Unexplained, chronic pain known as fibromyalgia affects up to 5% of the population. Yet there are no effective treatment options for the millions for whom each day begins with persistent pain.
Imagine being unable to talk or move when faced with an evil intruder.
Sleep paralysis is an enigmatic, terrifying condition in which the mind is awake but the body is asleep. But how much do we actually know about it?
Popular characters such as Sleeping Beauty illustrate our enduring interest in tales of people who sleep continuously or cannot stay awake.
Sofi/flickr
Perhaps because we all need sleep, we have an enduring interest in sleep disorders such as narcolepsy, which causes a constant irrepressible need for sleep.
Limiting screen time before bedtime is beneficial for sleep.
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Screen time – by way of watching television or using computers, mobile phones and other electronic mobile devices – may be having a large and negative impact on children’s sleep.
People with sleep apnoea often complain of daytime sleepiness, and have difficulty concentrating.
oohander/Flickr
Sleep is vital for good health but more may not always be better for everyone. In fact, a growing body of research shows that it may increase your risk of early mortality.
Time spent checking the clock when you can’t sleep may be feeding your insomnia.
bark/Flickr
Imogen Rehm, Swinburne University of Technology; Hailey Meaklim, Swinburne University of Technology, and Jo Abbott, Swinburne University of Technology
We all have a poor night’s sleep from time to time: those nights when you lie awake for hours trying desperately to go to sleep but can’t stop worrying about tomorrow. Or when you repeatedly wake up throughout…
The best way to keep your hand off the snooze button is to have a regular sleep schedule every day of the week.
Bethan/Flickr
It’s 6.30am and after a long holiday break, your alarm clock is insistently telling you it’s time to get out of bed. For many people – me included – the automatic reaction is to hit the snooze button…
It’s not just the late nights.
Student asleep via Monkey Business Images/Shutterstock
Throughout our lives we experience changes in sleep patterns and in the amount of sleep we need. While babies sleep between 16 and 18 hours per day, this is reduced to approximately seven to eight hours…
Staying awake longer increases opportunity for snacking, even when full, the study found.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/remaraphotography/
People who sleep five hours or less a night are more likely to snack after dinner and gain more weight than those who get a full night’s rest, a new study has found. Staying awake burns more energy than…
The dreams of people with PTSD tend to be accompanied by bodily movement.
piXo
You can run a marathon, fly over foreign lands, fight to the death with a two-headed dragon … all while you lie peacefully in your bed. This is the beauty of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, where most…
The researchers did not say insomnia causes heart failure, but found an increased risk of heart failure among insomniacs.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/barkbud
People with three insomnia symptoms have a three-fold higher risk of heart failure than people with no insomnia, a large study has found, but the researchers stopped short of saying sleep problems caused…
Controlled crying is when parents respond to their infant’s cries and gently comfort them, then return at increasing time intervals.
Flickr/tea...
In my clinical work with pregnant and postnatal mums experiencing anxiety and mood disorders, few issues are reported as consistently as sleep deprivation. Parents who spend the first year of their child’s…
Good news for those who like a weekend sleep-in: lost sleep can be recovered.
Image from shutterstock.com
Ever have those moments on weekends or public holidays when you wake at your usual time, then realise there’s no pressing need to get up? If you go back for another couple of hours of shut-eye and use…
The majority of people who have obstructive sleep apnoea are unaware they have the disorder.
Image from shutterstock.com
Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is a common sleep-related breathing disorder, where the upper airway repeatedly collapses during sleep. During an obstructive breathing event, someone with OSA continues…
Insomnia is far from a modern concept, with sleep remedies such as opioids, chamomile and valerian root recorded in the earliest existing medical writings. The word insomnia itself dates back to at least…