Celtics Getting Sleep for the NBA Season

Boston Celtics head coach Doc Rivers is looking for any advantage that will help his team return to the NBA Finals this year. After winning the 2008 NBA Title, the Celtics were ousted from the 2009 playoffs by the Orlando Magic.

This season the Celtics get All-Star forward Kevin Garnett back from a knee injury. They’re also getting more sleep.

The team is being advised by Harvard sleep researcher Dr. Charles Czeisler. As a result they’re practicing at noon instead of early in the morning. And they’re no longer holding morning shootarounds on game days.

“I think they’re fresh,” Rivers told the Boston Globe. “I think we’ve had better practices.”

The goal is to help the players avoid the sleep deprivation that is rampant in the NBA. The 82-game regular season can be a brutal grind.

Play a late game; fly deep into the night to the next city on the schedule; fight off jet lag for a morning practice. Do it all over again.

As teams criss-cross the country sleep can get lost like checked luggage. That may be one reason why only seven of the 30 NBA teams had a winning record on the road last season.

“What we are trying to do is leverage the power of sleep,’’ said Czeisler. “As pro athletes, they spend so much time trying to practice and master the skills of the game - and sleep turns out to be a very critical part of the process…Teams that take advantage of this can really enhance their play.”

In January the Sleep Education Blog reported that the Portland Trail Blazers were getting help from Czeisler. They had finished the previous season with a mediocre 41-41 record.

The Blazers surged to a tie for first place in their division with a 54-28 record. The turnaround was fueled in part by a seven-game improvement in their road record.

The Celtics hope sleep will be a successful part of their gameplan this year. They’ll get their first test when they open the season against LeBron James and the Cavaliers in Cleveland on Tuesday night.

As for Czeisler, he hopes that we would all get more sleep.

“We are such a sleep-deprived society,’’ Czeisler said. “But the message is beginning to get through, that sleep is important for performance…It’s all about making sleep a priority.”

Learn more about how sleep improves sports performance.

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Biofeedback to Treat Insomnia

A recent article from Health magazine describes the use of “biofeedback” to treat insomnia.

What’s biofeedback? It’s a form of therapy that gives you visual or auditory feedback for certain body signals.

Cues may give you details about your heart rate, blood pressure, breathing or body temperature. Then you learn to control the body in a way that promotes sleep.

Author Leslie Goldman describes how for eight years she struggled with sleep. Then she gave biofeedback a try.

“The change has been dramatic,” she writes. “After nearly a decade of sleeping for no longer than two hours at a time, I can sleep for four hours straight and doze off again after I wake up.”

The AASM recommends biofeedback as an effective treatment for chronic insomnia.

Often biofeedback will be combined with other treatment methods. This is called cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT.

CBT is a safe and effective treatment option for people who are struggling with ongoing insomnia. It uses a variety of methods to help you develop positive attitudes and habits that promote a healthy pattern of sleep.

Learn more about how CBT for insomnia is safe and effective. Get help for insomnia at an AASM-accredited sleep disorders center near you.

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Sleep Deprivation: A Memory-Enhancing Drug?

Researchers report that they have identified the molecular mechanism by which sleep deprivation causes memory problems. They also suggest that drug treatment may be able to prevent the cognitive effects of sleep deprivation.

Their letter was published today in the journal Nature.

“Millions of people around the world suffer from a lack of sleep,” study co-author George S. Baillie said in a University of Glasgow news release. “This research opens the door for effective treatment of the memory loss associated with this debilitating condition."

The research team studied mice that had been deprived of sleep for five hours, reports NatureNews. They detected increased levels and activity of the “PDE4” enzyme in sleepy mice.

Then they treated sleep-deprived mice with the drug rolipram. It is a PDE4 inhibitor. The treatment prevented memory deficits that normally would have appeared after sleep deprivation.

Study co-author Christopher G. Vecsey cautioned that drugs like rolipram do have side effects. He also said that the study targets only one of the negative effects that sleep deprivation can have on the brain.

Study co-author Miles D. Houslay noted that sleep deprivation has many causes.

“People suffer sleep loss not only from disease but also jet lag, looking after young babies, getting old and through types of lifestyle,” he said. “This discovery offers hope for a simple and effective treatment.”

But sleep specialist Dr. Neil Stanley expressed concerns about the potential treatment. He worries that some people may take a drug for sleep loss when lifestyle changes would be a better solution.

“We really need to be thinking about ways to achieve adequate sleep in the first place - not how to deal with the consequences," Stanley told BBC News.

"We are always going to need drugs for people with serious disorders,” Stanley added. “But we don't want to end up medicalising lifestyles. We need to go back to basics and think about the way we as a society lead our lives, and the impact this has on our sleep, rather than looking for a cure."

In March the Sleep Education Blog reported on concerns that many healthy people are taking some medications as “smart drugs.” Learn more about sleep deprivation, and sleep and memory.

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Sleep Related Leg Cramps

You wake during the night with an intense feeling of pain in your leg or foot. A muscle suddenly contracted and tightened.

The pain may last for a few seconds or several minutes. Then it ends as suddenly as it began.

This describes a typical episode of a sleep related leg cramp. These leg cramps can be disruptive to your sleep. Lingering soreness from a leg cramp also can make it hard for you to go back to sleep.

Sleep related leg cramps are most common in older adults. They also occur frequently in pregnant women.

You may be more likely to have leg cramps if you have diabetes. They also may be more likely to occur if you are dehydrated.

You may be able to relieve the pain by stretching the affected muscle. Massaging the muscle also may help.

Regular exercise may help prevent sleep related leg cramps; this exercise should include stretching the leg muscles.

The drug quinine has been used to treat leg cramps. But in 2006 the FDA cautioned consumers about serious safety concerns and risks related to the drug.

“Because of the drug's risks, FDA believes it should not be used to prevent or treat leg cramps,” said a FDA news release.

Learn more about sleep related leg cramps on SleepEducation.com.

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Sleepless in Brazil

A new study shows that Americans aren’t the only people who have sleep problems. The study surveyed Brazilian adults about their sleep complaints. The results were published last week in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine.

The study involved a random sample of 2,110 adults from 150 cities in Brazil. Surveys were conducted during face-to-face interviews.

Results show that 63 percent of people had at least one sleep complaint. Sleep problems significantly increased with age. Insomnia and nightmares were more common in women; snoring was more common in men.

Insomnia was the most common complaint overall; it was reported by 33 percent of people. Twenty-nine percent of people reported having a problem with snoring.

Nightmares were reported by 22 percent of people. Twelve percent reported having a problem with “kicking legs.” This could be a sign of either restless legs syndrome or periodic limb movements.

Six percent of people complained of “breathing pauses” during sleep. This is a sign of obstructive sleep apnea.

The authors estimate that more than 79 million people in Brazil have sleep disorder complaints.

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Positional Therapy: Sleep Apnea & the Tennis Ball Technique

A new study from Australia examined long-term compliance with the tennis ball technique in people with obstructive sleep apnea. The results were published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine.

What is the tennis ball technique? It is a simple method of positional therapy that helps you avoid sleeping on your back. It was first introduced in the early 1980s.

A tennis ball is fastened to the back with a belt or strap. This makes sleeping on your back uncomfortable.

Soft tissue in the throat is less likely to collapse and block the airway when you sleep on your side. As a result positional therapy may help reduce the breathing pauses that occur when you have OSA.

The study involved 67 people with OSA, mostly men. They were overweight and had an average age of 60 years.

They had an overall apnea-hypopnea index of 29.6 breathing pauses per hour of sleep; an AHI of 15 to 30 is considered “moderate” sleep apnea. Their average AHI soared to 53 when sleeping on their back; it dropped to 14.1 when side sleeping.

They were instructed to use the tennis ball technique. Then they were followed up after an average of 2.5 years.

Results show that only four people reported that they were still using the technique. Nine people claimed that they had learned to avoid sleeping on their back.

The primary complaint was that the technique was too uncomfortable. Another common complaint was that the tennis ball moved around. Some people said the technique was ineffective. Others reported that it caused backache.

A similar study in 2006 followed up 50 people after six months. Nineteen people were still using the technique; 12 said that they had learned to avoid back sleeping.

Other variations of the technique have been used. These include a backpack with a foam ball inside, a vest that contains a piece of hard foam, a thoracic anti-supine band, a triangular pillow, and a posture alarm.

The AASM reports that positional therapy can be an effective treatment option. But some people with OSA will continue to have breathing pauses while side sleeping. Talk to your sleep specialist to see if positional therapy is a good option for you.

Get help for sleep apnea at an AASM-accredited sleep center near you.

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Use Bedtime Routines and Relaxation Techniques to Sleep Better

A new study in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine examines the strategies people use to reduce daytime sleepiness.

Taking a bath was the most common sleep management practice for both men and women; 59 percent of men and 64.4 percent of women used it. Keeping a regular sleep schedule was the second most popular tactic.

People also wound down for the night by listening to music, snacking and exercising.

The results show that taking a bath and going to bed at the same time every night were the best ways to decrease daytime sleepiness. Snacking at night made people feel sleepier the next day.

One of the study’s authors said that culture influences the way people manage their sleep.

The study, conducted in Japan, includes data from 24,686 adults who completed a national health survey.

Don’t worry if you have a few sleepless nights. It is common to suffer from occasional bouts of insomnia. Stress, irregular sleep patterns and pain can cause you to lose sleep for short periods of time. This is known as adjustment insomnia. Once the problem is resolved sleep usually returns to normal.

What are some healthy ways to get better sleep?

The AASM recommends:

• Go to bed at a regular time each night.


• Wake up at the same time each night, even on weekends.


• Avoid naps if you can during the day.


• Don’t drink caffeine in the afternoon.

Find more tips about good sleep hygiene at Sleep Education.com.

Contact an AASM-accredited sleep disorders center if you have an ongoing sleep problem.

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