Insomnia •

Insomnia Is Linked to Social Media Use

January 28, 2016 By Georgia Dawson Leave a Comment

"A man in bed at night checking his social media accounts because of insomnia"

Experts recommend that people exercise more and keep their devices on “silent mode”.

STATES CHRONICLE – According to the latest study from the Pittsburgh University, insomnia is linked to social media use. The researchers have established that people who spend their time on social media platforms before going to bed have a bigger chance of developing sleep problems that those who don’t. Also, it seems that the same health issues apply to those who use social media frequently during the day.

A team of researchers from the Pittsburgh University reached the conclusion that insomnia is linked to social media use after studying a sample of 1,788 volunteers with ages in between 19 and 32. The participants were given a questionnaire that was created to determine the link between the use of social media and the increasing numbers of sleep disorders.

The survey focused on the most popular platforms for social media and the time that each respondent spent on a daily, or weekly basis on the site. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, Google Plus, Reddit, Snapchat, LinkedIn, Vibe, and Tumblr were all included in the questionnaire.

The average responded spent approximately 61 minutes in a day on one, or more platforms, and visited the respective account an average of thirty times in a single week. According to their answers, more than 30 percent of the participants in the study suffered from a sort of sleep disturbance.

Upon analyzing all of the answers, the researchers from Pittsburgh University came to the conclusion that the more time the participants spent on the platforms for social media, the more trouble they had with their sleep. The team established that those who used social media more had three times the chances of experiencing sleep disturbances than those who preferred to check their accounts more rarely.

On the other hand, the volunteers that engaged in exercises and physical activities in the outdoor environment while keeping their phones on the “silent” mode experienced a better sleep.

There are many ways in which social media can disturb the sleeping pattern of a user. It could disrupt the circadian rhythm due to the backlight of the devices used, the user can spend hours on a site without realizing the amount of time that has passed, thus losing sleep, or it could promote physiological, emotional and cognitive arousal like in the case of an engaging conversation.

The main problem is that the people usually enter a vicious cycle that cannot be easily escaped. They seem to have trouble going to sleep so they decide to go on their social media accounts to pass the time until they feel sleepy, but that only makes them stay up later.

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Scientists link yoga with insomnia risk cut in menopausal women

September 30, 2013 By Janet Vasquez Leave a Comment

With the passing age, sleep disorders become the common problem in the elderly people. And when it comes to women who are on the verge of turning menopausal or already attained that, physical changes like insomnia, depression are quite evident. Many women suffer from insomnia during menopause, besides experiencing symptoms such as hot flashes, night sweats, weight gain and acne.

In a bid to avoid such problems, experts suggest yoga.

A new study says, yoga may help women going through menopause sleep better. The researchers found that by taking a 12-week yoga class and practicing at home, insomnia can be prevented.

Elaborating upon the study, lead author and a senior investigator at Group Health Research Institute in the US, Katherine Newton, said, “Hormone therapy is the only Food and Drug Administration-approved treatment for hot flashes and night sweats and fewer women are opting for hormone therapy these days.”

Along with yoga, the study also tried to find whether other natural approaches like exercise and fish oil help ease menopause symptoms.

The researchers carried study on 249 healthy, previously sedentary women at multiple sites, including Group Health. They were engaged to do yoga, a moderate aerobic exercise programme, or neither – and to take an omega-3 fatty acid supplement or a placebo.

Exercise seemed linked to slightly improved sleep and less insomnia and depression, and yoga also was linked to better sleep quality and less depression – but these effects were not statistically significant.

The omega-3 supplement was not linked to any improvement in hot flashes, night sweats, sleep, or mood.

The study was published in journal Menopause.

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.

Exercise not a quick remedy for Insomniacs!

August 16, 2013 By Janet Vasquez Leave a Comment

“Exercise is a must for those with sleep disorders.” Although exercise has been commonly prescribed for insomnia patients, spending hours on treadmill or jogging for one day won`t translate into better sleep that night, a new study claims.

According to the study, exercising today will probably not help insomniacs sleep better tonight, although it will help a lot in the long run.

The study, published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, underlines a phenomenon that causes frustrations among patients discouraging them to give up their exercise routines.

Lead author of the study, Kelly Glazer Baron says, “Patients come to us and say, ‘I exercised until I was exhausted, but I still couldn’t sleep’ “.

“It`s a long-term relationship. You have to keep at it and not get discouraged,” she stressed.

The study used facts and references from a previously published research that showed how a 16-week exercise program, combined with better sleep habits, helped people with insomnia sleep longer and better than those who worked on sleep habits alone.

During the study, the researchers took a closer look at data collected on 11 women aged 57 to 70 in the exercise program. The women carried exercise regime and maintained their sleep diaries. Their sleeping behaviours were also tracked through devices tied on their wrists. The device recorded how long they took to fall asleep, how often they woke up and how much sleep they got each night.

These women exercised for about 30 minutes three or four times a week. They mostly walked on treadmills.

The overall results turned out positive. After 16 weeks, the women were sleeping an extra 46 minutes a night – 6 hours and 40 minutes, up from 5 hours and 54 minutes, on average.

“This new study shows exercise and sleep affect each other in both directions: regular long-term exercise is good for sleep but poor sleep can also lead to less exercise. So in the end, sleep still trumps everything as far as health is concerned,” senior author Phyllis Zee, M.D., said.

Insomnia may have several origins:

Stressing situations, such as family or work problems.
Physical and environmental conditions surrounding the place where we rest.
Irregular sleeping habits.
Poor diet or bad habits such as going to sleep with hunger or having eaten too much.
Consumption of stimulant drinks such as coffee, tea, alcohol, drinks with caffeine, tobacco…
Stuffy nose.
Need to use the toilet.
Excessive anxiety.
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder: after having had an accident or having experienced a stressing situation, one can find it hard to sleep.

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