U of Tennessee Faculty Can Discuss Daylight Saving Time's Effect on Our Bodies
University of Tennessee
Johns Hopkins researchers report that people with chronic insomnia show more plasticity and activity than good sleepers in the part of the brain that controls movement.
Pathways of aging and sleep intersect at the circuitry of a cellular stress response pathway, and that by tinkering with those connections, it may be possible to alter sleep patterns in the aged for the better – at least in fruit flies.
People with multiple sclerosis (MS) might assume that the fatigue they often feel just comes with the territory of their chronic neurological condition. But a new study suggests that a large proportion of MS patients may have an undiagnosed sleep disorder that is also known to cause fatigue.
All creatures great and small, including fruitflies, need sleep. The timing of when we sleep versus are awake is controlled by cells in tune with circadian rhythms of light and dark. Most of the molecular components of that internal clock have been worked out. On the other hand, what drives how much we sleep is less well understood. Researchers report a new protein involved in the homeostatic regulation of sleep in the fruitfly.
According to a new study by researchers at the University of Montreal, nightmares have greater emotional impact than bad dreams do, and fear is not always a factor. In fact, it is mostly absent in bad dreams and in a third of nightmares.
Poor-quality sleep with frequent awakenings can speed cancer growth, increase tumor aggressiveness and dampen the immune system’s ability to control cancer. This study demonstrates the effects of sleep loss on tumor growth and invasiveness and points to a mechanism for therapy.
Getting a good night’s sleep means more than you probably think. “I would say the importance of sleep is definitely underestimated by the general public,” said Dr. Sandhya Kumar, assistant professor of neurology at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, N.C., and medical director of its Sleep Center.
Cancer patients who are struggling with sleep troubles, due in part to pain or side effects of treatment, can count on two behavioral interventions for relief – cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) and mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), Penn Medicine researchers report in a new study published online in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. While CBT-I is the gold standard of care, MBSR is an additional treatment approach that can also help improve sleep for cancer patients, the study found.
Promising results from a Phase III study published in this week’s New England Journal of Medicine finds upper airway electronic stimulation to be effective in reducing obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) symptoms.
Why do animals ranging from fruit flies to humans all need to sleep? After all, sleep disconnects them from their environment, puts them at risk and keeps them from seeking food or mates for large parts of the day.
The poor and minorities tend to suffer from poor sleep and chronic disease more often, but sleep does not appear to be a root cause of disease disparity, finds a new study in Ethnicity & Disease.
David Biron's research group at the University of Chicago studies the behavior of the roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans in the hopes of shedding light on the function and evolutionary origins of animal behaviors such as locomotion, feeding and sleep.
For the first time, researchers describe the effect of sleep deprivation on the unfolded protein response in peripheral tissue. Stress in pancreatic cells due to sleep deprivation may contribute to the loss or dysfunction of cells important to maintaining proper blood sugar levels, and that these functions may be exacerbated by normal aging. The combined effect of aging and sleep deprivation resulted in a loss of control of blood sugar, somewhat like pre-diabetes in mice.
New findings suggest that where the spinal cord is injured—in the neck, or lower—can affect the likelihood and type of breathing problems during sleep, including central sleep apnea. Understanding how and why patients’ nighttime breathing is affected could help doctors better manage these conditions.
Medical researchers point to developmental factors, specifically the decline of the sleep-inducing hormone melatonin, as an explanation for why children get less sleep as they become teenagers. But a new study suggests that social ties, including relationships with peers and parents, may be even more responsible for changing sleep patterns among adolescents.
A new discovery may help explain the surprisingly strong connections between sleep problems and neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease.
Late bedtimes during the school year, especially in younger teens, predicted lower cumulative grade point average and more emotional distress by college age.
Surgeons who had operated the night before an elective daytime gallbladder surgery did not have a higher rate of complications, according to a study in the November 6 issue of JAMA.
Snoring during pregnancy may be more than a nuisance -- Moms who snored three or more nights a week had a higher risk of poor delivery outcomes.
When daylight saving time ends at 2 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 3, that extra hour of sleep comes at the price of early evening darkness. As we set clocks back one hour, we essentially gain an extra hour of sleep. But a Vanderbilt University Medical Center sleep specialist confirms what a lot of us already know—this change in sleep schedule can still cause a groggy and unsettled feeling come Monday morning, especially with our tendency to shift sleep patterns on the weekends.
What’s not to love about an extra hour of sleep? Just ask any parent and they’ll tell you how that one little hour that gets added every fall as part of Daylight Savings Time can wreak havoc on their children’s routines.
Sleep deprivation and darkness can cause drivers to doze when they believe they are alert
Obstructive sleep apnea is known to be associated with an increased incidence of cardiovascular disease. Now a new study indicates that OSA is associated with subclinical myocardial injury, as indicated by increased high sensitivity troponin T (hs-TnT) levels. Elevated hs-TnT levels are predictive of both coronary heart disease (CHD) and heart failure (HF) in the general population. This is the first study to demonstrate an independent association between sleep apnea severity and this marker of early myocardial injury.
New study finds, shorter sleep duration and poorer sleep quality were associated with a greater β-Amyloid burden.
A new study assesses the effects of extended “weekend” recovery sleep following “one workweek” of mild sleep restriction on sleepiness/alertness, inflammation and stress hormones. Article is published in the American Journal of Physiology – Endocrinology and Metabolism.
New research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania is revealing that short sleepers, those who sleep less than six hours per night on average, are the most likely to experience drowsy driving , even when they feel completely rested.
A new study by a Washington and Lee University psychology professor found that texting was director predictor of sleep problems in first-year college students.
An estimated 80 percent of patients who have obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) go undiagnosed, including Deanna G. McNeil, a 72-year-old nurse from Toronto.
Getting treatment for a common sleep problem may do more than help you sleep better – it may help you look better over the long term, too, according to a new research study. It’s the first time researchers have shown specific improvement in facial appearance after at-home treatment for sleep apnea.
A Wayne State University researcher’s innovative use of a new tool may make surgery a more viable option for sufferers of obstructive sleep apnea/hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS).
In a new study published in Neuron, researchers have identified how a fundamental biological process called protein synthesis is controlled within the body’s circadian clock — the internal mechanism that controls one’s daily rhythms. Their findings may help shed light on future treatments for disorders triggered by circadian clock dysfunction, including jet lag, shift work disorders, and chronic conditions like depression and Parkinson’s disease.
Women diagnosed with gestational diabetes are nearly seven times more likely to have obstructive sleep apnea than other pregnant women, according to a recent study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM).
Getting good quality sleep is crucial for a child’s health, says SLU sleep specialist
Researchers in Taiwan have discovered that people with sleep apnea are far more likely to develop glaucoma compared to those without the sleep condition. The results of this study, which is the first to calculate the risk of the disease among people with the sleep disorder following diagnosis, is published in this month’s edition of Ophthalmology, the journal of the American Academy of Ophthalmology.
In a first-of-its-kind clinical trial, physician-scientists at University Hospitals Case Medical Center found that sleep quality impacts skin function and aging. The study, commissioned by Estée Lauder, demonstrated that poor sleepers had increased signs of skin aging and slower recovery from a variety of environmental stressors, such as disruption of the skin barrier or ultraviolet (UV) radiation. Poor sleepers also had worse assessment of their own skin and facial appearance.
Athletes who didn’t get enough sleep the night before undergoing baseline concussion testing didn’t perform as well as expected, say researchers presenting their work today at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine’s (AOSSM) Annual Meeting in Chicago, IL.
Four-year-olds with shorter than average sleep times have increased rates of "externalizing" behavior problems, reports a study in the July Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics, the official journal of the Society for Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.
Summer means more hours of daylight and for many, it contributes to trouble falling asleep. More than 40 million Americans suffer from chronic sleep disorders, resulting in $18 billion in cost to employers due to sleep loss issues.”The inability to get a good night's sleep can be a complex issue, and is not as easy to cure as telling people to count sheep,” says John Wilson, MD, neurologist at Gottlieb Memorial Hospital, part of Loyola University Health System.
New research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania found military service members who have trouble sleeping prior to deployments may be at greater risk of developing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression and anxiety once they return home. The study found that pre-existing insomnia symptoms conferred almost as a large of a risk for those mental disorders as combat exposure.
A Wayne State University researcher has found that sleep apnea severity is higher among African-American men in certain age ranges, even after controlling for body mass index (BMI).
Well-rested teenagers tend to make more healthful food choices than their sleep-deprived peers, according to a study led by Lauren Hale, PhD, Associate Professor of Preventive Medicine at Stony Brook University School of Medicine. The finding, presented at SLEEP 2013, the annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies, may be key to understanding the link between sleep and obesity.
Although as many as 25 percent of patients undergoing surgery suffer from sleep apnea, few hospitals have policies to help manage the risks of this condition during surgery, and there is little evidence to help guide anesthesiologists and surgeons caring for these patients.
The quality of wakefulness affects how quickly a mammal falls asleep, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers report in a study that identifies two proteins never before linked to alertness and sleep-wake balance.
An investigational new drug significantly improved a common and debilitating circadian rhythm sleep disorder that frequently affects people who are completely blind, a multicenter study finds. The results were presented Monday at The Endocrine Society’s Annual Meeting in San Francisco.
Insufficient sleep may contribute to weight gain and obesity by raising levels of a substance in the body that is a natural appetite stimulant, a new study finds. The results were presented today at The Endocrine Society’s 95th Annual Meeting in San Francisco.
People who have obstructive sleep apnea -- when a person stops breathing for periods during sleep -- have a greater risk of sudden cardiac death, according to a study published online today in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. An estimated 12 million American adults have obstructive sleep apnea, and many of them are undiagnosed, according to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI).
Strike zone judgment grows worse over the course of a Major League Baseball season in a predictable way, possibly due to the effect of grueling travel schedules, disrupted sleep patterns and fatigue, a Vanderbilt University Medical Center sleep researcher reports at a national meeting this week.
Many women get too little sleep, despite considerable evidence showing the importance of sleep to overall health. Now a new UC San Francisco study has discovered another reason why inadequate sleep may be harmful, especially to women and their hearts.