Monday, July 20, 2009
Medical news of the obvious
Poor sleep after childbirth increases the risk of postpartum depression, Norwegian scientists reported in Sleep. They suggested having a spouse or other family member let new mothers catch up on their shut-eye. The gravid and their spouses don't need What to Expect When You're Expecting to tell us this.
Once children grow up, they become teens. And where there's teens, there texting. Teen Texting Tendonitis afflicted this girl who'd sent 8,000 messages a month and wound up in her doctor's office for an obvious diagnosis.
Labels: depression, medical news of the obvious, pregnancy, sleep
posted by Ryan DuBosar at
9:00 AM
0 Comments
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Awesome acronym of the week.
It might not be as exciting as sleep-driving (or -eating or -dating) on Ambien, but a new Internet program shows promise for helping people get to sleep. According to the Washington Post, the program offers advice on insomnia and uses stories, quizzes and games to teach people better sleep habits. A trial found that patients who used the program got more sleep than controls. Some sleep therapists may be worried about the possibility of losing their jobs to computers, though. One quoted in the news story suggested that humans may do better at helping patients to "stay motivated and identify anxieties."
But the best part of this story is the name of the program--Sleep Healthy Using the Internet. Sure, it, like every other cleverly named study, sounds a little stilted but check out the acronym: SHUTi.
Labels: sleep
posted by Stacey Butterfield at
2:32 PM
0 Comments
Friday, June 12, 2009
Cure for sleep apnea in the woodwind section?
There is good and bad news from a recent study of musicians and sleep apnea reported at the annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies this week: First the good news: playing a high-resistance woodwind instrument, like the bassoon, may protect against sleep apnea. The down side? You have to practice for three hours a day.
Researchers floated the idea of having people with the sleep disorder take up double-reed instruments as therapy but quickly acknowledged the impracticality of expecting non-musicians to spend three hours a day on the oboe or English horn. According to an article in MedPage Today, researchers also theorized that perhaps just developing an appropriate embouchure would work. I'm trying to imagine the prescription: contort facial muscles and position lips and tongue in a woodwind-playing position for 60 minutes, three times a day. Avoid food and drink during therapy.
Labels: sleep, sleep apnea
posted by Janet Colwell at
10:00 AM
1 Comments
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
C'est la vie!
A new report from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development reveals that the French spend more time sleeping (8.5 hours a day on average) and eating (over two hours a day, nearly double the time spent by Americans or Canadians) than any of the OECD's 30 member countries. It's one of the more intriguing of the evolving social trends identified in the OECD's latest edition of "Society at a Glance."
Being well-rested and amply fed apparently confers some signficant health benefits as the French are also noted as having one of the longest average lifespans of the 30 countries--88.4 years on average for women, second only to the Japanese, and 77.3 for men, two years less than the hearty Swiss and Icelandic men. (With all that time spent in bed, it comes as little surprise that the French also have one of the highest fertility rates of countries studied.)
Other interesting findings from the report include that Norwegians have the most leisurely lifestyle, with just over a quarter of their time spent on leisure activities. By comparison, Mexicans spend the least amount of their time (16%) on leisurely pursuits. Unfortunately, most people seem to squander what free time they have watching TV, which accounts for nearly half of all leisure time in Mexico and Japan.
A telling statistic, considering the obesity epidemic, is the small amount of time devoted to exercise. Spain ranks highest, but hardly merits bragging rights with just 13% of leisure time spend on physical activities. The Turks may be the most well-adjusted, choosing to spend 35% of their free time entertaining friends.
Labels: obesity, sleep, statistics
posted by Janet Colwell at
9:54 AM
0 Comments
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Sleep it off--avoiding the common cold
A study from researchers in Pittsburgh caught my attention for two reasons. First, the conclusion of the study: more and better sleep reduces the odds of getting a cold.
Researchers interviewed 153 healthy volunteers for 14 days about how many hours they slept and their sleep efficiency (the percentage of time in laying bed compared to the time actually asleep). Then volunteers then took nasal drops containing a rhinovirus and were followed for colds.
Volunteers averaging less than 7 hours of sleep a night were 2.94 times more likely to catch a cold than those with 8 hours or more. Those with 92% efficiency were 5.50 times more likely to get a cold than those with 98% or more efficiency.
That's astounding by itself. Less relevant but still prevalent in my mind is that 153 people volunteered to catch a cold. They got $800 for their time and trouble. I just got over a nasty cold and would pay that much to not get another one.
Labels: infectious disease, research, sleep
posted by Ryan DuBosar at
11:45 AM
0 Comments
ACP Internist hosted Grand Rounds on June 16, wrapping up the best of the medical blogosphere. Click here for the complete wrap-up.
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