Sleep deprivation and food purchases

Another study linking diet and sleep. This article describes research with normal weight, healthy men after one night of sleep deprivation. Researchers gave the men about $50.00 to buy groceries the morning after a normal night's sleep or a night of sleep deprivation. After the night of sleep deprivation, the men bought more food and food that had more calories. The sleep-deprived men also had elevated levels of ghrelin, a hormone involved in appetite, but this did not correlate with food purchase behavior.

The take home message was to not go grocery shopping after a night of sleep loss. I wonder if the effect would taper for the many Americans who have chronic, partial sleep deprivation?

Obstructive sleep apnea and melanoma

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) can cause repetitive drops in oxygen levels. This in turn can increase chronic inflammation and possibly reduce the body's ability to detect and fight tumor cells. This article describes research showing that the more severe the OSA, the more aggressive the melanoma. The reason the two conditions may be linked together is not described in detail in this article - low oxygen levels are implicated. I wonder if using CPAP would help with melanoma treatment?

Yoga may improve insomnia

This article discusses research showing that twice a week yoga may help woman with breast cancer sleep better. Improvements were seen in sleep quality and duration in women with a clinical diagnosis of insomnia and in those that just had mild sleep disruption. Those that were in the yoga group reduced sleep medicine use by 21 percent per week. Those not in the yoga group increased their sleep aid use by 5 percent per week. The participants use Gentle Hatha yoga, which focuses on physical postures, and Restorative yoga, with an emphasis on relaxation, breathing and meditation. I've never done yoga, so I am not sure if other types of yoga would also benefit sleep quality.

CDC says 9 million Americans take sleeping pills

This article discusses new research from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) that says that 9 million Americans report taking sleeping pills, whether prescription or over-the-counter to improve their sleep. This study was a survey, and there is nothing new from a clinical standpoint. Some highlights included that women are more likely than men to take sleeping pills, 5 percent versus 3 percent. More whites take pills - nearly 5 percent, compared to 2.5 percent of blacks and 2 percent of Hispanics. Prescription use increases with age, to 7 percent of those 80 and older.

Taking sleeping pills is not the only way to get better sleep. Talk to your doctor about seeing a sleep medicine physician, who can work with you to improve your sleep without necessarily resorting to pills.

Gestational diabetes and obstructive sleep apnea

Gestational diabetes refers to having high blood sugars during pregnancy. Sometimes it is associated with excess weight gain during pregnancy.

This article discusses research showing that pregnant women with gestational diabetes are nearly seven times more likely to have obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) than other pregnant women. Also, the women who did not have gestational diabetes got an additional hour of sleep and had less broken up sleep than women who had gestational diabetes.

The researchers suggested that women who have gestational diabetes consider getting evaluated for OSA.

Singing may improve snoring

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a sleep disorder where the muscles that make up the back of the throat collapse when asleep, causing reduced air flow to the lungs. Snoring very often accompanies OSA. When I diagnose a patient with OSA, some of them ask me if there are any exercises that can reduce snoring and OSA. There have been studies showing that people who play certain wind instruments can improve snoring and OSA.

Here is an article about a singer that has developed a singing program to be used 20 minutes a day to reduce snoring. In this study, they took people who snored and had mild to moderate OSA. They excluded those with severe OSA or morbid obesity (BMI at least 40). They had them do the 20 minute daily singing for an unspecified amount of weeks. The results showed that snoring frequency, but not loudness was reduced significantly. Also, subjective reports of daytime sleepiness was improved in the singers vs the non-singers. However, the researchers did not objectively measure the level of sleep apnea at the end of the study. So it can not be said that singing improved their OSA. I also can't tell if more of the singing group lost weight, which would explain the decrease in snoring, rather than the singing itself.