Integrative Night Health: A New Approach to Improving Sleep

"The worst thing in the world is to try to sleep and not to."   

                                                        - F. Scott Fitzgerald

Today we have a special guest blogger - Rubin Naiman, PhD. Dr. Naiman is a published author, colleague, and friend who specializes in helping people with sleep problems. His practice is based in Tucson, Arizona. Here is a short overview of his views on sleep:

"For millions, night is a time of frustration and struggle with sleep problems. Mounting evidence has confirmed that sleep problems are strongly associated with chronic illnesses ranging from cardiovascular disease to diabetes, chronic fatigue to cancer, and obesity to depression. Integrative night health refers to a new approach to sleep that integrates complementary and alternative medicine with the best of conventional approaches.

Simulating Sleep
As the public becomes increasingly aware of the health ramifications of sleep disturbances, more and more people are turning to sleeping pills. In fact, about 42 million prescriptions for sleeping pills were filled last year in the U.S. -- a nearly 60 percent increase over the past five years alone.

Despite clever and seductive advertising, it remains questionable whether sleeping pills provide true sleep. I believe it is more accurate to say that they result in a kind of artificial or simulated sleep. Compared to natural slumber, sleeping pills offer a chemical knockout with potentially serious side effects. Unfortunately, so many of us have slept poorly for so long, we have forgotten what it is like to experience truly restorative, deep and refreshing sleep.

Supplementing Sleep
Various complementary and alternative sleep-facilitating supplements such as melatonin, valerian, and other botanicals appear to support the body’s own sleep promoting mechanisms. Such products work in greater harmony with nature and, unlike conventional drugs, they do not simulate sleep, they supplement sleep. Instead of knocking us out, I think of natural supplements as inviting us to sleep.

As helpful as they might be in inviting sleep, however, sleep supplements alone will not do the trick. In fact, I believe many people become needlessly discouraged and discount the potentially positive benefits of sleep supplements after using them without proper guidance or understanding. Sleep supplements work best when they are personalized and prescriptive, that is, geared to work synergistically as a part of a larger integrative night health program.

Supplementing Supplements
When it comes to night health, one size does not fit all. I believe that our use of supplements must be further supplemented by an intelligent, personalized, and integrative night health program. Because natural sleep aids like melatonin and valerian are usually available over-the-counter, too many people use them without the benefit of professional guidance. Whether we choose melatonin, valerian, or a particular herbal mix should depend upon our individual sleep needs and current health circumstances.

After successfully treating thousands of people from all walks of life for sleep problems, I felt a need to make my approach more widely available. Toward that end, I helped design and develop a new expert software program, The Sleep Advisor, which is built upon an integrative night health philosophy and designed to be sensitive to the needs of individuals with chronic illnesses.

The Sleep Advisor
After completing The Sleep Advisor’s assessment, the program provides an in-depth, personalized Sleep Health Analysis and Guidebook. The Sleep Health Analysis is a listing and explanation of identified sleep problems. The Guidebook offers comprehensive recommendations for addressing these problems, including referral for further evaluation and treatment if needed. Unlike sleep self-help books, The Sleep Advisor does not provide everyone with the same information. Instead, the program tailors recommendations to address each user’s individual needs."

For more information about The Sleep Advisor, visit  the website at:

http://www.thesleepadvisor.com/affiliate.php?af=2032125131

Thanks to Rubin Naiman, PhD for a great overview and ideas for how to sort out your own sleep issues.

To your health,

Iris Bell, MD PhD
Alternative medicine information from a doctor who is also a patient.
http://dririsbell.com
ebook http://gettingwhole.com