Sleep is essential for a person’s health and wellbeing, according to the National Sleep Foundation (NSF) in the USA. Yet many millions of people do not get enough sleep and many suffer from lack of sleep. For example, surveys conducted by the NSF (1999-2004) reveal that at least 40 million Americans suffer from over 70 different sleep disorders and 60 percent of adults report having sleep problems a few nights a week or more. Most people with these problems go undiagnosed and untreated. In addition, more than 40 percent of adults experience daytime sleepiness severe enough to interfere with their daily activities at least a few days each month - with 20 percent reporting problem sleepiness a few days a week or more.
According to psychologist and sleep expert David F. Dinges, Ph.D., of the Division of Sleep and Chronobiology and Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, irritability, moodiness and disinhibition are some of the first signs a person experiences from lack of sleep. If a sleep-deprived person doesn’t sleep after the initial signs, said Dr Dinges, the person may then start to experience apathy, slowed speech and flattened emotional responses, impaired memory and an inability to be novel or multitask. As a person gets to the point of falling asleep, he or she will fall into micro sleeps(5-10 seconds) that cause lapses in attention, nod off while doing an activity like driving or reading and then finally experience hypnagogic hallucinations, the beginning of REM sleep.
Everyone’s individual sleep needs vary. In general, most healthy adults are built for 16 hours of wakefulness and need an average of eight hours of sleep a night. However, some individuals are able to function without sleepiness or drowsiness after as little as six hours of sleep. Others can't perform at their peak unless they've slept ten hours. And, contrary to common myth, the need for sleep doesn't decline with age but the ability to sleep for six to eight hours at one time may be reduced. (Van Dongen & Dinges, Principles & Practice of Sleep Medicine, 2000)
Psychologists and other scientists who study the causes of sleep disorders have shown that such problems can directly or indirectly be tied to abnormalities in the following systems:
- Physiological systems
- Brain and nervous system
- Cardiovascular system
- BMetabolic functions
- Immune system
Furthermore, unhealthy conditions, disorders and diseases can also cause sleep problems, including:
- Pathological sleepiness, insomnia and accidents
- Hypertension and elevated cardiovascular risks (MI, stroke)
- Emotional disorders (depression, bipolar disorder)
- Obesity; metabolic syndrome and diabetes
- Alcohol and drug abuse
Stress is the number one cause of short-term sleeping difficulties, according to sleep experts. Common triggers include job-related pressures, a family or marriage problem and a serious illness or death in the family. Usually the sleep problem disappears when the stressful situation passes. However, if short-term sleep problems such as insomnia aren't managed properly from the beginning, they can persist long after the original stress has passed.
The engine of our sleep program uses Cranial Electrotherapy Stimulation (CES) from Alpha-stim. There have been more than 20 sleep studies done with CES for insomnia as the primary diagnosis or as a secondary diagnosis to many forms of stress or pain related disorders. These studies demonstrate that CES can be an excellent treatment for insomnia. CES also has the additional benefit of helping to reduce dependence on medication.
Alpha-Stim® SCS empowers you to control your anxiety, depression, and/or insomnia. Used just 20 to 60 minutes every day, every other day, or on an as-needed basis, it can help induce a relaxed state and enable the user to focus attention on the task at hand. Alpha-Stim® SCS is well tolerated and very safe in contrast to drugs, many of which have been proven to have undesirable side effects and can be addictive.
Alpha-Stim® SCS leaves the mind alert. The person undergoing CES treatment will often report a pleasant, relaxed feeling of well-being. Anxiety reduction is usually experienced during treatment, but may be seen hours later, or even the day after treatment. Depression and insomnia control is generally experienced after one to two weeks of daily treatment. Maintenance of a relaxed, yet alert state is generally achieved with treatments three times per week. As a result, Alpha-Stim® SCS is suitable for clinical or home use.
At present, there are over 125 research studies on CES in humans. The overwhelming majority of the scientific research is extremely positive. No significant lasting side effects have been reported.
Our Sleep Repair Programme also includes education on good sleep hygiene as well as a specifically designed Vibrational Sound Therapy programme to promote and maintain deep sleep after initial sleep onset.
Research has revealed that a series of CES treatments not only facilitates sound, restful sleep, but can effectively treat stress in the process, as measured by various psychometric scales of depression and anxiety.
FiGURE 1. The results of a double blind CES study on insomnia, with two year follow up. While the sham group did improve over the two year period except in restoration (feeling rested in AM).The treatment group did significantly better in all areas and those effects were maintainedor improved at follow up.