Tag Archives: Sleep Deprivation

Medicine: Adequate Sleep & Cardiovascular Health

Mayo Clinic Division of Preventive Cardiology will be preparing a series of recordings focusing on Cardiovascular Disease states. This is the Sleep Series and this particular one focuses on what is adequate sleep and does it benefit Cardiovascular Health.

Studies: Chronic Sleep Deprivation Causes Toxic Changes In Gut Health, Increased Early Mortality

From Harvard Medical School (June 4, 2020):

“We took an unbiased approach and searched throughout the body for indicators of damage from sleep deprivation. We were surprised to find it was the gut that plays a key role in causing death,” said senior study author Dragana Rogulja, assistant professor of neurobiology in the Blavatnik Institute at HMS.

Harvard Medical SchoolThe first signs of insufficient sleep are universally familiar. There’s tiredness and fatigue, difficulty concentrating, perhaps irritability or even tired giggles. Far fewer people have experienced the effects of prolonged sleep deprivation, including disorientation, paranoia, and hallucinations.

Total, prolonged sleep deprivation, however, can be fatal. While it has been reported in humans only anecdotally, a widely cited study in rats conducted by Chicago-based researchers in 1989 showed that a total lack of sleep inevitably leads to death. Yet, despite decades of study, a central question has remained unsolved: Why do animals die when they don’t sleep?

Now, Harvard Medical School (HMS) neuroscientists have identified an unexpected, causal link between sleep deprivation and premature death.

Read full article

Health Studies: Better Diets Reduce Side Effects Of Sleep Deprivation

From a Stanford Medicine online release:

American Journal of Lifestyle MedicineIn a study published online Sept. 10 in the American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine, Hamidi, along with other Stanford researchers, examined survey results on sleep and nutrition from 245 Stanford physicians and found that a better diet is associated with reduced side effects of sleep deprivation. 

Physicians face significant barriers to eating well at work due to long hours, a heavy workload and limited access to healthy meals, snacks and drinks. The findings of this study suggest that by providing healthy options at work, employers could help reduce the brain fogginess, difficulty concentrating and irritability caused by poor sleep among health care providers. And, as a result, help improve patient care.

“Potential mechanisms for the effect of diet on cognitive performance include regulation of hormones, neurotransmitters, and blood flow as well as reduction of oxidative stress and inflammation. The effects of diet on sleep quality have been attributed to the role of dietary factors in regulation of peripheral circadian clocks and to the synthesis of hormones and neurotransmitters that are involved in sleep regulation.”

To read more: http://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2019/10/to-fight-effects-of-sleep-deprivation–reach-for-healthy-snacks-.html