Month: May 2015

Best Natural Cures for Insomnia

Alternative therapy involves a number of disciplines that include almost everything from diet and exercise to mental conditioning and changes in lifestyle. Illustrations of natural cures for insomnia include acupuncture, yoga exercise, hypnosis, biofeedback, relaxing, herbal remedies, massage, and others.

Acupuncture

The method of Acupuncture is commonly used in traditional Chinese medicine as natural cures for insomnia. The process requires the placement of very fine needles (at times along with electrical stimulus or with heat produced by burning specified herbs) into the skin at precise acupuncture points in order to influence the operation of the body. The results of recent research indicates acupuncture improved sleep quality in people with insomnia. However, further research is needed before the effectiveness of acupuncture is proven conclusively for the relief of insomnia.

Herbal Treatments

Herbal supplements are purported to be among the best natural cures for insomnia. Below is a quick look at the herbs most used.

Valerian root

. Some studies have suggested that the root of valerian (Valeriana officinalis) could help bring about sleep, and with sleep maintenance. Even so, more studies are needed before a final decision can be made about the safety and effectiveness of Valerian for insomnia.

Chamomile

is yet another frequently used herb to treat insomnia. More studies are needed, however, to see if it’s effective. The FDA accepts chamomile to be safe and the herbal plant has no known adverse effects.

Additional herbs promoted as effective sleep treatments include passionflower, hops, and lemon balm.

Clinical tests to appraise the efficiency and safety of herbal products are rare. More details is essential before these herbs can be proposed as being effective natural cures for insomnia.

Because herbal medicines may interact with certain medications, always tell your health care professional if you are using any herbal medicines.

Melatonin

Melatonin is a hormone produced by a gland within the brain and also produced in animals as well as plants. Although the effects of melatonin are complicated and poorly known, it plays a critical role in the regulation of the sleep-wake cycle and other circadian rhythms. Melatonin has been analyzed as a possible therapy for circadian rhythm issues and could be helpful in decreasing sleep disturbances brought on by jet lag.

Adverse effects of melatonin are negligible, but long-term studies examining effectiveness and toxicity of melatonin supplements are needed.

As medical science and research improves it becomes increasingly more apparent that sleep plays a vital function in mood adjustment; in truth, that’s the origin of the folklore behind establishing an early bed time for the kids. But although the connections between depression and sleep are very well documented, the role of dreams to maintain emotional health remains one of the more confusing and very least understood elements in the function of sleep.

Since the 1970s, psychologists treating individuals struggling with major depression observed that a great many of these patients also reported experiencing more dreams compared to the ordinary individual. The fact is that, those who has been diagnosed as clinically depressed experienced dreaming three to four times as often. Furthermore, these patient’s quality of dreaming was more extreme as well. Generally they experienced more intense feelings, more destructive subjects, more bad dreams, and more commonly upsetting dreams. It appears that dreaming is an integral part of depression and sleep.

To make the situation all the more uncomfortable, these upsetting dreams are often times combined with insomnia and much less sleep, particularly the “deep” sleep that results in us feeling renewed and rejuvenated. In place of waking up rested, the clinically depressed dreamer wakes up feeling just like he has experienced a fight all night long and then has to get up and do it again in the daytime.

Do Dreams Help Depression?

The link between dreams. depression and sleep has led to shifts in thinking about the value of dreams. Many specialists believe that REM dreams actually make depression worse. This is a developing trend in neuroscience, encouraging the search for the perfect medicine to eradicate bad dreams. This approach has some advantage, particularly for individuals with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). As an example, medications like Prazosin, originally recommended for high blood pressure levels, reduce adrenaline and minimize the nightmare dreams that trouble PTSD victims.

Yet, successes with highly traumatized patients leads some other researchers to contemplate an anti-sleeping drug for any one who wants to have reduced sleep (and fewer dreams as a result). Given that we do not wholly understand the complicated function of dreams, depression and sleep – or even of sleep itself for that matter – this approach is quite hazardous.

Certainly, the age-old belief that nightmares act as a “tension-reducing” process is subject to scrutiny, as recent studies suggest that nightmares often raise anxiety. This doesn’t imply that bad dreams can be harmful for us. Rather, think about the concept nightmares may produce stress, giving those who dream the chance to face their inner thoughts head-on, in both the dream and later in their waking life. Whether or not this really is beneficial depends on the dreamer’s depression, stress and anxiety levels, the particular life circumstance, and the personal preparation required for this level of dreaming.

Depression and Sleep Treatments

A standard therapy for depression today are SSRIs (selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors), that increase serotonin levels and also raise moods. Ultimately, this minimizes REM sleep. Sometimes this is a very good thing, because the respite from bad dreams or nightmares is often a wonderful bonus when added to a much more restful night’s sleep. However, some patients have observed that SSRIs may increase their bad dreams and give them more weird dreams. So when looking for treatment methods for depression, it’s advised to tell the doctor about the insomnia and the bad dreams or nightmares, because a number of the popular antidepressants will only make these symptoms worse.