A new study shows that continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy improves quality of life measures in people who have obstructive sleep apnea. Results show that there were significant and clinically meaningful improvements in general quality of life and sleep-related quality of life measures after the initiation of PAP therapy for sleep apnea. The improvements…
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Every year people say after their Thanksgiving feast that the tryptophan in turkey is making them need a nap. There’s no doubt that many people end up groggy and sleepy after devouring loads of turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and everything else that goes with Thanksgiving, but is it really the turkey that leads to the…
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New research indicates that young people with insomnia are more likely to use alcohol, and vice-versa. “Parents, educators, and therapists should consider insomnia to be a risk marker for alcohol use, and alcohol use a risk marker for insomnia, among early adolescents,” writes Rutgers University-Camden researcher Naomi Marmorstein in the study. Marmorstein, a professor of…
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Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) may put elderly people at greater risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease (AD), according to new research. According to the new study, biomarkers for amyloid beta, the plaque-building peptides associated with Alzheimer’s disease, increase over time in elderly adults with OSA in proportion to OSA severity. Thus, individuals with more apneas per…
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Ever sleep poorly and then walk out of the house without your keys? Or, even worse, space out on the highway and nearly hit a stalled car? A new study is the first to reveal how sleep deprivation disrupts our brain cells’ ability to communicate with each other, leading to temporary mental lapses that affect…
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With their brains, sleep patterns, and eyes still developing, children and adolescents are particularly vulnerable to the sleep-disrupting effects of screen time, according to a new and sweeping review of the literature. “The vast majority of studies find that kids and teens who consume more screen-based media are more likely to experience sleep disruption,” says…
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In about 10 days, we’ll undergo a strange yearly ritual during which time actually changes — the end of Daylight Saving Time. According to new research, that time change leads to more violent acts. On Sunday, Nov. 5, Daylight Saving Time officially ends in the United States and elsewhere. That means as we “fall back,”…
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International research has uncovered a developmental abnormality in babies – especially in premature babies and in boys – that for the first time has been directly linked to cases of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Researchers believe this abnormality in the brain’s control of head and neck movement, breathing, heartbeat and the body’s responses to…
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A new study of young adults shows that high quality sleep is associated with less activity in the areas of the brain involved in learning to fear things. The results suggest that baseline sleep quality may be a useful predictor of susceptibility to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Sleep disturbances are a common feature of PTSD. While…
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Most Americans don’t sleep enough, but according to a new study, our teenagers are sleeping even less than adults. A new study finds that the possible reason is that young people are trading their sleep for smartphone time. Most sleep experts agree that adolescents need 9 hours of sleep each night to be engaged and…
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