Mom, did you know that not getting enough sleep could cause you to drive as if you were drunk?

My daughter came home yesterday reciting a fact she had learned during health class in one of our Naperville Schools. It’s great that teachers are bringing the importance of getting enough sleep into the classroom setting!

The dentists of the American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine have been strong advocates, not only for the importance of getting enough sleep, but also for avoiding drowsy driving.

One of their recent public awareness programs involves Dentists Against Drowsy Driving. Here are some quick and dirty facts about drowsy driving:

• Drowsy driving can be as dangerous as drunk driving.
• Drivers are 15 times more likely to be involved in a deadly motor vehicle accident when they have excessive daytime sleepiness,
• Motor vehicle accidents due to drowsy driving account for $48 billion in medical costs each year.
• Each year drowsy drivers cause at least 100,000 accidents, and teens have the highest risk.

Here are some signs that may indicate drowsy driving:

• Yawning frequently
• Unable to keep you eyes open
• Drifting into other lanes
• Can’t remember the last few miles
• Moving onto the road shoulder
• Missing turns
• Stopping too close to car in front of you

If you find yourself driving with these conditions, it may be a great idea to switch drivers, pull over to take a stretch, or get some caffeine.

If these occurrences are happening often, it would be wise to review your sleep routine for quantity and quality of sleep. If you feel you are getting enough sleep but are still often feeling drowsy during driving, discuss your symptoms with your physician.  You may have a life threatening sleep disorder such as obstructive sleep apnea.

Dental Sleep and TMD Center of Illinois, a premiere snoring and apnea treatment center in Naperville, has been providing the CPAP alternative treatment of oral appliance therapy for over 15 years successfully.  We are extremely passionate in helping individuals that have been struggling with CPAP therapy in Naperville, Lisle, Aurora, Bolingbrook and surrounding Chicago suburbs.  For more information on this physician recommended treatment option visit www.TiredOfSnoring.com or call us at (630)369-5508.

For quite some time, exercise has been shown to help improve people’s problems with being sleepy during the day. But why?

Some of the most common reasons for being fatigued and sleepy include the following:

• Depression
• Obesity
• Diabetes
• Smoking
• Inadequate sleep
• Obstructive sleep apnea

Physical exercise can help with the first 3 conditions above.

There have been studies showing how exercise can help with depression. Physical exercise has also very important to any weight loss program and can help expedite weight loss measures. In diabetes, exercise can help through helping with glucose control.

Many conditions associated with sleepiness are associated with increased levels of substances known as inflammatory markers. These substances, which include C-reactive protein, tissue necrosis factors and interleukins, circulate in the blood and may cause sleepiness. It has been shown that exercise can reduce the levels of these agents. This may be the reason why exercise can help reduce sleepiness.

Of major importance, is that the inflammatory markers are also associated with cardiovascular disease. With exercise reducing the inflammatory markers, it can in return reduce heart disease.

Although there is yet much to learn on all the benefits of exercise, consider adding exercise to your daily routine to help alleviate excessive sleepiness during the day.

Dental Sleep and TMD Center of Illinois, a premiere snoring and apnea treatment center in Naperville, has been providing the CPAP alternative treatment of oral appliance therapy for over 15 years successfully. We are extremely passionate in helping individuals that have been struggling with CPAP therapy in Naperville, Lisle, Aurora, Bolingbrook and surrounding Chicago suburbs. For more information on this physician recommended treatment option visit www.TiredOfSnoring.com or call us at (630)369-5508.

This is a tough one! Over the past decade and a half, I have come across so many individuals, both men and women that have complained about his or her sleep partner’s snoring.  In many cases, the snoring individual is reluctant to getting help, quite frankly, because the snoring is really not bothering that person. When the snorer realizes the impact it has on family and finances, he or she is more likely to take action.

I wish I had the magic answer to this one.  I can tell you what my team and I have heard over the years that helped spur the snorer to seek help.

• Couples have moved into separate bedrooms and are tired of it.
• Refusing to travel together and share rooms, which often leads to higher expenses
• Pleading from other family members that they are worried about their health or, in some circumstances, death during the breathing struggles.
• Suffering spouses make the appointment for their partner and plead with them to go together for the appointment.
• Increased insistence from the person’s physician or health care provider.
• Embarrassing your partner in public at events.
• Giving the snorer some literature on the potential dangers associated with snoring. (Ask us if you need some.)
• Refusal of sex.
• Threatening to terminate the relationship.

We don’t recommend all of these choices, as some may not be helpful for the snorer. The key is for the person to realize the impact snoring has on their daily life and happiness.

If all else fails, consider getting the snoring individual to listen in the car or elsewhere to our recorded powerful podcast called Treating Snoring: A Life and Death Decision with myself and Dr. Steve Park.  You can access it here at http://www.tiredofsnoring.com/2012/01/1048/

I can’t tell you how many times a week in our practice that a patient will ask me this. It’s a great question!

Sleep is crucial to our health and well-being, and we happen to live in a sleep-deprived country.  With all the late night access to stores, television, and all of today’s electronics, sleep is an area often being jeopardized.

Below is a wonderful guide in helping determine amounts of sleep necessary for optimal alertness and quality of life.

However, I have found that certain people have built-in time clocks internally “set”. No matter how many times they try to sleep longer their body “won’t let them”. Research has shown that there may be a genetic link to how much sleep one really needs.

But if you feel you are not getting enough sleep consider starting slowly to increase your sleep time. Try extending your sleep by half hour in the morning or at bedtime on the weekends to start. Consider not napping during the day so that at bedtime you may be drowsier. Avoid working long into the night or watching TV too late. Some foods are listed below that may affect your sleep.

Try to avoid certain food and beverages at bedtime:

• Citrus fruits
• Chocolate
• Caffeinated drinks
• Fried and fatty foods
• Garlic and onions
• Mint and mint flavorings
• Spicy foods
• Tomato based foods, ie spaghetti, pizza, chili

For more information on sleep including healthy sleep tips, visit the website of the National Sleep Foundation.

by Mary Ellen Hughes, Clinical director at Dental Sleep and TMD Center of Illinois