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4 foolproof cures for insomnia

Some 70 million Americans have trouble getting’ a good night’s sleep. To go down quickly — and stay down for the count — try these suggestions from sleep scientists.

Lose A LITTLE
Chronic sleep debt can lead to weight gain. And added weight can, itself, lead to interrupted sleep by causing sleep apnea, a condition characterized by episodes of interrupted breathing during sleep. To break the poor sleep/weight gain cycle, strive to lose 5 to 10 percent of your weight (check with your doctor to see what’s appropriate for you). Studies indicate that both the sleep apnea and the actual quality of your sleep will improve.

Sweat a lot
To keep your sleep dreamy and your weight down — sweat regularly. In a classic study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, Stanford University researchers found that people who exercised for 30 to 40 minutes, four times a week, were able to cut the time it took them to fall asleep by an average of 15 minutes.

Hit the right note
A recent study of older adults with sleep problems found that listening to soothing music at bedtime resulted in better sleep quality, longer sleep, and a shorter time to shut-eye. Plus, those measures all improved by the week, indicating that music can have a cumulative, ever snoozier effect.

Get some sun
Sleep experts recommend exposure to an hour of morning sunlight for people having problems falling asleep. Natural light synchronizes the inner clock that regulates sleep, nudging the body into wakefulness by day and sleepiness at night.

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Many women have diarrhea, gas, or constipation during their periods. Prostaglandins, the chemicals that cause cramping in your uterus, do the same in your bowels. “For lots of women, it’s common to have a loose stool or diarrhea on the day they have a lot of bleeding,” says Leslie Miller, MD, University of Washington-Seattle clinical associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology.

Stomach pain treatment

Fiber can help keep GI issues under control. Aim for 30 grams a day from cereal, fruit with the skin, and vegetables. But don’t add fiber to your diet too fast when you get your period; that could worsen diarrhea. For constipation, check your habits. Miller says women often hold in bowel movements because they’re in public places. Before you know it, you are bloated and constipated. “When you get the urge, go,” Miller advises.

Ibuprofen and other similar anti-inflammatory medicines may reduce gastro cramping. To avoid tummy irritation, take it with food.

About two-thirds of regularly menstruating women have premenstrual symptoms, says Jean Endicott, PhD, director of the Premenstrual Evaluation Unit at Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons. It could be headaches, breast tenderness, or big, unpleasant mood swings. Up to 8 percent of women who have PMS suffer mood changes severe enough to cause problems in their personal lives and daily routines; this more serious version of PMS is called premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD).

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Ten million American women have heavy bleeding, also called menorrhagia. (The average woman loses about three to four tablespoons per cycle; more than five tablespoons is considered heavy.)

Heavy menstrual bleeding treatment
NovaSure, in which a wand is inserted into the uterus through the cervix, emits energy that, in most cases, permanently removes the uterine lining. It’s best for women who, like Katherine Sutherland, no longer want to have children. (Getting pregnant after having the uterine lining removed could be risky.) The five-minute procedure is done in a gynecologist’s office. Many women report lighter bleeding right away. And a recent study found that after seven years, more than 95 percent stopped having periods.

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Virtually all women in their child-bearing years have period pain (or dysmenorrhea). In fact, it’s a leading reason for calling in sick to work or school. “Your uterus is a muscle, and it squeezes really hard,” says Susan Haas, MD, an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Boston University. “Sometimes it can squeeze so hard it blocks the arteries coming into it. Just like in a heart attack, when the arteries are blocked, it causes pain.”

Pain killers treatment
Naproxen, aspirin, and ibuprofen help by short-circuiting the production of pain-causing chemicals called prostaglandins that are involved in muscle contractions. They work best if you start an hour before your cramps hit. “Load up with a double dose and keep the blood level up,” Haas says. (The maximum safe daily dose of ibu-profen is 2,400 milligrams, or 12 200-mg pills. Take the minimum dosage that works for you.) Right when you get your period, start with 800 mg and then go to 600 mg every six hours. But talk to your doctor if you have elevated heart disease risks; the Food and Drug. Administration (FDA) recently reported that all NSAIDs, except aspirin, may heighten cardiovascular risks. And remember that extended use of high dosages of aspirin or NSAIDs may cause gastrointestinal troubles.

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Canker sore treatment. A flavored patch may heal canker sore fast.

Canker sores can be especially painful for women, though no one’s sure why. It could be a hormone thing-women are most susceptible to the sores the week before their periods. But, fortunately, there’s a new patch that may help cut the cure time for the sores from a couple of weeks to a few days.

Canker medicine, which eventually dissolve in your mouth, contain collagen to help them stick to the sore and are flavored with black licorice, long used as a natural anti-inflammatory.

Whether or not licorice is a canker cure-all, doctors seem to agree that simply covering a sore with the patch may reduce pain.
Don’t like licorice? No problem. Just try this pain-relieving trick three or four times a day: Clean the canker sore with one part hydrogen peroxide and one part water, using a cotton swab to dab it directly on the sore. Follow with a small amount of soothing milk of magnesia.

New remedies for irritable bowel

Just when you thought it was safe to come out of the bathroom, the popular irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) drug Zelnorm—blamed for boosting the risk of heart attack and stroke-gets pulled off the market. That’s a tough break if you’re among the estimated 30 million American women with IBS. When untreated, the disorder keeps many women stuck at home (or in the ladies room) with constipation, diarrhea, and pain. The good news? Alternative remedies (and even a promising new drug) may be able to control your symptoms. Here’s what experts suggest.

ID your triggers.
What you eat, and how much, can stress out your gut and aggravate IBS. “There can be certain triggers,” says Douglas Drossman, MD, co-director of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Center for Functional Gastrointestinal and Motility Disorders. “High-fat foods can stimulate the bowel. Just filling the stomach quickly stresses it. Large meals can do it. One recommendation is to slow down when you eat and have frequent small meals.” Keeping track of what you eat and your symptoms can help; for an online diary, go to Health.com/links.

Ask about Amitiza.
This constipation medicine debuted last year and is now being used as a Zelnorm replacement. Early findings are promising (but so were the early reports on Zelnorm).

Get more fiber.
Try eating more apples, oatmeal, whole-grain bread, and air-popped popcorn. Vegetables can help, too, but build up gradually—too much too soon may make the problem worse.

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