Topics: sleep study
Have you been told by your bedpartner that your legs move frequently while you sleep? Have you noticed that you're feeling tired during the day, even after you've had a full night's sleep? If so, it's possible that you may be suffering from periodic limb movement disorder (PLMD).
Topics: sleep disorders
One of the things that makes Alaska such a unique place to live or visit is its amazing summers. Summer time in Alaska is like no other place in the U.S. because of the vast amount of daylight we get. In the northernmost parts of the state the sun refuses to set for nearly a month. In the interior, the sun briefly dips behind the mountains leaving golden hues to hold its place until it returns minutes later. And even in the southern parts of the state, periods of darkness are so short, that if you blink, you could miss it.
Topics: Sleep Tips
Celebrating its 29th year, the National Veterans Golden Age Games offer sports and recreational competitive events for Veterans 55 years of age and older. It is the largest sports and recreation competition for this age group of military Veterans in the world! The Games continue to serve as a showcase for the rehabilitation value that wellness and fitness provide in the lives of older Americans.
This Memorial Day, remember our Veterans and their need for Zzz...
Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy is the leading form of treatment for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Before one can begin CPAP therapy, the disorder must first be diagnosed through a sleep study to determine the existence and severity of OSA. Once a determination of OSA has been made and CPAP therapy has been established as the recommended treatment, a prescription for a CPAP machine must be obtained before equipment can be issued.
Patients have a lot of questions regarding prescriptions for CPAP therapy such as: Why do I need a prescription? Where can I get a prescription? How long is a prescription good for? Here we aim to answer these important questions and more.
Topics: cost of a sleep study
For those of you that have had your CPAP prescriptions for a long time, you may be wondering "when should I have a second sleep study performed?" And this is a great question that often goes unanswered by medical professionals.
Currently, there is not set time frame in which your current CPAP prescription expires. Unlike other prescriptions in which annual clinic visits are required to assess any prescription changes, CPAP users are not required to have regular sleep studies to verify any pressure change needs.
Topics: sleep study
You may be wondering if you should be cleaning your BiPAP machine in any particular way. Overtime, your BiPAP machine will collect dust, debris, and bacteria making it so your therapy isn’t as effective.
Topics: bipap
The summer sleep slide is real, too. Without the structure of school, kids tend to stay up later—sometimes much later—and not sleep in consistently enough to make up for it.
Rather than spend the summer catching up on sleep, kids can accumulate sleep debt that affects their health, mood, and ability to learn.
Most families try to balance the joy and freedom of long summer nights, with the reality of two little kids’ sizable sleep needs. We visit with friends, we go out for dinner or to play basketball in the evenings, and often bedtime is pushed back.
Here’s how we’re making sure that while our family is enjoying the lenient summer schedule, my kids are also getting the sleep they need.
Preschoolers need 11 - 13 hours of sleep and school age kids need 10.5 - 12 hours. If bedtime is sliding later over the summer, make sure your child is capable of either sleeping in (installing blackout curtains or shades helps enormously), or has the chance to nap.
My older child is able to sleep in to give himself the 11 hours of sleep he needs nightly. My preschooler has a built-in nap time so she always has the opportunity to sleep during the day if she needs it.
Even if bedtimes are later over the summer, it still helps to keep them consistent. In our house, what was a 7:30 p.m. bedtime during the school year is often 8:30 p.m. in the summer. Consistent timing is powerful, because the internal clock (which affects health, mood, and cognition) works best with regularity. I
n fact, in a study of over 11,000 young kids researchers found that a regular bedtime—whether early or late—was linked to better math, reading, and spatial skills. Kids whose bedtimes moved around were more likely to have mood and behavior issues. Shifting bedtimes around is like giving a child a mini case of jet lag. An 8:30 p.m. bedtime every night is better than alternating between 8:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m.
It takes time to truly shift a person’s sleep schedule and kids may need a week or two to fully adjust back to their school times. You can start putting your child to bed 15 minutes earlier each night for a week to get to the optimal bedtime for school, and if you really want to harness the power of the internal clock, keep her on that bedtime for a week before school starts (and throughout the school year).
A good bedtime for a preschooler or school age child—especially considering early school start times—is 7:30 p.m.
While you’re making the shift, if your child has a hard time falling asleep at an earlier bedtime, wake her up in the morning 15 minutes earlier. This will affect the time she’s drowsy at night and help her shift to the earlier schedule.
Now she’s got her internal clock on her side and a full tank of sleep. She’s ready to get a jump on the new school year.
Topics: kids, sleep deprivation, colic
