BioQuakes

AP Biology class blog for discussing current research in Biology

Tag: Sleep (Page 2 of 2)

What does it take to get a good nights sleep?

Recent studies show most people believe it is the mattress quality which determines how well they can sleep, but is this true?

Have you ever been to a hotel or slept over someone’s house and felt that the mattress wasn’t comfortable enough and thus it was the “worst sleep ever?” Well what about the nights you struggle in your own bed to fall asleep, all the tossing and turning trying to find the perfect spot on your mattress.

Well if its not the Mattress what is it? 

It is not the mattress that is affecting everyday sleep but rather various things such as sleep disorders that can disrupt a night, or nights, sleep.  These disorders include sleep apnea, insomnia, sleep terrors,  nightmares, and sleep walking. Many of these disorders they can be monitored in a sleep clinic and then dealt with accordingly. Dr. Emsellem suggests that one way to fight distractions that may disrupts your sleep is to buy a white noise machine.A white noise machine helps cancel all distractions your mind may have while asleep. Many people also turn towards sleeping pills to cure their sleep problems. Mr.Wyatt says, “For short-term insomnia, such as one to two weeks, it’s perfectly appropriate to consider sleeping pills.”The problem with pills is they cannot be used as a long-term cure. Beyond all that is said, it is neither the mattress nor the distraction one has when trying to sleep but rather, in the bigger scope of things: the want to sleep is needed in order to sleep well.

 

How do you know if it’s the mattress?

Is buying a $5,000 or $20,000 mattress better than getting a $500 mattress? The only way that certain mattresses are better than others is when someone has  lower back pains or other muscle pains. Many doctors recommend mattresses with softer pillow tops or instead of buying a new mattress. It is easier and cheaper to buy a pillow top for a mattress. Besides muscle pains the type of mattress you sleep on is not the problem. Buying expensive mattresses and thinking that will help for a better nights rest is considered a “placebo effect” according to Mr. Wyatt.

If its not my mattress and I don’t have a sleeping disorder, why cant i sleep?

The problem with today’s generation is not that we are incapable of sleeping but rather we find sleep at the bottom of our priorities. Whether it is staying up late to study for an AP Bio exam or watching an episode of Friends on Nick@Nite, we find so little time to sleep in between. On average an teen/adult needs 7-9 hours of sleep in order to be well rested the next morning. What do we do if our schedules don’t allow for so many hours of being unproductive? What if we can’t possibly get into bed at 10 o’clock at night to wake up at 7 AM the next morning? Where do we find our energy that we are lacking? Is it really healthy to constantly be using alternate energy sources rather than sleeping? The solution is easy; if we were to take 1 or 2 hours out of our everyday lives and sleep, then the hours we lost sleeping would be returned in the rate at which we could do things with the correct amount of energy in our system. Right?

 

 

For more information please visit:  

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/22/your-money/mattress-not-usually-to-blame-in-sleep-problems-experts-say.html?_r=1&ref=health

http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/default.htm

http://www.sleepfoundation.org/article/sleep-topics/teens-and-sleep

Waking up without the alarm clock? There’s a reason!

 

Have you ever wondered why you wake up before your alarm clock?

This article explains how new studies show that humans do have a special biological clock that allows us to wake up in the morning. This “clock” gets our metabolism going early in the day, the signal to wake up our bodies.  The important part of this biological clock is a protein called PERIOD (PER).  This protein rises and falls in our bodies throughout a 24 hour cycle. When PER lowers at night, our heart rate slows, our blood pressure lowers, and our mental processes slow down.  Now, through studies funded by Salk’s Innovation Fund, it is found an enzyme helps raise the PER protein once again in the morning.  This enzyme, JARID1a, is required for normal cycling, including the circadian rhythm.

Have your grandparents ever wondered why they can not sleep at night as well anymore?  Findings show that as you grow older, your biological clock declines, and with it, a difficulty in sleeping.

Even diabetes has been linked to this research.  Diabetes goes in turn with the biological clock, which controls its metabolic cycles.  The conversion of fats and sugars only take place at certain times of the day.  With someone who has diabetes, this suggests that the biological clock has lost control.

Numerous times I have woken up before my alarm clock, frustrated about not getting those extra few minutes of sleep.  Now, through this study, I understand that its my bodies’ protein levels telling my metabolism to start the day.

For more information on your biological clock, click here.

 

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