Diseases that are more common in people with obstructive sleep apnea

Here is a study in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine out of Denmark that analyzed which diseases were more common in patients later diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). The researchers used 1% as the cutoff off for inclusion. The results showed that in those diagnosed with OSA, their was an increased risk of the person having already been diagnosed with diabetes, hearing loss, high blood pressure, angina, atrial fibrillation, pneumonia, emphysema, asthma, deviated nasal septum, and prostate enlargement. These make sense clinically, and many of the conditions co-exist. Obesity is a common factor in OSA, and this could link some of the conditions listed.

The hearing loss is interesting, and may be related to loud snoring. Deviated nasal septum could impact airflow through the nose, increasing snoring and OSA. OSA can increase night time urination. In men, they might get diagnosed more with prostate enlargement when they report this nighttime urination. But their doctor may not think about OSA as a cause until later.

Teens and sleep texting

This article discusses the problem of teenagers and texting while asleep. It can be a form of sleepwalking. These teens leave their phone on next to them and will text without fully waking up. They have no recollection of the texting. Sometimes the texted content is bizarre or inappropriate. The answer, of course, is to turn off the phone or just not have it in the bedroom when trying to sleep.

Bed bugs on the rise (at least in Central Nebraska)

This article discusses bed bugs, which are apparently on the rise in central Nebraska. I've never seen a bed bug or had a patient come in because of bed bugs. But this article does a nice job of discussing most things you would want to know about the little guys.

The bed bugs are small and live in tight spaces in and around a bed. They feed at night - and their food is blood. Some people have more severe reactions to bed bug bites, so you can't tell if you bed bugs by how your skin may look after a feeding.

The article mentioned that you should be careful in hotels - and advised to inspect for bed bugs. If there were bed bugs in your hotel room, what would you do? I'd go to a different hotel if there was availability. Hotel bedspreads are bad enough - don't need blood sucking bugs added to the mix!

Hotel lets you sleep as if you are homeless

At first, I thought this could not be true. But this is a real hotel in Sweden that is trying to raise awareness for people that are really homeless. For $14 a night, you can sleep in what looks like a run down park bench - I guess to mimic what sleeping on the street may be like. I assume the experience would be unpleasant, motivating the sleeper to donate to homelessness charities.

Treating REM sleep behavior disorder

This article discusses REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD). It's a type of sleepwalking disorder, most commonly seen in older men with neurodegenerative disorders like Parkinsons Disease. It's not curable, but can be treated. Sometimes, untreated obstructive sleep apnea drives the RBD. Certain medications, like antidepressants, can worsen RBD. I sometimes use Klonopin, but have used melatonin or a medicine for Restless legs syndrome.

The study compared melatonin and klonopin, and both seemed to be effective. Patients stopped the medications at about the same rate, but for different reasons - melatonin for lack of efficacy and klonopin for side effects.

For some patients, medications just do not help. It's important to make sure the bedroom environment is safe. Some patients need bed rails to prevent falling out of bed. I have even had some patients sleep in a sleeping bag so they wont be able to move that much! It works like swaddling a baby helps keep the baby from moving around in a crib.

February worst month for sleeping?

This article discusses a UK survey showing that people surveyed reported taking 8 minutes longer to fall asleep and sleeping 10 minutes per night less than in March. The reasons are not clear, but it is thought perhaps due to longer nights, darker days, and centrally heated homes. I would think January would be even worse, as the days are shorter in that month. But no mention of January.

iPAD use close to bedtime could worsen sleep

This article is about a study showing that iPAD use within two hours of bedtime at the brightest setting could suppress melatonin secretion, resulting in difficulty falling asleep. I agree and suspect this is a problem for lots of insomniacs. It's not just ipads, but any electronic device with a screen that you hold close to your face. The article recommends turning down the brightness. You can do that or get a blue light filter to put over the screen. There is software from f.lux that could also reduce blue light emission from your screen.

Older age people may have memory problems from lack of deep sleep

This article discusses research about our aging brain, sleep quality, and memory. As we age, there is a reduction in volume in a part of our brain behind the middle of our forehead - the medial pre-frontal cortex (PFC). Sleep researchers think this area helps generate the deepest levels of sleep. As we age, the amount of deep sleep is reduced gradually. Many older people have little deep sleep. In this study, the researchers think that the older people who had less deep sleep than younger people, had reduced ability to remember new things. They think this effect is not so much about the volume reduction in the PFC, and more about the loss of deep sleep. Unfortunately, not much can be done to increase the level of deep sleep, whether you are old or young. Some medications have been shown to mildly increase deep sleep levels. Some researchers are apparently working with electrical stimulation of the brain - sounds interesting but I don't know more about it.

About one-third of US workers are sleep deprived

This video discusses research showing that about 1/3 of workers are sleep deprived, costing about $63 billion in lost productivity.

Alcohol is not a good sleep aid

Here is another study showing what we already knew about the effect of alcohol on sleep. It may help some fall asleep faster, but it leads to sleep disruption in the second half of the night. The article rightly cautions people not to rely on alcohol to help them sleep. In addition to being addictive, alcohol suppresses REM or dream sleep.

Split sleep schedule better than consolidated daytime sleep in truck drivers

This article discusses a study about sleep times in truck drivers. Drivers that work at night usually sleep during the day. This study showed that splitting up sleep into two 5 hour blocks was better than trying to get sleep all in one block during the day.

Poor sleep can impair gratitdue towards romantic partner

This article discusses research showing that poor sleep quality can impair your ability to show gratitude to your romantic partner. Seems self evident to me. I wonder, though, if a lack of gratitude is really just a part of the persons personality, and not just a function of sleep quality. Perhaps poor sleep quality just accentuates the problem. But selfish people are going to be selfish - good sleep or not.