“It’s nonsense. It’s like saying everybody should have size eight shoes, or be five foot eight inches,” said Prof Jim Horne of Loughborough University’s Sleep Research Center.  “There is a normal distribution - the average sleep length is seven, seven and a quarter hours.”
 

Lots of people report having more or less than the average, Horne said, explaining that it may all depend on genes and what people are just used to.
 

The US National Sleep Foundation suggests seven to nine hours a night is advisable for adults, and a survey it conducted in 2002 suggested three-quarters of Americans had problems sleeping and a third were so sleepy during the day their activities were affected.
 

“In the past century, we have reduced our average time in sleep. Though our society has changed, our brains and bodies have not. Sleep deprivation is affecting us all and we are paying the price,” the organization maintains.
 

Prof. Horne, however, rebuts that “the test of insufficient sleep is whether you are sleepy in the day or if you remain alert through most of the day.”  If you sleep for eight hours a night, go to work, and find yourself yawning regularly and drooling on the keyboard, you aren’t getting enough sleep.  If you’re sleeping five hours and are operating alertly at normal or high levels, you probably are getting enough sleep.  Makes sense to me. 
 

So exactly where did the 8 hour mark come from?  Prof. Horne explains that a classic demand of the 19th Century labour movement was “Eight hours labour, Eight hours recreation, Eight hours rest.”  A little outdated, no?

On The Early Show Monday, Dr. Philip Muskin, psychiatrist and sleep specialist at New York Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center, discussed the findings, potential reasons for them, and possible new approaches for people who need to get to sleep earlier in order to function well, especially if jobs, school and other obligations force them to wake up in the morning earlier than they’d like.

Night owls have an obvious problem. They might want to sleep late in the morning, but society demands that they get up with the rest of the world, so, they tend to be crankier and more tired during the day, and perform in their jobs more poorly.  They exhibit more depression too, though it’s impossible to know, at least for now, whether poor sleep increases depression (or the other way around).

 
As part of the study, 32 healthy women were studied for seven nights.  For the first two nights, the women slept undisturbed for eight hours.  For the next few nights, however, the women were assigned to one of three groups: a control group that continued to sleep undisturbed; a forced awakening (FA) group awakened once an hour (eight times) through the night; and a restricted sleep opportunity (RSO) group subjected to partial sleep deprivation by delaying their bedtime.  On the sixth night, the women in both the FA and RSO groups underwent 36 hours of total sleep deprivation, followed by an 11-hour recovery sleep.

 
During the study, researchers tested the women’s pain thresholds and pain inhibition.  The women in the FA group showed an increase in spontaneous pain, while those in the control and RSO groups showed no changes in spontaneous pain or pain inhibition.

 
“Our research shows that disrupted sleep, marked by multiple prolonged awakenings, impairs natural pain control mechanisms that are thought to play a key role in the development, maintenance, and exacerbation of chronic pain,” Smith explained.

The effects of sleep deprivation over time are as follows:

Night 1. Missing sleep one night is uncomfortable, but is certainly manageable for many.

Night 2. The urge to sleep is much stronger, particularly between 3-5 a.m., when the body temperature is at its lowest.

Night 3. Tasks requiring sustained attention and mental calculations become seriously impaired, especially if the task is repetitious and boring.  Again, the early hours are the most crucial to needing sleep. 

Night 4. From this night on, periods of micro-sleep occur.  People stop what they are doing and stare into space for up to three seconds.  The end of micro-sleep is accompanied by a return to full awareness.  Confusion, irritability, misperception, and the ‘hat phenomenon’ occur. In this, a tightening around the head is felt as though a hat too small for the head is being worn.

Night 5. On top of the effects previously mentioned, delusions may be experienced.  Intellectual and problem-solving abilities are largely unimpaired.  Night 6. Symptoms of depersonalization occur and a clear sense of identity is lost.  This is called sleep deprivation psychosis.
 

Smith did not, the magazines reported, have methadone or other painkillers in her system when she passed away. The magazines claim that Smith was already suffering from another ailment when she took the fatal overdose. They also claim before the left the Bahamas for Florida, her buttocks were injected with a substance from an unsterilized needle, which caused a major infection.

The reports say that Anna then got very sick and was running a high fever but refused to go to the hospital. Instead, her people treated her at the hotel. “Again, she spent the whole day in bed, as the abscess continued to grow. She was in such pain, she just wanted to sleep.”

It was then (Feb. 7), according to the magazines, that Anna Nicole took the overdose of chloral hydrate, which led to her death.

 
The transition to Daylight Savings Time (DST) usually occurs on the first Sunday in April, not the second Sunday in March, and several sleep experts recognize the difficulty that some may be experiencing.  “The change in time is only an hour, but it’s the change in light that makes a difference in how people feel,” explained Ralph Downey III, the medical director of the Sleep Disorders Center at Loma Linda University Medical Center, Calif., and a spokesman for the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.  “An hour shift doesn’t seem like a whole lot, but it’s as if you’re behind the curve an hour a day until you get adjusted.  It can influence your mood, your ability to get things done, your ability to concentrate,” he said.  People are more prone to driving accidents, he added.

 
Most people can easily adapt to a one hour change, said Dr. Jose Loredo, the director of the Sleep Medicine Center at the University of California, San Diego Medical Center. “However, there are people who are sensitive to the time change, especially people who have insomnia and children who have an established routine. This can really throw them off and cause significant problems with their sleep,” he said.

 
The key to adjusting to DST is exposure to sunlight, Loredo said. “We can actually change our internal clock backward or forward depending on the exposure to light,” he said. “The change isn’t immediate, it takes some time.”

 
Loredo agreed that gradually adjusting your sleep schedule will help adjust your internal clock, but “the best way to advance your clock is being exposed to sunlight in the morning. Bright sunlight, not inside but outdoors without sunglasses, for an hour to two hours a day will advance your internal clock by an hour,” he said.

 
Loredo also says that a small dose of melatonin can help: “To advance your internal clock faster or further, you can take melatonin (the lowest dose possible, whatever you get in the store — cut it in half) at five or six o’clock p.m.  It’s not a sleeping pill, it helps advance the clock.”

 
To help cope with the time change, The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends the following:
- Re-adjust your mealtime schedule by eating dinner an hour earlier.
- Be careful when operating machinery or driving on the day of the time change.
- Avoid naps, especially close to bedtime.
- Avoid turning to caffeine to wake you up in the morning and alcohol at night to help you sleep.
- Eat properly, drink lots of water and remain physically active.

The following food items relax tense muscles, quiet buzzing minds, and/or get calming, serotonin and melatonin (sleep-inducing hormones) flowing. Now, I know that eating close to bed time is not always advisable, but the following may serve you well if eaten 2-3 hourse before bedtime. Enjoy!

Warm Milk - Nope, it’s not just an old wive’s tale. Milk has some tryptophan, an amino acid that has a sedative effect. Milk also contains calcium, which helps the brain use tryptophan. And the warm part? You probably don’t remember this, but during infancy, a warm bottle was psychologically and physically relaxing. And speaking of tryptophan…

Turkey - Turkey is the most famous source of tryptophan, which does NOT put you to sleep after your Thanksgivign feast; that’s a myth. Put a lean slice or two on some whole-wheat bread mid-evening, and enjoy your sleep.

Honey - Honey works nicely in your herb tea and in your warm milk. Honey contains a little bit of sugar, just enough glucose to let your brain know it shoudl to turn off orexin, a recently discovered neurotransmitter linked to alertness.

Whole-wheat bread - A slice of toast with your tea and honey will release insulin, which helps tryptophan get to your brain, where it’s converted to serotonin.

Bananas - This fruit contains melatonin, serotonin, and magnesium, a muscle relaxant.

Chamomile tea - Chamomile blends is its mild sedating effect and is the perfect natural antidote for restless minds and bodies.

Potatoes - A small baked potato clears away acids that can interfere with sleep-inducing tryptophan. Mash up the potato with some warm milk, and sleep tight.

Oatmeal - Oats are a rich source of melatonin and are pretty filling.

Almonds - These heart-healthy nuts contain both tryptophan and a nice dose of muscle-relaxing magnesium.

Flaxseeds - My wife loves flaxseeds, which are rich in omega-3 fatty acids, a natural mood lifter. You can even sprinkle 2 tablespoons of these healthy little seeds on your bedtime oatmeal.

 
In addition, when you don’t get enough sleep, your brain starts thinking it needs to store food; leptin, a hormone that helps regulate hunger and body fat, drops from lack of sleep, triggering hunger.

 
Sleep researchers agree that the following may help you get through your sleep-deprived day:
- Use a bright light to help keep you awake - Fluorescent light without ultraviolet rays administered  in the morning works well.
- Take a nap -  You might have to book a windowless conference room to rescue your lagging performance.
- Coffee - Caffeine can clear your body of the chemical adenosine, which makes us want to sleep.
- Coffee, then nap - Researchers at the Sleep Research Center at Loughborough University in England found that the best way to regain alertness if you feel like you’re falling asleep is to chug a cup of coffee and then immediately take a 15-minute nap.

Snoring occurs when the walls of the throat, roof of the mouth (soft palate and uvula) and sometimes the base of the tongue start to vibrate intermittently because of excessive turbulence. 

 Sometimes the reason for snoring is anatomical: a long uvula or soft palate, large adenoids, large tonsils, along tongue, a small lower jaw, or an obstructed nasal passage.  More often than not, however, snoring is a result of being overweight.

 
Reducing/Eliminating Snoring:

 
If you’re overweight, watch your diet, make an effort (that means sweat!) to drop some pounds. Otherwise, with weight gain comes a larger neck, and the fat around your neck and lover jaw encroaches upon your throat, thus increasing its tendency to collapse during sleep.

 
Alcohol relaxes your throat muscles, so avoid alcoholic beverages within 2 hours of going to bed.
Consult your doctor about the effects of sleeping pills and other muscle relaxants.

 
Sleep on your side.  When we sleep on our backs, gravity forces the tongue into the back of the throat, blocking the airway. Sleeping on your side allows the tongue to fall off to the side of your mouth.

 
Avoid eating before going to bed.  A full stomach pushes up on your diaphragm and restricts your airway.

 
Use a humidifier, which reduces congestion and moisturizes the throat.

 
Nasal strips may help open your nostrils and increase air flow.

 
Stop smoking or refrain from smoking before going to bed.  Smoking causes inflammation and swelling of the throat.

(Sources:National Institutes of Health; U.S. National Library of Medicine; American Academy of Sleep Medicine; Health Press Limited; Mayo Clinic; National Sleep Foundation)

Sleep apnea is a sleep disorder characterized by pauses in breathing that prevent air from flowing into or out of a sleeping person’s airways. People with sleep apnea awaken frequently during the night gasping for breath. The breathing pauses reduce blood oxygen levels, can strain the heart and cardiovascular system, and increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. Snoring on a frequent or regular basis has been directly associated with hypertension. Obesity and a large neck can contribute to sleep apnea. Sleep apnea can be treated; men and women who snore loudly, especially if pauses in the snoring are noted, should consult a physician.