Sleep Deprivation and Obesity in Children

Here is an article emphasizing the importance of regular bedtimes and uninterrupted sleep for children (ages 4-10). Nine to 10 hours is the goal, with at least six and a half hours of deep sleep. It would be interesting to see how this information applies to adults.

The recommended sleep duration for children is nine to ten hours; however, the study followed 308 healthy children (aged four to ten) and found not only that a large portion did not meet that sleep goal, but many had erratic sleep issues. The lack of a long, deep sleep (durations of about 6.5 hours) and/or irregular sleep patterns were associated with altered levels of insulin, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, and C-reactive protein (an indication of inflammation and cardiovascular risk).

Sleep deficit effects more than just your waistline. It can be detrimental to your ability to remain alert and attentive, and affect performance. It has been found that people who have slept fewer than six hours a night were more likely to develop a condition that precedes diabetes, increases the risk of high blood pressure and can lead to depression.

In Chinese Medicine, sleep problems in children often are found to relate to digestive distress and are treated with gentle herbs to support the digestion and calm the heart, leading to less worry and deeper sleep. These treatments work equally well for adults, though herbs for reducing stress and anxiety are frequently necessary as well.

Byron Russell

Ancient Chinese Secret May Help Overcome Jet Lag and Insomnia

Many of my fertility patients have jobs that involve regular air travel -- and one of the issues of regular travel is stress, jetlag and insomnia.

Here is an article by Allison Neves on Tango Diva, a website for women travelers. In this article Allison interviews me about the use of Chinese Medicine for treatment of jetlag and discusses her treatment and results. The focus of the article is insomnia resulting specifically from jetlag, but the impact of the treatment is to reduce stress and normalize hormone levels and settle and ground the body. All these things are very important for improving fertility.

TangoDiva

As a travel writer, I find myself in and out of different time zones a handful of times each year. I’ve had my occasional bouts with jet lag and usually, within a day or so, all is right with the world and my internal time clock has acclimated. I’ve never experienced anything major when it comes to sleep issues until a trip to London last winter. During that time, I was stuck in what seemed to be a perpetual limbo of two full weeks of sleepless misery. Ever since that trip, my sleep has been an issue. I thought I had tried EVERYTHING… that is until a friend of mine mentioned acupuncture. I had tried acupuncture treatments in the past for facial rejuvenation and chronic neck pain. Both treatments were successful. But I guess it never occurred to me that this ancient Chinese secret just might be the cure to my current ailment.

In my relentless search for a few good Zzzzzzz’s, I enlisted the help of Byron Russell, a San Francisco-based acupuncturist who was not only enthusiastically referred to me by four different people but was also recently named one of the top three acupuncturists in the Bay Area by the San Francisco Chronicle. So, not too shabby, right?

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Byron Russell