News Headlines: Sleep and Sleep Research
Late-Night Snacking May Affect Sleep Quality
Daytime Dozing Linked to Increased Stroke Risk
Study Examines How Smoking Disrupts Sleep
Respiratory Distubrances in Sleep Common in Older Adults
Stressful Event Can Affect Sleep for Six Months
Pain Medications May Increase Risk of Sleep Apnea
Sleep Deprivation is Detrimental to Women
Lack of Deep Sleep May Increase Risk of Type 2 Diabetes
Short Sleep Times Linked to Obesity
Late-Night Snacking May Affect Sleep Quality
New research shows that eating too much or too close to bedtime may do more than lead to weight gain – it may also disrupt your sleep.
The study, out of Federal University of Sao Paulo, in
According to the results, positive and statistically significant correlations were found between total calorie intake and late-night snacking and awakenings during sleep.
While previous studies have shown that the distribution of food intake is capable of modifying hormonal and metabolic patterns during sleep, studies of the influence of food intake distribution on sleep patterns are scarce. This study, which analyzed the influence of energy intake on the sleep patterns in healthy subjects, concluded that total energy intake and late-night snack energy intake may increase sleep fragmentation in healthy subjects, and that sleep restriction in turn may affect nutritional and metabolic balance. However, further studies are needed to better understand the association.
The study was presented at the the 22nd Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies (APSS). 6/12/08
Daytime Dozing Linked to Increased Stroke Risk
Do you find yourself nodding off as you watch TV, read a book or even sit at a traffic light? If so, you could be at increased risk for a heart attack or stroke (not to mention the risks you face on the road), according new research presented at the American Stroke Association’s International Stroke Conference.
In a study of 2,153 older people who were followed an average of 2.3 years, stroke risk was two- to four-fold greater in those with moderate dozing. Those with a significant dozing problem had an even greater – 4.5 times higher – risk.
The risk of a heart attack or vascular death was also higher — 1.6 percent for the moderate dozers and 2.6 percent for the significant dozers. The findings were similar for all ethnicities and both genders.
“Given what’s known now, it’s worth assessing patients for sleep problems,” says Bernadette Boden-Albala, Ph.D., an assistant professor of neurology at Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City and lead author of the study.
These findings, if confirmed by other studies, carry important public health implications as well.
“Studies demonstrate that we are not getting enough sleep, so we’re tired,” Boden-Albala said. “But the real question is, what are we doing to our bodies? Sleepiness obviously puts us at risk of stroke.”
Study Examines How Smoking Disrupts Sleep
If you are smoker and find yourself waking in the morning feeling less than refreshed, your nicotine habit may be to blame, according to a new study in the journal CHEST.
The study shows that even healthy cigarette smokers are four times as likely as nonsmokers to report feeling unrested after a night’s sleep. It also reveals that smokers spend less time in deep sleep and more time in light sleep than nonsmokers, with the greatest differences in sleep patterns seen in the early stages of sleep. Researchers speculate that the stimulating effects of nicotine could cause smokers to experience nicotine withdrawal each night, which may contribute to disturbances in sleep.
While numerous studies have looked at disordered sleep patterns in medical conditions, including fibromyalgia and obstructive sleep apnea, this study is the first to show how cigarette smoking disrupts sleep.
“The long-term effects of smoking on respiratory and cardiovascular health are well-known,” said Alvin V. Thomas, Jr., MD, president of the
Respiratory Disturbances During Sleep Common Even in Healthy Older Adults
New research shows the frequency of respiratory disturbances increases dramatically with age, even in healthy individuals without symptoms or signs of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome.
The study, published in the February 1 issue of the journal SLEEP, focused on breathing irregularities during sleep in 163 people deemed completely healthy by physical and clinical health tests. The results showed that, in this group, irregularities in breathing during sleep are remarkably common, particularly in older individuals. For example, only around five percent of currently healthy subjects under 50 years of age had a respiratory disturbance index (RDI) of more than 15 events per hour – a degree of sleep disturbance considered to be clinically significant by many physicians – compared to about half of currently healthy subjects over 65 years of age.
“There are still discussions among clinicians regarding the clinical significance of the different degrees of sleep disordered breathing,” says said Steven A. Shea, PhD, of Brigham & Women’s Hospital in
Dr. Shea added that, since this high degree of respiratory abnormality is so common in the healthy elderly, it seems likely that this is a consequence of the normal aging process.
Nonetheless, he says he worries that people with a high RDI who are untreated will begin to develop health problems over time, including increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Thus, it may be worth considering treatment regardless of symptoms.
Stressful Event Can Affect Sleep for Six Months
You know that a stressful day can leave your mind racing and your body tossing and turning all night. Now a study shows that anxiety brought on by a stressful event can affect your ability to sleep for six months.
The study, conducted by researchers at the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health in Helsinki, involved a population sample of 16,627 men and women with undisturbed sleep and 2,572 with disturbed sleep, all of whom participated in a five-year longitudinal observational cohort study.
The degree of anxiety was measured by a general feeling of stressfulness and symptoms of hyperactivity at the onset of the study, with the occurrence of post-onset life events – for example, death or illness in the family, divorce, financial difficulty or violence – and sleep disturbances and follow-up five years later.
Follow-up showed that exposure to severe stressful events can trigger sleep disturbances in people with undisturbed sleep before the event. Those liable to anxiety before the event seemed to be at a higher risk of post-event sleep disturbances compared with those not liable to anxiety, say the authors in the November issue of the journal Sleep.
Pain Medications May Increase Risk of Sleep Apnea
If joint pain has become so severe that you take opioid painkillers regularly to control it, you may be at risk for a rare and potentially serious problem -- central sleep apnea.
Central sleep apnea is a condition in which you stop breathing during sleep. It is caused by a dysfunction in the brain mechanism that controls breathing, unlike the more common obstructive sleep apnea, which is caused by an obstruction of the upper airways.
In a study of sleep lab data on 14 patients taking opioids around the clock,
If opioids do in fact increase the risk of central sleep apnea, they could be putting people who use them at risk of related health problems and even death, say the researchers. Therefore, it’s important that physicians monitor and adjust the medications for maximum safety. The study was published in the September issue of the journal Pain Medicine.
Sleep Deprivation is Detrimental to Women
For years, scientists have known that a good night’s sleep is key to good health. Now they know that’s especially true for women. Looking at data from 6,592 (4,199 men and 1,567 women) London-based civil servants, researchers at England’s Warwick Medical School found that women who slept five or fewer hours a night were twice as likely to suffer from hypertension than women who slept the recommended seven or more. Yet, the researchers found no difference in men sleeping less than five hour and those sleeping seven hours or more.
The researchers say their findings underscore the importance of adequate sleep, particularly for women and particularly since emerging evidence also suggests a potential role for sleep deprivation as a predictor or risk factor for conditions like obesity and diabetes.
The study is published in the October issue of Hypertension.
Lack of Deep Sleep May Increase Risk of Type 2 Diabetes
Research in recent years has shown that not getting enough sleep may impair glucose metabolism, resulting in increased risk of obesity and diabetes. Now research shows that when it comes to diabetes risk, sleep quality may be as important as quantity. In a study of nine lean healthy volunteers, researchers at the University of Chicago Medical Center found that suppressing slow-wave sleep decreased their ability to regulate blood-sugar levels, increasing the risk of type 2 diabetes.
Deep sleep, also called “slow-wave sleep,” is thought to be the most restorative sleep stage, but its significance for physical well-being has not been demonstrated. This study found that after only three nights of selective slow-wave sleep suppression, young healthy subjects became less sensitive to insulin. Although they needed more insulin to dispose of the same amount of glucose, their insulin secretion did not increase to compensate for the reduced sensitivity, resulting in reduced tolerance to glucose and increased risk for type 2 diabetes. The decrease in insulin sensitivity was comparable to that caused by gaining 20 to 30 pounds.
"These findings demonstrate a clear role for slow-wave sleep in maintaining normal glucose control," said the study's lead author,
Since reduced amounts of deep sleep are typical of aging and some medical disorders, including fibromyalgia, the researchers says strategies to improve sleep quality, as well as quantity, may help to prevent or delay the onset of type 2 diabetes in populations at risk.
The study was published in the “Early Edition” of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Short Sleep Times Linked to Obesity
A new study shows that lack of sleep can lead to more than fatigue and daytime sleepiness. It can also make you overweight.
In a study of 200 patients attending a internal medicine clinics to determine their sleep habits, lifestyle characteristics and medical diagnoses, researchers at Texas Tech University found that those with short sleep times (less than seven hours) had a significantly increased likelihood of obesity defined by a body mass index greater than 30 when compared to the reference group of eight to nine hours.
Other factors predicting obesity in these clinic patients included young age (18 to 49 years), not smoking, drinking alcohol, hypertension, diabetes, and sleep apnea.
The study, which was published in the Dec. 15 issue of the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, demonstrates that “short sleep times have an association with obesity in adults with chronic medical problems and that chronic disease and attendant therapies and/or changes in physical activities do not obscure this relationship,” said Kenneth Nugent, MD, of Texas Tech University, lead author of the study.
The study suggests that adults should sleep eight to nine hours per night to maintain optimal weight, he says. Whether or not manipulating sleep time in adults will prevent additional weight gain or facilitate weight loss is unclear.
