HEALTH & WELLNESS
Doctor , why can ’ t I sleep when I ’ m off duty ? A growing epidemic in our law enforcement community
Unfortunately , I hear this too often from our patients in law enforcement with working hours that change routinely . Consistency is very important , and attempting to alter the body ’ s natural sleep patterns can result in abnormal rhythms and behaviors .
It is not uncommon to hear from our law enforcement patients , “ Doctor , my internal clock is messed up .” They are referring to their circadian rhythms .
DR . MAZ The body has circadian rhythms that signal the brain to be awake and go to sleep . At night when it gets dark , the brain signals the production of melatonin and serotonin , which causes you to go to sleep . So requiring a person to be alert at night works against the body ’ s ability and natural rhythms . Prolonged interruptions of this routine may cause damage to multiple functions of the body including brain alertness , fatigue and depression .
People in professions such as law enforcement , healthcare and security who may be required to change their shift schedule every week or month make up most of the sleep-deprived population . In doing their jobs , they create harm for their bodies . This is alarming , since these are some of the professions that require the greatest degree of alertness . Sleep deprivation affects millions of Americans . It slows down the body ’ s ability to eliminate toxins . Sleep is essential for the body to detoxify and rest the organs for the next day ’ s activity .
While we advise having a continuous morning shift as a standard and good routine , we realize that this is almost an impossibility in some professions . However , it is highly recommended not to alter working schedules on a daily , weekly or monthly basis .
TV and electronics are also a major component — and many times the cause — of those sleepless nights . We are all addicted to our phones , iPads , TVs , social media accounts and so on . Watching TV or using our cellphones before sleep is a bad habit that most of us do have . Some fall asleep with their phone in their hand . As a result , the brain keeps firing at a high frequency , preventing the ability to relax , fall asleep and stay asleep . There is a neurologic basis behind this that we will not get into , but there are certain “ repairs ” your body needs to make that can only be done at rest . If you are not getting the rest you need , your body cannot repair . It ’ s as simple as that .
Without proper diagnosis to find the true cause , these patients become medically managed with pills and drugs to be able to fall sleep without addressing the true cause . Unfortunately , patients can develop a dependency to medications and become worse . As they say , you need to treat the fire and not just the smoke . In many cases , sleep problems are caused by a functional problem that needs to be addressed by a functional medicine doctor , not to be self-diagnosed nor be remedied by sleeping pills .
I advise taking the TV out of the bedroom — or even out of the house completely . It is too stimulating to the brain . TV also negatively affects your pineal gland ’ s ability to make melatonin .
Avoid caffeine . Seems like a no-brainer , right ? A recent study showed that in some people , caffeine is not processed efficiently . These people can feel the effects long after drinking it . So an afternoon cup of coffee ( or even tea ) will keep some people from falling asleep at night . I am one of them .
Another factor that affects sleep quality is your gut function . Some people refer to the gut as the second brain , but I refer to it as the first brain . Food sensitivity is a very common underdiagnosed condition . The only way to know what foods you are sensitive to is to get tested . Food sensitivity may present in a nontraditional way that neither patients nor traditional doctors may relate to insomnia . Inability to sleep , attention deficit , brain fog , cloudy thinking , depression and anxiety could be directly related to food sensitivity . I have seen many patients who have never thought to make the connection between food and sleep . If you are sensitive to some foods , you may experience nasal congestion , sneezing , watery eyes and runny nose . These symptoms can lead to poor sleep , which can result in significant daytime sleepiness and fatigue .
Most often , what you eat , particularly before bedtime , is directly contributing to your sleep and quality of sleep . Some may not go to sleep easily , some cannot stay sleep for a long period and some patients suffer from both . All these types of asleep issues originate in different parts of the brain and need to be addressed differently .
Although it is easy to take a pill and go to sleep , I do not recommend it . These types of drugs chemically alter the brain ’ s neurotransmitters and neurophysiology of neurons throughout the brain and can cause serious side effects in short or long term .
At Medwell , we provide a take-home sleep study kit to qualified individuals . Patients go home with it and sleep with it for one to three nights based on our physician ’ s recommendation . The device measures brain activity and computes how long it takes to fall asleep after turning off the lights . How long does it take to go into a deep sleep , if it happens at all ? How long does the individual remain in deep sleep ? How many times an hour does the individual wake up without realizing ? The results are computed by a board-certified sleep medicine specialist , along with a specific recommendation for a natural supplementation and remedy . It is not unusual to see benefits after only a few days of following the recommended protocol .
Patients can visit www . fixmeup123 . com to become more educated or call 201-848-8000 for a free consultation to see if they qualify . d
Dr . Ali Mazandarani ( Maz ), DAAIM , BCIM , DC , CCRD , CCPCP , provides care at MedWell , a center for chronic conditions recovery with natural , drug-free methods . He has successfully helped thousands of patients using the “ Maz Method ,” an individualized program developed after years of collaborative research amongst himself and his colleagues . The center is located in Midland Park , Bergen County . You can reach the center at 201-848-8000 or www . FixMeUp123 . com .
www . njcopsmagazine . com ■ NOVEMBER 2017 75