Insufficient sleep, a common problem that has been linked to chronic disease risk, might also be an unrecognized risk factor for bone loss. Results of a new study will be presented Saturday at the Endocrine Society’s 99th annual meeting in Orlando, Fla.
Animals can pass the damaging effects of nighttime light exposure to their offspring, a new study has found, adding to a growing body of evidence that there’s a health cost to our increasingly illuminated nights.
Star-shaped cells called astrocytes, long considered boring, “support cells,” are finally coming into their own. To everyone’s surprise they even play an important role in the body’s master clock, which schedules everything from the release of hormones to the onset of sleepiness.
The parasite that causes deadly sleeping sickness has its own biological clock that makes it more vulnerable to medications during the afternoon, according to international research that may help improve treatments for one of Africa’s most lethal diseases.
A study comparing children 7 to 11 years old with moderate or severe obstructive sleep apnea to children the same age who slept normally found significant reductions of gray matter – brain cells crucial to most cognitive tasks – in several regions of the brains of children with sleep apnea. The finding points to connections between this common sleep disturbance and the loss of neurons or delayed neuronal growth in the developing brain.
Bedcovers that form a barrier to house dust mites appear to reduce asthma flare-ups in children, according to new research published online, ahead of print in the American Thoracic Society’s American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
The continuous daylight conditions of summer in Antarctica are known to interfere with physiological functions such as sleep patterns and the release of melatonin, a hormone associated with circadian rhythms and sleep. Now, a study offers new information about why people in this region sleep poorly, and suggests that social behavior may also play a role.
Sunday, March 12, marks the start of Daylight Saving Time. While few people enjoy losing an hour of sleep, parents often worry most about how their children will adjust to the change. Pediatric sleep expert Jodi A. Mindell, Ph.D., professor of psychology at Saint Joseph’s University, has advice to help parents successfully transition their kids into Daylight Saving Time.
As we embark on another spring of sunlit evenings, who better to address how daylight saving time affects our body clock than the father of the CLOCK gene: Dr. Joseph Takahashi of the Peter O’Donnell Jr. Brain Institute at UT Southwestern Medical Center.
Journal article sees potential for unintended effects in their use A 39-year-old man whom we’ll call Mr. R received a sleep-tracking device from his girlfriend. Since starting a new job several years earlier, he sometimes had trouble getting a good night’s sleep. Not surprisingly, the next day he’d feel tired, irritable and absentminded.
New research backs up what many women already know: They’re sleep deprived. Unlike men, a good night’s sleep for women is affected by having children in the house, according to a preliminary study released today that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 69th Annual Meeting in Boston, April 22 to 28, 2017.
We all do it; we all need it – humans and animals alike. Neuroscientists have been studying Mexican cavefish to provide insight into the evolutionary mechanisms regulating sleep loss and the relationship between sensory processing and sleep.
Sleep remains an enduring biological mystery with major clinical relevance, according to a review by clinician-researcher Thomas Scammell, MD, of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and colleagues. In recent decades, new technologies have allowed neuroscientists to identify multiple brain circuits that govern the sleep/wake cycle, as well as the factors that can influence it, such as caffeine and light. But the brain’s complexity is still a stumbling block in understanding this ubiquitous and necessary animal behavior, the researchers wrote. Their review appeared today in the journal Neuron.
New research using an Apple Watch app to track seizures in people with epilepsy finds triggers are often stress and missed sleep, according to a preliminary study released today that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 69th Annual Meeting in Boston, April 22 to 28, 2017.
R01, K, R03, T32 – navigating the world of NIH grants, especially in uncertain financial funding times, can be confusing. Last month, Gary H. Gibbons, MD, director of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health, delivered a keynote address to explain existing opportunities, and outlined the institute’s vision for future funding of research.
Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found that preemies in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) may be exposed to noise levels higher than those deemed safe by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Conversely, the researchers also found that some preemies may not get enough exposure to beneficial sounds, such as language and music, that can improve early development.
Sleep—one of the most basic, yet most mystifying processes of the human body—has confounded physicians, scientists and evolutionary biologists for centuries.
Studying mice, scientists at Johns Hopkins have fortified evidence that a key purpose of sleep is to recalibrate the brain cells responsible for learning and memory so the animals can "solidify" lessons learned and use them when they awaken -- in the case of nocturnal mice, the next evening.
Striking electron microscope pictures from inside the brains of mice suggest what happens in our own brain every day: Our synapses – the junctions between nerve cells - grow strong and large during the stimulation of daytime, then shrink by nearly 20 percent while we sleep, creating room for more growth and learning the next day.
Researchers with Beaumont Health System found that patients’ self-reported pain and anxiety scores improved immediately after a clinical massage, while other patients who listened to a guided-imagery recording found the intervention to be very helpful, reporting improvements in pain, anxiety and insomnia.
Tinnitus -- "ringing in the ears" -- affects an estimated 50 million Americans and is the leading service-related disability among U.S. veterans. Until recently, very little could be done for sufferers, but now a new, FDA-approved technology is successfully treating it. The Levo System mimics the buzzing, hissing, whistling or clicking sounds that many tinnitus sufferers describe and "trains" the brain to ignore them, thereby alleviating the condition entirely. To do this, patients wear earbuds at night while sleeping, when the brain is most responsive to sensory input.
In patients with severe obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), oral appliances that treat the condition by moving the lower jaw forward appear to improve sleep but not reduce key risk factors for developing heart and other cardiovascular disease, according to new research published online, ahead of print in the American Thoracic Society’s American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
The study compared art students and social science students. The finding: art student sleep more hours, but reported more sleep disturbance and daytime dysfunction
Removing tonsils modestly reduced throat infections in the short term in children with moderate obstructive sleep-disordered breathing or recurrent throat infections, according to a systematic review conducted by the Vanderbilt Evidence-based Practice Center for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
Unbalanced signaling by two molecules that regulate breathing leads to sleep apnea in mice and rats. Injection of a substance that reduces production of one of those signals can prevent apneas. This approach may help people suffering from multiple forms of sleep-disordered breathing.
Making New Year’s resolutions is easy. Keeping them — beyond a couple of weeks, at least — is tough. One big factor that affects whether the commitment sticks: sleep. A sleep expert and neurologist explains how better sleep can help you keep those resolutions, including eating healthier, exercising more and getting a promotion.
It’s well known that humans and other animals are fatigued and sleepy when sick, but it’s a microscopic roundworm that’s providing an explanation of how that occurs, according to a study from researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. A study published this week in eLife reveals the mechanism for this sleepiness.
Jaw advancement surgery is one of the most effective surgical treatments for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA)—but it's less likely to be performed in men, racial/ethnic minorities, lower-income groups, and patients with Medicare coverage, reports a study in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery—Global Open®, the official open-access medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS).
Overall, studies indicate that 15 to 20 percent of one to three year olds continue to have nightwakings. According to Stephanie Zandieh, M.D., Director, Pediatric Sleep Disorders and Apnea Center, The Valley Hospital, “Inappropriate sleep associations are the primary cause of frequent nightwakings. Sleep associations are those conditions that are habitually present at the time of sleep onset and in the presence of which the infant or child has learned to fall asleep. These same conditions are then required in order for the infant or child to fall back to sleep following periodic normal nighttime arousals.”
The researchers said this study might help shed light on sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) in human babies, which is thought to be associated with dysfunctional airway sensory neurons.
People who perceive more discrimination in daily life have higher rates of sleep problems, based on both subjective and objective measures, reports a study in Psychosomatic Medicine: Journal of Biobehavioral Medicine, the official journal of the American Psychosomatic Society. The journal is published by Wolters Kluwer.
After a traumatic brain injury (TBI), people also experience major sleep problems, including changes in their sleep-wake cycle. A new study shows that recovering from these two conditions occurs in parallel. The study is published in the December 21, 2016, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
The holidays are a time for family, fun and happiness. They are usually spent with the ones we love reflecting on the past year and feeling grateful. However, even with all the joy, the holidays can cause quite a large amount of stress. Whether it be trying to forgive someone for a mishap, trying not to let your worries impact your sleep, dealing with the dark and gloomy days, or merely learning the joys of giving, our experts are here with tips on how to make this holiday season a little brighter.
The holidays can pose great challenges for parents who must juggle seasonal excitement and overtired kids. Saint Joseph’s University sleep expert and Professor of Psychology Jodi A. Mindell, Ph.D., offers the following suggestions for parents to help kids navigate high spirits and the need for rest.
An online program designed to help people overcome insomnia significantly improves both the amount and quality of sleep, a new study has found. The study is the first to look closely at the effects of the Sleep Healthy Using the Internet (SHUTi) program on people with health conditions that could be affecting their sleep.
Sleepiness after a large meal is something we all experience, and new research with fruit flies suggests higher protein and salt content in our food, as well as the volume consumed, can lead to longer naps.
The recent catastrophic NJ Transit train accident in Hoboken highlights one of the perils of undiagnosed sleep apnea – the threat to transportation safety. As in several other recent calamitous accidents, the engineer fell asleep at the wheel due to a medical condition that causes sleepiness, and the presence of which he was not aware. When an individual operates a vehicle of public transportation, whether it be a train, a bus or a plane, many lives are in their hands. Anytime the operator of one of these modes of transportation becomes drowsy, or worse, falls asleep at the controls, many lives are immediately placed in jeopardy. This is why these safety-critical personnel should be screened and monitored for their fitness for their work, including identifying the presence of sleep disorders. In fact, the Federal Railroad Administration is expected to issue a safety advisory this week stressing the importance of sleep apnea screening and treatment.
Lead researcher James McKenna, Professor of Anthropology at the University of Notre Dame, and his colleagues suggest that the origin of both colic and SIDS may be related to the gradual emergence of an infant’s ability to voluntarily control the release of air through the vocal track.
Allowing an infant to sleep in your bed or putting blankets or stuffed animals in their crib could be tragic mistakes, increasing their child’s risk for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).