Insomnia

...ba href=/insomnia/a/b problems you've got."Beth Fenner, executive editor of Women's Health magazine(CBS) Millions of Americans have a hard time getting a good night's rest, some more than others.

It could come down to your personality type, in many respects, according to Women's Health magazine executive editor Beth Fenner.

The latest issue of Women's health looks at sleep struggles and how to overcome them.

On The Early Show Monday, Fenner told bco-anchor Harry Smith one thing you don't want to do is turn to sleeping pills for very long.

"You don't really need sleeping pills to get you to sleep," Fenner says.

"In fact, they really should be used for the short-term.

There are other, really effective things you can do to combat whatever ba href=/insomnia/a/b problems you've got." Those problems may depend on the type of person you are, Fenner says.

For instance, "the worrier" is the type of person whose mind is racing and is thinking, 'Should I pack my lunch tomorrow?

What about the kids?

Did I get my presentation ready for work tomorrow?

' This kind of person starts to worry about not sleeping, and it becomes this vicious cycle.

Pretty soon, he or she really can't get to sleep.

"It sounds counterintuitive.

But sleep labs do sleep restriction.

They say, 'Fine.

Go to bed two hours later than you normally would.' So, for a short time, you're totally exhausted, because it squashes your sleep into a really small period of time.

"When you do go to bed, you're so tired that you fall asleep immediately, and ...

...ba href=/insomnia/a/b (trouble falling asleep or staying asleep, or unrefreshing sleep), sleep apnea (brief periods of pauses in breathing or shallow breathing while you are sleeping), restless legs syndrome (an almost irresistible urge to move the legs that can make it difficult to fall asleep or stay asleep), and narcolepsy (excessive and overwhelming daytime sleepiness despite adequate nighttime sleep) are also described with information on diagnosis and treatment.

In addition, a sample sleep diary helps readers track their sleep-related habits.

Sleep needs vary from person to person, and they change throughout the lifecycle.

Newborns sleep between 16 and 18 hours a day, and children in preschool sleep between 10 and 12 hours a day.

School-aged children and teens need at least 9 hours of sleep a day.

Research suggests that adults - including seniors - need at least 7 to 8 hours of sleep each day to be well rested and to perform at their best.

Studies have linked sleep to our ability to learn, create memories, and solve problems.

Sleep has also been tied to mood.

Without enough sleep, a person has trouble focusing, and responding quickly - a potentially dangerous combination, such as when driving.

In addition, mounting evidence links a chronic lack of sleep with an increased risk for developing obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and infections.

The quality of sleep is also important.

How well rested you are and how well you function the next day depend on your total sleep tim...

...ba href=/insomnia/a/b, weight gain, chronic fatigue, depression, and anxiety.

Although treatments for breast cancer have progressed rapidly, treatment for these secondary complaints has only recently been compared.

There are several physical options available for the management of these secondary issues involving breast cancer survivors.

The researchers compared aerobic and weight training and found weight training produced better results.

Tetsuya Ohira, M.D.

of the Division of Epidemiology and Community Health at the University of Minnesota and colleagues found that weight training improved the women's overall physical and psychosocial quality of life score and global psychological scores compared with controls.

They found significant improvements in body mass and upper body strength.

Evidently this had the greatest impact on symptoms.

A recent study of the effect of aerobic exercise on quality of life among recently treated breast cancer survivors showed to positively affect only half the number of survivors as the six months of strength training.

The strength / weight training study involved eighty-six women within 36 months of treatment, who were assigned either a weight training exercise program or no treatment.

This was the first study to evaluate weight training and its effect on quality of life among breast cancer survivors.

"Changes in body composition and strength," conclude the authors, may empower these women with "a sense of return to feeling in cont...