An introduction to sleep
What can you do to manage fatigue?
Taking action against fatigue happens in two forms: 1) the action you take when you experience fatigue; and 2) the action you take to prevent fatigue and therefore become more fatigue resistant. Figure 1 below summarises the causes of fatigue and identifies the areas that need to be focused on to build fatigue resistance. Although……
What are the best methods to improve sleep quality during menopause?
Many women report disturbed sleep during perimenopause and menopause. This often includes difficulty falling or staying asleep and waking through the night or very early in the morning. There are many possible contributing factors during this period, including: To improve sleep during perimenopause and menopause, the contributing factors that are specific to you will need……
Sleep Disorders
It is estimated that 6% of the population suffer from sleep disorders. Sleep disorders may make some health conditions worse such as, heartburn, depression, asthma and heart disease. Sleep disorders are diagnosed by a GP or sleep specialist. If you are experiencing poor sleep and have some of the following symptoms, you may want to……
What is fatigue?
Fatigue is not a condition, but rather a symptom of many different situations, illnesses or conditions and can be defined quite simply as a feeling of weariness, tiredness, or lack of energy. The presentation of fatigue can be unpredictable and its causes diverse, making its management difficult. One thing is for sure: that each and……
Should burning fat kilojoules be my goal?
NO – burning energy whatever its source should be the major goal of exercise when trying to lose body fat. The reason is that 37,000 kilojoules of energy equals one kilogram of fat. So if we eat an extra 37,000 kilojoules in a week we would gain a kilogram and if we eat 37,000 fewer……
Sleep & physical activity
Do I exercise or just have a sleep? It is not uncommon for people experiencing fatigue to put this down to lack of sleep, when in actual fact there are underlying physical and/or functional fitness problems. Physical or functional problems may be related to poor physical fitness, poor strength, inflexibility, injury, illness or inappropriate functional……
How much sleep do you need?
The amount of sleep that people require varies between individuals depending on many factors. Age is a major determinant of the quantity of sleep. The table below provides a general guide to the number of hours sleep needed through the stages of life. Children generally require more hours of sleep each day, while for most……
Meal type and fatigue
It is often promoted that foods high in carbohydrate make you drowsy because they increase the uptake of the amino acid tryptophan by the brain. Tryptophan is a chemical that can work together with another important brain chemical called serotonin, to help promote a calming effect and sleepiness. Foods rich in protein, however, increase production……
How sleep works
Good sleep helps us wake up feeling refreshed and alert for our daily activities. Sleep affects how we look, feel and perform on a daily basis. If sleep is cut short, the body doesn’t have time to complete all of the phases, which can leave us feeling drowsy, tired and fatigued. IMPORTANTExperts have warned that……
Napping
Effective napping is a skill, which cannot be achieved by everyone. Napping cannot replace sleep, but can assist in times of sleep debt, extreme tiredness and/or when heightened alertness is required for your safety, such as driving a car. Naps may improve subsequent performance and alertness for a period of time, ranging from 2 to……