Spring Break

For many of us, today is the start of spring break. Spring break is a time to release some stress and to regain that loss of rest that we have longed for since Christmas. In a time where many countries are experiencing economic troubles, it’s important to remember how badly stress can affect our lives.

Recently there has been a large increase of sleep lab activity and I would say that this is directly related to the stress that people have started to experience. Stress seems to be a major cause of disrupted sleep, and as we all know from research that sleep is very important in our lives. By sleep I don’t just mean lying down and falling asleep, but more all aspects of sleep, the proper REM and NREM phases and an adequate amount of time to feel rested. Stress itself can change our chemical makeup in our brains leading to depression and decreased amounts of serotonin levels and dynamically change our sleeping behavior.

This spring break I ask that everyone pay close attention to their stress levels and sleep behavior and see how much they change. I think that the majority of you will be able to see that they are very closely related. Even if you don’t get to have a break for this week, do your best to take some time off for yourself and get some better rest.

Also this week I will be posting quite a bit as I continue to do research on the aspects of histamines and narcolepsy which I both find very interesting. That information should be posted in the next few days. Also R and I are continue to work on getting a podcast of some sort that will go over a different topic of research every month. Information about that podcast will be posted later next week.

Have a good break and happy resting!

-L