Good Night Sleep Aids

Polyphasic sleep - Who needs only 1.5 hours sleep a night ?

Tue, 27 Mar 2007 21:02:19 +0000

Giraffes.

That’s right, giraffes need on average only 90 minutes sleep per night.

Think of all the things we could do if we could get away with that…..

Well you may not get away with 1.5 hours, but some people manage to sleep only 2-3 hours each 24hours cycle by adopting the Polyphasic/Uberman sleep schedule.

[The details are at the Official Uberman Sleep Blog, located at http://officialuberman.blogspot.com. (UPDATE: The site has been moved to http://www.puredoxyk.com.)]

This sleep schedule requires 6 naps of 20-30 minutes every 24hrs - the first 1-2weeks of getting into the schedule is very hard, and afterwards you must keep to the nap times very strictly never delaying the nap by more than 1 hour or you will suffer and it will take at least the next 2 naps to recover.

Some of the drawbacks are :

being able to get away with this schedule while everyone around you is on the straight 8hrs schedule
you only have 3.5hrs or 4.5hrs max of continuous wakefulness which may be limiting factor for some commitments
sticking at it to make it work - it is hard to get into the schedule.

But the rewards are certainly appealing:

an extra 35-40hrs a week —- you could fit a whole extra job in that time.
Also an increased awareness and energy level due to the lower sleep times.
Some sleep disorders like nightmares,sleepwalking,and others may disappear as claimed by the people who tried this sleep schedule.
Probably something you can experiment with at college when u need time to get all your work done + party time and there is less pressure to stick to an 8hr schedule - as long as you can fit your exams in your 3.5hr awake time!!

Read about people who have tried the polyphasic sleep schedule,

more about polyphasic sleep schedule

even more about people on polyphasic sleep schedule

Modafinil - the anti-sleep drug for narcolepsy - might have other useful applications

Fri, 16 Mar 2007 10:15:10 +0000

Mondafinil has been approved by the FDA as being safe and effective in treating eccessive daytime sleepiness caused by narcolepsy.

Imagine being alert and active for 40 hours non-stop.

Very useful for shift workers and travellers suffering from jetlag, who cannot rest as soon as they land.

The drug is not related to Central Nervous System stimulants, and does not have the problems associated with them.

The obvious stimulants like coffee and others have limited effect, since the body gets used to them and larger quantities are needed to offset fatigue.

Many other applications have been recently found for this drug - supported by recent studies.

Modafinil might help combat Cocaine addiction
studies are underway for treating Attention Deficit Disorder

It may also be effective against fatigue associated with neurodegenerative diseases like:

Parkinson’s disease
Alsheinere’s disease
cancer and others

Artificial Light while Sleeping is Detrimental to Health

Tue, 13 Feb 2007 16:21:16 +0000

Have you ever fallen asleep with the light on?

It can happen sometimes, but try and avoid it as much as possible, because it disrupts the body production of Melatonin.

So what.. you say, well melatonin not only helps to regulate the body sleep mechanism -therefore a lack of it causes sleep disorders-, but melatonin is also an hormone responsible for helping the immune system preventing cancerous growth.

Live longer, have a nap !!

Tue, 13 Feb 2007 13:30:06 +0000

In a lot of mediterranean countries an afternoon nap or a siesta has been part of the culture; also in many south-american countries a sleeping break during the day is the accepted norm. Until recently there had not been conclusive proof that it was beneficial, and it was also suggested that it may interfere with night-time sleeping.

But a recent comprehensive study by Harvard School of Public Health Dimitrios Trichopoulos (Feb.2007) has shown that significant health benefits can be gained by a nap(3 times a week of 30 mins or more), this news may affect workplace habits worldwide.

Keeping a Sleep Log

Sun, 04 Feb 2007 15:19:03 +0000

Some people keep a dream log to keep track of what they dreamt of the previous night in order to help them with their daily decisions, but not many keep a log of their sleep pattern.

If you had a bad night sleep, you try and think back of what caused it and try and ensure it does not happen again. But sometimes it may not be obvious to pintpoint the sleep problem as it can be associated with what you ate or what thougths were on your mind during the day, etc.
If you keep a sleep log you may be able to see patterns emerging, which can help you solve the slepless night problems and get a more restful sleep in the future.

To make a sleep log easy to use, make a bullet point list of activities you did during the day and assign a score to them 1-10 ; 1 being little and 10 being too much, for example

exercise - 3

dinner - 4

cups of coffe drunk - 3

arguments - 5

The points above are just examples to help you set up a standard sheet for your sleep log, which obviously should be dated and can be quickly completed so you can look back over a week or month of info to help you spot patterns.