Better Sleep For Better Health…

Anyone who has worked an overnight shift knows how difficult it is to adjust back to a normal schedule. You feel like a sleep deprived zombie, never able to fully fit in during the waking hours. New evidence suggests that the toll taken may also be passed along to businesses in the form of lost productivity.

The research, as reported by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, found that the key for maximum productivity is to schedule shift start times that allow the worker to sleep right before reporting for duty.  The study used a mathematical formula to see the effects of 24 start times, each varying by one-hour increments. The hypothetical work schedule lasted six days. Each shift was nine hours and started at the same time each day. The findings suggest that the best shift start times begin in the late morning or early afternoon, whereas shifts that begin between 8 PM and 12 AM were found to be the most limiting to both sleep and work performance.

The lead investigator on the study, Angela Bowen, suggests that government labor regulations may need be changed to take into account different shift start times. “Shifts of equal duration differ in how fatiguing they are depending on the time of day when they are scheduled,” said Bowen. “The same limitation on the number of duty hours may be either overly restrictive if during the day or too liberal if during the night.”

If you currently are an overnight shift worker, the AASM suggests taking steps to maximize your sleep time. Wear sunglasses on the way home and minimize light and sound exposure in your bedroom. Try to sleep immediately after your shift in the late morning until the early evening. On days off, do not switch back completely to a normal schedule. Instead, try a compromise by going to sleep about 3 AM.

If you would like more information on sleep and shift work, check out sleepeducation.com or contact the sleep specialists at  Oregon Sleep Associates.

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Every year, especially during the summer months, millions of people take trips all across the globe. After meticulous planning , packing, and preparation they board planes towards their destinations, hoping for an enjoyable vacation away.But unfortunately, many of these travelers will experience something unexpected that can disrupt and even ruin their time off:  Jet Lag

Travelers experience “Jet Lag” because of a disruption of their Circadian Rhythm. The Circadian Rhythm is the 24 hour cycle that helps regulate the body’s sleep and wake times. This cycle uses light to essentially “set its clock”. As a person travels between time zones, their body has trouble adapting to the different environment. For example, if you are normally in the Pacific time zone and travel east to New York, your bedtime is now 3 hours ahead of when you would normally go to sleep. Conversely, if you travel west 3 hours, you may find it very hard to stay up since you are staying awake 3 hours past your bedtime.

Jet lag can make people tired and angry, sometimes ruining what is supposed to be a good vacation. Fortunately, there are some things one can do to combat the effects of Jet Lag. Here are some tips to help you deal with this problem:

• Select a flight that arrives in the early evening and go to bed at 10 PM local time.

• Anticipate the time change by getting up and going to bed at times closer to your destination’s  time zone for several days before your trip.

• Avoid alcohol, caffeine, and heavy exercise around bedtime.

• Bring earplugs and blindfolds to help dampen noise and light during sleep.

• Get outdoors and into the sunlight. Daylight will help regulate your biological clock.

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Many people around the world suffer from insomnia. There are treatments such as pharmaceuticals, but often concerns over cost and side effects turn people off of using them. But now individuals who cannot sleep have a safe and effective alternative: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a novel approach to dealing with insomnia without the need for medications. Instead of masking the problem, CBT focuses on addressing the factors that cause chronic insomnia. These factors can be personal, physiological, cognitive, and behavioral. According to the AASM, the therapy is based on two premises. First, that some of the underlying personal and physiological factors can be directly altered. Second, that maladaptive thoughts and behaviors are learned and that they serve to perpetuate insomnia. If they are learned, then they can be “unlearned” by the CBT process.  The process of the therapy typically consists of individual meetings with an insomnia specialist over several weeks. The specialist may use multiple techniques to help the patient. These techniques can include alternative medications, relaxation methods such as meditation and biofeedback, adjustment of sleep schedules, and bright light therapy. When performed correctly, CBT can be as effective in treating insomnia as medications.
Many doctors are still not aware of the existence and efficacy of CBT for insomnia. It’s best to find a sleep specialist that is specifically trained in administering CBT. Oregon Sleep Associates currently offers Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for insomnia. For more information call 503-288-5201 or visit us online at www.oregonsleepassociates.com.

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Each day we willingly let a dangerous intruder into our homes. This thief distracts us from our families, influences our children, and steals something precious every night. The outlaw is television and a new report details just how much of our lives we give away to the glowing box.

The Nielsen Company, which tallies ratings and television viewership across the country, recently revealed that American households spent on average 8 hours and 18 minutes per day watching television during the 2007-08 television season. This is a record high since the company began measuring TV watching in the 1950s.

This is significant because, according to the National Sleep Foundation’s Sleep In America Poll, Americans average only 6 hours and 40 minutes sleeping per day. Watching TV does not have positive effects on a person’s health. Though some people treat it as one, it is not a necessity for humans. Sleep is a necessity and is being disregarded in favor of electronic distraction. For the sake of your health and well being, turn the TV off and go to bed.

For more information on proper sleep hygiene and sleep in general, visit Oregon Sleep Associates.

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Do you have Diabetes? If so, your sleep may be more important to controlling your blood sugar than you think…

Research indicates that 50 to 80% of people with Type 2 Diabetes also suffer from Obstructive Sleep Apnea and a lack of restorative sleep in general is considered a risk factor for developing the disease.

Oregon Sleep Associates is hosting an exclusive free seminar on Diabetes and it’s connections with sleep. Board Certified Sleep Specialists Dr Daniel Root and Dr Jennifer Kim will be speaking. Seating is limited so reserve your spot now.

Where: Oregon Sleep Associates, 2228 NW Pettygrove St, Suite 150, Portland, OR 97210

When: Thursday, June 24th @ 5:30-6:30pm.

Diabetic refreshments provided.

Please RSVP to 503-288-5201 or email: admin@oregonsleepassociates.com

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Examples of simulated x-ray images of threat bags with typical hit rates. A: gun with low target difficulty in the center (HR was 75%), B: knife with low target difficulty in upper right corner (56%), C: gun with high target difficulty in lower right corner (50%), D: knife with high target difficulty in lower left corner (32%)

The job of a Transportation Security Administration luggage screener has to be one of the most tedious and thankless professions. All day long they stare at an X-ray screen with literally thousands of pieces of luggage passing through. Each piece is completely unique, yet they are expected to accurately pick out dangerous objects among the blurry images. Add to that the constant pressure and anger directed towards them by the hoards of annoyed travelers passing through the checkpoints. The job requires constant vigilance and attention to detail, which is why it is especially important that the TSA screeners be well-rested.

However, as research developed by the University of Pennsylvania and the Department of Homeland Security shows, even a one-time lack of sleep can seriously affect the ability to detect threats in luggage. The researchers took 5800 X-ray images of luggage and organized them into batches of 200 slides, 25% of which contained images of weapons hidden in the bags. Then study subjects went through the images on a simulated X-ray terminal. The response rate and times were measured for each subject when they were well-rested and when they had been deprived of sleep. The results were startling; the average detection rate decreased significantly and the false positive rate increased when the subjects were working the night shift or had been sleep deprived. The study authors concluded that “night work and sleep loss adversely affect the accuracy of detecting complex real world objects among high levels of background clutter.” They go on to caution that in a real world environment “fatigue in luggage screening personnel may pose a threat for air traffic safety unless countermeasures for fatigue are deployed.”

For more information on Shift Work and how it affects job performance visit the newsletter archive at www.oregonsleepassociates.com.

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You come home from work, enjoy dinner with the family, relax for a while, and settle into bed to fall asleep. But then something happens. You can’t stop thinking about your job, your grocery list, your home repairs, etc. Your mind is still racing and you just can’t relax enough to fall asleep. Pretty soon you realize it’s 3 am and you have to be up in a few hours. Just another sleepless night…

This scenario is all too familiar for many people. Insomnia, the inability to fall asleep or maintain sleep, is one of the most common sleep disorders. As outlined in Volume 2, Issue 1 of OSA’s Better Sleep, Better Health newsletter, there are many causes of Insomnia including situational stresses, shift work, and Obstructive Sleep Apnea. But what if you have seen a sleep doctor and determined you have none of these? You just feel you cannot turn off your brain.

It turns out there may actually be a previously unknown physical reason for this problem. Research published in the November 2008 issue of SLEEP suggests people may suffer from Primary Insomnia because of a lack of chemical transmitter in their brains. Gamma-aminobutyric acid, or GABA, is a common inhibitory transmitter which decreases or stops transmission of nerve impulses. The study found people with Primary Insomnia have on average 30% less GABA in their brains than those without Insomnia.

“GABA is reduced in the brains of individuals with insomnia, suggesting over-activity is present,” explains principal investigator Dr. John Winkelman in an interview on sleepeducation.com. Low GABA levels create an imbalance of brain activity. This “may lead to an inability to shut down waking signals in the brain,” he said.

Insomnia can seriously affect a person’s life and should be dealt with early on. Treatments can include short term use of hypnotic medications and cognitive behavioral therapy. For more information on sleep and Insomnia, check out our sleep center’s website.

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Recently came across this from the AASM Weekly Update:

“Forty-five percent of U.S. residents have high blood pressure, high cholesterol or diabetes, possibly increasing their risk for cardiovascular disease, according to a data brief released by the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) on Monday, ABC News reports.

This is the first study conducted by the agency to examine the combined effect of all three conditions. The study is based on data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, an ongoing study that administers interviews, physical examinations and laboratory tests to participants. The results showed that about 3 percent of adults have all three conditions, while 13 percent have two.

The report also found that about 15 percent of adults with one or more of the conditions have not been diagnosed. According to experts, the cause of these chronic conditions is related to the purported obesity epidemic that has swept the country over the past few decades. Nearly 67 percent of U.S. adults are overweight or obese, according to the CDC.”

This finding is very important because, as we have reported in the past, having Diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol are all contributing factors to severe sleep disorders such as sleep apnea. If you have any of these conditions talk to your doctor and get screened for sleep disorders. For more information on sleep or to talk to a board certified sleep specialist, contact Oregon Sleep Associates.

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The dentist has been telling you for years. Maybe you even use a night guard to protect your pearly whites. But new research indicates that teeth grinding, or Bruxism, may be a sign of something more dangerous to your health.

Bruxism occurs in approximately 8% of the US population and is not considered a life threatening condition. It can cause excessive wear on the enamel surfaces of the teeth and is usually diagnosed by dentists. Many times a simple nighttime retainer or oral appliance is all that is needed to correct the problem. But researchers recently uncovered a connection between Bruxism and Obstructive Sleep Apnea. They found that nearly 25% of people with Sleep Apnea also grind their teeth at night. The connection may come from the frequent nocturnal arousals associated with Sleep Apnea. “The ending of an apneic event may be accompanied by a number of mouth phenomena, such as snoring, gasps, mumbles, and teeth grinding,” said Dr. Shyam Subramanian of Baylor College of Medicine.  The researchers found that teeth grinding is most prevalent in Caucasian males and may also be related to anxiety and heavy caffeine use.

While having Bruxism doesn’t guarantee you have Obstructive Sleep Apnea, it may be prudent to watch for signs of the condition. Overly sensitive teeth, painful jaws, and inflammation in the mouth are all symptoms of Bruxism. At your next dental visit, ask your dentist to check for signs of teeth grinding. They can tell you if there is damage to the enamel of your teeth and the best method to prevent it. Then, visit a sleep specialist to make sure you don’t have an underlying sleep disorder such as Sleep Apnea.

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