Sleep: The Prescription for Better Health

History tells us that the diseases of civilization all hit
hard after the Industrial Revolution when electricity gave
us inexpensive artificial light. When you add it all up,
the national health catastrophe has been about seventy-five
years in the making.

Could the loss of sleep be destroying the endocrine clock
that controls weight gain? Could how much you sleep really
control your appetite? This may shock you. Yes. The
prescription for better health is sleep, and it's free.

"Lights Out: Sleep Sugar and Survival," a popular book by
T.S. Wiley, tells us there is simply WAY too much light in
our society today. People don't sleep enough anymore. The
real truth is that the urgent need to sleep is also the
cause of Type II diabetes and other diseases of aging.

The answer lies in the circadian rhythmicity and evolution.
This rhythm is about a 24-hour cycle in the physiological
processes of all living beings (animals, plants, fungi and
cyanobacteria.). The term "circadian" was coined by Franz
Halberg, and it means "around", and dies, "day", meaning
literally "about a day." Chronobiology is the formal study
of daily, weekly, seasonal and annual rhythms. Circadian
rhythms are can be modulated by external cues such as the
sun (dawn and dusk) and temperature.

What's more, it appears that almost every woman who hits
her 40's succumbs to the inability to stay asleep through
the night. It happens in peri-menopause but the truth is,
these women never really sleep well for the rest of their
lives.

There are answers. Try the reasonably priced chewable
Melatonin tablets at Trader Joes and let several of them
melt in your mouth about an hour before bedtime. (Take one
for every hour after dark before midnight, with seasonal
light changes.) As a last resort try Tylenol PM for three
days and take a walk outside barefoot at dawn and dusk to
reset your internal sleeping clock.

Don't let children or pets wake you up at night if you can
help it. Make sure your bedroom is dark. That means lights
out. No moonlight or lamp post lights through the window.
No television or computer screen. Turn the digital clock
towards the wall. Plus you won't have to get up and go to
the bathroom during the night if you stop drinking liquid
beverages at 6PM.

Try to sleep for a minimum of nine hours or more of
uninterrupted sleep every night. Your own bedroom can be
the best anti-aging clinic in town. Try it, and your family
and friends might just ask you who your plastic surgeon is.

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T.S. Wiley is the author of "Lights Out" (Pocket Books,
2000) and "Sex, Lies & Menopause," (Harper Collins, 2005.)
These books and the website
http://www.thewileyprotocol.com - are a must read for any
woman who is seeking cutting edge therapies for the
treatment of lack of sleep and the symptoms of
perimenopause and menopause. You will find countless
testimonials of women who have found finally found relief
and the ability to increase libido.