Seniors’ Lack of Sleep Troubles

We all know how important “a good night’s sleep” can be for newborns, infants and small children. And even more so for their parents.

Back in the day (and depending on your cultural heritage), restless, crying children were described as “driving” their parents “to the loony bin” or “the funny farm.”

Now there’s evidence that regular and consistent good sleep can prevent seniors from entering nursing homes.

“Our results show that in community-dwelling older women, more fragmented sleep is associated with a greater risk of being placed in a nursing home or in a personal care home,” reports Adam Spira, Ph.D., lead author of the study and an assistant professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Spira and his associates reported in the July 2012 issue of the Journal of American Geriatrics Society that “compared to women with the least fragmented sleep, those who spent the most time awake after first falling asleep had about 3 times the odds of placement in a nursing home. Individuals with the lowest sleep efficiency – those who spent the smallest portion of their time in bed actually sleeping – also had about 3 times the odds of nursing home placements.”

While the authors found similar patterns of associations between disturbed sleep and placement in personal care homes, sleep duration per se did not predict placement in these settings.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention has long warned that insufficient sleep is associated with chronic diseases and conditions – diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity and depression, as well as motor vehicle and machinery-related accidents.

In the new study, researchers measured the sleep of women with a mean age of 83 from the Study of Osteoporotic Fractures; participants wore actigraphs – devices that record movement – on their non-dominant wrists for at least three days and the resulting data were used to characterize patterns of sleep and wakefulness. Demographic information, including place of residence, was gathered at the initial interview and again five years later.

The researchers reported, “ Greater sleep fragmentation is associated with greater risk of placement in a nursing home or personal care home 5 years later after accounting for a number of confounders,” noted Kristine Yaffe, M.D., senior author of the study and professor of Psychiatry, Neurology, and Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of California, San Francisco.

Spires also noted that this was an observational study and the results cannot be considered causative. “We need more research to explain how sleep disturbance might lead to this outcome, and whether interventions to improve sleep might prevent it.”

Francis J. (Skip) Flynn, Psy. D.

Brain Training Centers of Florida can help individuals overcome sleep issues through brain wave optimization using real time balancing. The Centers are open 7 days per week from 10:00 AM to 10:00 PM in an effort to accommodate our clients. For further information, please call (305) 412-5050.

Sleep Loss and Weight Control

Didn’t get a good night’s sleep last night? Better be careful ‘cause you’re more likely to blow your diet today.

Want to lose weight? Get a good night’s sleep – eight hours.

That’s the news – old and new – from researchers at Uppsala University.

Researchers Christian Benedict and Helgi Schioth of the Department of Neuroscience at Uppsala University (Sweden), one of the world’s leading research universities, who had previously published a report showing that a single night of total sleep loss in young, normal weight men curbed their energy expenditure the next morning. Hey, that report in the American Journal of Clincial Nurtition, explains why so many of us don’t want to hit the gym after a rough night’s sleep. The research also showed that subjects had increased levels of hunger, which indicates that an acute lack of sleep may affect folks’ perception of and reaction to food.

In a new study, published in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, the researchers and their associates Samantha Brooks and Elna-Marie Larsson have systematically examined regions of the brain involved in appetite sensation. Using functional magnetic imaging (fMRI), they studied 12 normal-weight males while they viewed images of food and compared the results after a night with normal sleep with those obtained after one night without sleep.

“After a night of total sleep loss, these males showed a high level of activation in an area of the brain that is involved in a desire to eat,” explained Benedict. “Bearing in mind that insufficient sleep is a growing problem in modern society, our results may explain why poor sleep habits can affect people’s risk to gain weight in the long run. It may therefore be important to sleep about eight hours every night to maintain a stable and healthy body weight.”

And, as much as you might fear the “I-told-you-so”s of Mom, here’s more “Mom was right” news.
Compared to breakfast-eaters, breakfast skippers tend to weigh more and have other unhealthy habits including consuming too many sugary drinks or high-calorie snacks. Approximately 18 percent of Americans over the age of 2 regularly skip breakfast, according to Nancy Auestad, PhD, vice president of regulatory affairs at the Dairy Research Institute.
During a symposium at the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) 2012 Annual Meeting and Food Expo, Auestad noted that breakfast-eaters obtain about 17 percent of their daily calories from breakfast, as well as a significant portion of their daily recommended intake of key nutrients, Vitamins D (58 percent), B12 (42 percent), and A (41 percent).
And in studies of young people, researchers found that breakfast-skippers consume 40 percent more sweets, 55 percent more soft drinks, 45 percent fewer vegetables, and 30 percent less fruit than people who eat breakfast.
Potentially good news is that breakfast may be a tool for weight loss and in the battle against obesity. “Most of these negative factors were abbreviated when breakfast was consumed, compared with breakfast-skippers,” said Heather Leidy, PhD, assistant professor in the department of nutrition and exercise physiology at the University of Missouri. “Targeting that behavior could lead to a reduction in obesity.”

In her study, Leidy assembled a group of 10 breakfast-skipping teens and divided them into groups that consumed no breakfast, a normal-protein breakfast and a high protein breakfast.

The subjects’ reports of hunger levels and other indicators caused Leidy to find that eating a healthy breakfast of any kind lead to a more satiety (the feeling of being full or not wanting anything more to eat) and less overeating throughout the day. These findings were especially prominent among teens who ate the high-protein breakfast. They consumed about 200 calories less in evening snacks.

But there’s GOOD NEWS and BAD NEWS:
Magnetic resonance imaging reveals that a protein-rich breakfast reduces the brain signals controlling food desire – even many hours after breakfast. GOOD NEWS!
But, despite the demonstrated benefits of consistently eating breakfast, breakfast-skippers went back to their old ways within six months. BAD NEWS.

For parents, the news simply reinforces one more reason to be parents – not friends – to their kids. Parents make certain that kids eat breakfast – high protein breakfasts. Parents who are friends to their kids leave it up to kids – and later bemoan the fact that their children are out-of-shape and over- weight. Of course there’s the third group of parents – those who are so oblivious to these issues (and are often overweight themselves as a result of their own bad eating habits) or just completely self-absorbed that their kids will be paying for it physically and emotionally for years to come.

Francis J. (Skip) Flynn, Psy. D.

This is just one of many areas addressed by the Brain Training Centers of Florida with hours from 8:00 AM to 10:00 PM, seven days per week. For further information call (305) 412-5050.

Reasons not to Skimp on Sleep

Sleep. It’s so easy. Just turn out the light and put your head on the pillow. Nothing to it!
Wrong!!!!!!
If it’s really that easy for you, count your blessings instead of sheep. In sleep deprived America, you’re truly fortunate.
In fact, according to the National Sleep Foundation, more than 35 percent of adults regularly clock (you’ll pardon the pun) fewer than seven hours per night and 50 to 70 million Americans suffer from chronic sleep disorders like insomnia or sleep apnea that affect their daily functioning and may negatively affect health.
To mark National Sleep Awareness Week in March, U.S. New & World Report writers Sarah Baldauf and Angela Haupt updated an earlier article – “13 Reasons Not to Skimp on Sleep.” http://health.usnews.com/health-news/family-health/articles/2012/03/05/13-reasons-not-to-skimp-on-sleep_print.html.
The highlights:
1. Insufficient sleep appears to throw appetite suppressing hormones out-of-wack and people who sleep fewer than seven hours per night are at greater risk of being obese.
2. Individuals – especially women – with obstructive sleep apnea or other severely disordered breathing while asleep tend to consume a diet high in cholesterol, protein, total fat and total saturated fat.
3. Individuals regularly getting five or fewer or six or fewer hours of sleep a night were 2.5 and 1.7 times respectively more likely to be diabetic.
4. Too little sleep appears to promote calcium buildup in the heart arteries – a critical factor in heart attacks and strokes.
5. Sleep apnea has been associated with chronically elevated daytime blood pressure.
6. Nearly 20 percent of serious automobile accidents involve a sleepy driver and you don’t want to know the percentage of airline pilots, train operators and truck drivers who admit they’ve made a serious error due to lack of sleep, but we’ll tell you it’s 20, 18 and 14 percent respectively.
7. If you have an elderly parent whose sleep schedules are way off, you already know that when they are drowsy, they are more prone to serious falls.
8. Sleep deprived adults regularly reported higher levels of depression, mental distress and alcohol use; high schoolers experience the same problems, and sleep-deprived middle schoolers report more symptoms of depression and lower self-esteem.
9. Perhaps there’s a reason why Miami is reportedly home for so many rude servers and others: they may be sleep-deprived; a 2011 study in the Academy of Management Journal reported that a lack of sleep increased deviant and unethical behaviors, making people ruder and more likely to respond inappropriately.
10. It’s been well-known to educators that sleep promotes learning and helps the brain commit new information to memory; individuals who sleep after learning a task do better on later tests. But, regularly getting less than six to eight hours of sleep a night can age your brain by four to seven years.
11. It may not be the “terrible twos.” In children sleep deprivation and disordered breathing during sleep may result in behavioral issues like attention deficit disorder.
12) “Vanity, thy opposite is sleep deprivation.” Let’s face it, when you’re sleep deprived you just don’t look your best. “ ‘Nough said.
13. Five or fewer hours of sleep per night can increase the risk of early death by as much as 15 years.
So…. “Good night, sleep tight. Don’t let the bedbugs bite.”

13 Reasons Not to Skimp on Sleep
Too busy to go to bed? Having trouble getting quality sleep once you do? Your health may be at risk
By SARAH BALDAUF, ANGELA HAUPT
March 5, 2012

It’s National Sleep Awareness Week. Before hitting snooze on this news, consider that scheduling a good night’s sleep could be one of the smartest health priorities you set. It’s not just daytime drowsiness you risk when shortchanging yourself on your seven to nine hours. (More than 35 percent of adults routinely clock less than seven hours per night, according to the National Sleep Foundation.) Possible health consequences of getting too little or poor sleep can involve the cardiovascular, endocrine, immune, and nervous systems. In addition to letting life get in the way of good sleep, between 50 and 70 million Americans suffer from a chronic sleep disorder—such as insomnia or sleep apnea—that affects daily functioning and impinges on health. Here’s a look at the research:
1) Less may mean more. Among people who sleep under seven hours a night, the fewer zzzz’s they get, the more obese they tend to be, according to a 2006 Institute of Medicine report. This may relate to the discovery that insufficient sleep appears to tip hunger hormones out of whack. Leptin, which suppresses appetite, is lowered; ghrelin, which stimulates appetite, gets a boost.
) You’re more apt to make bad food choices. A study published in 2008 in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine found that people with obstructive sleep apnea or other severely disordered breathing while asleep ate a diet higher in cholesterol, protein, total fat, and total saturated fat. Women were especially affected.
3) Diabetes and impaired glucose tolerance, its precursor, may become more likely. A 2005 study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine found that people getting five or fewer hours of sleep each night were 2.5 times more likely to be diabetic, those getting six hours or fewer were 1.7 times more likely.
4) The ticker is put at risk. A 2003 study found that heart attacks were 45 percent more likely in women who slept five or fewer hours per night than in those who got more. And a 2008 study in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that too little sleep promotes calcium buildup in the heart arteries, leading to the plaques that can cause heart attacks and strokes.
5) Blood pressure may increase. Obstructive sleep apnea, for example, has been associated with chronically elevated daytime blood pressure, and the more severe the disorder, the more significant the hypertension, suggests the 2006 IOM report. Obesity plays a role in both disorders, so losing weight can ease associated health risks.
6) Auto accidents rise. As stated in a 2007 report in the New England Journal of Medicine, nearly 20 percent of serious car crash injuries involve a sleepy driver—and that’s independent of alcohol use. Sleepiness affects professional drivers, too. The National Sleep Foundation’s 2012 Sleep in America poll, released Saturday, found that 20 percent of airline pilots admit they’ve made a serious error due to lack of sleep, compared with 18 percent of train operators and 14 percent of truck drivers.
7) Balance is off. Older folks who have trouble getting to sleep, who wake up at night, or are drowsy during the day could be 2 to 4.5 times more likely to sustain a fall, found a 2007 study in the Journal of Gerontology.
8) You may be more prone to depression. Adults who chronically operate on fumes report more mental distress, depression, and alcohol use. Adolescents suffer, too: One survey of high school students found similarly high rates of these issues. Middle schoolers, too, report more symptoms of depression and lower self-esteem.
9) You won’t be as nice. In general, sleep loss is likely to negatively affect your mood, causing irritability, impatience, and an inability to concentrate. A 2011 study in the Academy of Management Journal found that a lack of sleep increased deviant and unethical behavior, making people more rude and more likely to respond inappropriately in situations.
10) Your smarts may suffer. Sleep promotes learning, according to the Harvard Women’s Health Watch. It helps the brain commit new information to memory, and researchers have found that people who sleep after learning a task do better on later tests. In 2011, University of London scientists said that getting less than six to eight hours of sleep a night can age your brain by four to seven years—increasing the speed of cognitive decline, and worsening vocabulary and reasoning abilities.

11) Kids may suffer more behavior problems. Research from a 2008 issue of the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine found that children who are plagued by insomnia, short duration of sleeping, or disordered breathing with obesity, for example, are more likely to have behavioral issues like attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
[See: Fight These 4 Causes of Aging]
12) You’ll look better. Beauty sleep is no myth: People are perceived as being less attractive and more unhealthy when they’re sleep-deprived than when they’re well-rested, according to research published in 2012 in the British Medical Journal. Swedish researchers photographed 23 volunteers on two occasions: Once, after getting eight hours of sleep, and again after being kept awake for 31 hours following five hours of sleep. None of the participants wore makeup and all were equally clean-shaven. More than 60 untrained observers rated the photos. Participants were judged to be 4 percent less attractive, 6 percent less healthy, and 19 percent more tired when they were sleep-deprived.
13) Death’s doorstep may be nearer. Those who get five hours or less per night have approximately 15 percent greater risk of dying—regardless of the cause—according to three large population-based studies published in the journals Sleep and the Archives of General Psychiatry.
Updated on 3/5/12: This story was originally published on Oct. 16, 2008. It has been updated.

This is just one of many areas the technicians at the Brain Training Centers of Florida are very successful in helping clients overcome, 7 days per week. For more information please call (305) 412-5050.

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