“Men who find themselves unable to sleep during the small hours of the night may end up dying younger,” reported the Daily Mail.
This study looked at people’s insomnia and their risk of dying over a 14-year period. At the start of the study, people filled out a questionnaire on their history of insomnia and were observed for one night in a sleep laboratory. Men who reported a history of insomnia and slept for less than six hours in the lab were four times more likely to die in the follow-up period than those without insomnia who slept for six hours or more in the lab.
These findings require careful interpretation and do not prove that insomnia increases the risk of early death. Sleep duration was only objectively measured once, so it may not represent a typical sleep pattern or confirm that a person had insomnia. In addition, the study’s middle-aged participants were originally enrolled to investigate sleep disordered breathing, so they were not randomly selected and are unlikely to represent the general population.
In short, this research does not provide strong evidence that insomnia is linked to an early death, and it sheds no light on possible reasons behind a link. Further research is needed.
Eight per cent of women and 4 per cent of men were diagnosed by the scientists as having chronic insomnia and sleeping on average less than six hours a night. But over the following 14 years, men with chronic insomnia were four times more likely to die than those with more healthy sleep patterns.
The findings took into account diseases that could cause the men to sleep badly – such as diabetes and high blood pressure – and risk factors such as smoking, alcohol use, depression, obesity and sleeping disorders.
However, women with insomnia were just as likely to die in the following decade as those without, the researchers found.
Men were at an even greater risk of premature death if they suffered from chronic insomnia and diabetes or high blood pressure.
”We believe that cumulatively these findings will increase the awareness among physicians and scientists that insomnia should be diagnosed early and treated appropriately,” Dr Vgontzas said.
Experts say adults need seven to eight hours of sleep each night. The researchers are unsure why insomnia is more dangerous for men.
Meanwhile, tired teenagers are more likely to reach for fatty junk foods more often than those who are well-rested, research shows.
Insomnia
And according to the findings, sleep-deprived girls are the most likely to give in to temptation. Getting less than eight hours’ sleep a night increased the intake of fatty foods by about 2 per cent.
Insomnia is a symptom that can accompany several sleep, medical and psychiatric disorders, characterized by persistent difficulty falling asleep and/or difficulty staying asleep. Insomnia is typically followed by functional impairment while awake.
Both organic and non-organic insomnia without other cause constitute a sleep disorder, primary insomnia.[2] One definition of insomnia is “difficulties initiating and/or maintaining sleep, or nonrestorative sleep, associated with impairments of daytime functioning or marked distress for more than 1 month.”
According to the United States Department of Health and Human Services in the year 2007, approximately 64 million Americans regularly suffer from insomnia each year. Insomnia is 41% more common in women than in men.
Types of insomnia
Although there are several different degrees of insomnia, three types of insomnia have been clearly identified: transient, acute, and chronic.
1. Transient insomnia lasts for less than a week. It can be caused by another disorder, by changes in the sleep environment, by the timing of sleep, severe depression, or by stress. Its consequences – sleepiness and impaired psychomotor performance – are similar to those of sleep deprivation.
2. Acute insomnia is the inability to consistently sleep well for a period of less than a month.
3. Chronic insomnia lasts for longer than a month. It can be caused by another disorder, or it can be a primary disorder. Its effects can vary according to its causes. They might include being unable to sleep, muscular fatigue, hallucinations, and/or mental fatigue; but people with chronic insomnia often show increased alertness. Some people that live with this disorder see things as if they are happening in slow motion, wherein moving objects seem to blend together. Can cause double vision.
Insomnia can be caused by:
* Psychoactive drugs or stimulants, including certain medications, herbs, caffeine, nicotine, cocaine, amphetamines, methylphenidate, MDMA and modafinil
* Fluoroquinolone antibiotic drugs, see Fluoroquinolone toxicity, associated with more severe and chronic types of insomnia
* Restless Legs Syndrome can cause insomnia due to the discomforting sensations felt and need to move the legs or other body parts to relieve these sensations. It is difficult if not impossible to fall asleep while moving.
* Pain Any injury or condition that causes pain. Pain can preclude an individual from finding a comfortable position in which to fall asleep, and in addition can cause awakening if, during sleep, the person rolls over and puts pressure on the injured or painful area of the body.
* Hormone shifts such as those that precede menstruation and those during menopause
* Life problems like fear, stress, anxiety, emotional or mental tension, work problems, financial stress.
* Mental disorders such as bipolar disorder, clinical depression, generalized anxiety disorder, post traumatic stress disorder, schizophrenia, or obsessive compulsive disorder.
* Disturbances of the circadian rhythm, such as shift work and jet lag, can cause an inability to sleep at some times of the day and excessive sleepiness at other times of the day. Jet lag is seen in people who travel through multiple time zones, as the time relative to the rising and setting of the sun no longer coincides with the body’s internal concept of it. The insomnia experienced by shift workers is also a circadian rhythm sleep disorder.
* Certain neurological disorders, brain lesions, or a history of traumatic brain injury
* Medical conditions such as hyperthyroidism and rheumatoid arthritis
* Abuse of over-the counter or prescription sleep aids can produce rebound insomnia
* Poor sleep hygiene, e.g., noise
* Parasomnia, which includes a number of disruptive sleep events including nightmares, sleepwalking, night terrors, violent behavior while sleeping, and REM behavior disorder, in which a person moves his/her physical body in response to events within his/her dreams
* A rare genetic condition can cause a prion-based, permanent and eventually fatal form of insomnia called fatal familial insomnia.
* Physical exercise. Exercise-induced insomnia is common in athletes, causing prolonged sleep onset latency.
Insomnia
Sleep studies using polysomnography have suggested that people who have insomnia with sleep disruption have elevated nighttime levels of circulating cortisol and adrenocorticotropic hormone They also have an elevated metabolic rate, which does not occur in people who do not have insomnia but whose sleep is intentionally disrupted during a sleep study. Studies of brain metabolism using positron emission tomography (PET) scans indicate that people with insomnia have higher metabolic rates by night and by day. The question remains whether these changes are the causes or consequences of long-term insomnia.
Insomnia can be common after the loss of a loved one, even years or decades after the death, if they have not gone through the grieving process. Overall, symptoms and the degree of their severity affect each individual differently depending on their mental health, physical condition, and attitude or personality.
A common misperception is that the amount of sleep required decreases as a person ages. The ability to sleep for long periods, rather than the need for sleep, appears to be lost as people get older. Some elderly insomniacs toss and turn in bed and occasionally fall off the bed at night, diminishing the amount of sleep they receive.
Lack of sleep needs to be treated as a major health issue, according to a report published by the Mental Health Foundation.
The report, Sleep Matters, suggests a link between insomnia and poor relationships, low energy levels and an inability to concentrate.
Poor sleep has already been linked to depression, immune deficiency and heart disease.
The report calls for GPs to have more training to recognise the symptoms.
The number of adults suffering from insomnia in the UK has previously been estimated at around 30%.
Nearly 6,800 people took part in an online survey, believed to be the largest of its type in the UK, for this report.
It was more likely to attract participants concerned about their sleep and is not representative of the whole of the UK.
However, it does show a gulf in the experiences of good sleepers and insomniacs.
It showed people with insomnia were four times as likely to have relationship problems, three times as likely to feel depressed and three times as likely to suffer from a lack of concentration.
Dr Dan Robotham, senior researcher at the Mental Health Foundation and lead author of the report, believes people can get stuck in a spiral where poor sleep leads to mental health problems which leads to even worse sleep.
He said: “It is crucial that people are aware of the effective ways of breaking that spiral by improving the quality of their sleep.
“Employers, schools and public health bodies also need to know how they can identify and support people suffering from sleep disorders.”
Professor Colin Espie, director of the Glasgow University Sleep Centre, said: “We can no longer just ignore the impact of sleep problems in this country. They are affecting our health, our economy, and our everyday happiness.”
Exposure to electrical light between dusk and bedtime strongly suppresses melatonin levels and may impact physiologic processes regulated by melatonin signaling, such as sleepiness, thermoregulation, blood pressure and glucose homeostasis, according to a new study.
Melatonin is a hormone produced at night by the pineal gland in the brain. In addition to its role in regulating the sleep-wake cycle, melatonin has been shown to lower blood pressure and body temperature and has also been explored as a treatment option for insomnia, hypertension and cancer.
This study sought to understand whether exposure to room light in the late evening might inhibit melatonin production.
The researchers evaluated 116 healthy volunteers aged 18-30 years who were exposed to room light or dim light in the eight hours preceding bedtime for five consecutive days.
An intravenous catheter was inserted into the forearms of study participants for continuous collection of blood plasma every 30-60 minutes for melatonin measurements.
Results showed exposure to room light before bedtime shortened melatonin duration by about 90 minutes when compared to dim light exposure. Furthermore, exposure to room light during the usual hours of sleep suppressed melatonin by greater than 50 percent.
The study appeared in the March 2011 issue of JCEM.
A new study at the University of Copenhagen and the Danish Institute for Health Services Research has examined the socio-economic consequences of the sleep disorder hypersomnia, revealing that it has far-reaching consequences for both the individual and society as a whole.
People suffering from the disorder are extremely sleepy and need to take a nap several times a day.
Hypersomnia is often a symptom of sleep disorders such as narcolepsy, sleep apnoea, restless leg syndrome, violent snoring and/or obesity-related breathing difficulties, explains Professor of Clinical Neurophysiology Poul Jennum from the Center for Healthy Aging at the University of Copenhagen.
The study shows that people who e.g. snore violently but especially those who suffer from sleep apnoea, narcolepsy and obesity-related breathing difficulties use the health services more frequently, take more medicine, and are more frequently unemployed. The more serious the sleep disorder the higher the socio-economic cost.
The researchers demonstrated that hypersomnia patients received state benefits more often than healthy subjects and took state subsidised medicine more frequently. The study has highlighted the high costs that have arisen, especially those born by society and which is largely due to frequent absence from the work force and lower incomes among the sick.
They also found an increase in the intake of medication, a higher rate of hospital admissions, and 30pc more unemployment when the disease went undiagnosed and untreated. There is, however, significant potential for better diagnosis and treatment.
“We have gotten better in the last few years at diagnosing and treating hypersomnia and the underlying diseases, “explained Poul Jennum.
This can be a help to patients because we know that there are a lot of people who go around incredibly tired during the day who do suffer from hypersomnia, but have never been diagnosed or discovered the reason for their tiredness. It””s clear that those who suffer from hypersomnia are more often ill and where hypersomnia is chronic, the economic costs to society can be quite considerable.
That””s why it is essential that people with the disorder have access to a system of treatment – otherwise the illness can affect their education, ability to work and thus their economic circumstances and health.
The study has been published in the December 2010 edition of Acta Neurological Scandinavia.
As we rush around madly trying to squeeze as much as we can into every waking hour, the latest news that lack of sleep can cause depression, weight gain and even premature death comes as grim reading – especially for men, who are particularly at risk from these effects.
Now a new book by eminent U.S. sleep specialist Dr Matthew Edlund suggests if you can’t sleep, a rest can be just as curative as sleep.
The key is how you rest.
As a sleep-deprived medical student working 110-hour weeks, Dr Edlund became obsessed with sleep and the impact that a lack of it has on our health and ability to function.
For years, he lectured on the vital role sleep plays in our health, from cell renewal to weight control and mental health.
But after years of prescribing sleep strategies, he realised sleep was not the cure-all he’d thought.
Even when he helped patients get more and better sleep, sometimes their health remained poor. He discovered that rest plays a very important – and often neglected – role in the rebuilding and rejuvenation of the body, and now believes rest is as important as sleep to our long-term health.
‘Many of us are so busy we see rest as a weakness – a waste of precious time,’ he says, ‘but rest is, in fact, a biological need. All the science shows we need rest to live, just like we need food.’
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1313812/Why-rest-good-sleep-long-dont-just-slob-TV.html
Popping a pill might seem a small price to pay for a peaceful night’s sleep. But beware of the long-term cost – those who pop sleeping pills are a third more likely to die prematurely than those who don’t, says latest research.
The figure takes into account factors that can affect longevity, from social class and chronic health conditions to smoking and alcohol use. And, unlike previous research, it also recognises the effects of depression, reports the Daily Mail.
With around 10 million sleeping pill prescriptions in Britain and many more tablets sold over the counter, the findings have significant implications for the health and habits of the nation, says the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry.
Crucially, the study did not distinguish between those who were heavy users and those who only took them occasionally.
Researcher Genevieve Belleville of the Laval University in Quebec, Canada said: “These medications aren’t candy and taking them is far from harmless.”
NOTHING leaves you more refreshed and full of energy than a good night’s sleep. However there is now mounting evidence that getting the right amount of rest can do much more than perk you up in the morning.
A succession of recent studies has highlighted the fact that getting the right amount of sleep is crucial for a long and healthy life.
Without it the body is more likely to fall victim to everything from colds and sniffles to potentially fatal conditions such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes and dementia. In the latest studies a team of British and Italian researchers found regularly getting fewer than six hours sleep a night could lead to an early grave.
Those sleeping less than six hours were 12 per cent more likely to die prematurely than those sleeping between six and eight hours a night.
Most experts believe that between six and eight hours is the right amount for an adult. Teenagers need about nine hours a night and young babies up to 16 hours a day.
Some researchers believe lack of sleep may be linked to thousands of deaths every year in the UK. In many cases, this is not because being awake for too long is itself the cause of ill health. Those who are sleep deprived often have poor diets, don’t get enough exercise and may be constantly stressed.
This means their bodies are exposed to damage caused by raised cholesterol, high blood pressure and increased levels of stress hormones.
Some studies suggest that average sleep times in the UK are falling, largely because of longer working hours, and it’s not just too little sleep that is harmful.
http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/197920/Sleeping-well-could-save-your-life