Rest Up and Stress-Proof Your Holiday Schedule

Marygrace Zetkulic, M.D.
Hackensack University Medical Center

Thanksgiving is behind us, and with just over a month until Christmas, the "most wonderful" (and "most nerve racking")  time of year is in full swing. 

Family. Finances. A tree in your house.

Our holiday to-do list can feel immense when it seems to hit us all at once, and it's commonplace to simply accept our anxieties keeping us awake at night. 

As routine 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. In addition to restoring the immune system, adequate sleep  is central to maintaining energy and focus, which are essential for keeping a cool head when confronting holiday stress.

In this time of giving, make sure to give yourself what you need to keep from feeling overwhelmed and stay well rested into the new year.

Here are some tips from Marygrace Zetkulic, M.D., director of Medical Education in the Department of Medicine at Hackensack University Medical Center, to cope with and avoid holiday stress:

• Discuss plans in advance. If you can’t be with one branch of the family for the holidays, breaking the news early can prevent hurt feelings. If you have a child returning from college, don’t focus entirely on his or her visit. This can help prevent the January letdown.
• Don’t feel you have to perform every holiday activity. Give yourself permission to let some things slide, like that seven-step holiday recipe. Feeling hassled by housework? Ask a friend to help you bake or decorate, then return the favor.
• Don’t budge on your budget. Small, thoughtful gifts can bring great delights and prevent post-holiday financial woes.
• Don’t do all your heavy lifting at the mall. Try to move your body every day. Give yourself the gift of a yoga class or exercise video.
• Have a strategy for handling family get-togethers. For example, plan your polite-but-firm response to that nosy relative with the knack for asking uncomfortable questions.
• Find a volunteer opportunity or reach out to a relative or neighbor who needs assistance.

“Even if only for a few hours, volunteering can take the focus off your own holiday tasks and remind you how good it feels to help others,” adds Dr. Zetkulic.

To Nap, or Not To Nap?

With 3 out of 10 U.S. adults now clocking in 6 hours of sleep or less per night, it makes sense that daytime napping would be a viable solution for recovering some of that lost slumber.

Sleep is essential for your mind and body. It keeps you alert and focused. It helps cement memories. It may even boost your immune system, protecting you from illnesses such as diabetes and heart disease. Given the benefits sleep can impart, napping should be a no-brainer for better health, right?

Unfortunately, the research has doled out mixed results. For instance, napping may relieve stress and improve alertness. It may also be good for your emotions. One study found napping may thwart negative feelings like frustration and impulsiveness.

But daytime napping may have a dark side.

Some past studies suggest napping may shorten your life. That may be especially true if you nap for more than 1 hour a day. One possible reason for this connection: People who nap more may have an undiagnosed health condition. Napping has been linked to diseases such as diabetes and depression. Or people who nap may simply not sleep well at night — a serious hex on your overall health.

More research is needed to fully decide if napping is a boon or a bust for your health. But it still may not be the best way to make up for lost slumber. Why? Naps don’t give your body enough time in deep sleep. That’s the most restorative stage of sleeping.

Yet, many people all over the world enjoy napping on a regular basis. For example, siestas are a daily ritual in Mediterranean countries. And experts recommend naps for people who work the night shift, suffer from jet lag, or have narcolepsy — a sleep disorder that causes a person to fall asleep suddenly and unexpectedly.

If you want to take a daytime nap, here are some tips that will help you better catch that extra shut-eye.

Lack of Sleep Increasing Among Single Parents

The engine of family is sacrifice - prioritizing our schedules, our interests, often even our own health, to meet the needs of those who depend on us the most.

And nobody understands these sacrifices more than single parents.

However, a new study reveals that single parents - mothers in particular - are undercutting their own long-term health in favor of more immediate family demands.

As reported on Huffington Post and NJ.com, single parents - mothers in particular - consistently have both the least and lowest quality sleep, 43 percent of single moms and 37 percent of single dads, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics.

According to Huffington Post, this study is especially important as the increasing number of single-parent households continues to rise, and while traditional health studies about single-parent families have tended to focus on the well-being of children, experts are increasing their attention toward the adults in the equation.

NJ.com also noted that, when it comes to sleep, women seemed to come up short across the board.

"Women of all family types were more likely than men, in the same family type, to have more trouble falling asleep and staying asleep, and to frequently wake feeling not well-rested," according to the CDC survey. 

You can access the complete CDC report here.

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.

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."

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.

Dr. Carol Ash drops by "CBS This Morning" to discuss sleep schedules, work schedules and healthy tips for balancing both

Athlete's Decision to Undergo Facial Surgery Draws Further Attention to Seriousness of Sleep Disorders

According to an article on ESPN Boston, Red Sox first baseman Mike Napoli will undergo surgery in early November to treat his sleep apnea.

The decision is yet another call to action for public discourse on the seriousness of sleep apnea and the ongoing struggle roughly 18 million Americans have with this potentially life threatening disorder, characterized by brief interruptions of breathing during sleep.

The procedure Napoli will undergo is called bimaxillary advancement surgery, which separates the front portions of the lower and upper jaw and moves them forward to allow more room behind the tongue, reducing the chances of obstruction.

 Carol Ash, DO, Director of Sleep Medicine for Meridian Health, had this to say during a recent interview with CBS This Morning:

"When we go to sleep at night, our muscles lose tone and our airways start to narrow. This is true of all of us, but we can continue to breathe."

"But in people with sleep apnea, when they lose that muscle tone, their airway collapses all the way down. Airflow is compromised and oxygen can't get in."

Bimaxillary advancement surgery is just one of a range of treatment options used to treat sleep apnea, which include Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP).

CPAP utilizes an air splint, which blows air to the back of the throat, splinting the airway open so it can't collapse.

During the interview, Dr. Ash discussed another potentially game changing advancement in sleep technology, currently awaiting FDA approval, called a pulse generator. By sensing the body's effort to breathe, the device stimulates nerves in the neck contriving the muscles that keep the airway open.

"When you look at the range sleep disorders, and how we are just not getting enough sleep, this is the biggest public health issue facing society today," Ash says.

Deciphering the Enigma of Your Slumber's Multiverse

We've all had those types of dreams. Whether funny, creepy or just plain bizarre, they're the dreams we can't seem to shake, at least until we get an answer to "What did that mean??"

On FOX News' "While You Were Sleeping" segment, Dr. Carol Ash took on that very question and offered insight into the body's slumber responses and how to go about "decoding the mysteries of your mind and unlocking the meaning from your dreams."

"You have to remember that the brain is taking in all the old information and new information and processing it in new patterns to help you come up with solutions to the problems of the day," Ash says. "Dreaming allows you to work through all those negative emotions and solve them in a safe environment, your bedroom."

Watch the full segment below to hear Dr. Ash's interpretation of dream scenarios such as losing control of a vehicle, being chased, being lost and having your teeth fall out (which is more common than you think.)