Humans need sleep like food. Much as with recipes, there are many elements that make for good, joyous sleep. Just as a checklist won’t make you a great chef, this checklist may not give make you a great sleeper. But every little bit helps. 1. My sleep place is as cool, comfy, dark, safe as […]
Sleep in Space
Humans adapt. We live in trackless deserts, on the tops of mountains, in pestilential jungles, in prisons and hospitals. To survive we sleep, for we need sleep like food. We adapt to sleeping in space. At the recent sleep meetings I had the chance to talk with Dr. Erin Flynn-Evans, who runs the Fatigue Countermeasures Laboratory […]
How to Treat Insomnia Part II (Including When You’re Older)
Insomnia afflicts the majority of Americans over 65. It makes many people miserable, but can be aided or even erased by relatively simple techniques. Insomnia’s causes are many and complex, including changes in body clocks, types of illnesses, effects of medications, and the process of aging itself (see part I.) Fortunately, most treatments of insomnia, […]
Why Can’t Older Folks Sleep? (Part I)
Sleep and insomnia increase with age. Most studies find the inability to get proper rest affects the majority of folks past the age of 65 (Lots of younger people can’t sleep, either.) There are dozens of known reasons people can’t sleep. Here’s some of the most prominent. Aging Changes Sleep Take a newborn. Many neonates will […]
Apps for Insomnia – Do They Work?
There are now dozens of apps to use to help people overcome insomnia. Can they work? For some people, yes. A series of different cognitive-behavioral treatments have been tried in people who complain of poor sleep. The most recent – 303 people recruited through the Internet and provided Shut-I, one of the more popular of the […]