sleep
Showing posts with label sleep. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sleep. Show all posts

Wide variation in UK sleep disorders services which doesn't match need

The provision of services to treat an increasingly common sleep disorder linked to serious ill health varies widely across the UK and does not match current need, indicates research published online in Thorax.


Furthermore, demand is set to rise as the population's age and girth increase, both of which are risk factors for the disorder, known as obstructive sleep apnoea or OSA for short.


OSA is a condition that disrupts breathing during sleep, usually as a result of the relaxation of the muscles and soft tissues in the throat which relax and collapse to block the airway for 10 or more seconds. It affects an estimated 4% of middle aged men and 2% of middle aged women, and is associated with obesity and increasing age. But it is thought that 80% of cases remain undiagnosed.


Because OSA disrupts breathing during sleep, it usually interferes with the quality and length of sleep as well, leading to daytime sleepiness and the risk of accidents as well as other health problems associated with poor quality sleep.


The researchers used British Lung Foundation data, to identify the location of sleep disorder centres in all four UK countries.


To uncover hotspots with the highest predicted rates of OSA, they used prevalence data for the five most common factors associated with OSA - obesity, type 2 diabetes, older age, high blood pressure, and gender - in the populations served by 239 different NHS administrative areas in all four UK countries.


They then mapped the predicted prevalence rates of OSA onto the location of sleep disorder centres and found "a concerning mismatch" between them.


Wales, the North East of England, large parts of East Anglia and Lincolnshire were the areas with the highest predicted rates of the condition, while large conurbations in England and Scotland and several counties around London were among the areas with the lowest predicted rates.


The number of sleep centres across the UK totalled 289, only 50 of which offered full diagnostic assessment of sleep problems (polysomnography), equivalent to one centre for every 1.25 million citizens - a ratio that is around 10 times higher than in the USA.


And these centres were not evenly distributed either. For example, 66 of the 213 clinical commissioning group areas in England had no sleep centre at all, yet there were nine in one large conurbation.


The evidence shows that the number of diagnostic sleep studies per 1000 of the population varies 60-fold across the UK - the highest variation of any branch of respiratory healthcare, the study authors point out.


"[This] is a reflection of both a low rate of symptom recognition and referral from primary care, and a lack of services to which patients can be referred," they write.


"Sleep medicine is still evolving, and despite an increasingly obese an ageing population with an intensifying likelihood of developing [other conditions] at the same time such as diabetes and [high blood pressure], the UK's need for a nationwide delivery strategy for sleep service provision has not been adequately addressed," they add.


"The current provision of sleep services in the UK does not meet the healthcare requirements of the population and varies remarkably," they conclude.
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Lack of sleep boosts food purchases the next day


Savvy shoppers know that it’s a bad idea to shop for food when they are hungry. It’s a formula for filling your cart with high calorie foods, and likely spending more money than expected. Shopping while sleep deprived may have the same effect.

That finding comes from an interesting experiment done by a team of Swedish researchers. They asked 14 men to go grocery shopping twice—once on the morning after a good night’s sleep, the other on a morning after a night of no sleep. All were given the equivalent of $50 to spend, and were asked to buy as much as they could out of a possible 40 items, including 20 high-caloric foods and 20 low-caloric foods. To make sure the men weren’t hungry, they were fed a solid breakfast before grocery shopping.

The men bought more food, and more high-calorie foods, the morning after sleep deprivation than after sleeping well. The results were published online in the journal Obesity.

We’ve known for some time that not getting enough sleep is linked to weight gain. It’s possible that shopping may contribute to this phenomenon. Lack of sleep may contribute to weight gain via other possible mechanisms. Too little sleep may
slow metabolismprompt cells to store carbohydrates as fat rather than use it for energy or burn it off as heatcause cells to not respond as well as they should to insulin. That increases the level of sugar and insulin in the bloodstream, which can lead to weight gain.lower levels of leptin, a hormone that suppresses appetite, and increase levels of ghrelin (GRELL-in), an appetite-stimulating hormone.
It’s interesting that the researchers chose men rather than women for this experiment. Perhaps in Sweden, where the study was done, men do more of the grocery shopping. In the United States, we certainly need to see if the results will be the same in women.

For years, research on weight gain and obesity has focused on genes, foods, diets, and physical activity (or the lack of it). This study from Sweden, along with many others, are showing that our behaviors also play important roles in weight maintenance and weight gain. A good example of this work is the research conducted by Cornell University’s Brian Wansink and colleagues on “mindless eating.”

You can put the Swedish study into practice today. Be aware of how your body responds when you don’t get enough sleep. Whenever possible, shop for food only on days when you’ve gotten at least seven hours of sleep—and don’t go to the grocery store hungry. And when you know you are sleep deprived and tired, focus on mindful eating even more than usual.
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Sleeping is more complicated than you know

Sleeping is more complicated than you know

We found out the truth behind these fictions.
#1. Catching Up

 MYTH
It's good to "catch up" on sleep when you can—like sleeping in late on weekends.
TRUTH 
It's tempting to sleep late on weekends, but it's important to keep a regular sleep schedule seven days a week. A regular bedtime and waking time will help you fall asleep at night.


#2. Evening Workouts

 MYTH
A good workout in the evening will make you tired so you'll fall asleep faster.
TRUTH
Exercising regularly does make it easier to fall asleep. But make sure you finish working out at least three hours before bedtime—preferably in the afternoon. A cooler body makes it easier to fall asleep. Exercise raises your body temperature and it takes about six hours to get back to normal temperature.


#3. Sex

 MYTH
Sex at night will only arouse you and keep you up.
TRUTH
Actually, sex releases endorphins that make you feel good about yourself, so it relieves stress making it easier to fall asleep.


#4. Brain's Rest

 MYTH
Sleep is needed for your brain to rest.
TRUTH
Sleep is definitely needed—but it's not your brain that needs to rest, it's your body. Your brain is still working when you're asleep, controlling bodily functions like breathing.


#5. Falling Back Asleep

 MYTH
If you wake up in the middle of the night, it's best to lie still and try to fall back asleep. Getting up will only wake you up more.
TRUTH
If you can't fall back asleep within 15-20 minutes, get out of bed. Go to another room and do something relaxing, like listening to music or reading. If you lie there stressing out about falling back asleep, you'll only get more anxious—and never fall asleep.
#6. Your Bedroom

 MYTH
It's good to hang out in your bedroom at night, before you go to sleep, because it will get you "ready" to fall asleep. 
TRUTH 
The more activities you associate with your bedroom—like watching TV, or working on your computer—the harder it may be to fall asleep there when you want to. It's best to use your bed only for sleep and sex, to strengthen the association between bed and sleep.
#7. Older People

 MYTH 
Older people need less sleep. 
TRUTH
It may seem like older folks get by on less sleep. But the TRUTH is, they
need the same amount of sleep as younger people—seven to nine hours a day. It's their sleep patterns that change: They tend to sleep more during the day, with small naps.


#8. Temperature

 MYTH
Cozying up under heavy blankets will make you go to sleep faster. 
TRUTH 
The body gets into sleep mode more easily when it is at a cooler temperature. So if you must use a squishy down comforter (or two), open the window a crack to let in some fresh air. You don't want to be cold, but you don't want to get too warm either.  


#9. Snoring 

MYTH 
Snoring is common and totally harmless. 
TRUTH 
Snoring is common—and harmless for most people. But it also may be a symptom of sleep disorder called sleep apnea — (which can be life threatening). If you snore loudly, and there are long pauses in your snoring, you should see your doctor. Sleep apnea can be treated. 


#10. Alcohol

 MYTH
 A nice glass of wine will help calm you down and put you to sleep faster. 
TRUTH
While drinking alcohol may make you tired and put you to sleep faster (and of course drinking a lot will really knock you out), you'll end up having fragmented sleep and waking up during the night.

By Michelle Lee Ribeiro, Women's Health
 
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