Feature Channels: Sleep

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Researchers have found new insights into sleep’s importance to overall health: it may give the immune system a chance to regroup at a time when the relative risk of infection is low. As the foundation of the human body’s immune system, large quantities of T cells—a type of white blood cell—are present in the bloodstream and are ready to attack viruses and other pathogens that invade the body. The research team observed that healthy volunteers had greatly reduced numbers of certain T cell subsets within three hours of falling asleep. While it’s unclear where the T cells go during sleep, the researchers have some guesses to where and why they migrate.

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The violent and sexual media you consume during the day may infiltrate your dreams at night, new research suggests. People who reported consuming violent media within 90 minutes of bedtime were 13 times more likely to have a violent dream that night.

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Recently, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) issued a recommendation that infants sleep in their parents’ room, close to the parents’ bed — but on a separate surface designed for infants — for at least 6 months, and preferably up to 1 year of age. Such a sleeping arrangement decreases the risk of SIDS by as much as 50 percent, according to the AAP.

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Whether you barely noticed the time change or are still feeling the effects of the end of Daylight Saving Time, you probably have your genes to blame.

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Leading experts will convene at the Integrative Biology of Exercise 7 meeting (Nov. 2–4 in Phoenix) to discuss current research and new findings on how exercise affects us at all stages of life, from preconception to old age. Read more about today's highlighted research abstracts. Contact the APS Communications Office for full abstracts or to contact a member of the research team.

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Sleep deprivation may result in people consuming more calories during the following day, according to a systematic review and meta-analysis led by researchers at King's College London.

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When daylight saving time ends at 2 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 6, we set clocks back one hour, and essentially gain an extra hour of sleep—but that extra hour of sleep comes at the price of early evening darkness.

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UCLA Health experts are available to discuss a wide variety of topics of interest for the month of November.

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A Cardiff University study has found that children using screen-based media devices at bedtime have over double the risk of inadequate sleep duration compared to children without access to such a device.

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Results from a new clinical study conducted at Uppsala University suggest that curtailing sleep alters the abundance of bacterial gut species that have previously been linked to compromised human metabolic health. The new article is published in the journal Molecular Metabolism.

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The Steering Committee of the National Action Partnership to Promote Safe Sleep (NAPPSS) is encouraged by the new American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) “SIDS and Other Sleep-Related Infant Deaths: Updated 2016 Recommendations for a Safe Infant Sleeping Environment.”

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In recent years, recommendations for breast feeding and safe sleep for infants have led to enormous challenges in moving from recommendations to action that benefit infant health. Now, a coalition funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services aims to coalesce more than 60 groups to develop plans that move from “do and don’t” lists toward achieving the goals of breastfeeding and safe sleep advocates.

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Specific brain regions, including those involved in awareness of self and tendency to ruminate, show altered activity in patients with insomnia when compared to good sleepers, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine published this week in the journal SLEEP.

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A sleep abnormality likely plays an important role in schizophrenia, according to sleep experts at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC). In a review of the growing body of evidence linking a reduction in sleep spindle activity to schizophrenia, the researchers suggested that a better understanding of this sleep abnormality’s genetic underpinnings opens the door to new treatments for the psychiatric disorder. Their paper appeared in the October 15 issue of Biological Psychiatry.

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New research has found that working night shifts has little or no effect on a woman's breast cancer risk despite a review in 2007 by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classifying shift work disrupting the 'body clock' as a probable cause of cancer.

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Individuals with alcohol dependence (AD) often have sleep-related disorders such as insomnia, circadian-rhythm sleep disorders, breathing-related sleep disorders, movement disorders, and parasomnias such as sleep-related eating disorder, sleepwalking, nightmares, sleep paralysis, and REM sleep behavior disorder. The last comprehensive review on this topic was published in March 2005. This review examines the various aspects of insomnia associated with AD, especially using findings over the last decade, and employing updated diagnostic criteria for sleep disorders found in the third edition of the International Classification of Sleep Disorders.

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Raanan Arens, M.D., chief of the Division of Respiratory and Sleep Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Children’s Hospital at Montefiore and professor of Pediatrics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, has been awarded a $3.7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to study and develop tools for combatting obstructive sleep apnea syndrome.

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Over two thirds (68 per cent) of the public would like more rest, according to the world’s largest ever survey on the topic.

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One in five Mexican-American children is obese, according to national statistics. While scientists agree that diet and exercise play a role in obesity, studies also suggest that children who don’t get enough sleep may also be at increased risk for obesity. A new study by Suzanna Martinez, Ph.D., aims to find out whether Mexican-American children who don’t get enough sleep are more likely to become obese due to poor eating habits and being less physically active.

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Growing up in a well-off home can benefit a child’s physical health even decades later — but a lack of parent-child warmth, or the presence of abuse, may eliminate the health advantage of a privileged background, according to a Baylor University study.

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A late night at the library, copious amounts of energy drinks or coffee and class notes from the last month; surely you’ll be able to ace the exam if you just spend the next 24 hours focused on the material. Unfortunately, procrastination and sleep deprivation do much more harm than good.

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Your eyes begin to open after a good night of sleep, but something feels weird. You try to take a deep breath but can’t draw air. You can’t sit up, and you may even see a shadow in the corner of the room. This isn’t a nightmare or a medical emergency—you likely just had a case of sleep paralysis.

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A study led by researchers from the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and Pitt Department of Psychology has identified a possible link between adolescent sleep habits and early substance abuse. The study, published today in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence, found that both sleep duration and sleep quality during late childhood predict alcohol and cannabis use later in adolescence.

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Anyone who has tried sticking to an exercise routine knows it isn't easy. But the combination of a conditioned cue and intrinsic reward may be the key to developing an exercise habit, according to a new Iowa State University study.

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Results from an international, randomized study show that an implanted nerve stimulator significantly improves symptoms in those with central sleep apnea, without causing serious side effects.

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Headline-grabbing disasters like the Chernobyl nuclear incident and the Exxon Valdez oil spill could have been prevented through better labor practices, like shorter shifts and more structured shift rotations, say two Missouri University of Science and Technology researchers in a new book on risk management.

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Experts from the University of Missouri believe that a family-based cognitive behavioral therapy may be the key for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who have problems sleeping.

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Researchers are working to find the fastest way possible to treat and cure human African trypanosomiasis, long referred to as sleeping sickness.

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Researchers from the Universities of Groningen (Netherlands) and Pennsylvania have discovered a piece in the puzzle of how sleep deprivation negatively affects memory.

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Research from University of California, Irvine scientists and their colleagues offers new insights into why many animals sleep at night and are active during the day, while others do the reverse.

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Suppressing hydrogen sulfide production in the carotid body may block the hypertension associated with sleep apnea.

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Researchers from Aalto University and the University of Wisconsin utilised a TMS-EEG device, which combines transcranial magnetic stimulation and EEG, to examine how the brain activity of people in the restful non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep is affected by whether they dream or do not dream.

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A new study by two Florida State University researchers found that when husbands and wives get more sleep than on an average night, they are more satisfied with their marriages, at least the following day.

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There is growing evidence that sleep disorders like insomnia and sleep apnea are related to stroke risk and recovery from stroke, according to a recent literature review. The review is published in the August 3, 2016, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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Between a new roommate, new bed, new noises, new freedoms and no parents, managing a good sleep schedule can be one of the hardest lessons to learn in college, says a sleep expert at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.

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Students soon will leave behind the lazy summer days and go back to school, leaping — or crawling — out of bed when the alarm clock goes off. Baylor University sleep expert Michael Scullin, Ph.D., offers ways to make the transition.

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University of Iowa researchers suspect that sleep twitches in human infants are linked to sensorimotor development. Read on to learn how new parents can contribute to their study.

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Two UCLA studies reveal that menopause--and the insomnia that often accompanies it --make women age faster.

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Click here to go directly to the Cardiovascular Health News Source

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When asked how lack of sleep affects emotions, common responses are usually grumpy, foggy and short-tempered. While many jokes are made about how sleep deprivation turns the nicest of people into a Jekyll and Hyde, not getting enough shut-eye can lead to far more serious consequences than irritability, difficulty concentrating and impatience.

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Preschoolers who are regularly tucked into bed by 8 p.m. are far less likely to become obese teenagers than young children who go to sleep later in the evening, new research has found.

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Japanese researchers centered at Nagoya University reveal a role for orexin neurons of the hypothalamus when mice respond to painful stimuli, and suggest a link between stimulus response and consciousness.

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Preschoolers who are regularly tucked into bed by 8 p.m. are far less likely to become obese teenagers than young children who go to sleep later in the evening, new research has found. Bedtimes after 9 p.m. appeared to double the likelihood of obesity later in life.

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Men who sleep either fewer or more hours than average may face a greater risk of developing diabetes, according to a new study published in the Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

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Teaching parents bedtime techniques to encourage healthy sleep habits in their infants may help prevent obesity, according to Penn State College of Medicine researchers. Strong links exist between inadequate sleep and childhood obesity.

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Circadian rhythms are internal clocks that determine many of an organism's daily rhythms, for example sleep-wake, feeding, urinary output and hormone production. Aligned with the environment by external forces such as sunlight and ambient temperature, circadian rhythms are important for animal health and survival. Disturbances of the circadian clock are associated with a variety of diseases in humans and animals, including cancer, mental illnesses and metabolic disorders, such as diabetes and obesity.

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People with multiple sclerosis often have trouble with memory, attention and mental processing. New research shows some of these issues could stem from sleep disorders.

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While it’s important for children of all ages to embrace the down time away from the high expectations and heavy workloads of being in school, summer is not necessarily the time to abandon a structured schedule and learning opportunities. Here are a few tips for families to follow to help make this summer season productive and enjoyable.