Insomnia is a major problem in the US and is among the top ten most researched health topics on the internet with over 30% of people having a sleep disorder during their life. The two main categories of sleep disorders are sleep onset insomnia, not being able to fall asleep, and sleep maintenance insomnia, waking during the night, or it can be a mixture of both.

Sleep disorders need not be obvious. People with sleep disorders sometimes report that they fall asleep fine and sleep through the night but wake un-refreshed and are tired throughout the day. There are many causes for these disorders. Some are minor but some can be very serious.

The most common causes of sleep disorders are stress, anxiety and depression. Other causes include pain, allergies, a poor sleeping area, reactions to foods, herbs and medications, restless leg syndrome, waking to urinate, nocturnal hypoglycemia and szeep apnea. Sleep apnea is the cessation of breathing for up to 10 or more seconds. It can be a serious problem and should be assessed by your primary care physician.

Using a sleeping pill under the care of a physician may be indicated in rare instances but there are many potential problems associated with using pharmaceuticals including dependence, rebound insomnia when the pills are stopped and side effects. The other downside of taking anything for sleep is that it does not address the root cause. Stress, for instance can cause a major imbalance in the hormonal cycle responsible for sleep. An imbalance of cortisol or melatonin can cause you to have problems getting to sleep or staying asleep by actually tricking your body into thinking it is the morning and it’s time to get up. These can be checked with a simple salivary test which will determine where the levels are and what the appropriate protocol is to get them into balance.

Another problem that causes people to wake in the night is nocturnal hypoglycemia, low blood sugar at night. It can cause hot flashes, night sweats or simply make the body wake up.

People who wake to urinate, even once per night are not getting restful sleep. Sometimes it is due to simply drinking water too close to bedtime or drinking things that cause your body to urinate such as sodas, tea, coffee and some vitamins, herbs and medications. Drinking coffee, tea and sodas can be a major cause of insomnia for another reason. Caffeine can stay in your system for 18-20+ hours. If you do the math that means your morning coffee can be causing your insomnia.

Botanical sedatives such as Chamomile, Passion Flower, Hops and Valerian can be effective in helping with sleep. They are usually milder and cause less side effects than
pharmaceuticals. Melatonin, 5 HTP and other such substances are the next step after the herbs I mentioned above. However, even though they are available over the counter they are hormones and hormone precursors and are not harmless as they can disrupt the sleep/wake cycle, cause imbalances with neurotransmitters and can interact with medications including anti-depressants.

They should only be used under the guidance of a properly trained healthcare provider!! If you need anything to improve your sleep on a regular basis you are not finding the cause of the problem which can be accomplished by assessing medical history, testing for sleep apnea and by some functional testing such as the saliva test mentioned above.

Everyone has an occasional problem sleeping. If it becomes long term get checked out by a healthcare practitioner as something serious might be going on. Sleep is a fundamental need for your body, making it a priority in this fast paced world will improve your ability to cope with stress and will keep you healthier throughout your life. It’s your life. It’s your health!

Dr. Visconti has an Alternative Medical Clinic near the Citrus Tower in Clermont. If you have any questions on this or any other topic please contact him on his website:
www.docvisconti.com

Well folks, we made it… made it to the big time! It wasn’t the fact that acupuncture has been a valid system of medicine used by billions of people since it’s inception roughly 1000 to 3000 years before Jesus Christ was born. It wasn’t the fact that acupuncture is showing positive results in
increasing numbers of scientific studies being published in prestigious medical journals. It wasn’t the fact that acupuncture is being incorporated into major medical centers and hospitals across the US.

What brought us to the “big time” was that acupuncture was recognized on “Oprah” last week!!! We made it! Oprah and one of her guests had a treatment on the show. Oprah had a general immune stimulating treatment and the guest’s shoulder pain was relieved within a few minutes. How is that for a testimonial.

I am being a bit cavalier in my embellishment above just because I know the benefits of acupuncture, I see them with my patients all the time. But, if it takes Oprah and the medical journals touting the benefits of acupuncture for people to find out then that is fine also. People ask how it works and I give both answers, western and eastern: The western, conventional medicine version is that the needles stimulate blood flow, endorphins and serotonin to deal with pain. This is a limited concept for acupuncture deals with much more than pain. However, it is much more dramatic to see an immediate relief of pain than it is to improve someone’s immune system or balance another person’s hormones.

The Chinese definition of what is happening is a bit different: pain or dysfunction in the body is caused by blockage or imbalance in blood, fluids and energy flow. The energy flow is the thing most western people have a problem with. However, since quantum physics, Einstein and a bunch of other very smart nerds, I mean scientists, came up with the commonly held “laws of physics” the biochemical model of how the body works is essentially outdated. Our body does not only work with chemicals running through our arteries and veins but with bio-electricity. Our cells have electrical charges that dictate what passes into and out of the cells. Our nerves function by the conduction of electrical impulses. Our hearts pump and our muscles work due to electrical charges firing the muscles.

Our brains generate electricity. This is bio-energetic theory. We have electric fields that can be measured from our skin and some people say we can measure electric fields away from the skin. So, what the needles do is stimulate the energetics at specific points in the body that have been determined to effect changes in the body over the past 3000 years. The needles also stimulate blood and fluid flow to various points of the body depending on needle placement. By the way, 3000-5000 years of observing something that is working is a valid scientific technique in itself. The needles will remove blockage along the channels or meridians of the body and can balance poorly balanced energy, tonifying energy that is deficient and reducing energy that is in excess. This allows the body’s natural systems of healing to work to the best level they can.

Well, whatever theory you believe of why this works or whether your friend, family member or Oprah reports this could help at least check it out. Acupuncture has made it to the big time, lets hope it stimulates continued information and growth toward integrative medicine using the best of all the healing modalities for the betterment of our lives and our health!