Smarter Sleeping 101

Archive for the ‘research’ Category

Not to be confused with Smarter Sleeping, Sleeping Smart is the latest campaign from the National Sleep Foundation to generate awareness for clinical insomnia.  The OH&S writes:

“The National Sleep Foundation (NSF) announced that, together with sanofi-aventis, it is launching a new campaign called Sleeping Smart, which will educate the millions of Americans who have sleep problems about the importance of a good night’s sleep, proper sleep habits, help them understand the consequences of insomnia, and the safe and appropriate use of prescription sleep medications. The campaign also will motivate sleep-sufferers to talk to a healthcare professional to determine if treatment is appropriate.”

The latest survey from the NSF has some interesting findings:

• More than one-third of Americans are at increased risk for insomnia.
• While most respondents can identify the consequences of insomnia (e.g., increased risk of automotive crashes, decreased work performance, depression or mood changes) they don’t have a clear understanding of what insomnia is.
• Two-thirds of those at increased risk for insomnia don’t consider themselves to have the condition, which may further perpetuate reasons for not seeking help.
• Practicing a healthy sleep routine prior to actually getting into bed may help promote a good night’s sleep. However, many people at increased risk for insomnia engage in stimulating activities an hour before getting into bed at least a few nights per week, including watching TV (90 percent); using the computer or Internet (33 percent); or doing household chores (43 percent).

If you believe you are suffering from clinical insomnia, it is strongly suggested you see a physician and not take to larger doses of natural supplements.  Natural supplements such as SleepSmart are designed to combat occasional sleeplessness and mild insomnia.  Chronic insomnia is a medical condition and should be treated as such.

The primary reason we created this blog was to hear feedback from consumers and SleepSmart customers.  I want to take some time out to ask your personal opinion about SleepSmart, whether you’re an existing customer or a consumer looking to purchase a sleep aid.

Does SleepSmart provide all the ingredients you would prefer to see in a natural sleep enhancing supplement?

Is the price point ($20 for a 30 day supply) reasonable?   Is that relatively expensive or inexpensive compared to other sleep aids you have used?

What would you like to see from Somnatural Labs in terms of modifying the existing product, SleepSmart, and introducing new products to make your life easier and your nights more restful?

I’d appreciate any comments our readers have about these questions, and in general, whether it be about the blog, the site, the package design, etc.

Thank you for reading and come back soon!

You hear it all the time. We must balance our work with our personal lives to find that optimal work life balance. Unfortunately for many of us work IS life. That reminds me of those motivational shirts from the 90s: “Baseball is life, the rest is just details…” I don’t remember if they had one for work, but if they did, I doubt it sold well. That’s not something people like to advertise.

The 2008 Sleep Institute Survey from the American College of Chest Physicians shows some alarming stats in the never-ending battle of work life balance. Work is killing us.

The poll shows that the American’s work day is now 9 hours and 28 minutes. The average time spent sleeping is now only 6 hours and 40 minutes. That translates to an accumulation of 1 hour 20 minutes of sleep debt each night for the average adult. So what are we doing for those 5 hours and 6 minutes we have to ourselves each night? You guessed it - working!

The poll shows more than half of Americans (58%) are bringing work home to complete at night. In fact, 20 percent spend more than ten hours a week doing job-related activities at home.

It’s no wonder why many of us suffer from a lack of sleep due to stress and anxiety. It seems we work ourselves exhausted and then worry about not getting everything done, then sacrificing the little time we have to sleep.

This study should serve as a wake up call to many of us. It is essential that we work in an adequate amount of sleep into our schedules to prevent productivity loss and sickness.

How many hours of sleep do you get each night?

A new study from the United States shows a poor night’s sleep may cause greater psychological distress and more elevated health risks in women than in men.

Eduard Suarez, associate professor and author from the Duke University Medical Center in North Carolina compared women and men with similar poor sleep patterns, finding that women showed dramatically higher levels of distress and of biomarkers associated with the risk of heart disease and Type 2 diabetes.

“The study suggests that poor sleep — measured by the total amount of sleep, the degree of awakening during the night and, most importantly, how long it takes to get to sleep — may have more serious health consequences for women than for men,” said Suarez in a release.

“In women but not men, poor sleep and sleep-related symptoms are associated by a mosaic of plasma biomarkers and psychosocial distress associated with increased risk of Type 2 diabetes, CVD [cardiovascular disease] and other chronic medical conditions,” he wrote in the study, published last week in the online edition of the journal Brain, Behavior and Immunity.

Roughly 40 per cent of the participants were classified as poor sleepers, meaning they had problems falling asleep, took 30 minutes or more to fall asleep, or woke frequently during the night.

Read the rest of the article here.

Thus far, 57% of all SleepSmart sleep survey participants are female, leading to believe that more women are actively searching for a sleep aid or supplement than are men.