Sleep and Diseases

The Most Common Sleep Disorder: Insufficient Sleep

In April of this year, the Institute of Medicine issued a report that confirmed definite links between sleep deprivation and increased risks of hypertension, diabetes, obesity, depression, heart attack and stroke. Some scientists are also investigating connections between insufficient sleep and depressed immune function. Sleep can work to activate or inhibit hormone production in the hypothalamus, which is the part of the brain that gives the body signals regarding when to adjust temperature, blood pressure, digestive secretions and immune activity. Insufficient sleep also inhibits the pancreas from producing insulin, the hormone required for the digestion of glucose. A groundbreaking 1999 study showed that after six days on only four hours of sleep, healthy volunteers would fall into a pre-diabetic state. Sleep also gives the heart a chance to slow down, and those who less than six hours a night have as much as a 66 percent greater prevalence of hypertension. The largest study of sleep duration and mortality followed over one million participants for six years. Those who slept about seven hours had the highest survival rate, and those who slept less than 4.5 hours had the worst. Nine hours of sleep or more each night was also associated with a higher mortality risk, however. In general, a good night's sleep seems to be as important to good health as a nutritious diet and regular exercise. Experts tend to agree that the majority of people require about eight hours of sleep each night. However, roughly 40 percent of Americans get fewer than seven hours of sleep on weekdays, and 71 percent get fewer than eight hours of sleep. As a result, most Americans accumulate two full weeks of "sleep debt" each year. The two main causes for sleep debt were long work hours and long commutes.

Los Angeles Times October 9, 2006 American Time Use Survey Resource Center Free Full PDF Study

Dr. Mercola's Comment:

One contributor to poor sleeping habits that has nothing at all to do with any other existing health problem you may have: A lengthy commute to and from a job can require a life-draining amount of time all by itself, according to recent research by the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. That's only one of many sleep studies cited in this awesome Los Angeles Times article, most of which I've already posted on my Web site. A longer commute -- navigating a maze of highways in the dark and in a car both day and night -- is only the number two reason people get less sleep, however. Spending long hours at work tops the list. Before the study, scientists had speculated that excessive TV viewing, entertainment and computers would top the list of sleep distractions. However, what they found is, a combination of long hours on the job, a too-far commute and living in an area that forces people to drive anywhere to get anything is the deadliest of them all. The trick is to keep your commute by car -- including all errands -- to 40 minutes or less a day. Every 8 extra minutes you spend in your car translates into a sleep debt of 15 minutes every night. And it doesn't matter if it's one long car trip or several short ones, either. I am quite fortunate in that I only commute to my office four times a week and the round trip time is typically under 30 minutes and frequently closer to 20. I realized many years ago that I did not want to waste my time on the road. Although nearly every minute I am in the car I am listening to an educational audio file as there is so much time to learn. If you do have a longer commute please consider your car as a "university on wheels" and a marvelous opportunity to learn important information. If you're struggling with sleep, chances are better than good your health is fundamentally impaired. Fortunately, you can solve your sleep problem and boost your health in the process, without the need for a health-harming drug, by taking advantage of some of the practical solutions outlined in my 29 Secrets to a Good Night's Sleep, which include: Avoid before-bed snacks, particularly grains and sugars. This will raise blood sugar and inhibit sleep. Later, when blood sugar drops too low (hypoglycemia), you might wake up and not be able to fall back asleep. Sleep in complete darkness or as close as possible. If there is even the tiniest bit of light in the room it can disrupt your circadian rhythm and your pineal gland's production of melatonin and serotonin. No TV right before bed. Even better, get the TV out of the bedroom or even out of the house, completely. It is too stimulating to the brain and it will take longer to fall asleep. Wear socks to bed. Due to the fact that they have the poorest circulation, the feet often feel cold before the rest of the body. A study has shown that wearing socks reduces night wakings Get to bed as early as possible. Our systems, particularly the adrenals, do a majority of their recharging or recovering during the hours of 11PM and 1AM. Keep the temperature in the bedroom no higher than 70 degrees F. Many people keep their homes and particularly the upstairs bedrooms too hot. Eat a high-protein snack several hours before bed. This can provide the L-tryptophan need to produce melatonin and serotonin.

Related Articles:

Want to Prevent Cancer? Make Sure You Sleep Well Get Enough Sleep to Avoid Diabetes Lack of Sleep Affects Hormone Levels

Where is Reality ?

Hermann Hesse writes:

There is no reality except the one contained within us. That is why so many people live such an unreal life. They take the images outside of them for reality and never allow the world within to assert itself.

Keep the Inside of Your Shoes Clean

Keep Your Shoes Clean

People who work hard and walk a lot and spend most of the
day in their shoes often end up with shoes that are, to
be polite, a lot less than fresh.

Here's a good tip on how to keep the inside of your shoes
fresh, clean, and the sort of covering you don't mind
putting your feet into.

Rub the inside of your shoes with cotton wool that you've
soaked in medical alcohol, which is, of course, available
in drug stores everywhere.

Another technique that works involves dusting the inside
of your shoes with baking soda. This not only helps to
absorb moisture, but it also knocks that stinky ole shoe
odor down many notches.

Alternatives in Cancer Therapy: Use of H2O2

Alternatives in Cancer Therapy - Hydrogen Peroxide

by Ross, R.Ph. Pelton, Lee Overholser
http://educate-yourself.org/cn/hydrogenperoxidecancertherapybookexcerpt.shtml

http://www.curezone.com/faq/q.asp?a=25,589.2948&q=75

An excerpt from the book :

"ALTERNATIVES IN CANCER THERAPY"
by Ross, R.Ph. Pelton, Lee Overholser

Background

As far back as the early nineteenth century, hydrogen peroxide was widely used in medicine. Many bacterial diseases, including syphilis, responded to H2O2 when no other treatment was effective. In the early twentieth century H2O2 was used to treat several common diseases, such as typhoid fever, cholera, ulcers, asthma, whooping cough, and tuberculosis. (11)

Hydrogen peroxide's ability to kill bacteria in the human body has been well documented (1, 13, 17), and a 1922 medical textbook describes the use of hydrogen peroxide orally, by intravenous injection, and for topical use. (14) However, as the pharmaceutical industry began to develop powerful new (and high-priced) drugs, hydrogen peroxide was increasingly ignored and finally discarded as a treatment.

Early Supporters

Several fascinating personalities have been involved in the struggle to gain recognition in the U.S. of hydrogen peroxide as a therapeutic agent again. Dr. Edward Rosenow (1875-1966), a physician and research scientist associated with the Mayo Clinic for over forty years, discovered that hydrogen peroxide was the safe, effective antimicrobial, antiviral agent he had spent years looking for. Unfortunately, he died without seeing his discovery become widely accepted.

However, his friend Father Wilhelm, a Catholic priest and chemistry teacher, made a commitment to publicize the wonderful benefits of hydrogen peroxide. In the 1970s he presented Rosenow's research to several large pharmaceutical companies, only to get the same response every time: Rosenow's work on hydrogen peroxide was very interesting and potentially important, but hydrogen peroxide was an inexpensive substance that could not be patented and had no commercial value.

Walter Grotz was the next player in the hydrogen peroxide story. After a 1965 auto accident, Grotz developed arthritis that was so bad he could hardly walk. In the winter of 1982, after retiring as postmaster in Delano, Minnesota, his wife convinced him that a warm Caribbean cruise might lessen his arthritic pain. As fate would have it, the chaplain on their cruise ship was Father Wilhelm. When Father Wilhelm learned that Wally (as he is affectionately called) had arthritis, the good Father began preaching his "peroxide sermon."

Wally began taking small amounts of hydrogen peroxide orally, and within a few months his arthritis pain was totally gone. Walter became as committed as Father Wilhelm, and the two of them have now dedicated their lives to spreading the word about the potential health benefits of hydrogen peroxide.

Hydrogen Peroxide in Nature

When ozone mixes with moisture in the air, it forms hydrogen peroxide, which comes down in rain and snow. It occurs naturally in fresh fruits and vegetables, some coming from rain and some manufactured during photosynthesis. (6) Hydrogen peroxide is also found in mother's milk, with an especially high concentration in colostrum (the first milk secreted, right after birth).

One researcher states, "The generation of H2O2 in cellular processes seems to be purposeful, and H2O2 cannot be dismissed as a mere undesirable by-product.... The capacity for generation of H202 is now found to be widespread in a variety of organisms and in the organelles of the cells." (12)

The Chemistry of Hydrogen Peroxide

Hydrogen peroxide is a very simple compound, with the chemical I formula H2O2 Essentially it is a molecule of water with an extra atom of oxygen attached, occurring throughout nature and produced by almost every cell in the human body.

Most people are familiar with the common drugstore variety of 3-percent hydrogen peroxide, used for everything from sterilizing a cut to cleaning kitchen countertops. Hydrogen peroxide's sterilizing power comes from its extra oxygen atom. Hydrogen peroxide has a similar oxidizing, or cleansing, power in the body. However, the drugstore variety of H2O2 should never be used internally, because of the chemicals it contains as stabilizers.

Free Radicals

In the 1950s Dr. Denham Harman developed the free-radical theory of aging. Free radicals are molecules that have a chemically active oxygen atom attached to them. Free radicals can damage cells, causing aging and cancer. (15)

At first it seemed that extra oxygen was always damaging, and that the antioxidants were the good guys, responsible for anti-aging protection. Now it appears that not all free-radical reactions are bad. For instance, oxygen helps cleansing enzymes remove toxins, and it is used by the immune system to attack invading bacteria. (4) Also, hydrogen peroxide stimulates natural killer (NK) cells, which attack cancer cells as these attempt to spread throughout the body. (8)

Oxygen and Cancer

Otto Warburg won the Nobel Prize for his discovery that cancer cells have different metabolic properties than normal cells. (16) Healthy cells are aerobic; they use oxygen in most of their chemical reactions. Cancer cells have reverted to a more primitive metabolic process, called fermentation which is anaerobic, or without oxygen. This means that cancer cells thrive in a low-oxygen environment.

The main energy source for both normal and cancer cells is glucose. However, a cancer cell's anaerobic processing of glucose yields only one fifteenth the energy per glucose molecule, compared with normal cellular metabolism. This is why cancer cells have such a huge appetite for sugar (glucose).

Mechanism of Action

One possible way in which intravenous hydrogen peroxide can treat cancer is by releasing pure oxygen in the body. By saturating the cells and tissues with oxygen, hydrogen peroxide promotes healthy, oxygen-based metabolism.

Dr. Charles Farr discovered that intravenous hydrogen peroxide stimulates oxidative enzymes in the body, which help to clear out toxins. (5) He found that intravenous H2O2 infusions almost doubled the metabolic rate. These changes may account in part for the observed benefits from H2O2 infusions.

It is important to note that H2O2 apparently does not produce free-radical lipid peroxidation, but instead stimulates important detoxifying oxidative enzyme systems. This is the direct opposite of what might be expected.

Many people, including myself, initially reacted negatively to the idea of taking hydrogen peroxide internally. How could something that produces free radicals possibly have a therapeutic benefit? However, the damage from free radicals comes from chronic exposure to free-radical oxygen, which is part of more complex molecules. The processes of oxygenation and stimulation of the oxidative enzymes may account for the positive effects of hydrogen peroxide that have been observed.

Clinical Studies

In the 1950s Dr. Reginald Holman tested H2O2 on rats implanted with Walker 256 adenocarcinoma tumors. Their drinking water was replaced by a dilute solution of hydrogen peroxide. The optimal concentration was reported to be 0.45 percent, and complete disappearance of the tumors was reported to exist from fifteen to sixty days. (9)

In 1982 Winifred Wirth reported on the effective use of oral H2O2 in the treatment of laboratory mice infected with Ehrlich carcinoma. Effectiveness was judged by the decrease in mortality and the delayed onset of palpable tumor incidence. (18)

More info: http://curezone.com/diseases/cancer/h2o2.asp

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Related

The Many Benefits of Hydrogen Peroxide by Dr. David G. Williams
http://educate-yourself.org/cancer/benefitsofhydrogenperozide17jul03.shtml

Hydrogen Peroxide v. Prostate Cancer by Bill Munro (Oct. 14, 2005)
http://educate-yourself.org/cn/hydrogenperoxideandprostatecancer14oct05.shtml

Hydrogen Peroxide Nasal Sprayer & Garden Applications by Bill Munro (Feb. 7, 2005)
http://educate-yourself.org/cn/hydrogenperoxide07feb05.shtml

Hydrogen Peroxide by Walter Grotz
http://educate-yourself.org/cn/hydrogenperoxidewaltergrotz20nov04.shtml

Source: http://educate-yourself.org/cn/hydrogenperoxidecancertherapybookexcerpt.shtml