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to your Address Book or Safe List. Learn how here. | August 18, 2011 | |  |  | Is Your Bedroom Dark Enough? | | | Should Women Take Statin Drugs? | | | Mighty Mushrooms Combat Breast Cancer | | | New INSTANT Cure for Extra High Cholesterol—Cholesterol Drops 100 Points or More | | | Fascinating Facts | | | |  |  | |  | |
 | | Is Your Bedroom Dark Enough? A friend recently told me about a museum sleepover she chaperoned for her kid’s class. When I asked her how it went, she rolled her eyes. Though her inflatable mattress was comfortable enough, they’d had to sleep with half the ceiling lights on. The next day she was exhausted. It’s no wonder my friend slept so poorly. In a recent survey by the National Sleep Foundation, 73% of respondents said that a dark room was important to getting a good night’s sleep. And scientists agree. Recently, researchers found that hamsters exposed to dim lights (equal to the illumination from a television screen) nightly for eight weeks showed more symptoms of depression than hamsters who slept in the dark. And an eight-week study on mice showed that those exposed to dim light at night gained about 50% more weight than mice keep in nighttime darkness—even though food intake and activity levels were the same in both groups. Are humans vulnerable to the same effects? We very well might be. I called Meir H. Kryger, MD, director of sleep medicine research and education at Gaylord Sleep Medicine of Gaylord Hospital in Wallingford, Connecticut, and author of A Woman’s Guide to Sleep Disorders. He explained that, when it’s dark, the pineal gland in the brain produces the hormone melatonin, which makes you sleepier and also affects your circadian rhythm (internal clock). Excess light at night inhibits melatonin production, which can wreak havoc with your sleep/wake cycle. This can be particularly problematic for women, given that we are already twice as likely as men to suffer from insomnia. What’s more: Melatonin also plays a role in regulating blood pressure and blood glucose levels—making it even more important to keep your bedroom sufficiently dark. How dark is dark enough? You should not be able to see details in your room at night even after your eyes habituate to the darkness, Dr. Kryger said. If your room is too bright... Get light-blocking window blinds or shades, if necessary, to keep out streetlights and other ambient light... or at least wear a sleep mask. Keep the hall light off. If other household members are still awake when you go to bed, shut your door. Replace your illuminated alarm clock. Choose one with a built-in feature that automatically dims the clock face at night or that illuminates only when you press a button. You might even try getting rid of your alarm clock! While this seems like a shocking proposal to those of us who fear that we’ll sleep in until noon, Dr. Kryger said that most people do not actually need an alarm clock because they wake up before it goes off. Turn off the tube. If you or your partner cannot get to sleep unless the television is on, there’s help. A psychologist trained in cognitive behavioral therapy can retrain a person to fall asleep without the television. Alternative: Invest in a television with a built-in timer that turns itself off and program it to do so at a time after which you would typically be asleep. Check for other sources of light. Lie in your bed and look around. Is light coming from a computer, house phone, cell phone, cable box, alarm keypad or any other device? Unplug it, block its glow or move the device to another room. If you need a night-light to find your way to the bathroom safely, be sure to use one that is very dim (try an energy-efficient LED night-light) and place it where its slight illumination will not disturb your slumber. Source: Meir H. Kryger, MD, is the director of sleep medicine research and education at Gaylord Sleep Medicine of Gaylord Hospital in Wallingford, Connecticut. He is a past president of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Canadian Sleep Society and currently serves on the board of directors of the National Sleep Foundation. The author of A Woman’s Guide to Sleep Disorders (McGraw-Hill), he has been researching and treating women’s sleep problems for nearly 30 years.
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 | | Should Women Take Statin Drugs? Here’s a radical thought. Your doctor tells you to take Lipitor® or Zocor® or some other best-selling cholesterol drug, and you refuse. Not because of the oft-reported side effects—but because you’re a woman. Says who? Say two world-acclaimed mainstream women doctors. We put the question to Judith Walsh, MD, MPH, associate clinical professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco—and Beatrice A. Golomb, MD, PhD, professor of medicine at the University of California, San Diego. Both mainstream doctors have nothing against prescription drugs—when they work. But both say there’s simply no evidence that statin drugs work for women. | |
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 | | Mighty Mushrooms Combat Breast Cancer Breast cancer. Those two words strike fear into the heart of just about any woman—and with good reason. According to the American Cancer Society, nearly 290,000 new cases of breast cancer will be diagnosed in the US in 2011. Such statistics can leave us feeling that it is only a matter of time before breast cancer affects us or someone we love. So when I attended the recent Integrative Healthcare Symposium in New York City and met Cynthia Bye, ND, a naturopathic doctor based in Vancouver, Washington, I was intrigued to hear that she often prescribes mushroom extracts for patients who want to be proactive in improving their immune function and reducing their cancer risk. And in fact, a growing body of research suggests that certain mushrooms are powerful weapons in the fight against breast cancer and other cancers. For instance, various mushrooms... - Contain chemicals (including conjugated linoleic acid) that act as aromatase inhibitors. Aromatase is an enzyme in fat tissue that converts testosterone to estrogen. Since estrogen fuels many breast tumors, certain mushrooms combat breast cancer by suppressing aromatase activity.
- Increase apoptosis, the natural programmed death of old, worn-out cells. This acts as a check against the cells becoming cancerous (since cancer cells proliferate instead of undergoing apoptosis).
- Stimulate the immune response through the action of beta glucans, substances that support the production and/or function of various disease-fighting cells, including white blood cells, T-cells and natural killer cells.
Simply eating more mushrooms may be good for you—but for maximum therapeutic effects, consider mushroom extracts. Reason: The beta glucans are in the mushrooms’ cell walls, which you cannot digest. To get the beta glucans, Dr. Bye said, you need mushroom supplements prepared through a process called hot water extraction. Dr. Bye recommended using mushroom extracts only under the guidance of a naturopathic doctor who is trained in their use, to assure that you receive a formulation specifically tailored to your needs. Mushrooms come in many different varieties—coriolus, crimini, maitake, portobello, reishi, shiitake, white button, etc.—and each has its own distinct health benefits. The extracts best suited to helping a healthy person stay healthy are not the same as those that might be prescribed for a person with compromised immunity... or for a woman at high risk for cancer... or for a woman with a history of breast cancer who wants to reduce the risk for recurrence. Referrals: American Association of Naturopathic Physicians (866-538-2267, www.Naturopathic.org). Source: Cynthia Bye, ND, is a naturopathic physician specializing in complementary cancer care at Journey to Wellness, her private practice in Vancouver, Washington. She is a graduate of the National College of Naturopathic Medicine in Portland, Oregon, a past board member of the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians and a current member of the board of directors of the Ovarian Cancer Alliance of Oregon and Southwest Washington. www.CynthiaBye.com
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| | | Fascinating Facts 12%... US physicians who, given a "do-over," say that they "definitely would not" become doctors. Source: Medscape Physician Compensation Survey 53%... Emergency department doctors who report that fear of lawsuits is the main reason for ordering the number of tests they do. Source: American College of Emergency Physicians Poll $159,000... Average yearly income of primary care doctors and pediatricians in the US. Source: Medscape Physician Compensation Survey
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 | |  Tamara Eberlein, the editor of HealthyWoman from Bottom Line, has been a health journalist for nearly three decades. An award-winning author or coauthor of four books, she is committed to helping other women in midlife and beyond live healthy, fulfilling lives. Her latest book is the updated, third edition of When You’re Expecting Twins, Triplets, or Quads (HarperCollins). She is also the "chief health adviser" to her husband of 26 years and three college-age children. | |  | | Bottom Line Publications | 281 Tresser Boulevard, 8th Floor | Stamford, CT 06901
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