MEDICAL EXPRESS - SLEEP APNEA

The latest research news on sleep-wake disorders, like sleep apnea and other sleep problems
  1. New research reveals that lower proportions of specific sleep stages are associated with reduced brain volume in regions vulnerable to the development of Alzheimer's disease over time.
  2. Scientists have found another reason to put the phone down: a survey of 45,202 young adults in Norway has discovered that using a screen in bed drives up your risk of insomnia by 59% and cuts your sleep time by 24 minutes. However, social media was not found to be more disruptive than other screen activities.
  3. A new study by researchers from Marshall University and the University of Missouri highlights how exosomes—tiny vesicles released by cells—may play a key role in blood-brain barrier (BBB) dysfunction in children with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), particularly those with neurocognitive deficits.
  4. Those who start work earlier express more discomfort with the seasonal time change. This is the main conclusion of a study that the lecturers at the University of Santiago de Compostela (USC) and the University of Seville (US), Jorge Mira Pérez and José María Martín Olalla, have published in the journal Chronobiology International, in which they analyze in detail the results of the public consultation organized by the European Commission in 2018 in the then 28 member states, which obtained 4 million responses.
  5. People with a complex heart, kidney and metabolic-related condition who got better quality sleep were less likely to have an advanced stage of the illness than those getting poor sleep, according to a new study.
  6. A good night's sleep helps us remember recently learned information, "engraving" our memories. This is also true for animals, as remembering, for example, the location of food resources is essential for their survival. Scientists can examine this role of sleep in the lab by training lab mice or rats about their environment using various memory tasks.
  7. Does your partner keep leaving for the guest bedroom because of your thunderous snoring? Don't call the divorce lawyer. Instead, consider calling your doctor.
  8. Fruit fly mutants that have severe sleep deficits perform better at olfactory learning and memory tasks, according to a study published in the open-access journal PLOS Biology by Sheng Huang and Stephan Sigrist from Freie Universität Berlin, Germany, and colleagues. The paradox of enhanced memory despite sleep loss could be explained by protein kinase A (PKA) signaling in the mushroom body of the fly brain.
  9. Jet lag is one of the worst parts of long-distance traveling or shift work—it makes us tired and cranky, and also plays havoc with our metabolism (and therefore our weight). Now, new research on mice suggests that the way jet lag impacts our metabolism may depend on our sex.
  10. About 10% of Americans say they have chronic insomnia, and millions of others report poor sleep quality. Ongoing research has found that bad sleep could lead to numerous health problems, including heart disease.
  11. Struggling to sleep after the time change? You're not alone—daylight saving time causes temporary insomnia symptoms in as many as 35% of adults due to the sudden change in schedule, according to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. Roughly a third of those adults will suffer insomnia symptoms year-round.
  12. In the middle of winter, when lack of sunlight can lead to low energy and low mood, we are expected to make new year's resolutions. But why not wait till March, for spring, when the returning sunlight gives us the energy and improved mood to tackle fundamentally difficult things like starting a new diet or exercise regimen? We need spring resolutions, not new year's resolutions.
  13. Mindfulness, total sleep quality, and alcohol consumption may help explain why people who stay up late have a greater risk of depression, according to a new study published in the open-access journal PLOS One by Simon Evans of the University of Surrey, UK, and colleagues.
  14. What is the best time to start the day in view of the variation in when the sun rises? This is the problem analyzed by Jorge Mira Pérez and José María Martín-Olalla, lecturers at the University of Santiago de Compostela (USC) and the University of Seville (US), in a study that has just been published in the journal Royal Society Open Science. In it, they analyze the physiological and social foundations of the practice of seasonal time change and review its impact on health.
  15. You're in the middle of the afternoon, eyelids heavy, focus slipping. You close your eyes for half an hour and wake up feeling recharged. But later that night, you're tossing and turning in bed, wondering why you can't drift off. That midday snooze which felt so refreshing at the time might be the reason.
  16. An estimated 6–17% of children have sleep-disordered breathing, ranging from snoring to sleep apnea, which can cause behavioral, neurocognitive, cardiovascular, and cardiometabolic issues. A randomized trial from Mass General Brigham researchers reveals that adenotonsillectomy—the surgical removal of tonsils and adenoids—is an effective early intervention for these children.
  17. Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine have developed a powerful AI tool, built on the same transformer architecture used by large language models like ChatGPT, to process an entire night's sleep. To date, it is one of the largest studies, analyzing 1,011,192 hours of sleep. Details of their findings were reported in the March 13 online issue of the journal SLEEP.
  18. Chances are, if you're reading this, you got some sleep last night. But are you feeling rested?
  19. Poor sleep could have an impact on brain health, according to a new study from The Australian National University (ANU) published in the journal Sleep Medicine.
  20. A researcher at Northeastern University has found a groundbreaking new way to diagnose people with sleep apnea that could open the door for mass screenings of a sleep disorder that affects millions of people.
  21. A new study from the University of Nottingham has revealed that poor sleep quality may increase susceptibility to conspiracy beliefs, with depression likely playing a key role in this relationship.
  22. Many Australians could be suffering from undiagnosed obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), with Charles Darwin University (CDU) researchers developing a new technique to screen for the potentially fatal condition.
  23. Multiple menopause symptoms can make women feel fatigued. Hot flashes, sleep problems, pain, and depression are just a few. A new study suggests that heavy or prolonged menstrual bleeding may increase fatigue, which helps to explain why midlife women are two-to-four times more likely to experience debilitating forms of syndromic fatigue.
  24. Sleep quality is a crucial aspect of health, yet while adults spend around a third of their lives sleeping, there is surprisingly little research on mattresses. Mass General Brigham researchers developed and tested the Boston Mattress Satisfaction Questionnaire (BMSQ), a new tool to rigorously assess mattress satisfaction and characteristics.
  25. For people with a certain sleep disorder, a simple blood test could help predict the development of dementia years before symptoms appear, a new study indicates.
  26. Poor sleep among older adults is linked to disruptions in the brain's "waste removal system," according to researchers at The University of Hong Kong (HKU). A recent study led by Professor Tatia M.C. Lee, Chair Professor of Psychological Science and Clinical Psychology and May Professor in Neuropsychology at HKU, offers valuable insight into how sleep quality impacts brain functioning.
  27. While the promise of longer evenings can be appealing to many after a long, dark winter, the looming "spring forward" comes with a range of potential health concerns.
  28. A new study examining the effects of sleep patterns and shift work on the immune system has found that sleep debt and night shifts increase the risk of several common infections in nurses.
  29. Sleep isn't just a luxury, it's a vital process that helps our bodies repair and rejuvenate. Researchers have started to uncover how the quality and timing of sleep can affect more than just how rested we feel—it might also affect the very blueprint of our cells: our DNA.
  30. Can't sleep at night? Researchers say the reason—and the solution—could be lurking in your kitchen. The ingredients for poor sleep can be found in every meal, and the less you sleep, the more likely you may be to consume them.