Alerts
Former Foundation Chair Releases Sleep Medicine Atlas
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Meir H. Kryger, MD, former chair of the National Sleep Foundation and editor of the Principles and Practice of Sleep Medicine, has compiled an atlas on sleep medicine that uses new scoring rules to help doctors score, interpret and diagnose sleep disorders. |
Genes May Play a Part in Lack of Sleep
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The discovery by University of California, San Francisco, researchers of a genetic mutation that allows its carrier to function properly on less sleep than the average adult is opening scientists' eyes to the idea that our genes might actually determine sleep duration, according to a recent Forbes article. |
What is the Purpose of Sleep?
 If you enjoy pondering life's many mysteries, here's a good one: Why do we sleep? You know you need sleep, because that's what your body tells you. But what does sleep actually do? "There are as many theories of sleep's functions as there are sleep researchers," Mehdi Tafti, a geneticist at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland, says in a recent ScienceNews article. |
People with Apnea More Vulnerable to Effects of Alcohol
 Drinking and driving is always dangerous. Add a life-threatening sleep disorder and you have a recipe for disaster. According to a study in the Annals of Internal Medicine, patients with obstructive sleep apnea are more vulnerable than healthy people to the effects of alcohol while driving. |
How Do Animals Sleep?
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Ever wonder how a dolphin can sleep without drowning or why a bat sleeps upside down? Well, you won't have to wonder any more. |
NPR Interviews Author on Sleep Problems in Children
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NPR's Fresh Air interviewed author Po Bronson on his new book NurtureShock: New Thinking About Children, which examines new research that is bringing about changes in parenting. The author discusses with Fresh Air the consequences of children not getting enough sleep. "High schools are starting earlier and earlier around the country, and it's had a dramatic effect," Bronson told NPR. |
Elderly Women Underestimate Quality of Sleep
 You might be getting more sleep than you think. Elderly women who reported shorter and poorer quality of sleep actually had longer and less-fragmented sleep than elderly men, according to a recent study in the journal SLEEP. The study, conducted by researchers in the Netherlands, examined 956 participants ages 59 to 97 years old. |
A Look at the Newest Sleep Books
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Reading is always a good activity, and reading before bed is a particularly good choice for kids of all ages and for parents. A relaxing, routine activity like reading right before bedtime helps separate your sleep time from activities that can cause excitement, stress or anxiety. |
Weight Loss Can Improve Sleep Apnea
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Obese patients with type 2 diabetes who experience obstructive sleep apnea saw an improvement in their condition after losing weight, according to a study in the Archives of Internal Medicine. Obstructive sleep apnea is a disorder in which breathing is briefly and repeatedly interrupted during sleep. |
Mattress Makers Set Their Sights on Men
 Sleep is important for both men and women, yet a recent article in the Wall Street Journal notes that mattress and bed manufacturers tend to cater to women. Not anymore. The Wall Street Journal reports that manufacturers are now focusing on a new niche: "macho" mattresses. What makes a bed "macho"? |
