Catégorie : HEALTH NEWS EMERGENCY

MENOPAUSE SYMPTOMS – ESTROGEN Women LIBIDO LOVE-DHEA – Natural Products SOLUTION

MENOPAUSE SYMPTOMS – ESTROGEN Women LIBIDO LOVE-DHEA – Natural Products SOLUTION

MENOPAUSE

Many women seek to alleviate the symptoms of menopause. If hormone replacement therapy remains a common and effective treatment, more and more women are resorting to natural health products. However, as is the case for all health products, caution is required because of side effects sometimes occur.

The term menopause means etymologically « stop rules ». It is a natural process that does not occur suddenly. Considering that menopause has occurred in the absence of menstruation for a year. It is preceded by a period called pre-menopause. This period is shorter or longer. During this phase, the menstrual cycle is unstable heavy periods too long or too short. Other known symptoms of « premenstrual syndrome, congestive » are experienced bloating, mood swings, swollen and painful breasts, insomnia, vaginal dryness, hot flashes, etc.. Most women begin menopause late forties or early fifties, but it is quite normal that it occurs between 40 and 60.

Considering that menopause has occurred when a woman has not had a menstrual period for over a year and in the absence of any other problem or condition. The average life expectancy of Canadian women is approximately 81.5 years. The period after menopause now occupies over a third of the lives of women, more than thirty years.

Menopause is defined as the period during which the ovaries secrete increasing amounts of low and inconsistent for two or reproductive hormones estrogen and progesterone. These hormones are potent regulators of brain function and emotional body and many women feel that this is particularly true during the premenstrual days.

Diseases associated with menopause:
Osteoporosis. At menopause, bone loss accelerates normal for a few years before returning to normal. Therefore, after menopause, women have a lower bone density than men Cardiovascular disorders.
The risk of cardiovascular disease increases after menopause. You are more at risk if you have a family history of cardiovascular disease, if you have a history of high cholesterol, hypertension or diabetes.
There are other risk factors including smoking, early menopause and lack of exercise.After menopause, the risk level of women suffer from cardiovascular problems increased and reached that of men. In addition, taking hormone replacement increases the risk of cardiovascular
Urinary incontinence. After menopause, declining estrogen may cause atrophy of the muscles of the perineum. Drops of urine can escape when a force is well supplied, when we laugh, cough or during sex
Endometrial cancer and breast cancer. After the cessation of menstruation, there is an excess of estrogen in the body of the woman (stored mainly in adipose tissue), endometrial cells, can develop and accumulate, transforming itself with thetime, cancer cells. The risk of breast cancer is also increased.
Factors influencing the intensity of menopausal symptoms:
Cultural factors. Western women are more at risk than women of other origins have more pronounced symptoms. The severity of symptoms depends on many conditions in which menopause occurs. In North America, nearly 80% of women have symptoms of menopause, especially hot flashes. But in Asia, they are only 20%.
This is largely explained by the diet. Indeed, an abundant consumption of soy products, a food that has a high content of phytoestrogens prevent the « de swaying » important and reduces the impact of hormonal imbalance and its symptoms. However, it is noted that genetic factors are involved, as demonstrated by studies of immigrant populations.
Psychological factors. Menopause occurs at a time of life often carries other changes: children leaving home, leaving the spouse with a younger, early retirement, etc.. Recognition of seniors as wise people often reduce the unpleasant symptoms of menopause … This leaves he heard that part of stress and psychological factors may be involved in the phenomenon? The attitude of mind deal with these changes will influence the intensity of symptoms.
Other factors. Lack of exercise and physical inactivity related to the severity of the symptoms of menopause.
The age at which menopause occurs is partly hereditary.
One hundred years ago, the average age of first menstruation was 16. Now it’s 12 years. Women became pregnant much younger, had more pregnancies, more and longer breastfeeding and had only 100 to 200 menstruating before menopause.
One hundred years later, women have fewer children, breastfeeding less time and less often and experiment from 300 to 400 periods during their working lives. Their hormonal system is idle, resulting in infertility, PMS, cancer, fibroids, menopause and migraine pain.
Estrogen and progesterone have somewhat opposite effects that allow them to remain in balance. If the level of progesterone decreases estrogen dominate causing a multitude of discomforts and ailments.

Diseases Associated with Menopause:

Osteoporosis:
At menopause, bone loss accelerates normal for a few years before returning to normal. Therefore, after menopause, women have a lower bone density than menCardiovascular disorders. The risk of cardiovascular disease increases after menopause. You are more at risk if you have a family history of cardiovascular disease, if you have a history of high cholesterol, hypertension or diabetes.

There are other risk factors including smoking, early menopause and lack of exercise.After menopause, the risk level of women suffer from cardiovascular problems increased and reached that of men. In addition, taking hormone replacement increases the risk of cardiovascularUrinary incontinence. After menopause, declining estrogen may cause atrophy of the muscles of the perineum. Drops of urine can escape when a force is well supplied, when we laugh, cough or during sexEndometrial cancer and breast cancer. After the cessation of menstruation, there is an excess of estrogen in the body of the woman (stored mainly in adipose tissue), endometrial cells, can develop and accumulate, transforming itself with thetime, cancer cells.

The risk of breast cancer is also increased.Factors influencing the intensity of menopausal symptoms:
Cultural factors. Western women are more at risk than women of other origins have more pronounced symptoms.

The severity of symptoms depends on many conditions in which menopause occurs. In North America, nearly 80% of women have symptoms of menopause, especially hot flashes. But in Asia, they are only 20%.This is largely explained by the diet. Indeed, an abundant consumption of soy products, a food that has a high content of phytoestrogens prevent the « de swaying » important and reduces the impact of hormonal imbalance and its symptoms.

However, it is noted that genetic factors are involved, as demonstrated by studies of immigrant populations.

Psychological Factors.

Menopause occurs at a time of life often carries other changes: children leaving home, leaving the spouse with a younger, early retirement, etc.. Recognition of seniors as wise people often reduce the unpleasant symptoms of menopause …

This leaves he heard that part of stress and psychological factors may be involved in the phenomenon? The attitude of mind deal with these changes will influence the intensity of symptoms.
Other factors. Lack of exercise and physical inactivity related to the severity of the symptoms of menopause.The age at which menopause occurs is partly hereditary. One hundred years ago, the average age of first menstruation was 16. Now it’s 12 years.
Women became pregnant much younger, had more pregnancies, more and longer breastfeeding and had only 100 to 200 menstruating before menopause. One hundred years later, women have fewer children, breastfeeding less time and less often and experiment from 300 to 400 periods during their working lives.

Their hormonal system is idle, resulting in infertility, PMS, cancer, fibroids, menopause and migraine pain.
Estrogen and progesterone have somewhat opposite effects that allow them to remain in balance. If the level of progesterone decreases estrogen dominate causing a multitude of discomforts and ailments.

  • SYMPTOM
  • During menopause, some women just stop having periods. Others will experience symptoms for several years if no measures are taken to relieve symptoms.Change in the menstrual cycle. This is one of the first signs of menopause. This included an irregular menstrual periods, they may for example be closer together.Bleeding may also be more or less heavily than usual
  • Hot flashes. This is the most common symptom of menopause. They can be somewhat unpleasant, but can also become a major enough to affect the quality of sleep and daily life. Between 50 and 80% of menopausal women suffer to varying degrees. They usually last a few seconds up to an hour. More than a dozen episodes per day are often observed.
  • However, they are more frequent at night. They can occur for at least a year but rarely exceed five years for most women. Hot flashes are typically experienced so sudden, first in the abdomen or chest, and within seconds they rise to the head.The skin may become red and sweating become abundant, the breath is often accompanied by digestive problems and dizziness. Headache and palpitations, followed by chills may accompany
  • Tendency to insomnia. Insomnia related to menopause result of hot flashes at night that awaken menopausal women. Hot flashes and night disturbing sleep and weaken the body, sometimes dramatically. In such cases, post-menopausal women is fast becoming tired, irritable, depressed and prone to many ailments while all weaknesses are emerging
  • Problems with urinary tract infections. You will be more vulnerable to bladder infections after menopause.
  • Sometimes you can present without symptoms of infection, that is to say, feel the need to urinate often, feeling an urgent need to urinate, experience a burning sensation when urinating, be unable to to urinate or get up frequently at night to urinate.
  • Thinning of the vagina and vulva. Menopause causes thinning of the vaginal wall and the region of the vulva. The vagina loses its ability to produce lubrication during sexual arousal
  • Dry mucous membranes. Dryness of mucous vaginal and bladder tends to occur when it’s been over five years that menstruation has ceased. It takes a daily discomfort with itching, dryness, burning, which favors the occurrence of repeated vaginal infections. Besides all this makes sex painful and painful

 

Weight gain. Usually it is entre2 and 10 kg.

  • Fat cells convert hormones of the adrenal glands in female hormones. A slight weight gain, because it reduces the hormonal decline at menopause, is beneficial to health
  • Cognitive impairment. Disorders of memory or concentration, associated with menopause can be caused by insomnia
  • Decreased libido. Sexual desire is a complex human phenomenon, from a hormone, seems mostly driven by testosterone. Women also produce testosterone, although they produce less than men. It happens at the menopause, female testosterone production also decreases, although this is not a direct result of the cessation of menstruation
  • Mood disorders. Almost all women experience mood changes that may occur during a menstrual cycle. The cessation of menstruation may also cause similar problems: irritability, anxiety, emotions on edge, depressed. Note that if symptoms of depression occur, they should be treated separately
  • Changes in skin, hair and nails. Changes in the skin, hair and nails that occur around menopause often have other underlying causes, such as a thyroid slowdown.
  • The inconveniences that follow vary depending on the individual. They may also include headache, tinnitus, sensation of mist and flies before the eyes, chest tightness, an emotional instability. The increased presence of cellulite. The fabrics tend to lose their tone and become waterlogged.


LOVE AFTER MENOPAUSE

Menopause happens to be a turning point in the life of a couple: physical and emotional changes affect the decline in sexuality. The only medical consideration is not sufficient to overcome this phenomenon. Psychological aspects have a direct impact on the libido.

Physiological changes

Menopause is the product of a lower production of hormones (estrogen and progesterone) for women leading to the cessation of menstruation, vaginal dryness, hot flashes, but regular reporting keeps the vagina in good health.

The erection was quickly put a few minutes before coming but once present, it will be established for long. Therefore, the attitude of the female partner is crucial to the rise of excitation in humans. The inactivity of women is unacceptable! The amount of semen ejaculated is less important and the power of expulsion. In addition, it is not uncommon after 60 years, a man must wait 24 hours to obtain a new erection.

But this does not explain everything: fear of hurting her partner brings the man to erectile dysfunction as it is important that the mechanisms that allow a good excitement is maintained and good communication in marriage . If however, the woman keeps vaginal dryness, lubricants are water-based non-fat

Psychological changes

There is a decrease in sexual desire in women by 50%. We mentioned the physiological changes that occur in the fall of the libido, but other factors also fall into play. The departure of children, work stoppage, down sometimes lead to depression, irritability. Moreover, diseases, surgery frequently leads to arrest of sex but there is also the opposite effect for a third of the women freed from a lot of trouble, they engage in erotic pleasures

The only physical problems do not explain the decrease of sexuality, the decline in confidence, of self-esteem, lack of activity directly affect the couple’s sexual activity.

DHEA: the key to improving older people’s sexuality?

DHEA is a hormone that is produced naturally by the body 18 to 45 years but productivity declines after a certain age. Taking DHEA leads to an increase in male hormones: testosterone. But the theory is far from being emulated in real life.Why? Just because the consequences of taking DHEA does not give linear results.

The sexuality of older people: more qualitative and quantitative

To adapt to this changing body, the pair must change their sexual practices: it is no longer to have 4 or 5-on but to take further provisions that will enable them confidently to establish a harmonious relationship and satisfactory.

In his youth, the man took the lead in lovemaking but the anime fire less because of lower testosterone. If all conditions are met, some women take the lead intuitive. They will agree to move their experience of sexuality in the relationship and sharing: developing the language that will bring physical pleasure, through a range of emotion.

We have placed great emphasis on the decline in female libido. But how women react to male impotence?

Coping with erectile dysfunction to their romantic partner is an ordeal for many women. They react according to their character but also the type of relationship they have with their spouse.

Natural health products used to relieve Symptoms of Menopause

Not all natural health products used for menopause that are approved by Health Canada. Some ingredients of these products, such as black cohosh, medicinal ingredients are approved by Health Canada to relieve the symptoms of menopause. Some products containing valerian, hops, St. John’s wort or lemon balm are approved for the relief of symptoms such as insomnia or nervousness.However, these symptoms may be associated with other health problems, including menopause.

In addition, published reports confirm that other ingredients such as dong quai, ginseng and evening primrose oil, are also used during menopause. Some of these ingredients may be present in a product registered as in an unlicensed product. The label of a natural health product approved by Health Canada has a Natural Product Number (NPN), a Homeopathic Medicine Number (DIN-HM) or a Drug Identification Number (DIN). To find out if a natural health product is licensed, or to know the recommended use or purpose, click on Database Licensed Natural Health Products (LNHPD) of Health Canada in the section

Possible side effects of natural health Products for Menopause

Clinical trials on humans very little information on the safety and efficacy of natural health products used to relieve symptoms of menopause. Many people mistakenly believe that these products are safe because they are natural. However, like other health products, natural health products can have serious side effects. Any substance, natural or synthetic, which acts on the body can pose a health risk.Therefore, use caution with natural health products to relieve symptoms of menopause. Some side effects associated with certain natural health products:

The black cohosh and kava are associated with rare cases of liver damage.
Some natural health products, such as St. John’s wort can interact with other medications, increasing the risk of harmful side effects.
Other products such as lemon balm, hops and valerian, used to reduce nervousness and induce sleep, should not be used if you plan to drive or operate heavy machinery. They can cause drowsiness, and their use with alcohol or other sedatives is not recommended.
Nausea, vomiting, headache, fatigue and diarrhea are all common side effects of many health products including natural health products.
That’s why we must discuss the use of any natural health product or dietary supplement and health product of any prescription or nonprescription a health care professional.

Reducing risks

You can reduce the risk of adverse effects and ensure that the health products you choose are suitable for your symptoms by following these steps:

Discuss your symptoms and the risks and benefits of treatment with a healthcare professional, such as a physician, pharmacist or a practitioner of alternative medicine.
Please read the conditions and instructions and warnings on the product label.Also, check whether the product has a DIN, NPN or DIN-HM. Health Canada advises consumers to use only health products.
Pay attention to any reaction or interaction with other drugs you take. Report any side effects with your doctor.
See a doctor if your symptoms persist or worsen.
We invite you to report any adverse reaction or interaction involving a health product you are taking, including natural health products, medicines counter or prescription drugs, by calling toll-free provided the section

Regulations on Natural Health Products

Health Canada has responded to consumer concerns about the natural health products are safe, effective and high quality by adopting the Regulations on Natural Health Products, which requires that natural health products sold in Canada are approved.

The Regulations on Natural Health Products entered into force on 1 January 2004 and will be fully implemented by 31 December 2009. All natural health products have approved a NPN or DIN-HM. These numbers on the label indicate that the formulation, labeling and instructions for use of a product have been reviewed and approved. By 31 December 2009, some natural health products could still have an identification number (DIN) they were registered before 1 January 2004.

Health Canada’s Role

The Products Directorate (NHPD) of Health Canada has developed regulations to ensure that Canadians have access to natural health products are safe, effective and high quality while respecting freedom of choice and philosophical and diversity culture. The Regulations on Natural Health Products requires that all claims are supported by standards and determined that the products are manufactured according to good manufacturing practices in licensed establishments.

Directorate Health Products is leading the coordination and implementation of monitoring, evaluation and, if necessary, intervention regarding all types of marketed health products. Among these include the pharmaceutical and biological products, vaccines, medical devices, natural health products and radiopharmaceuticals.

Inspectorate Directorate Health Products and Food is the third partner in the natural health products. The role of the Inspectorate is to provide a national compliance monitoring and enforcement for all health products, while supporting a decision-making approach based on risk management. Its activities include compliance monitoring, such as market research, product sampling for laboratory analysis, site visits of manufacturing natural health products, checking compliance with respect to complaints about a product recalls and monitoring of customs supervision, surveys (eg. measures to gather evidence for prosecution) and laboratory analysis to determine the issues of identification and purity such as contamination or adulteration.

RAGWEED ALLERGY-Ragweed or AMBROSIA – Symptoms – Recognize ragweed and how to eliminate-Montreal Quebec Canada

RAGWEED ALLERGY-Ragweed or AMBROSIA – Symptoms – Recognize ragweed and how to eliminate-Montreal Quebec Canada

RAGWEED ALLERGY
Ambrosia (ragweed) in the month August



Ragwed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia L.)
The Ambrosia grows in sunny, dry, often poor and where there is no competition with other plant species. To prevent its establishment, it is sufficient to limit the bare soil, by taking a seeding of plants adapted to site conditions and promoting effect by fertilization.Control of Ambrosia will not totally eliminate the problem but will reduce the rate of pollen in the air and thus help a large number of people inconvenienced by this allergy season.
Ragweed or AMBROSIA

Symptoms – Recognize ragweed and how to eliminate

Stuffy nose, watery eyes and itchy, the month of August to first frost, ragweed is still claiming victims. So without further ado, let’s learn to identify this weed which bears the Latin name of Ambrosia artemisiifolia. Once unmasked to fight against this problem, simply enforce the uprooting or cutting short just before flowering. THERE is no risk of allergic reaction to touch.

The appearance of ragweed

L'herbe à poux - son apparenceRagweed with its hairy stem and leaves of a greyish green.

What is it like this annual plant, responsible for the uncomfortable hay fever? She looks rather harmless and resembles almost any weed. So its asset: knowledge go unnoticed!

The ragweed reaches an average height of 70 cm. The stem, covered with hair, is topped with sheets of grayish green, thin and tightly cropped. They are opposed to the base and alternate at the top. During the months of June and July, the plant is covered with tiny green flowers shaped ear grouped at ends of stems. In August, flowering bursts to let fly into the air billions of pollen grains. And now, the damage is done!

Urban housing

To eliminate ragweed, it is still necessary to know where she is housed. The reaction promotes coexistence and flourished in colonies, encouraged by the rays of the sun.

The ragweed seems to have a penchant for right-of railroads, edges of sidewalks, construction sites, poorly maintained land, a piece of bare earth where calcium has burned the grass in a corner of the garden where the soil has been disturbed. It grows as … a weed!

Symptoms rather unpleasant

Casually, the ragweed causes great discomfort to more than 17.5% of our population. Its pollen causes severe unlucky in some reaction:

Pollen - herbe à poux

  • Irritation of the nose
  • Tingling of the throat
  • Repeated sneezing
  • Eyes swollen and teary
  • Sinus congestion
  • Hoarse cough up some chronic asthma

Health problems, social costs engendered by runaway medical costs and absenteeism at work, these are some of the consequences of this phenomenon that deserves our attention. A radical solution is needed: stop the problem at source by getting rid of the guilty!

Not to be confused with poison ivy

Poison ivy tends to grow near forested areas. This plant bears trifoliate leaves and hard fruit ranging in color from yellow to dull white. These leaves are almost smooth, glossy and sometimes alternate on a woody stem. His contact with the skin causes itchy skin immediately.

Ragweed, meanwhile, presents no danger to the touch and can be pulled at any time without consequence. And when we learn that the survivability of its seeds in the soil is more than 40 years, we realize the importance of taking all necessary means to make it disappear immediately spotted.

Petite herbe à poux

The ragweed seems to have a penchant for inhabited areas.

Herbe à puce 1 Herbe à puce 2

Poison ivy tends to grow near forested areas.


Dealing with it … before August!

How to get rid of this plant detestable? The simplest is to snatch it. It’s easy to do since it has a poorly developed root system. But beware! It is essential to perform the operation in June or July at the latest, that is to say, before flowering.

Regularly maintain his lawn. Mainly mowing evenly along the ground making sure to line the exposed corners, are all ways to prevent the emergence of this weed.

While grubbing remains the means of destruction over the practice, one can, in the case of land covered with grass, ragweed, shave regularly ground undesirables. In this way, we prevent them from unleashing their flowering so devastating. However, if one can not overcome, the services of professionals will undoubtedly save an infested field.

To learn more about ragweed, contact the Quebec Lung Association at 1 800 295-8111 ext 232

SLEEP WELL History and Sociology of the SLEEP make your night a DEEP SLEEP

SLEEP WELL History and Sociology of the SLEEP make your night a DEEP SLEEP

SLEEP WELL History and sociology of the sleep

SLEEP WELL History and Sociology of the SLEEP make your night a DEEP SLEEP I have two gods, you and sleep, the two of you mean everything to me.
Goethe to Charlotte van Stein

SLEEP WELL

SLEEP WELL


1. « Four out of ten Belgians sleep badly« 

Source: Het Nieuwsblad 5-10-2004
Why do we actually still sleep? Of all primates, the human being already sleeps least. Did, a century ago, Thomas Edison not contend that with the invention of electricity and artificial light, sleeping in fact becomes unnecessary? Indeed, having to go to sleep because it is too dark to go out hunting safely or to gather food, today for most people belongs to the past.

In fact, artificial light makes it possible to have factories work day and night in 3 shifts, to have shops open 24 hours a day, to have a dazzling nightlife and even to do all kinds of interesting things at home at night and not to have to sleep. Indeed, why do we actually still sleep?

Why do we “lose” 1/3 of our lives to something that is like “being death”?
Do we really enjoy that so much?

Chronic short-sleepers Napoleon Bonaparte was on the alert day and night, and thus suffered from a chronic sleep deficiency. He only slept short sleeps, never exceeding a few hours. Thomas Edison invented artificial light and thought sleeping was “a deplorable regression to the primitive conduct of cavemen.” Albert Einstein was a frequent sleeper, both during the night and by day, he regularly doze off. He pretended that it contributed to his creativity.

2. Evolution history

SLEEP WELLNevertheless, there is something that forces us to sleep. Is it the tiredness of our muscles and mind that creates the need for sleep? Or do our genes in a circadian 24 hours rhythm order us to go to sleep right now? Science has no straightforward answer yet.

As Homo Sapiens we have had a long evolution history. Today we still have the body of the hunter-gatherer, including the coccyx. From a long time before the first Homo Habilis until recently, the human being was extremely vulnerable when it grew dark.
He lived solitarily or in group, but had to remain observant at all times. When he slept, he hided and protected himself as much as possible in caves or on higher places where the entrance or entry could be watched over. As our ancestors were occupied with keeping up a fire, watching and other survival activities, they subconsciously felt it was not permitted to sleep through for several hours a day. Their nights were interrupted several times by active moments. Today, primitive population groups still sleep several successive short sleeps at night. By organizing themselves into groups and hierarchies, the night watch could be reduced to a restricted group and the others could slowly evolve into the modern social sleep, in which the shorter sleeps are linked up and people sleep through, preferably without waking up in between.

We fall asleep under the influence of vapours that ascend from our stomach.
Aristotle, Greek philosopher

3. Sleeping habits

SLEEP WELL

SLEEP WELL

In the Western world, we indeed mostly sleep a sleep that consists of 5 stages that are in turn divided in different phases. When studying sleep behavior outside the European continent and during many study tours, I found that many population groups still have quite different sleeping habits.

The distinctive feature of their sleep behavior is that population groups that still live very close to nature, do not sleep “through” the night, but actively interrupt their sleep. It was also found that the climate is as important as darkness when it comes to explaining the widespread “afternoon nap”. Even in China, most factories and offices are closed down at noon. In Japan, it is still very popular to have a nap behind your desk at noon. At 5 o’clock in the morning, Bombay already shimmers with activity and the inhabitants of Abidjan only get the hang of things at 11 o’clock in the evening.

 

4. Where you sleep

Not everyone sleeps out his sleeping needs in the same way; frequent shorter sleeps on the ground, a couch, a seat or a bed spread over the entire day are more common than our modern social sleep in a neatly made-up bed from 11 o’clock in the evening till 7 o’clock in the morning. In the Western world, we evolved from sleepers in a nest or cave to more protected rooms or turret rooms, where people and families sat around a fire and looked for the warmth and protection of one another. They slept on beds that protected them against moisture, cold and vermin. These beds mainly consisted of skins, bags filled with all kinds of elastic materials and blankets that were even spread out over the chest with the most precious belongings.
The Greeks and Romans lived and ate on their beds. In the Middle Ages, the most combative slept sitting in full battle regalia to be able to swing into action while naked men, women and children cozily dived in a bed under the skins. Victorian prudery and new ideas on hygiene brought nightclothes, nightcaps, individual bedrooms and beds. French kings received their subjects while half-sitting/half-lying in their beds.

5. How you sleep

Today, 70% of the people still sleep together with someone else and some hundred years ago the Western world adopted the habit of sleeping in individual bedrooms where parents and children can retire.

Since the invention of the metal spring mattress and the bed box, we sleep completely horizontally and the hassock-pillows have gradually made way for modern more or less hygienically sound beds.

6. Women sleep on their sides, men sleep on their fronts or sides

SLEEP WELL

SLEEP WELL

A survey conducted in 1996 amongst 2,000 of my customers showed that 78% of the women are slide sleepers, while 72% of the men are side/belly sleepers. That’s only logical as in earlier days, most women were constantly pregnant and therefore had not many options left. In addition, by lying on their sides, women were able to better protect the fetus.

In fact, men are better protected by their backs and they can get up much more rapidly from the side/belly position. Other studies reveal that 15% sleep on their backs, 24% on their left sides, 47% on their right sides and 14% on their bellies.

But when we lie down, we often lie on our backs. This change is not only caused by mattresses that are much too hard and thus disturb our sleep profile, but also results from the introduction of electrically sit adjustable bed bases that brought King Television even into the bedroom. We now have light, digitalized communication, a worldwide information network… at our disposal 24 hours a day. And at night too, we permanently have access to all kinds of amusement and recreation… even in our bedroom.

The king sleeps on his back, the sage on his side and the rich man on his belly.
7. Sleep debt

We work and travel at night and yet feel that we so build up some kind of sleep debt. Perhaps we indeed can function 24 hours a day without losing much time to sleeping. When comparing the technological changes over the last century to our overall evolution, they took place in a symbolic second, while our body took 30,000 years to evolve from the homo sapiens into modern man.

Since the light bulb was invented in 1936, we technically can handle night work, our lives can become more and more hectic and we can even gather information or find entertainment in the middle of the night.

Number of hours of sleep per 24 hours
Donkey 3
Horse 3
Cow 4
Dolphin 7
Pig 8
Dog 9
Chimpanzee 10
Gorilla 12
Cat 15
Bat 20

 

8. The great lack of sleep

But, how flexible is our sleep need? Do we really just waste one third of our lives? The more I learn about sleeping, the more I realize that the problems we face today are rather due to a sleep deficiency than to a waste of time through sleeping. For one thing bad-sleeping is the worst ailment of our times, and for another thing modern, technological society and higher life expectancy just require that we, even more than in the past, optimally utilize our sleep.

In sleep labs all over the world, sleep debt was created under lab conditions and the behavior of test subjects was studied.Each study shows that even the slightest sleep deficiency has us function less efficiently. For that matter, short naps in the daytime resulting from this sleep deficiency actually are the biggest cause of accidents, both at work and on the road.

So, what is it that makes sleep so important? That is what you should know!

GREEN SLEEP