New Mothers Sleep Plenty, Wake Often

No one ever says they expect to catch up on their sleep after having a kid. Somehow, mothers actually get plenty of rest – a full seven hours, according to new findings. Only those hours are sabotaged by waking to care for a sleepless infant for a total of two hours per night.

New mothers’ total sleep time surprised researchers at the University of West Virginia. The results of the study were published in the August issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology.

Participants wore sleep-monitoring devices on their wrists throughout much of the postpartum period. A group of 50 mothers were monitored in weeks 2-13. Another 24 new moms wore wrist actigraphs between the 9th and 16th weeks.

The total sleep time did not change through the later weeks, but the interruptions became less frequent.

Most mothers reported feeling fatigued during the daytime, despite getting more than the recommended amount of total sleep. Repeat overnight disruptions may prevent them completing full sleep cycles.

Few mothers chose to nap to fight off daytime fatigue. Naps that last less than 90 minutes won’t fully make up for lost REM sleep but may help mothers feel better.

In an interview with Reuters Health, head researcher Dr. Hawley E. Montgomery-Downs recommended moms can make up for lost sleep by napping when their baby naps. She also suggested couples who breastfeed can split the overnight duties by having milk ready in bottles.

Parents may also want to take a close look at their parental style. Last week the Sleep Education Blog reported infants wake less often when their parents are warm and emotionally available.

Always make sleep a priority. After all, couples who sleep well while caring for an infant are likely to last.

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Study: Medical Pot Helps Chronic Pain Patients Sleep

Managing sleep can be difficult when you’re in constant pain. A small amount of medical marijuana appears to help patients with chronic neurological pain sleep through the night.

Patients with damaged nerves may experience seemingly unexplainable pain caused by a faulty signal in the body’s central nervous system. The initial pain may begin with a painful accident or medical condition. Untreated pain worsens by causing pathological changes to the brain and spinal cord.

One well-known example is the “phantom limb”, when an amputee feels pain located in a limb that no longer exists. There are several treatments for the physical anguish and sleeplessness from the condition, but there is no cure. The Sleep Education Blog reports cognitive-behavioral therapy can help patients manage pain and get to sleep at a regular bedtime.

The study on medical marijuana and chronic neurological pain appears in the August issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

A group of 23 pain patients smoked three types of medical-grade marijuana with different levels of tetrahydrocannibinol (THC), the chemical compound that can cause a euphoric high. The potencies included 2.5%, 6% and 9.4% THC, as well as a placebo.

Participants were instructed to smoke the drug from a small pipe three times a day for five days. They did not know which type of pot they were smoking. They had a nine-day break before switching potencies.

Patients said they fell asleep faster and had better quality of sleep after they smoked more potent marijuana. Some experienced minor side effects including headaches, coughing, dizziness and dry eyes.

The study is among the first clinical trials investigating the uses and benefits of smoking medical marijuana. Most prior research uses THC extract to test marijuana’s medical effectiveness.

Marijuana is generally not recommended as a sleep aid. The drug can worsen your quality of sleep by reducing the amount of time spent in REM sleep. Regular users may become dependent on marijuana to sleep. Withdrawal from the drug can cause insomnia and strange dreams.

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine has not released a position statement on the use of marijuana as a sleep aid.

Image by Troy Holden

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CPAP Can Reverse Sleep Apnea-Related Male Infertility

A clinical sleep specialist may have the answer for would-be fathers with fertility woes. Infertility is one of the many health problems associated with obstructive sleep apnea. A new study shows it is reversible with the right treatment.

Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), the front-line treatment for obstructive sleep apnea, can solve the symptoms of sleep apnea, including infertility.

The study involved 10 men with an average of 57 years of age. All of the men were either obese or overweight with symptoms of sleep apnea. Each subject stopped breathing between five and 28 times per hour of sleep.

Following an overnight sleep study, researchers measured the participants’ secretion of the serum prolactin, a substance that affects male fertility. After 11 to 39 months of CPAP therapy the subjects’ prolactin levels decreased and in some cases normalized.

The findings are encouraging, but further research on the subject is needed due to the relatively small size of the study. Several past studies have investigated the topic but have had mixed results.

More research is needed to determine if alternative approaches including oral appliance therapy and surgery may also possibly help reverse infertility.

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Consumer Alert: Unauthorized Sleep Aid Contains Dangerous, Addictive Sedative

The Canadian government has issued a warning against the sleep aid Fulda Unitang Herbs Sleep Plus. The unauthorized supplement contains high levels of the prescription sedative estazolam.

Health Canada reports the drug poses a serious health risk. Estazolam is a member of the benzodiazepine drug class, which includes Valium and Ativan.

The label-directed dose of Fulda Unitang Herbs Sleep Plus exceeds the maximum recommended dose of estazolam for healthy adults. The sedative can impair mental alertness, leaving unknowing but healthy consumers at risk for an accident. The drug is dangerous for pregnant and breastfeeding women, children, the elderly and people with respiratory, kidney or liver problems.

Worse yet, the drug is physically addictive. Anyone who has taken Fulda Unitang Herbs Sleep Plus should consult a doctor immediately. Withdrawl symptoms can include anxiety, sleeplessness, vomiting, sweating, tremors, cramps and convulsions.

If Fulda Unitang Herbs Sleep Plus is in your medicine cabinet bring it to a pharmacy for safe disposal.

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Trapped Chilean Miners Struggle to Sleep

A half mile under the Chilean desert, 33 men are in the early stages of an ordeal no human should ever experience. They’re trapped together in a pitch-black 600-sq-ft mining chamber for at least the next several months.

Weeks ago, the men were presumed dead in a mining accident. Everything changed this week with the bombshell announcement by the President of Chile. Rescuers discovered a note tied to a rescue probe claiming each of the 33 miners survived the cave-in. They were confirmed alive a short time later when the rescue team made contact through a narrow ventilation pipe – a lifeline for food, water and communication.

The unsettling reality of the situation quickly overshadowed the initial celebration. The trapped miners face the next 4-5 months entombed in living hell.

Almost every aspect of the story is grim. The mental toll on the minors has to be unimaginable. The promise of rescue exists, but it’s not definite. Rescuers have no room for error as they dig a new tunnel system to reach the chamber. One mistake could extinguish any remaining hope.

There is always the possibility of violence. A single mental breakdown or hotheaded argument could escalate to a tragic outcome.

The miners’ day-to-day experience is equally as horrifying. The chamber is a stagnant 90°F. It’s boring. The only light comes from flashlights on the men’s helmets.

The miners’ don’t stand a chance at getting restful sleep. The human sleep-wake cycle is regulated by natural light. Circadian rhythms run wild in the absence of sunlight. It’s conceivable that every miner is operating on a different sleep cycle.

The impact on sleep is similar to what astronauts experience on long missions. Unlike astronauts, these men have no way to prepare or adapt to living without natural sunlight.

Similar to how astronauts use work such as experiments to cope with sleep deprivation, the workers are trying to stay busy in their waking hours. They’re spending their time doing menial work and playing cards and dominos.

The comfort issue is another sleep-killer for the miners. The men are crammed together in a small, hot space. Noise disturbances are constant. There are no beds, so the men sleep on the stone floor or makeshift cots made from rocks.

Fortunately, the miners appear to be in good spirits. A video message recorded on a micro-sized camcorder shows the group singing and cheering. Although some appear emaciated, officials are confident they the men can stay alive until rescuers reach them. That could happen as early as next month, or as long as December.

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Emotionally Available Parents Produce Sound Sleepers

Warm caring parents wake less to the sound of a baby blaring. Disposition and parental style appears to influence how infants and toddlers sleep, research shows.

Parental instincts come into play. Basic emotional communication such as talking quietly and gently and responding to a child’s cues helps ease them to sleep. Investigators at Penn State University believe this behavioral lets the children know they are in a safe environment.

Distant, unresponsive or stern parents may find themselves waking to tend a child who is not sleeping.

You don’t have to spend hours tending to your child to be an emotionally receptive parent. Researchers report quality matters, not quantity.

Research assistants rated mothers’ parenting styles and their children’s sleep quality. A group of 35 families participated in the program.

The results are available online at the website for the Journal of Family Psychology.

There’s still no best way to get a baby to sleep. The matter comes down to an ongoing debate between the “cry it out” camp and those who believe in “attachment parenting” similar to what was demonstrated in the study.

The Sleep Education Blog recommends any parenting style should involve a relaxing bedtime routine.

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Severe Alcoholism Destroys Sleep-Regulating Rhythms

A body clock broken by alcoholism may never tick again. New research shows chronic drinking can permanently damage the genes that regulate our sleep cycle.

It takes hard work and dedication to make a full recovery from alcoholism. It’s unclear if a full sleep recovery may ever follow.

The study was published on the website for Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research. A print version will be included in the November 2010 issue of the journal.

Authors of the small study examined blood samples from 22 male patients who fit the DSM-IV criteria for alcohol dependence. Researchers compared the blood samples to a control group of 12 healthy men.

The alcohol dependence patient’s blood samples had lower baseline levels circadian clock gene expression. This means the patients have an elevated risk for sleep problems, as well as depression and cancer.

Findings show the circadian clock genes did not improve after the patients were put through early alcohol withdrawal treatment.

The findings are in line with a 2005 review by the AASM. Decades of studies show alcohol disrupts the sleep cycle. The relationship is dose dependent; frequent drinking can cause serious, long-term sleep problems.

Moderate drinking can also cause short-term sleep disruptions. Social drinkers may notice that alcohol can help them fall asleep, but they wake up feeling fatigued. Alcohol changes your sleep architecture. Time spent in restful REM sleep is replaced by deep, slow-wave sleep.

As the beer ads on television always say, if you drink, please drink responsibly. Drink in moderation and avoid using alcohol near bedtime.

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