#sleep

Wellness and Lifestyle – May 27, 2023

Nasal breathing

  New research has found that obstructive sleep apnea — a disorder in which breathing stops and starts during sleep — is associated with an increased risk for gout, a common cause of  arthritis. Scientists studied 15,879 patients with apnea and 63,296 matched controls without, following them for an average of almost six years. Over that time, 4.9 percent of people with apnea developed gout, compared with 2.6 percent of those without the disorder. 

Wellness and Lifestyle – May 25, 2023

Skin and Ageing.

  Many things cause our skin to age. Some things we some we can influence, others we can do nothing about . The skin has three important layers: the outer epidermis, the middle dermis and the inner subcutaneous fat layer. The epidermis is a thin layer that contains the pigment that colours your skin. The thicker dermis layer contains hair follicles, oil glands and blood vessels. The inner, fatty layer serves as a protective barrier to your organs. As you age, the epidermis gradually thins and pigment levels decrease. This results in thinner, paler skin. You may also notice sunspots from UV exposure, known as solar lentigo. 

Wellness and Lifestyle – March 30, 2023

How does sleep impact Your skin?

During sleep, your body increases blood flow to the skin, which helps to nourish and oxygenate the cells. This can help to reduce inflammation, remove damaged cells, and improve the overall health of your skin. In addition, the body produces more collagen, a protein that helps to keep the skin looking smooth and youthful, during sleep. This is due to the fact that, while you were sleeping is the prime time that growth, hormone and other repairative hormones are released into circulation. If you are not getting adequate sleep, your body will not be producing and utilising these hormones as effectively as it should.

Wellness and Lifestyle – July 25, 2021

Sleep and skin health.

Good quality, restorative sleep is also crucial for the nightly cellular repair, regeneration and immune function. Every night, we go through repeated cycles of two distinctly different sleep phases: Rapid Eye Movement (REM, when the most active dreaming happens) and non-REM sleep (NREM, the deeper sleep). During NREM, blood flow is directed from our brain and body core, more towards the body’s periphery including the skin. Thus, a restorative hormone flow is established, and cellular repair is enhanced.Sleep deprivation on the other hand is known to contribute to systemic inflammation, even after a short period of only a couple of weeks, as research has shown. In fact, sleep deprivation is thought to increase all sorts of age-related processes as well as chronic health problems.