Lack of sleep or erratic slumber from working late-night shifts or travel may lead to diabetes and obesity, according to a Harvard study that is the first to tie abnormal sleep patterns to disease. In a trial of 21 men and women observed in a sleep laboratory, those allowed only 5.6 hours of sleep in a 24-hour period over three weeks had a slowdown in their metabolism and a reduction in insulin production. Tho... (read more)
Like fine wine, sleep may get better with age. At least that’s what a study of more than 150,000 adults suggests. According to the new report, many people in their 80s have fewer complaints about their sleep than their younger counterparts. Although the results are based on self-reports, not objective reports of sleep quality and quantity, "we were very surprised at the findings at... (read more)
On the surface, it's simple: when night falls, our bodies get sleepy. But behind the scenes, a series of complex molecular events, controlled by our genes, is hard at work to make us groggy. Now, research suggests that a newly identified gene known as insomniac may play a role in keeping us asleep. By cloning and testing this gene in fruit flies, Rockefeller University researchers say they have d... (read more)
The molecular response of an organism -- be it mouse or man -- to pathogenic invasion is controlled by circadian rhythms, researchers found. In mice exposed to infection at the highest and lowest time of activity in the 24-hour light-dark cycle of an immune protein known as toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9), those whose exposure was at the nadir of TLR9 expression had much more severe sepsis, according to Erol Fikrig, MD, ... (read more)
People who have trouble sleeping may be at higher risk of developing memory problems, new research shows. People who woke frequently in the night had a higher risk of developing Alzheimer's disease, according to work to be presented at the American Academy of Neurology meeting in New Orleans in April. Other research has shown a link between impaired sleep and multiple-personality di... (read more)
So Valentine’s Day is here, and I’ve been thinking a lot about the love of my life. Sleep. I love you, Sleep! Most people think of doctors and medical students as intense, “type A” personalities who hate to sleep. That is BULL-HONKY. We love to sleep. Any surgeon will tell you that nothing makes you appreciate sleep more than spending 24 consecutive hours elbow-deep in a patient’s abdomen removing bul... (read more)
For many a frazzled parent, bedtime — their children’s, that is — is the best part of the day. But it can be hard to ease snooze-averse kids into bed, and now a new study confirms that this is an age-old problem: children have consistently gotten less sleep than recommended guidelines, for at least the past 100 years. Researchers from the University of South Australia did some historical spelunking, l... (read more)
Children with type 1 diabetes may be more likely to have sleep problems that worsen not only their blood sugar control, but also their quality of life, researchers found. Diabetic children with more nightly apnea events had significantly higher glucose levels and spent more time in hyperglycemia than young type 1 diabetics without sleep disturbances, Michelle Perfect, PhD, of the University of Arizon... (read more)
Reproductive and somatic aging use different molecular mechanisms that show little overlap between the types of genes required to keep oocytes healthy and the genes that generally extend life span, according to Coleen Murphy, Ph.D., of Princeton University, who described her new findings on oocyte aging at the American Society for Cell Biology Annual Meeting Dec. 6 in Denver. The differen... (read more)
People with obstructive sleep apnea are more likely to stick to prescribed treatment when a partner or parent is involved with their treatment, according to a team of sleep researchers. Obstructive sleep apnea occurs when the upper airway collapses during sleep. It is the most common type of sleep-disordered breathing, and chances of it occurring become more elevated in obese people. The... (read more)
Women who often have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep may have an increased risk of fibromyalgia, a new study from Norway reveals. "Our findings indicate a strong association between sleep disturbance and fibromyalgia risk in adult women," study researcher Paul Mork, PhD, says in a news release. He is an associate professor in the department of human movement science at the Norwegian Un... (read more)
Poor sleep quality, in both early and late pregnancy, may be associated with an increased risk of a preterm delivery, researchers said. Poor sleep quality was a predictor of preterm birth in early pregnancy (14-16 weeks), and with every one-point increase on a sleep index scale, the odds of preterm birth increased 25%, reported Michele L. Okun, PhD, of the University of Pittsburgh, and colleagues in the November 1... (read more)
Symptoms of Depression along with unhealthy habits are common amongst individuals with asthma, a telephone survey conducted in Israel found. Aviva Goral, MSc, of the Unit of Mental Health Epidemiology and Psychosocial Aspects of Illness in Tel Hashomer, and colleagues surveyed 9,509 Israeli adults. Their results suggest that even mild depressive symptoms, with no accompanying diagnosis of clinica... (read more)
Skin cancer is on the rise even though it is one of the most preventable forms of cancer. Despite recommendations, it's hard to know how much is too much sun, what level of sunblock is enough, and if we're getting sufficient Vitamin D. Researchers at University of North Carolina are now suggesting that, in addition to the amount of UV exposure, the timing of exposure can impact the onset of ... (read more)
Let’s start a new day “The human body has a so-called alarm-clock gene that wakes up even if one hasn’t set the bedside alarm, U.S. researchers say.” United Press International reports. “Researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, Calif., said the gene is responsible for starting the body’s biological clock from its restful state every morning. Discovery of the new gene and the mechanism by wh... (read more)
We tweet what we feel. An innovative study that used Twitter streams from 2.4 million people around the globe to take their emotional temperature found that people start the day in a good mood. But it decreases as work starts, then improves when work ends. For more from this article, click the link below.
Sleep is a naturally recurring state characterized by reduced or absent consciousness, relatively suspended sensory activity, and inactivity of nearly all voluntary muscles. It is distinguished from quiet wakefulness by a decreased ability to react to stimuli, and is more easily reversible than being in hibernation or a coma. Sleep is also a heightened anabolic state, accentuating the growth and rejuvenation of the immune, nervous, skeletal and muscular systems. It is observed in all mammals, all birds, and many reptiles, amphibians, and fish.
The purposes and mechanisms of sleep are only partially clear and are the subject of intense research. Sleep is often thought to help conserve energy, but actually decreases metabolism only about 5–10%. Hibernating animals need to sleep despite the hypometabolism seen in hibernation, and in fact they must return from hypothermia to euthermy in order to sleep, making sleeping "energetically expensive."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep
© 2012 Healthnoise — All rights reserved.