D., an oncologist at Mayo Clinic, Rochester,
Minn. "It's like a football player who has repetitive trauma in the game. One hit and he'll survive. But add up week
after week of hits in a season and he'll be hurting. He may not be able to handle it anymore."
How much stress should you be able to handle?
"You are too stressed when the five telltale signs appear," Dr. Creagan says.
You feel irritable.
You have trouble sleeping — you're either sleepy all of the time or
you can't sleep at all.
You don't get any joy out of life.
You lose your appetite or can't stop eating.
You have relationship problems and no longer get along with friends and family members.
Too much stress may appear in the form of illness, infertility or fatigue. Chronic stress can damage your overall
health, including:
Your immune system. Stress can suppress your immune system, making you more susceptible to viral infections, such as
influenza, and bacterial infections, such as tuberculosis.
Your cardiovascular health. Stress causes a more rapid heartbeat and may bring on chest pain (angina) and irregular
heart rhythms (arrhythmia). Stress may even lead to a heart attack or stroke.
If you already have some existing health concerns, such as asthma or gastrointestinal problems, stress can make your
symptoms worse.
Pain Medications can help you, and we have large selection available.
Having trouble sleeping? Turn on some slow, soft music. A recent study published in the Journal Of Advanced Nursing A
sleep pattern study found that people with sleep problems showed improvement after listening to soft music.
Sleep may be affected by the aging process. The study involved two groups of people between the ages of 60 and 83
with difficulty in sleeping. Participants were screened using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and the Epworth
Sleepiness Scale. People in the group suffered from depression, cognitive impairment, or medical or environmental
problems that interfered with sleep.
Users of sleep medication, meditation, or caffeine at bedtime were excluded.
Half the participants were given a choice of six soft, slow music tapes and were instructed to listen to the music
for 45 minutes before trying to fall asleep. The control group listened to no music.
The results: Those who listened to music experienced physical changes, including lower heart and respiratory rates
that led to more restful sleep.
"The difference between the music group and the control group was clinically significant," stated lead author
Hui-ling Lai of the Buddhist Tzu-Chi General Hospital and Tzu-Chi University in Taiwan. She went on to say that the
group who listened to music showed 26 percent improvement in the first week and that figure continued to rise the
longer they kept up the practice.
Music works as a sort of sedative and could be a method of improving sleep without the use of medication, especially
in older people who often take far too much medication already.
Remember, you should listen to slow, soft music. Fast, loud music would have the opposite effect, so avoid loud rap,
heavy metal or rousing orchestral music
**********************************************
Understanding stress
Stress can be short-term (acute) or long-term (chronic). Acute stress is a reaction to an immediate threat — either
real or perceived. Chronic stress involves situations that aren't short-lived, such as relationship problems,
workplace pressures, and financial or health worries.
When you're unable to cope with the circumstances, a physical stress response occurs to meet the energy demands of
the situation. First, the stress hormone adrenaline is released. Then your heart beats faster, your breathing quickens
and your blood pressure rises. Your liver increases its output of blood sugar, and blood flow is diverted to your
brain and large muscles. After the threat or anger passes, your body relaxes again.
You may be able to handle an occasional stressful event, but when it happens repeatedly, as with chronic stress, the
effects multiply and compound over time.
"The response to stress is highly individual," says Edward Creagan, M.D., an oncologist at Mayo Clinic, Rochester,
Minn. "It's like a football player who has repetitive trauma in the game. One hit and he'll survive. But add up week
after week of hits in a season and he'll be hurting. He may not be able to handle it anymore."
How much stress should you be able to handle?
"You are too stressed when the five telltale signs appear," Dr. Creagan says.
You feel irritable.
You have trouble sleeping — you're either sleepy all of the time or
you can't sleep at all.
You don't get any joy out of life.
You lose your appetite or can't stop eating.
You have relationship problems and no longer get along with friends and family members.
Too much stress may appear in the form of illness, infertility or fatigue. Chronic stress can damage your overall
health, including:
Your immune system. Stress can suppress your immune system, making you more susceptible to viral infections, such as
influenza, and bacterial infections, such as tuberculosis.
Your cardiovascular health. Stress causes a more rapid heartbeat and may bring on chest pain (angina) and irregular
heart rhythms (arrhythmia). Stress may even lead to a heart attack or stroke.
If you already have some existing health concerns, such as asthma or gastrointestinal problems, stress can make your
symptoms worse.
Pain Medications can help you, and we have large selection available.
