sleep disorder •

Researchers Explain Why Elderly Sleep Less

August 20, 2014 By Jack M. Robinson Leave a Comment

As people advance in age, they have a tendency to sleep less and to wake earlier in the morning. Alzheimer’s patients are particularly affected by sleep deprivation. Scientists attempting to uncover the reasons why elderly sleep less and reached some conclusions.

People are equipped with a set of inhibitory neurons that die off as we age. Previous research on animals show this result and it applies to humans as well.The discovery of the specific type of neurons responsible for sleep cycles was done in 1996. Scientists studied how rats have a ‘sleep switch’ that is deregulated once the inhibitory neurons die off.

“On average, a person in his 70s has about one hour less sleep per night than a person in his 20s,” explains senior author Clifford B. Saper, MD, PhD, Chairman of Neurology at BIDMC and James Jackson Putnam Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School. “Sleep loss and sleep fragmentation is associated with a number of health issues, including cognitive dysfunction, increased blood pressure and vascular disease, and a tendency to develop type 2 diabetes. It now appears that loss of these neurons may be contributing to these various disorders as people age.”

Disparate scientific results seems to be connected. Recently other scientists discovered that sleep disorders increase suicide risks for older adults.

Wearable devices helped scientists understand why elderly sleep less

Without taking into account Alzheimer’s patients, researchers found that patients with low levels of ventrolateral preoptic neurons suffer from sleep fragmentation. “The fewer the neurons, the more fragmented the sleep became,” Saper added.

The researchers investigated some members from a community formed to study dementia and aging. From the Rush and Aging Project, the researchers selected data from 45 people who wore devices on their hands during their last period of life. After the patients deceased, scientists analyzed their brains, which were donated voluntarily. That is how they reached the conclusion that inhibitory neurons dying out are responsible for sleep deprivation.

Based on the findings answering why elderly sleep less, now researchers have to find out new ways of helping elders have a good night of sleep and inherently avoid developing neurological conditions. More so now, as sleep deprivation increases suicide risks, according to other research.

The results of the study were published in the journal Brain under the title “Sleep is related to neuron numbers in the ventrolateral preoptic/intermediate nucleus in older adults with and without Alzheimer’s disease”

Sleep Disorder Increases Suicide Risks for Older Adults

August 13, 2014 By Janet Vasquez Leave a Comment

Sleep quality influences suicide risks for older adults, according to a research undertaken by scientists from Stanford University School of Medicine. Rebecca Bernert, the study’s author, says this is a highly treatable condition. Bernert, PhD, is the director of the Suicide Prevention Research Laboratory at Stanford. The fact that sleep disorder increases suicide risks for older adults comes after a complex research.

Another research carried earlier this year involved blood analysis to determine suicide risks.

Sleep disorder increases suicide risks, so it should receive increased attention

“Suicide is the outcome of multiple, often interacting biological, psychological and social risk factors,” Bernert said. “Disturbed sleep stands apart as a risk factor and warning sign in that it may be undone, which highlights its importance as a screening tool and potential treatment target in suicide prevention.

To reach the conclusion, the team of scientists from Stanford looked at data from 14.456 adults over 65 years old. Out of this group, they chose 400 individuals who had similar sleeping patterns to 20 people who committed suicide. Scientists followed the sleeping behavior over a 10 years period. In the end, researchers concluded that older people with sleeping disorders have a suicide risk 1.4 times higher than their counterparts with high sleep quality.

The comparison between the two groups was done by looking at a series of data obtained through interviews. The questions addressed topics such as depression signs, and mental and physical functioning. Even after taking out the depression variable, the lack of quality sleep remained an important factor determining an increased risk of committing suicide.

Suicide is associated with stigma, so people suffering suicidal thoughts or attempts have troubles talking about the issue. However, if a disturbed sleeping pattern accounts for such a high influence in determining suicide, there is a ray of hope. If trouble sleeping is not a stigmatized disorder, focusing on improving the older adults’ sleep quality might reduce the suicide rates.

The subjects involved in the study were mostly white males. A group of twenty suicide victims is surely not enough to draw the definitive conclusion that sleep disorder increases suicide risks, but is a start. Further research involving data from cases involving women and minority groups may shed additional light on the issue.

People who are at risk of committing suicide should ask for help by calling the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (1-800-273-TALK).

Sleep disorder affects teen girls and boys differently: Study

September 23, 2013 By Janet Vasquez Leave a Comment

The scientists have found a link between sleep disorder and obesity in teens. But they say, sleep affects teen girls and teen boys differently.

According to the researchers at the University of Otago in New Zealand, teenage boys who sleep less have more body fats but lack of sleep has no discernible effect on girls’ body fat ratios.

“Our study suggests that for older teenage boys, making sure that they get adequate sleep may help to maintain a healthier body. It seems to be that, within reason, the more (sleep) the better for boys, “ said Lead researcher Dr Paula Skidmore.

Study

During the study, researchers looked at the sleeping habits and height/weight/fat ratios in 386 boys and 299 girls in the age group 15 and 18-years.

An average-sized 16-year-old boy weighing 69.5 kg and measuring 176 cm in height, who slept for eight hours a day, would have a waist circumference that is 1.8 cm bigger, and would have 1.6 kg (9 percent) more body fat, compared to the same average-sized boy who slept 10 hours a day, the study found.

“The boys who slept eight hours a day would also have 1.8 kg more lean (bone and muscle) mass compared to the boys who slept ten hours, but that’s only a 1.4 percent increase, compared to the 9 percent increase seen in body fat,” Skidmore said.

Elaborating about the findings in the girls, she said, “It was unexpected that we did not find the same result in girls, who may actually be more aware of their diet and more in tune with a healthier lifestyle.”

The study was published in Nutrition Journal.

Poor sleep makes you buy more unhealthy foods, lead you to obesity

September 6, 2013 By Janet Vasquez Leave a Comment

Poor sleep can lead you to obesity. A new study says a bad night’s sleep may make people buy more unhealthy foods the next day, hence lead them add extra kilos.

During the study, researchers found that people who were deprived of one night’s sleep purchased more calories and grammes of food in a mock supermarket on the following day.

The findings of the study were even more glaring. Scientists found that sleep deprivation also led to increased blood levels of a hormone called ghrelin that is known for increasing hunger.

However, there was no correlation between individual ghrelin levels and food purchasing, suggesting that other mechanisms – such as impulsive decision making – may be more responsible for increased purchasing.

“We hypothesized that sleep deprivation’s impact on hunger and decision making would make for the ‘perfect storm’ with regard to shopping and food purchasing – leaving individuals hungrier and less capable of employing self-control and higher-level decision-making processes to avoid making impulsive, calorie-driven purchases,” said first author Colin Chapman, of Uppsala University.

Study

The scientists gave 14 normal-weight men a fixed budget (approximately USD 50). These men were given the budget on the morning after one night of total sleep deprivation, as well as after one night of sleep.

The men were instructed to purchase as much as they could out of a possible 40 items, including 20 high-caloric foods and 20 low-calorie foods. The prices of the high-caloric foods were then varied to determine if total sleep deprivation affects the flexibility of food purchasing.

Before the task, participants received a standardized breakfast to minimize the effect of hunger on their purchases.

The study was published in the journal Obesity.

Findings

Sleep-deprived men purchased significantly more calories and grammes of food than they did after one night of sleep. The researchers also measured blood levels of ghrelin. The found that the hormone’s concentrations were higher after total sleep deprivation. However, this increase did not correlate with food purchasing behaviour.

“Our finding provides a strong rationale for suggesting that patients with concerns regarding caloric intake and weight gain maintain a healthy, normal sleep schedule,” said Chapman.

Why do we sleep? Scientists say it boosts production of brain cells

September 4, 2013 By Janet Vasquez Leave a Comment

Why do we sleep? Why we feel frustrated and annoyed whenever we don’t have a good sleep? Scientists have discovered the answers for these questions. They say we sleep as it replenishes a type of brain cell.

While sleeping, there are genes in the brain that are actually turned on. Scientists say these genes are vital for the repair and growth of brain cells.

According to the US researchers, adequate sleep boosts the production of specific brain cells, called oligodendrocytes, that produce the protective layer around the organ.

Oligodendrocytes make myelin (the protective layer) in the healthy brain and in response to injury. Myelin allows electrical impulses to move rapidly from one cell to the next just like the insulation around an electrical wire.

Scientists have known for years that many genes are turned on during sleep and off during periods of wakefulness. These findings could one day lead scientists to new insights about the role sleep plays in brain repair and growth.

Study

In the current study, Chiara Cirelli, MD, PhD, and colleagues at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, measured gene activity in oligodendrocytes from mice that slept or were forced to stay awake.

Dr Chiara Cirelli and colleagues found that the production rate of the myelin making cells, immature oligodendrocytes, doubled as mice slept. In contrast, the genes implicated in cell death and cellular stress response was turned on when the animals stayed awake.

“These findings hint at how sleep or lack of sleep might repair or damage the brain,” said Mehdi Tafti, PhD, who studies sleep at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland. Tafti, however, was not involved in the study reported in the Sep 4 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience.

Why we need to sleep has baffled scientists for centuries. So far we have given a simple reason for the necessity of sleep and i.e. we need to sleep to feel rested and for our mind to function well. However, the biological processes that go on as we slumber have only started to be uncovered relatively with this study.

The study is published in the Journal of Neuroscience.

Daydreaming can lead you to Insomania, says study

September 3, 2013 By Janet Vasquez Leave a Comment

People have a tendency to run behind the thousands of thoughts striking their mind. Beware! Daydreamers are more likely to be insomniacs as they usually put more effort into daytime jobs than healthy sleepers, a new study says.

A team of researchers from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, led by Dr Sean Drummond, associate psychiatry professor at the University of California uncovered the link between the daytime and nightime brain activity in primary insomniacs.

Brain scans of insomniacs revealed that regions of the brain associated with wandering thoughts do not stop when the brain is given complex tasks.

Usually, people can control parts of the brain related to working memory (Short term memory). The area responsible for working memory is the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. However, the study found that daydreamers could not concentrate on complex tasks as their brains were incapable of controlling those parts of the brain.

‘People with insomnia not only have trouble sleeping at night, but their brains are not functioning as efficiently during the day.

We found that insomnia subjects did not properly turn on brain regions critical to a working memory task and did not turn off “mind-wandering” brain regions irrelevant to the task ”, Dr Drummond said.

‘It is not surprising that someone with insomnia would feel like they are working harder to do the same job as a healthy sleeper,’ he added.

People with insomnia not only have trouble sleeping at night, but their brains do not function as efficiently during the day. Primary insomnia is a form of the condition where sleep is interrupted without the patient suffering any other condition such as depression or chronic pain caused by a medication or substance abuse.

Study

Researchers compared MRI scans of 25 regular sleepers with 25 insomniacs. The average age of the respondents was 32. They found that both groups finished working memory tasks effectively. By comparing MRI scans, Dr Drummond and his team found that while both groups were equally as effective at completing working memory tasks, insomniac’s brains did not ‘dial down’ the ‘default mode’ regions of the brain that are usually used when it wanders. On the other hand, healthy sleepers were able to switch on more parts of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex to tackle the memory tasks.

The study was published in the Journal ‘Sleep’.

Wearable devices helped scientists understand why elderly sleep less

Sleep disorder increases suicide risks, so it should receive increased attention

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