January 29, 2007
For most people, snoring is harmless. For others, however, but it may be accompanied by daytime sleepiness and can be a symptom of a life-threatening sleep disorder.
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.
January 23, 2007
Despite what you may have heard, older people do not necessarily need MORE sleep – they need the SAME amount of sleep as young adults, but the problem is that older bodies becomes less skilled at maintaining sleep.
Although older people spend about the same amount of time in dreaming sleep or REM as do the young people, they get less of the deeper stages of sleep that they need and awaken more often. Studies show that some people above 60 years wake up briefly about 150 times a night.
Over half the people over 65 years experience disturbed sleep.
Not only is the sleep process less complete as we get older, but we are also more likely to develop medical problems that interfere with sleep.
Listed below are some patterns and trends that plague older sleepers:
- Settling down to sleep becomes more difficult; it can be tough to stay asleep or get back to sleep after waking.
- Even the slightest noise may be enough to disrupt slumber.
- Dozing off may happen more easily and more readily while watching television or reading the newspaper.
- Normal age-related changes sometimes hide sleep disorders that become more common as people grow older.
- Medical or psychiatric illnesses, especially those involving pain or depression, go hand-in-hand with sleep disorders.
- Depression, which is common as we grow older, can cause sleep difficulty. For some, depression begins gradually and progresses to become a way of life; others are convinced that all they need is a decent night’s sleep.
- As poor sleep progresses, some people lose interest in their daily activities.
- Many drugs used to treat pain, fever, itching, and coughing can disrupt sleep.
January 22, 2007
The good news is that some school districts have tried delaying the opening of the high school day. The bad news is that I graduated high school a decade ago.
Studies show that at least 20 percent of high school students fall asleep in class on a typical day, proof that high-schoolers are not getting enough sleep. What to do…
Educational researcher Kyla Wahlstrom has been following districts that changed their start times, tracking the effect on schools and students. The Minneapolis school district, for example, changed its start time from 7:20 to 8:40 a.m., giving its 12,000 high schoolers an extra hour and twenty minutes each morning. Wahlstrom says the students have benefited from the change.
“Students reported less depression when there was a later starting time,” Wahlstrom says. “And teachers reported that students were more alert and ready for learning. Parents reported that their children were easier to live with because their emotions were more regulated.”
Additionally, Wahlstrom found a decrease in the number of students who were dropping out of school or moving from school to school.
According to the National Sleep Foundation, more than 80 school districts around the country have now made the change to start their high schools later. These districts range from large, urban school districts, such as Minneapolis and Denver, to suburban districts, such as Jessamine County in central Kentucky.
January 12, 2007
According to recent National Sleep Foundation statistics, a majority of the 70 million Americans who suffer from sleeping problems are women, and their lack of sleep may foretell the beginning of much bigger problems.
“If left untreated, the majority of them have high blood pressure. They are at increased risk of heart attack. A lot of them do suffer from diabetes and increased risk of stroke,” says sleep specialist Amanda Bowden.
Common problems, such as hypertension and acid reflux, can also be caused by sleeping problems, and many doctors believe sleep problems caused by apnea are a marker for coronary heart disease. (A new study also shows women are less likely to be diagnosed with sleep apnea than men because women try to hide symptoms like snoring.) The stress on the heart can cause irregular heartbeats which can be fatal. Another marker is weight gain.
Women in the U.S. are sleeping less and are bigger than ever; the National Sleep Foundation shows that 63 percent of women do not get eight hours of sleep, and 65 percent are overweight or obese. New studies show sleeping fewer than eight hours a night boosts our levels of ghrelin, a hormone that makes us feel hungry, while suppressing another hormone, leptin, which makes us feel full.
