Sleepless Dangers

Chronically sleeping less than 6 hours per night significantly increased the rate of stroke symptoms among middle-age to older individuals of normal weight who had low risk of sleep-disordered breathing.

People who habitually sleep less than 6 hours appear to be at risk of developing symptoms that may predict future stroke, researchers reported here at the annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies.

Study participants with normal body mass indices (BMIs) who slept less than 6 hours a night had a ...

More than one quarter of surgeons reported being “impaired” as a result of being tired.

Despite new limits on resident work hours almost half of the orthopedic residents at two of Harvard’s hospitals said they were fatigued during work hours, and 27 percent said they were impaired by lack of sleep.

Moreover, the doctors-in-training said they average just a little over 5 hours’ sleep daily during work weeks, Frank McCormick, MD, of Massachusetts General Hospital, and colleagues reported in the May 21 ...

But, study doesn’t prove a cause-and-effect link.

Researchers found that kids who suffered from problems like sleep apnea and snoring in their infant, toddler and preschool years were more likely to need special education services for conditions such as speech and behavioral problems a few years later.

Although the study found an association between the two factors, it did not prove cause and effect. The higher risk of disabilities could be a statistical fluke, or something else besides sleep problems may explain ...

If you’re getting too much sleep, you could be at risk for a condition called sleep drunkenness.

With our action-packed lives, nearly a third of Americans struggle with getting too little sleep. But there’s evidence suggesting that too much sleep may actually be just as problematic as too little sleep!

So how much is too much sleep?

Medical experts typically recommend seven to nine hours of shut-eye per night for adults, and even more for kids and teens. (Yikes, no wonder first period ...

Transportation workers among those getting the least shuteye, researchers say.

Many American workers get fewer than six hours of sleep each night, putting themselves and their co-workers at risk for serious and sometimes deadly consequences, federal health officials said Thursday.

“There about 41 million workers who aren’t getting the recommended amount of sleep,” said Dr. Sara Luckhaupt, lead author of a new study from the division of surveillance, hazard evaluations and field studies at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. ...

Erratic shift work compounds the problem, and 1 in 10 transportation workers toils while drowsy.

One in 10 American truck drivers, train conductors, airline pilots and other transportation workers may be dangerously sleep-deprived, a new survey suggests.

Many said they feel drowsy while working, and some worry that their fatigue poses a threat to commuter safety, the National Sleep Foundation (NSF) poll found.

As many as 11 percent of these employees work while sleepy, compared to 7 percent of non-transportation workers.

“It is exciting ...

Not getting enough sleep may lead to weight gain over time, researchers say.

The team at Uppsala University in Sweden used functional MRI to observe the brains of 12 normal weight males while they looked at images of food. This was done on two occasions — after a night of normal sleep and after a night without sleep.

The results showed that a specific brain region that plays a role in appetite shows more activation in response to food images after a ...

Sleep problems are common among police officers and are associated with more health issues and poorer performance on the job, a new study shows.

Researchers screened almost 5,000 police officers from the United States and Canada online or in person and found that 40 percent of them had a sleep disorder.

The most common problem, suffered by one-third of the officers, was obstructive sleep apnea, which occurs when muscle tissue in the back of the throat relaxes and collapses, temporarily blocking the ...

Getting less than 6 hours increases risk of chronic fatigue, obesity and diabetes, researchers say.

Police officers who get less than six hours of sleep per day are at increased risk for chronic fatigue and health problems such as obesity, diabetes and heart disease, a new study finds.

The University of Iowa researchers also found that officers working the evening or night shifts were 14 times less likely to get restful sleep than those on the day shift. These officers also had ...

Sleep is important for overall rest and well-being, but a new study shows it might also impact a man’s fertility.

The value of a good night’s sleep cannot be overstated, especially in today’s hectic society. Research has shown that most Americans aren’t getting enough rest, even when it comes to teenagers and kids. Now, a new study finds that chronic sleep issues might actually lead to fertility problems down the road.

Danish researchers examined over 950 men over the course of three ...