Hormonal Insomnia?

I was reading an interesting clip from Reuters Health which showed that adolescent girls show an increased risk of insomnia after they begin menstruation, thus implying that hormones and their subsequent changes play a role in some girls' development of the sleep disorder.

1. In 13- to 16-year-olds, 11% had suffered insomnia.
2. Teens started having sleep disturbances around the age of 11.
3. Before menstruation, girls were about as likely as boys to have insomnia. After they began their menstrual periods, however, girls had more than twice the risk of insomnia as boys.

So the next question asked was: is it hormonal or the social pressures of menstruation and subsequent body development that cause these problems with sleep? In truth no one is quite sure, but it would make sense that the type of insomnia may be associated with the cause. For instance, if a girl is having problems falling asleep it could be stress or socially motivated, while if they have problems staying asleep it could be hormonal.

Related Topics: Is Your Teen a Night Owl? Blame Brainwaves, Video: Is Your Child Sleep-Deprived?

Technorati Tags: insomnia, teen sleep, sleep, menstruation

Sleepy Teens: National Sleep Foundation Poll

Well, today was the release of the National Sleep Foundation's Sleepiness in America poll, and its main focus was on teens. There were some very interesting findings:

• At least once a week, more than one-quarter (28%) of high school students fall asleep in school, 22% fall asleep doing homework, and 14% arrive late or miss school because they oversleep.
• Adolescents who get insufficient amounts of sleep are more likely than their peers to get lower grades, while 80% of adolescents who get an optimal amount of sleep say they're achieving As and Bs in school.
• More than one-half (51%) of adolescent drivers have driven drowsy during the past year.

In fact, 15% of drivers in 10th to 12th grades drive drowsy at least once a week.

Among those adolescents who report being unhappy, tense and nervous, 73% feel they don't get enough sleep at night and 59% are excessively sleepy during the day.

• More than one-quarter (28%) of adolescents say they're too tired to exercise.
• Sixth-graders report they sleep an average of 8.4 hours on school nights, while 12th graders sleep just 6.9 hours - 1.5 hours less than their younger peers and two hours less than recommended (9 hours). In fact, by the time adolescents become high school seniors, they're missing out on nearly 12 hours (11.7) of needed sleep each week.

As amazing as it may seem that our teens today do not get enough sleep think back to when you were the same age. Why I remember staying up late and then having to wake early for school.

The reason this sounds so familiar is because we all did the same thing. Of course now we appear to know some of the reasons why this may happen, teens characteristically have a phase delay in their sleep. What does this mean? Well, their sleep phase or biological clock will shift a bit later and they will likely want to sleep at midnight until about 9am. Sound familiar?

This is likely one of the main reasons we see these results today. So what can be done about it? Here are a few tips:

1. Have your kids wake at the same time every day. Regularizing their sleep schedule is important for their biological clocks.
2. Contact their teachers and see if they are falling asleep in school. Look at their report cards, if they are doing more poorly in the classes that coincide with their 1st 2nd or 3rd periods, you could have a phase delay on your hands.
3. Make their bedroom environment conducive to sleep, try not having a TV or video games in there and have them "wind down" before bed, relaxing and reading to set the tone for a good nights sleep.

For more information, read my article here on WebMD: Back to School, Back to Sleep

Related Topics: Is Your Lifestyle Ruining Your Sleep?, WebMD Video: What's Your Sleep Personality?

Cruisin' to Dreamland

"Heavenly Bed" cruise lines are now getting into the act. No longer are you going to hear about the bed wars from hotel chains ( of which I was a part -- see my work with the Crowne Plaza Sleep Advantage program) but now on cruise ships as well.

The major cruise lines are rolling out plusher, more comfortable mattresses as well as better toiletries, towels and other in-room amenities. An article in USA Today (2/24/06) has found these cruise lines are taking sleep more seriously:

• Carnival - Will have the Carnival Comfort Bed on all 21 ships
• Holland America - Will have the custom-made "Mariner's Dream Bed" with 200-thread-count linens.
• Royal Caribbean - The line plans a fleet wide upgrade of bedding (from mattresses to sheets) starting in May (to be completed by May 2007).
• Radisson Seven Seas - Better mattresses and sheets will debut over the next year.
• Windstar - The line is rolling out premium plush-top mattresses, luxury cotton bed linens and duvets.

I personally think this is great as it shows some serious foresight into passengers needs. But I say don't stop with bedding, but give passengers a better sleep experience with sleep amenities, information and real guidance on how to get a better night's sleep.

Related Topics: Better Sleep on Business Trips

Overtime and Lost Sleep

In a recent article in a paper in Wales (2/24/06) it discussed the issues of sleep loss when Welsh employees continued to work overtime without pay (unpaid) in fear of losing their jobs. This overtime soon began to rack up to take a bite out of their nightly sleep.

In Wales, it seems as though several companies have made huge cuts to their labor force and many felt that if they continue to work, be productive, and save their company money, that they will be able to keep their jobs.

This idea really flies in the face of what seems to go on here in the states. People who want to make more money will work longer hours but the effect is still the same...less sleep. What would be interesting to look at would be how this sleep loss is effecting their productivity. Sleep loss reduces one's ability to think clearly, and their reaction time. Depending upon their job it could have a huge effect.

In addition, this time away from sleep means time away from family and that is not good either. Then the time with family will likely be more stressful based on lack of sleep. It is a vicious circle which seems to go round and round.

Related Topics: Coping with Sleep Loss: Tips for a Brighter Day, Is Your Lifestyle Ruining Your Sleep?

Technorati Tags: sleeploss, overtime, jobstress

Sleep or Exercise: What's Better?

A recent article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, asked a great question: What's better, sleep or exercise?

The article was a Q and A from a working mom who said that she was getting up early to work out and this was reducing her sleep. Her question was what should she do.

In my opinion this is a difficult question to answer as there are several factors to consider. First you must have a good idea what your "Sleep Number" is. What I mean by this is how much sleep do you feel you need in order to feel well rested? It is individual for everyone.

Once you establish that number only then do I think you can understand what to do next. So let's just say it is 6.5 hours, then if you go to bed at the right time you can wake after 6.5 hours and exercise (hopefully before anyone gets up). The other option would be to work out in the evenings after your kids have gone to bed. This may be easier if you have some equipment in your home.

Another interesting point was raised in that there is research to suggest that exercise will let you sleep better. This information begs the question if you exercise and get "better" sleep do you need less of it?

Unfortunately no one at this time really knows the answer to this question. If I were to guess I would think that this may help, but only a little. Your body will still need a certain amount of sleep no matter how much exercise you do (and in some cases over-exercising can negatively affect your sleep).

Related Topics: Lose Weight With Morning Exercise, What is Your Sleep Personality?


Technorati Tags: sleep, exercise, bettersleep