Dragons Essays - Sleep, Sleep Disorders, Health, Neuroscience

Dragons How many times during the night do we toss and turn, check the clock, and find it ticking away and tell ourselves, If I could fall asleep right now I would get at least five hours of sleep? But, sleep doesn't come so we continue to toss and turn. This happens to many people and may suffer from a disorder known as insomnia. People who suffer from this disorder have many complaints, and many have similar symptoms. Symptoms can vary from stress to pain to always feeling tired. Insomnia is a very difficult disease to have to live with. It is hard for both those that suffer from it and their family members. According to Linde and Savaley's, The Sleep Book, (1974), the person who has trouble sleeping is not alone (p. 9). They also claim, An estimated thirty million people suffer from chronic insomnia (p.9). Many non-insomniacs have occasional periods when they wonder if they'd make it through a sleepless night. Many insomniacs can't fall asleep because of pain and discomfort. Those that can fall asleep but can't stay asleep might be caused from depression, or too many things to worry about. In Ernest Hartmann's The Sleeping Pill (1978) some causes of insomnia (p. 113). He states that pain and discomfort do indeed play an important part in the difficulty remaining asleep. For those having difficulty remaining asleep might be because of depression or having too much to worry about. In Linde and Savary's, The Sleep Book (1974), Dr. Dale C. Friend claims, insomnia can be classified by four causes: tension, fatigue, discomfort, and in and out insomnia (p. 100). Tension insomnia occurs mostly in executives or people who worry about their businesses. Tension builds up inside during the day and is still inside at bedtime, it won't come out, so they tend to worry and are not able to go tot sleep. Fatigue insomnia happens when people who get tired during the day and then they take a nap in the early afternoon and as a result they cannot go to sleep at bedtime. People suffering from discomfort insomnia often complain of stomach upsets, such as ulcers, toothaches, or arthritis. This causes them to wake up during the night, which gives them discomfort. In and out insomnia occurs when patients feel that they didn't sleep at all during the night when they really did, but only stayed in the first stages of light sleep and woke up frequently throughout the night. Dr. Allan Rechtschaffen states in Linde and Savary's The Sleep Book, (1974) Insomniacs spend less time in REM sleep than normal sleepers (p. 110). REM sleep, or rapid eye movement sleep is the final stage of sleep reached in a normal sleep cycle. To better understand this cycle of sleep scientists have used an electroencephalogram to measure brain waves during sleep. A normal sleep cycle consists of five distinct stages with paradoxical, or REM stage being the final stage. REM sleep is what is commonly known as deep sleep. There are many other causes of Insomnia such as the many environmental causes said by Ernest Hartmann's The Sleeping Pill (1978). Hartmann states, any loud noise or sounds that can irritate or aggravate can disrupt a persons sleep (p. 116). When trying to sleep, the littlest things can bother someone's sleep whether hearing the bathroom water faucet dripping or even the heater coming on during the night. All these things can keep a person up all night when they are suffering from insomnia. He also claims, there is a condition sometimes called 'habit insomnia' (p. 116). Habit insomnia is when something caused the insomnia in the past so when the sufferer associates it into habit. For example, when the see the bed that they have difficulty sleeping on, they condition themselves to think that they can't sleep because of the bed, therefore they don't sleep. In Mendelson's Human Sleep and It's Disorders, (1977) Incidence of insomnia was found by doing a sampling of 1,645 persons and it was found that 14% of those tested had trouble getting to sleep, (Karacan, et. al., 1973). The results tended to be higher for women than men and as age increased. Tiller, studied 83 healthy

Quads and Squads

Quads and Squads Quads and Squads Quads and Squads By Mark Nichol A family of words ultimately derived from the Latin noun quadrus, meaning â€Å"a square,† pertain one way or the other to the number four. Here are those words, more or less common in English usage, and their definitions. The most versatile, and most ubiquitous, of these terms is square, which refers to a shape with four equal sides and right angles; an area, structure, or formation in the shape of a square; a tool used to lay out or test right angles; the product of a number multiplied by itself; a conventional person; a meal as one of three traditional full meals served or eaten in the course of a day; an adjective meaning â€Å"fair† or â€Å"honest,† or â€Å"old-fashioned†; an adverb pertaining to those senses; and a verb meaning â€Å"cut square,† â€Å"regulate,† or â€Å"accord.† The other words, and their definitions, follow: escadrille: a unit of French aircraft equivalent to a squadron quadrangle: an enclosure surrounded by buildings, or the building itself, or an area represented by one of a set of maps (abbreviated quad); also, synonymous with quadrilateral quadrant: one quarter of a circle or other regular or nearly regular shape; also, a device for measuring altitude quadraphonic: pertaining to four channels of sound quadrat: a rectangular plot of land specified for study quadrate: square or almost square; a specific type of cross in heraldry; a bone in the skull of birds and lizards; an adjective meaning â€Å"square† or â€Å"nearly square†; also, another word for quadratus (see below) quadratic: referring to the use of squaring, or raising to the second power, in mathematics quadratus: any of various roughly quadrilateral muscles quadrennial: lasting four years or occurring every four years quadricentennial: a four-hundred-year anniversary quadriceps: a set of four leg muscles quadrifid: divided into four parts (said of leaves, for example) quadrilateral: a four-sided figure, including but not limited to squares and rectangles quadrille: a square dance or a music for the dance; also, an equestrian exhibition involving four riders or groups of riders quadrillion: the number represented with the numeral 1,000,000,000,000 quadripartite: consisting of four parts or shared by four parties quadriplegic: a person paralyzed in all four limbs quadrivium: the educational disciplines of arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music, which were taught after the trivium of grammar, logic, and rhetoric; the two groups constitute the classical seven liberal arts quadroon: a person who is one-fourth black quadruped: a four-legged animal quadruple: increased fourfold, or consisting of four components, or, as a noun, something that is quadruple quadruplet: one of four offspring born as a result of one pregnancy, or a combination of four of a kind quadruplex: consisting of four parts, such as a four-unit apartment building; also, a telegraphic system allowing two messages to be sent simultaneously in each direction quadruplicate: multiply by four, or consisting of four parts quod: British English slang for prison, perhaps from quadrangle, derived from the shape of a typical prison squad: a unit of military personnel or athletes, or a group of people with a specific task squadron: a unit of aircraft, of cavalry, or of navy vessels Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:50 Redundant Phrases to Avoid45 Synonyms for â€Å"Old† and â€Å"Old-Fashioned†How to Address Your Elders, Your Doctor, Young Children... and Your CEO