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The Sleep Mystery: Why Do We Need It?

The Sleep Mystery: Why Do We Need It?

Sleep has always been one of the great mysteries of our species. It is as necessary to us as eating and breathing. Yet, for the longest time, we never really knew why our bodies needed sleep. From an evolutionary standpoint, sleep is not a beneficial survival tool for any species. It leaves you open to attack from predators and essentially renders you unproductive for a large period of time.

Despite the glaring drawbacks of sleep nearly every species on the planet still needs it. And the few that don’t sleep in the traditional sense still require some form of rest. So what is it that makes sleep so vital to existence that we never evolved beyond it? What happens within our mind and body while we sleep?

For the longest time these questions remained unanswered. We knew the benefits of sleep from first hand experience. But now, thanks to modern medical technology, we have a better understanding of how sleep benefits us.

What We Get From Sleep

You are most likely aware of what it feels like to get a good night’s sleep. Your mind is sharper and more focused. You have more energy. Your mood is elevated and you just generally feel ready to face the day. Whereas when we don’t get enough sleep we are grumpy, fatigued, more prone to stress, and generally physically weaker.

We also get a lot of emotional benefits from sleep. The subconscious mind is most actively accessed during sleep. The moments when we are about to fall asleep and the minutes after we wake up are when we can best access the subconscious. It is where a lot of creatives get their best ideas. But it is also a tool that is used in a lot of therapy courses as well. Dream therapy is a powerful tool for better understanding the issues someone is facing.

Sleep And Growth

Sleep plays a pivotal role in the growth of our bodies. It is why babies sleep so much throughout the day. This is because the growth hormones in our body are released while we sleep. Recent studies have also suggested that this is the reason teenagers are often depicted as being lazy. When our bodies go through puberty it undergoes the most radical changes since the transition into being a toddler. So it makes sense that we would need more sleep during our teenage years.

And this is also why sleep deprivation and insomnia are so dangerous during our most developmental years. A severe lack of sleep can seriously impede our growth. But what exactly is insomnia?

Insomnia

The term insomnia is often misunderstood. People will use it if they have had a few restless nights of sleep. But Insomnia is a far more serious problem that affects millions of people. Insomnia is the inability to fall asleep or stay asleep. And the ramifications of it are serious. Because without sleep our brains cannot form the neural pathways that allow us to function.

Insomnia can lead to depression, weight loss, chronic fatigue, and a number of other serious health issues. It can also be a symptom of a wide range of issues as well. So, if you are suffering from Insomnia, it should not be ignored. Most cases of insomnia can be fixed by adjusting your sleeping habits. But more serious cases will often require a sleep study to find the root issue.

There are numerous locations throughout the United States that offer sleep studies. You can get a sleep study at Michigan sleep center that can narrow down exactly what you need to adjust within your lifestyle to ensure you are getting enough sleep. During these studies they will check your diet and exercise habits as well as monitoring your brain while you sleep.

Getting Good Sleep

So how can we improve the quality of our sleep? There are a lot of things most people do during the day that can negatively affect their sleep. One of the biggest culprits is technology. The blue light produced by most modern screens has a direct impact on the brain’s ability to fall asleep. So it is recommended that you avoid looking at any screens at least an hour before you plan on falling asleep.

Nicotine and caffeine are also two of the biggest offenders. Both of these chemicals are stimulants that will either stop you falling asleep or drastically reduce the quality of your sleep. So it is also recommended that you avoid consuming either of these chemicals for at least a few hours before you are planning to sleep.

Why You Don’t Have to Just Deal With Wrinkles

Why You Don't Have to Just Deal With Wrinkles

From a young age, you are told that there are just some things that you should expect as you get older. You should expect to get a little less flexible, you should expect gray hairs and you should expect to get wrinkles.

Many people simply believe that some things are inevitable and you have to accept that they will eventually happen. However, the world is changing. Thanks to new medical, technological and cosmetic advancements, you don’t just have to accept your body deteriorating with age.

There are things that you can do to stop age from taking a toll on your body, from exercising to having a good routine. Above all, wrinkles are not something that you just have to deal with anymore. For decades, men and women all around the world have been working hard to fight against wrinkles and even if you look back one hundred years in history, you can see that there were methods that people used to try and avoid wrinkles.

Though these methods were not very effective, we have had time to learn and research since then, which means that we now have methods to avoid wrinkles that actually work. Here is a rundown of why you don’t need to just deal with wrinkles anymore.

We Understand Preventative Measures

In the past, many people didn’t think to treat their wrinkles until they were already present. This just didn’t work and since then we have discovered that the best way to avoid wrinkles is by taking preventative measures.

Once wrinkles have set in, you have limits on what you can do in order to fix them. However, there are steps that you can take to prevent them from happening at all. For example, having an in-depth moisturizing routine is a fantastic way to prevent the development of wrinkles. Introducing habits in your life will also prevent the development of wrinkles, such as avoiding smoking and drinking plenty of water.

Now that the research has been done to discover what may cause wrinkles, you can make changes to your lifestyle to ensure that you do not develop wrinkles prematurely.

Surgery

If you are someone that does not understand preventative measures and already have wrinkles, you do not need to continue to have wrinkles. Thanks to the magical world of surgery and cosmetic treatments, even if you have already developed wrinkles, you don’t have to be stuck with them.

There are many companies out there that provide cosmetic treatment for already developed wrinkles, such as laser treatment or filler. When I first started to notice fine lines around my eyes at a young age, I quickly decided that getting filler would be the best solution for ridding me of my current wrinkles and ensuring that I would not develop any new ones. I decided to get treatment from aesthetik first lounge, which offered a filling treatment for fine lines. I know that having this treatment really boosted my confidence and also made me adjust some of my day-to-day habits in order to prevent myself from developing any more premature fine lines.

Something that people tend to do is go for surgery before they even get wrinkles. Procedures such as botox make the development of wrinkles much more difficult, so you don’t have to worry too much if you have a habit that causes wrinkles that you can’t quite kick.

As well as being a great way to prevent wrinkles, botox has also been used to combat other issues such as migraines and hypertension, so if this is something that you deal with frequently, then botox may be a good solution.

Healthy Lifestyle Choices

Many people believe that wrinkles are caused purely by old age, but this is not the case. In fact, wrinkles start to develop in old age, after years of practicing poor habits and lifestyle choices. So it is not necessarily your age that causes it, but it takes time for you to start to see the impact of your choices.

By changing your lifestyle, you can start to see immediate changes in the way that your body is getting older. Cutting down on things like alcohol and even processed foods could make the world of difference, so if you start to notice that you are beginning to age prematurely, really look into how you’re living.

Clauses to Look Out For in your Health Insurance Policy

Clauses to Look Out For in your Health Insurance Policy

If you are someone that requires medical insurance, then you will know just how annoying it can be to find an insurance company with your best interest in mind. We are a lead generation, which means that we are always on the lookout for the best insurance companies to meet our needs and if you have been lucky enough to find an insurance lead, you may be excited to set up an account and get yourself protected.

Before you can commit to an insurance company, you must first take the time to read their terms and conditions. Within these terms and conditions you are likely to find clauses and here are some of the clauses you should look out for.

Pre and post hospital expenses

Something that you may not know is that your health insurance may either cover you on just pre or post hospitalisation expenses. This means that you may be covered on any doctors appointments but when it comes to actually going to hospital, you may not have the same coverage.

You should also not assume that everything medical related is covered by your medical insurance, as they will unfortunately take any step that they can in order to avoid paying out more money that you can. So if you take part in something like acupuncture or naturopathy, it is likely that your insurance will not cover the cost, even if you consider it to be a medical expense.

When it comes to pre and post hospital expenses , different insurance companies have periods between doctor and hospital treatments. So if you think that a set of treatment counts under the same claim, you may be wrong as the time between it may categorise it as two different points of treatment.  This may mean that you have additional premiums on top of your insurance, so you should look into this.

The waiting period

This clause is very often neglected when people first purchase their insurance and for this reason, people often forget that it exists.  Every time you purchase insurance, it comes with a waiting period. This means that you can not use your insurance straight away and if you experience any injury before your waiting period then you may have to pay for the bill out of your own money.

On top of having a waiting period for when you first purchase your insurance, there is also a waiting period between claims. This waiting period can be upwards of 60 days, so if you injure yourself several times within a small period of time you may not be covered and you will have to cover any of the expenses yourself, so be sure to check what the wait period is on whichever insurance agreement you make.

Insurance limits

When you purchase insurance, you may initially believe that you are completely covered on all injuries with your claim, but this really isn’t the case. Every insurance company has their limits and it would be impossible for them to be able to cover all injuries, as it would be too expensive.

If you are someone that has some serious health issues and you know that you will be dependent on your health insurance quite frequently. There are yearly limits on what your insurance company is willing to pay out and if you are frequently needing medical assistance, you will reach this limit quite quickly and may have to pay premiums to compensate for the extra care that you have needed .

Remember to always read the fine print when it comes to insurance, as you never know what has been hidden.

Medical News: The Hospitals Trialing Vapes as a Treatment

Medical News: The Hospitals Trialing Vapes as a Treatment

Vaping is considered by many to be a harmful pastime that can lead to serious medical conditions in the future, however, when you look at the benefits it can have for full-time smokers who need their nicotine fix it can have a number of positive effects on the body especially when you consider the damage that is done by regular smoking. In my opinion vaping should be used as a means to quit smoking and nothing else, nicotine consumption is highly addictive and shouldn’t be done unless you are trying to gradually wean yourself off smoking by reducing your nicotine intake and switching to an E-cigarette over traditional tobacco.  

It may seem like a strange thought for something as harmful as vaping and smoking E-cigarettes to be recommended for its medical benefits but the fact that most quality E liquids contain significantly less harmful chemicals and substances than what is found in cigarettes you should see a huge improvement to your health if you decide to go ahead with the switch. The end goal for those of you that are trying to quit smoking should be to complete your journey by quitting all nicotine products completely and vaping has the potential to do this as you can slowly reduce the nicotine concentration of the e liquids you are using. As you are in more control of what you are putting into your body when you vape, many medical professionals and institutions have been endorsing vaping as a treatment and means to quit smoking and eventually improve your health and quality of life 

Doctor Recommendations

 The information from the professionals and those who work in the medical industry is that vaping should be used to help you quit smoking, vaping can still be harmful and it is unnecessary for someone to start vaping if they do not have a prior nicotine addiction. The only people that are going to benefit from using an E-cigarette are those who are currently smoking the more harmful tobacco products and cigarettes.  

Many hospitals are trialing the use of vapes within their premises as well as educating those who need it on how to effectively glower the nicotine concentration of what you are smoking as well as the time frames you should give yourself to do it, this is a very personal thing and can change depending on your situation and how much you are already smoking, so if you are considering making the huge steps in your life to quit smoking permanently I would highly recommend that you speak to your doctor who will be able to advise you on the best methods to do so as well as answering any queries you may have.  

The Importance of Buying a Quality Kit

If you are a beginner in the vaping world looking to buy your first E-cigarette then one of the most important things to remember is that you should buy a quality kit and E liquids to ensure you are not inhaling any unnecessary substances. If you are unsure whether vaping is for you then it could be a good idea to try a disposable vape to save you some money, with this in mind the common question is raised of ‘what are the best disposable vapes?’ In my opinion, the puff bar is one of the most effective, giving you a clean and tasty smoke that is comparable to the real thing. 

How to Effectively Use Vaping as a Treatment for Quitting

One of the most important things that the hospitals that are trialing vaping as a treatment want to get out of this new scheme is to educate smokers on how to effectively quit. Quitting smoking is a very difficult task, but one that is worth it if you work hard and make the effort to improve your health and reduce the risk of developing a more serious condition later in life as a result of smoking. One of the most effective ways to use vaping as a treatment for your nicotine addiction would have to be to start off with a higher concentration of e-liquid so that you can curb your cravings effectively, it is my recommendation that you should give yourself a week to transition from traditional smoking to vaping as it can be a very different experience for you.  

When you feel ready and used to vaping you can then begin gradually lowering the concentration of nicotine in the vapes you use, I would recommend that you give yourself a week after you have lowered your dosage to allow your body to get used to the lower amount of nicotine that is being inhaled, if you do this you will find that sticking with your new nicotine-free life is much easier as you have slowly decreased the concentration rather than going cold turkey.  

Medical professionals recommend this method as it is more likely that you will quit for good after doing it, when using other methods to quit smoking it is often the case that people will relapse and turn back to cigarettes which is why it is so important that you seek professional guidance when you are trying to quit. In any case, where you are going through a form of medical treatment such as combatting your nicotine addiction, it is always best to contact an industry professional who can offer guidance that is specific to your mind, body, and overall health.