NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Poor quality sleep - whether from insomnia, sleep fragmentation, or nightmares - is associated with increased risk of death, according to several presentations this week in Seattle at SLEEP 2009, the 23rd Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies.
One study, conducted at Penn State College of Medicine in Hershey, Pennsylvania, suggests that insomnia may be as hazardous as obstructive sleep apnea.
"Insomnia with objective short sleep duration is associated with an activation of the stress system, i.e., higher secretion of cortisol and increased risk of high blood pressure," said lead author Dr. Alexandros Vgontzas. He and his associates examined the effects of insomnia that persisted for at least 1 year and objective short sleep duration on mortality.
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Thursday, June 18, 2009
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Airway Exercise May Heal Snorring
Snorring: get correct routine exercise to fix it!
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Exercises involving the tongue and soft palate may reduce the severity and symptoms in patients with moderate obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), sleep specialists report in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
OSA is a condition in which the throat muscles collapse during sleep, preventing oxygen from getting to the lungs. These episodes, called "apnea," are followed by loud snoring and labored breathing. The sleeper is eventually aroused from deep sleep as he struggles to breath. This all results in overall poor sleep quality, followed by daytime drowsiness.
A recent study showed that playing the didgeridoo to train the upper airway muscles "significantly ameliorated OSA syndrome severity and associated symptoms," according to principal investigator Dr. Geraldo Lorenzi-Filho and associates at the University of Sao Paulo Medical School in Brazil. A didgeridoo is a wind instrument used by Australian Aborigines consisting of a long thick hollowed-out wooden pipe that makes a deep reverberating sound.
With this in mind, the researchers chose a set of isometric and isotonic exercises for the tongue and soft palate area (oropharyngeal area) derived from speech therapy training that involved suction, swallowing, chewing, breathing and speech. In a clinical trial, 31 patients were randomly assigned to the exercise regimen (to be performed for 30 minutes each day for 3 months), or to a sham "deep breathing" therapy.
Read more
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Exercises involving the tongue and soft palate may reduce the severity and symptoms in patients with moderate obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), sleep specialists report in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
OSA is a condition in which the throat muscles collapse during sleep, preventing oxygen from getting to the lungs. These episodes, called "apnea," are followed by loud snoring and labored breathing. The sleeper is eventually aroused from deep sleep as he struggles to breath. This all results in overall poor sleep quality, followed by daytime drowsiness.
A recent study showed that playing the didgeridoo to train the upper airway muscles "significantly ameliorated OSA syndrome severity and associated symptoms," according to principal investigator Dr. Geraldo Lorenzi-Filho and associates at the University of Sao Paulo Medical School in Brazil. A didgeridoo is a wind instrument used by Australian Aborigines consisting of a long thick hollowed-out wooden pipe that makes a deep reverberating sound.
With this in mind, the researchers chose a set of isometric and isotonic exercises for the tongue and soft palate area (oropharyngeal area) derived from speech therapy training that involved suction, swallowing, chewing, breathing and speech. In a clinical trial, 31 patients were randomly assigned to the exercise regimen (to be performed for 30 minutes each day for 3 months), or to a sham "deep breathing" therapy.
Read more
Smoking to Reduce Weight: No Kidding?
I don't want to promote smoking. I had heard that rumours that smoking can reduce weight. I started smoking 10 years ago, but it never give me ideal weight. Once I was very satisfied to my shape, it is due to diet and very much exercise. But at least, finally I know that the rumours have background.
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Offering clues to why smokers often gain weight after quitting, a new study suggests that smoking enhances the activity of a gene that helps break down body fat.
Researchers found that compared with non-smokers, a group of healthy smokers showed greater activity in a gene called AZGP1 in cell samples taken from their airways.
Because the gene is thought to be important in breaking down fat and controlling weight, the findings point to one possible reason that smokers tend to weigh less than non-smokers -- and why people often put on pounds after quitting.
Read more
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Offering clues to why smokers often gain weight after quitting, a new study suggests that smoking enhances the activity of a gene that helps break down body fat.
Researchers found that compared with non-smokers, a group of healthy smokers showed greater activity in a gene called AZGP1 in cell samples taken from their airways.
Because the gene is thought to be important in breaking down fat and controlling weight, the findings point to one possible reason that smokers tend to weigh less than non-smokers -- and why people often put on pounds after quitting.
Read more
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