Are you healthy? Many reading this will immediately answer “yes” without giving it another thought. What is the definition of being “healthy”? Do you think it is a person who never gets a cold or the flu? Is it someone who is not on any prescription medications or never goes to the doctor? There are many “unhealthy” people walking around that just don’t know it or just don’t want to be told differently. Are you one of those people?
Heart Health
Every February our attention is turned to “hearts”. Most of the time it is the chocolate kind as seen when you walk into any retail store. But February is also “Heart Awareness Month”. It is an important time to remember that keeping our heart healthy may prevent a family from becoming “heart broken”.
Insomnia
Everyone occasionally has a sleepless night, but the holiday season can make those more frequent. Planning for parties, selecting menus, decorating, worrying about overspending and finding the right gifts can affect our sleep simply because it is hard to “turn our minds off”. If we don’t get adequate rest, our immune system can weaken making it easier to contract a cold or the flu.
Insomnia
Everyone occasionally has a sleepless night, but the holiday season can make those more frequent. Planning for parties, selecting menus, decorating, worrying about overspending and finding the right gifts can affect our sleep simply because it is hard to “turn our minds off”. If we don’t get adequate rest, our immune system can weaken making it easier to contract a cold or the flu.
This type of insomnia may be considered acute or situational, but many people suffer with insomnia chronically. Insomnia is defined as difficulty falling or staying asleep resulting in lack of restorative sleep. This can lead to symptoms of fatigue, difficulty concentrating, mood disturbances and daytime sleepiness. Sleep onset should be within thirty minutes. Getting up more than once a night to urinate is abnormal unless fluids have been consumed up until or near bedtime or medication has been taken that causes frequent urination.
The average adult needs six to eight hours of restful sleep. There are many things that can interfere with sleep based on lifestyle choices. Some of those include eating too late at night, drinking too much alcohol or other fluids in the evening, taking decongestants or use of any form of nicotine.
Overeating or eating too late at night can cause one to wake up with heartburn caused by reflux. While alcohol can initially cause relaxation and drowsiness, it reduces the deep sleep that is restorative.Sodas, tea, coffee, and chocolate all contain caffeine, a stimulant that can cause insomnia. Since decongestants and nicotine are also stimulants like caffeine, their avoidance late in the day can also help foster better sleep.
Avoid using your bedroom for anything other than sleep or sex. Watch television, read, work on the computer and do all other potentially sleep disturbing activities in another room. Avoid placing a clock in a location easily seen during the night. This way you won’t be checking the time frequently if you can’t sleep. Just set your alarm and then you won’t have to worry about not waking up. A warm bath, tranquil music, or meditation can help. Avoid going to bed until you feel sleepy.
For many, changing one or more of these lifestyle habits can result in improved sleep. If these don’t work, your physician or primary care provider should be consulted. If another cause of insomnia such as depression, anxiety, hormonal imbalance, sleep apnea or restless legs is found, the appropriate treatment can be instituted and sleep can be restored.
Sleep Apnea
Sleep apnea is a common condition that continues to be under diagnosed. Unfortunately, the long term effects of not treating the disease are very serious and occur over time. Obesity is a major risk factor for the diagnosis.
Metabolic Syndrome
One of the most common conditions seen by doctors today is referred to as metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome indicates that the person is basically pre-diabetic and therefore also at increased risk for cardiovascular disease such as heart attack and stroke. There are five criteria for metabolic syndrome. Anyone that has three out of the five criteria is considered to have the condition.
Vitamin D
Fads come and go. The medical profession is no different. With new research daily, it is easy to get on the bandwagon of the latest and greatest of diet, exercise, vitamin supplementation, or hormone balancing techniques. There are some topics, though, that gain traction through the test of time and become increasingly more relevant to our health.
Fatigue
There are many diagnoses for which fatigue is a symptom. It helps to know the difference between just being tired and being fatigued. Medical professionals think of being tired as more of a short term issue that can usually be relieved with adequate restorative sleep, good nutrition and a low-stress environment. If you feel fatigued, first ask yourself if you are lacking in any of these three areas. If you aren’t, it may be time to see your doctor.
Alcohol Reality Check
One of the most frequent answers a doctor hears when asking patients to quantify their alcohol consumption is “I don’t drink much, just socially”. “Social drinking” is a very ambiguous term whose definition depends on the person answering. There isn’t a medical definition for “social drinking”. In addition, the terms “alcohol abuse” and “alcoholism” are frequently used incorrectly.
Heart Matters
Every February our attention is turned to “hearts”. Most of the time it is the chocolate kind as seen when you walk into any retail store. But February is also “Heart Awareness Month”. It is an important time to remember that keeping our heart healthy may prevent a family from becoming “heart broken”.