...Obtaining Adequate Amounts of Sleep (between 8-9 hours) Reduce Stress Levels? BPS Wellness Paper Individual Self-Study Write-Up Intro My identified issue is lack of sleep and high stress levels. I do not maintain a schedule that would allow for enough quality sleep. I am also experience stress levels that are high, and suspect that lack of sleep may be a source of some of this stress. I have difficulty falling asleep and occasionally staying asleep. As a result I am often fatigued and tend to crave high fat sugary carbohydrates and overeat on them, to maintain mood and energy. Research Question Can obtaining adequate amounts of sleep (between 8-9 hours of sleep) reduce stress levels? My hypothesis is in order to lower my stress levels I would like to obtain 8 hours of sleep with and monitor the effects of this on my reported levels of stress. My rationale is my mind and body are more rested therefore my perception of stress and my ability to handle stress would improve thereby lowering my stress levels(Minkel et al., 2012) Sleep deprivation is associated with higher cortisol levels and with an exaggerated cortisol response to a stressor. I have not been obtaining a regular 8 hrs of sleep per night and have been feeling stressed.(“10 Surprising Effects of Lack of Sleep,” n.d.) My plan is to see if obtaining at least 8 hours of sleep lowers my stress levels. Method: Over the course of 21 days upon rising I will record the number of hours of sleep I receive. I will record...
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...the alarm clock rings in the morning and they crave for 10 minutes more of extra sleep. In a report conducted by Sleep Health Foundation 2016 Sleep Health Survey of Australian Adults It is apparent that employees lack the duration or quality for sleep. The report says that during work, mistakes are very common in Australian adults affecting 33 – 45 percent. The report also says that 17 percent of workers missed a month’s work due to workers being tired and even worse 17 percent have fallen asleep during working hours. The report highlights that in the past three months 29 percent of adults have reported to making errors and mistakes at work due to bad sleeping patterns and employees are not getting enough sleep....
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...Article 1 - Stress can help when studying for exams Telegraph. (2011). Stress can help when studying for exams. Retrieved May 5, 2011, from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/8485121/Stress-can-help-when-studying-for-exams.html This article is based on claims made about students increasing their memory under stress. The claim is supported with the theory that hormones produced under stress cause changes inside the cells of the brain to help memory to be stored more effectively. Hormones such as cortisol and adrenalin make these changes so the genes in the neurones function and increase learning ability. This theory has been backed up by Professor Hans Reul from the University of Bristol who suggests that remembering unpleasant memories is easier than pleasant ones, reasons being the unpleasant memories are due to being hurt or threatened which are based on stress. He stated that “It seems like the stress hormones bind to specific receptors in our brains that enhance the control of the epigenetic mechanisms that are involved in learning and memory.” Dr Reul presented his findings at an annual conference and in the journal Experimental Neurology. He also warned that too much stress may have an opposite effect, when new information isn’t able to be picked. In order to assess the claims made in this article, one of the main point made were that the binding of two hormones cortisol and adrenalin trigger the changes. Adrenaline is mainly responsible for the fight...
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...Correlation and Causation The Link Between Sleep and Weight Correlation is the association between two variables, when there is an increase or decrease in one variable what effect does it has to the other variable (Triola, 2010). In this research the author looks on the relationship between a person who do not sleep or get quality sleep and their body weight. There was a study which highlighted a correlation between lack of sleep and increase in body weight. In the study with the women 40 – 60 years old, it was concluded that after studying their eating and sleeping pattern for 5-7 years women who had trouble falling asleep gained approximately 11 pounds. In the other study with the younger men, they studied their sleeping patterns for two consecutive days one day eight hour sleep and the other day four hour sleep. The researchers reported an increase in calorie intake (approximately 560 more) after sleeping for four days significantly more than the person who slept for eight hours. The two variables we have in this scenario is lack of sleep and increase in body weight, for these two variables to be correlated they must be linked or dependent on each other. Although the writer shows studies to show that when there is lack of sleep there is increase in appetite there can be other variables that determine the results such as location, body mass, individuals’ state of mind and age. According to the text the relationship between these two variables is weak and negative. The study...
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...The purpose of this study is to explore associations between heavy college drinking and common health behaviors such as exercise, dieting, and sleep patterns. Binge drinking on college campuses is a common issue across the country that can unfortunately lead young adults on progressively damaging and expensive trajectories. The main focus surrounding binge drinking and college students has always been heavily focused on the more high-risk short-term consequences (e.g., physical/sexual assault, unintentional injury, motor vehicle collisions, ETC). Although these are severe community health issues, patterns in excessive college drinking may also portray information about lifestyle factors (e.g., exercise, diet, sleep), both present and future....
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...Correlation, Predication, Confidence, and Errors: Analysis of Statistics in the News In statistics, there are a number of ways to compare how data is associated with the subject matters being discussed. In this paper, I will discuss how three different magazine articles use statistics to improve and expound on their theories, the methodology used, and if their use of statistics made the article more or less convincing. The statistical methods that will discuss statistics in the news include correlation, predication, confidence, and errors. Correlation “exists between two variables when higher values of one variable consistently go with higher values of another variable or when higher values of one variable consistently go with lower values of another variable. (Bennet, Briggs & Triola 2014)” It is only used with quantifiable data where the numbers are meaningful (height, weight, age, etc), therefore, it can’t be used for categorical data (gender, favorite foods, jobs, etc). Predication is defined by Britannica.com as the attribution of characteristics to a subject to produce something meaningful. This combines verbal elements and those that exist in name only (Britannica 2015). Confidence in statistics is defined as “a group of continuous or discrete adjacent values used to estimate a statistical parameter as a means of variance” (Merriam-Webster 2015). Statistical errors means that when null hypothesis is proven incorrect, then the alternative hypothesis is accepted...
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...(2007) 274 – 284 Altered sleep–wake cycles and physical performance in athletes Thomas Reilly ⁎, Ben Edwards Research Institute for Sport and Exercise Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, Henry Cotton Campus, 15-21 Webster Street, Liverpool, L3 2ET, United Kingdom Received 14 August 2006; accepted 4 September 2006 Abstract Sleep–waking cycles are fundamental in human circadian rhythms and their disruption can have consequences for behaviour and performance. Such disturbances occur due to domestic or occupational schedules that do not permit normal sleep quotas, rapid travel across multiple meridians and extreme athletic and recreational endeavours where sleep is restricted or totally deprived. There are methodological issues in quantifying the physiological and performance consequences of alterations in the sleep–wake cycle if the effects on circadian rhythms are to be separated from the fatigue process. Individual requirements for sleep show large variations but chronic reduction in sleep can lead to immuno-suppression. There are still unanswered questions about the sleep needs of athletes, the role of ‘power naps’ and the potential for exercise in improving the quality of sleep. © 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Keywords: Circadian rhythm; Exercise; Jet-lag; Shift-work 1. Introduction The sleep–wakefulness cycle is the most discernable of human circadian functions, activity being associated with the hours of daylight and sleep with the hours of darkness...
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...analysis of fatigue after stroke: The patient’s perspective Gwendoline Bungansa NRS 433-0501 Grand Canyon University Phoenix Arizona July, 17 2016 Introduction Waking up to a new normal is how a stroke patient describes his experience after a stroke. A stroke is a brain attack which happens when part of the brain is being deprived of blood supply. Stroke is not planned hence, stroke survival face varied problems as a result of the stroke incident. Fatigue is a common problem post stroke and though people experience fatigue prior to a cardiovascular accident, the fatigue post stroke as reported by patients is different. Post stroke fatigue is not related to energy exhaustion from being active (www.stroke.org.). Barbour and Mead’s research is praised for their methodology in protecting human participants, data collection, data management and analysis, and discussion of finding in an investigation of patients’ perspective of fatigue post stroke. Problem and Purpose Given that stroke patients face varied complication post a cardiovascular accident including fatigue, it was worth investigating if fatigue matter to these patients. It is reported that fatigue is common and depressing for stroke survivors. A survey of 88 patients posts stroke, 68% complaint of fatigue while 40% stated that fatigue was their worst problem post stroke. When another researcher studied 90 stroke survivors, fifty percent of the patient reported that fatigue was their major problem. Furthermore, it...
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...Insufficient Sleep: The Silent Enemy of Fitness 1 Insufficient Sleep: The Silent Enemy of Fitness Brad Park Western Governors University Insufficient Sleep: The Silent Enemy of Fitness 2 It can be seen on television, read in the paper, and heard on the radio that it's time for America to get into shape. Obesity is up and engaging in healthy exercise is down. The obvious thing to blame is poor food choices and if that's coupled with working long hours then it's no wonder. Nevertheless, despite those issues people are finally deciding to make fitness a priority in their lives by watching what they eat and exercising more. However, they may find that the weight's not coming off, physical performance is going down, or they can't seem to put on any muscle. The culprit behind these issues may be surprising: sleep. A lack of sleep, which is becoming the norm in our society, is being proven to negatively effect several key areas of one's physical fitness. First, studies show a connection between sleep deprivation and weight control including less fat loss, changes in metabolism, and increased hunger. Next, research conducted on sleep restricted athletes resulted in less stamina, slower reaction times, and changes in mood. Finally, tests on sleep deprived subjects showed lowered testosterone, growth hormone (GH), and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) levels which all play major roles in building muscle. Getting enough sleep every night is more important to your fitness...
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...In-Lab Study Links Sleep Deprivation to Weight Gain Larry Hand July 02, 2013 Restricting sleep to 4 hours a night for 5 consecutive nights led to more weight gain for sleep-restricted participants than for control participants, according to results from a large, diverse, in-laboratory assessing sleep's effect on weight, calorie intake, and meal timing. The study was published in the July issue ofSleep. Doctoral candidate Andrea M. Spaeth, MA, from the Department of Psychology, School of Arts and Sciences, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, and colleagues conducted a study involving 225 healthy adults aged 22 to 50 years at the Sleep and Chronobiology Laboratory at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Study participants were all nonsmokers whose body mass index (BMI) ranged from 19 to 30 kg/m2 and who did not experience any irregular sleep/wake routines during the 60 days before the study. Researchers monitored the participants for a week at home before the laboratory phase, during which they studied the participants for 12, 14, or 18 consecutive days. They randomly assigned participants to either sleep restriction (SR; n = 198) or control (n = 27). SR participants were 45% women and 59% black, with a mean age of 31.3 years and a mean BMI of 24.8 kg/m2. Control participants were 44% women and 63% black, with mean age of 31.9 years and a mean BMI of 25 kg/m2. SR participants had 2 initial nights of 10 to 12 hours in bed, followed by 5 consecutive nights...
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...Physical Exercise Submitted by Reshma Gupte XII – E Physical ExercisePhysical exercise is any bodily activity that enhances or maintains physical fitness and overall health or wellness. It is performed for various reasons. These include strengthening muscles and the cardiovascular system, honing athletic skills, weight loss or maintenance and for enjoyment. Frequent and regular physical exercise boosts the immune system, and helps prevent the "diseases of affluence" such as heart disease, cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes and obesity. It also improves mental health, helps prevent depression, helps to promote or maintain positive self-esteem, and can even augment an individual's sex appeal or body image, which again is also linked with higher levels of self-esteem. Childhood obesity is a growing global concern and physical exercise may help decrease the effects of childhood obesity in developed countries. Physical exercise is important for maintaining physical fitness and can contribute positively to maintaining a healthy weight, building and maintaining healthy bone density, muscle strength, and joint mobility, promoting physiological well-being, reducing surgical risks, and strengthening the immune system. Exercise also reduces levels of cortisol. Cortisol is a stress hormone that builds fat in the abdominal region, making weight loss difficult. Cortisol causes many health problems, both physical and mental. Frequent and regular aerobic exercise has been shown...
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...Managing stress is all about taking charge of your thoughts, emotions, schedules, and the way you deal with problems. Stress is not always bad. Eustress can be beneficial; however, more times we are suffering from distress which causes health consequences, affecting the immune, cardiovascular and neuroendocrine and central nervous systems, and takes a severe emotional toll. For this stress management plan, I’ll go through five main aspects which are nutrition, exercise, rest and sleep, relaxation, and developing hobbies to help manage daily stress. Nutrition Stress and nutrition have always been linked. Well-nourished bodies are better prepared to cope with stress. Eating well through the day is my first stress dealing strategy. Start right with breakfast. There are a lot of times I do not feel hungry or do not have enough time to cook a nutritious breakfast in the morning. Usually I just end up with grabbing a piece of bread with a slice of turkey or ham, and then hurry to class. According to the research, breakfast is considered as the most important meal of the day; it helps to kick start metabolism for the day and also helps to stabilize blood sugar levels which will in turn reduce stress. So instead of waking up my body with a cup of coffee, I would drink...
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...Types of exercise Physical exercises are generally grouped into three types,[7] depending on the overall effect they have on the human body: Flexibility exercises, such as stretching, improve the range of motion of muscles and joints.[8] Aerobic exercises, such as cycling, swimming, walking, skipping rope, rowing, running, hiking or playing tennis, focus on increasing cardiovascular endurance.[9] Anaerobic exercises, such as weight training, functional training, eccentric training or sprinting and high-intensity interval training, increase short-term muscle strength.[10] Categories of physical exercise Strength training Agility training Eccentric training Resistance training Interval training Continuous training Sometimes the terms 'dynamic' and 'static' are used. 'Dynamic' exercises such as steady running, tend to produce a lowering of the diastolic blood pressure during exercise, due to the improved blood flow. Conversely, static exercise (such as weight-lifting) can cause the systolic pressure to rise significantly (during the exercise). Categories Physical exercise is used to improve physical skills. Physical skills fall into the following general categories: Cardiovascular/respiratory endurance, Stamina, Strength, Flexibility, Power, Speed, Coordination, Agility, Balance, and Accuracy.[11] Metabolic equivalent of task The Compendium of Physical Activities was developed for use in epidemiologic studies to standardize the assignment...
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...7: States of Consciousness CHAPTER PREVIEW Consciousness is our awareness of ourselves and our environment. Conscious information processing enables us to exercise control and to communicate our mental states to others. Beneath the surface, unconscious processing occurs simultaneously on many parallel tracks. Our daily schedule of waking and sleeping is governed by a biological clock known as circadian rhythm. Our sleep also follows a repeating cycle. Awakening people during REM sleep yields predictable “dreamlike” reports that are mostly of ordinary events. Freud’s view that dreams can be traced back to erotic wishes is giving way to newer theories, for example, that dreams help us process information and fix it in memory or that dreams erupt from neural activity. Studies of hypnosis indicate that, although hypnotic procedures may facilitate recall, the hypnotist’s beliefs frequently work their way into subjects’ recollections. Hypnosis can be at least temporarily therapeutic and has the potential of bringing significant pain relief. Hypnosis may be an extension both of normal principles of social influence and of everyday splits in consciousness. Psychoactive drugs also alter consciousness. Depressants act by depressing neural functioning. Although their effects are pleasurable, they impair memory and self-awareness and may have other physical consequences. Stimulants act at the synapses by influencing the brain’s neurotransmitters. Their effects depend on...
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...Therapeutic Exercise Prescription Concepts Applied to Patients Diagnosed With Fibromyalgia Pain is defined as an “unpleasant feeling, conveyed to the brain by sensory neurons” (Medical Dictionary, 2013). Pain is a subjective interpretation, which describes location, intensity and nature of sensory information resulted from noxious stimulation of nerve endings. The emotional response and other various conscious or unconscious responses add to the concept of pain. Acute pain usually results from tissue damage and it usually ends once the injury is healed. Chronic pain is a long term condition related to a persistent or degenerative disease or it doesn’t have an identifiable cause. Although there are different opinions about when a patient can be declared as suffering from chronic pain (after six months or twelve months), the presence of such sensation after the healing period usually leads to this diagnosis. One of the diseases with a generalized chronic pain as a symptom, which continues to generate many debates in the medical world, is fibromyalgia. Fibromyalgia, a disorder that affects the overall system and has an effect of generalized chronic pain, will be delineated in this paper, including its causes, manifestation, and part of the process of managing this disease in which a kinesiologist would have a central role. Fibromyalgia, estimated to affect 4% of the population, is a compilation of symptoms accompanying pain, which include fatigue, stiffness and sleep disturbance...
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