Articles By Pillar
Read the latest blog posts from lifestyle medicine experts at Stanford University covering health topics across our 7 pillars.
5 Simple Changes to Your Bedroom for Better Sleep
By Sharon Brock, MS, MEd If getting consistent sleep seems elusive, you’re not alone. Roughly 60 million Americans experience insomnia each year, according to the National Sleep Foundation. However, before making an appointment with a sleep clinic, trying sleeping pills, or undergoing sleep therapy, the first step is to ensure your bedroom environment is conducive to falling—and staying—asleep. “The bedroom should be like a cave—dark, cool, and quiet,” says Cheri D. Mah, MD, MS, a sleep physician and co-head of...
How to Beat Jet Lag and Get Better Sleep While Traveling
By Sharon Brock, MS, MEd Before we go on a big trip, we plan itineraries, book sightseeing tours, and search for the best restaurants. However, we don’t always plan how to achieve quality sleep, which is crucial for getting the most out of our vacation. When it comes to sleep and travel, there are so many factors to consider: How many time zones are we crossing? Are we traveling eastward or westward? How long will we be in the new...
Attention Night Owls: How Staying Up Late Can Impact Mental Health
By Sophia Fay, BS For those who experience depression or anxiety, Stanford researchers have found that the time one goes to sleep plays a part in mental health risk. In a study of more than 70,000 adults, researchers examined the relationship between bedtime and mental health, comparing a participants’ chronotype (their preferred sleep timing) versus the actual times they go to sleep and wake up. One would assume that someone who identifies with the chronotype of “night owl” would be...
How Perimenopause Affects Sleep
By Sophie Burnet, BS For many of us, major life pressures occur in our 40s and 50s. Whether it’s having greater responsibilities in our careers, enduring changes in our relationships, or caring for both our children and parents, midlife presents a myriad of stressors that can keep us up at night. On top of these external stressors, women need to add the health and sleep challenges that occur during the menopausal transition. Research shows that 40 to 60 percent of...
Sleep Apnea: Causes, Symptoms, and Treatments
By Sharon Brock, MS, MEd Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a sleep disorder in which the airway becomes momentarily blocked by the tongue or soft tissue at the back of the throat, causing pauses in breathing (called apnea), as well as snoring, gasping, and multiple brief awakenings throughout the night. Estimates show that nearly 30 million adults in the U.S. struggle with OSA, although the vast majority don’t recognize snoring as a sign of illness and therefore don’t seek treatment....