Integrative Sleep Medicine

"Sleep has been found to affect nearly all aspects of health, both individual and societal. Despite this, it has long been neglected in the medical literature until relatively recent times. Different perspectives of sleep are discussed, including historical views of sleep and alternative sleep patterns. The development of sleep as a medical specialty is described as are limitations to the conventional medical approach to sleep. The foundations of a truly integrative approach to sleep are enumerated"--

"Sleep has been found to affect nearly all aspects of health, both individual and societal. Despite this, it has long been neglected in the medical literature until relatively recent times. Different perspectives of sleep are discussed, including historical views of sleep and alternative sleep patterns. The development of sleep as a medical specialty is described as are limitations to the conventional medical approach to sleep. The foundations of a truly integrative approach to sleep are enumerated"--

For most clinicians, the science and evidence for many integrative therapies is largely unknown or considered suspect. Most physicians don't have time to learn integrative approaches and aren't sure what to recommend or which approaches have merit or improved outcomes. Here, clinicians have easy access to the best practices in integrative medicine and expectations for outcomes

Despite the various significant contributions scientists have made to improve our understanding of life and our existence here on earth, they have yet to devise a means of prescribing a certain type of sleep as treatment for a specific medical or psychiatric diagnosis. It is my hope that after reading this book, you will realize a better understanding and appreciation of sleep as Gods medicine. A holistic approach to proper sleep is important to actively maintaining our spiritual, psychological, and physical well-beingthat needlessly elusive mind-body-spirit connection.

Fully updated and revised, the second edition of Integrative Nursing is a complete roadmap to integrative patient care, providing a guide to whole person/whole systems assessment and clinical interventions for individuals, families, and communities. Treatment strategies described in this version employ the full complement of evidence-informed methodologies in a tailored, person-centered approach to care. This text explores concepts, skills, and theoretical frameworks that can be used by healthcare leaders interested in creating and implementing an integrative model of care within institutions and systems, featuring exemplar nurse-led initiatives that have transformed healthcare systems. This volume covers the foundations of the field; the most effective ways to optimize wellbeing; principles of symptom management for many common disorders like sleep, anxiety, pain, and cognitive impairment; the application of integrative nursing techniques in a variety of clinical settings and among a diverse patient population; and integrative practices around the world and how it impacts planetary health. The academic rigor of the text is balanced by practical and relevant content that can be readily implemented into practice for both established professionals as well as students enrolled in undergraduate or graduate nursing programs. Integrative medicine is defined as healing-oriented medicine that takes account of the whole person (body, mind, and spirit) as well as all aspects of lifestyle; it emphasizes the therapeutic relationship and makes use of appropriate therapies, both conventional and alternative. Series editor Andrew Weil, MD, is Professor and Director of the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona. Dr. Weil's program was the first such academic program in the U.S., and its stated goal is "to combine the best ideas and practices of conventional and alternative medicine into cost effective treatments without embracing alternative practices uncritically."

Most of the psychiatric disorders like Major Depressive Disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Bipolar Disorder and Posttraumatic Disorder comes with sleep disturbance. Some of them are easily treatable and some not so. Many times, it is easier to treat the core psychiatric problems as compared to the sleep issues. As the name suggests, this book is about sleep coaching. A coach is someone one who instructs and trains. The primary focus of this book is to coach easy ways to promote sleep. People may wonder and question, since so much information is freely available on the internet, why another book? Although sleep problems have inflicted civilized people for hundreds of years, research on sleep medicine is relatively new. There is yet to be a sleep medication to be discovered, which can be taken for a long term without adverse effects. Research shows that taking the conventional sleeping pills, in the long run, poses serious health hazards. Don't get me wrong. Sleeping pills can be lifesaving when used prudently, but their long-term safety is questionable. As every physician has to take the Hippocratic oath and abide by the "primum-non-nocere" (first do no harm) doctrine; I began my search for SAFE sleep solutions. Since sleep science is new, many physicians are not yet aware of the dangers of sleep deprivations. Physicians themselves are one of the most sleep-deprived members of the society. Thus in-spite of having many solutions available for sleep-related problems, many patients are struggling with their sleep and are forced to take sleeping pills, which is not healthy in the long term. This has prompted many physicians like me to seek safer sleep solutions for our patients. If you are among the millions of Americans who struggle with sleep each night and are tired because of lack of sleep - this book is for you. If you want to improve sleep to maximize your productivity, creativity, and the efficiency-this book is for you. Also, if you are someone who has to travel across multiple time zones; or if you are a shift worker with irregular work hours- then this book will guide you to get better sleep. The book will also coach you to harness the power of sleep to get more energy, lose extra weight, look younger feel happier, and fight better against diseases. Lastly, this book can help internists, psychiatrists, psychologists, nurses, nurse practitioners, social workers- anyone and everyone who is there to help people with sleep sufferings. Clinicians will find many useful practical tools to coach their clients and solve sleep problems.

"Neurology is a quantitively small corner of medicine that, increasingly, occupies a position of outsized importance and distinction in both the practice of medicine and in the health and well-being of society. The Decade of the Brain came into public awareness in 1990 as an initiative of president George W. Bush involving the NIH and NIMH "to enhance public awareness of the benefits to be derived from brain research"(1). In the intervening 20 years since 1999, we have seen significant increases in understanding the myriad of neurological diseases that confront society"--

This issue of Medical Clinics, guest edited by Dr. Robert Saper, is devoted to Complementary and Integrative Medicine. Articles in this outstanding issue address integrative medicine in the areas of mental health disorders; sleep disorders; neurological conditions; cardiovascular disease; respiratory disorders; gastrointestinal disorders; gynecological conditions; oncology; rheumatologic conditions; pain management; geriatric and palliative care; and physician health and wellbeing.