Vim & Vigor - Winter 2010 - North Mississippi - (Page 42)

MONSTER IN THE CLOSET: Snuggling up with technology SHINE SOME LIGHT ON IT: How often do you bring your laptop to bed to ﬁnish up a few last-minute slides for tomorrow’s presentation? Do you ﬁnd yourself checking your BlackBerry when you get up for a drink of water at 3 a.m.? Are you in the habit of watching the local news right before turning out the lights? If this sounds familiar, technology is interfering with the sanctity of your bedroom. “The bedroom is a sleeping place, an escape,” Plasker says. “Don’t bring the intensity of life into bed. Watching the news or action-based shows or reading a suspense novel before bed causes tension and gets your heart racing. And leave your BlackBerry in another room. Your spam can wait.” MONSTER IN THE CLOSET: Traveling to new time zones SHINE SOME LIGHT ON IT: Whether you’re a casual vacation-only traveler or a member of every airline’s corporate ﬂier program, jet lag can challenge your sleep cycle. Studies have shown that the condition results from an imbalance in our body’s natural 24-hour cycle, or circadian rhythms, according to the National Sleep Foundation (NSF). When we switch time zones, our circadian rhythms can take several days to adjust. To help combat jet lag, the NSF recommends selecting a ﬂight that allows early evening arrival and staying up until 10 p.m. local time. For longer trips, anticipating the time change by going to bed and getting up earlier several days prior to an eastward excursion and later for a westward trip can help. Also, while you are away, try to get outside in the sunlight whenever possible to help regulate your biological clock. . Watc the ne hing ws or a ction-b shows ased or rea ding a suspen se causes novel before bed tensio n and your h gets eart ra cing. INTEN e SITY of life into be d Don’t b ring th MONSTER IN THE CLOSET: Jonesing for java SHINE SOME LIGHT ON IT: On any given day, about 85 percent of Americans use caffeine products, according to estimates by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM). But at what cost? “When we aren’t getting enough sleep, we try stimulants like coffee and energy drinks,” says Stephen L. Newman, M.D., a spokesman for the AASM. “That can perpetuate insomnia.” In fact, you may end up in a vicious cycle of consuming caffeine during the day to stay awake, but then ﬁnding it difﬁcult to fall asleep at night because of all the caffeine you’ve ingested. And while a normal cup of coffee in 1980 was 6 ounces, now a “tall”—which is Starbucks lingo for “small”—is 12 ounces, Newman says. That means your “small cup of coffee” is actually two. So watch your trips to the coffeepot: The AASM recommends limiting your caffeine consumption to about 300 milligrams to 400 milligrams per day (three to four 8-ounce cups of coffee) and avoiding it altogether in the late afternoon and evening. Newman, however, offers his own recommendation: “Cut down on or eliminate caffeine from your life altogether. You’ll sleep a heck of a lot better.” PHOTOGRAPHY BY PHOTOLIBRARY 42 Vim & Vigor · W IN TER 2 010

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Vim & Vigor - Winter 2010 - North Mississippi

Vim & Vigor - Winter 2010 - North Mississippi
Table of Contents
Opening Thoughts
Lives Renewed
Hands-On Approach
Smart Moves
Miss Information
Stroke Sense
Gut Feelings
On the Cover - The Story on Stress
The Faces of Skin Cancer
Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark
A Natural Dilemma
17 Reasons to Work in Healthcare
Aerobics Roundup
Make a Splash
It’s a Great Place to Work
Catch the Spirit

Vim & Vigor - Winter 2010 - North Mississippi