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Entries by Melissa Chefec

The Surprising Link Between Bedtime and Dementia

By Chantelle Pattemore, Sept 23, 2022 “In most studies, women are known to have a two-fold greater risk of dementia than men. It is unusual that this study found the opposite,” shared Dr. Alex Dimitriu, double board-certified in psychiatry and sleep medicine and founder of Menlo Park Psychiatry & Sleep Medicine and BrainfoodMD. Click HERE for the full article.

The Viral TikTok Mouth Taping Trend Is a Dangerous Disaster

By Erica Sweeney, Sept 22, 2022 People breathe through their mouths as a backup when they’re unable to breathe properly through their noses. “People tend to mouth-breathe because their noses are congested” from a cold, sinus infection, allergies, deviated septum, or enlarged tonsils or adenoids, says Alex Dimitriu, MD, who’s double board-certified in psychiatry and sleep […]

How Your Mental Health Affects Your Sex Life

By Helen Massy, Sept 2022 “Sex for many of us is one of the most joyous activities in our lives,” said Alex Dimitriu, M.D., who is double board-certified in psychiatry and sleep medicine and the founder of Menlo Park Psychiatry & Sleep Medicine in California and BrainfoodMD. “Whenever I work with patients and see that there’s something off […]

Can Blue Light Affect Puberty? Here’s What Early Research Has Found

By George Citroner, Sept 16, 2022 “It is possible that disrupted melatonin, or perhaps more generally, disrupted sleep and sleep stages from blue light, can have an impact on child development,” confirmed Dr. Alex Dimitriu, double board-certified in Psychiatry and Sleep Medicine and founder of Menlo Park Psychiatry & Sleep Medicine and BrainfoodMD. He added that the limitation of […]

7 Signs Your Partner Is Being Unfairly Critical of You

By Adam Bulger, Sept 14, 2022 “An unfair criticism would be to see a mistake as a personality flaw,” California couples therapist Emily Heard says, adding that words like ‘never’ and ‘always’ can be red flags of conflating behavior with character. Click HERE for the full article.

Are You TikTok Tired? Here’s How to Stop Scrolling and Reclaim More Zs

By Beth Ann Mayer, Sept 13, 2022 This research doesn’t surprise Dr. Alex Dimitriu, double board certified in Psychiatry and Sleep Medicine and founder of Menlo Park Psychiatry & Sleep Medicine and BrainfoodMD. “The behavior of ‘search and find,’ especially with food, has been shown to keep sleep-deprived mice awake endlessly,” Dimitriu says. “This makes evolutionary sense — finding […]

Strategies for Coping with Overwhelming Parenting Stress

By Shannon M. Bauer, Sept 12, 2022 While the time at home brought certain benefits to some families, others have felt a lack of balance in work and in life since the beginning of the pandemic. Jeff Leininger, a psychiatric nurse practitioner at Menlo Park Psychiatry & Sleep Medicine in California says for many, the pandemic also […]

10 Minutes? 20 Seconds? Doesn’t Matter. ‘Micro-breaks’ from Work Are Healthy

By David Rossiaky, Aug 31, 2022 Dr. Alex Dimitriu, founder of Menlo Park Psychiatry & Sleep Medicine in California and BrainfoodMD, says the basic strategy is movement. “Get up, walk around, stretch, do push-ups,” he told Healthline. “Getting vertical and moving around is good to get blood flowing and has always been the healthiest use of even […]

Our Picks for the 6 Best Online Psychiatry Platforms of 2022

By Vanessa Ling, ND, CNS, Aug 31, 2022 Psychiatry and psychology can both be a part of your optimal treatment plan, and some online therapy platforms combine therapy with psychiatry. Board-certified psychiatrist Alex Dimitriu, M.D., explains how psychiatry and psychology can work together, stating, “Some people may be “stuck” in therapy for years if a biological problem […]

Health Problems Linked to Untreated Narcolepsy

By Erica Patino, Aug 25, 2022 To understand how narcolepsy can impact your health, it helps to first take a look at how the condition can affect the body. “Narcolepsy is [thought to be an]autoimmune disorder resulting from the loss of orexin neurons in the brain,” says Alex Dimitriu, MD, founder of Menlo Park Psychiatry and Sleep Medicine […]

What Sleep Experts Say About Night Terrors (and Why We Have Them)

By Amanda Capritto, Aug 25, 2022 Night terrors and nightmares both involve sleep and fear, but they differ in a couple of ways. One key difference is the time at which they happen, says Dr. Alex Dimitriu, psychiatrist and sleep physician at Menlo Park Psychiatry and Sleep Medicine.  Nightmares are scary dreams that usually occur during REM sleep, which […]

What is Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorder?

By Laurie Saloman, Aug 25, 2022 “Symptoms can present ranging from paranoid thoughts to finding meaning and connections where there aren’t any to the more classic auditory hallucinations,” says Alex Dimitriu, MD, a board-certified psychiatrist and sleep medicine expert and founder of Menlo Park Psychiatry & Sleep Medicine in Menlo Park, California. “While these varied symptoms […]

Be It Happy or Sad Songs, Music Before Bed Could Mean Better Sleep

By Lo Styx, Aug 23, 2022 Psychiatrist Alex Dimitriu, MD, who specializes in sleep medicine, notes that music is a fairly powerful emotional tool. This means it can also be an effective distraction for racing thoughts while trying to fall asleep. Studies have shown that playing music at bedtime can encourage the physical and mental tranquility necessary […]

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