Sleep Well Articles
New research reveals that obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) may cause more severe consequences in overweight people than in people of normal weight.(1) The study, published in the October 15 issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, found that greater oxygen depletion occurred in the blood of overweight people with OSA both during and after apnea events.
Sleeping problems among children are fairly common: around 25% of children experience some kind of sleep disturbance.1 These disturbances can range in origin from physical to behavioral, and can be somewhat difficult to assess. Signs of a sleep problem might include daytime tiredness, hyperactivity, attention difficulties, and an inability to concentrate.
These days, we all live with more stress than usual and it may be affecting your sleep. While it’s normal to have the occasional night when you can’t sleep very well, having those kind of nights more often can indicate a more serious problem. If you regularly take medications to fall asleep, even over-the counter medicines, you could be masking a sleep disorder – and not solving the problem causing it.
New research from the University of California reveals a rare gene mutation that reduces the need for sleep1. People with this gene mutation, known as DEC2, not only need less sleep overall (about two hours less on average) but they also recover more quickly from sleep deprivation. Ying-Hui Fu, PhD, of the University of California, San Francisco, and colleagues, conducted the research.
Are you getting enough sleep? Most of us are not, and it’s taking a toll on our overall health. Over the last century, we’ve gradually reduced the average amount of time we sleep. It used to be that people regularly slept 10 hours a night! Now, according to the 2008 National Sleep Foundation (NSF) Sleep in America poll, today Americans average 6.9 hours of sleep on weeknights and 7.5 hours per night on weekends.(1)