by drcatherinedarley | May 20, 2010 | cortisol, insomnia, naturopathic medicine, sleep
In my office, it is not unusual to learn that a person’s sleep difficulties started with a trauma or bad experience. For many people, the trauma they experienced was years (or decades) ago, and still affects their sleep. These sleep difficulties can take the...
by drcatherinedarley | Apr 22, 2010 | insomnia, sleep
Each year, the National Sleep Foundation comes out with its Sleep in America Poll. This year 1007 people (ages 25-60) from across the country were asked about their ethnicity and sleep habits, let’s look at the results. Sleep Habits Differ by Ethnicity This study...
by drcatherinedarley | Mar 17, 2010 | behavioral treatment, insomnia
There’s a saying in the sleep community “the only people who try to sleep are insomniacs, everyone else just sleeps.” Unfortunately, sleep can be one of those things that becomes more difficult the harder you try. Sometimes patients share that when...
by drcatherinedarley | Feb 16, 2010 | bedroom, behavioral treatment, insomnia
Sleep is interesting in that it is a physiological process, which is strongly influenced by habit. When we work to have positive sleep associations with our bedroom, we can sleep better. Remember Pavlov’s dogs? Whenever Pavlov fed the dogs, he would ring a bell....
by drcatherinedarley | Nov 26, 2009 | insomnia, melatonin, neurotransmitters of sleep, serotonin, sleep, thanksgiving, turkey, winter holidays
Many stories abound about how the tryptophan in turkey or a glass of milk before bed will help you sleep. Is this true or not? Let’s look at the information. Tryptophan is an amino acid found in foods. Many amino acids combine to make a protein. These...
by drcatherinedarley | Nov 23, 2009 | behavioral treatment, circadian rhythm, cortisol, insomnia, neurotransmitters of sleep
Cortisol is an intrinsic hormone we all have. It is secreted by the adrenal glands on a regular daily basis. There is a daily fluctuation in levels, called it’s circadian rhythm. Cortisol should be low at night while we sleep. It rapidly rises in the early...
