Get enough sleep?

[Winnow]

Saw this on Digg but it's worth posting:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/a ... ge_id=1774

Seven hours sleep a night helps reduce heart problems

By JENNY HOPE - More by this author » Last updated at 08:49am on 25th September 2007

Getting enough sleep can be difficult for many juggling the demands of work, leisure and family.

But experts said yesterday that those who clock up seven hours of shut-eye a night can slash the risk of health problems.

Those who manage fewer hours double the risk of heart problems, warn researchers.

Sleeping yourself to good health: those people who can clock up seven hours of shut-eye a night can slash the risk of health problems

Long-term studies show that those who drop down to five hours or fewer face a 70 per cent extra risk of dying from all causes.

They also face twice the risk of death from a cardiovascular problem.

However, getting more than seven hours can also be a risk, according to the study by the University of Warwick and University College London.

Those who slept for eight hours or more a night were more than twice as likely to die as those who had not changed their habits.

The study looked at how sleep patterns affected death rates among 10,308 subjects, mainly white-collar civil servants.

Researchers examined data for 1985-8 and for those still alive in 1992-3.

Once adjustments were made for factors such as age, smoking and illness, the study was able to isolate the effect of changes in sleep patterns.

The average night's sleep is seven hours but around a third of adults in Britain regularly sleep five hours or fewer a night.

Professor Francesco Cappuccio, of the University of Warwick medical school, said: "Fewer hours of sleep and greater levels of sleep disturbance have become widespread in industrialised societies.

"This change, largely the result of sleep curtailment to create more time for leisure and shiftwork, has meant that reports of fatigue, tiredness and excessive daytime sleepiness are more common. Sleep represents the daily process of physiological restitution and recovery, and lack of sleep has far-reaching effects.

"Our findings indicate that consistently sleeping around seven hours per night is optimal for health."

He said insufficient sleep was a risk factor in weight gain, high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes.

But it is unclear how sleeping too long could cause ill-health, he added, although possible causes included depression and low socio-economic status.

Last week, researchers showed that children who did not get enough sleep were more likely to become obese as adults.

I need to reconsider my sleep strategy. I'm lucky if I get 5 hours of sleep except on Friday night/Saturday mornings...and on Saturday mornings, I sleep too long, which is also bad for you according to another study!

[Aabidano]

Sounds like poor sleeping habits are a byproduct\symptom of everything else that's killing people "early".

[cadalano]

yeah i dont see this as a cause-effect. especially considering that people's sleeping habits change as they age.. generally getting less sleep as they get older and more prone to health problems in general. "adjustments" were made but I wish there was more info on the study


i wish I could get more sleep.. not for my health but for cognitive reasons. I don't work as well if I am even slightly tired.

[Fash]

I rarely get more than 5-6 hours during the week, but on weekends i could be in bed for 10-12 hours if I have nothing important to wake up for. I can't quite explain it, but I could get 5 hours and be fine all day or be sleepy all day, and the same goes for getting 8, 9, 10 hours... It doesn't seem to matter how long I sleep.

I hate going to sleep, and I hate getting up. There's too much to do, so I never want to stop and go to bed... My bed is too comfortable and relaxing, so I never want to get out of it.

I'm perturbed in general about sleep and tiredness... I wish I could go 24/7 without sleep.

[Asheran Mojomaster]

I'm like Fash, except that I make sure I get at least 6 hours every night. But even when I'm able to get 8 I'm still tired often. I've been known to sleep for 14 hours sometimes on the weekends though, tempur-pedic .

[Markulas]

Along with most people here: little sleep during the weekday, REM rebound on the weekend. Not exactly sure of the long-term consequences of lacking sleep, but I know it increases your chances of getting sick in the short-term.

[Midnyte_Ragebringer]

I generally get 7 hours a night. When your a parent, there is no sleeping in on weekends anymore. Damn I miss those though.

[Winnow]

I hate going to sleep, and I hate getting up. There's too much to do, so I never want to stop and go to bed... My bed is too comfortable and relaxing, so I never want to get out of it.

I hate going to sleep as well. I always have something to do of interest to me so sleeping seems like a waste.

A major part of the problem is that my natural sleep times are 6am-1pm. Without fail, if I am on vacation and don't have obligations, I will fall right into the pattern of 6am-1pm sleep time. So, every night when 1am-2am or later rolls around, I'm really not feeling like going to bed.

I do think 6 hours, for me at least, is the minimum required for me to feel completely alert and not be in a partial zombie state, which allows you to function but not at the highest level...similar to when you're hung over. I can function on 4 hours but 3 or less and I'm really hurting.

I take a nap at lunch sometimes and even other times during the morning and afternoon to try and make up for the lack of snooze time.

There's no doubt in my mind that I function better with 6+ hours. I can even tell by how I post on this board if I've had enough sleep or not.

[Kaldaur]

I can even tell by how I post on this board if I've had enough sleep or not.

That explains your support of certain video games consoles. Lack of sleep compelled you to speak in foreign tongues.

[Sueven]

I hate going to sleep, and I hate getting up. There's too much to do, so I never want to stop and go to bed... My bed is too comfortable and relaxing, so I never want to get out of it.

I agree entirely with this.

I sleep 5-6 hours a night on weekdays, and 6-8 hours on weekends (usually). Unless I'm really exhausted, I'm incapable of deviating too far from my routine. I got to bed around 4:30 on a recent friday night, and found myself awake and unable to sleep at 8. This is because I've been waking up at 6 most days, and my body was just assuming that it was time to get up.

I don't have time to sleep enough, get all my work done, and have a social life. So I sacrifice a little bit from all three, but my sleep time definitely takes the biggest hit.

Plenty of time to sleep when I'm dead...

[Fairweather Pure]

I sleep 5-6ish hours a night Mon-Fri, and a solid 8-9 hours on Sat and Sun. I need those weekends to recharge a bit.

Overall, I'm great on 6, fine on 5, start dragging on 4, and anything less I'm pretty much a zombie.

I can sleep anywhere, and have no issues getting up in the morning. I attribute that to the fact that I do not work the standard 8 to 5 job. I'm usually up by 9:30 or 10:30am, going to bed around 4 or 5am. I get up when I wake up.

My wife is jealous.

[Somali]

I can function on 6 hours or less of sleep, but I believe my body would prefer to have 12ish. haha.

I can be perfectly happy hitting the snooze button for an hour in the morning, at least I could be if my wife didn't try to push me out of bed by the 2nd or 3rd time it goes off. Lukcily she's started getting up earlier than me during the weekdays. That said, if I have something I want to do in the morning, I'll wake up on the first buzz and get out of bed "functional." I say functional because while I am capable of performing standard morning tasks like, eating/dressing/showering/driving, I frequently do not have more than a passing memory of anything that happens before about 10AM. I'm told however that I seen cognizant of my actions and even form reasonable coherent verbal responses (Typing is a whole different issue. I seem to have some form of disconnect between my brain and my fingers when I'm tired. What I think and what I type are often completely different things. Not just spelling errors either. completely different words.)

[Arborealus]

I've never gotten "enough sleep"...thanks obstructive sleep apnea...I do have a CPAP and it does help a good bit...

[Leonaerd]

CPAP? The thing with tubes that you stick up your nose? I thought that was for chronic snorers. Or is that what "obstructive sleep apnea" is?

[Truant]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_apne ... leep_apnea

It's a little more severe than 'chronic snoring,' but it could be observed as such. I know from meeting Arb that in his case, it can interrupt his breathing while he sleeps. I don't believe (or remember) that he just stops breathing temporarily like in other apneas, but that it wakes him each time, which can cause that bad prolonged sleep deprived state.

He can clarify more, obviously.

[Winnow]

Good stuff! I especially like the nap tips with a cup of java at the end. I may alter my coffee drinking habits to drink my first cup of joe right before I take a break in the morning and snooze for 15 mins.

How To: Cheat on the Need to Sleep 02Oct07 | 0

Quality not quantity. No matter how much your mother tells you that you need eight hours of sleep, if you’re not tired and you can’t truly relax, your sleep time will be worthless.

Robin Lloyd of Live Science reports that at the 2006 National Institutes of Health Consensus Conference, experts agreed, according psychiatry professor Daniel Kripke of the University of California, San Diego on the following recommendations for obtaining optimum sleep value:

* Do not take sleeping pills. This includes over-the-counter pills and melatonin.
* Don’t go to bed until you’re sleepy. If you have trouble sleeping, try going to bed later or getting up earlier.
* Get up at the same time every morning, even after a bad night’s sleep. The next night, you’ll be sleepy at bedtime.
* If you wake up in the middle of the night and can’t fall back to sleep, get out of bed and return only when you are sleepy.
* Avoid worrying, watching TV, reading scary books, and doing other things in bed besides sleeping and sex. If you worry, read thrillers or watch TV, do that in a chair that’s not in the bedroom.
* Do not drink or eat anything caffeinated within six hours of bedtime.
* Avoid alcohol. It’s relaxing at first but can lead to insomnia when it clears your system.
* Spend time outdoors. People exposed to daylight or bright light therapy sleep better.

A six-year study Kripke headed up of more than a million adults ages 30 to 102 showed that people who get only 6 to 7 hours a night have a lower death rate than those who get 8 hours of sleep. The risk from taking sleeping pills 30 times or more a month was not much less than the risk of smoking a pack of cigarettes a day, he says.

So what happens when you don’t have time for even 6 hours of sleep? Surely you can’t go without sleep? Without adequate rest, the brain’s ability to function quickly deteriorates. The brain works harder to counteract sleep deprivation effects, but operates less effectively: concentration levels drop, and memory becomes impaired.

Similarly, the brain’s ability to problem solve is greatly impaired. Decision-making abilities are compromised, and the brain falls into rigid thought patterns that make it difficult to generate new problem-solving ideas. Insufficient rest can also cause people to have hallucinations. Other typical effects of sleep deprivation include:

* depression
* heart disease
* hypertension
* irritability
* slower reaction times
* slurred speech
* tremors

Because the amount and quality of the sleep we get affects our hormone levels, namely our levels of leptin and ghrelin, many physiological processes that depend on these hormone levels to function properly, including appetite, are affected by our sleep.

While leptin is a hormone that affects our feelings of fullness and satisfaction after a meal, ghrelin is the hormone that stimulates our appetites. When you suffer from sleep deprivation, your body’s levels of leptin fall while ghrelin levels increase. This means that you end up feeling hungrier without really feeling satisfied by what you eat, causing you to eat more and, consequently, gain weight.

Scientists say that a successful midday nap depends on two things: timing and (no kidding) caffeine consumption. Experiments performed at Loughborough University in the UK showed that the sleep-deprived need only a cup of coffee and 15 minutes of shut-eye to feel amazingly refreshed.

Take a nap

1. Right before you crash, down a cup of java. The caffeine has to travel through your gastro-intestinal tract, giving you time to nap before it kicks in.
2. Close your eyes and relax. Even if you only doze, you’ll get what’s known as effective microsleep, or momentary lapses of wakefulness.
3. Limit your nap to 15 minutes. A half hour can lead to sleep inertia, or the spinning down of the brain’s prefrontal cortex, which handles functions like judgment. This gray matter can take 30 minutes to reboot.

[Bubba Grizz]

I generally get 7 hours a night. When your a parent, there is no sleeping in on weekends anymore. Damn I miss those though.

Exactly.

[Psyloche]

I get between 5-8 hours of sleep on weekdays depending on how easy I fall asleep, which I usually have a hard time doing. I don't have kids, but my dog knows when I'm supposed to get up for work -- she's learned not to even try waking me up before my alarm but will refuse to let me "snooze" after it's gone up. She's up before it though.

[Arborealus]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_apne ... leep_apnea

It's a little more severe than 'chronic snoring,' but it could be observed as such. I know from meeting Arb that in his case, it can interrupt his breathing while he sleeps. I don't believe (or remember) that he just stops breathing temporarily like in other apneas, but that it wakes him each time, which can cause that bad prolonged sleep deprived state.

He can clarify more, obviously.

Those with sleep apnea are chronic snorers not necessarily vice versa. CPAPs are prescribed for apnea. Basically yeah I would stop breathing because my soft palette slides backward when I sleep blocking my ability to breathe forcing me to wake up, not fully awake just enough to contract the muscles and clear the airway. Essentially I was coming out of sleep on average 30x an hour so I very seldom got restful sleep. The CPAP keeps slight (9mbar) constant pressure on the airway which keeps it open.

Poor Bok had to share the spare bedroom with me while he was here and I didn't move the CPAP. He prolly got no sleep that weekend.

[Winnow]

From Men's Health (no help for Women!)

Ways to live longer:

Grill a steak. You may think it's bad for your heart, but you'd be wrong. Beef contains immunity-boosting selenium as well as homocysteine-lowering B vitamins. And up to 50 percent of the fat is the heart-healthy monounsaturated variety.

Tell your wife to butt out. People who are exposed to cigarette smoke for just 30 minutes, three times a week, have a 26 percent greater risk of developing heart disease than people who rarely encounter secondhand smoke.

Take aspirin. Regular aspirin consumption cuts the risk of coronary heart disease by 28 percent in people who have never had a heart attack or stroke.

Drink more tea. Men who drink 2 cups of tea a day are 25 percent less likely to die of heart disease than guys who rarely touch the stuff. The reason: flavonoids in the tea, which not only improve blood vessels' ability to relax, but also thin the blood, reducing clotting.

Touch her. Ten minutes of skin-to-skin contact (hand-holding, hugs) with your mate can help keep your blood pressure and pulse from spiking during stressful times, according to University of North Carolina researchers.

Go fishing for tuna. Omega-3 fats in tuna help strengthen heart muscle, lower blood pressure, and prevent clotting — as well as reduce levels of potentially deadly inflammation in the body.

Pair up. Married men are less likely to die of heart disease than bachelors. Scientists looked at men with mildly high blood pressure and found that after 3 years of marriage, the happily married men had healthier hearts than their unmarried brothers.

Adopt a dog. All that love ("You're a good boy, yes you are!") and aggravation ("Bad dog! No eat Daddy's crab dip!") makes your heart more adaptable and better able to deal with the stress that can lead to heart disease.

Rinse, brush. Rinse your mouth with Cool Mint Listerine and brush with Colgate Total toothpaste. They'll reduce oral bacteria, which can decrease your risk of a heart attack by 200 to 300 percent.

Make friends at work. Men with the most work friends also have the lowest heart rates and healthiest blood-pressure levels, even during times of stress.

[Winnow]

This list of suggestions for getting a better sleep is pretty good. It has links to other into instead of just throwing out suggestions without explaining them.

http://lifehacker.com/software/lifehack ... 309030.php

This one's interesting.

3. Shortcut a Long Nap with the Clattering Spoon

Artist and napper Salvador Dali had an interesting nap technique, based on the idea that your body benefits from just getting to sleep as much as a couple of hours worth of shut-eye. He purportedley used a spoon to wake himself up just as he lost consciousness. According to Question Swap (via 43F), here's what you do:

Lie down or sit in comfy seat holding a spoon in your fingertips. you should be holding it in a way that - when you loose consciousness (sleep) you drop it... the Clatter (put a big plate on the floor under your hand) will wake you.... and you get woken JUST as you enter the best "dreamy" bit of your sleep. Alternatively, hold a bunch of keys: same effect.

I used to do this in Chemistry class after lunch in high school although it was with a pencil. After stuffing my face for three straight lunch periods that I happened to have off due to the way my schedule was arranged, and having all the free food I could eat at a boarding school, I'd pass out like clockwork in Chemistry the following period. I'd have my pencil in my hand, it would drop, the teacher would look at me, and then continue with the class as I grabbed my pencil. After that, I was a little more alert but it was too late to be of use for Chemistry. I did much better in the next class which was World History!

[Sylvus]

Those with sleep apnea are chronic snorers not necessarily vice versa. CPAPs are prescribed for apnea. Basically yeah I would stop breathing because my soft palette slides backward when I sleep blocking my ability to breathe forcing me to wake up, not fully awake just enough to contract the muscles and clear the airway. Essentially I was coming out of sleep on average 30x an hour so I very seldom got restful sleep. The CPAP keeps slight (9mbar) constant pressure on the airway which keeps it open.

I just got back from my sleep study, and I just found out that I have (in the words of the sleep tech) "severe sleep apnea" in every position that I sleep in. She said that I literally am not breathing more than I am breathing while I'm asleep. I guess that explains why I'm always still tired when I wake up in the morning.

My CPAP test is scheduled for next Wednesday, I hope it improves my quality of life as much as she said it should! And to think, I only went in for the study so my girlfriend wouldn't have to wear earplugs to sleep anymore...

[Kilmoll the Sexy]

Pair up. Married men are less likely to die of heart disease than bachelors. Scientists looked at men with mildly high blood pressure and found that after 3 years of marriage, the happily married men had healthier hearts than their unmarried brothers.

I did a study that showed every male that got married had a 100% chance of dying at some point in their life.

just saying....

[Bubba Grizz]

Actually I'd say that men die faster after marriage. Just to escape.

Oddly enough I was thinking about the first article this morning for some reason.

[Winnow]

My CPAP test is scheduled for next Wednesday, I hope it improves my quality of life as much as she said it should!

WTF?

Do they observe you taking a dump and evaluate how you might be able to improve upon your technique? You fail if veins pop in your forehead while in process!

[Aardor]

My CPAP test is scheduled for next Wednesday, I hope it improves my quality of life as much as she said it should!

WTF?

Do they observe you taking a dump and evaluate how you might be able to improve upon your technique? You fail if veins pop in your forehead while in process!

No, they test whether the CPAP actually helps since it does not in all sleep apnea cases, in addition to CPAP machines being expensive (I would think that the observations also have something to do with insurance companies not wanting to pay for the machines).

[Winnow]

My CPAP test is scheduled for next Wednesday, I hope it improves my quality of life as much as she said it should!

WTF?

Do they observe you taking a dump and evaluate how you might be able to improve upon your technique? You fail if veins pop in your forehead while in process!

No, they test whether the CPAP actually helps since it does not in all sleep apnea cases, in addition to CPAP machines being expensive (I would think that the observations also have something to do with insurance companies not wanting to pay for the machines).

Are you claiming to know about CRAP than me?

[Canelek]

When I eat chilli, I am a CRAP machine.

I hope that works well for you, Sylvus!

[Tyek]

I usually only get 4-6 hours a night. Recently I got the flu, or thought I had it. I was sleeping 14 hours getting up for 3 hours then sleeping 3-5 more. I finally went to the doctor this afternoon and they almost wouldn't let me go home. My pulse-op was only 91. They made me do a breathing treatment which got it up to the minimum 95 and sent me home with steroids, antibiotics, cough syrup with vicodan in it and an inhaler. Apparently I have pneumonia and have been going to work and making it worse. If the breathing procedure had not brought it up they were sending me to the hospital.

I just feel tired, and cough a lot but not super sick. Now I am on bedrest...bah

[Sabek]

Those with sleep apnea are chronic snorers not necessarily vice versa. CPAPs are prescribed for apnea. Basically yeah I would stop breathing because my soft palette slides backward when I sleep blocking my ability to breathe forcing me to wake up, not fully awake just enough to contract the muscles and clear the airway. Essentially I was coming out of sleep on average 30x an hour so I very seldom got restful sleep. The CPAP keeps slight (9mbar) constant pressure on the airway which keeps it open.

I just got back from my sleep study, and I just found out that I have (in the words of the sleep tech) "severe sleep apnea" in every position that I sleep in. She said that I literally am not breathing more than I am breathing while I'm asleep. I guess that explains why I'm always still tired when I wake up in the morning.

My CPAP test is scheduled for next Wednesday, I hope it improves my quality of life as much as she said it should! And to think, I only went in for the study so my girlfriend wouldn't have to wear earplugs to sleep anymore...

Sylvus let me know how it goes. I have been using a CPAP for over two years now. The difference is night and day. My AHI during my study was 65. Which means 65 times an hour I was having an Apnea episode. That could be full stop of breathing or reduced airflow.
For perspective an AHI of 30 is the break point for severe Apnea, and I was double it. I have heard extreme cases of folks with 100+ AHI.

Since using the CPAP I have had a lot more energy, and have lowered the risks of a lot of health problems.

It may be rough at first adjusting to the CPAP when you get it. The biggest thing I can tell you is really take your time when deciding on the mask. That appears to be the most helpful thing for having a smooth transition.

BTW the health risks apnea can have are extensive:
Lack of energy
Heart Attacks
Stroke
High Blood Pressure
ED
Weight gain

I found when I was starting out that a really good website for info and kind of a support forum was:
http://www.sleepapnea.org/index.html

They talk about CPAP machines, masks, peoples test results, and lots of other stuff.

[Canelek]

Ack Tyek. Sounds like walking pneumonia all right. I had it years ago. Just take it easy and take your horse pills and you will be gtg.

[Spang]

I'm scheduled to see a doctor in a couple of hours. I think I have pneumonia. I've had it for at least a week, if I do in fact have it. I looked at the symptoms for pneumonia at WebMB last night and checked off all the ones I had or have had and it was all of them.

[Tyek]

Thanks Canelek...I have a whole bunch of pills I am taking, the antibiotic one is huge.

Good luck Spang, I hope you don't have pnuemonia it sucks.

[Spang]

Thanks a lot, you as well. I'm pretty sure I have it, though. Hopefully my doctor is an elitist.

[Spang]

According to the doctor I saw, I have bronchitis. He was Indian, so I believe him.

[Tyek]

glad to hear it, rest up because bronchitis becomes pnuemonia if you do not take care of it. I guess I didn't and almost had to spend the night in the hospital.

[Spang]

They prescribed me this:

[Aardor]

Pretty much the most common antibiotic prescribed for URI's!

[Tyek]

I got that,some steroids, tussenex cough syrup and an inhaler with abuterol.

[Canelek]

Yeah, that antibiotic is a monster. The cough syrup with codeine is great (well, when you plan on sleeping). The coughing pain makes bronchitis feel trivial.

Full-blown pneumonia is not something you want! Luckily, if you follow the doctor's orders, you will be right as rain in about a fortnight.

[Tyek]

I actually got the cough medicine with the vicoden in it. The codiene one was not working.

[Aardor]

I actually got the cough medicine with the vicoden in it. The codiene one was not working.

Does it still taste like shit?


Oh, and for the Abuterol (is it really abuterol, or proventil? I tried to get abuterol last time i got an inhaler, and they made me get the named brand), make sure to rinse out your mouth after using it. Can cause a nasty yeast infection in your mouth if you do not.

[Tyek]

It is an abuterol inhaler. I guess it was Augmentin 875 (it's huge) for the antibiotic, and methylprednisone for the steroid. The cough syrup doesn't have much of a taste.

[Zver]

If anyone needs help with testing for sleep apnea or with a CPAP machines, give me a call or PM me.

http://www.superiorsleepservices.com/

ask for Michael

[Sylvus]

Gogo CPAP machines. I just had my CPAP test, and I went from ~84 events per hour to < 1 event per hour. I think I'm going to like this thing!

[Sabek]

Gogo CPAP machines. I just had my CPAP test, and I went from ~84 events per hour to < 1 event per hour. I think I'm going to like this thing!

My one caution to you would be don't expect to feel like a new man overnight. You will have sleep debt that you have built up over all the time you haven't been sleeping well. It will take some time to make that up. You may find yourself sleeping more and taking naps. At times I almost felt more tired, but once I got past the initial payback of the sleep debt it was night and day.

[Spang]

In case anyone was worried about my health, it's back to 100%. Thanks for all the cards and flowers.

[Soreali]

In case anyone was worried about my health, it's back to 100%. Thanks for all the cards and flowers.

you were sick?



And i for one, do not get enough sleep... insomnia ftw!

[Tyek]

Gratz Spang, I am working my way back as well. Today is the best day I have felt in some time. I am still on rest duty until Monday afternoons follow up visit.

[Spang]

you were sick?

I thought I was going to die of pneumonia, but I had bronchitis instead. They gave me an antibiotic that I took for five days and it worked. I really didn't get any cards or flowers, though. I'd rather have hookers and beer.