Sleep

Howard LeWine, M.D.

Late to bed, early to rise: a recipe for diabetes

Howard LeWine, M.D., Chief Medical Editor
Internet Publishing, Harvard Health Publications
Woman with insomnia

Sleeping poorly night after night—because you are trying to burn the candle at both ends or you work night or rotating shifts—has long-term health consequences. People who don’t average at least six hours of sleep a night are more likely to be overweight or develop various medical problems. New research from Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women’s Hospital shows that lack of sleep plays a complex and powerful role in the development of type 2 diabetes. Among volunteers who lived in a sleep lab for several weeks, their bodies made less insulin after meals when they got under 5.5 hours of sleep a night for three weeks. As a result, their blood sugar levels went haywire. Some of the people had blood sugar levels high enough to have been diagnosed as prediabetic.

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P.J. Skerrett

Spring forward, fall asleep

P.J. Skerrett, Senior editor, Harvard Health
Setting clock ahead

This weekend, most Americans will follow the annual ritual of setting their clocks ahead one hour—and lose an hour of sleep in the process. We pay for it on Monday. According to sleep expert Dr. Charles Czeisler, U.S. researchers have seen increases of 6% to 17% in motor vehicle crashes on the Mondays after we [...]

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P.J. Skerrett

Snoring in kids linked to behavioral problems

P.J. Skerrett, Senior editor, Harvard Health
Boy_Sleeping

Children who snore, or sometimes stop breathing during sleep for a few seconds then recover with a gasp (a pattern known as sleep apnea), are more likely to become hyperactive, overly aggressive, anxious, or depressed, according to a new new study in the journal Pediatrics. How could snoring or apnea contribute to behavioral or emotional problems? It is possible that nighttime breathing problems during the brain’s formative years decrease the supply of oxygen to the brain. That could interfere with the development of pathways that control behavior and mood. It is also possible that breathing problems disturb sleep, and it’s the interrupted or poor sleep by itself that may cause trouble in the developing brain.

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Harvey B. Simon, M.D.

Sleep helps learning, memory

Harvey B. Simon, M.D., Editor, Harvard Health
Man-napping-with-book

Sleep may be time off for the body, but it’s part of a day’s work for the brain. During sleep, the brain is hard at work processing the events of the day, sorting and filing, making connections, and even solving problems. New research suggests that dreaming can improve memory, boost performance, and even improve creativity. Naps have been shown to improve recall. Napping won’t make you smart or assure success, but it can help improve your memory and solve problems. Sleeping well at night, and long enough, is associated with good health. The combination is a two-step approach that should give everyone something to sleep on.

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P.J. Skerrett

Overnight treatment for chronic insomnia

P.J. Skerrett, Senior editor, Harvard Health
Insomnia

For some people, trouble falling asleep or staying asleep is just a now-and-then hitch. For others, insomnia is a chronic problem that affects mood, daytime alertness and performance, and emotional and physical health. Some people turn to medications, others to behavioral approaches that often take weeks to get results. A new approach using a 25-hour program called intensive sleep retraining may be enough to break the cycle in a day. Australian researchers showed that it worked better than standard behavioral therapy. As the researchers themselves point out, intensive sleep retraining is expensive. Let’s hope that the Australian study stimulates the creation of similar boot-camp approaches that can be done at home.

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Kay Cahill Allison

Fight fatigue by finding the cause

Kay Cahill Allison, Editor, Special Health Reports
woman-fatigue

Feeling tired? If so, it’s not surprising. Fatigue is one of the most common problems people report to their doctors. But fatigue is a symptom, not a disease. Different people experience it in different ways. The tiredness you feel at the end of a long day or after a time zone change might feel similar to that resulting from an illness. Fatigue from stress or lack of sleep usually subsides after a good night’s rest, while disease-related lethargy is more persistent and may be debilitating even after restful sleep. Either way, you don’t have to live with it. You can find out what is causing you to feel tired and discover what you can do to renew your energy levels.

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Peter Wehrwein

Naps for young doctors

Peter Wehrwein, Editor, Harvard Health

Doctors-in-training should be encouraged to do some on-the-job napping, according to the organization that sets the standards for residency programs around the country. The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) issued new standards yesterday that came out in favor of a well-timed snooze. The guidelines, which are scheduled to go into effect next year, say this: Programs must encourage residents to use alertness [...]

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