The Practical Napper Book Review

The Practical Napper, by Jennifer Eyre White, is a humorous guide to the importance of taking naps. It is a quick, easy read that provides facts from research and sleep studies, as well as tips to getting the most out of your nap time. It also has quotes from many well known people.

The book gives a positive outlook on the act of napping, and relates well to the reader. It ranges from tips on how and when to nap to what napping can do for you in the long run. White also talks to parents with newborns and what they can do to get some sleep in their otherwise sleep deprived lives.

The Practical Napper has something for everyone. It grabs the attention of the reader with pictures and short, snappy writing. By using quotes, it shows that many people, even if they don’t know the medical facts, know the value of a nap. White includes this quote from Earnest Hemingway in which he says, “I love sleep. My life has the tendency to fall apart when I’m awake, you know?” Overall, the book was fun, enjoyable and makes the case for taking naps even stronger!

In the vein of fun books, the AASM has just published two children’s picture books about sleeping. They are wonderful ways to introduce your child to the importance of sleep. For information on how to purchase them, click here.

Photo by Maria Pons

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Energy Pods let Google Employees Snooze in Style

Here’s one big reason why Google is consistently near the top of every annual “Best Companies to Work For” list. Among the many well-documented perks of working for Google is the leeway to step away from the desk and take a nap. Google stands out from the other companies with nap rooms by offering a stylistically futuristic sleep pod right out of the show Caprica.

That oversized salon hair dryer you see above is a state-of-the-art Energy Pod made by Metronaps. The reclining bed underneath the big white visor looks a lot like a dental chair.

Features include a built-in music player that produces soothing sounds and an alarm that wakes users up with a gentle combination of lights and vibration.

The Metronaps Energy Pod retails for around $8,000 - no small price, but still less expensive than ludicrously priced European luxury beds.

Google’s solution to workplace fatigue appears to be a preferable alternative to lunchtime car naps or sneaky catnaps in the bathroom stalls. It’s good to see the world’s most influential tech firm notice the building scientific evidence of the performance benefits of napping. Now if only more companies would adopt this practice maybe we’ll all stop looking down on workplace naps... I’m looking at you Ken Griffey Jr.

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Student Sleeps Through Obama Keynote Speech

Normally the Sleepeducation blog avoids subjects related to politics, but this viral video from a Monday high school graduation ceremony in Kalamazoo, Mich. is too good to pass up.

A student seated behind President Barack Obama was caught on camera falling asleep during his keynote speech.

The video, above, comes courtesy of WOOD-TV8, who broadcasted the event live Monday.

The boy seated at the upper right hand corner of the screen began yawning, struggling to stay alert. Then he leans back, appearing to doze off, until he's awoken by the crowd's applause.

Moments later, he's hunched forward, fully asleep.

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Aged baseball greats Griffey, Hernandez caught napping at games

Once upon a time Ken Griffey Jr. electrified baseball fans, launching home runs at a record clip, while roaming center field in Seattle’s Kingdome. Fast forward to May 2010, Junior is back in a Mariners uniform, about to nap his way out of baseball.

At 40 years old chronic injuries have stripped him of his gold-glove caliber defensive skills, so the M’s have him penciled in as Designated Hitter most games. You can find him sitting, waiting in the dugout or team clubhouse for his 4-5 at-bats per game.

When it was his turn to bat Saturday, Griffey was nowhere to be found. The News Tribune of Tacoma reports he was sound asleep in his chair in the clubhouse.

An unnamed player told the newspaper, “He’d gone back about the fifth inning to get a jacket and didn’t come back.”

Another Mariner said to the same reporter, "He doesn't sleep well at night, he's away from his family; he's comfortable in the clubhouse."

Some are questioning the credibility of the story’s author, for citing unnamed players in the report. Griffey was in the starting lineup for the Mariners the following game.

Other news outlets are reporting the Mariner’s are preparing to cut Griffey. He may be the organization’s most celebrated player, but he’s no longer productive. He was hitting .208 through Sunday.

The clubhouse nap would be an obvious factor, if it happened.

Griffey isn’t the only big name in Major League Baseball who couldn’t stay awake an entire game Saturday.

The Met’s Keith Hernandez was busted dozing off in the announcer’s booth in extra innings against the Giants.

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Mr. Hernandez has had better days.

It remains to be seen if either Griffey or Hernandez have some kind of sleeping disorder, were out late burning the midnight oil Friday or were simply bored by baseball.
Let’s admit it, neither the Mets nor the Mariners are all that good this year.

Image courtesy ICCSPORTS

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Frequent Naps & Type 2 Diabetes in Older Adults

A new study examined the relationship between napping and type 2 diabetes in older Chinese adults. The results were published yesterday in the journal Sleep.

The study involved 19,567 people in China between the ages of 50 and 93 years. About 71 percent of participants were women.

They received a physical exam. They also answered questions about their lifestyle and medical history. This included questions about their napping habits and daytime sleepiness.

Results show that 13.5 percent of the sample had type 2 diabetes. The rate of diabetes was 36 percent higher in people who reported napping four to six times per week. It was 28 percent higher in people who napped daily.

The results were unchanged when people with potential ill health and daytime sleepiness were removed from the analysis. This suggests that it is less likely that diabetes leads to daytime sleepiness. Instead the results raise the possibility that napping may increase the risk of diabetes.

But more research is needed to determine if napping plays a causative role in the development of diabetes. Many other factors may be involved in older adults.

“In many non-Mediterranean, Western countries a large proportion of those that nap are generally older or have other conditions that cause tiredness and create an urge to nap,” lead author Neil Thomas told the AASM. “The napping can therefore be a marker of disease.”

According to the authors, napping is a social norm in China. It is practiced at all ages starting in childhood. At least one nap per week was reported by 67 percent of participants. About 59 percent of these people reported napping daily.

The authors also noted that napping and diabetes were associated even though physical activity levels were higher in nappers. Physical activity has been shown to reduce the risk of diabetes.

Read more about naps and sleep and type 2 diabetes.

Image by Nomad Tales

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Caffeine & the Night Shift

A recent study examined the effect that consuming caffeine at night may have on daytime sleep.

The sleep of participants was monitored during a night in a sleep lab. Then they stayed awake in the lab for 25 hours. While awake they were given caffeine capsules. Then their sleep was monitored again as they slept during the day.

Results show that daytime sleep was worse after taking caffeine. Measures such as sleep efficiency and sleep duration were lower.

So does this mean that people who work the night shift should avoid caffeine? Not necessarily.

The participants were given caffeine late during the night. They took a 100-mg dose three hours before attempting to sleep during the day; they were given another 100-mg dose only one hour before daytime sleep.

The stimulating effect of caffeine can last for hours. So it’s no surprise that their sleep was affected.

But an AASM task force report concluded that your sleep is unlikely to be disrupted if you take caffeine at least eight hours earlier. And other studies show that caffeine helps improve the performance and alertness of night-shift workers.

A study in the journal Sleep in 2006 found that combining caffeine with an evening nap provided the greatest benefit. Before a simulated night shift, participants were given a nap opportunity at 7:30 p.m. Their average nap duration ranged from 73 to 99 minutes.

At about 10:30 p.m. they were given 4 mg/kg of caffeine. The authors reported that this dose has been shown to be effective without interfering with daytime sleep.

A 4 mg/kg dose means that you take 4 mg of caffeine for each kg of body weight. So the dose would be about 272 mg if you weigh 150 pounds, 318 mg if you weigh 175 pounds, and 363 mg if you weigh 200 pounds.

A second part of the study involved actual night-shift workers who took 300 mg of caffeine at the start of each night shift. It also found that caffeine and napping improved performance and reduced sleepiness.

On Tuesday the Sleep Education Blog reported that another option for night-shift workers is to follow a “compromise” sleep schedule.

Read about sleep & caffeine on SleepEducation.com to find out how much caffeine is in your coffee, soda or tea. Learn about shift work sleep disorder.

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