Little things people do that harm your health...not sleeping

Why is it that we, as humans, KNOW we need to get sleep to be healthy...yet we don't. 




Ever watch a cat or dog stay up for hours when they are tired?  No.  They sleep when they need to sleep.  This is a great video if you need to learn how to sleep.

According to WebMD there are 10 things YOU should HATE about "lack of sleep."

1. Accidents.  We all know what can happen when you are driving and fall asleep...people die.  Maybe what you didn't know was "sleep deprivation was a factor in some of the biggest disasters in recent history: the 1979 nuclear accident at Three Mile Island, the massive Exxon Valdez oil spill, the 1986 nuclear meltdown at Chernobyl, and others."
2. Lack of sleep "dumbs you down."  (WebMD's words not mine):  Sleep helps you think so lack of sleep; "First, it impairs attention, alertness, concentration, reasoning, and problem solving. This makes it more difficult to learn efficiently.Second, during the night, various sleep cycles play a role in“consolidating” memories in the mind. If you don’t get enough sleep, you won’t be able to remember what you learned and experienced during the day."
3. Causes serious health issues: "Sleep disorders and chronic sleep loss can put you at risk for:
   Heart disease
   Heart attack
   Heart failure
   Irregular heartbeat
   High blood pressure
   Stroke
   Diabetes
   According to some estimates, 90% of people with insomnia -- a sleep disorder characterized by trouble falling and staying asleep -- also have another health condition."
4. No sleep, no sex drive:  "Sleep specialists say that sleep-deprived men and women report lower libidos and less interest in sex. Depleted energy, sleepiness, and increased tension may be largely to blame."
5. Depression:  "Insomnia and depression feed on each other. Sleep loss often aggravates the symptoms of depression, and depression can make it more difficult to fall asleep. On the positive side, treating sleep problems can help depression and its symptoms, and vice versa."
6. Ages your skin:  "When you don’t get enough sleep, your body releases more of the stress hormone cortisol. In excess amounts, cortisol can break down skin collagen, the protein that keeps skin smooth and elastic."
7. Where did I put my.......?  Forgetfulness:  "In 2009, American and French researchers determined that brain events called“sharp wave ripples” are responsible for consolidating memory. The ripples also transfer learned information from the hippocampus to the neocortex of the brain, where long-term memories are stored. Sharp wave ripples occur mostly during the deepest levels of sleep."
8. Weight Gain:  "According to a 2004 study, people who sleep less than six hours a day were almost 30 percent more likely to become obese than those who slept seven to nine hours.  Recent research has focused on the link between sleep and the peptides that regulate appetite. 'Ghrelin stimulates hunger and leptin signals satiety to the brain and suppresses appetite,' says Siebern. Shortened sleep time is associated with decreases in leptin and elevations in ghrelin.”
9. May increase death:  "In the “Whitehall II Study,” British researchers looked at how sleep patterns affected the mortality of more than 10,000 British civil servants over two decades. The results, published in 2007, showed that those who had cut their sleep from seven to five hours or fewer a night nearly doubled their risk of death from all causes. In particular, lack of sleep doubled the risk of death from cardiovascular disease."
10. Impairs Judgement:  "Sleep-deprived people seem to be especially prone to poor judgment when it comes to assessing what lack of sleep is doing to them. In our increasingly fast-paced world, functioning on less sleep has become a kind of badge of honor. But sleep specialists say if you think you’re doing fine on less sleep, you’re probably wrong. And if you work in a profession where it’s important to be able to judge your level of functioning, this can be a big problem."

This is just an overview on what the affects of "lack of sleep" can cause.  To read in more detail visit WebMD.

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Understanding Degenerative Disc Disease

Pain in the neck has never impacted so much.  Although Degenerative Disc Disease is not technically a "disease" it is placed in this category because of the changes that it causes your spinal discs go through as you age.  Degenerative Disc Disease is most common in your lower back (lumbar region) and your neck (cervical region).





Spinal Discs are part of your spine.  They are soft compressible discs that separate the bones (vertebrae) that make up your spine.  They are to your spine as shocks are to your car:  They absorb the shock for the spine allowing it to flex, bend and twist.

Causes for disc damage are:

1. Osteoarthritis:  which is the breakdown of the tissue that protects and cushions your joints.
2. Herniated disc, an abnormal bulge or breaking open of a spinal disc.
3. Spinal stenosis, the narrowing of the spinal can (the open space in which houses your spinal cord).

There are many causes for Degenerative Disc Disease that come from age to sudden injury.  

As we age our spinal discs break down which can lead to loss of fluid in your discs.  This will reduce the ability for your discs to absorb shocks as well by making the discs less flexible.  

Tiny tears or cracks in the outer layer of the disc causes the disc to break open.  Inside each disc there is jellylike material that is forced out through the tears or cracks which cause the disc to bulge, break open or break into fragments.  People who smoke, do heavy physical work or are more likely to have symptoms of Degenerative Disc Disease.

I have a extruded herniated disc at C6, C6, C7 (For those who don't remember C is for Cervical region) that was caused by the sudden injury of a car accident.  This particular injury is when the "jellylike" material is forced out of the disc.  I did not have any pain for the first three weeks and then it was like putting your sweet child to bed one night to have them wake up as a teenager.  It caused extreme pain, numbness or tingling in my right fingers that lead to the right hand and eventually to the entire arm.  

Symptoms are different for different people.  Some of the same injuries will cause different degrees of pain.  If the cervical region is affected than will, more often than not, affect the harm.  When the lumbar region is affected than the pain may be in the back, buttock or leg.  

I know that some days I would not experience any pain but numbness or tingling was extreme.  Other days it would be the opposite.  If I slept a certain way it was worse or if I turned my neck suddenly it would cause symptoms.  I never knew what activity or movement would cause what symptom as it never made any sense to me.

Premier Back Rehabilitation Center, PC can help you with these type of injuries.  It is essential that you get to a Doctor with the latest technology to discover these injuries as soon as possible.  Don't waste months on treatments that won't help.  Get your answers ASAP!

Tell me about your stories.

Information provided by WebMD

Hurt in a Car Accident? The X-Ray you get can make a difference!!

Fourth of July!  Not only do fireworks go up but so do car accidents!!  Fourth of July is the highest holiday for car accidents and death according to Fox New and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The X-Ray you have done can make all the difference in your treatment!!

Digital Motion X-Ray makes all the difference to you!!

According to Dr. Sutton, Premier Back Rehabilitation Center, PC:

Digital Motion X-Ray is simply a type of fluoro-based x-ray system, coupled with new digital and optic technology, allowing clinicians to view the spine in real-time motion at 30 x-rays per second. The procedure is performed with the patient standing and actively moving in a weight-bearing position within the system.

DMX is a digital movie of an x-ray in motion and it can be:

* Printed and emailed as "still" x-rays;

* Stored on a hard drive;

* Recorded on DVD.

Traditionally, diagnosis of whiplash injuries rely upon non-moving diagnostic procedures such as static x-rays, stress view x-rays, CT, and MRI. During these tests, patients are asked to stand or lie still: "Don't move" and/or "Hold your breath". Patients hurt more when they move and pain is commonly an indicator of injury. The majority of these non-moving diagnostic tests come out negative or unremarkable.

Watch this video to learn more about Digital Motion X-Ray and this life-saving method

If you or a loved one is involved in a car accident INSIST on Digital Motion X-Ray!! 
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