Three Common Reasons for Insomnia

What Are Some of the Most Common Reasons for Insomnia?

Whether it's stress, anxiety, overstimulation or an imbalanced diet, there are many reasons for insomnia. So many, in fact, that 60% of Americans report that they struggle with getting to sleep every single night.

If you're reading this, you are probably struggling to get to sleep yourself. It's a good thing you're researching insomnia, along with potential cures, because sleep deprivation has serious consequences. Those that suffer from poor sleeping habits are four times more likely to develop depression disorders and are also more likely to develop heart disease. Of course, because you're drowsy, you're also at a higher risk for accidents on the road and on the job, and your personal relationships and professional performance may also suffer if you're too sleepy to give 100% of your focus, attention, and effort to what matters in life.

With that in mind, here are three of the most common reasons for insomnia, and what you can do to help overcome them and get the good night's sleep you deserve:

1.       You might be ingesting chemicals that are causing you to have trouble going to sleep. Caffeine, alcohol, and many prescription drugs are part of everyday reality for most people. We love a cup of coffee in the morning, a glass of wine with dinner, and many of us need to take medications to manage chronic conditions. The problem is, all three of these can inhibit sleep. Caffeine is a great pick-me-up in the morning, but it can prevent you from getting to sleep long after its benefits have worn off. Don't drink more than two cups per day, and don't drink it after noon. Alcohol temporarily depresses your nervous system, but makes it harder to sleep in the long-term, and some medications like antidepressants, blood pressure drugs, psychostimulants, and steroids can definitely contribute to insomnia.

2.       You might not be getting enough physical activity. In our modern sedentary lifestyle, where we sit down on our commutes to work, sit down at our desks for eight hours, and come home to sit in front of the television, our bodies aren't getting a chance to get tired in the first place because we aren't getting the physical activity our muscles were designed for. If you aren't regularly exercising at least three times per week, this is very likely one your biggest reasons for insomnia.

3.       You might be stressed, anxious, or depressed. This is a vicious cycle – stress, anxiety, and depression are major reasons for insomnia, but insomnia can cause stress, anxiety, and depression, creating a feedback loop that can drastically affect the quality of your life. If you feel like you are under a lot of stress, or you exhibit the signs and symptoms of anxiety or depression, speak to a doctor or therapist right away. Your mental health is too precious to let a disorder go untreated.

There they are: the most common reasons for insomnia. If none of them apply, or you have addressed your particular issue and still can't get to sleep, see your doctor or health care professional as soon as possible. Insomnia is no joke – and you deserve a good night's sleep every night.

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Myofascial Pain Syndrome and Fibromyalgia

Myofascial Pain Syndrome vs. Fibromyalgia: Similarities and Differences

Myofascial pain syndrome and fibromyalgia are two similar disorders that can drastically reduce the quality of life for those who suffer from it. Oftentimes, those that suffer from one also suffers from the other, and other times patients are diagnosed with one when they actually are afflicted with the other.

What are the similarities and differences between myofascial pain syndrome and fibromyalgia? Here is a quick primer:

The Similarities:

Both fibromyalgia and myofascial pain syndrome are characterized by extreme sensitivity and pain in the absence of trauma or injury. They both cause sleep disturbances, and the chronic level of pain can cause depression and anxiety. They also both occur alongside chronic fatigue syndrome.

The Differences:

Myofascial pain syndrome usually manifests as pain and sensitivity in specific muscles or parts of the body, while fibromyalgia tends to affect a sufferer generally whereas they feel sore and sensitive all over their body. People with myofascial pain syndrome have trigger points, which are hard knots in the muscle that cause pain in both the trigger point and elsewhere along the nerve. This is not the same as a tender point for fibromyalgia – a trigger point can be eliminated with the right therapy, whereas fibromyalgia's tender points are chronic and much more difficult to treat. Where fibromyalgia is a neuroendocrine disorder (meaning it affects the brain's neurotransmitter cells) myofascial pain syndrome is neuromuscular, meaning that it affects the nerves that control voluntary muscles.

The most important distinction between these disorders is the fact that of the two, myofascial pain syndrome is easier to treat because there are specific treatment plans that works for most people. If you suffer from both conditions, seeking out a treatment that can alleviate the symptoms of myofascial pain syndrome can also calm the pain that results from fibromyalgia.

Treating Myofascial Pain Syndrome with Biofeedback

Electromyography biofeedback has become a popular – and effective – therapy for sufferers of myofascial pain syndrome because it is safe, non-invasive, and doesn't involve medications. Biofeedback helps a doctor understand where a patient's trigger points are, and can help a patient learn to regain control of their improperly regulated muscle. Biofeedback for myofascial pain syndrome comes in two varieties: static procedures, which are used to find tension in the muscles, and dynamic procedures, which can help to correct muscles' electrical characteristics and restore imbalances in the body's biomechanical processes.

If you are suffering from myofascial pain syndrome, talk to your doctor about learning to manage it with biofeedback today. It may be just the therapy you need to start living a pain-free life.

Recognizing Early Signs of Autism

Be Proactive: Recognize the Early Signs of Autism

It is a parent's nightmare: that their child may have a health problem that will significantly affect the quality of their life. Though it's hard to imagine, it is important that you know and can recognize the early signs of autism, because the younger your child is when they begin to receive treatment, the more that treatment will benefit them throughout their lives.

If you are a parent of a very young child (or children,) you are in the best position to notice specific early signs of autism so that you can inform their pediatrician as early as possible if you suspect a problem. Here is a short list of the most common early signs of autism:

·         Your child begins to regress rather than continuing to develop. This is one of the most serious early signs of autism – a child develops to a certain point in terms of communication, and then seems to regress. If your child is between one and two years old and seems to lose any of the linguistic or social skills they have already developed, speak to your pediatrician right away.

·         Your child seems extraordinarily late to develop linguistic, behavioral, or motor skills. Of course, all children develop at their own speed, so you don't necessarily need to be concerned if they don't seem to be progressing in some areas as fast as you think they should. However, there are a set of age-appropriate developmental goals all children should reach as they grow, and if your child does not, it's appropriate to bring your concerns up with your child's pediatrician.

·         Your child doesn't seem to interact with you in a recognizable way. All infants are different, but some of the most important early signs of autism are deficits in a child’s ability to interact with their parents. The web site HelpGuide offers this list of delays (that) warrant an immediate evaluation by your child's pediatrician.

• By 6 months: No big smiles or other warm, joyful expressions.
• By 9 months: No back-and-forth sharing of sounds, smiles, or other facial expressions.
• By 12 months: Lack of response to name.
• By 12 months: No babbling or “baby talk.”
• By 12 months: No back-and-forth gestures, such as pointing, showing, reaching, or waving.
• By 16 months: No spoken words.
• By 24 months: No meaningful two-word phrases that don’t involve imitating or repeating.

 It can't be emphasized enough: you are in the best position to notice the early signs of autism because you spend the most time with your child. If you are concerned your little one may have a problem, talk to your pediatrician right away. The sooner you catch it, the better chance your child will have of responding to treatments, and with a little help, living the rest of their lives to the fullest.

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Approaches to ADHD Treatment for Children

They are words that every parent dreads hearing from a doctor's mouth: Your child has attention deficit hyperactive disorder, a malady that affects the executive function of the brain causing inattentiveness, impulse control problems, behavioral issues, and troubles with normal activities like school, and as they mature, trouble maintaining personal relationships and achieving professional success.

No one in the medical community fully understands ADHD yet, but doctors have found that psycho-stimulants, a powerful class of drugs including Adderall, Ritalin and Dexedrine, have helped many sufferers seeking ADHD treatment. In most meta-analyses of studies conducted on the effectiveness of these medications, seven out of ten people with ADHD experienced a reduction of their symptoms.

However, using stimulants can be dangerous with side effects including racing pulse, hypertension, anxiety, unwanted weight loss, and headaches to name a few. For this reason, many psycho-stimulants are considered an unsafe ADHD treatment for children.

There are other drugs, like Strattera, Intuniv, and Kapvay, that have been approved for use in children but they come with side effects of their own, including potential suicidal idealizations in teenagers and the risk of liver damage that causes jaundice, a yellowing of the skin and eyes.

Because of the risks of using drugs for ADHD treatment, many people want to find a safe, effective alternative that doesn't involve medication. Luckily, there is a safe, non-invasive, non-drug therapy available on the market: Biofeedback.

Essentially, a child suffering from the symptoms of ADHD can be "hooked up" with electrodes to a machine that plays back their brainwaves on a screen. They can then learn, usually through a video game, how to control their physiological reactions to certain spikes or dips in their neurological activity associated with their disorder, thus giving them the ability to control their responses and their symptoms.

In many cases, biofeedback has been proven just as effective in managing ADHD symptoms as 30 mg per day of Ritalin, but with one important distinction: with biofeedback there are no side effects, and it is completely safe. The technology used is over one hundred years old, and it has helped thousands of children in the decades it has been in use with this application.

Biofeedback offers children with ADHD the same chance at living, working, and loving as their peers that were lucky enough not to develop the disorder. That's all any parent wants for their children, and now it's possible without powerful, potentially dangerous drugs.

If your child presents symptoms of this disorder, or has already been diagnosed, consider seeking biofeedback as a way to manage his or her ADHD. Talk to your child's pediatrician today.

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Trigger Point Injections (TPI) as an Effective Treatment Method

Trigger point injections (TPIs) are an option for treating muscle pain in some patients. This procedure is used to treat areas of muscles that contain trigger points, which are knots of muscle that form when muscles do not relax. This can be caused from muscle overuse, such as a repetitive motion or a muscle injury, common in myofascial pain syndrome. Sometimes these knots can be felt just below the skin. These trigger points are tender and can irritate the nerves around them resulting in pain that radiates and can be felt in other parts of your body.

 The Trigger Point Injection (TPI) Process

According to WebMD.com, during the trigger point injection (TPI) process, the health care professional inserts a small needle into the individual’s trigger point. This injection contains a local anesthetic or saline. Once injected, the trigger point is inactive and the pain goes away. The injections are given in a doctor’s office and many times several trigger points are injected during one visit. After the injection a bandage is placed over the site, and if this area is painful, it is recommended that ice, heat, acetaminophen, ibuprofen, or naproxen be used for the soreness. Generally it takes several sessions to achieve a lengthy relief from the pain.

When to Use Trigger Point Injections?

TPIs are used to treat various muscles, but especially those in the arms, legs, lower back, and neck. TPI is oftentimes used to treat the pain associated with fibromyalgia, a chronic pain affecting all areas of an individual’s body, and tension headaches. It is also used to treat myofascial pain syndrome, a chronic condition that affects the fascia (connective tissue that covers the muscles), when other treatments have failed to provide relief. The effectiveness of TPIs in regards to myofascial pain syndrome is still being studied.

Trigger point injections are used to treat knots of muscle that form when muscles do not relax, commonly known as trigger points. This can be caused from muscle overuse, such as a repetitive motion or a muscle injury, common in myofascial pain syndrome. Injections are normally given in a doctor’s office and more than one site may be injected during a single visit. It may take several sessions to achieve prolonged relief from your pain.

NEUROFEEDBACK FOR PAIN/CHRONIC PAIN

Foods That Improve Memory: Key Nutrients for Brain Function

It happens to us all as we get older – memories of our youth get hazier, we start to forget appointments and commitments, and we begin to misplace common (but important) items like our keys, wallets, and coats.

There are some people who suffer from disorders of the executive function of the brain, such as depression and attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) that have grappled with subpar memory function as long as they have suffered from their particular malady.

Unfortunately, there aren't any prescription drugs that can help improve memory, but there are key nutrients in certain foods that can help. Here is a list of five that can help improve your memory:

1.       Coconuts-It can be fun buying coconuts and splitting them open at home with a hammer, but the most common way to access the benefits of coconuts is by cooking with its oil. Coconut oil has a great balance of energy-producing nutrients and glucose for the brain. Studies suggest that it may be beneficial in preventing Alzheimer's and dementia.

2.       Nuts-Nuts are one of the best foods that improve memory because they are chock full of Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids, as well as vitamins B6 and E, all of which can help sharpen your memory. One word of caution: peanuts aren't actually nuts! Rather, they are legumes like beans or peas. To get the best memory boost, stick to almonds and walnuts.

3.       Spinach-Spinach is one of nature’s super foods. It prevents damage to cells and DNA, inhibits the growth of certain kinds of tumors, and can prevent or delay dementia. It's an excellent source of vitamin E and folate, and it helps to keep your brain young, flexible, and spry.

4.       Rosemary-The common herb, Rosemary, that is so delicious with pork and chicken, is a powerful member of the group of foods that improve memory. It has been shown to confer brain benefits just in people who smell it – they don't even have to eat it! It helps the brain get the blood it needs, helps regulate your mood, and detoxifies your system.

5.       Tomatoes- These ripe red fruits are packed with an antioxidant called lycopene that has been shown to fight dementia.

Of course there are other foods that improve memory besides the five listed above, but if you are looking for a quick brain boost, you can't go wrong with this list. For the best results, try combinations of these foods! A bit of whole-grain pasta with tomato sauce sprinkled with rosemary and a spinach salad with walnuts and a coconut oil-based dressing? It's not just a delicious meal, but it's made entirely out of foods that improve memory - try it tonight!

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A Safe Alternative to Attention Deficit Disorder Medication

Treating ADHD without Medication

                Anyone who lives with Attention Deficit Disorder – or lives with someone with Attention Deficit Disorder – knows how difficult it is to live with the disorder.  From basic household tasks to finding and keeping employment, Attention Deficit Disorder is at best a frustration to more than 1 in 13 Americans – and at worst, a debilitating mental condition that makes it nearly impossible to live a normal, happy life. 

Despite the many jokes on the Internet and television (and legions of naysayers who do not even believe that the condition exists) Attention Deficit Disorder is a very real and very serious condition that requires dedicated treatment.  In most cases, when a doctor makes a diagnosis, the first step is to prescribe a pill.

Unfortunately, Attention Deficit Disorder medication tends to come from a family of powerful stimulants called amphetamines.  Drugs like Ritalin, Adderall and Dexedrine help people achieve a normal level of focus and patience with repetitive or menial tasks, but they also increase the pulse, energy level and blood pressure – and often exacerbate a patient's already amped-up hyperactivity. 

Researchers have been searching for a long time for an alternative to Attention Deficit Disorder medication, and they have discovered several options, including those that have to do with nutrition and diet, and certain behavioral therapies that can help sufferers to succeed.  But nothing has proven as quick and effective as Attention Deficit Disorder medication as a procedure called neurofeedback, which is a form of biofeedback.  It is a treatment that records electrical activity and helps a therapist teach a patient to control their own brain activity – and it has been proven to be just as effective as 30 milligrams of Ritalin per day.

Neurofeedback also comes without side effects, and has been deemed perfectly safe by the American Association of Pediatricians – meaning it is a safe, non-drug treatment for children who are suffering from the disorder, as well.  It typically consists of a therapy regimen of between ten and twenty sessions, which last between a half an hour and an hour each.  After that, the patient has learned to control their own mental and physiological responses – and can adjust and function happily without having to live their life on Attention Deficit Disorder medication.

If you or a loved one are suffering from this lifelong disorder, but you do not want to treat it with the class of psychostimulants that makes up the bulk of Attention Deficit Disorder medication, it may be time to look into neurofeedback.

NEUROFEEDBACK FOR ADD/ADHD