New cause of sleep deprivation: Technology

[Shadow]

Interesting article about some of the causes of sleep deprivation being linked to interactive technology.

Snip...


Sleep deprivation is rampant in offices across America, according to three recent studies, and now new research points to the likely culprit: electronics usage.

More than one out of three adults get less than 7 hours of sleep a night, and 38% report unintentionally falling asleep during the day at least once in the past month, according to the Centers for Disease Control’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

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Passive technologies, like watching TV and listening to music may be more calming than interactive electronics like video games, cell phones and the internet because they tend to be less engaging. “The hypothesis is that the latter devices are more alerting and disrupt the sleep-onset process,” says Michael Gradisar, Ph.D, a co-author of the study.

Sleep Deprivation: The Surprising Causes and Solutions | BNET

 

[waltky]

Granny dances in her sleep - -only she does the boog-a-loo...

Disorder makes her dance in her sleep
I tilt my head back gracefully, swan-like, and lift my arms high in the air. I bring one hand down and gently graze my arm with my fingers, then repeat the same movement with the other hand; over and over, in a languid, ballet-like dance.

Then my husband elbows me in the ribs. “You’re doing it AGAIN," he hisses groggily. “Roll over and go to sleep.” It turns out that I’m not performing "Swan Lake" for the masses; I’m performing these odd dance moves for a party of one -- my irritated husband who is lying in the bed beside me. It’s true. I dance in my sleep. Every night, ever since I was a small child, I’ve done it. I sometimes wake myself up with my arms high in the air, bringing one hand down to graze my inner arm; then, I repeat the same movement with the other side. Apparently, it is quite irritating to wake up night after night to your spouse performing a ballet dance from her pillow. I wouldn’t know. I rarely remember these episodes.

I’ve often wondered what exactly is going on in my brain to make me bust out with the dance moves in my bed at night. After all, I’m not exactly a big dancer during the light of day. Let’s just say that I could have a dance off with Carlton and Elaine and I’d still lose. And yet I’m jigging it up in my sleep. In my attempts to figure out this night-time recital, I’ve come across two front runners I suspect may be the culprit. Sleep related rhythmic movement disorder is a disorder typically seen in infants and small children, and it involves repeated body movements such as body rolling, banging of the legs, and even humming. This is what you’re witnessing if you’ve ever seen a toddler repeatedly bang his/her head on the wall or headboard as they drift off to sleep. Generally speaking, most children who have RMD outgrow it by the time they are in adolescence.

Periodic limb movement disorder is a sleep disorder in which a person’s limbs are randomly moving during sleep with no apparent cause. Typically it involves the arms or legs. It only occurs in 4 percent of people, the majority of them women. It is linked to restless leg syndrome and occurs often in people with anemia or an iron deficiency (I have both due to a blood disorder I had in teenage years.) There are also a host of other factors that can cause it, including stress, exercise, diet, and more. I suspect that this is what I have, but it's never bothered me enough to necessitate a visit to a specialist or consultant to confirm it. So for now, at least, my husband will have to put up with my sleepy dance moves.

MORE

 

[waltky]

Granny says now we got somethin' else to lie awake at night an' worry `bout...

Poor sleep linked to heart failure, Norwegian study says
5 March 2013 - Waking up too early and having problems settling back to sleep may have a negative impact on the heart, a study shows

People who have trouble drifting off to sleep may be at increased risk of heart failure, researchers say. The study, published in the European Heart Journal, followed more than 50,000 people for 11 years. Scientists found those who suffered several nights of poor sleep were more likely to develop the condition, in which the heart fails to pump properly. Experts say further research is needed to see if a lack of sleep causes heart failure or the link is more complex. Scientists at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology looked at more than 50,000 people aged between 20 and 89. At the beginning of the study, none of them were known to have heart failure.

In this condition the muscles of the heart are often too out of shape to do their job properly - they may be too weak or too stiff to pump blood around the body at the right pressure. More than 750,000 people in the UK have heart failure and for the majority there is no cure. People with the disorder may feel increasingly breathless and exhausted. And as heart failure worsens, it can be difficult to get a full night's rest - but the Norwegian study is one of few to investigate whether poor sleepers without the condition are at risk of getting it in later life.

'Stress hormones'

During the research, the participants were asked whether they had any difficulties getting to sleep or staying asleep and whether they felt fully restored after a night's slumber. People who had trouble falling asleep and remaining asleep each night were three times more likely to develop heart failure than those who reported no trouble sleeping. Those who experienced substandard sleep that failed to leave them fully refreshed were also at risk. And this link between a bad night's sleep and heart failure remained true despite researchers taking smoking, obesity and other well known triggers of insomnia and heart problems into account. The researchers say it is unclear exactly why poor sleep and heart failure are associated in this way.

Dr Laugsand, lead author of the study, said: "We don't know whether insomnia truly causes heart failure. But if it does, the good thing is it is a potentially treatable condition. "So evaluating sleep problems might provide additional information in the prevention of heart failure." He suggests the lack of sleep may provoke harmful responses in the body. "When you have insomnia your body releases stress hormones which in turn may effect the heart in a negative way," he said.. The same team of researchers have previously reported a link between people prone to insomnia and heart attacks.

'Unpleasant condition'

 

[waltky]

Granny says dat's why Uncle Ferd eats so much junk food - `cause dem womens is keepin' him up all night...

Sleep Deprivation Linked to Junk Food Cravings
August 07, 2013 > Not getting enough sleep can lead you to eat more and gain weight, and a new study suggests the connection is caused by what happens in the sleep-deprived brain.

Researchers at the University of California Berkeley found that after just one sleepless night, the brain's frontal lobe, which governs rational decision-making, was impaired. In contrast, there was increased activity in the more primitive brain region that controls desire and responds to rewards. As a result, study participants — 23 healthy young adults — craved unhealthy snacks and junk food when they were sleep deprived, and had less ability to rein in that impulse.

Senior author Matthew Walker, a professor of psychology and neuroscience, says that combination may help explain why people who sleep less tend to be overweight or obese. On the other hand, he points out, the findings indicate that getting enough sleep could help promote weight control "by priming the brain mechanisms governing appropriate food choices."

The study is published in the journal Nature Communications.

Sleep Deprivation Linked to Junk Food Cravings

 

[ABikerSailor]

I can believe it. There have been many nights that I've stayed up until the wee hours of the morning either playing video games, watching videos, or arguing with idiots on message boards.