Night watch: studying sleep

Night watch: studying sleep

Researchers at the Boston University School of Medicine studied the sleep habits of approximately 1,500 people between the ages of 53 and 93. They tested blood sugar levels and glucose tolerance then compared these findings with the numbers of hours of sleep. People who got five hours of sleep or less per night were 2.5 times as likely to develop diabetes and 1.3 times as likely to have impaired glucose tolerance. People who slept nine hours or more were 1.8 times as likely to develop diabetes, and 1.9 times as likely to develop impaired glucose tolerance. Researchers noted that these results were based on voluntary sleep habits so do not apply to people with insomnia. It seems that eight hours a night for adults is a healthy amount.
A study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute has shown that women who work the night shift may have as much as twice the risk of breast cancer as do the nine to fivers. Researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston theorized that the connection may be levels of melatonin, the hormone produced by the body in the dark that regulates sleep. Decreased levels of melatonin are linked with increased estrogen production, a significant risk factor for breast cancer. Researchers found that women who had the highest melatonin levels had a 41 per cent lower risk of developing invasive breast cancer, compared with those who had the lowest levels.
Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit conducted a study of women between the ages of 46 and 51, who were not on any medications. They found that women are more likely to be awakened by hot flashes during the first half of their sleep rather than later in the night. They further found that during the first half of the night the women typically were wakened by their hot flashes, whereas later in the night women woke up first and then experienced the hot flashes. During the first part of the night, women had 2.2 flashes when the temperature was set to neutral (23 C) or warm (37 C) but only had 1.5 hot flashes when the room was cool at 18 C.
A study published in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism showed only a weak correlation between sleep apnea and excessive daytime sleepiness. More importantly, a stronger link was demonstrated between depression and excessive daytime sleepiness and metabolic disorders such as obesity and diabetes. Depression was the strongest co-relater followed by Body Mass Index, age, typical sleep duration, diabetes, and smoking. Sleep apnea ranked last. Researchers suggested that those complaining of excessive daytime sleepiness should be thoroughly assessed for depression, diabetes, and obesity independent of any sleep-disordered breathing issues.
People with obstructive sleep apnea are far more likely to die suddenly in their sleep from heart related problems than the rest of the population, according to researchers at the Mayo clinic in Rochester Minnesota. The study which was published in the New England Journal of Medicine also described the likelihood of dying from cardiac causes overnight, correlates directly with the severity of obstructive sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is a condition that causes sleepers to stop breathing for numerous brief periods. This causes oxygen levels in the body to drop and carbon dioxide levels to escalate, straining the heart. Losing weight as well as wearing a mask that supplies constant airflow helps the condition.
A new study published in the journal Chest is the largest study to date on the incidence of nighttime heartburn. Approximately one quarter of the North American population loses sleep because of night time heart burn and manifest excessive daytime sleepiness. Excess weight is a known risk for heartburn, as is consumption of soft drinks and certain sleeping pills such as Valium, Xanax and Ativan. Also to blame are meals that are heavy, spicy, or consuming too much alcohol or lying down too soon after eating. Changing these habits, reducing weight, and focusing on healthful pursuits can eliminated many night time sleeping problems.