Weight loss surgery has been around for many years.  Gastric bypass and lap band surgeries are the norm at this time.  I ran across this article that talks of  a new weight loss technique used in Europe.  Please enjoy.

Inventors have created a device that lets people eat as much as they want, regardless of the calories, and then have one third of those calories sucked out of their stomach with a pump device called “AspireAssist”.

Twenty minutes after eating, thirty percent of what went into their stomachs is emptied out into the toilet through a tube that is attached to a small, handheld device that is connected to a skin-port that is discretely embedded on the outside of the abdomen.

According to the pump’s makers, Aspire Bariatrics:

“The AspireAssist Aspiration Therapy System is a breakthrough weight loss solution for people with obesity. Unlike many other weight loss procedures, the AspireAssist is minimally-invasive and completely reversible at any time.”

The device was invented by Dr. Sam Klein (gastroenterologist), Dr. Moshe Shike (gastroenterologist), and Dr. Stephen Solomon (interventional radiologist).

The scientists say that AspireAssist allows the obese patient to gain control over their weight loss, using a method they call “Aspiration Therapy”.

How does Aspiration Therapy work?

The patients suck out (aspirate, drain) some of their stomach contents into the toilet after a meal through an endoscopically-implanted tube. By doing this, the number of calories that are absorbed into the body are much fewer.

The inventors explained that the tube, known as The A-Tube, is implanted into the patient’s stomach, which leads to a small, low-profile port at the surface of the skin. The Skin-Port has a valve which can be opened or closed to control the flow of the contents of the stomach. A small handheld device is connected to the Skin-Port when the patient wants to empty a portion of his/her stomach contents.

Placing the A-Tube is an outpatient, 20-minute procedure which is performed under conscious sedation (no general anesthetic). In most cases, the patient can go home or to work within one or two hours after the tube is implanted.

AspireAssist, which drains out approximately one third of all the calories consumed, should be used in conjunction with a lifestyle modification program. This program needs to be carefully tailored to the patient’s needs and should be monitored closely.

What is aspiration?

In this context, aspiration means draining some of the contents of the stomach. The aspiration process is done approximately 20 minutes after patients have finished eating their meal. The whole process takes from five to ten minutes and is performed in the restroom. The contents are drained directly into the toilet.

Because just one third of the stomach’s contents are removed, the risk of not receiving enough calories to function properly is minimal.

For best effects, patients should aspirate three times a day – after each major meal – at first. The frequency of aspirations usually goes down after the individual has learnt to eat more healthfully.

European approval

In December 2011, the AspireAssist Aspiration Therapy System was given a CE mark of approval to market in the EU (European Union). It is available commercially in selected parts of Europe and some other regions in the world. The company says that the device “is not approved for sale in the United States and is limited by United States law to investigational use.”

According to Clinical Trials carried out in the USA, the AspireAssist device helped patients lose an average of 49% of their excess bodyweight within 12 months.

Patients simply eat normally

Patients who use the AspireAssist can eat and drink normal amounts and kinds of food. They will, however, gradually learn healthier behaviors with lifestyle counseling. In order to achieve weight loss, the makers say that no sudden diet changes are required.

The procedure is reversible – through a 15-minute outpatient procedure, the AspireAssist can be removed.

Spring is finally here and many of us will be exercising outside.  This article gives us some safety tips for outdoor exercise.  Please enjoy.

6 Spring Exercise Safety Tips

By Jennifer Grayeb – POSTED ON 17 April 2013

                        Almost any exercise junkie would be over the moon with the fact that spring has arrived! No more being stuck indoors with the hope of breathing in some fresh air. Spring reintroduces outdoor exercises and it’s a great time to try something new. Most people neglect to prepare for the transition from indoor to outdoor exercising and forget that safety comes first. Here are a few safety tips to keep in mind when taking your workout outside:

Phone a Friend
When you are going to exercise outdoors by yourself, be sure to alert a friend or family member of where you are going and what your route might be. This way they will know where to look for you if you aren’t back when you say you will be.

Exercise-Friendly Areas
Even if you are working out by yourself, choose a location that is highly populated and full of movement. Public parks might be a much better idea than closed off forest paths. Try to stay close to other people and active areas.

Change it Up
Don’t perform the same exercise routines on the same days every week. Change things up and try out different routes on different times of the day. This way, strangers won’t be aware of your whereabouts and you won’t pose yourself as a victim.

Weather Forecasts
Even though the spring season might feel like summer, the weather can still be unpredictable. Check the weather before your leave the house, so that you don’t find yourself stranded in unexpected bad weather.

Protect Yourself
If you are exercising outdoors, make sure that you have a personal alarm or some form of protection. If you exercise with your phone, make sure that it’s fully charged. Run with a whistle around your neck or consider carrying pepper spray. By doing so, you will at least be able to deter an attack, or notify others when you are in danger.

Contact Information
If you are exercising by yourself outdoors, carry contact information with you in case something should go wrong. This way, when someone finds you they will know who to alert regarding your whereabouts if an accident occurs.

These are just a few safety tips to keep in mind when you are starting your outdoor exercise routines by yourself. Even though it may feel like a hassle to take these precautions, it’s better to be safe than sorry

I found this article about the cinnamon challenge and it’s dangers.  If you have teenages show them this article.  Please enjoy.

MDs warn teens: Don’t take the cinnamon challenge

By LINDSEY TANNER | Associated Press – 7 hrs ago

CHICAGO (AP) — Don’t take the cinnamon challenge. That’s the advice from doctors in a new report about a dangerous prank depicted in popular YouTube videos but which has led to hospitalizations and a surge in calls to U.S. poison centers.

The fad involves daring someone to swallow a spoonful of ground cinnamon in 60 seconds without water. But the spice is caustic, and trying to gulp it down can cause choking, throat irritation, breathing trouble and even collapsed lungs, the report said.

Published online Monday in Pediatrics, the report said at least 30 teens nationwide needed medical attention after taking the challenge last year.

The number of poison control center calls about teens doing the prank “has increased dramatically,” from 51 in 2011 to 222 last year, according to the American Association of Poison Control Centers.

“People with asthma or other respiratory conditions are at greater risk of having this result in shortness of breath and trouble breathing,” according to an alert posted on the association’s website.

Thousands of YouTube videos depict kids attempting the challenge, resulting in an “orange burst of dragon breath” spewing out of their mouths and sometimes hysterical laughter from friends watching the stunt, said report co-author Dr. Steven E. Lipshultz, a pediatrics professor at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.

Cinnamon is made from tree bark and contains cellulose fibers that don’t easily break down. Animal research suggests that when cinnamon gets into the lungs, it can cause scarring, Lipshultz said.

Dr. Stephen Pont, a spokesman for the American Academy of Pediatrics and an Austin, Texas pediatrician, said the report is “a call to arms to parents and doctors to be aware of things like the cinnamon challenge” and to pay attention to what their kids are viewing online.

An Ypsilanti, Mich., teen who was hospitalized for a collapsed lung after trying the cinnamon challenge heartily supports the new advice and started her own website — http://nocinnamonchallenge.com — telling teens to “just say no” to the fad.

Dejah Reed, 16, said she took the challenge four times — the final time was in February last year with a friend who didn’t want to try it alone.

“I was laughing very hard and I coughed it out and I inhaled it into my lungs,” she said. “I couldn’t breathe.”

Her father, Fred Reed, said he arrived home soon after to find Dejah “a pale bluish color. It was very terrifying. I threw her over my shoulder” and drove to a nearby emergency room.

Dejah was hospitalized for four days and went home with an inhaler and said she still has to use it when she gets short of breath from running or talking too fast. Her dad said she’d never had asthma or breathing problems before.

Dejah said she’d read about the challenge on Facebook and other social networking sites and “thought it would be cool” to try.

Now she knows “it’s not cool and it’s dangerous.”

The kitchen has been proven to be the germiest place in your home.  This article tells us what areas of our kitchen need attention to restrict foodborn illnesses.  Please enjoy.

// What’s the Germiest Place in Your Kitchen?

By Lauren Torrisi | ABC News Blogs – 5 hrs ago

Next time you open the refrigerator to grab a tomato or a head of lettuce, you might want to give them an extra good wash. A study from NSF International revealed that your fridge’s veggie drawer might be the worst host of bacteria and germs.

Holding both pre-washed and dirty vegetables, the vegetable drawer is an area of cross-contamination.

Most people “don’t think that vegetables are that much of a problem,” said Lisa Yakas, microbiologist and manager of the Home Products Certification Program for NSF International, a nonprofit organization that develops public health standards. To clean up, Yakas suggests washing the bin with warm soapy water and deodorizing with a baking soda mixture if needed.

After a 2011 study revealed that the kitchen was the germiest place in the home, microbioligists reviewed the results after families swabbed 14 common kitchen items. Twenty families from southeastern Michigan participated in the study.

Researchers were hoping to discover the effectiveness of cleaning habits in America and find which items could potentially cause a foodborne illness. They looked for E.coli, Salmonella, Listeria, mold and yeast.

The Center for Disease Control estimates that 48 million people get sick and 3,000 die from foodborne illness each year. Children, elderly and the immune-compromised are the most at-risk.

“I’m a mom … so this is something that I think about when I’m at home in my kitchen. You know, how can I protect them?” said Yakas.

Most parents expected the microwave to be the worst offender. “A lot of people said the keypad on the microwave,” she said.

But since it’s a smooth surface, bacteria is less likely to grow.

“Everybody’s touching it all of the time, but they probably clean it more often,” she said.

The study showed that the blender gasket was another unclean place. Most people don’t take the time to separate and individually wash the blender pieces, so they’re gunky.

Think the can opener doesn’t need to be cleaned? Think again.

“This is another area that people just aren’t thinking about it. People just toss it back into the drawer. Food particles can build up and get dried. After using it, clean it off, use a sponge or cloth,” said Yakas.

Rubber spatulas were another culprit for germs. Researchers found that many people were not separating the spatula to clean between uses.

If your kitchen isn’t spotless, don’t panic.

“We’re not trying to scare people,” said Yakas. She recommends that people get on a regular cleaning routine once they’ve washed the worst areas.

I found this article on another study that show that our children need more exercise and physical activity.  Please enjoy.

Kids need to step up physical activity, report says

Nanci Hellmich, USA TODAY6:07a.m. EST March 8, 2013

Children and teens should be more active in PE, the classroom and after-school programs.

Despite years of prodding from their parents, teachers and doctors, kids and teens still aren’t doing nearly enough physical activity, and changes need to be made in schools to help kids step it up, says a report released Friday by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

A recent government survey found that only 29% of high school students participated in 60 or more minutes a day of physical activity on each of the seven days prior to the survey. That’s the amount recommended for kids and teens by the government’s physical activity guidelines. Boys (38%) were more likely than girls (19%) to meet the guidelines.

“Dramatic action needs to be taken to increase physical activity in American kids,” says Russell Pate, a member of the committee for the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports & Nutrition, which produced the new report. He’s a professor of exercise science at the University of South Carolina.

Schools are the best place to start because kids are there for six to seven hours a day, he says. “Kids love to move when they are exposed to creative, well-designed programs during physical education, class exercise breaks, recess and before- and after-school programs.

“We have to use all the opportunities during the school day to increase kids’ physical activity.”

Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, chair of the committee that did the report and president and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, says, “The evidence shows that being physically active can help kids get and stay fit and perform better at their schoolwork.”

In 2008, the government released physical activity guidelines for Americans, which recommended that kids and teens should do an hour or more of moderate-intensity to vigorous aerobic physical activity each day. The adult guidelines recommend that they get at least 2½ hours (150 minutes) of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity each week, such as brisk walking, or 1¼ hours (75 minutes) of a vigorous-intensity aerobic activity, such as jogging or swimming laps, or a combination of the two types, to get the most health benefits from exercise. This activity should be done in at least 10-minute bouts.

Now, five years after the release of those guidelines, the expert committee concluded that the recommendations still offer people solid exercise advice based on the latest research. But the group identified strategies to increase physical activity, especially among children. Among the suggestions:

- Get kids moving more in schools. Offer students “enhanced physical education” — that is, increased lesson time from well-trained specialists and instructional practices that provide a lot of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. Also offer classroom activity breaks, activity sessions before and/or after school, and opportunities to walk and bike to school.

- Give preschool children lots of opportunities to be active. Increase the time they spend outside, give them play equipment such as balls and tricycles, provide trained staff to lead physical activities and increase the time kids get to do these kinds of things.

- Change the built environment. Improve walking and biking infrastructure, such as sidewalks, multiuse trails and bike lanes. Increase access and proximity to parks.

Kathleen Janz, also a committee member and a professor of health and human physiology at the University of Iowa, says, “Parents need to stand up and be part of this solution.

“Ultimately, parents have a lot of power to increase their kids’ activity by taking them places to be active, buying them pieces of sports equipment, encouraging them and playing with them. And those are things that don’t cost all that much money.”

Current research suggests that the best way to raise an active child is to be active with your child by playing tag, going on family walks, raking leaves, gardening together and even playing badminton or other sports where everyone succeeds, Janz says.

The Government’s Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans say:

- Children and adolescents should do an hour or more of moderate-intensity to vigorous aerobic physical activity each day. That should include vigorous activity at least three days a week. And it should include bone-strengthening activities such as running, jumping rope, skipping, playing soccer and playing tag at least three days a week and muscle-strengthening activities such as tug of war, sit-ups, pull-ups and push-ups (modified for younger kids) at least three days a week. It is important to encourage young people to participate in physical activities that are appropriate for their age, that are enjoyable and that offer variety.

- Adults should get at least 2½ hours of moderate-intensity physical activity each week, such as brisk walking, or 1¼ hours of a vigorous-intensity activity, such as jogging or swimming laps, or a combination of the two types, to get the most health benefits from exercise. These aerobic activities should be done in at least 10-minute bouts.

- To get even more health benefits, people should do five hours of moderate-intensity physical activity each week or 2½ hours of vigorous activity.

- Adults should do muscle-strengthening (resistance) activities at a moderate- or high-intensity level for all major muscle groups two or more days a week. This should include exercises for the chest, back, shoulders, upper legs, hips, abdomen and lower legs. The exercises can be done with free weights or machines, resistance bands, calisthenics that use body weight for resistance (push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups), or carrying heavy loads or doing heavy gardening such as digging or hoeing.

- Older Americans should follow the guidelines for other adults if they are able. If not, they should be as active as their physical condition allows. If they are at risk of falling, they should do exercises that improve balance.

- Adults with disabilities should also follow the guidelines for other adults if they are able

When exercising if you choose a sport or activity you enjoy it makes it much easier for you to get yourself going.  I found this article that talks about body types and your personality when choosing a sport.  Please enjoy.

Pick the sport that fits your personality

Excerpted from ‘The Best Diet & Fitness Tips’ magazine8:30a.m. EST March 9, 2013

Four activities that may work for you: swimming, biking, playing basketball or tennis.

Story Highlights

• Swimming is great for fit and unfit individuals
• Cycling is great for those who love being outdoors
• Basketball is good for all body types

Exercise is always easier when you select an activity or sport that’s suited to your body type and personality, according to a story in The Best Diet & Fitness Tips, on newsstands now. The magazine, the first in a new series of USA TODAY publications called The Best, features advice from USA TODAY, Shape and Men’s Fitness.

Here are the benefits for four different sports, according to New York-based exercise expert Edward Jackowski, author of Escape Your Shape.

Swimming

Health benefits: Aerobic, cardio, easy on the joints, full-body exercise, good for both fit and unfit individuals.

Body and personality type: Great for all body types and all ages, and well-suited for individuals with strong personalities who don’t like group activities and prefer privacy.

Calories burned per hour: Swimming with moderate intensity burns up 300 calories for a 150-pound person and 400 calories for a 200-pound person.

Cycling

Health benefits: Great cardio, aerobic, builds strength and endurance for the entire lower body and balance.

Body and personality type: Good for all body types, but people who are bottom heavy will especially benefit. It’s also a great exercise for those who love the outdoors.

Calories burned per hour: 200 calories for a 150-pound individual and 300 calories for a 200-pound individual cycling at a moderate pace. Biking hills? You burn twice as many calories

Tennis

Health benefits: Both aerobic and anaerobic (toning), depending on whether you play vigorous singles or more leisurely doubles. Great for hand-eye coordination and bone health, as your feet strike the ground.

Body type and personality: People with hourglass figures — equal top and bottom — excel because they have both upper- and lower-body strength.

Calories burned per hour: In singles, 225 for 150-pound person and 310 for a 200-pound person. In doubles, 150 for a 150-pound player and 200 for a 200-pound person.

Basketball

Health benefits: For full-court hoops, great aerobic conditioning and endurance; for half-court, less aerobic. Great for hand-eye coordination, agility, balance, jumping, running forward and backward.

Body and personality type: Good for all body types but appeals to more aggressive folks who aren’t afraid of body contact or confrontation.

Calories burned per hour: In half-court play, 200 calories for a 150-pound person and 300 calories for a 200-pound person. In full-court play, 350 and 450, respectively.

At some time you or a family member may need treatment in a hospital.  It is important to know how to care for the patient at home.  This article gives us some tips to follow.  Please enjoy.

Tips to help avoid a preventable hospital return

By The Associated Press | Associated Press – Sun, Feb 10, 2013

Patients too often leave the hospital without knowing how to care for themselves, leading to a preventable return. Here are tips to improve your chances of a successful recovery at home:

—Be sure you understand your illness and the care you received in the hospital.

—Ask if you will require help at home. Can you bathe yourself? Climb stairs? Will you need bandages changed or shots? If so, do you have a caregiver to help, or will you need to arrange a visiting nurse?

—Repeat back your care instructions, to be sure you understand them.

—Ask for a written discharge plan that lists your medical conditions, your treatments, and the plan for your ongoing care.

—Get a list of all medications, how to use them, and what to do if you experience side effects. Be sure to ask whether to continue medications you were taking before this hospitalization.

—Ask what symptoms suggest you’re getting worse and what to do if that happens, especially at night or during the weekend.

—What follow-up appointments will you need and when? Ask if your hospital will make the appointments for you, and send your records.

—Do you have transportation home, to follow-up appointments, and to the drugstore?

—If you have a regular physician, make sure the hospital sends a report of your hospital stay.

—If you are uninsured or will have difficulty affording prescriptions, a hospital discharge planner or social worker may be able to link you to community resources that can help.

—Get a name and number to call if questions about your hospitalization or discharge arise.

___

Sources: Dr. Eric Coleman, University of Colorado in Denver; Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; Journal of the American Medical Association.

Her’s another reason to watch your soda intake.  Please enjoy.

Soda May Worsen Knee Osteoarthritis in Men

ByCharlene Laino
WebMD Health News

Reviewed byLouise Chang, MD

Nov. 14, 2012 — Men with osteoarthritis of the knee may want to avoid sugar-packed soft drinks. That’s the advice of researchers who found that drinking sugary soda is associated with progression of the disease in men.

No such link was found in women in the study of more than 2,000 people with knee osteoarthritis.

“Our main finding is that in general, the more sugary soda men drink, the greater the risk that knee osteoarthritis will get worse,” says researcher Bing Lu, MD, DrPh. Lu is assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and associate biostatistician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

If you’re thinking that is because the calories in soda may contribute to being overweight or obese — a known risk factor for knee osteoarthritis — think again.

Much to the researchers’ surprise, the link between knee osteoarthritis and sugary soft drinks could not solely be explained by weight, Lu says.

“We very carefully [took into account] weight in the statistical analysis. We controlled not only for the general categories of overweight and obesity, but also for patients’ specific body-mass indices, or BMIs,” he says.

When the men were divided into obese and non-obese, the link between sugary drinks and worse knee damage held true only in the non-obese men.

This suggests that soft drinks worsen knee osteoarthritis independently of the wear and tear on the joints caused by carrying around excess weight, Lu says.

What Is Osteoarthritis?

In people with osteoarthritis, the cartilage in a joint wears away in some areas. The function of cartilage is to reduce friction in the joints and serve as a “shock absorber.” The wearing away of cartilage leads to pain and other symptoms.

Nearly one in 100 people have evidence of knee osteoarthritis on X-ray. And nearly 19% of women and 14% of men over age 45 have joint pain, stiffness, and other symptoms of knee osteoarthritis, according to a 2007 study.

In addition to obesity, known risk factors include:

• Older age
• Prior injury to the knee
• Extreme stress to the joints

The study was presented this week at the American College of Rheumatology Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C.

During the cold and flu season you may not know if you should exercise or rest.  This article addresses this question.  Please enjoy.

Working out when to exercise in the cold and flu season

By Dorene Internicola | Reuters – 5 hrs ago

0

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Sniffles, runny noses and flu-like symptoms can deter, delay and even derail many exercisers just when enthusiasm for that New Year’s resolution is beginning to flag.

Health and fitness experts advise to starve a fever of exercise. But feeding a cold moderately, with a brisk walk, may not be a bad idea.

“The classic line from every sports medicine doctor is, ‘If you can do it, do it. If you can’t, don’t,’” said Dr. Lewis G. Maharam, author of “Running Doc’s Guide to Healthy Running.”

Usually if symptoms are confined to above the neck, exercising is OK, he explained. But if you’re running a fever of 101 degrees Fahrenheit (38.3 degrees Celsius) or higher, skip it.

Body heat rises during exercise due to increased metabolism, explained Maharam, who practices medicine in New York City. If you start high, your body’s way of cooling you down is out of balance.

“If fever gets too high, you break down proteins, maybe in the kidneys or liver,” he said.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that more than 425 million case of colds and flu occur annually in the United States. The average person has about three respiratory infections per year.

Dr. David C. Nieman, a professor of health sciences at Appalachian State University, North Carolina Research Campus, said research shows that regular, moderate aerobic exercise strengthens the immune system, and that people who exercise report fewer colds than their inactive peers.

Nieman said five days or more of aerobic activity per week was found to be a powerful factor in lowering the number of sick days.

“Even three to four days was effective. To be avoided was being sedentary,” he explained.

But when animals infected with a systemic virus are forced to exercise in fever and pain, studies show that their symptoms are exacerbated, prolonged, and sometimes life-threatening.

‘BED REST’

“It’s very dangerous.” said Nieman, who has written about the impact of exercise on the common cold. “If you have flu or virus with fever and pain, the best remedy is bed rest. The worst thing is to sweat it out with exercise.”

He said common cold and flu viruses can stay on objects, such as door handles, treadmills and computer keyboards, for hours. The main route to infection is through touching one’s mouth or nose with unwashed hands.

Patrick Strait, of Snap Fitness, a franchiser of gyms with locations worldwide, said this time of year fitness centers step up cleaning efforts because they see a lot more traffic and so many people catch colds and the flu.

“It’s a public place where a lot of people are sweating,” said Strait. “We tell manager/owners to clean once an hour, wash down the equipment with bleach, etc.”

He urged clients to wipe down equipment and wash hands often.

“And if you’re sick, don’t come to the gym,” he said.

Jessica Matthews, an exercise physiologist with the American Council on Exercise, said some days symptoms dictate scaling back your workout or, if you’re contagious, skipping the gym entirely.

“Always listen to your body,” she said. “It might be a good idea to exercise at home or privately.”

Nieman said that while moderate exercise strengthens the immune system, elite athletes will experience a rise in stress hormones and a dip in immunity after about 90 minutes of high-intensity activity.

Maharam said the immunity of marathoners is decreased for up to 72 hours after a race. During that time, the athletes are more susceptible to colds, flu, and, most commonly, the so-called “marathon sniffles.”

He said symptoms usually subside within 48 hours.

“At the end of a race, when you’re all sweaty and they’re all sweaty, you don’t need to be hugging and kissing people,” Maharam said. “Your immune system isn’t as strong as it was.”

I ran across this article about the affects of alcohol and your sleep patterns.  Please enjoy.

Alcohol and a Good Night’s Sleep Don’t Mix

ByDenise
Mann

WebMD Health News

Reviewed byLaura
J. Martin, MD

Jan. 22, 2013 — Think a nightcap may help you
get a better night’s sleep?

Think again.

A new review of 27 studies shows that alcohol
does not improve sleep quality. According to the findings, alcohol does allow
healthy people to fall asleep quicker and sleep more deeply for a while, but it
reduces rapid eye movement (REM) sleep.

And the more you drink before bed, the more
pronounced these effects. REM sleep happens about 90 minutes after we fall
asleep. It’s the stage of sleep when people dream,
and it’s thought to be restorative. Disruptions in REM sleep may cause daytime
drowsiness, poor concentration, and rob you of needed ZZZs.

“Alcohol may seem to be helping you to sleep, as
it helps induce sleep, but overall it is more disruptive to sleep, particularly
in the second half of the night,” says researcher Irshaad Ebrahim. He is the
medical director at The London Sleep Centre in the U.K. “Alcohol also
suppresses breathing and can precipitate sleep apnea,” or pauses in breathing that happen throughout the night.

The more a person drinks before bed, the
stronger the disruption. One to two standard drinks seem to have minimal
effects on sleep, Ebrahim says.

20 Tips for Better Sleep

Alcohol Is Not a Sleep Aid

“The immediate and short-term impact of alcohol
is to reduce the time it takes to fall asleep, and this effect on the first
half of sleep may be partly the reason some people with insomnia use alcohol as a sleep aid,” Ebrahim says. “However, this is
offset by having more disrupted sleep in the second half of the night.”

“Alcohol should not be used as a sleep aid, and
regular use of alcohol as a sleep aid may result in alcohol dependence,” he
says.

The findings will appear in the April 2013 issue
of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research.

Alcohol tricks people into thinking they are
getting better sleep, says Scott Krakower, DO. He is an addiction specialist at North Shore-LIJ in Mineola, N.Y. “People who drink
alcohol often think their sleep is improved, but it is not.”

REM is the more mentally restorative type of
sleep, says Michael Breus, PhD, a sleep specialist in Scottsdale, Ariz.
“Alcohol is not an appropriate sleep aid. If you rely on alcohol to fall
asleep, recognize that you have a greater likelihood to sleepwalk, sleep talk,
and have problems with your memory.”

If you are having trouble sleeping, talk to your
doctor about how to improve your sleep quality. He or she may be able to rule
out underlying sleep disorders like sleep apnea and suggest appropriate sleep
aids.

Better sleep habits can also help. Some tips to
improve sleep habits include:

• Get regular exercise, but no later than a few hours before bed.
• Avoid caffeine, alcohol, or nicotine in the evening.
• Reserve the bed for
  sleeping and sex only.
• Keep your bedroom at a
  cool temperature.
• Set regular wake and bed
  times.