Researchers find consistent loss of sleep injures the brain

Sleeping

Editor: There are serious implications for loss of sleep, as researchers have discovered, finding that five nights of sleeping four hours nightly is like having no sleep
at all.

“There’s a huge amount of interest in sleep restriction in the field today,” said Dr. Chiara Cirelli, associate professor of psychiatry at the School of Medicine and Public Health, who led the research that made these observations more than four years ago.

Many people claim to have sleep problems, while others choose to sleep less.  But for whatever reason, the loss of sleep can be bad for one's health.

“Instead of going to bed when they are tired, like they should, people watch TV and want to have an active social life,” she says. “People count on catching up on their sleep on the weekends, but it may not be enough.”

This “casual” lack of sleep can be harmful.  And research since Cirelli's has substantiated that as well. The physiological impact, as well as the cognitive and behavioral one, have been indicated by the information that has been found through research about sleep.

Researchers have found that lack of sleep actually negatively affects the brain.

Sleep, its patterns, its losses its problems, is a big enough area of study and development that organizations are devoted simply to this activity.

Web MD offers another of problems created from lack of sleep.  It causes accidents, for example, impacts how people solve their daily problems, or if they can indeed solve them.  It makes the kind of fatigue whereby some people become literally combative from it.  It also kills the sex drive and has a host of deleterious effects.

In 2014 researchers found it increases blood pressure, creating hypertension that can cause additional health problems.

How can we begin to correct this problem?

First of all, researchers remind us that bright lights, too much television or the Internet, or too much stress can impact not only how one sleeps but the length of sleep and the deepness of it too.  Many people complain they can't get to sleep, but in the meantime they are in front of a screen that influences the ability to get to sleep.

Sleep is a basic need for the human being, with some variations in the quantity of sleep one may need at various ages and stages.  But it is a source of health-building and maintenance to have enough sleep and to be watchful about it in order to improve one's overall well-being

Facial characteristics offer cues to health issues caused by sleep deprivation

Sleep

Marsha Hunt---If you haven’t had enough sleep, research says there are signs in your face that tell the story of potential health problems.

There are certain characteristics  that show uniqueness in the eyes, mouth and skin that give cues about sleep loss.

Hanging eyelids, red and swollen eyes, dark circles around the eyes, paler skin, wrinkles and fine lines, droopy mouth corners and a look of sadness are some of the characteristic facial characteristics shown in those with sleep deprivation.

"Since faces contain a lot of information on which humans base their interactions with each other, how fatigued a person appears may affect how others behave toward them," said Tina Sundelin, MSc, lead author and doctoral student in the department of psychology at Stockholm University in Stockholm, Sweden. "This is relevant not only for private social interactions, but also official ones such as with health care professionals and in public safety."

This new information can help guide health professionals to diagnosing and treating sleep disorders that can lead to other physical health problems.  For example,  loss of sleep impacts mortality, morbidity, performance, accidents, injuries, emotional well being and quality of life.  Obesity and hypertension can also occur among those with chronic sleep disorders

According to NCBI sources there are approximately 90 different sleep disorders that can lead to hypertension, diabetes, heart attack, depression and stroke and other health maladies. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK19961/

About 30% or 50 to 70 million adults complain of having trouble sleeping.  So this newest research allows medical professionals additional insight into a common complaint that can lead to closer observation of a person’s face as insight into the condition of health.

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Marsha Hunt is a free-lance writer and retired nurse who enjoys writing about issues related to health and other concerns that impact people in ways that affect their ordinary lives.

A full moon can prevent sleep

[caption id="attachment_16739" align="alignleft" width="300"] Sleep[/caption]

Marcy Bennett----Professor Christian Cajochen’s laboratory is the site of recent research that indicates some value for astrology to help people with sleep.  Prof. Cajochen is a psychiatrist studies circadian rhythms,  and some of his colleagues mentioned they slept less well when the moon was full.  But was this true?
Prof. Cajochen set out to prove his associates wrong, but ended up admitting, “To my surprise, I couldn’t” as in fact it seems sleep patterns are impacted by the full moon.

But the professor was initially reluctant to face the jokes about astrology and sleep, so it took him several years to publish his results, indicating how researchers personal concerns and bias can sometimes influence when and if research will be published.

Scientists don’t know for sure why the full moon influences sleep the way it does.  Some believe it has to do with opposition effect of the son and moon at different times.  Others think the full moon opposition may come at the same time as increased tension or stress, related to the sun’s rays.

Some of this information reinforces what scientists already know about sleep and what aids or detracts from it.  For example light affects sleep.  Being exposed to light late in the evening will delay sleep.  Light influences the timing of our internal clocks and regulates the time to sleep.

And in good humor, some of that notion that the spirits are awake at the full moon might not be put to sleep, given the factor of light keeping a person from sleeping and the pull of the moon on the body’s clock.

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Marcy Bennett is interested in both astrology and health and found this information recently and thought it interesting and potentially helpful.  As a freelance writer she looks particularly for unique information about health.