Insomnia is annoying, but is it really bad for you? Perhaps so.
If you’re unable to sleep, your heart may not be getting the rest it needs. A new study found that people with insomnia have a heightened nighttime blood pressure. The blood pressure increase may lead to cardiac problems.

“Over many years, chronic insomnia can have negative effects on the hearts of otherwise healthy individuals,” says lead author Paola A. Lanfranchi of the Université de Montréal.
Lanfranchi notes that a decrease in blood pressure at night gives the hearts of sleepers time to rest. However, insomniacs don’t get that benefit. Their higher …read more

News came down today that Michael Jackson officially died from an overdose of propofol. This wasn’t a huge surprise, but now that more information from the autopsy has been released, it does confirm what officials had originally believed. It also gives them more incentive to talk to Michael Jackson’s doctor, Conrad Murray.

Murray gave a statement that confirmed he had been giving Jackson medication to help with insomnia for as long as six weeks prior to the singer’s death. He said “each night he gave Jackson 50 mg of propofol, also known as Diprivan, diluted with the anesthetic lidocaine …read more

Dealing with insomnia each night may cause you more harm than just a groggy morning after. Two new studies point to a “rise in blood pressure” and an “increased risk of suicidal thoughts and behavior” as part of the possible outcomes that can occur when you don’t get enough sleep.

People that had insomnia for a year or longer and slept less than five hours a night were “five times as likely to have high blood pressure.” This confirms that the power is sleep is important. If you are having trouble that you think might be insomnia, seek …read more

Since having my last baby a year ago I’ve taken up yoga. The gym I joined offers classes 3 times a week and watches my kids while I take them. My original motivation was the scale. Post-baby I wasn’t dropping the weight as I had expected, but was watching the scale creep dangerously close to 200 lbs. That was a boundary I didn’t want to cross for fear of never returning to a normal body weight. Here are 10 unexpected benefits I have personally enjoyed as a result of practicing yoga.
1. Lose weight. Yoga is exercise, pure and simple. You will be mystified by …read more