Sleep Info

The light emitted by portable electronic devices (PEDs), particularly when used at night, has drawn a great deal of interest recently.  The main concern is over the short-wavelength “blue” light emitted by smartphones, tablets, and even televisions.  Exposure to what some call “light at night” (or LAN) can acutely suppress melatonin, a hormone produced at night and…
Read more »

In the 1993 comedy movie “Groundhog Day,” a self-centered weatherman played by funnyman Bill Murray re-lives the same day over and over, with amusing and occasionally poignant results. Murray’s character spent day after day trying to break the cycle, but we here at SleepBetter would like to point out that doing the same thing day…
Read more »

New research indicates that pulling an all-nighter can impact women’s memory significantly more strongly than men. Over the last few decades, science has learned that lack of sleep harms your mind and body in a number of ways, particularly your memory. Working memory is important for keeping things in mind for briefer periods of time,…
Read more »

A new study indicates that body clock disruptions may be a precursor to Alzheimer’s, and may start years or even decades before symptoms can show in brain scans. People with Alzheimer’s disease are known to have disturbances in their internal body clocks that affect the sleep/wake cycle and may increase risk of developing the disorder….
Read more »

We’ve all heard of binge watching TV — watching episode after episode of a show on Netflix or elsewhere.  But, what about binge sleeping?  Apparently it’s a trend, and it has its good sides and downsides. According to Huffington Post, one of the new trends in sleep for 2018 in sleep bingeing — taking long…
Read more »

There’s good news and bad news for Americans and sleep.  The good news is that we’re finally getting more sleep.  Congratulations!  The bad news, however, is that it’s still not enough. “Over 14 years [2003 to 2016], Americans were getting 17 minutes more sleep every night, or a full four days more sleep per year,”…
Read more »

Writing a “to-do” list at bedtime may aid in falling asleep, according to a Baylor University study. Research compared sleep patterns of participants who took five minutes to write down upcoming duties versus participants who chronicled completed activities. “We live in a 24/7 culture in which our to-do lists seem to be constantly growing and…
Read more »

Sleep trackers are the newest tool that people and doctors are using to get an idea of what’s going on while we sleep, or why we don’t sleep.  The problem is that the people who are using them are primarily those who don’t need them as much — those who are healthy or have the…
Read more »

It truly is amazing in this modern world, not only what we know but what we don’t know.  For instance, despite all of the advancements in our understanding of the human body, we still don’t know how we fall asleep.  Researchers are getting closer to finding out, with some help from fruit flies. Fruit flies…
Read more »

If one of your resolutions for this year is to eat more healthy foods, one way is to start sleeping better.  According to a study by King’s College London, sleeping for longer each night is a simple lifestyle intervention that could help reduce intake of sugary foods and lead to a generally healthier diet. As…
Read more »