Over the counter sleeping medications which often have harmful side effects are flooding the counters of pharmacies in Syracuse as elsewhere. And doctors here in Syracuse as elsewhere often over-prescribe sleeping medications which can also have dangerous side effects. And so what the people of Syracuse need is more information about natural remedies to help relieve insomnia.
An article in Science Daily, http://www.sciencedaily.com, titled "Aerobic Exercise Relieves Insomnia" has reported that millions of middle-aged and older adults who suffer from insomnia have a new drug-free prescription for a more restful night's sleep. It has been shown that regular aerobic exercise improves the quality of sleep, mood and vitality, according to a significant new study from Northwestern Medicine. In this study an aerobic exercise trial resulted in the most dramatic improvement in patients' reported quality of sleep, including sleep duration, compared to any other non-pharmacological intervention. Phyllis Zee, M.D., director of the Sleep Disorders Center at Northwestern Medicine, has said "This is relevant to a huge portion of the population. Insomnia increases with age. Around middle age, sleep begins to change dramatically. It is essential that we identify behavioral ways to improve sleep. Now we have promising results showing aerobic exercise is a simple strategy to help people sleep better and feel more vigorous."
Zee has noted that sleep is an essential part of a healthy lifestyle, like nutrition and exercise. Zee has also said "By improving a person's sleep, you can improve their physical and mental health. Sleep is a barometer of health, like someone's temperature. It should be the fifth vital sign. If a person says he or she isn't sleeping well, we know they are more likely to be in poor health."
In this study exercise improved the participants' self-reported sleep quality, elevating them from a diagnosis of poor sleeper to good sleeper. These participants also reported fewer depressive symptoms, more vitality and less daytime sleepiness with exercise and better sleep. Kathryn Reid, research assistant professor at Feinberg, and the lead author of this study has said "Better sleep gave them pep, that magical ingredient that makes you want to get up and get out into the world to do things." And Zee has said "Exercise is good for metabolism, weight management and cardiovascular health and now it's good for sleep."
And so good advice for people having problems with sleep here in Syracuse is to try to increase the time spent for aerobic exercise daily.
Photographer: Filomena Scalise/
Mandel News Service: http://www.mandelnews.com
