But a lot of people actually, they can fall asleep,
but then they're waking up several times at night,
and that's what we're gonna talk about today.
So we're gonna talk about the causation of that.
That's right.
Okay, where are we starting?
Okay, we're starting at the top of your head,
and we're talking about snoring.
And this is really the bane of existence for many people.
If they don't snore, maybe their spouse snores.
So what's going on-- (groans) It's broken up
quite a few relationships. (Roshini laughs)
It has, right? Yeah.
Now that snoring sound,
that happens when there's an obstruction
in the back of your mouth by the tissues
or the structures there causing a vibration
when air is passing through,
but there are many causes.
First of all, you said your husband,
definitely more common in men than women.
It tends to get worse if people gain some weight.
Alcohol can really play a role here
because when you're drinking,
you're relaxing the tissues in your throat.
Oh, sure, so it becomes--
Loose, they're easier to vibrate, exactly.
But also if you have nasal congestion,
if you have a lot of allergies at night, that's gonna do it.
Being sleep deprived, because if you're having a very heavy,
deep sleep, again, more relaxation
of those muscles and tissues in the throat.
So all of these things can contribute to snoring.
We know it's worse if you're on your back,
which is why, I don't know if you,
shove your husband onto his side?
Oh, yes I do. Probably several times.
Now first of all, of course,
trying to avoid alcohol, losing a little bit of weight,
if you have nasal congestion, trying to get a decongestant
or treating your allergies.
But we have some cool devices here.
So the first one is Nora.
And this is, right here, this is a cool new thing
that senses when you're snoring, it can hear it.
And this part of the device
actually goes underneath your pillow, in your pillowcase.
And it will slightly move, so that you will,
it's almost like you're shoving your husband
but very gently, this is doing that instead of you doing it.
That's awesome! Yeah! (audience claps)
Alright, then, now this is something called a CPAP machine.
Now this is not for your--
I see these on TV a lot. Right.
This is for sleep apnea kind of patients, right.
Exactly, so sleep apnea,
this is not for your run of the mill snoring
but if you are noticing that,
either you're very sleepy during the daytime,
if someone who's sleeping with you
has witnessed you stopping breathing for a few seconds,
or you wake up choking, you might--
You need a, apnea, right.
You might have sleep apnea,
you really should get evaluated,
that's a very serious condition.
And you might use this machine in that case.
Which get easier to use and smaller and smaller
as I've seen over the last several years.
Yes, absolutely. A little more user friendly.
They used to be very cumbersome, you're right.
Alright, let's move along.
Let's move along.
Okay, another very common reason
why people get up often in the middle of the night
is to go to the bathroom.
And we've all had that once or twice,
but for some people it happens often.
And here you can see we're talking about bladder issues.
Now if you drink too much caffeine,
too much alcohol this could be an issue,
it could also be a symptom of diabetes
or something even heart problems.
But one of the things that can happen very commonly for men
is an enlarged prostate.
Oh yeah, Especially,
as they get older. As they get older, sure.
Right, and we can see here in this picture
what happens when your prostate is getting larger
it's compressing the urethra,
this is the tube that the urine comes out.
So you're going to feel that sensation
of needing to go to the bathroom more,
because you're not completely evacuating every time you go.
So this is something that really should be
checked out by your doctor.
Now, for women of course, we don't have a prostate,
but we can have bladder issues.
Overactive bladder is another condition.
And this is when your bladder's irritable,
it makes you feel like you gotta go.
Some things that can help to avoid it,
avoiding artificial sweeteners, hot, spicy food
or tomato sauce, for some women that helps.
But there are medications that can be used as well.
Yeah, well I'm gonna go a lot more,
because I'm not giving up either one of those.
(laughing) Alright.
(audience clapping)
Okay now what are we talking about here?
So now we're moving down to--
Down, Down to the legs,
to your legs, To the bottom
part of your body,
and we're talking about restless leg syndrome.
My friend, Donna, developed this.
Really? She swears
she has this restless leg syndrome.
I'm like, oh come that's not a thing,
it's a real thing! It's a real thing.
So what it is, is you get this very uncomfortable sensation
in your legs you feel like you need to move them
to get some relief.
It can happen later in the afternoon
or evening when you're laying down or sitting.
And so for many people it actually wakes them up at night.
We're not exactly sure what causes it,
but for some people, the theory is,
it might be an issue of something in the brain.
So even though you're feeling it in
in your legs, Really?
It's a neurologic condition, involved with dopamine,
so these are one of the neurotransmitters,
you see them being released here.
And the dopamine levels are abnormal in the brain,
that translates into these very restless legs.
So, for some people it could be due to an iron deficiency,
and for that reason, taking iron supplements
may help with that.
For other people--
That's what we have. We have it right here.
Other medications, prescription drugs
can be used as well.
I've seen commercials for these.
There's lots of new drugs for restless leg syndrome.
Exactly. And they come with
many warnings, of course.
Like all those commercials, yes.
And then avoiding alcohol and caffeine right before bed
or in the later part of the day can also help.
But we have here something called Relaxis.
So this is a device that's actually going to
give you a little movement in the middle of the night
not enough to wake you up,
but a lot of people with restless leg syndrome,
they feel better if they go for a walk, this is like--
So this is sort of like the other device
for your head, but it's for your legs.
Exactly, it's exactly right. Weird.
So giving you a little vibration
and hopefully that will trigger you to not need to--
Gently kind of, Yeah.
Will you back into sleep.
Sleep and not moving your leg as much.
Very cool, thank you Dr. Raj, it's nice to see you.
(audience applauding)