Forty percent of Americans report having symptoms of insomnia at some point within a given year, according to the National Sleep Foundation. This alarming statistic identifies a common problem across the country affecting millions of adults. Not only does being tired detract from you quality of life, poor sleep is also detrimental for your health, causing or exacerbating conditions like heart disease and depression.

Before reaching for a prescription drug, there are some lifestyle factors that may actually improve your sleep outcomes. One lifestyle factor is diet. Revamping your diet can go a long way towards improving your sleep quality, provided you opt for foods rich in the right sleep-inducing ingredients. Continue reading to learn about 7 foods that can help you sleep better. 

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a waxing and waning disease characterized by diarrhea, abdominal pain, and weight loss. IBD, which includes Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, affects as many as 1.6 million Americans, most of whom are diagnosed before age 30. Since there is no cure for these diseases, patients are relieved when they enter remission.

Are you or a loved one a CPAP user? They are the mainstay treatment for significantly improving sleep apnea, but up to 50% of people stop using them within one year. Why? One reason is how daunting the maintenance of their equipment is. At first, it might seem overwhelming but understand with time it will become as routine as brushing your teeth. 

Is it time to upgrade your CPAP?

Is your CPAP machine noisy?  Is it keeping you and/or your partner awake at night?  If your CPAP is three years old or older, there’s a good chance that it is. There are new CPAP machines that are quieter, lighter and auto-titrating. Meaning they automatically adjust to the optimal pressure settings. 

The holiday season has arrived! Not only should you be excited, but there is so much to look forward to. Time with family and friends, shopping and traveling are all many things that we take part in during the holiday season. However, for patients with mild-to-moderate obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), going untreated while traveling can put them in line for serious health consequences, not to mention limiting the enjoyment of their trip. And, let’s face it, sleep apnea doesn’t take a holiday but here are a few quick tips to make traveling with sleep apnea a little less cumbersome.

An extra hour of sleep can welcome a short period of rest for many people. But it can also disrupt normal sleep patterns, which puts strain on the body.

The change in schedule can throw off the body's internal clock, or circadian rhythm.

It is great to have the extra hour of sleep, but a few days later that can lead to worse sleep. 

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Do Opiate Medications Cause Sleep Problems?

Opiate use is at an all-time high in the US. It is a serious epidemic in many cities, especially in Anchorage. It goes without saying that opiate dependency can have dramatic effects on someone’s psychological and physical health. In light of this, lifestyle problems and periphery effects of opiate addiction or taking opiate medications, such as sleep health, go virtually unacknowledged.