Help your baby distinguish day from night
A newborn sleeps sixteen to eighteen hours per day, and this sleep is distributed evenly over six to seven sleep periods. You can help your baby distinguish between night sleep and day sleep, and thus help him sleep longer periods at night. Make nighttime sleep dark and quiet, except for white noise. You can also help your baby differentiate day from night by using a nightly bath and change into pajamas to signal the difference between the two. 

The biology of sleep
During the early months of your baby’s life, he sleeps when he is tired, it’s that simple. You can do little to force a new baby to sleep when he doesn’t want to sleep, and conversely, you can do little to wake him up when he is sleeping soundly. Newborn babies have very tiny tummies. They grow rapidly, their diet is liquid and it digests quickly. Actually it would be nice to lay your little bundle down at bedtime and not hear from him until morning, this is not a realistic goal for a tiny baby.

Sleeping through the night
For a new baby a five-hour stretch is a full night. Many babies can sleep uninterrupted from midnight to 5 am. This may be a far cry from what you may have thought “sleeping through the night” meant. What is more, some sleep through the nighters will suddenly being waking more frequently, and it’s often a full year or even two until your baby will settle into an all-night, every night sleep pattern.

Waking for night feedings
Many pediatricians recommend that parents shouldn’t let a newborn sleep longer than four hours without feeding, and the majority of babies wake far more frequently than that. No matter what, your baby will wake up during the night. The key is to learn when you should pick him up for a feeding and when you can let him go back to sleep on his own. Babies make many sleeping sounds, from grunts to whimpers to outright cries and these noises don’t always signal awakening. These are what I call sleeping noises and your baby is asleep during these episodes.
Learn to differentiate between sleeping sounds and awake sounds. If your baby is awake and hungry you will want to feed him as quickly as possible so he will go back to sleep easily. But if he’s asleep – let him sleep.

It’s fact that your baby will be waking you up, so you may as well make yourself as comfortable as possible. Being frustrated about having to get up won’t change a thing. The situation will improve day by day, and before you know it your newborn won’t be so little anymore – he will be walking and talking and getting into everything in sight … during the day, and sleeping peacefully all night long.

List of reference:
Victoria Wizzell Certified Master Hypnotherapist, a Certified HypnoBirthing practitioner.
“The more you know, the less you need.”
Source: www.snoringcure.ca

Night terrors may have a genetic component too, in addition to being caused by environmental factors such as stress caused by separation anxiety, arrival of a new sibling or moving from one home to another. The study involved about 400 pairs of twins who were assessed at 18 and then at 30 months of age. The good news is that night terrors do subside with age, as half the children who had sleep terrors at 18 months of age didn’t have them anymore when they were assessed again at 30 months, according to the study. Other professionals agree that sleep terrors happen mostly in young children, up to 6 or 7 years of age. Obviously, that doesn’t help you much if your child is still a preschooler or even younger and goes through night terror episode.

What to do?
- make sure your child is not overtired when he goes to bed,
- if he is a light sleeper, try not to make noise close to the bedroom, because that sudden semi-arousal state could trigger sleep terrors in some children,
- keeping a regular sleep schedule might prevent sleep terrors, as the body gets used to a certain rhythm.
Night terrors are transient and they will not leave any psychological damage on your child, no matter how frightening her screams. But parents who have witnessed their child experiencing night terrors need a lot of reassurance.

B vitamins for PMS.
A new study of over three thousand women found that those with the highest thiamine and riboflavin intake had a thirty five percent lower risk of developing premenstrual syndrome (PMS) compared to those with the least intake of these Bs. To keep it simple, eat B-rich foods or take a multivitamin.

Alpha-lipoic acid for PCOS.
Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) affects one in twenty women of childbearing age and is associated with hormone and blood sugar imbalances. Symptoms include pelvic pain, acne, weight gain, period problems, and depression. A recent study indicates that alpha-lipoic acid may be of benefit. Six nondiabetic women with PCOS took lipoic acid daily for four months. They experienced an average of fourteen percent improvement in insulin sensitivity. Their triglycerides dropped, and their cholesterol readings improved. 

Vitamins fight HPV infection. 
The human papilloma virus (HPV), the virus that also causes warts, is implicated in cervical dysplasia and cervical cancer. But supplements can help combat HPV infection and cervical abnormalities that lead to cancer. Almost one thousand women aged eighteen to sixty were enrolled and their supplementation habits reviewed. Vitamins A, C, E, calcium were significantly linked with a lower risk of abnormal cervical lesions in women with high risk HPV infection.

Managing sleep changes:
- keep your bedroom cool and dark
- use layered bedding that can be easily removed during the night 
- dress in light cotton nightclothes
- cool down with an electric fan or air conditioner
- keep a frozen cold pack under the pillow, and turn the pillow often so that the head is always resting on a cool surface
- keep cool water at the beside to sip when awakening during the night

Treatment of sleep disturbances should first focus on improving sleep routine with good sleep hygiene. This includes avoiding heavy meals in the evening and adjusting levels of light, noise, and temperature in the bedroom. Avoiding alcohol, caffeine, and nicotine throughout the entire day, not just during the evening, can help increase sleep efficiency and total sleep time. Daily exercising can also help ease insomnia, but exercising close to bedtime may have the opposite effect. When lifestyle changes fail to alleviate sleep disturbances, a clinician should be consulted to discuss other options and to rule out sleep disorders, such as thyroid abnormalities, allergies, anemia, restless leg, depression, or sleep apnea (breathing problems).

Chocolate and the heart
In a study about 500 elderly men, the regular consumption of 5 to 10 grams of chocolate containing 70 percent cocoa was associated with a 50 percent drop in the mortality rate related to the cardiovascular system. A study involving more than 1200 elderly women showed that those who frequently ate dark chocolate enjoyed a drop of almost 40 percent in their risk of cardiovascular disease.
Substances known as proanthocyanidins – also present in cocoa – modify the expression and activity of proteins involved in the transportation of cholesterol, causing an increase in good cholesterol (HDL) and a reduction of bad cholesterol (LDL). Cocoa flavonols also reduce the aggregation of platelets in the blood vessels, and inhibit inflammation of the cells lining the arteries. Both of these actions reduce the likelihood of clotting.
Chocolate and blood pressure
Closely associated with cardiovascular disease is elevated blood pressure or hypertension. The flavonols in dark chocolate have also been shown to help reduce blood pressure. They achieve this by increasing the activity of nitrous oxide in the blood vessels.

Much of chocolate’s appealing taste and texture can be attributed to the combination of fat and sugar. One ounce of chocolate delivers about 9 grams of fat, which is divided into three types:
- stearic acid – a saturated fat that doesn’t increase cholesterol
- oleic acid – the same healthy monosaturated fat that’s in olive oil
- palmitic acid – another saturated fat which does increase cholesterol and therefore heart attack risk
Chocolate is also a source of oxalate (a compound also found in spinach) which inhibits calcium absorption from the digestive tract and increases its excretion in the urine. Those who consumed chocolate every day were found to have lower bone density and strength compared with those who did not have any chocolate.

Tips for healthy living:
- never skip breakfast
- if your sense of taste has faded, perk up your food with herbs and spices
- if you don’t have much of an appetite, divide your food into five or six small meals spread throughout the day
- if you have difficulty swallowing, try hearty soups and stews
- drink plenty of water. People tend to become less thirsty as they get older, but the body still needs the same amount of water
- take your multivitamin if you need at the same time every day with food so it becomes part of your daily routine
- select foods that are high in fibre. This will help prevent constipation and may reduce your risk of developing certain types of cancer
- be sure to get enough sleep
- keep physically and mentally active. Walk, garden, solve crossword puzzles, read, etc.
- start a new hobby, learn a new skill, or take a class to keep your mind active
- stay connected to family and friends and participate in social activities
- laugh often and enjoy life

List of reference:
Developed by a leading Swedish ENT (Ear, Nose, and Throat) doctor. Has been extensively clinically studied and documented to: open nasal passages to allow for a major increase in air flow. Reducing or eliminating snoring, and some forms of sleep apnea. Eliminate the feeling of stuffy nose from colds, allergies and, greatly reduce or eliminate unhealthy mouth breathing.
Source: www.snoringcure.ca

Research on tai chi participation demonstrates:
- reduced psychological stress and improved self-image in teenage students
- reduced tension headaches in constant sufferers
- reduced disability and fatigue in rheumatoid arthritis
- reduced sleeping problems and high blood pressure
- enhanced perceived health in cardiac rehabilitation patients 
- improved balance in older adults, reducing falls
- increased glucose control in diabetics
- reduced cardiovascular risk factors and improved cardiovascular fitness and flexibility in older adults

The meditative aspect brings mental calmness and initiates a relaxation response that reduces the heart rate and blood pressure. Deep breathing increases the flow of oxygen and nutrient-rich blood to the brain to energize and infuse vitality, promote deeper sleep, reduce anxiety and improve mental clarity. The gentle tai chi movements use the muscles that promote the flown of blood and lymph, which increases the efficiency of the immune, digestive, endocrine and other systems. It is not fully known by what mechanism tai chi works such diverse healing miracles.

– It allows us to recharge our energy reserves.
– It is important for the stabilization of emotions.
– It allows for the development of memory.
– It is critical for growth in children, as it is during the night that the secretion of growth hormones is at its highest.

A recent study suggests that sleep could participate in the prevention of colorectal cancer. People who slept less than six hours per day had a 50% higher incidence of polyps than those who received seven or eight hours per night. A lack of sleep can lead to an increased risk of depression, heart disease and stroke.