Sleep: how it relates to our overall lives & health
Jul31
Sleep problems can influence a person’s diet.
People who don’t get enough sleep are less likely to cook their own meals. Instead, they often opt to eat fast food.
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Jul29
WESTCHESTER, Ill. — Self-reported sleep complaints among the elderly serve as a risk factor for completed suicide, according to information presented at Sleep 2007, the 21st Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies (APSS).
The study, conducted by Rebecca Bernert of Florida State University, focused on data that were collected among 14,456 community elders over a 10-year period. During this time frame, 21 individuals died by suicide.
When each suicide was matched to 20 randomly-selected controls, it was discovered that disturbances in sleep, independent of depression, predicted an increased risk for eventual death by suicide.
“This suggests that, as a warning sign, poor sleep quality constitutes a significant and modifiable risk factor for completed suicide,” said Bernert. “Evaluating sleep among at-risk patients may therefore guide and importantly inform both clinical decision-making and suicide risk assessment.”
It is recommended that older adults get seven to eight hours of sleep each night for good health and optimum performance. Unfortunately, many older adults often get less sleep than they need. One reason is that they often have more trouble falling asleep.
Not sleeping well can lead to a number of problems. Older adults who have poor nighttime sleep are more likely to have a depressed mood, attention and memory problems, excessive daytime sleepiness, more nighttime falls, and use more over-the-counter or prescription sleep aids.
Poor sleep is also associated with a poorer quality of life. Insomnia, the most common sleep complaint, affects almost half of adults 60 and older.
Those who think they might have a sleep disorder are encouraged to consult with their primary care physician, who will refer them to a sleep specialist.
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Jul22
A study published in the July 1st issue of the journal Sleep finds that large segments of the U.S. population use valerian or melatonin to treat their insomnia.
The study, authored by Donald L. Bliwise, PhD, of Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, focused on the data collected from 31,044 individuals from the 2002 Alternative Health/Complementary and Alternative Medicine Supplement to the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS).
Dr. Bliwise discovered that, of the survey sample, 5.9 percent used valerian and 5.2 percent used melatonin. Relatively greater use occurred in individuals under the age of 60. The decision to use such substances was made in consultation with a health care provider less than half of the time.
“Within the United States, usage of alternative and complementary medicine is rising dramatically,” said Bliwise. “Within the limitations on the NHIS methodology, the usage of valerian and the usage of melatonin appear to be relatively high. Specific data on valerian usage and on melatonin usage in general populations, however, are relatively scarce.”
However, an evaluation of common oral non-prescription treatments for insomnia conducted by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine?s (AASM) clinical practice review committee did not find a beneficial effect for many of the herbal supplements, dietary changes and other nutritional supplements popularly used for treating insomnia symptoms, including valerian and melatonin. The AASM does not support the use of such products for treating symptoms of insomnia. The evaluation was published in the April 15th, 2005, issue of the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine.
Behavioral therapies and medications have been shown to be effective therapies for insomnia. Behavioral therapies use non-pharmacologic methods to improve sleep, and are effective and long-lasting. Sleep medications are effective and safe treatments for insomnia when used properly and judiciously by a patient who is under the supervision of a sleep medicine or primary care physician. A physician should always be consulted before any medications are taken.
Insomnia is a classification of sleep disorders in which a person has trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, or waking up too early. These disorders may also be defined by an overall poor quality of sleep.
Insomnia is the most commonly reported sleep disorder. About 30 percent of adults have symptoms of insomnia. Less than 10 percent of adults are likely to have chronic insomnia. Insomnia is more common among elderly people and women.
While a brief case of insomnia can arise due to temporary stress, excitement or other emotion, more than 20 million Americans report having a chronic form of insomnia that keeps them from sleeping well nearly every night.
As a result, insomnia can lead to severe daytime fatigue, poor performance at school and work, physical symptoms such as headaches and, in some cases, depression.
Those who think they might have insomnia, or another sleep disorder, are urged to discuss their problem with their primary care physician, who will issue a referral to a sleep specialist.
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Jul20
Normal rapid eye movement (REM) sleep is characterized by tonic features, including cortical electroencephalogram (EEG) desynchronization and muscle atonia, as well as phasic events, including bursts of REM, phasic activities of both chin and limb electromyography (EMG), and cardiorespiratory variability.
People with narcolepsy, however, have a high frequency of REM sleep without atonia and of elevated EMG phasic density, according to a study published in the July 1, 2007, issue of the journal Sleep.
The study, conducted by Jacques Montplaisir, MD, PhD, of the Sleep Disorders Center at the University of Montreal in Canada, focused on 16 patients with narcolepsy and cataplexy, who were matched for age and sex with 16 patients with idiopathic REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD) and with 16 normal controls.
In his research, Dr. Montplaisir discovered that higher percentages of REM sleep without atonia, phasic EMG activity and REM density were found in patients with narcolepsy than normal controls. In contrast, RBD patients had a higher percentage of REM sleep without atonia, but a lower REM density than patients with narcolepsy and normal controls.
Based on a threshold of 80 percent for percentage of REM sleep with atonia, 50 percent of narcoleptics and 87.5 percent of RBD patients had abnormal REM sleep muscle activity. A higher frequency of periodic limb movements during wake and during sleep in narcoleptic patients, compared to controls, was also noted.
“This study also shows several REM sleep motor dyscontrol similarities between narcolepsy and RBD, suggesting the possibility of a common neurobiological defect of motor inhibition during REM sleep,” said Montplaisir. “However, behavioral manifestations in REM sleep seem to be less frequent and severe in narcolepsy than in idiopathic RBD. These results also support the idea that a decreased hypocretinergic and/or dopaminergic abnormalities input to brainstem structures may contribute to dissociated sleep/wake states.”
Narcolepsy is a sleep disorder that causes people to fall asleep uncontrollably during the day. It also includes features of dreaming that occur while awake. Other common symptoms include sleep paralysis, hallucinations and cataplexy.
About one out of every 2,000 people is known to have narcolepsy. There appears to be a genetic link to it.
Those who think they might have narcolepsy, or another sleep disorder, are urged to discuss their problem with their primary care physician, who will issue a referral to a sleep specialist.
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