Sleep Duration Is Associated with Levels of Inflammatory Markers In Women

- July 1, 2009 —

Science Daily/American Academy of Sleep Medicine

A study in the journal Sleep demonstrates that levels of inflammatory markers varied significantly with self-reported sleep duration in women but not men.

The study found that both interleukin-6 (IL-6) and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) levels varied with sleep duration in women following multiple adjustments for a number of confounding factors.

Compared with women who reported sleeping seven hours on an average weekday, IL-6 levels were significantly lower in women who reported sleeping eight hours. Levels of hs-CRP were significantly higher in women who reported sleeping 5 hours or less. In contrast, adjusted results show no significant variations in inflammatory markers with sleep duration in men.

Results indicate that two months after delivery, poor sleep was associated with depression when adjusted for other significant risk factors, such as poor partner relationship, previous depression, depression during pregnancy and stressful life events. Sleep disturbances and subjective sleep quality were the aspects of sleep most strongly associated with depression. Overall, nearly 60 percent of the postpartum women experienced poor global sleep quality, and 16.5 percent had depressive symptoms.

Depression, previous sleep problems, being a first time mother, not exclusively breastfeeding or having a younger or male infant were factors associated with poor postpartum sleep quality. Better maternal sleep was associated with the baby sleeping in a different room.

According to authors, the first three months after delivery are characterized by continually changing sleep parameters. Women who are tired during this period may attribute this to poor sleep, but the tiredness could alternatively be caused by depression; thus talking about sleep problems may provide an entry point for also discussing the woman's overall well-being.

Individual women may react differently to shorter sleep duration and lower sleep efficiency during the postpartum period, and that the sleep of women with a history of depression may be more sensitive to the psychobiological (hormonal, immunological, psychological and social) changes associated with childbirth.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090701082708.htm

Poor Sleep Quality Linked to Postpartum Depression

- Dec. 24, 2008 —

Science Daily/Wiley-Blackwell

Postpartum depression (PPD) can lead to poor sleep quality, recent research shows. A new study shows that depression symptoms worsen in PPD patients when their quality of sleep declines.

Sleep deprivation can hamper a mother’s ability to care for her infant, as judgment and concentration decline. Sleep-deprived mothers also may inadvertently compromise their infants’ sleep quality because infants often adopt their mothers’ circadian sleep rhythms.

All new mothers experience some sleep loss following childbirth, as their estrogen and progesterone hormone levels plunge. They typically spend 20 percent more of the day awake than average during the first six weeks postpartum. Postpartum women wake more frequently and have less dream sleep than non-postpartum women, with women in their first month postpartum spending only 81 percent of their time in bed actually sleeping.

Neurotransmitters that influence sleep quality also affect mood, raising sleep-deprived mothers’ risk for depression. Approximately 6.5 to 13 percent of new mothers suffer from PPD in the United States, with there being more than 4.2 million births per year. This rate is nearly 50 percent among mothers in the lowest socioeconomic levels

Posmontier recommends clinicians treating women for PPD to address the importance of adequate sleep. “Mothers can develop a plan to have other family members help care for the baby at night,” she said. “They also should practice good sleep hygiene. That includes going to bed at the same time every night, avoiding naps and steering clear of caffeine, exercise, nicotine and alcohol within four hours of bedtime.”

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/12/081210122236.htm

Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome Linked to Irregular Premenstrual Symptoms

- June 13, 2008 —

Science Daily/American Academy of Sleep Medicine

Women with delayed sleep phase syndrome are more likely to report irregular menstrual cycles and premenstrual symptoms.

According to the results, twice as many subjects with delayed sleep phase syndrome reported an irregular menstrual cycle compared to controls. For those not using birth control, three times as many subjects with delayed sleep phase syndrome reported irregular menstruation, compared to controls. Pre-menstrual problems, such as cramps and mood swings, were reported by 69 percent of those with delayed sleep phase syndrome, compared to 16.67 percent of controls.

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is much more common in postmenopausal women. This increase may be due in part to menopause-related weight gain. But it also appears to be hormone-related. Estrogen seems to help protect women against OSA.

It is recommended that women get between seven and eight hours of nightly sleep.

The following tips are provided by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) to help women get the most out of their sleep:

·      Make your bedroom a comfortable and safe place. Reduce noises and extreme temperatures that might disturb you.

·      Use light and comfortable bed linens and garments.

·      Go to bed only when you are sleepy and use the bed only for sleeping and sex.

·      Begin rituals to help you relax at bedtime, such as taking a soothing bath or enjoying a light snack.

·      Go to bed and get up at the same time every day, including weekends and holidays.

·      If you need to take a nap, keep it to less than one hour and take it before 3 p.m.

·      Only drink caffeine in the morning, and avoid alcohol and cigarettes late in the day.

·      Stay away from fatty, spicy foods that are likely to upset your stomach or cause heartburn.

·      Set aside time during the day to get all of your worries out of your system.

·      Increase vitamin E in your diet, or take a vitamin E supplement.

·      Hormone replacement therapy may help you sleep better by relieving severe hot flashes related to menopause. Ask your doctor for advice about this kind of treatment.

·      Only use sleeping pills when supervised by a doctor.

Those who suspect that they might be suffering from a sleep disorder are encouraged to consult with their primary care physician or a sleep specialist.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080610072156.htm

Normal Sleep Linked to Successful Aging

- June 11, 2008 —

Science Daily/American Academy of Sleep Medicine

A research abstract that will be presented on June 11 at SLEEP 2008, the 22nd Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies (APSS), finds a link between normal sleep and healthy aging.

The study, authored by Sonia Ancoli-Israel, PhD, of the University of California at San Diego, and colleagues, focused on 2,226 women 60 years of age or older. Reports of use of sleeping aids, daytime somnolence, napping, sleep latency, sleep maintenance insomnia, early morning awakening, snoring, overall perceived sleep quality, and sleep duration were all assessed.

According to the results, 20.8 percent of the women were categorized as "successful agers". Items related to less daytime napping and fewer complaints of sleep maintenance insomnia best predicted successful aging. There was no direct relationship between use of sedative-hypnotics and successful aging. Increased severity of sleep disturbance also predicted lower self-rated "successful aging" and a greater difference between perceived and actual age, and this result again remained significant after controlling for depressive symptom severity.

"Our findings that reports of better sleep are related to successful aging reinforce the idea that good sleep is of utmost importance for good health," said Dr. Ancoli-Israel. "Health care professionals need to ask their patients -- of all ages -- about sleep and help those with poor sleep to find ways for improvement."

Unfortunately, many older adults often get less sleep than they need. One reason is that they often have more trouble falling asleep. A study of adults over 65 found that 13 percent of men and 36 percent of women take more than 30 minutes to fall asleep.

Also, older people often sleep less deeply and wake up more often throughout the night, which may be why they may nap more often during the daytime. Nighttime sleep schedules may change with age too. Many older adults tend to get sleepier earlier in the evening and awaken earlier in the morning.

Not sleeping well can lead to a number of problems. Older adults who have poor nighttime sleep are more likely to have a depressed mood, attention and memory problems, excessive daytime sleepiness, more nighttime falls and use more over-the-counter or prescription sleep aids. In addition, recent studies associate lack of sleep with serious health problems such as an increased risk of obesity, cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

While most people require seven to eight hours of sleep a night to perform optimally the next day, older adults might find it harder to obtain the sleep they need. Older adults must be more aware of their sleep and maintain good sleep hygiene by following these tips:

Establishing a routine sleep schedule.

Avoiding utilizing bed for activities other than sleep or intimacy.

Avoiding substances that disturb your sleep, like alcohol or caffeine.

Not napping during the day. If you must snooze, limit the time to less than one hour and no later than 3 p.m.

Stick to rituals that help you relax each night before bed. This can include such things as a warm bath, a light snack or a few minutes of reading.

Don't take your worries to bed. Bedtime is a time to relax, not to hash out the stresses of the day.

If you can't fall asleep, leave your bedroom and engage in a quiet activity. Return to bed only when you are tired.

Keep your bedroom dark, quiet and a little cool.

Although sleep patterns change as people age, disturbed sleep and waking up tired every day are not part of normal aging. Those who have trouble sleeping are advised to see a sleep specialist at a facility accredited by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM).

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080611071051.htm

Bright Light Therapy May Improve Nocturnal Sleep In Mothers

- June 10, 2008 —

Science Daily/American Academy of Sleep Medicine

Bright light therapy may improve a mother's nocturnal sleep, decrease daytime sleepiness and be beneficial to her well-being, according to a research abstract that will be presented on June 9 at SLEEP 2008, the 22nd Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies (APSS).

According to the results, the post-treatment average nocturnal total sleep time increased from 383 minutes (6.38 hours) at the baseline to 424 minutes (7.07 hours) for the treatment group mothers. However, the total sleep time in the control group mothers worsened from 413 minutes (6.88 hours) to 373 minutes (6.22 hours). After the four-week intervention, the treatment group mothers' daytime total sleep time decreased from 114 to 39 minutes.

"Having a low birth weight infant in the ICU can intensify sleep disturbances for mothers because of extended periods of exposure to the artificial dim light in the ICU and stress related to the infant's medical condition," said Dr. Lee. "Impaired sleep may have negative impact on the mother's well-being. In our research, we were looking for an intervention to help mothers that would be feasible for them to use even when their infant is hospitalized. The preliminary findings from our pilot study indicate that bright light therapy given through use of the special visor may improve mothers' nocturnal sleep, decrease daytime sleepiness, and be beneficial to their well-being. While our results are promising, a larger scale randomized clinical trial is needed to establish if this would be an effective therapy in this population."

Sleep plays a vital role in promoting a woman's health and well being. Getting the required amount of sleep is likely to enhance a woman's overall quality of life. Yet, women face many potential barriers -- such as life events, depression, illness, bad sleep habits and medication use -- that can disrupt and disturb her sleep. Overcoming these challenges can help her enjoy the daily benefits of feeling alert and well rested.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080609071132.htm

Low Melatonin Associated with Risk of Breast Cancer in Postmenopausal Women

- June 16, 2008 —

Science Daily/Journal of the National Cancer Institute

Low melatonin levels are associated with an increased risk of breast cancer in postmenopausal women, according to a prospective case-control study.

Melatonin is primarily secreted during the dark hours of a light-dark cycle and has been shown to be low in some night workers. Researchers have found that low melatonin levels in premenopausal women are associated with an increased risk of breast cancer.

The researchers found that women with the lowest levels of melatonin had a statistically significantly higher incidence of breast cancer than those with the highest levels.

The researchers conclude that low melatonin levels are associated with an increased risk of breast cancer. Further studies need to confirm these data and should investigate the mechanisms that underlie the association.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080610161255.htm

Poor Sleep More Dangerous for Women

- Mar. 11, 2008 —

Science Daily/Duke University Medical Center

Researchers at Duke University Medical Center say they may have figured out why poor sleep does more harm to cardiovascular health in women than in men.

"This is the first empirical evidence that supports what we have observed about the role of gender and its effects upon sleep and health," says Edward Suarez, an associate professor in the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Duke and the lead author of the study. "The study suggests that poor sleep -- measured by the total amount of sleep, the degree of awakening during the night, and most importantly, how long it takes to get to sleep -- may have more serious health consequences for women than for men."

The researchers found that about 40 percent of the men and the women were classified as poor sleepers, defined as having frequent problems falling asleep, taking 30 or more minutes to fall asleep or awakening frequently during the night. But while their sleep quality ratings were similar, men and women had dramatically different risk profiles.

"We found that for women, poor sleep is strongly associated with high levels of psychological distress, and greater feelings of hostility, depression and anger. In contrast, these feelings were not associated with the same degree of sleep disruption in men," says Suarez.

Women who reported higher degree of sleep disruption also had higher levels of all the biomarkers tested. For women, poor sleep was associated with higher levels of C-reactive protein and interleukin-6, measures of inflammation that have been associated with increased risk of heart disease, and higher levels of insulin. The results were so dramatic that of those women considered poor sleepers, 33 per cent had C-reactive protein levels associated with high risk of heart disease, says Suarez.

"Interestingly, it appears that it's not so much the overall poor sleep quality that was associated with greater risk, but rather the length of time it takes a person to fall asleep that takes the highest toll," says Suarez. "Women who reported taking a half an hour or more to fall asleep showed the worst risk profile."

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080310131529.htm

Parental depression associated with worse school performance by children

February 3, 2016
Science Daily/The JAMA Network Journals
Having parents diagnosed with depression during a child's life was associated with worse school performance at age 16 a new study of children born in Sweden reports.

Depression is a leading cause of morbidity and disability worldwide with adverse consequences for those affected by depression and their families. Poor school performance is a powerful predictor of future health outcomes and subsequent occupation and income. Therefore, it is relevant to examine student performance for the effect of parental depression.

Brian K. Lee, Ph.D., M.H.S., of the Drexel University School of Public Health, Philadelphia, and coauthors looked at associations of parental depression with child school performance at the end of compulsory education in Sweden at about age 16.

The authors used parental depression diagnoses from inpatient and outpatient records and school grades for all children born from 1984 to 1994 in Sweden. The final analytic sample had more than 1.1 million children and authors examined the associations of parental depression during different time periods including from before a child's birth and any time before the child's final year of compulsory schooling. In the national sample, 33,906 mothers (3 percent) and 23,724 fathers (2.1 percent) had depression before the final year of a child's compulsory education.

The authors report worse school performance was associated with maternal and paternal depression at any time before the final compulsory school year, but the association decreased when adjusting for other factors. In general, both maternal and paternal depression in all periods of a child's life were associated with worse school performance, although paternal depression during the postnatal period did not reach statistical significance. Maternal depression was associated with a larger negative effect on school performance for girls compared with boys, according to the results.

The authors note study limitations that include the underdiagnosis of depression and that authors could not identify if the children were living with birth parents during the duration of the study.

"Our results suggest that diagnoses of parental depression may have a far-reaching effect on child development. Because parental depression may be more amendable to improvement compared with other influences, such as socioeconomic status, it is worth verifying the present results in independent cohorts. If the associations observed are causal, the results strengthen the case even further for intervention and support among children of affected parents," the study concludes.
 

Editorial: Children of Depressed Parents -- A Public Health Opportunity

"The study by Shen et al concludes that 'diagnoses of parental depression may have a far-reaching effect on child development.' We extend that conclusion to state that effective treatment of the diagnosed parents may also have far-reaching effects. The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 promised to significantly expand access to high-quality intervention for mental health and substance use disorders for the American people. Until the promise of a more personalized understanding of a common disease, such as depression, becomes reality, access to treatments that are vigorous, substantiated and evidence-based is a public health opportunity for improving the lives of both depressed parents and their children," writes Myrna M. Weissman, Ph.D., of Columbia University, New York.

Science Daily/SOURCE :http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/02/160203134449.htm

Incarceration of a parent during childhood may later add to men's heart attack risk

Researchers find association for men, none for women

February 4, 2016
Science Daily/Virginia Tech
Men who as children experienced a family member’s incarceration are approximately twice as likely to have a heart attack in later adulthood in comparison with men who were not exposed to such a childhood trauma, according to a new study.

A parent's incarceration has immediate, devastating effects on a family. Now, Virginia Tech and University of Toronto researchers say there may be a longer term risk: Men who as children experienced a family member's incarceration are approximately twice as likely to have a heart attack in later adulthood in comparison with men who were not exposed to such a childhood trauma.

The study, completed by Bradley White, an assistant professor with the Virginia Tech Department of Psychology, and Esme Fuller-Thomson at the University of Toronto's Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, was published in the March issue of the Journal of Criminal Justice.

"The strong association we found between incarceration of family members during childhood and later heart attack among men aged 50 and older remained even after adjustments for many known risk factors for heart attack such as age, race, income, education, smoking, physical activity, obesity, high alcohol consumption, diabetes and depression," said White, lead author on the study, and a faculty member with the Virginia Tech College of Science.

The investigators were so surprised at the magnitude of the association for men from the first data set they analyzed that they later replicated the analyses using a second large survey.

Data came from two national surveys headed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in conjunction with various state and local health agencies: A 2011 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System sample with approximately 15,000 adults, and a 2012 BRFSS sample with more than 22,000 respondents.

Senior co-author Fuller-Thomson, who holds the Sandra Rotman Endowed Chair at the University of Toronto, reported "the findings were very consistent in the two samples indicating a strong association for men and no association for women."

Instances of a family member's incarceration during a study participant's childhood was relatively rare, with only about one in every 50 older adults in either survey reporting this adverse childhood experience.

Because of limitations in the survey, this research was unable to determine exactly which family member was incarcerated. However, based on prior studies, White said the vast majority of U.S. prison inmates are men, most of whom are fathers to children under 18. Further, crime details -- violent or non-violent -- and length of the prison sentences were not available in the survey.

"Such factors might impact the relationship between exposure to family member incarceration and later heart attack risk," he added.

"Previous studies have indicated that the incarceration of a parent plays havoc with the stability of housing, employment, and parental marital relationships, and result in considerable social and familial stigma," White said. "Parental incarceration also is associated with psychosocial maladjustment and mental disorders in children, including delinquency and conduct problems. However, less attention has been paid to the long-term physical health outcomes of the children as they grow up."

"Potential explanations warranting future research include the role of cortisol -- the 'flight or fight' hormone," Fuller-Thomson said. "Some earlier research suggests childhood adversities may change the ways individuals react to stress across the life course and this can impact the production of cortisol."

Cortisol also has been linked to the development of cardiovascular disease in separate medical studies.

The study was not designed to differentiate why men, but not women, experienced higher odds of heart attack later in life. However, results suggest -- but not yet confirm -- reaction and life alterations may be gender-specific, said Fuller-Thomson.

Fuller-Thomson said that boys appear to be particularly sensitive to adverse childhood experiences.

She reported, "In my earlier research on the long-term consequences of childhood maltreatment, we found childhood sexual abuse was linked to heart attack for men but not women."

She added that the psychosocial impact on boys whose fathers are incarcerated may be greater than for girls because boys and men are less likely to seek counseling following psychological traumas, and thus may have more difficulty coping.

White and Fuller-Thomson were joined in the study by Lydia Cordie-Garcia, a University of Toronto graduate student. They hope future surveys will gather more information -- which family member is incarcerated, nature of the crime, and approximate timing of incarceration -- to better understand the potential role of these factors in long-term health outcomes of children impacted by family member incarceration.
Science Daily/SOURCE :http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/02/160204112226.htm

Association among childhood ADHD, sex and obesity

February 4, 2016
Science Daily/Mayo Clinic
The incidence of childhood and adult obesity has increased significantly over the past three decades. New research shows that there is an association between obesity development during adulthood and childhood attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Although various studies propose a connection between childhood ADHD and obesity, "this is the first population-based longitudinal study to examine the association between ADHD and development of obesity using ADHD cases and controls of both sexes derived from the same birth cohort," says lead author Seema Kumar, M.D., pediatrician and researcher at Mayo Clinic Children's Research Center.

The study included 336 individuals with childhood ADHD born from 1976 to 1982 and matched with 665 non-ADHD controls of the same age and sex. Weight, height and stimulant treatment measurements were gathered from medical records detailing care provided from Jan. 1, 1976, through Aug. 31, 2010. Cox models were used to assess the link between ADHD and obesity.

The researchers found that females with childhood ADHD were at a two-fold greater risk of developing obesity during childhood and adulthood compared to females without ADHD. Obesity was not associated with stimulant treatment among childhood ADHD cases. "Females with ADHD are at risk of developing obesity during adulthood, and stimulant medications used to treat ADHD do not appear to alter that risk," Dr. Kumar says.

There is a need for greater awareness regarding the association between ADHD and obesity in females among patients, caregivers and health care providers, Dr. Kumar adds.

This study encourages all patients with ADHD to engage in preventive measures, specifically healthy eating and an active lifestyle, as part of routine care to prevent obesity.

As a result of this study, Dr. Kumar and her team are researching the effect of specific psychiatric comorbidities commonly seen in individuals with ADHD on the development of obesity.
Science Daily/SOURCE :http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/02/160204084951.htm

Early bedtime, better school performance

February 8, 2016
Science Daily/Uni Research
There is a strong relationship between sleep problems and poor academic performances among adolescents, a new study demonstrates. Results show that high school students going to bed between 10 and 11 p.m. on weekdays get better grades.

The study is published in Journal of Sleep Research, and shows that the less the adolescent sleep -- the worse the grades get on average.

"Our findings suggests that going to bed earlier, and encouraging similar bed- and sleeping times during the week, are important for academic performance," says psychology specialist and first author Mari Hysing at Uni Research in Bergen, Norway.

Hysing and colleagues analysed data from a large population based study conducted in Norway in 2012, including 7798 adolescents from Hordaland county. This survey is called youth@hordaland -- a large and representative sample.

School performance was measured by Grade point average (GPA), and obtained from official administrative registries. The adolescents (aged 16-19) who went to bed between 10 and 11 p.m. had the best grades on average.

Going to bed much later during weekends than weekdays, were also associated with lower GPA.

The new study is a collaboration between researchers from Uni Research, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Ørebro University and University of California, Berkeley.

The results underscore the importance of sleep for academic functioning, the researchers point out:

"Academic performance is an important marker for future work affiliation and health. Future studies should investigate further how the association between sleep and school impacts upon future educational status and work affiliation," they write.

After adjusting for sociodemographic information, short sleep duration and sleep deficit were the sleep measures with highest odds of poor performance at school.

Hysing and colleagues only investigated the association between sleep and school performance. When adjusting for non-attendance in school, associations were somewhat reduced, but the link between sleep and GPA was still significant.
Science Daily/SOURCE :http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/02/160208092220.htm

Loss of sleep during adolescence may be a diabetes danger

February 13, 2016
Science Daily/Penn State
How much slow-wave sleep a teenage boy gets may predict whether he is at risk for insulin resistance and other health issues, according to a neuroscience researcher.

Boys who experience a greater decline in slow-wave sleep as adolescents have a significantly higher chance of developing insulin resistance than those who more closely maintained their slow-wave sleep as they got older. These boys are then also at greater risk for developing type 2 diabetes, increased visceral fat and impaired attention.

Slow-wave sleep (SWS) is an important stage of sleep that is involved in memory consolidation and recovery after sleep deprivation, and is also associated with reduced cortisol and inflammation. While prior research has shown that SWS declines as a person gets older, there is little research looking at possible physical or neurocognitive consequences of the loss of SWS, Gaines explained today (Feb. 13) at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

"On a night following sleep deprivation, we'll have significantly more slow-wave sleep to compensate for the loss," said Gaines, a doctoral candidate in neuroscience, College of Medicine. "We also know that we lose slow-wave sleep most rapidly during early adolescence. Given the restorative role of slow-wave sleep, we weren't surprised to find that metabolic and cognitive processes were affected during this developmental period."

Gaines analyzed results collected through the Penn State Child Cohort in order to study long-term effects of SWS loss from childhood to adolescence. The cohort included 700 children from the general central Pennsylvania population, ages 5 to 12. Eight years later, 421 participants were followed up during adolescence -- 53.9 percent were male.

Participants stayed overnight both at the beginning of the study and at the follow-up and had their sleep monitored for nine hours. At the follow-up appointment, participants' body fat and insulin resistance were measured, and they also underwent neurocognitive testing.

Gaines found that in boys, a greater loss of SWS between childhood and adolescence was significantly associated with insulin resistance, and this loss was marginally associated with increased belly fat and impaired attention. However, Gaines did not find any associations between SWS and insulin resistance, physical health or brain function in girls.

Importantly, the participants' sleep duration did not decline significantly with age, suggesting that the effects observed were due to a loss of this "deeper" stage of sleep, according to the researcher.

"More longitudinal studies are needed to replicate these findings, especially in other age groups," said Gaines. "Studies looking at the effects of experimentally enhanced slow-wave sleep are also necessary. In the meantime, we can use these findings as a springboard for future work on the sleep-health connection. The best thing we can do for ourselves today is keep a consistent sleep schedule, so as not to deprive ourselves of any more slow-wave sleep than we're already naturally losing with age."
Science Daily/SOURCE :https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/02/160213185710.htm

Link between ADHD, vision impairment in children

February 25, 2016
Science Daily/University of Alabama at Birmingham
A new study sheds light on a link between noncorrectable vision problems and ADHD in children. Results from a large survey of 75,000 children suggest an increased risk of ADHD among children with vision problems that are not correctable with glasses or contacts, such as color blindness or lazy eye, relative to other children. This finding suggests that children with vision impairment should be monitored for signs and symptoms of ADHD so that this dual impairment of vision and attention can best be addressed.

Results from a large survey of 75,000 children suggest an increased risk of ADHD among children with vision problems that are not correctable with glasses or contacts, such as color blindness or lazy eye, relative to other children. This finding suggests that children with vision impairment should be monitored for signs and symptoms of ADHD so that this dual impairment of vision and attention can best be addressed.

The study included children ages 4 to 17 with data from the National Survey of Children's Health. More than 15 percent of children with vision impairment also had an ADHD diagnosis, compared with 8.3 percent of children with normal vision.

Director of the UAB Center for Low Vision Rehabilitation Dawn DeCarlo, O.D., was the lead investigator on the study. She says that, just because vision problems that are not correctable with glasses or contacts are associated with ADHD, that does not mean that one causes the other or vice versa.

"If a child seems to have attention problems in addition to vision problems, his or her parents may wish to discuss their child's vision with their pediatrician and consider an eye examination as well as discussing the attention difficulties," DeCarlo said.

The national study was produced in response to patients of DeCarlo exhibiting vision impairment and ADHD. In that study, researchers asked if the child had a vision problem not correctable with glasses or contacts. These types of vision problems could range from color vision deficiency to a lazy eye (amblyopia) but would also include children with vision impairment. A previous paper reported an increased prevalence of ADHD among the children in her clinic.

"Because we do not know if the relationship is causal, we have no recommendations for prevention," DeCarlo said. "I think it is more important that parents realize that children with vision problems may not realize they do not see as well as everyone else."

DeCarlo says a follow-up study using pediatricians and eye care professionals to confirm the children's conditions would add to the findings.

So if children have vision problems, should parents be worried about their developing ADHD?

"I wouldn't worry about their developing ADHD," DeCarlo said. "I'd get them an eye exam and see if it fixes the problem."
Science Daily/SOURCE :https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/02/160225101557.htm

Snoring in children can affect their health

February 29, 2016
Science Daily/University of Gothenburg
Children commonly snore from time to time and that is often harmless. But children with frequent snoring and breathing problems during sleep have an increased risk of having trouble concentrating and learning difficulties. A newly published study shows that many parents of children that snore are not aware of the possible risks associated with frequent snoring in children.

Periodic snoring in children is not unusual. But, when snoring becomes persistent and the child experiences sleep apnea, sleep quality is affected. This, in turn, can lead to problems with daytime tiredness, concentration and learning difficulties, bedwetting and delayed growth.
 

5 percent snore

A Swedish population study, that studied the occurrence of snoring and sleep apnea in 1300 children ranging in age from 0-11 years, found that approximately 5 percent of the examined children snored several times a week. Despite pronounced snoring, only about one third of the snoring children had sought medical help for their problem.

Reduced quality of life

"Children with persistent snoring often have a reduced quality of life. In particular, this applies to children who have sleep apnea," says Gunnhildur Gudnadottir, Researcher at Sahlgrenska Academy. "The study shows that awareness is low regarding the negative effects of breathing disturbances during sleep on children's health and that most parents are not aware that this is something that should be investigated. An obvious result of the study is that we must consider how parents are given information about the condition and where they can seek help" says Gunnhildur Gudnadottir.

Can often be cured

The most common reason for snoring in children are enlarged tonsils or adenoids. In these cases, snoring can often be cured or reduced with surgery. The Gothenburg researchers' advice is that children with severe recurrent snoring and sleep apnea should turn to a healthcare center for medical evaluation.

Science Daily/SOURCE :https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/02/160229095611.htm

'Need for Sleep': Even elite students are not spared

February 29, 2016
Science Daily/Duke-NUS Medical School
The legendary work ethic of East Asian students may have driven them to the top of the standardized test leaderboard, but researchers found that adolescents who sleep five hours a night for a week experience significant cognitive degradation. These findings caution against the levels of sleep curtailment practiced by as many as half of East Asian students in their headlong pursuit of higher grades.
https://images.sciencedaily.com/2016/02/160229135339_1_540x360.jpg
In their unprecedentedly high-throughput 'Need for Sleep' study, Duke-NUS researchers evaluated 56 adolescents, aged 15 to 19 years. Their findings caution against the levels of sleep curtailment practiced by as many as half of East Asian students in their headlong pursuit of higher grades.
Credit: © ake1150 / Fotolia

Past research has examined the impact of insufficient sleep on cognitive functions in adolescents. However, in these studies, the extent of sleep restriction was relatively mild, in terms of the amount of sleep allowed each night and the number of nights sleep was restricted.

In their unprecedentedly high-throughput 'Need for Sleep' study, Duke-NUS researchers evaluated 56 adolescents, aged 15 to 19 years, as they lived in a boarding school for 14 days during their school holidays. For seven nights, half of the participants received a five-hour sleep opportunity, while the other half had nine hours to sleep -- the recommended sleep duration for this age group by the National Sleep Foundation in the United States. Participants' sleep duration was objectively verified using electroencephalogram (EEG) and wrist actigraphy.

In order to gauge their cognitive function, participants underwent cognitive assessments three times a day during the study. Those in the nine-hour sleep group either maintained cognitive performance or showed practice-related gains in tasks requiring arithmetic calculation and symbol decoding. In contrast, those in the five-hour sleep group showed prominent deterioration of sustained attention, working memory, executive function, alertness, and positive mood. They also showed reduced performance gains (arising from repeated practice) with arithmetic and symbol-decoding. A sobering discovery was that two nights of nine-hour recovery sleep could not fully reverse some of these cognitive deficits.

"Despite the fact that most of our participants were from elite schools they were not spared the adverse effects of sleep curtailment on their cognitive functions," said Dr June Lo, the lead author and a Duke-NUS Senior Research Fellow.

"East Asian societies highly value academic achievement as a yardstick of success and the need to push harder and for longer is deeply ingrained. The present findings should cause students, parents and educators to reflect on how they use time more efficiently to allow for sufficient nocturnal sleep. This would enable them to realise the benefits of the hard work they put in," added Professor Michael Chee, senior author and Director of the Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience at Duke-NUS.
Science Daily/SOURCE :https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/02/160229135339.htm

Homeschooled kids sleep more than others

Experts urge later start times at other schools after charting homeschool sleep benefits

March 2, 2016
Science Daily/National Jewish Health
Teens who are homeschooled benefit from healthier sleep habits than those who go to most private and public schools, a new study has concluded. The findings provide additional evidence of teens' altered biological clocks and support an argument for starting traditional high school later in the morning.

n the first study of its kind, researchers have determined that teens who are homeschooled benefit from healthier sleep habits than those who go to most private and public schools. The findings provide additional evidence of teens' altered biological clocks and support an argument for starting traditional high school later in the morning.

"We have a school system that is set up so that the youngest children, who are awake very early in the morning, start school latest, and our adolescents, who need sleep the most, are being asked to wake up and go to school at a time when their brains should physiologically be asleep," said Lisa Meltzer, PhD, a sleep psychologist at National Jewish Health in Denver, and lead author of the study.

"Adolescents need nine hours of sleep a night and if they're only getting seven hours, on average, by the end of the week they are a full ten hours of sleep behind schedule," said Meltzer, "and that impacts every aspect of functioning."

Meltzer and her colleagues charted the sleep patterns of 407 students. They found that adolescent homeschooled students slept an average of 90 minutes more per night than public and private school students, who were in class an average of 18 minutes before homeschooled children even awoke.

"That cumulative sleep deprivation adds up," said Meltzer. "The ability to learn, concentrate and pay attention is all diminished when you haven't had enough sleep. But more than that, a lack of sleep can also impact a teenager's mood and their ability to drive early in the morning," she said.

If your teenager needs more sleep, why not just send them to bed earlier? "It's not that simple," said Meltzer. Melatonin, the hormone that helps regulate our sleep, shifts by about two hours during puberty. So, even if they wanted to get to sleep earlier, teenagers are battling biological changes in their bodies that are nearly impossible to overcome.

"It's not that they don't want to go to bed, but physiologically they simply can't fall asleep earlier. So, the logical solution, is to allow them to sleep later," said Meltzer.

Fifteen year old Caelin Jones couldn't agree more. Jones, who lives in Denver, says he sets his alarm every morning for six o'clock to get to school on time, though he never quite felt fully awake until several hours later.

"Most days I would get to school and pretty much be the same as all the other kids. We were all just bleary-eyed and wondering why we had to be here at this time," he said.

Jones' sleep problems became so consuming that he sought sleep counseling through Dr. Meltzer at National Jewish Health. "It's made a big difference for me," said Jones, who has learned habits to help him wind down at night.

The study concluded that more than half (55%) of teens who were homeschooled got the optimal amount of sleep per week, compared to just 24.5% of those who attend public and private schools. Conversely, 44.5% of public and private school teens got insufficient sleep during the school week, compared to only 16.3% of homeschooled teens."

The differences are stark," said Meltzer. "Across the country, public and private schools that have changed their high school start times see considerable benefits. Students are tardy less often and graduation rates are actually higher," she said.

While you may not be able to change teenagers' biology, you can help them develop healthier sleeping habits. Meltzer offers this advice:

Get all electronics out of the bedroom. TVs, computers, video games and phones are major distractions for teens and often delay sleep.
Don't look at any screens 30-60 minutes before bed time. Though turning off media is as simple as flipping a switch, the human brain does not work the same way. Being stimulated by media just before bed can make the brain too active to sleep.
Set up family charging stations, where mom, dad and the kids plug in their phones at night so they are out of reach.
Most importantly, set a consistent routine. Go to bed and get up at the same time every day, even on weekends. This one habit can help regulate your body's internal clock and improve the quality of sleep you get.
Science Daily/SOURCE :https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/03/160302121231.htm

Dutch students' grades lower due to lack of sleep

March 22, 2016
Science Daily/Leiden, Universiteit
Students who have a chronic lack of sleep have lower grades and find it harder to concentrate. Around a third of students do not feel well rested enough to be able to study properly, a Dutch study shows.
 

Survey

The results come from a national survey by the Netherlands Association for Sleep Wake Research, Leiden University and the Netherlands Brain Foundation among almost 1,400 healthy students at Dutch universities. The report has been published to coincide with the National Sleep Week from 21 to 26 March.

More than a third have too little sleep

Young adults need 8 to 9 hours sleep in order to able to function properly (according to research by the National Sleep Foundation). More than a third of the students surveyed do not feel properly rested during their study activities. Students who suffer a chronic lack of sleep score significantly lower on their final exam in the current academic year (an average of 0.8 lower) and have a significantly lower average grade than students who have enough sleep (an average of 0.5 lower). They also find it harder to concentrate while studying.

Relationship between sleep and concentration now clear among students

The lead researcher, Dr Kristiaan van der Heijden from Leiden University, comments: 'We have known for a long time that lack of sleep can cause concentration problems and poorer study performance, but we can now show this for the first time among students in Dutch higher education.'

Chronic lack of sleep

The average Dutch student goes to bed at 23.35 hrs. and takes 26 minutes to fall asleep. They get up at around 8.17 hrs., which means they have slept 8 hours and 16 minutes. 65% of the students say they do not have enough sleep: they would like to sleep for an hour and a half longer. 28% of the respondents receive just the right amount of sleep and 7% would be happy to sleep less.

Evening or morning types

Of the respondents, 32% say they are evening types and 7% that they are morning types (61% say they are neither). The evening types go to bed later (00.15 hrs.) than the average (23.20 hrs.) and morning types (22.35 hrs.). The evening types sleep significantly shorter (8 hours and 6 minutes) than the average (8 hours and 20 minutes) and the morning types (8 hours and 28 minutes).

More than a third do not feel well-rested enough to study properly

The evening types more often find it difficult to keep their eyes open if they are sitting for some time in a lecture or working group (18% versus 12% and 8%) and are less often interested in studying because they feel too sleepy (36% versus 22% and 13%). The lack of sleep has clear consequences for their study results: the final exam grade (6.9) is considerably lower than the average types (7.2) and morning types (7.3).

Regular bedtime is crucial

Van der Heijden: 'As the evening types sleep for less time every day than the average and morning types, they build up a sleep deficit over time. Evening types are more likely to have to get up in the morning while their biological clock hasn't yet given them a signal to wake up. This can have a negative effect on the rest of the day.' Although people often have a genetic propensity to be evening types, they can reduce the problem by paying attention to good sleeping habits. 'Regular bedtimes are extra important for these people and sleeping through to the afternoon in order to make up for lost sleep is disastrous for their sleep rhythm.'

Misconceptions

Students almost all agree that drinking coffee or other caffeine-containing drinks after dinner has a negative influence on sleep. But there some negative habits and behaviours that many students believe are positive, and vice versa. As an example, 52% of students believe that intensive sport just before going to bed can have a positive influence on their sleep, while this is in fact not the case. Drinking alcohol is another area where there are misconceptions: 30% believe that it affects sleep positively, while research has shown that the opposite is the case.

Too little known about healthy sleep behaviour

It appears from the research that students who have a good understanding of healthy sleep habits obtain higher grades. Dr Laura Smit-Rigter from the Brain Foundation comments: 'Given the importance of good sleep, people really do need to have the right knowledge and then apply it. The Brain Foundation has a special web page where people can learn what they can do to sleep better.'

Science Daily/SOURCE :https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/03/160322082044.htm

University students who do sports achieve better academic results

March 31, 2016
Science Daily/Universidad Carlos III de Madrid - Oficina de Información Científica
University students who take part in sports activities during their academic careers earn grade point averages that are approximately 9 percent higher than those students who finish their degrees without having participated in such activities, according to a Spanish study.

The main objective of this research project was to analyze the influence of regular, official physical-sports activity on the academic results of UC3M university students. "Although there are previous studies that have indicated that taking part in sports activities has negative effects on academic performance, the most commonly accepted belief is that the impact of sports is far from being negative and is, in fact, remarkably positive," comments one of the authors of the study, María José Sánchez Bueno, Associate Professor of Organización de Empresas (Business Organization) at UC3M.

The researchers selected a sample of 3,671 students who started undergraduate degree programs beginning in 2008 and finished their degrees before 2015. "Our final results show that participation in regular, official physical-sports activity positively affects the academic performance of UC3M students," the study concludes.

Specifically, those students "who participated in sports activities earned grade point averages that were 9.3% higher than those of students who completed their undergraduate degrees but did not take part in any sports activities," points out another of the study's authors, Fernando Muñoz Bullón, Associate Professor de Organización de Empresas (Business Organization) at UC3M.

"This study shows the value of sports as an official activity at UC3M and in the university environment in general," highlights the third author of the study, Antonio Vos Saz, who had been connected to the former Espacio Estudiantes service at UC3M and who is currently the financial director of the Club de Campo Villa de Madrid (Villa de Madrid Country Club).

The data that were used for this study come from UC3M databases on academic performance and students' sports activities. Different variables were also taken into consideration when the relationship between sports activities and academic performance was being evaluated; these include: gender, time taken to complete the degree, age when beginning the degree, the area of the degree (Engineering, Social Sciences and Law, or Humanities), whether or not the student received a grant or came from a large family (with 3 or more children).

The researchers noted certain differences in the relationship between academic performance and the type of sports activity practiced, a subject they propose examining in subsequent studies. "Perhaps the impact on academic performance is not the same if the sport practiced is individual rather than a team sport," notes Fernando Muñoz Bullón, who suggests the challenge of carrying out a similar study with data from other universities in order to analyze whether the results obtained at UC3M can be extrapolated to the Spanish university environment in general.

The authors conclude that sports activities, beyond the indisputable health benefits for those who take part in them, also enable the practitioners to achieve the results that educational institutions are seeking.
Science Daily/SOURCE :https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/03/160331082649.htm

For young adults, sleep problems predict later pain problems

March 31, 2016
Science Daily/Wolters Kluwer Health
For at least some groups of 'emerging adults,' sleep problems are a predictor of chronic pain and worsening pain severity over time, suggests a study.

In contrast, the presence of pain generally doesn't predict worsening sleep problems during the transition between adolescence and young adulthood, according to the new research by Drs. Irma J. Bonvanie and colleagues of University of Groningen, the Netherlands. They believe that early identification and treatment of sleep problems might help reduce later problems with pain in some groups of emerging adults.
 

Which Comes First--Sleep Problems or Pain?

Drs. Bonvanie and colleagues analyzed "bidirectional" relationships between sleep problems and pain in a follow-up study of young adults, ages 19-22. The study focused on overall chronic pain as well as specific types of pain: musculoskeletal, headache, and abdominal pain.

The long-term associations between sleep problems and three pain types were compared between the sexes, and the mediating effects of anxiety and depression, fatigue, and physical activity were explored. The study included approximately 1,750 young Dutch men and women who were followed for three years.

About half of young people who had sleep problems at the initial evaluation still had them three years later. At baseline, subjects with sleep problems were more likely to have chronic pain and had more severe musculoskeletal, headache, and abdominal pain.

Three years later, those with sleep problems were more likely to have new or persistent chronic pain. Overall, 38 percent of emerging adults with severe sleep problems at initial evaluation had chronic pain at follow-up, compared with 14 percent of those without initial sleep problems.

The relationship between sleep problems and pain was stronger in women than men--a difference that may start around older adolescence/emerging adulthood. Fatigue appeared to be a modest mediating factor, while anxiety/depression and lack of physical activity were not significant contributors.

Sleep problems predicted increased severity of abdominal pain in women only but did not predict headache severity in either sex. Abdominal pain was the only type of pain associated with a long-term increase in sleep problems, and the effect was small.

"Emerging adulthood...is characterized by psychosocial and behavioral changes, such as altered sleep patterns," Drs. Bonvanie and coauthors write. Chronic pain is also common in this age group, especially among women. Sleep problems might be an important risk factor for increased pain, acting through altered pain thresholds, emotional disturbances, or behavioral changes.

The new study suggests that sleep problems are significantly associated with chronic pain and specific types of pain problems in emerging adults. "Our findings indicate the sleep problems are not only a precursor for pain, but actually predict the persistence of chronic pain and an increase in pain levels," say the researchers. In addition, they conclude, "Our findings suggest that sleep problems may be an additional target for treatment and prevention strategies in female emerging adults with chronic pain and musculoskeletal pain."
Science Daily/SOURCE :https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/03/160331124717.htm

Bilingual baby brains show increased activity in executive function regions

April 4, 2016
Science Daily/University of Washington
Babies raised in bilingual households show brain activity associated with executive functioning as early as 11 months of age, new research demonstrates. The study also gives evidence that the brains of babies from bilingual families remain more open to learning new language sounds, compared with babies from monolingual families.
https://images.sciencedaily.com/2016/04/160404141743_1_540x360.jpg
New findings from the University of Washington show that babies raised in bilingual households show brain activity associated with executive functioning as early as 11 months of age.
Credit: Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences, UW

Now new findings reveal that this bilingualism-related difference in brain activity is evident as early as 11 months of age, just as babies are on the verge of producing their first words.

"Our results suggest that before they even start talking, babies raised in bilingual households are getting practice at tasks related to executive function," said Naja Ferjan Ramírez, lead author and a research scientist at the Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences (I-LABS) at the University of Washington.

"This suggests that bilingualism shapes not only language development, but also cognitive development more generally," she said.

The study also gives evidence that the brains of babies from bilingual families remain more open to learning new language sounds, compared with babies from monolingual families.

The study was published online April 4 in Developmental Science and will appear in an upcoming issue of the journal.

"Monolingual babies show a narrowing in their perception of sounds at about 11 months of age -- they no longer discriminate foreign-language sounds they successfully discriminated at 6 months of age," said co-author Patricia Kuhl, co-director of I-LABS.

"But babies raised listening to two languages seem to stay 'open' to the sounds of novel languages longer than their monolingual peers, which is a good and highly adaptive thing for their brains to do," Kuhl said.

The researchers used magnetoencephalography (MEG), which measures magnetic changes given off by active nerve cells. Unlike other brain-imaging methods, MEG can precisely pinpoint both the timing and location of activity in the brain.

The study is the first to use MEG to do whole-brain analyses comparing activation patterns in response to speech sounds in babies raised in monolingual and bilingual households.

In the experiment, 16 11-month-old babies -- 8 from English-only households and 8 from Spanish-English households, and an even mix of demographic factors such as the family's socioeconomic status -- sat in a highchair beneath the helmet-like MEG scanner.

The babies listened to an 18-minute stream of speech sounds, such as "da's" and "ta's." The stream included sounds specific to English or Spanish, and sounds shared by the two languages.

See a video of the experimental set-up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAYhj-gekqw&feature=youtu.be

The researchers compared monolingual and bilingual babies' brain responses to the language sounds.

The most obvious difference they saw was in two brain regions associated with executive function, the prefrontal cortex and orbitofrontal cortex. In these regions, the Spanish-English bilingual babies had stronger brain responses to speech sounds, compared with English-only babies.

The findings align with brain studies in bilingual and monolingual adults, Ferjan Ramírez said. The boost bilingualism gives to executive function areas in the brain could arise from bilinguals needing to switch back and forth between languages, allowing them to routinely practice and improve executive function skills.

Other brain evidence from the study should be a relief for parents wondering if their bilingual baby is learning enough language:

- Bilingual babies displayed neural sensitivity to both English and Spanish sounds, meaning that they were learning both languages.
- Bilingual babies had the same sensitivity to English sounds as the monolingual babies, which suggests that they were learning English at the same rate as the monolingual babies.

"The 11-month-old baby brain is learning whatever language or languages are present in the environment and is equally capable of learning two languages as it is of learning one language," Ferjan Ramírez said.

"Our results underscore the notion that not only are very young children capable of learning multiple languages, but that early childhood is the optimum time for them to begin," she said.
Science Daily/SOURCE :https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/04/160404141743.htm