Healthy Sleep Could Prevent The Onset Of Diabetes In Teenagers

Onset of diabetes in teenagers could be prevented if they slept more as more sleep improves insulin resistance.
High levels of insulin resistance can lead to the onset of diabetes and lowering insulin resistance is thus very important in preventing it.

According to a new study conducted at the University of Pittsburgh.Increasing the amount of sleep that teenagers get could improve their insulin resistance and prevent the future onset of diabetes.

Sleep duration and insulin resistance were tracked in 245 teenagers. Results showed that this higher resistance to insulin was associated with shorter sleep duration regardless of race, age, gender etc.

According to the lead author of this study, Karen Matthews, this study is the only one that has shown this relationship in healthy teenagers, that is independent of obesity.

Adequate Sleep Is Essential For Weight Loss

A commentary in the Canadian Medical Association Journal states that adequate sleep is an important part of a weight loss program. This is of course in addition to diet and exercise.

Dr. Jean-Phillippe Chaput, Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute in Ottawa and Dr Angelo Tremblay, Laval University in Quebec in recently published research found that total sleep time and quality of sleep predicted the loss of fat in people enrolled in a weight loss program.

They say that the solution to weight loss is not as simple as 'eat less, move more, sleep more.
However, an accumulating body of evidence does suggests that sleeping habits should not be overlooked when prescribing a weight-reduction program to a patient with obesity as lack of sleep increases the stimulus to consume more food and increases appetite-regulating hormones.

Do You Need Less Sleep As You Get Older?

The amount of sleep needed as we get older is a controversial subject.

Some say that you do need less sleep as you get older.
The University of Surrey conducted a study where the researchers wer surpised to find that decrease in sleep that comes with advancing years is a normal part of aging.

According to them, this is because aging brings less time spent in deep, slow-wave sleep, the "dead" phase where nothing wakes you. Despite this, the older subjects still displayed less daytime sleepiness than the younger subjects. They say that the fact that older people need less sleep is explained by the fact that they get a better quality of sleep, and the older the brain, the more effectively it cycles through the stages of sleep.

Others disagree and say that getting older can bring real sleep issues to many who slept just fine when younger.
This is due to many reasons:
- hormonal changes after menopause in women
- changes in levels of melatonin
- secreting less growth hormone as we age
- medical issues that cause pain and discomfort
- depression, anxiety and dementia
- side effects of medications

The most important thing is how you feel after a night's sleep. Do you feel rested and refreshed or tired and lethargic? If you are in the latter group, you can try some natural ways to help you sleep better,such as yoga or any other gentle exercise, acupuncture, herbs or supplements and try to spend some time in the sunlight or bright light every day.

How To Improve The Quality Of Your Sleep

There are many factors that influence the quality of sleep. The most obvious one is stress. When you are stressed, you may be able to sleep but the quality of that sleep is poor and you end up tossing and turning most of the night. Soothing music, meditation or a hypnosis track can be helpful, as can taking some exercise earlier in the day.

The second one is your health. If you are unwell or taking certain medications, your sleep may be affected especially if you are depressed. In this case you need to talk to your Doctor about it.

Too much light pollution at night is not conducive to sleep and interferes with melatonin production. Using an eye mask can help if you can't control this. Noise will also stop you from having a good night's sleep, and earplugs are an easy and cheap solution to this.

Snoring will affect not only your own sleep but that of your partners. There are many solutions to this these days, from sprays to plasters, so there is no excuse not to deal with that one.

A good mattress and decent pillows will increase your comfort. If you are uncomfortable, your body will tense up and you won't sleep well.

These are just a few things that can help you sleep better.

Eight Hour Sleep May Be Unnatural

I've just read an interesting article on the BBC website saying that the eight hour sleep may be unnatural and that in the past, we used to sleep in two segments, often four hour stretches with a couple of hours in between

To quote 'We often worry about people who lie awake in the middle of the night - but it could be good for you. Scientists have been saying for 20 years that the eight-hour sleep may be unnatural, and historians increasingly are backing them up.'

Psychiatrist Thomas Wehr conducted an experiment in the early nineties, in which, for one month, a group of people were plunged into darkness for 14 hours every day.
Interestingly, by the fourth week, the subjects had settled into a pattern of sleeping for four hours, waking up for one or two hours and then going back to sleep for another four hours.
The theory that humans naturally slept in two distinct chunks has come up again, as historian Roger Ekirch at Virginia Tech undertook an intensive study into the human relationship with night, and found more than 500 references to a segmented sleeping pattern.

Sleep psychologist Gregg Jacobs says that waking up during the night is part of normal human physiology.
He says the idea that we must sleep in a consolidated block could be damaging, if it makes people who wake up at night anxious, as this anxiety can itself stop you from sleeping and is likely to trickle into your waking life too.

Source: BBC - Myth of the eight-hour sleep

Learn Whilst You Sleep?

"There is substantial evidence that during sleep, your brain is processing information without your awareness and this ability may contribute to memory in a waking state" says Kimberly Fenn, assistant professor of psychology and lead researcher of a study conducted by Michigan State University researchers.

The study which was conducted by Fenn and Zach Hambrick, associate professor of psychology and used more than 250 people suggests that people derive vastly different effects from this sleep memory ability, with some memories improving dramatically and others not at all. This new, previously undefined form of memory is an unconscious form of memory that is still not properly understood means that people may be learning while they are sleeping.

"You and I could go to bed at the same time and get the same amount of sleep," Fenn said, "but while your memory may increase substantially, there may be no change in mine."
She did say however that most people showed improvement.

This is yet another study that reinforces the need for a good night's sleep and shows that whatever your age, gender, aspirations, you still function much better when you can fall asleep and have that deep refreshing sleep!

Rocking Helps You To fall Asleep

Researchers Sophie Schwartz, Michel Mühlethaler, and their colleagues Laurence Bayer and Irina Constantinescu from the University of Geneva, reporting in the June 21 issue of Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, now have evidence that napping on a slowly swinging bed really does get us to sleep faster.

To the researchers' surprise, rocking also changes the nature of our sleep, encouraging deeper sleep.

12 adult volunteers were asked to nap on a custom-made bed or "experimental hammock" that could either remain stationary or rock gently. All participants were good sleepers who didn't typically nap and did not suffer from excessive sleepiness during the day. Each participant took two 45-minute afternoon naps, one with the bed stationary and one with the bed in motion, while their brain activity was monitored by electroencephalogram (EEG).

A faster transition to sleep in each and every subject in the swinging condition, a result that supports the intuitive notion of facilitation of sleep associated with this rocking. Surprisingly, a dramatic boosting of certain types of sleep-related [brain wave] oscillations were also observed.

More specifically, rocking increased the duration of stage N2 sleep, a form of non-rapid eye movement sleep that normally occupies about half of a good night's sleep. The rocking bed also had a lasting effect on brain activity, increasing slow oscillations and bursts of activity known as sleep spindles. Those effects are consistent with a more synchronized neural activity characteristic of deeper sleep.

Schwartz and Mühlethaler say the next step is to find out whether rocking can improve longer periods of sleep and to find out whether it may be useful for the treatment of sleep disorders, such as insomnia.

Because sleep spindles have been associated with brain plasticity mechanisms, enhancing spindle activity with rocking may be good for memory consolidation and may even have the potential to improve brain repair mechanisms after brain damage.

Weekend Sleep Does Not Makeup For Lost Sleep In The Week

Performance deteriorates when sleep is restricted to six hours per night for a week and does not improve after two nights of recovery sleep, however, women may be less affected than men by this workweek pattern of sleep loss.

According to principal investigator Dr. Alexandros N. Vgontzas, professor of psychiatry and endowed chair in sleep disorders medicine at the Penn State College of Medicine and director of the Sleep Research and Treatment Center at the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, after one workweek of mild sleep deprivation, two recovery nights did not improve performance even though it did improve sleepiness.

The study also found significant gender differences.  Compared with men, women were found to have less subjective sleepiness and less performance deterioration during sleep restriction, as well as greater improvements after recovery.  These differences were associated with increased amounts of slow-wave sleep, or “deep sleep,” in women at baseline.

“In women, but not in men, deep sleep appeared to have a protective effect,” said Vgontzas.  “Women with a higher amount of deep sleep can handle better the effects of one workweek of mild sleep deprivation, and their recovery is more complete after two nights of extended sleep.”

The study concluded that complete performance recovery after one workweek of mild sleep deprivation may require more than just two nights of extended sleep.

Less Sleep Can Make Children Fatter!

It seems that Sleep can make children fatter!

A team of researchers in New Zealand set out to investigate whether reduced sleep is associated with differences in body composition and the risk of becoming overweight in young children. The study was reported in the British Medical Journal.

They found that on average, children aged three to five sleep 11 hours a night, but for every hour they sleep less than that between the ages of three and five, they will be carrying an extra pound and a half of fat by their seventh birthday.
The results show that young children who sleep less are at a significantly increased risk of having a higher BMI by age 7, even after controlling for other risk factors that have been implicated in body weight gain.

According to the researchers, the reduced sleep may increase their food intake and may also make them exercise less.

So it is important for parents to ensure that growing children get enough sleep and adequate exercise.

Is Sleep A Waste Of Time?

Some go getters think that sleep is a waste of time. Well a new study reconfirms that it certainly isn't and the time we spend sleeping is time well spent!
Why is sleep so important? Scientists have found that sleep helps consolidate memories, fixing them in the brain so we can retrieve them later. Now, new research is showing that sleep also seems to reorganize memories, picking out the emotional details and reconfiguring the memories to help you produce new and creative ideas, according to the authors of an article in Current Directions in Psychological Science.

"Sleep is making memories stronger," says Jessica D. Payne of the University of Notre Dame, who co-wrote the review with Elizabeth A. Kensinger of Boston College. "It also seems to be doing something which I think is so much more interesting, and that is reorganizing and restructuring memories."

"In our fast-paced society, one of the first things to go is our sleep," Payne says. "I think that's based on a profound misunderstanding that the sleeping brain isn't doing anything." The brain is busy. It's not just consolidating memories, it's organizing them and picking out the most salient information. She thinks this is what makes it possible for people to come up with creative, new ideas.

So next time you have to come up with a creative idea, instead of pulling an all nighter, try getting a good night's sleep - you're sure to come up with something brilliant...

Lack of Sleep Can Even Affect How You See Colors

According to a study carried out at the  University of Houston in Texas, a lack of sleep can affect how you see colors.
The study involved five people who viewed a full-field, homogenous stimulus of either slightly reddish or greenish hue. The observers had to judge whether the stimulus was greener or redder than their internal perception of neutral gray. Across trials the hue was varied. One pair of monocular tests was performed just before participants went to sleep, and testing was repeated after participants slept for an average of 7.7 hours.
Lack of sleep can make you see the color gray as having a slightly but significantly greenish tint. Overnight sleep restored perception to achromatic equilibrium so that gray was perceived as gray.
According to the authors and principal investigator Bhavin Sheth, scientists had not previously investigated how sleep might affect the way we view the world around us. "Our findings suggest that wakefulness causes color classification to drift away from neutrality, and sleep restores color classification to neutral." In other words, a lack of sleep makes you see neutral colors abnormally and when you are sleeping well again, this color perception is restored to normal.

Exercise in Children Promotes Sleep

It's common sense and everyone knows that children who run around and exercise more sleep better. However this has now been quantified.

Experts from Monash University in Melbourne and the University of Auckland looked at 519 seven-year-olds and found that for every hour they sit, they need three minutes longer to fall asleep.

Interestingly, it did not matter what the child did whilst they sat. TV was no more detrimental than reading a book quietly, although children who were very physically active during the day tended to take less time to fall asleep

Most of the children fell asleep within 45 minutes, and the average amount of time it took to fall asleep was 26 minutes.
Those who fell asleep faster also tended to sleep for longer.

This study emphasises yet again, the importance of physical activity for children, not only for sleep, but also for overall fitness, heart health and obesity control.

Motor Accidents more likely in Sleep Deprived Adolescents

According to the Feb. 15 issue of the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, a study investigating the role of sleep problems and sleepiness on motor accidents in adolescents shows, that sleepiness at the wheel and poor sleep quality significantly increase the risk of motor vehicle accidents in adolescents. Results indicate that adolescent drivers were twice as likely to have had a crash if they experienced sleepiness while driving.

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Chronic lack of sleep causes fat to deposit around your organs

A new study by researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine reveals how extremes of sleep, both too much and too little, can be hazardous to your health and cause fat to develop around your organs.
This may be due to stress as it was found that social factors such as the need to work three jobs in a bad economy, could be causing dangerous fat deposition around vital organs.

The lead author of the study, Kristen G. Hairston says that we put a lot of stock in diet, but this study raises interesting questions about the way we lead our lives in modern day society and the fact that it is not just our diet that is contributing to obesity but stress too.

In individuals under 40, the study showed a clear association between averaging five hours or less of sleep each night and large increases in visceral fat, or fat around the organs. Of the study participants under 40, Hispanic men and black women were the largest groups to report getting such little sleep.

It is especially important that we get enough sleep during the really stressful periods in our lives such as going to college, getting married or divorced, having children and suffering a bereavement.



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Sleep apnea sufferers may also have floppy eyelid syndrome

ScienceDaily (Apr. 2, 2010) — Obstructive Sleep Apnea or OSA is a sleep disorder that affects many people. A British study finds that the condition known as floppy eyelid syndrome (FES) is strongly associated with OSA, implying that when doctors see FES in a patient, they should also look for OSA, and vice-versa.

The study, published in April's Ophthalmology, the journal of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, describes factors shared by OSA and FES and specific findings on how FES develops that will help doctors better diagnose and treat patients.

People with OSA face several health challenges-at worst, they are at risk of dying of oxygen deprivation when breathing slows or stops during sleep. OSA can contribute to or be aggravated by high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity and other systemic problems. Researchers led by Daniel G. Ezra, MD, MRCOphth, of Moorfields Eye Hospital, London, England, found the strong OSA-FES association in a case-controlled study of 102 patients tracked between 1995 and 2008; 102 matched controls were also tracked.

"About one-third of the FES patients in our study also had OSA," Dr. Ezra said. "The significant association of the two disorders was evident even when we considered and controlled for patients' body-mass index ie obesity. FES is often considered a disease of overweight, middle-aged men, but our study did not find a patient cluster based on age, gender or BMI," he added.

People with FES have rubbery-textured upper eyelids that may easily flip up during sleep, exposing the "whites of the eyes," which can lead to dry, irritated eyes and/or discharge. The Moorfields research and other studies suggest that central nervous system arousal may be impaired in OAS suffers, so they do not wake up as people normally do when breathing slows or stops, or when the eyelid is subjected to extreme stress. People with OSA often preferentially sleep on one side, which could result in intense, repeated pressure on the eyelid on that side of the face. A combination of these factors may contribute to or cause FES. The Moorfield report notes that FES resolved in an OSA patient who was treated with a continuous positive airway pressure mask. So it is prudent to check for FES in patients who have OSA and vice versa

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Childhood sleep problems and alcohol/drug problems in young adulthood

ScienceDaily (Apr. 7, 2010) — Sleep problems are a major public-health issue in the United States. In 2006, for example, more than half of 6th to 12th graders reported feeling tired or sleepy, and more than 30 percent reported having problems remaining asleep during the night. A first-of-its-kind study has found a long-term relationship between childhood sleep problems and subsequent alcohol and drug outcomes.

Results will be published in the June 2010 issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research and are currently available at Early View.

"About one in 10 parents/caregivers think that their toddlers, preschoolers, and children have a sleep problem," said Maria M. Wong, associate professor in the department of psychology at, Idaho State University, citing several studies. "The prevalence of problem sleepiness among adolescents and young adults, ages 12 to 25 years, is not only high but also increasing. Some serious consequences include increased risk of unintentional injuries or death, such as car accidents, low academic performance, negative moods, and increased use of alcohol and drugs."

"Sleep and sleepiness problems are important issues in childhood and adolescence," added Tim Roehrs, director of research at the Sleep Disorders and Research Center at the Henry Ford Hospital. "There are emerging data that the prevalence of chronic insomnia in children and adolescents is not that different than that seen in adults. There also are emerging data that there is morbidity associated with insomnia and sleepiness in childhood and adolescence -- school and social problems and the data of the present study now add substance problems."

Wong explained that her group's previous work had shown an association between childhood sleep problems and the early onset of substance use in adolescence. "In those studies, overtiredness and having trouble sleeping predicted onset of alcohol, cigarette, and illicit drug use among boys and onset of alcohol use only among girls," she said. "Most of our participants are young adults right now. So we wanted to test for the association between sleep problems and substance problems now that they are older."

For this family study, researchers had secured the participation of 386 adolescents (292 boys, 94 girls). Data on sleep problems and substance use were gathered in six regular waves -- at three to five, six to eight, nine to 11, 12 to 14, 15 to 17, and 18 to 20 years of age -- as well as in seven annual waves, from ages 11 to 17.

"We found that 'having trouble sleeping' in early childhood, ages three to five, predicted a higher probability of 'having trouble sleeping' in adolescence, ages 11 to 17, which in turn predicted the presence of drug-related problems in young adulthood ages 18 to 21," said Wong. "Overtiredness in early childhood predicted lower response inhibition -- that is, having problems inhibiting impulses and behavior -- in adolescence, which predicted higher numbers of illicit drugs used. Overtiredness in childhood also directly predicted the presence of binge drinking, blackouts, driving after drinking alcohol, and the number of lifetime alcohol problems in young adulthood."

"As a specialist in sleep and sleep-disorders medicine and also alcoholism and drug abuse," said Roehrs, "I was not surprised by this report. However, I suspect the pediatrician or family-care physician and the lay person may be surprised. Despite some design issues, this study is an important first step in understanding the relation between sleep problems and substance use problems, particularly among adolescents. Previous studies that have reported such a relation are cross-sectional. This is the first prospective study and it is important from that perspective. Secondly, possible mediators of this relation have been identified."

Wong noted that her study does not directly explain why this relationship exists. "Childhood sleep problems appear to have both direct and indirect effects -- via sleep trouble and response inhibition in adolescence -- on subsequent substance-related outcomes," she said. "Additionally, our previous work showed childhood sleep problems were associated with early onset of alcohol and drug use, which was a well-established risk factor for subsequent alcohol and drug related problems. This suggests a marker of alcohol problems that may be detectable very early in the life course."

"The bottom line is, sleep is important," said Roehrs. "Even if it is not causal for this relation, improving sleep will modify and minimize the risks. In the addicted adult, at least the alcoholic, sleep problems that remain after the initial acute withdrawal are predictive of relapse."

Wong suggested several steps. "First, it is important to increase public awareness of the significance of sleep problems in children, and their potential effect on self-control and later substance use and abuse," she said. "Second, substance abuse prevention and intervention programs need to consider the relationships among sleep problems, self-control, and the increased risk for substance abuse. Third, health care providers may need to become more aware of the potential serious consequences of childhood sleep problems, and provide treatment when sleep disturbances are clinically indicated."

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Lack of Sleep and Paranoia

A study reported in the journal Schizophrenia Research suggested that sorting out insomnia could reduce the risk of paranoia.

A study of 300 healthy volunteers and 30 psychiatric patients marked by paranoid delusions, showed a clear link between insomnia and paranoid delusions.

It was found that more than 50% of the psychiatric patients, who all experienced feelings of paranoia, suffered from moderate to severe insomnia.
Whereas 70% of ordinary people who scored highly for self-reported symptoms of paranoia also had difficulty sleeping.

The scientists wrote: "higher levels of insomnia were associated with higher levels of persecutory thinking."

The research, funded by the Wellcome Trust, suggested that tackling an inability to sleep could reduce the risk of paranoia.

Well I'm not so sure I'd draw the same conclusions.
It could be that paranoia could be scaring people into insomnia...
Any thoughts out there?

Insomnia and The Menopause

Insomnia can be a real plague during the menopause, because this is precisely when you need the healing and uplifting power of sleep the most.

There are many remedies that can be of help in helping you sleep, including Valerian, Melatonin and even Homeopathy.

Try the different options and see what suits you best. Valerian is the most popular one and works very well on most.
The usual dose is 150 to 500mg of a standardised valerian extract about half an hour before bedtime.

Whatever you do, try not to get into the habit of taking prescription sedatives!

Can Wearing A Ring Stop You Snoring?

Can Wearing A Ring Stop You Snoring?

I was at my local pharmacy today shopping, stocking up on vitamin C, when I saw a silver ring on sale, to stop snoring so that you can sleep better.

Being curious by nature, I had a look to see what it was and how it worked.

You have to wear it on the little finger and apparently it works on acupressure points.

From the blurb on their site:

"Stop snoring NOW with this one-off purchase simply worn on the little finger :

Silent Knight Ring is the most natural and effective solution you can use to put a stop to snoring. Currently undergoing NHS clinical trials. Silent Knight Ring is the only stop snoring ring in Europe with a FULL UK Patent (Patent Number: 2405345)
• It's worn unobtrusively on the little finger
• It's made in the UK from hallmarked solid sterling silver
• Research found that it cut out snoring completely in over 60 per cent of users, reducing it considerably in the remainder"

Now I have no idea whether this works or not, so if anyone has tried this, please do leave some feedback as to whether it does work or not.

The Sleep Wake Cycle and Vitamin B12

Recent research in which oral megadoses of methylcobalamin – the most bioactive form of vitamin B12 has been used – has shown promise as a regulator of disturbed sleep-wake rhythms and this tallies with the suggestion that B12 is a mood stabilizer.

Methylcobalamin has been particularly well-studied in Japan as a treatment for delayed sleep phase syndrome, that is, not being able to fall asleep until very late at night and needing to sleep in every morning.

Most mood disorders have a component of a disturbance of the sleep-wake cycle, so vitamin B12's apparent sleep-wake regulatory effect could help account for its mood-stabilizing benefits.

In a 1996 study by G. Mayer et al., three grams a day of methylcobalamin, but not cyanocobalamin (the form of B12 in most supplements), managed to decrease sleep time yet improve sleep quality and daytime alertness in a small group of healthy men and women.

It has been postulated that the reason why some people with normal blood levels of B12 may need megadoses of the vitamin is that they may have a B12 deficiency that is confined to the brain.

Methylcobalamin is now fairly easily available as a sublingual tablet, which is the best form in which to take it, as it is much better absorbed this way.

More info on Vitamin B12 and Sleep