The Insomnia Blog - Sleep Doctor Michael Breus, PhD

Attention Parents: Sleep Problems May Trigger Manic Depression in Kids

For years now, we’ve known that chronic sleep deprivation can trigger a litany of other health risks, from diabetes and obesity to heart and memory problems. This is true for adults and children.

But now there’s a new study has linked sleep problems among children as a trigger for manic depression. 

Sleep Boxes: Coming to an Airport Near You?

Nothing is more frustrating than traveling on empty and there’s really nowhere to get a cat nap. Lying across three rows of hard seats in the boarding area doesn’t do the trick. Sitting on the floor and resting your head on your carry-on luggage won’t do it either. And if you don’t belong to a 100K club where you can relax in a plusher setting, then you’re trapped.

Until now. Well, in the near future. Maybe.

Tee Off on This: Sleep Better, Golf Better

I don’t know any avid golfer who isn’t looking for tips to improve his or her game. Some of my golfing friends are real fanatics, incessantly talking about ways to reduce the number of strokes it takes to get through eighteen holes. And now I finally have proof to make a case for my area of expertise: better sleep. Equipment, weather conditions, athleticism, and technique aside, if you can get your game on at night, you can get your game on over the greens. Seriously.

Fact or Fiction: You Can Catch Up on Sleep Over the Weekend

If we’re watching our weight and “blow it” on any given day, we’re told it’s okay because we can make up for it the next day and get back on track. But what about when we lose sleep? Can we catch up over the weekend and, say, sleep in on Sunday morning to make up for those late, late nights during the work week?

Housework After Sex, Not Sleep

Hold on to your seatbelt for this one.

Professor Elwyn Isaac from England’s University of Leeds has just discovered an astonishing behavior among fruit flies: after mating, females ditch their usual afternoon siesta in favor of engaging in intense foraging (ahem, that would be akin to domestic-type duties or housework).

The trigger? A “sex peptide” that is produced in the males’ accessory gland, the equivalent of the human prostate, and attaches itself to the surface of the sperm’s tail.

This sex peptides appears to have a chemical effect on the female, preventing her from taking her usual afternoon nap. This suggest the behavioral change has a purpose: to prepare females for the birth of offspring, and ensure successful paternity after mating.

Okay, so maybe you’re not so impressed about new tidbit about how the fruit fly—that buggy nuisance you see on rotting fruit and vegetables—mates and changes behavior. But fruit flies, if you recall from high school biology days, have been the center of attention in research circles for decades. For starters, the fruit fly’s genome has been fully mapped, so wide ranging genetic studies are possible. In terms of sleep studies:

When Power Snoring Exceeds a Power Saw

Think you’ve got it bad putting up with a snoring bed partner? Well, think again. This month a British woman has been recorded as one of her country’s loudest snorers. Her snore is so loud that from a decibel standpoint, it’s louder than a jet plane!

Impossible? Not at all. Though snoring rarely exceeds 85 decibels, sixty-year-old Jenny Chapman comes in at 111.6 decibels, which could drown out a spinning washing machine, diesel truck, and speeding express train.