The Link Between Sleep and High Blood Pressure

Many of us suffer from sleep deprivation. Maybe our schedules don’t allow us time, maybe we’re trading sleep for work or play, or maybe we’re unaware of the negative effects that lack of sleep can have on our health. But the consequences can be more than just the obvious complaints of tiredness and fatigue, we may also be at risk for higher blood pressure.

High Blood Pressure

Blood pressure is the amount of force acting against the walls of the arteries. High blood pressure, or hypertension, can be dangerous because it causes the heart to overwork and contributes to hardening of the arteries. According to the American Heart Association, uncontrolled high blood pressure can lead to heart attack, stroke, heart failure, or kidney failure. High blood pressure contributes to seven million deaths worldwide each year, and the condition affects one out of three Americans.

Sleep and Blood Pressure

When we sleep, blood pressure drops and heart rate slows for a significant amount of time. Skimping on nightly sleep may deprive the body of this overnight rest and keep the body in a state of high alert, increasing the production of stress hormones. Over time, lack of sleep can have a long term effect on the cardiovascular system, driving up blood pressure. Lack of sleep has been described as like living with chronic stress.

Research on Sleep Duration and Blood Pressure

There have been various studies conducted to look at the effects of sleep on blood pressure. In a study at the University of Chicago, reported in the Archives of Internal Medicine, middle-age adults who slept fewer hours appeared more likely to have high blood pressure. Over five years, researchers collected blood pressure readings and sleep duration times of 578 adult volunteers. The average amount of sleep a night among the participants was six hours. The researchers found that the individuals who slept fewer hours were significantly more likely to have both higher systolic (top number) and diastolic (bottom number) blood pressure readings.

Adults who slept less were also more likely to develop high blood pressure as time increased. After five years, each hour of reduction in sleep duration was associated with a 37 percent increase in the odds of developing high blood pressure, according to the study findings.

Clearly a good night’s sleep is important for overall health. Anyone who’s concerned about high blood pressure may want to maintain a regular and adequate sleep pattern as well as follow American Heart Association recommendations for keeping blood pressure under control.



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Sources:
American Heart Association

Read more at Suite101: Sleep and Blood Pressure: Lack of Sleep Can Increase Risk of High Blood Pressure http://www.suite101.com/content/sleep-and-blood-pressure-a193944#ixzz10vIhCZgF

Why You or Your Loved One is Snoring

You snore when the flow of air from your mouth or nose to your lungs makes the tissues of the airway vibrate. This usually is caused by a blockage (obstruction) or narrowing in the nose, mouth, or throat (airway).

When you inhale during sleep, air enters the mouth or nose and passes across the soft palate (the back of the roof of the mouth) on its way to the lungs. The back of the mouth—where the tongue and upper throat meet the soft palate and uvula—is collapsible. If this area collapses, the airway becomes narrow or blocked. The narrowed or blocked passage disturbs the airflow, which causes the soft palate and uvula to vibrate and knock against the back of the throat, causing snoring.

The tonsils and adenoids may also vibrate. The narrower the airway is, the more the tissue vibrates, and the louder the snoring is.

You do not snore when you are awake because the muscles of the throat hold the tissues in the back of the mouth in place. When you sleep, the muscles relax, allowing the tissues to collapse.
Snoring may be caused by:

• Enlarged tissues in the nose, mouth, or throat. Enlarged tonsils are a frequent cause of snoring in children.
• Blocked nasal passages, which make it more difficult to inhale. This affects the tissue of the throat, which may pull together during the extra effort it takes to breathe, which in turn narrows the airway. A blocked nasal passage can be caused by an upper respiratory infection (such as a cold), an allergy, or nasal polyps.
• A deviated nasal septum, which disturbs airflow in the nose.
• Loss of muscle tone in the throat, which makes it easier for tissue to collapse. This can be due to aging or lack of fitness.

Other things that may contribute to snoring include:

• Drinking alcohol, which depresses the part of the brain that regulates breathing. This can overly relax the tongue and throat muscles, causing them to partially block air movement.
• Obesity. Fat in the throat may narrow the airway.
• Medicines that relax you or make you drowsy, such as those taken for allergies, depression, or anxiety.

If you snore or sleep with someone who does, then you know that it's no laughing matter and can keep you up ALL NIGHT.  If you are facing a situation where you can't sleep because you or someone you are sleeping with snores loudly, don't panic and run to purchase an over-the-counter spray or pill. Fortunately there is a drug-free and Non Addictive remedy that can help stop snoring.

SNORE RX is one of Sleep Scentsations patented sleep aids that contains a therapeutic blend of essential oils formulated to suppress snoring and provide a more restful nights sleep.

Why Sleep Can Help Your Sex Life!

Sex is one form of exercise that most people like! It’s good for the heart and circulation, and helps maintain good blood flow to the sex organs. “Use it or lose it” is a fair statement, particularly in older people and those with diabetes.

Erectile dysfunction occurs in over half of men with diabetes, especially after several years of poor blood sugar control, and maintaining sexual frequency may potentially help delay or avoid erectile dysfunction. Not surprisingly, eating right and exercising can help partially reverse erectile dysfunction in men, by improving blood pressure, blood flow, body fat and hormone levels. Women with diabetes may also be at increased risk for sexual problems and it stands to reason that maintaining an active sex life may help prevent such problems.
Healthy sleep habits are very important for diabetes management – and sex and sleep are closely related, (enough to be considered “bedfellows” perhaps). 

Sex improves sleep, and vice versa. Similarly, problems with sleep can interfere with sex . Sex releases hormones that help promote sleep (especially in men), and sleep promotes hormones that favor good blood sugar control and appetite control. By the same token, inadequate sleep quality or quantity promotes hormones that worsen blood sugar control, appetite, weight gain, diabetes and heart disease.

So here we have a cycle of gradually decreasing health, sleep and sex over time. As one aspect worsens, the others may too, on and on it goes. The shame of it is that people generally like sex and sleep and feeling good.
Help your body sleep better with Sleep Scentsations!

Back To School Help for Sleepy Teens

I'm sure you've heard about all the research that has been done to understand why teens are so tired and how much sleep they truly need.

The top health officer in Kansas says high schoolers need to get more sleep, even if that means starting classes later. Dr. Jason Eberhart-Phillips, director of health for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, told The Lawrence Journal World that adults need to do more to prevent what he calls "teenage sleep deprivation."

Eberhart-Phillips says surveys show that only 15 percent of teens get 8.5 hours of sleep on school nights. They should be getting 9 or 10 hours of sleep. Many get by with six hours or less.

He says part of the solution would be to push back high school class start times. Schools in other states have had success with later start times improving students' attendance, motivation and performance.

Well, if you're school hasn't jumped on the bandwagon and your teenager is still required to be out of the house by 7.30am or earlier, what can you do?

Due to the fact that many teenagers like to stay up later on the computer, talking on the phone, watching the TV, why not offer them a little something to entice them to get to bed earlier?

Many of Sleep Scentsations' Scents are teenager approved and guaranteed to help get your sleep teenager hitting the bed earlier!

Have Better, Sweeter Dreams Tonight!

What you smell may influence emotions in your dreams, according to this study:

When researchers gave dreaming subjects whiffs of rose scent, the subjects reported rosier dreams. The scent of rotten eggs, on the other hand, provoked unpleasant dreams, the study found.

“There was hardly any kind of a dream dealing with smelling and tasting,” he said.
Rather, the pleasant odor appeared to affect the subjects’ emotional ratings of their dreams.

Strong Emotional Impact
The sense of smell is known to be closely associated with the brain‘s limbic system, which governs emotion and behavior.

“If odor has a strong effect on your emotions when you’re awake, it makes sense for it to have a strong effect on your emotions when you’re asleep,” said Stuck, who presented the research Sunday in Chicago at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery. The findings have not been published.

Stuck and his colleagues studied the effects of rose and rotten-egg odors on 15 healthy women in their 20s. Young women have been shown to have the best sense of smell, they said.

Tubes were taped to the subjects’ nostrils, linking them to olfactometers. The devices pumped constant streams of air into their noses so a gust of odor would not wake them.

The subjects’ brain activity was also being monitored. When they reached the rapid-eye-movement (REM) stage of sleep, when most dreams occur, a shot of scent was administered via the olfactometer for ten seconds.

The dreamers continued sleeping for another minute until the scientists woke them up and asked them to describe their dreams and rate the experience as emotionally negative or positive.

Each subject was interviewed three times: Once after a rose-infused dream, once after smelling the sulfuric scent of rotten eggs, and once after no odor was administered.

The results showed that smelling roses gave nearly all dreams a pleasant tint, whereas the rotten eggs colored dreams negatively.

If you are the type of person who tends to have bad dreams, try an aromatherapy pillow liner from Sleep Scentsations! With our many scents to choose from, we’re sure you’ll find one that will have you dreaming of happy things  in no time!

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