sleep

The natural state of rest for human and animals is sleep. Regular sleep is essential for survival. There are two broad types of sleep; rapid eye movement and non-rapid eye movement. The stages of sleep were defined in 1937 by Alfred L. Loomis who determined five stages of sleep from A through E. This covered the full range from deep sleep to wakefulness. This definition has been refined through time and is now ranked as three distinct stages of non-rapid eye movement and one stage of rapid eye movement. In non-rapid eye movement sleep there is little dreaming; rapid eye movement sleep accounts for 20-25% of total sleep time in normal adults and accounts for memorable dreams.

Each stage of sleep has unique characteristics; each stage lasts in humans from 90 to 110 minutes on average and has distinct physiological characteristics. Failure to complete the sleep stages may lead to sleep deprivation and a feeling of tiredness upon waking.

Sleeping pills, alcohol and stress can contribute to disruptive sleep patterns and may increase the feeling of tiredness. The National Sleep Foundation (US) suggests that an adult requires seven to nine hours of sleep. Proper sleep benefits performance, memory, problem solving, health and reduces the possibility of accidents. Some Physicians have attributed some forms of sleep fatigue to sleeping environment such as noise levels, humidity and the particular mattress or bed being used.

There are many ongoing discussions about sleep in the blogosphere. Dr. Michael Breus, Ph.D. and owner of the Insomnia Blog, offers advice and up to date news in the world of sleep and insomnia.

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Latest blogosphere posts tagged “sleep”

• I wish it were another lazy Sunday

  
  Imaginary Sunshine — Authority: 124
  My sister’s friends left after singing their little hearts out to karaoke at around 2am. It is not cool to be kept up that late listening to people sing. However, my sister did have the decency to turn down the volume. But when it’s already the next day, in the early am, the last thing I want to hear is her ...
  3 hours ago

• Can’t Sleep Because Of Your Back Pain?

  
  Tired of Insomnia? Rest Easy Tonight... — Authority: 144
  by Dr. Richard E. Busch III Do you need a good night’s sleep? Have you been up most of the night because of back pain? You may have insomnia because of your back pain. I personally have treated many patients that were suffering from this problem. I can tell you that I have treated thousands of patients for back ...
  5 hours ago

• Sleeping Problems and Food

  
  Tired of Insomnia? Rest Easy Tonight... — Authority: 144
  by Jason Laney What you consume will have a distinct result just how much and of what quality you sleep with a direct correlation between food and sleep disorders. Many folks have a late dinner or sandwich out of hand but you ought to comprehend that meals abuses like this might push you to experience a bad night’s ...
  5 hours ago

• Pull up the blankets, turn out the lights, cuddle your teddy, time to say goodnight

  
  Christchurch City Libraries Blog — Authority: 131
  I’ve noticed that there has been a bit of a run on picture books about bedtime lately and they’re all really cute.  Here’s just a couple of my favourites: Bedtime without Arthur by Jessica Meserve is about a girl called Bella who has a very special bear named Arthur who protects her from monsters when ...
  6 hours ago

• Sweet Dreams: Mary Greens Stylish Sleep Masks

  
  eye4style — Authority: 122
  In my world, sleep masks are both a necessity (my 6th floor apartment gets an insane amount of natural light) and a pleasure (love the retro glam effect!) Lingerie designer Mary Green makes the best - theyre colorful, quirky and made of soft, reversible silk. As you can see above, there are those that are perfect ...
  7 hours ago

• Just like his mum

  
  A Little Space for Me — Authority: 130
  Ah Zack… my boy. My cheeky lil boy who has learned to sneak downstairs without waking me to get his hands on the chocolate biscuit and have a picnic in the living room. The one who randomly woke up last night at 12.30am and proceeded to stay awake till after he’d finally done some “poops” at about 3am ...
  7 hours ago

• Glycolic Acid-Acne Cure Or Cause

  
  Global Business Promotions — Authority: 147
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• Achieve Better Health With Dietary Supplements

  
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• The Effects of Sleep on Muscle Gain

  
  Wish Everyone Good Health. — Authority: 465
  Building muscle takes a lot of concentrated effort and exercise. And since you have to put so much effort into gaining muscle you want to make sure you feed your body right and get enough sleep to really have your workouts pay off. However, there are some negative side effects where gaining muscle is concerned [...]
  8 hours ago

• Snoring Page 19

  
  Global Business Promotions — Authority: 147
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• The Day I Died And Went To Bangkok

  
  Not So Little Girl In A Reverie — Authority: 411
  I LOVE BANGKOK!! I loved Bangkok so much that before my shoppings were even removed from their plastic bags, I’ve already booked another flight ticket to my shopping paradise for April 2010! Um, sort of like booked tickets the day after I returned home from Bangkok. Hahaha. The shopping made me delirious, in a ...
  10 hours ago

• Sleep

  
  DickandChick — Authority: 103
  If I had an alcove with a bed in it like these...damn if Id ever get out of it.
  10 hours ago

• How To Use Rest To Gain More Muscle

  
  Wish Everyone Good Health. — Authority: 465
  Are you frustrated with not gaining any weight while you keep putting in the hard yards in the gym day after day week after week. It might be because you are not getting enough quality rest and sleep and this could be what’s holding back those big gains you are looking for.While you are on [...]
  12 hours ago

• Gain Muscle Mass

  
  Wish Everyone Good Health. — Authority: 465
  Gaining muscle mass is not that hard. Actually it is simple and straightforward. There is only one condition attached. That condition is you have to do it right.Now many would say that of course you have to do it right. To gain mass you need to adhere to the basic principles regarding adding size to [...]
  12 hours ago

• more on sleep

  
  Reproducing Genius — Authority: 119
  Thanks so much for the sleep suggestions and also for the sympathy. We do swaddle Baby Genius, and this, I believe is the only reason he (and consequently, we) gets any sleep at all. Otherwise his roaming hands and wild feet would wake him up instantly. That said, we’re convinced he must be Houdini reincarnated, ...
  13 hours ago

• Home Remedies For Earache

  
  Global Business Promotions — Authority: 147
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• Avoid The Risk Of Food Poisoning This Summer

  
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• Celebrity Low Carb Diet Addicts

  
  Global Business Promotions — Authority: 147
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• 
  Just A lil Biz — Authority: 148
  
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