The study found that sleep problems women negatively affects family interaction

The distinction of interactions among married couples is affected by wives' inability to capture asleep at night, but not by husbands' sleep problems, suggests new research that bequeath be presented Monday, June 13, in Minneapolis, Minn., at SLEEP 2011, the 25th Anniversary Conclave of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies LLC (APSS).

Results overshadow that, among wives, taking longer to fall asleep at continuously predicted their reports of more negative and less positive marital interactions the next day, and it also predicted their partner's reports of less positive marital interaction ratings the following day. In comparison, husbands' sleep did not affect their own or their wife's report of next day's marital interactions.
"We create that wives' sleep problems affect her own and her spouse's marital functioning the next day, and these effects were unaffiliated of depressive symptoms," said principal investigator Wendy M. Troxel, PhD, auxiliary professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in Pittsburgh, Pa. "Specifically, wives who took longer to lowering asleep the night before reported poorer marital functioning the next day, and so did their husbands."
The relationship between nightly drop and next day's marital interactions was stronger than the association between everyday marital interactions and subsequent sleep. Curiously, however, husbands' reports of higher levels of assertive marital interactions predicted their own shorter sleep duration the next edge of night.
The analysis involved 32 healthy, married couples with an commonplace age of 32 years. Participants were free of clinically allied sleep, psychiatric or medical disorders. Sleep latency, wakefulness after doze onset, and total sleep time were measured by actigraphy for 10 nights.
The eminence of marital interactions was assessed daily over the 10-day assessment using electronic diaries to calculate positive marital interactions such as feeling supported or valued by spouse, as serenely as negative marital interactions such as feeling criticized or ignored by spouse. Dyadic, previously series analyses helped determine the direction of the relationship between snore and marital interactions.
According to the authors, the findings display that sleep disorders such as insomnia can have a negative impact on marital relationships. "These results highlight the matter of considering the interpersonal consequences of sleep and buy ambien zolpidem," said Troxel.
The reading was supported by the National Institutes of Health through the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; and the Clinical & Translational Science Awards.

Brief counseling sessions treat insomnia up to six months

Older adults with insomnia could improve sleep quality with individualized, brief counseling.

In a randomized controlled study that included 79 older adults with insomnia, researchers from University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine compared the impact of face-to-face and phone counseling to printed educational information about insomnia. They found counseling was effective for helping older adults obtain needed sleep, potentially reducing the need for medications that could cause harm.
The group who received counseling received two sessions from a nurse clinician, followed by two telephone calls that included behavioral instructions for curbing insomnia. The average age of the participants was 71.7 years. In the group, 39 participants received nurse clinician instructions and the other 40 were given printed materials about insomnia and sleep habits.
The groups answered questions about sleep habits, kept diaries, provided demographic information, underwent sleep assessment studies using polysomnography in addition to actigraphy that involves wearing a wrist and ankle monitor.
According to the results, more older adults who received behavioral treatment for insomnia responded favorably - 67 percent versus 25 percent in the control group, after four weeks, reported by the study group. The benefits were noted six months later.
The researchers estimated that for every 2.4 patients counseled, one would no longer meet criteria for insomnia. The study results could ensure safety for older adults who have trouble falling or staying asleep. According to background information from the study, medications are equally as effective, but increase the risk for falls and other adverse events, especially in older populations.
Background information from the study states 15 to 35 percent of older adults in the US suffer from insomnia. Daytime fatigue from poor sleep increases the risk of falls and hip fractures that can lead to disability and hospitalization.
The authors note counseling is an "attractive" option for treating insomnia because it reduces the stigma of behavioral psychological treatments. The authors suggest training could be provided to nurses and other health care professionals who could counsel older patients experiencing insomnia, who were shown in the study to respond favorably.

Sleep Apnea Causes Memory Loss

Sleep apnea sufferers may suffer brain tissue damage, which is responsible for memory.
Other researches have already proved the link between sleep apnea and risk of stroke, heart disease, and diabetes. This new research says that sleep apnea also leads to memory loss.
Sleep apnea patients stop breathing when asleep. They wake up to breathe normally and take oxygen. Breath interruption happens because throat, soft palate and tongue muscles relax, narrow the way for air to get inside. These patients may wake up about hundred of times during a night, this is why they never sleep well and are sleepy during daytime and have difficulties with remembering things and concentration.
Problems with memory were thought to be because of lack of sleep, but the research shows that it is caused by serious damage of brain tissue.
A team of researchers from University of California, Los Angeles examined patients with sleep apnea. They did MRI scans for brain underside tissues called mammillary bodies and found that the examined 43 disease sufferers had 20% smaller mammillary bodies than 66 participants without the disease.
Researchers suggest that the continuing lack of oxygen causes serious brain tissue damage leading to memory loss. Memory problems continue even when patients receive proper sleep apnea treatment, meaning that brain damage is very serious and difficult to recover.
There are other diseases such as Alzheimer's, leading to brain tissue damage, and these patients are taking thiamine or vitamin B1 to stop brain cell death. ULCA researchers are planning a further research to see if vitamin intake will stop brain damage in sleep apnea patients as well.

Connection Between Sleep Apnea, Stroke And Death

Obstructive sleep apnea decreases blood flow to the brain, elevates blood pressure within the brain and eventually harms the brain's ability to modulate these changes and prevent damage to itself, according to a new study published by The American Physiological Society. The findings may help explain why people with sleep apnea are more likely to suffer strokes and to die in their sleep.
Sleep apnea is the most commonly diagnosed condition amongst sleep-related breathing disorders and can lead to debilitating and sometimes fatal consequences for the 18 million Americans who have been diagnosed with the disorder. This study identifies a mechanism behind stroke in these patients.
The study, 'Impaired cerebral autoregulation in obstructive sleep apnea' was carried out by Fred Urbano, Francoise Roux, Joseph Schindler and Vahid Mohsenin, all of the Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut. It appears in the current issue of the Journal of Applied Physiology.
During sleep apnea episodes, the upper airway becomes blocked, hindering or stopping breathing and causing blood oxygen levels to drop and blood pressure to rise. The person eventually awakens and begins breathing, restoring normal blood oxygen and blood flow to the brain.
Ordinarily, the brain regulates its blood flow to meet its own metabolic needs, even in the face of changes in blood pressure -- a process known as cerebral autoregulation. This study found that the repeated surges and drops in blood pressure and blood flow during numerous apnea episodes each night reduces the brain's ability to regulate these functions.
Condition a health risk
Up to 4% of the population suffers from obstructive sleep apnea. In a previous study, Dr. Mohsenin and his colleagues showed that people with sleep apnea are three times more likely to suffer a stroke or die, compared to people in a similar state of health but without sleep apnea.
'After we found that sleep apnea is a risk factor for stroke and death, independent of other risk factors, we hypothesized that there must be something wrong with the regulation of blood flow to the brain,' Dr. Mohsenin said. Participants included people with severe sleep apnea who experienced more than 30 apneas an hour during sleep time. The participants were about 47 years old, were free of cardiac disease and had not experienced any strokes. The study also included a control group which did not have sleep apnea but was similar in most other ways.

Sleep Tight As Buggers Don't Transmit Disease

Do not let the bed bugs bite. So goes the nursery rhyme. It seems that the old dread of disease from the bed bug is not to be feared.
A report in the April 1 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association found that the little buggers don’t transmit disease as previously thought. The report reviewed more than 50 previously published articles and found no reliable evidence of disease transmission.
The authors of the study do point out that even though there is no transmission of disease, the bed bugs (Cimex lectularius) still remain a nuisance.
Bed bugs are a human parasite (organism living in, with, or on another organism) and feed only on blood. They are small but visible to the naked eye, wingless, yellow to reddish brown in color, oval shaped, and have prominent eyes. They can hide in the cracks and crevices of mattresses, in box springs, on the backboards of beds, and behind loose wallpaper baseboards, and they can travel in furniture, luggage, clothing, and other personal belongings. Bed bugs are predominantly night feeders, attracted to warm-blooded animals which includes humans.
The authors found multiple reports describing various cutaneous reactions associated with bed bug bites. Systemic reactions, such as anaphylaxis, were less common.
In many cases there is no reaction to the bite. Often there will barely be any visible evidence of a puncture from a bite. The most common reaction is the development of small inflamed pruritic (itchy) bumps where each bite occurred. These usually resolve in one to two weeks. Over-the-counter topical antihistamines or topical corticosteroids will help with the itching.
Much less often, an allergic reaction to the bed bug bite can cause a complex skin reaction that results in urticaria (inflammation and swelling of the skin) at the site of the bite. When this happens, care should be taken so that the resulting rash doesn’t become secondarily infected. Use the OTC topical creams as above for the itching. If the rash becomes infected, then antibiotics may be required.
Rarely, asthma occurs as a systemic type of an allergic reaction caused by bed bug bites. This may be accompanied by more extensive urticaria and anaphylaxis (severe and sometimes fatal reaction to an allergen resulting in breathing difficulties, low blood pressure, and eventually shock if untreated). Anaphylaxis reactions need to be treated as an emergency. If you have these types of symptoms, go to the emergency room.
The authors noted that eradication of the creatures is challenging because of insecticide resistance, a lack of effective products, and health concerns about spraying mattresses with pesticides.

Sleep Apnea Linked To Increased Risk Of Death

Sleep-disordered breathing (also known as sleep apnea) is associated with an increased risk of death, according to new results from the Wisconsin Sleep Cohort, an 18-year observational study supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health. Researchers found that adults (ages 30 to 60) with sleep-disordered breathing at the start of the study were two to three times more likely to die from any cause compared to those who did not have sleep-disordered breathing. The risk of death was linked to the severity of sleep-disordered breathing and was not attributable to age, gender, body mass index (an indicator of overweight or obesity), or cardiovascular health status.
“Sleep-Disordered Breathing and Mortality: Eighteen-Year Follow-Up of the Wisconsin Sleep Cohort,” is published August 1 in the journal Sleep.
Researchers followed 1522 generally healthy men and women for an average of 13.8 years after testing them for sleep-disordered breathing using a standard overnight sleep test. Participants with severe sleep-disordered breathing were three times more likely to die during the study than those without breathing problems during sleep. Those who were not treated were at even greater risk. Participants with untreated severe sleep-disordered breathing were four times more likely to die from any cause and five times more likely to die from cardiovascular conditions.
The Wisconsin Sleep Cohort is the most comprehensive assessment yet of mortality risks associated with sleep-disordered breathing and the first to study a randomly selected population of adults in the United States. The findings suggest that the treatment of severe sleep-disordered breathing may be protective, especially against cardiovascular deaths. Further studies are needed to determine whether the findings are applicable across the United States, and how treatment may improve survival, quality of life, and the overall health status of affected individuals.
Michael J. Twery, PhD, director of the NHLBI National Center on Sleep Disorders Research, is available to comment on these findings, as well as on associated health risks of sleep-disordered breathing, and the importance of diagnosing and treating the condition.
An estimated 12-18 million Americans have moderate to severe sleep-disordered breathing. Periodically during sleep, the upper airway becomes narrowed or blocked, and air has trouble reaching the lungs; in some cases, breathing stops completely (called apnea) for seconds to minutes at a time. The frequent pauses in breathing disrupt sleep and prevent adequate amounts of oxygen from entering the bloodstream. Interruptions in breathing are potentially serious medical conditions and should be evaluated by a physician to determine whether treatment is needed.
Because affected individuals are asleep and typically unaware of the breathing problems, and the condition cannot be diagnosed during routine physician office visits, most people with sleep-disordered breathing are undiagnosed.
Untreated sleep-disordered breathing has been linked to a greater risk of cardiovascular disease and risk factors — including high blood pressure, stroke, and diabetes — as well as to excessive daytime sleepiness, which can impair quality of life and performance on the job or in school, and increase the risk of injury or death from work-related accidents and vehicular crashes.
Common signs that should be discussed with a physician include complaints of snoring from bed partners, excessive daytime sleepiness, and morning headache. Sleep-disordered breathing occurs in people of all ages, but is more common in men, the elderly, and overweight individuals. With the growing prevalence of overweight and obesity in the United States and the aging population, the number of individuals with sleep-disordered breathing is likely to rise.

Insomnia and Anxiety Medications Linked to Increased Mortality

Medications taken for insomnia and anxiety are now linked to increased mortality. Results of an analysis found a 36 percent increased chance of dying among individuals who use sleeping medications and anti-anxiety drugs, found in a twelve year study.
The findings come from a study that followed 14,000 Canadians in the Statistics Canada's National Population Health Survey from 1994 and 2007. During the survey, participants who used drugs for insomnia or anxiety were noted to have a thirty-six percent higher chance of dying after adjusting for other personal factors, including depression, tobacco and alcohol use, other health issues and activity levels.
The researchers say there are several reasons that sleeping pills and medicines to treat anxiety might do more harm than good.

How Sleeping Pills and Anxiety Meds Increase Risk of Dying

Medicines used for insomnia decrease reaction time and alertness and lead to lack of coordination, potentially leading to falls and other mishaps. Impaired judgment could also increase the chances of suicide among depressed patients.
Geneviève Belleville, a professor at Université Laval's School of Psychology where the study was conducted says, "These medications aren't candy, and taking them is far from harmless." Another theory is that insomnia drugs and anxiolytics lead to respiratory depression, aggravating existing breathing problems that can lead to death.
Given the findings, Belleville suggests short-term use of drugs for insomnia and anxiety. Behavioral and cognitive therapy are shown to treat anxiety and sleep disorders and should be offered to patients by physicians. "Combining a pharmacological approach in the short term with psychological treatment is a promising strategy for reducing anxiety and promoting sleep."