THIS WEEK'S TOP TOPICS
Stress, depression and the holidays: 10 tips for coping
The holiday season often brings unwelcome guests: stress and depression. The holidays present a dizzying array of demands. When stress is at its peak, it's hard to stop and regroup. Try to prevent stress and depression in the first place, especially if the holidays have taken an emotional toll on you in the past. Here are 10 practical ways to find peace and joy.

Video: 'Holiday Heart Attack and Stroke Risk'
The holidays can be exciting, stressful, fun and exhausting all at once. The holidays also can be dangerous due to increased risk of heart attack and stroke. Hear from Dr. Kevin Barrett, a Mayo Clinic neurologist, about the causes of this increased risk and what you can do to keep yourself safe.

EXPERT ANSWERS
Do asthma-friendly products reduce symptoms?
If you or someone in your family has asthma, your health care provider may recommend that you take steps to control asthma triggers in your home. Purchasing asthma-friendly products may seem like a good step. However, while a number of manufacturers claim that their asthma-friendly products reduce asthma triggers better than other products, often these claims aren't backed up with solid evidence. There's no sure way to tell how much a particular product might ease your asthma symptoms, but here are some tips to keep in mind before spending your money.

Are lung nodules cancerous?
Lung nodules are small masses of tissue in the lung that appear as round, white shadows on a chest X-ray or CT scan. Lung nodules are common. Most are noncancerous and do not require treatment. In some cases, though, your health care provider may recommend annual chest imaging to see if a lung nodule grows or changes over time. Learn more from Dr. Eric J. Olson, a Mayo Clinic pulmonary and critical care medicine physician.

PLUS ADDITIONAL HIGHLIGHTS
Benign prostatic hyperplasia
Pseudobulbar affect
Video: 'How to Choose Resistance Tubing'
Palliative care: Symptom relief during illness

HEALTHY RECIPES
Grilled mango chutney
Gluten-free chickpea hummus
Tandoori chicken wrap
Vegetarian chili with tofu

HEALTH TIP OF THE WEEK
Reduce tension through muscle relaxation
Progressive muscle relaxation can reduce muscle tension from stress. Find a quiet place free from interruption. Tense each muscle group for about five seconds and then relax for 30 seconds. Repeat before moving to the next muscle group. Practice this technique any time you feel stress.

Need practical advice on diet and exercise? Want creative solutions for stress and other lifestyle issues? Discover more healthy lifestyle topics at mayoclinic.org.

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The post Housecall: 10 tips for coping with holiday stress appeared first on Mayo Clinic News Network.

Dietary fiber: Essential for a healthy diet
Dietary fiber, which is found mainly in fruits, vegetables, whole grains and legumes, is known for its ability to prevent or relieve constipation. But foods containing fiber can provide other health benefits, as well, such as maintaining a healthy weight, and lowering your risk of diabetes, heart disease and some types of cancer. Find out your daily recommended fiber intake and how to make sure you're getting enough in your diet.

EXPERT ANSWERS
Can mononucleosis recur?
Mononucleosis is an infection most commonly caused by the Epstein-Barr virus. Most people who have mononucleosis will have it only once. Rarely, however, symptoms may recur months or even years later. Learn more from Dr. James Steckelberg, a Mayo Clinic infectious diseases specialist.

Are lung nodules cancerous?
Lung nodules are small masses of tissue in the lung that appear as round, white shadows on a chest X-ray or CT scan. Lung nodules are common. Most are noncancerous and do not require treatment. In some cases, though, your health care provider may recommend annual chest imaging to see if a lung nodule grows or changes over time. Learn more from Dr. Eric Olson, a Mayo Clinic pulmonologist.

PLUS ADDITIONAL HIGHLIGHTS
Lumbar puncture (spinal tap)
Athlete's foot
Blocked tear duct
Slideshow: Portion control for weight loss

HEALTHY RECIPES
Buttermilk waffles
Apple cinnamon muffins
Veggie egg bake
Cinnamon French toast

HEALTH TIP OF THE WEEK
Long-term care for aging parents: Talk now
If you're considering long-term care options for an aging parent or other loved one, start the discussions early. If you wait too long, an illness or injury may force a hasty decision that everyone may regret later. Start by helping your loved one compare various facilities, including services, prices and payment options. Chat about preferences and concerns. If your loved one doesn't respond well to your efforts to talk about long-term care, don't give up. Consider involving a trusted clergy member, health care provider or attorney.

Need practical advice on diet and exercise? Want creative solutions for stress and other lifestyle issues? Discover more healthy lifestyle topics at mayoclinic.org.

Receive a free e-subscription to Housecall and other health newsletters.

The post Housecall: What do you do if your ‘happy holidays’ aren’t so happy? appeared first on Mayo Clinic News Network.

In this Mayo Clinic Minute, Jeff Olsen speaks with Dr. Eric J. Olson, a Mayo Clinic sleep specialist, about the upsides and downsides of naps.

Watch: The Mayo Clinic Minute

Journalists: Broadcast-quality video pkg (1:00) is in the downloads at the end of the post.
Please ‘Courtesy: Mayo Clinic News Network.’ Read the script.

Catnapper, take note. Your break should be quick.

"A short nap strikes that balance between allowing you to be refreshed without giving you that hangover effect from the sleep," says Dr. Olson.

He says longer naps can take you into deeper stages of sleep.

"And, with that, then, it's harder to get going when you awaken," says Dr. Olson.

Doctors call it "sleep inertia." Keeping your nap under 30 minutes can help avoid it. Dr. Olson says the need for a longer nap may be a sign of nighttime sleep trouble. Your schedule, diet or bedtime routine all could be causes.

"Or is there suspicion of a sleep disorder that's interfering with what seems like should be an adequate amount of time in bed," says Dr. Olson.

A sleep study can identify a disorder and lead to treatment. Sleep specialists also can suggest improvement to bedtime habits. Getting help with your sleep can make napping simply refreshing instead of required.

The post Mayo Clinic Minute: Upsides and downsides of napping appeared first on Mayo Clinic News Network.

ANSWER: A diagnosis of sleep apnea usually does require a sleep study, but that test doesn’t always have to be in a hospital or other health care facility. Home tests often are recommended for people suspected to have sleep apnea.

Sleep apnea is a condition in which people repeatedly stop breathing during sleep. There are two main types of sleep apnea. The more common form is obstructive sleep apnea, or OSA. It happens when muscles in the back of the throat relax, narrowing the airway and making it hard to take in enough air. Central sleep apnea is less common. It happens when the brain doesn’t send the proper signals to the muscles that control breathing.

The most obvious signs of obstructive sleep apnea usually are noticed by a bed partner. They include loud snoring, episodes of stopped breathing during sleep, and abrupt awakenings during the night accompanied by gasping or choking. Other common symptoms include excessive daytime sleepiness; waking with a headache, dry mouth or sore throat in the morning; and difficulty concentrating during the day. Anyone can have obstructive sleep apnea, but it most commonly affects older adults, men and people who are overweight.

Your health care provider can conduct a preliminary evaluation of your condition by reviewing your medical history, discussing your symptoms and performing a physical exam. But sleep apnea cannot be diagnosed based on those factors alone. Monitoring you during sleep is required for a definitive sleep apnea diagnosis.

For most people suspected to have obstructive sleep apnea who are otherwise healthy, a home sleep apnea test can be a first-line option to distinguish obstructive sleep apnea from snoring alone. A home test may not be appropriate, however, for people who have significant heart or lung problems, or for those who have neurologic disease.

In addition to not requiring an overnight stay in a medical facility, a home sleep apnea test is typically more comfortable and less intimidating than a laboratory-based sleep study, and it usually involves fewer sensors. The portable monitoring devices used for home tests generally measure heart rate, blood oxygen level, airflow and breathing patterns during sleep. If you have sleep apnea, the test results will show drops in your oxygen level when you stop breathing, followed by a rise in that level when you wake.

If results of a home sleep apnea test are negative, your health care provider still may recommend a lab-based study to confirm that result, as it’s possible for home tests to miss some cases of obstructive sleep apnea. The lab-based test is called nocturnal polysomnography. During that test, you’re hooked up to equipment that tracks your heart, lung and brain activity; breathing patterns; arm and leg movements; and blood oxygen levels while you sleep. A technician monitors you throughout the test.

Nocturnal polysomnography can help your health care provider definitively diagnose obstructive sleep apnea. It also can help rule out other sleep disorders, such as periodic limb movements of sleep or narcolepsy, which may cause daytime sleepiness and other symptoms similar to obstructive sleep apnea but require different treatment.

If your home sleep apnea test reveals that you have obstructive sleep apnea, your health care provider will talk with you about developing a treatment plan that fits your needs. — Dr. Eric J. Olson, Center for Sleep Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota

The post Mayo Clinic Q and A: Diagnosing sleep apnea appeared first on Mayo Clinic News Network.

"With the one-hour shift, the body should be able to acclimate quickly," says Mayo Clinic sleep specialist Dr. Eric Olson.

The annual time change is similar to what's faced by traveling across time zones for a vacation.

"You generally accommodate for each time zone you cross within a day," says Dr. Olson. "So given that it's just a one-hour shift, most people will only notice the change for a day or two."

A Sunday afternoon nap may help if you're feeling off after the switch. But make it a short one. Dr Olson explains why in this Mayo Clinic Minute. Jeff Olsen reports.

Watch: The Mayo Clinic Minute

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If your night was restless or the day is hectic, a quick nap can be a welcome break. Napping offers various benefits for healthy adults, including:

• Relaxation
• Reduced fatigue
• Increased alertness
• Improved mood

However, naps can have drawbacks. A Japanese study recently concluded that long daytime naps could be a warning sign for Type 2 diabetes, according to a BBC report.

In this Mayo Clinic Minute, Jeff Olsen speaks with sleep specialist Dr. Eric Olson about the ups and downsides of naps.

Watch: The Mayo Clinic Minute

The post Mayo Clinic Minute: Should you grab a nap? appeared first on Mayo Clinic News Network.

The Mayo Clinic National Health Check-Up is a survey that explores a variety of health perspectives and behaviors among American adults. The latest analysis, which was conducted in July, includes responses from 1,012 participants to a variety of health questions, including ones about sleep.

Among the results:

• Most people (72 percent) define a good night’s sleep as seven or eight hours, which is within the recommended seven and nine hours of sleep for adults.
• More men (24 percent) than women (16 percent) consider six or fewer hours to be a good night’s sleep.
• While parents of young children may disagree, the data revealed that the frequency of a good night’s sleep is not impacted by whether there are children in a household.

If you’re struggling to get at least seven hours of shut-eye every night, it might be because of what’s called your sleep hygiene. That’s the term doctors use for a series of habits that influence sleep.

In this Mayo Clinic Minute, Jeff Olsen talks with Dr. Eric Olson, a Mayo Clinic sleep specialist, about some simple ways to improve your sleep hygiene.

Watch: The Mayo Clinic Minute

Journalists: Broadcast-quality video pkg (1:06) is in the downloads. Read the script .

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In this Mayo Clinic Minute, sleep specialist Dr. Eric Olson talks with reporter Jeff Olsen about the challenges women face and what they can do to create a better night’s sleep.

Watch: The Mayo Clinic Minute

Journalists: Broadcast-quality video pkg (1:07) is in the downloads. Read the script.

The post Mayo Clinic Minute: Sleep Challenges for Women appeared first on Mayo Clinic News Network.

Click here to listen to the Mayo Clinic Radio podcast.

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DEAR MAYO CLINIC: I am 79 years old. Lately I have had trouble sleeping, and I would like to try a sleeping pill. Are they safe for someone my age?

ANSWER: An inability to sleep can be exhausting and frustrating. It saps your energy and goes hand in hand with problems such as depression, chronic pain, susceptibility to illness, high blood pressure and increased risk of accidents. Sleeping pills can at times be an effective component of sleep therapy. However, they need to be used cautiously, especially among older adults.

Often, the inability to get to sleep or stay asleep is a symptom of an underlying disease or condition contributing to poor sleep. This can include chronic pain, coughing, heart problems, difficulty breathing, digestive problems, acid reflux, thyroid problems and sleep disorders such as obstructive sleep apnea or leg movement disorders. Alcohol or medications such as certain antidepressants, caffeine, decongestants, asthma drugs or pain medications also can contribute to insomnia. Because of this, it’s important that you first have a thorough medical evaluation.

When considering taking any sleeping pill, it’s crucial for you and your doctor to weigh the benefits against the risks. Certainly, good sleep is important. However, taking a drug to assist with sleep can cause side effects such as dizziness or lightheadedness and a risk of dependence. Sleeping pills also suppress breathing — which can worsen breathing problems such as sleep apnea — and may increase infection risk.

Problems with thinking and body movement also can occur. You may remain drowsy after waking up or have daytime memory and physical performance problems. These side effects may be annoying, unsettling or even dangerous. Sleeping pill use may increase the risk of falling and fracturing bones or causing head injuries — particularly at night. Sometimes, sleepwalking — or even driving, shopping, eating or making phone calls while not fully awake — can occur.

When a sleeping pill is prescribed, short-acting, newer generation drugs are common first line choices. Side effects with these drugs are still relatively common, but they tend to occur less frequently and with less severity than with older generation sleep medications. A longer acting drug also may be considered, but its effect on older adults can be much longer lasting. Low doses of antidepressant drugs that cause sleepiness may be an option for those who also have depression, or as a second line option for those who don’t.

Due to increased risk of side effects, many doctors recommend avoiding older generation benzodiazepines, and triazolam (Halcion) in particular. Benzodiazapines, especially the longer acting ones, are generally not recommended for older adults. In addition, a 2014 study found that risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease increased by up to 51 percent in those who have used benzodiazepines, with highest risk among those who used them more frequently or who used the long-acting ones.

The choice to use sleeping pills is a nuanced decision to be made in close cooperation with your doctor. In general, Mayo Clinic sleep experts recommend that older adults keep sleeping pill use to a minimum, as an occasional sleep aid or over the short term of a few weeks while other avenues to improved sleep are explored. Regular follow-up with your doctor is important. (adapted from Mayo Clinic Health Letter) — Eric Olson, M.D., Center for Sleep Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn.

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