Top Health Stories of 2015: Preventive Medicine News Evokes Unmatched Response

As another year passes on into our rearview, so too arrives the opportunity to look toward a new year full of bold challenges and uncharted horizons. Before we set off on our journey toward a healthier, happier 2016, let's look back on some of our most popular stories of the year, courtesy of our own Meridian Health experts.

Sleep Well, Wake Healthy

In November, nationally renowned sleep expert Carol Ash, D.O, director of sleep medicine for Meridian Health, was the keynote speaker for “Power of an Hour.” The free event, held at Oyster Point Hotel in Red Bank, focused on the ways sleep habits can impact (and be impacted by) stress management, fitness, diet and overall health.

“We are dealing with a health crisis right now,” Ash said. “Sleep is the backbone of your health.”

Watch video from the event here.

Light Up Your Life

2015 was a year of adversity in many forms, challenges we all felt the brunt of in some way. When adversity seems insurmountable, it’s all too easy to be overcome by stress, anxiety and depression - serious health conditions with potentially life-threatening consequences. On November 18, Stacy Doumas, M.D., director of education for the department of psychiatry at Jersey Shore University Medical Center, hosted a special inspirational event in which she shared tips for maintaining mental and emotional strength in the face of adversity. Read Dr. Doumas’ piece, “Light Up Your Life: Celebrating Your Life, Helping Others & Finding Hope.”

Changes to Mammography Guidelines

In response to the American Cancer Society’s revised mammography screening guidelines, Denise Johnson-Miller, M.D., FACS, medical director of breast surgery for Meridian Health, offered several important points to keep in mind when considering these new recommendations. Read Dr. Johnson-Miller’s article here.

Mighty, Mighty Metabolism

Weight management and the obesity epidemic continued to dominate headlines in 2015. In March, Alexandra Woodrick, M.S., weight management coach and clinical exercise specialist at Meridian Fitness & Wellness at Jackson, contributed a piece for Meridian Weightless that helped explain the relationship between weight loss and body metabolism.

Read Alexandra’s article here.

Sleep Expert, Dr. Carol Ash On Huff Post Live -- 'There's No Right Way To Pull An All-Nighter'

Watch this informative interview on HuffPost Rise with Meridian Sleep Expert, Dr. Carol Ash as she discusses how college students who 'pull all nighters' to study are negatively affecting their health with lack of sleep. 

WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW HERE

Millions of American college students will be taking final exams this week, which means that many of them will be staying up trying to boost their competitive edge. What they should know is that 8 hours will put them light years ahead of their classmates. Watch as Dr. Carol Ash, Director of Sleep Medicine at Meridian explains.

Don't Let Holiday Stress Keep You Awake at Night

With Thanksgiving less than a day away, and just a month until Christmas, we're once again reminded how quickly "the most wonderful time of the year" can also become the most stressful.

Family. Finances. A tree in your house. Holiday stressors can feel immense when they all seem to hit at once, and in today's society, it's almost commonplace to simply "give in" to our anxieties keeping us awake at night.

According to a recent article in the New York Times,  Why Sleep Matters, nearly a quarter of Americans don't get enough shut-eye because they're too busy “concentrating on things."

 As commonplace as it may seem, however, losing sleep to stress is unhealthy and counterproductive.

"Lack of sleep can contribute to numerous health issues, including higher prevalence of chronic pain, high blood pressure, obesity, Type 2 diabetes, heart disease and premature aging," says Carol Ash, D.O., Director of Sleep Medicine for Meridian Health.

In addition to restoring the immune system, sleep is vital to the energy and focus necessary to handling the life's most stressful situations head on. To break the stress-insomnia-stress cycle and get to sleep when your mind is in overdrive, Dr. Ash recommends a few different techniques.

"Find a cause. Studies show volunteering and pro bono work helps create external focus and connects us to others," Dr. Ash says. "These types of commitments help people find purpose and meaning in life, which can help eliminate racing thoughts at night."

"For a more immediate solution, try deep breaths," she adds. "Mindful breathing helps you relax and clear your mind prior to bedtime."

Advice For The Sleep Deprived With Dr. Carol Ash - Power of An Hour Event

"Carol Ash, director of sleep medicine for Meridian Health and a national sleep expert, was the keynote speaker for the event. Ash said sleep deprivation is the cause of many chronic diseases, impairs the immune system, lowers metabolism and leads to stress. She told attendees that people need seven to nine hours of sleep each day to function. "It's important to get the information out to the community about why you need to be getting the sleep you need because we are really dealing with a crisis right now," Ash said. "Sleep is the backbone of your health."Read more from this informative event -- http://www.app.com/story/news/health/sleep/2015/11/07/event-offers-advice-sleep-deprived/75364846/

Power of An Hour Event with Dr. Carol Ash

“Fall back” without falling back

It’s the gift that comes once a year—an extra hour of precious sleep.

You’ll hear few complaints when that biannual agrarian ritual known as daylight savings time comes to a close at 2 a.m., Sunday, November 1.

But if you are truly looking to wake up refreshed with more energy to face the day, you might want to rethink spending that extra hour in bed once the sun comes up.

"There is a clock in your brain. That clock keeps your internal environment in sync with your eternal environment, and the most important signal for that clock is the light," says Carol Ash, D.O., Director of Sleep Medicine for Meridian Health. “That internal clock isn't flexible enough to adjust quickly to the time jump,” she said.

If you truly want to maximize the benefits of that extra hour, the tried and true rules of healthy sleep still apply: Go to bed at a reasonable hour, get the best sleep you can, and get up when the sun comes up.

When it comes to "resetting" that internal clock, Dr. Ash recommends natural, cost effective alternatives to over-the-counter sleep medications, which she calls "short term solutions to recurring problems."

One potential remedy Dr. Ash lists is mindful breathing, an elegant solution for alleviating stress and achieving deep rest.

Dr. Ash adds that by making just a few changes to adapt the right sleep habits, you can create the feeling of having an extra hour not just once a year—but every day.  

On November 7 at The Oyster Point Hotel in Red Bank, Dr. Ash and a team of Meridian Health experts will present “The Power of an Hour,” a morning devoted to helping you sleep better, eat better, stress less, and develop lifelong habits to create a healthier, better-rested you!

Learn more and register for our Power of an Hour event here.

Decoding Your Dreams

Carol Ash, D.O., director of Sleep Medicine for Meridian Health, recently stopped by the Fox & Friends studio to discuss the meaning behind some of our most common dream-time scenarios, including being chased, being cheated on by a partner, and more.

So what do they all mean? Watch Dr. Carol Ash on Fox & Friends below and find out! Be sure to visit MeridianHealth.com/Sleep to learn more about the Meridian Centers for Sleep Medicine.