health & wellness Ir Blue Light Blues from page 53 Experience The St. Joe Center Offers Help and Hope for People with Chronic Wounds By Jack Weiner, President and CEO St. Joseph Mercy Oakland Since its opening in 2012, St. Joseph Mercy Oakland's (SJMO) Center for Wound Care and Hyperbaric Medicine has improved the quality of life for hundreds of patients with non- healing wounds. And it has added more services and products to encourage healing, such as artificial skin substitutes and total contact casting for diabetic foot ulcers. Located in the Alice Gustafson Center on campus, the state-of-the- art facility treats patients with chronic wounds using advanced equipment, including two hyperbaric chambers, making St. Joe's wound care center one of the most convenient, comprehensive and sophisticated wound treatment facilities in Southeastern Michigan. We opened the Center for Wound Care and Hyperbaric Medicine to provide our patients with the safest, highest quality and comprehensive care possible in the area of wound treatment. With state-of-the-art, specialized, technologically advanced and evidence- based therapies utilizing the latest techniques and procedures, SJMO can restore a patient's quality of life by reducing healing time and fostering full recovery Firas Karmo, MD We are privileged to have Firas Karmo, MD, plastic surgeon from the SJMO Medical Staff, as medical director of the facility, which employs physicians specialty-trained in wound management and hyperbaric medicine, certified or specialty-trained wound care nurses and highly trained clinical hyperbaric managers and staff. The center takes a whole body approach to wound healing, including • Nutritional assessment and counseling • Diabetic education • Patient and caregiver counseling • Referrals for special needs pressure relief, including beds, seat cushions and footwear. Among the conditions treated at the center are: • Diabetic wounds • Any non-healing wound • Surgical wounds that have opened • Skin grafts or surgical flaps that are not healing post-surgery • Open wounds caused by radiation therapy • Bond infections • Pressure ulcers • Venous wounds • Internal injuries where no open wound exists, such as select acute traumatic and crush injuries, radiation cystitis or proctitis and reconstruction of the jaw or bone. The hyperbaric chambers provide a more advanced treatment option for those who qualify. Hyperbaric treatments work in combination with traditional wound care treatments. Oftentimes, the hyperbaric treatment is the only one available for a particular condition. Please ask your physician for a referral if your condition can benefit from our Center for Wound Care and Hyperbaric Medicine. DiscoverRemarkable ADVERTISMENT 1973860 54 August 27 • 2015 our circadian clock because it alerts the brain to thinking its daylight, throwing the circadian rhythm out of whack, and sleep suffers because the release of mela- tonin is delayed" Researchers at Harvard Medical School recently reported that using light-emitting electronic devices for reading, social communication and entertainment before bed results in a person needing more time to fall asleep and being less alert the following morning. The study also showed that those reading printed books showed no reduction in sleep or alertness the next morning. These results are particularly important to parents because using technology before bedtime is highly characteristic of children and young adults. A child's circadian rhythm changes when she becomes a teen. Instead of getting to sleep at 8 or 9 p.m., the rhythm shifts a couple hours later to 10 and 11 p.m. The study points out that the results are particularly important to parents because using technology before bedtime is pretty normal for this age group. "This is called delayed sleep phase syndrome Trock explains. "Turning on a TV show or video game or opening up Facebook just before bedtime tends to drive off sleepiness even later because the blue light emanating from these devices fools the brain into thinking its daylight. This is one of the reasons why Tips For Better Sleep • Use your bedroom for sleeping. Do homework, text messaging or read- ing an online newspaper in another room. • Avoid caffeine and nicotine a few hours before bed. • Avoid alcohol before bed. It may help you get to sleep faster, but the sleep will be fragmented. • Avoid exercising and eating a heavy meal an hour or two before bed. • Set a schedule to go to bed each night and get up each morn- ing. Encourage your teen to keep weekday and weekend bedtimes and wake times within two hours of I tell parents to have their kids do their homework first thing in the evening" Research has recognized for some time that there is an association between lack of sleep and poor grades for teens. As a result, some school districts across the country have switched from a 7:15 start time to an 8:40 start time, result- ing in improved grades for students and fewer emotional problems. "Interestingly, blue light is also being used as a therapeutic tool for those with ASPD (advanced sleep phase disorder); Trock says. "This is a sleep disorder more common in older adults. A person with ASPD goes to bed early, falls asleep quickly, sleeps well for a few hours, and then wakes up very early, finding it diffi- cult to go back to sleep. Treatment to get the body clock back to a more normal timing is getting blue light stimulation in the evening to trick the brain into thinking it's still daytime and taking melatonin." Individuals vary greatly in their need for sleep. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) suggests that most adults need about 7-9 hours each night. Infants sleep 16-18 hours a day and preschool children sleep between 10-12 hours a day. Teens also require at least 9 hours a night. The problem is that many of us don't realize that sleep cycles change with age. Older people are more likely to wake up from sleep, but there is no evi- dence that says they need less sleep than younger adults. ❑ each other. • Relax before bed: Take a warm bath, read a book or other restful activities. • Don't lie awake in bed. If you can't sleep, go into another room and do something relaxing until you feel tired, such as watching TV, read- ing a book or listening to music. The anxiety of being unable to fall asleep can contribute to insomnia. • Avoid naps, especially in the afternoon. • Do your best to remove sudden, loud noises that can disrupt your sleep. Sources: National Sleep Foundation and Dr. Gary Trock.