Why is it so difficult to get a good night's sleep?

Why is it so difficult to get a good night's sleep?

A good night's sleep is divided into two basic types of sleep: what is usually called R.E.M. (the acronym for rapid eye movement, also called paradoxical or dreaming sleep) and non-R.E.M. (dreamless sleep or slow). One can see that someone is in R.E.M. sleep when your eyes move rapidly as bumps under the eyelids.

Non-R.E.M. sleep can be subdivided into four stages. After going to bed, you go slowly in stage one - drowsiness or sleep surface. During this stage, the muscles relax and the brain waves are irregular and rapid. The first time that occurs at night, usually lasts between 30 seconds and 7 minutes.

When you enter stage two - get to sleep really - the length of your brainwaves increases. You usually spend 20% of the night at this stage. Maybe truncated images or thoughts passing through the mind, but you are unaware of what is happening around them and cannot see, even if their eyes open.

Next are three stages (where sleep becomes deeper) and four (deeper).

The two stages together are also called delta sleep, in which the brain generates electric waves long or slow.

It is in these stages that is harder wake him, since most of your blood is directed to the muscles.

During this period (usually about 50% of night sleep), the body recovers and restores, and it is in sleep delta that the body of young growing.

It is important to know that anyone, young or adult, it does not reach the stage delta, where sleep is deeper, probably feel tired, listless or depressed until the next day.

Finally, each cycle ends with the R.E.M. stage, which is totally different.

During this stage (which usually occurs every 90 minutes), more blood is directed to the brain, you dream and your brain waves are almost identical to what you have when you're awake. However, you cannot move your muscles.

Apparently, this immobility prevents your body act out the movements imagined in dreams and hurt yourself or others.

These periods of R.E.M. sleep or dreams get longer each time they occur again during the night and appear to be essential for mental health.

 So how does the computer, the brain relay the information stored in temporary memory, eliminating the superfluous and retaining what is relevant in long-term memory. It is known that lack of R.E.M. sleep results in emotional problems.

People with sleep deprivation, for example, have a R.E.M. sleep period less than the average, which contributes to a vicious cycle of increased anxiety.

What happens then when we deprive ourselves regularly (voluntarily or not) of these cycles, creating a sleep debt?

If we sleep less consecutive hours of sleep than we need, we lose part of the last and longest period of R.E.M. sleep, as important for mental health.

If our sleep patterns become irregular, summing up a series of catnaps, not achieve the delta sleep, necessary for restoring the body.

The severe sleep debt reduces the period of concentration, impairs memory and the ability of expression, and disrupts the analytical reasoning and creativity decreases.

What triggers the feeling drowsy?

Of course, many factors combine to create a circadian (daily) or sleep-wake pattern.

The chemistry of the brain appears to influence the process. There is also evidence that a center of nerve cells in the brain helps control the sleep cycle.

This "clock" is close to where the optic nerves meet. That's why light affects our feeling of sleepiness. The clarity in awake, whereas the dark stimulates sleep.

Body temperature is another factor to be taken into account. When the temperature is higher - usually mid-morning and late afternoon - you're more alert.

As the temperature drops, you become increasingly drowsy. Researchers agree that the pattern of sleep and wakefulness various from person to person.

How many hours need to sleep?

Scientists say that humans need an average of about eight hours of sleep per night.

 But studies also show that this need varies greatly from one person to another.

A frank self-analysis can determine if your sleep pattern is healthy or if you have sleep debt.

 Experts generally point to the following evidence of a healthy sleep:

First: It's easy to fall asleep without resorting to drugs. You do not feel so restless or anxious to the point of not being able to sleep.

 Second: You seldom awaken in the middle of the night, but when it happens, then sleep again.

Third, you wake up naturally around the same time every morning and usually do not need an alarm clock.

Fourth: Once you get up and start their activities, you feel awake and reasonably alert all day.

Some practical suggestions for better sleep

One. Do not drink alcohol or stimulants like coffee or black tea near bedtime. Many mistakenly believe that alcohol will help them fall asleep. However, clinical studies show that although the principle may help you sleep, alcohol can make you lose sleep at night.

2nd. Stop smoking. An authority on the subject said: "Smokers have more trouble falling asleep since the cigarette increases blood pressure, accelerates the heart rate and stimulates brain activity. Smokers also tend to wake up more at night, possibly due to withdrawal symptoms. "

3rd. Avoid intense physical or mental stimulation just before bedtime. Exercise contributes to adequate sleep, but not if done immediately before bedtime. Trying to solve difficult problems or perform tasks that require mental effort just before bedtime can prevent you from relaxing, making it difficult to fall asleep.

4th. Try to leave the room quiet, dark and, if possible, cool. On the question of how the noise affects sleep.

 5th. Beware of sleep inducing drugs! There is increasing evidence that many recommended remedies to induce sleep addictive, lose efficacy with prolonged use and have harmful side effects. If really needed, such remedies should only be used in short-term treatments.

Have a good sleep!

JCarlos Ferrão

How to Communicate With Your Teenager

 How to Communicate With Your Teenager

As a child, he talked to you about everything. As a teenager, he tells you nothing. 

When you try to converse, he either gives clipped responses or ignites an argument that turns your home ground into a battleground.

You can learn to talk with your teenager.

WHY IT HAPPENS

The quest for independence.

To become a responsible adult, your teenager must, in a figurative sense, gradually move from the passenger seat to the driver's seat and learn to navigate life's treacherous roadways. 

Of course, some teenagers want more freedom than they should have; on the other hand, some parents grant less freedom than they could. The tug-of-war that may result can create considerable turmoil for parents and teens.

Abstract thinking. 

Young children tend to think in concrete, black-and-white terms, but many teenagers can perceive the gray areas of a matter. 

T

his is an important aspect of abstract thinking, and it helps a young person develop sound judgment. Consider an example: To a child the concept of fairness seems simple: 'Mom broke a cookie in two and gave half to me and half to my brother.' In this case, fairness is reduced to a mathematical formula.

Teenagers, however, realize that the concept is not that simple. 

After all, fair treatment is not always equal, and equal treatment is not always fair. Abstract thinking allows your teenager to grapple with such complex issues.

 WHAT YOU CAN DO

When possible, have casual chats. Take advantage of informal moments. For example, some parents have found that teenagers are more apt to open up while doing chores or while riding in the car, when they are side-by-side with a parent rather than face-to-face.

Keep it brief.

You do not have to argue every issue to the bitter end. Instead, make your point . . . and then stop. Most of your message will be "heard" by your teenager later, when he's alone and can ponder over what you've said. Give him a chance to do so.

Listen-and be flexible.

Listen carefully-without interrupting-so that you can get the full scope of the problem. When replying, be reasonable. 

If you rigidly adhere to rules, your teen will be tempted to look for loopholes. "This is when kids live two lives," warns the book Staying Connected to Your Teenager. "The one in which they tell their parents what they want to hear and the one in which they do as they please once they are out of their parents' sight.

Stay calm.

 Rather than overreact, say something that "mirrors" your teen's feelings. 

For example, instead of saying, "That's nothing to worry about!" say, "I can see how much this bothers you."

To the extent possible, guide, don't dictate. Your teen's abstract thinking skills are like muscles that need to be developed. 

So when he faces a dilemma, do not do his "exercising" for him. 

As you discuss the matter, give him a chance to come up with some solutions of his own. Then, after you have brainstormed a few options, you could say: "Those are a few possibilities. Think them over for a day or two, and then we can get together again to talk about which solution you prefer and why."

FOR TEENAGERS

Do you want your parents to extend you more freedom? 

Do you wish that they really understood you? 

You can make it easier for them to do both! How? Be willing to tell them what's going on in your life. 

Talk openly. When you hold back, they cannot fully trust you-and trust is the key to your getting more freedom.

The point is, do not leave all the communication up to your parents. Do your part. Tell your parents about your day. Ask them about theirs. If you have a complaint, learn how to express it respectfully. 

Communication is a skill that you will need in adulthood. 

Why not acquire it now?

How to Care for a Migraine?

Every day thousands of people suffer from migraine.

Maybe this is your case.

One moment is right, and in a matter of minutes, almost can no longer see what's ahead.

Indeed migraine is a disorder that differs from headache common in many ways.

For example, unlike the occasional headache, migraine follows a pattern.

 And the problem is so severe that the person stops doing routine activities.

What are the symptoms of migraine?

Is throbbing pain and may affect only one side of the head. A person may experience nausea and aversion to bright light. The crisis may last for a period of several hours to several days.

Although most people have occasional headache caused by stress, only one in ten has migraine.

This symptom affects more women than men.

The various severities from case to case, but most victims lost several days of work per year.

A migraine interferes with the person's social life in its labor productivity, reducing their earnings and can seriously affect family life.

Therefore, it was classified by the World Health Organization as one of the top 20 factors debilitating the world.

Migraine is a debilitating inherited disease and that doctors can usually treat

Before a migraine attack, some victims show symptoms such as cold hands, fatigue, and hunger or mood changes.

Then, just before the headache, there may be dizziness, ringing in the ears, tingling, double vision, and difficulty in speech or muscle weakness.

The causes of migraines are not fully known, but one theory is that she is a nervous system disorder that affects the blood vessels in the head.

Apparently, throbbing pain is due to the passage of blood through vessels irritated.

Sleepless nights, insufficient sleep, strong smells, travel, stop eating a meal during the day, stress and changes in hormone levels, anxiety attacks and depression, can often increase the risk of getting migraines.

What can you do to feel better?

In fact we cannot predict when we will have a migraine. But might prevent the onset of migraine attacks.

 How?

Well, some people write a diary to identify foods or situations that trigger migraine attacks.

Each case is different from person to person.

For example some have concluded that their migraine attacks were linked to their menstrual cycle. Being a most sensitive period of his life, any stimulus with extra activity generated a migraine attack.

Others concluded that fruit with higher acidity caused an immediate migraine attack.

For others taking red wine was synonymous with migraine right away.

Identifying the causes is not easy because sometimes the issue is not only a particular type of food or drink but sometimes a combination of various emotional factors that can trigger a migraine attack.

For example, eating chocolate may not cause you a headache occasion, but rather in another, because of an additional factor.

Even if it cannot identify factors that cause or prevent a migraine, there are other ways to reduce the possibility of an attack.

His routine is essential in reducing migraine attacks, it is recommended by going to sleep and getting up every day at the same hour.

If you want to sleep more in the week-end, it is suggested raising the normal time, do something for a few minutes and then go back to bed.

A change in the consumption of caffeine can cause headaches, so do not drink more than two cups of coffee or drink two glasses of cola per day.

Since hunger can provoke migraine, avoid skipping meals.

The stress, which is often a cause, it is not easy to be avoided, but you may be able to find ways to relax, maybe adjust your daily schedule to a more relaxed routine.

What treatments are available?

There is a wide variety of treatment options.

For example, sleep is one of the best remedies.

Analgesics that can be purchased without a prescription may bring relief to get enough sleep.

Of course, all drugs have advantages and disadvantages.

Listen to soothing music can help reduce stress, which is often a factor for migraine.

Follow these tips and live better.

Regards

JCarlos Ferrão

Poverty - The Silent Threat.

Poverty - The Silent Threat.

Extreme poverty means not having enough food, water and fuel for heating or cooking, as well as adequate housing, health care and education.

Poverty affects more than 1 billion people, and the tendency is to increase in the near future.

Many feel that there is something very wrong and unfair in a world in which one in seven people live in extreme poverty, while billions of others enjoy prosperity like never before.

What can be done about this?

Helping poor nations out of poverty proved more difficult than rich nations to help recover from war or an economic recession, like we currently live in Europe.

Cycles of poverty are complex and difficult to break.

For example, the disease causes poverty and poverty causes disease.

Undernourished children may become so weak physically and mentally that when adults are not able to care for their own children.

Furthermore, when rich countries dump surplus food in poor countries as aid against hunger, this kind of help makes local farmers and merchants go bankrupt, which creates more poverty.

Send money to poor countries may initiate another cycle. Why?

Because this kind of help is easy to steal, which can lead to corruption, and corruption, in turn, can lead to more poverty.

Basically, foreign aid does not work because it eliminates the major cause of poverty.

So what is the main cause of poverty in the 21st century?

Extreme poverty exists because nations, governments, politicians, merchants and others act only to promote and protect their own interests.

For example, governments of rich countries give little priority to the issue of ending poverty in the world because they are democratically elected and need to look after the interests of their constituents.

Thus, prohibiting farmers from poor countries to sell their production to the rich farmers in rich countries do not suffer losses.

Moreover, governments of rich countries give high subsidies to their farmers to help them sell more than those of poor countries.

It is obvious that the cause of poverty is the tendency that people and governments have to protect their own interests, is caused by the greed and selfishness of man.

Regards

JCarlos Ferrão

other articles click: http://happyfamilybycferrao.blogspot.com/2012/11/learn-to-live-longer-and-better-people.html 

Learn to live longer and better

People who develop good health habits not only live longer, but their failure is delayed and restricted to fewer years at the end of life, says The New England Journal of Medicine.

The first obstacle can be the change habits related to eating, drinking, sleeping, smoking and exercise.

What are your exercise habits?

Daily exercise done in moderation can be a great help.

Thirty minutes a day of moderate activity is a good target. But you do not need to exercise for 30 minutes at once.

Three exercise sessions of 10 minutes each produce the same benefits that a single session of 30 minutes of the same exercise.

Of course it is wise to consult your doctor before starting an exercise program.

Studies show that simple exercises in and around the house, help the elderly regain vigor and vitality.

Tests done after a good exercise program revealed that the muscle strength of the participants more than doubled.

Another group consisting mostly of sedentary women over 70 years exercised twice a week. After a year, had gains in muscle mass, strength, balance and bone density.

The results of several scientific studies about aging and exercise, well demonstrate that physical exercise slows aging, prolongs life and shortens the period of dependency that so often precedes death.

Mental exercises.

 Although some degree of forgetfulness is proper aging, studies show that aged brain remains flexible enough to cope with the effects of aging.

Therefore, seniors can continue to have a mental activity extremely rich and healthy.

The brain consists of 100 billion brain cells, or neurons, and trillions of connections between them. These connections act as telephone lines that allow neurons "talk" with one another to create, among other things, memory.As the aging brain, neurons die.

However, the aged brains are able to compensate for neuronal loss. When a neuron is silent, its neighbors respond by making new connections with other neurons and taking on the work of the neuron lost.

Thus, the brain actually transfers the responsibility for a given task to another region of the brain. Therefore, many older people perform the same mental tasks than younger people, but may use different parts of the brain to do this.

HOW TO KEEP THE MENTAL FLEXIBILITY?

Scientific studies involving thousands of seniors have found several factors that help keep the mind flexible elderly.

Some are:

Active dedication to things like reading, travel, cultural events, education, clubs and associations.

Make the largest possible number of different things.

Do not drop your work.

Do not retire.

Turn off the TV.

Make some progress.

 It is believed that such activity either raises the spirit or also reactivates the brain.

Therefore, it is never too late to start building good habits.

Social environment.

Their social environment is composed of people with whom you live, work, eat and have fun.

 Your physical environment improves when you have access to treated water, similarly, can improve their social environment when you have access to value-mates, just to mention one of the main factors.

Divide the joys and sorrows, dreams and frustrations with other low obstacle environment and can help you get further in the race.

But the opposite is also true.

Lack of companionship can cause loneliness and social death.

The person tends to wither if not receive signals of interest that surround it. Unfortunately, this situation is typical of many older people, especially in the western world.

Many of them live in a social environment that tolerates, but does not appreciate them.

Therefore, loneliness is a major circumstance that constantly threatens the well-being of the elderly in the developed world.

You may not be able to eliminate the circumstances that make it vulnerable to loneliness, such as mandatory retirement, declining mobility, the loss of old friends or death of a spouse, but even then you can take certain steps to reduce this obstacle to a workable height.

For starters, remember that loneliness is not caused by old age; in fact there are young people who are already in a state of loneliness.

The cause of the problem is not being old, but being socially isolated.

What can you do to avoid falling into isolation?

Look up interest for what others like.

Ask questions.

To the extent possible, be generous. If you have few material possessions, give to you, there is joy in giving.

Write letters.

Have a hobby.

 Accept invitations to visit other people or to hang out with them.

 Keep cheerful and warm your home. Help other people.

 In conclusion have listed below some healthy reminders for older people

 Have a balanced diet, including fruits and vegetables.

 If you drink alcohol, do so in moderation.

 Do not smoke. Never too late to stop.

 Exercise regularly. Consult a physician before starting an exercise program.

 Do not isolate yourself from family and friends.

 Stay active at work, at leisure and in the community.

 Have a positive attitude towards life.

 Do things that leave happy.

 Make periodic health examinations.

By changing your habits, improve the environment and health care, the man actually managed to increase the average life span and life expectancy.

By following these counties may have a practical life more meaningful and happy.

Regards

JCarlos Ferrão