Smoking and sleep

Nicotine can hamper a person's ability to fall asleep or get good quality sleep. Studies have shown that the average smoker gets 30 minutes less sleep compared to non-smokers. Trouble getting to sleep after a cigarette is likely due to the stimulatory effect of nicotine. Nicotine withdrawal during later sleep periods may also affect sleep…

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Managing mental health and fatigue

When trying to establish the cause of an individual’s fatigue, it is easy to get caught up in the end point, or symptoms, of fatigue. However, start digging a little……

Sleep medication

Sleeping medication may be helpful to overcome short term needs or significant life events, such as grief or high stress events. Sleeping medication can be used to improve sleep quantity……

Depression and the impact on fatigue

While we all experience low mood from time to time, it is important to understand that this is not depression. Depression is more than just a low mood. Depression is……

When should I sleep?

Our levels of alertness and attention are influenced by our circadian rhythms, as shown in the figure below. Circadian rhythms allow us to feel more alert during the day and……

Is it possible to have too much sleep each night?

It is still largely unknown how many exact hours of sleep per day are needed in adults, according to their age, their environmental and socio-cultural characteristics. It is generally cited……

Getting enough exercise

We’ve talked about all the benefits of physical activity, but how do we know your fitness is causing you to lack energy and feel fatigued? Ask yourself these questions: Do……

Food quality & fatigue

You are what you repeatedly eat! The food that you eat provides the fuel for your body to do everything it needs to do, every second, of every single day.……

Fitness levels

REGULAR PHYSICAL ACTIVITY leads to improved physical and functional (i.e. real-life, every day activities) fitness which has a major impact on reducing fatigue. This is because increasing fitness enables our……

Napping

Effective napping is a skill, which cannot be achieved by everyone. Napping cannot replace sleep, but can assist in times of sleep debt, extreme tiredness and/or when heightened alertness is……

Meal type and fatigue

It is often promoted that foods high in carbohydrate make you drowsy because they increase the uptake of the amino acid tryptophan by the brain. Tryptophan is a chemical that……