Get More Sleep: the Payback is Huge

By Charlene Laino
WebMD Guest Blogger

(Baltimore) -- Sharp, energized. Laid back, trim. Those are the words that go through my mind as I seek to describe the crowd I have just left behind.

I am on my way home from SLEEP 2008, the 22nd Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies, which was held in Baltimore this past week.

I go to dozens of medical meetings each year, but none is quite like this. Instead of crisply ironed button-down shirts and tailored suits, T-shirts and shorts or chinos are the favored attire of the some 5,000 attendees. Nearly all of the top clinicians and researchers who come to hear the 1,000-plus latest developments in the field -- MDs and PhDs alike -- introduce themselves to the press by first name, rather than as Dr. so and so. And in a nation plagued by an epidemic of obesity, the vast majority are trim and in shape.

In the massive exhibit hall, pharmaceutical companies tout their latest drugs and diagnostics, as expected. But again that laid back atmosphere prevails. At one booth, I ask to speak to a medical rep about the benefits of the company's sleeping pill; I am told they are on break. All of them, at 2 p.m.? And then I realize: They probably went off to take a siesta or have a jolt of java, which, as we learned this week, are the best ways to combat the mid-afternoon nods.

And then there is the unexpected. I am drawn to one booth that is displaying what appears to be really cool sunglasses with tinted orange lenses and black wraparound frames. It turns out they are "LowBlueLights" eyeglasses; according to the company's literature, they improve sleep by increasing the production of the hormone melatonin, our body's natural sleep aid.

Making my way though a particularly large crowd at another booth, I hear of the benefits of the "Anti-Snore Shirt": Three foam inserts sewn onto its back prevent you from rolling onto your back and snoring at night.

But I digress. Back to the order at hand: Why is this group so sharp, yet so laid back? So energetic, so slim?

"It's because we're sleeping well," one attendee half-jokingly remarks. In fact, I think she may have hit the nail on the head.

What we have learned over the past decade, you see, is that getting enough z's may hold the key to everything from winning the battle of the bulge to boosting memory to performing better at work or school to living longer.

The fact that getting a good night's sleep can help combat obesity is one that really grabs my attention. Instead of having to count calories and watch every gram of fat intake, can simply getting a little extra shut-eye each night really help maintain a healthy weight?

There's no doubt about it, according to Sanjeev Kothare, MD, a spokesman for the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) and a sleep specialist at Harvard Medical School. In fact, he thinks sleep deprivation is the No. 1 reason we have an epidemic of obesity in the U.S.

A bold statement, but research has consistently shown that people who don't get enough sleep at night are more likely to be overweight or obese. And this week, we came a few steps closer to understanding the complex link between sleep and obesity, with one study showing that people who only log about 5 hours of sleep at night tend to snack more throughout the day.

The relationship appears to work the other way, too: Another study showed that the more fat you consume each day, the less likely you are to get a good night's sleep and to feel restored in the morning.

So now to the really big question: As a nation of workaholics, with many of us looking at sleep as a waste of time, how in the world are we going to fit the recommended seven or eight hours of z's into our schedules?

One expert recommends spending a little less time text messaging and chatting on our cell phones. His study showed that teens who use their phones more than 15 times a day have more trouble falling asleep and staying asleep than those who use their phones sparingly. Although only teenagers were studied, many adults can probably take a lesson here, too.

Another researcher suggests that you try to go to bed earlier and then get up a half-hour earlier one day, stick with that schedule for three days or so, and then advance your schedule another 30 minutes. His study showed that college students who are "morning people" have higher GPAs than night owls.

Practical? Perhaps not. While I was at the poster presentation, a puzzled undergrad from Johns Hopkins asks me, "What's a morning person?" I explain. His reply: "There are people like that?"

I laugh, but in truth, getting to bed and waking up earlier is simply unrealistic for many people, especially college students, says AASM spokesman Dennis Nicholson, MD, medical director of the sleep disorder center at Pomona Valley Hospital, in California.

Nicholson says that a smarter way to deal with the problem is to adapt your schedule to your biological clock: If you're a night person, schedule your classes or workday to start later, for example. Be creative: With telecommuting, maybe you can work at home for an hour in the morning, thereby missing rush hour. Voila, you have gained an extra 15 minutes you can devote to sleep each morning.

Another expert points out that proper sleep boosts your memory and performance; thus you'll need less time to perform the task at hand. Hmmm.

As a workaholic myself, the idea of cutting into my day to grab a few extra winks seems downright scary. I need to be up first thing in the morning to ensure no big stories have broken overnight. I need to write into the wee hours to ensure all my assignments are filed. But I am so impressed by the sleep crowd this week, I decide to give it a try: Since Monday, I have gradually sneaked an extra half-hour into my woefully short sleeping schedule.

Of course this barely qualifies as an experiment as far as science goes. But I have to tell you, I feel a bit more energized. I have been a bit more productive during the day. And I even lost half a pound.

I think these guys are on to something.