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Sleep Better Tonight! Health Article

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	Why Can't You Sleep?: Understanding Sleep Problems play video read transcript
	Taking An Inventory of Your Sleep Habits play video read transcript
	Discussing Sleep Problems With Your Doctor play video read transcript
	Getting the Family into a Back-to-School Sleep Routine play video read transcript
	When Trauma Strikes and Sleep is Lost play video read transcript
	Why Can't You Sleep Like a Baby? play video read transcript
	Staying Healthy Through Stress Reduction play video read transcript
	What is Narcolepsy? play video read transcript
	Cancer and Cancer Treatment: Can it Affect Sleep? play video read transcript
	What Can You Do About Insomnia? play video read transcript
	Paying the Price of a Poor Night's Sleep play video read transcript
	Gaining Control Over Sleep Problems play video read transcript
	When Worries Surface at Night: Sleep and Anxiety play video read transcript
	Late-life Sleep Problems: What's Normal? play video read transcript
	Sleeping Well During the Holidays play video read transcript
	The Link Between Sleep and Depression play video read transcript
	Can Poor Sleep Affect Your Weight? play video read transcript
	Effects of Menopause on Sleep play video read transcript
	What's Keeping You Up? play video read transcript
	Sleep and Heart Disease: What's the Link? play video read transcript
	Secrets of the Bedroom: What Happens When You Sleep? play video read transcript
	The Snoring Sickness: Do You Have Sleep Apnea? play video read transcript
	Seizures While You Sleep? play video read transcript
	The Effect of Poor Sleep on Health play video read transcript
	The Impact of Pain on Sleep play video read transcript
	Top Ten Things to Do to Get Baby to Sleep play video read transcript

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Sleep Better Tonight!

IF A PEA IS ENOUGH TO KEEP YOU WIDE-EYED, YOU MAY NEED A NEW MATTRESS OR PILLOW. A WHAT-TO-BUY GUIDE

Before you blame stress, noisy neighbors or your flailing bedmate, consider that your sleepless nights may be due to a minor medical problem exacerbated by your bedding. Springing for a mattress or pillow tailored to your health needs—like these below—could be the answer.

IF YOU HAVE. Allergies Stick with a spring mattress or a water bed (as opposed to a foam futon). Foam mattresses or pads, especially those without a special dustproof cover, can collect eight times the amount of allergy-triggering dust-mite by-products of a spring mattress, the journal Allergy reports.

IF YOU HAVE. Chronic heartburn A wedge-shaped pillow is an easy fix for acid reflux. The pillow tilts the torso upward, preventing stomach acid from traveling into the esophagus. Wedges can cost from $40 (www.medslant.com) to $168 for one made with NASA memory foam (www.propuppillow.com).

IF YOU HAVE. Chronic back pain Opt for a mattress with air-filled chambers (like Select Comfort or Nautilus), which allows you to modulate firmness. There's no rule about how hard a mattress should be—the right fill for you is one that keeps your body comfortably aligned. One study found that sleeping on an air mattress helps reduce back pain by one third.

IF YOU HAVE. A snoring problem Try the FDA-approved Sealy Snore Reduction Pillow. It tilts your head back, clearing airways. Research shows it curbs snoring by more than 80 percent. (Snoozing on your side may also help snoring, a symptom of sleep apnea.)

IF YOU HAVE. Ringing in your ears Experts think background music may mask tinnitus. The Sound Pillow ($50; www.soundpillow.com) or the Dream Cover ($30; www.pillowphonic.com) lets you place thin speakers in your pillowcase and play a CD or the radio without waking your sweetie.

A whole-grain pillow?

Stiff neck and shoulders? Buckwheat to the rescue. Unlike regular pillows that compress under your head, buckwheat versions offer firm but flexible support. Choose from a variety of hypoallergenic styles at Organic Buckwheat Pillow Products of Canada (www.bctravel.com/buckwheatextreme).