The Insomnia Blog - Sleep Doctor Michael Breus, PhD

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Sleep vacations, away and at home

Is sleep tourism the next big thing? Around the world, hotels, spas and even nightclubs are designing getaways that cater to a sleep-deprived clientele. Here are a few of the most indulgent sleep getaways from around the world, according to the UK’s Guardian newspaper:

•  In London, the Milestone Hotel offers what it calls a “Sleep Experience Package,” which is designed specifically for guests who have insomnia. This getaway includes private consultation with a sleep expert, massage, aromatherapy tools, and overnight sleep monitoring. In addition to a traditional room service menu, the hotel offers its sleep-deprived customers a “pillow menu.”

 

• The Grand Resort Bad Ragaz in Switzerland offers a getaway that it calls “sleep diagnostics in a 5-star atmosphere.” During a stay, guests receive a physical exam and medical consultation, including weight and BMI analysis. Overnight, guests have their sleep monitored by EEG and their night’s shut-eye recorded on video, for analysis of sleep habits and patterns.

 

• In Paris, the Hotel Gabriel Paris Marais has rooms equipped with a sound and light system designed to help guests fall asleep and stay asleep. Paris is also home to Zen Bar a Sieste. Calling itself “Europe’s First Nap Bar,” bar offers its patrons the chance to purchase snooze time on zero-gravity chairs or massage beds.

Catering to sleep needs and sleep problems of travelers seems to be on the rise. I wrote not long ago about a hotel chain in Europe and the Middle East that had begun offering sound-proofed “snore absorption rooms” to its clientele. The same chain has also designated quiet zones, where they’ve gone so far as to institute “snore patrols.” Snoring loudly in these areas will result in guests receiving a visit from a night patroller.

Meanwhile, there’s a celebrity trend in at-home, custom “snoratoria,” which are bedrooms equipped with sound proofing, designed to keep the snorer ensconced in luxurious comfort and the rest of the house in silence!

As you might expect, these getaways come with some hefty price tags. What if, like most of us, you don’t have the time or the money for a luxury getaway or a custom-designed, soundproofed bedroom? There’s no reason you can’t create your own relaxing, indulgent and restful sleep spa at home. Here are a few suggestions for a do-it-yourself sleep vacation that won’t require you to pack a bag:

Unplug. We’re wired all the time, to our cell phones, computers, tablets, and televisions. These devices inevitably seem to find their way into our bedrooms, where they easily interfere with a good night’s sleep. A 2011 National Sleep Foundation poll found that 95% of Americans use electronic devices within one hour before sleep. Electronics in the bedroom disrupt sleep in a few ways. They emit light that can interfere with the body’s circadian rhythm, and its production of the sleep-inducing hormone melatonin. Whether it’s a late-night email, or a flurry of text messages, these devices provide mental stimulation—and stress—that can hinder sleep. To dramatically boost your relaxation levels at home, try turning off your electronics for a whole weekend. You’ll be amazed at how easily this can give you that “getaway” feeling.

Relax your bedroom. Your sleep environment is important. Everything from the quality of your mattress and pillow, to the room temperature and sense of order in the space, can help or hinder your ability to sleep. It’s all too easy for our bedrooms to become cluttered, dusty, and in need of some TLC. Give your sleep space a makeover—treat yourself to new bedding and pillows, update your curtains or shades so you’re able to sleep in the dark. Add a white noise or sound machine designed for sleep. Clear out the clutter to create a sleep space that is welcoming, restful, and quiet, a haven you’ll want to retreat to unwind.

Indulge in mind-body relaxation. Massage, meditation and yoga are just some of the ways that you can help release stress, both physical and mental. Exercise in general is both a mood-booster and a sleep-booster. So, treat yourself to a massage. Sign up for a yoga class. Hit the gym for a light workout, and allow yourself time to relax in the sauna afterward.

It can be rejuvenating to indulge in extra sleep during getaways from our regular routines, whether that means travel to a spa or resort, or your at-home version. But let me be clear: sleep is not a luxury. Getting enough sleep on a regular basis is a key part of living a healthful life. So whether you’re hitting up a five-star sleep hotel, or giving yourself a sleep weekend at home, keep in mind that the ultimate goal is to bring more sleep into your daily life.

Sweet Dreams,

Michael J. Breus, PhD 
The Sleep Doctor™ 
www.thesleepdoctor.com

The Sleep Doctor’s Diet Plan:  Lose Weight Through Better Sleep

Everything you do, you do better with a good night’s sleep™ 
twitter: @thesleepdoctor 
Facebook: www.facebook.com/thesleepdoctor

 

 

Melatonin and Diabetes

We’ve seen a great deal of research that indicates a strong link between sleep disorders and Type 2 diabetes. Now there’s evidence that this link may be genetic. A new study reveals scientists have found a relationship between a gene associated with the “sleep hormone” melatonin, and the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.

 A group of researchers from France, Canada and the UK have discovered a link between the risk of Type 2 diabetes and several mutations in the body’s melatonin receptor gene, a gene known as MTNR1B. Working with a group of 7,632 European women—3,186 of whom already had Type 2 diabetes—researchers found:

•  40 different—and rare—mutations to the melatonin receptor gene associated with varying degrees of increased risk of Type 2 diabetes.
• 4 of these rare mutations actually caused a total loss of function in the melatonin receptor gene
• Analyzing these 4 mutations in an additional 11,854 people, researchers found that the presence of any single one was associated with a significantly increased risk of Type 2 diabetes—a risk as much as six times higher than average.

 Previous research had already established a link between diabetes risk and other, more common mutations to the melatonin receptor gene MTNR1B. This new study has revealed both a wider range of mutations to the gene that can affect diabetes risk, as well as the elevated risk among the 4 rare mutations that disable the receptor gene altogether.

 Melatonin plays a critical role in synchronizing the body’s biological clock, and regulating its sleep-wake cycle. The rise-and-fall cycle of melatonin release is critical to our ability to sleep at night. A disruption in the body’s ability to produce melatonin will lead to disordered sleep.

 There’s also evidence that disturbances to melatonin production may affect the body’s insulin levels. Insulin resistance—the body’s inability to use insulin effectively— is a fundamental characteristic of Type 2 diabetes. When functioning normally, the body produces just the amount of insulin it needs to help cells absorb glucose from the blood stream. Disturbances to insulin levels can lead this finely-tuned process to go awry.

 This is complicated stuff. These latest results also raise questions, and remind us just how much we still have to learn about the body’s biological sleep functions and the relationship to diabetes, as well as other chronic diseases.

 What we do know is that there is a compelling and growing body of evidence that sleep—and it’s biological and genetic underpinnings—plays a significant role in determining risk for diabetes. Recent studies have shown:

•   Poor sleep is linked to both weight gain and insulin resistance in healthy adults
• Sleeping fewer than 6 hours increases the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. And the less sleep you get, the greater the risk—this same study found sleeping fewer than 5 hours elevates diabetes risk even further
• Just one night of sleeping only 4 hours—rather than the recommended 7 to 8—can trigger insulin resistance.

Type 2 diabetes is most often thought of as a disease related to diet and exercise. There’s no question that poor diet and a sedentary lifestyle increase risk for diabetes. But often sleep is overlooked as a risk factor. When assessing risk for developing diabetes, disordered sleep should be considered as seriously as a diet full of fatty, starchy and processed foods, or a lack of physical activity. Too often, I’m afraid, this is not the case. In the meantime, all of us —doctors and patients both— need to give more attention to sleep as a risk factor for diabetes, and an overall indicator of general health.

 Sweet Dreams,

Michael J. Breus, PhD 
The Sleep Doctor™ 

www.thesleepdoctor.com

The Sleep Doctor’s Diet Plan:  Lose Weight Through Better Sleep

 Everything you do, you do better with a good night’s sleep™ 
twitter: @thesleepdoctor 
Facebook: www.facebook.com/thesleepdoctor

 

Police don’t get enough sleep

This news concerns me both as a health issue and an issue of public safety: a survey of nearly 5,000 police officers in the United States and Canada revealed that these law enforcement professionals are frequently suffering from sleep problems—and this lack of sleep is negatively affecting both their health and their performance on the job.

Researchers at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital screened 4957 police officers for sleep disorders, beginning with an initial screening and following with check-in screenings every six months for the next two years. Their results showed a significant portion of police officers grappling with sleep disorders, weight problems, and complications from lack of sleep. Among the 5,000 police officers who were screened: 

• 40.0% had some type of sleep disorder
• 6.5%  suffered from moderate to severe insomnia
• 33.0% had obstructive sleep apnea

 The link between obstructive sleep apnea and obesity is clear: being overweight or obese is the single greatest risk factor for sleep apnea. In this study:

• 4 out of 5 police officers were overweight or obese

 Not surprisingly, officers who screened positive for obstructive sleep apnea were more likely to have other health problems as well. Those officers who suffered from obstructive sleep apnea were also:

• 61% more likely to have diabetes
• 148% more likely to report a diagnosis of depression 
• 22% more likely to have an injury while on the job

 These findings echo an earlier, similar study, also conducted at Harvard Medical School. The results also point to the sleep hazards associated with shift work, and the difficulty of these workers in protecting the quality and quantity of their sleep while working frequently changing schedules that often span both day and night shifts. Shift workers generally get about 2 hours less sleep than other types of workers, and as a result are at greater risk for a range of health problems, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, weight problems, and psychological problems.

 It so happens that these workers are often in high-stress jobs where public health and safety are at stake. In addition to law enforcement officers, health-care workers, members of the military, airline pilots and air-traffic controllers are all frequently working day and night shifts, with changing schedules that make it difficult to establish and sustain a sleep routine. Their health and well being is more than a private matter: it is a matter of concern for all of us, a public safety issue as well as a personal health issue.

 This most recent study indicates that police officers who are suffering from sleep problems are at higher risk for errors on the job. The officers who screened positive for sleep problems had higher rates of several job performance issues than their better-sleeping counterparts. They were more likely to:

• Commit a serious administrative error
• Fall asleep while driving on a shift
• Make an error or commit a violation that was attributed to fatigue
• Demonstrate poor behavior, including uncontrolled anger

There was one group of police officers included in this study that did not conform to the study’s overall results. Members of the Massachusetts State Police had significantly lower rates of obstructive sleep apnea than the general study populations. Not surprisingly, the Massachusetts officers also had much lower rates of obesity.

What made the Massachusetts State Police so different from the overall group? In discussing the study results, researchers point to the agency’s emphasis and encouragement of exercise and physical fitness.

•  Massachusetts requires its state police officers to pass a fitness test
• All state police barracks are equipped with physical fitness centers on the premises
• The agency requires that all its officers spend 60 minutes exercising on each of their shifts. This is paid work time, within a shift, not an extra or unpaid hour of work

This is a great example of how investing in employee health pays great dividends for everyone involved. In this case, that means healthier, more capable officers with fewer health issues—and less risk of workplace accidents, errors or incidents. This is a sleep issue that should matter to all of us, whether we personally know and love someone who works shifts or not. Our law enforcement officers—like our doctors, nurses, soldiers, firefighters and pilots—are people we entrust with our safety and security, and our health. It’s in everyone’s best interest for these people to be well rested and healthy themselves.

Sweet Dreams,

Michael J. Breus, PhD 
The Sleep Doctor™ 
www.thesleepdoctor.com

The Sleep Doctor’s Diet Plan:  Lose Weight Through Better Sleep

 Everything you do, you do better with a good night’s sleep™ 
twitter: @thesleepdoctor 
Facebook: www.facebook.com/thesleepdoctor

 

 

 

 

Your Brain on Sleep

There’s still a great deal of information about the effects of sleep on the brain that we don’t yet understand, so any research that sheds light on this subject is exciting and potentially important. We know that sleep has restorative, cognitively-enhancing effects. We also know the absence of sleep can have detrimental effects on brain function. Recent studies in sleep-brain research have shown:

• A link between deep sleep and the formation of long-term memories. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine were able to establish this direct link by manipulating a cluster of cells in the brains of fruit flies. After breeding the flies to sleep on demand, the researchers discovered that with sleep, fruit flies were able to convert new information into long-term memories. Without sleep, the fruit flies were only able to retain new information for a brief period, as short-term knowledge.
• Chronic insomnia may lead to damage in the brain. Another recent study in the sleep-brain connection revealed that chronic insomnia is associated with loss of grey-matter density in the human brain. Scientists in the Netherlands found a strong correlation between chronic insomnia and a decrease in grey matter in certain regions of the brain. Moreover, they discovered that the more severe the insomnia, the more significant the decrease in grey matter.

In this post, “Can Sleep Help Heal Painful Memories?”, I wrote about newly published research that showed REM sleep helps the brain to process emotional memories. In this study, people who slept after being exposed to emotionally charged images had a less intense reaction to seeing these images a second time, compared to people who saw the images twice without sleeping between viewings. Measuring brain activity using MRI, researchers observed a quieting of activity in the region of the brain that processes emotions, indicating that during REM sleep the brain is “soothing” itself of stress.

 This latest study may provide another important piece of the puzzle as we work to understand how sleep affects our brain chemistry and brain function. This is also one of those studies that answers a question only to raise many more. Does this insight into the role of sleep in processing emotions provide us a glimpse into why we dream? For people who have suffered severe emotional trauma, is the “re-living” of those experiences connected to their sleep, and to the repetitive nightmares that often accompany significant emotional distress?

 The implications of these most recent findings could be significant for people with a wide range of conditions. People with:

• psychiatric disorders
• who live and work under prolonged, chronic and intense stress
• who suffer from mood disorders, depression and anxiety
• post traumatic stress disorder

 All of these and others stand to benefit from a greater understanding of how sleep can help process emotions.

 Stress and emotional upheaval are part of everyone’s lives at some point, of course, so this news is relevant for every one of us. As science works toward greater knowledge of how sleep works within the brain, let’s take this moment to remember just how powerful—and helpful to your well being, emotionally and physically—a good night of sleep can be.

 Sweet Dreams,

 Michael J. Breus, PhD 
The Sleep Doctor™ 

www.thesleepdoctor.com

The Sleep Doctor’s Diet Plan:  Lose Weight Through Better Sleep

 Everything you do, you do better with a good night’s sleep™ 
twitter: @thesleepdoctor 
Facebook: www.facebook.com/thesleepdoctor