Sleeping Beauty

This article is nothing to do with fairy tale classic or the cartoon character of Walt Disney animated film first published in 1959. It is about sleeping like a sleeping beauty. Some people sleep a lot and some just need a few hours a night. Famous persons like Bill Gates can sleep like swithing off a light. Head of States rarely sleep more than 4 hours including Margaret Thatcher. Others like Martha Steward, Thomas Edison, Madonna, Florance Nightingale, Michelangelo, Napolean Bonaparte also slept for 4 hours. These two, Bill Clinton and Winston Churchill slept for 6 hours. The former had to have extra 2 hours due to overtime with Monica Lewensky.

In CNN Health an article by Madison Park states that some people feel exhausted after long hours of rest. Not enough sleep can cause traffic accidents, weight gain, less productive and low immune system. According to Dr. Lisa Shives, a medical director at Northshore Sleep Medicine, Illinois, US some people affected by sleep drunkenness, when a person hovers between sleep and wakefulness.

Studies show that if people get less than 5 hours or more than 10 hours of sleep, it increases their mortality. Studying Margaret Thatcher, 84 proves the opposite. In May 2009 travelled to meet Pope Benedict XVI at Vatican City. Similiarly Tun Mahathir Mohamad ex Malaysia PM, age 84 also still travelling extensively all over the world. Both are politicians, brilliant, outspoken and industrialists. She got stroke in 2002 and he had a second bypass in 2007. Surprisingly, both sleep less than 4 hours but still relatively healthy.

A 2007 Finish study found that the mortality risks increased by about 20 percent for people who slept more than eight hours. This I believe with the exception of baby who sleeps on average totalling 15 hours daily ie 5 hours during the day and 10 hours at night. Another study shows that people who slept more than eight hours had a greater chance of stroke which is consistent with other studies. According to Dr. Micheal Breus, Ph.D. in his "Beauty Sleep: Look Younger, Lose Weight, and Feel Great Through Better Sleep", it is all about a quality of sleep rather than quantity of sleep. This is the main reason (I believe) which makes famous people require less hour to sleep. Dr. Breus explain about the 4 stages during sleep. "When you have poor quality sleep, you spend a lot of time in stage 1 sleep " where average cycle takes 90 minutes to complete. They all have very good deep sleep.

Sometimes we think we have enough sleep but wake up feeling tired. Thus the problem may be due to poor quality sleep. We actually take more time to sleep due to many factors such as depression. But if sleep longer on regular basis then consult your doctor. According to Dr Breus, you may be diagnosed with sleep apnea, narcolepsy or restless leg form of sleep disorder.

Surprisingly, genetically some people trive on little sleep and categories into short and long sleepers. If you sleep less than 6 and half hours you are short sleeper. If you sleep more than 9.5 hours you are long sleeper. But if you sleep too long, you are no longer alive....hehehehe. More studies still conducted to understand why some people require more sleep.

To learn more go to CNN Health and search for "Is Too Much Sleep Making You Tired?". If you really tired now, go to bed! Shut down you PC, save energy :)

footnotes
1. In Islam, Ashabul Kahfi had slept for 300 over years and woke up fresh.
2. A dog requires 18 hours sleep a day

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Asthma and H1N1

Health.com reported that 25 million of Americans have asthma which is equivalent to the whole Malaysian population. They are very sensitive to swine flu or H1N1 which symptoms include fever, congestion, and possibly nausea, diarrhea, and vomitting. When they are exposed to pollen, pet allegens, bacteria, viruses, their lung will tighten in response to those insults. In response to H1N1, the lung produces mucus which can get trapped in narrow airways, leading to pneumonia.

Their advices are:-

1. Take your controller medications every day, even if you do not really need it. Pay serious attention to little kids because they tend to skip those kind of medications.

2. If you can afford or luckyly enough, get vaccinated. There is a nasal spray version of H1N1 vaccin which is not recommended for high risk group. Consult your doctor.

Due to the high price and shortages of the vaccins, most countries unable to obtain the supplies. Thus the best advice is to try to avoid infection in the first place by skipping parties, wash hands, cover coughs and sneezes. Attend medical treatment immediately if you get sick, don't wait until you die.

Jain of Health.com found out that antiviral treatment of hospitalised patients really helped notably within 2 days. Thus time is crucial. There are a number of antiviral drugs namely oseltamivir, zanamivir, amantadine, and rimantadine. Zanamivir (Relenza) not recommended for for asthamatic patients according to Center for Disease Control and Prevention, US.

Summarily, asthmatic people must take their medication on regular basis regardless whether sick or not. Seek medical treatment immediately and if possible get vaccinated. Lastly pray to God. For muslim, inshaallah you will be protected. Amin

For more info visit Health.com and search for "asthma and swine flu"

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