Sleep

Sleep is as important to health and life as are food and water.  It is a restorative activity when the body repairs muscles, consolidates memory, restores energy, and releases hormones. If sleep time is cut short, the body does not have time to complete these tasks.  Good sleep is essential for optimal health.  Most people need between 6 to 8 hours of sleep a night.  However, the amount of sleep needed varies from person to person and depends on many factors, including age.  For example, infants require more sleep than adults.

Many things can affect sleep, and sleep problems are common among all ages around the world.  There are as many as 84 sleep disorders, and many of them are not recognized for years, leading to poor quality of life and unnecessary suffering.  The number one sleep disorder is insomnia, followed by sleep apnea.  Sleep hygiene will help nearly all sleep problems.  It may be thought of as a series of habits and rituals that will improve the ability to fall asleep and stay asleep.  Some sleep disorders require the intervention of a physician, and sleep medicine has recently been recognized as a specialty of medicine.  Physicians are now acquiring knowledge necessary for diagnosis and treatment of sleep disorders.

Pediatric Migraines

It was thought at one time that children could not have migraines and that the typical age for migraines to begin was 17.  Children, even young children, can have and do have migraines.  Children who have migraines have usually inherited the tendency from their parents.  These headaches may appear in about one quarter of these children by age five and about half before the age of 20.  Before puberty boys are slightly more likely than girls to get migraines.  After puberty migraines are more common in girls because of hormone changes.

Migraines will cause throbbing pain and are nearly always accompanied by nausea and vomiting.  Pain may be on both sides of the head.  Abdominal migraines, a variant of migraines, often occurs in children.  The “stomachache” and nausea is usually relieved by a nap.  However, migraine in a child may be as short as one hour or can last a day or so.  Children with abdominal migraines usually develop “typical” migraines as adults.

Triggers for migraines must be identified to reduce the frequency and intensity of the headaches.  Regular routines for eating, exercise, and sleeping must remain constant throughout the year.  For some children relaxation and stress management techniques are helpful as is biofeedback.  There are some medications that do help.  Analgesics may help with the pain.  Triptans approved for children may abort migraines.  As with any technique, some methods are helpful for childhood migraines; others are not.

Sexting

Sexting is sending and receiving sexually explicit messages, usually between mobile phones.  Sexting is a term for which the words sex and texting are combined.  Usually a message and images are sent.  A photo can be forwarded in a matter of seconds.  Sexting takes place all over the world.  It is estimated that 88% of self-made explicit images are “stolen” from their original upload location and made available on other websites, in particular porn sites collecting sexual images of children and young people.  Sexting is illegal, and according to laws, it usually does not matter whether the explicit photos were shared voluntarily.  Teenagers who have unlimited text messaging plans are more likely to receive sexually suggestive texts.

Most laws that would apply to texting were written before the advent of smartphones.  At least 20 states have updated their laws since 2009 to account for youth sexting.  While coercion and unauthorized image-sharing should be punished, teenagers willingly exchanging nude images should be handled differently.  Many of the newer laws still prohibit teen sexting, but have reduced penalties.  Teens need to be aware of the dangers of sexting.  Sexting can result in humiliation and ostracism, but most teens are not aware it can have legal consequences.  The majority of them do not realize sexting could be considered as a crime.  Parents and the school sex education classes should explain to teens why someone would not and should not want to share nude photos.  Teen or underage sexting can violate some child pornography laws.  An affirmative defense may not be available if sexting was done without consent.

Eye Color

The iris gives eyes their color and the color depends on how much melanin (pigment) the iris contains.  Eye color is also determined by the front layer or stroma of the iris.  It contains the melanocyte cells that produce melanin as well as fibers that scatter the light that is reflected outward.  As many as 50 genes may have influence on eye color and the genetics of eye color is quite complicated.  Eye color can range from the darkest shades of brown to the lightest tints of blue or gray.  There can also be a gradation of color from the pupil out to the edge of the iris.

Eye color does not change, and in most people eye color is fixed after the first year of life.  If there appears to be a change in eye color, an ophthalmologist should be consulted.  Wearing certain colors may make eyes seem to take on a different color hue, but the wavelength reflected will be the same.  There is controversy over whether emotions, particularly anger, can cause eye color to change.  Red dilated blood vessels in the eyes may make the iris appear darker and the dilation of pupils during grief may make the eye color seem darker because the pupil is so black.

Noise Pollution

There is much concentration today on pollution and its effects on the human body.  Most of the pollution concerns are with environmental chemicals.  There is a pollutant that most people do not consider, and this is noise.  Unfortunately noise pollution and air pollution may be found together.  People who live near busy traffic, airports, and industrial areas are more likely to be exposed to both noise pollution and air pollution.  The duration, level, and frequency of noise determine its effects.

It is thought that at least 100 million people in the US are exposed to unhealthy levels of noise.  This noise can come from many sources including automobile and aircraft traffic, leaf blowers, 

lawnmowers, chain saws, sports events, target shooting, woodworking tools, and even loud music of all kinds.  Children’s toys that squeak and battery operated toys can pose a risk.  Federal laws protect workers, but no laws control the amount of noise received outside the work place.  Nighttime noise can interfere with sleep, but it is not known just how much noise can be reasonably tolerated.  What is known is that excess noise is a serious risk factor for health.

Noise can increase the risk of serious health problems including hearing loss.  Hearing loss is a problem with which many people are concerned.  A test that you can perform is to hold your fingers 3 to 4 inches away from your ear and rub them against your thumb.  Check each ear.  If you cannot hear your fingers rubbing together you should have a physician check your hearing.  

The Salt Battle

The Salt Battle

Many people salt their food before they even taste it, while others use practically none.  For years the government has insisted that use of excess salt is dangerous.  Other sources have reported conflicting views on how much salt should be consumed in a day.  The public health lobby is still urging the FDA to regulate salt as though it is a poison.  However, current research suggests that a low-salt diet may be risky.  One study conducted world-wide over a 3 year period showed that people who consumed less than 3,000 mg (milligrams) of salt daily had a 27 percent higher risk of death or a serious medical event. 

Salt (NaCl) contains sodium, one of the electrolytes in the body.  It is essential for the biochemistry of the body to function properly.  The body suffers if there is too much or too little of it.  Biochemical individuality probably is the determining factor in how much salt is needed by an individual.  Everyone has different needs for many substances, including vitamins, minerals, and even medication doses.  While salting food before tasting it probably allows people to become accustomed to and want more salt than is necessary, everyone has a different salt requirement.  We should be glad that the salt debate continues and we are not locked into the same consumption amounts for everyone.

Reading at Bedtime

Many people read to help them fall asleep.  However, technology has caused a change in how reading at bedtime affects sleep.  People who used to read hard copy print books are now reading from tablets.  Reading on electronic devices before bedtime can affect circadian rhythm, making it more difficult to fall sleep and becoming alert in the mornings.  It has long been known that watching TV, working on a computer, and other activities involving artificial light in the evening can disrupt sleep patterns.

The type of light that adversely affects sleep is “blue light,” the type of light that many backlit devices emit.  It is a powerful suppressor of the release of melatonin, the hormone that helps bring on sleep.  Having this type of light shine directly in your eyes when reading from an electronic device can have an adverse effect on your sleep.  Studies funded by NIH (National Institutes of Health)  have shown that reading from an electronic device increased the time it took participants to fall asleep by 10 minutes.  Participants had less rapid-eye movement, and blood tests of melatonin indicated their circadian rhythms were delayed as much as an hour.  Participants also reported that it took longer to become fully alert in the mornings if they read from a tablet the night before.

If you are having sleep difficulties, consider putting down your tablet at bed time and open a book instead!  It just might make a difference for you.