Study finds it’s a time when people get less shut-eye, have shorter periods of deep sleep.
Many myths have told of the powers of a full moon, from werewolves to sudden madness to unexplained seizures, but new research suggests an impact close to home: Sound sleep may be harder to come by when the moon is in its full glory.
The study suggests that the human body is cued not only to the daily rising and setting of the sun, which regulates ...
Continue Reading →Some American workplaces are embracing the concept of an afternoon siesta, but plan carefully to wake well rested and feel more productive.
Ready for a midday snooze? Don’t feel guilty about it. Napping may just be the answer to a more productive workday.
More companies in the United States are starting to offer on-the-job sleep options for employees, ranging from special napping rooms to expensive sleep pods. Progressive, well-known companies like Google, Zappos, and Ben & Jerry’s are “nap friendly.” Yet can ...
Continue Reading →Primary hypersomnia is defined by excessive daytime sleepiness in the absence of known causes of sleepiness.
An abnormal protein in cerebrospinal fluid appears to cause hypersomnia, a form of excessive daytime sleepiness, and an off-the-shelf drug effectively treated it, researchers said.
Extracted from patients with primary hypersomnia, the elusive substance, which was not fully isolated in the study, enhanced the sensitivity of subtype A gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptors, reported David Rye, MD, PhD, of Emory University in Atlanta, and colleagues.
Moreover, seven patients ...
Continue Reading →Research has found that changing your sleep position can influence your dreams, but sleeping in a position that’s unnatural for you may not be a good idea.
Do you sleep on your side, your back, or your stomach? There’s new evidence that changing your sleep position could influence your dreams, but this kind of change might not be the best idea for your health.
Experts say there is no perfect sleep position. The first rule for sweet dreams and a restful night ...
Continue Reading →A study of Australian truck drivers has found that caffeine greatly reduced the number of car accidents caused by fatigue.
Some people skip caffeine because it causes them to “crash.” But for truck drivers, a new study suggests caffeine may be the secret to steering clear of a crash.
Truck drivers who typically consumed caffeine were far less likely than other drivers to be involved in traffic accidents, according to an Australian study in the British Medical Journal that controlled for ...
Continue Reading →Weight loss, particularly abdominal fat loss, improves sleep quality in people who are overweight or obese, new research finds.
Losing weight — through diet alone or diet and exercise combined — might be the ticket to sounder sleep in people who are overweight or obese, researchers from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine report at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions in Los Angeles.
A loss of belly fat in particular was associated with better sleep quality in the study’s 77 participants, ...
Continue Reading →A gene that regulates sleep and circadian rhythm may also be linked to aging, according to a new study, which may explain the increased risk for diseases that accompany poor sleep habits.
A lack of sleep can contribute to a host of negative health effects, and researchers say they now understand why. Working in mice, researchers found that a gene called SIRT1, which regulates circadian rhythm and sleep, is also linked to aging, according to a study published today in the ...
Continue Reading →Does it seem like your restless legs get worse after you take a certain medication or are under stress? Become aware of your restless legs triggers to relax.
It never fails — just as you crawl into bed, your restless legs start acting up again. Symptoms — which include pain and tingly, creepy-crawly sensations — usually strike at night or when you’re relaxing, so sleep problems are one of the chief complaints in people with restless legs syndrome, or RLS.
Although RLS ...
Continue Reading →Try these tips for keeping the sandman at bay when you just have to be awake.
Staying up late can be tough on the body, but sometimes it’s unavoidable. Maybe you’re working late, or you might need to stay up for a one-time event like a family trip or a kid’s sleepover or even adjust your sleep schedule to accommodate a new night shift assignment. Either way, there are tricks you can use to successfully become a night owl.
Keep in mind ...
Continue Reading →A good night’s sleep can seem impossible in our fast-paced lives. Try these tricks to reclaim your slumber.
With increasingly-troublesome side effects of skimping on sleep coming to light more and more often, it seems we’re starting to catch on to how important solid, regular rest is for our health.
But we’re not necessarily doing anything with this new knowledge. According to a recent survey, 25 percent of people get six hours of sleep a night, 22 percent get seven hours and ...
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