I am not kidding here—a new study came out suggesting that couples who have trouble sleeping and who sleep in the same bed may get better sleep if they sleep in separate beds.

Apparently around 25 percent of U.S. couples sleep in different beds or rooms, according to the National Sleep Foundation. This is no small wonder when we consider how many couples complain of the others’ snoring! When we also consider incompatible work schedules, issues with small children waking up—and even pets, it’s understandable.

Many of us might not own up to separate quarters out of some sense of shame, said Dr. Don Townsend, the St. Paul (Minn.) Lung Clinic’s resident sleep-medicine expert.

This was reported in the Chicago Sun Times. To read the original article simply click here.

I remember when I had my first child—I could barely sleep with all the feedings (I was breast feeding) and the constant worry if I was doing it all right. I didn’t have much help, as we don’t have family nearby. But I can’t imagine what that would have been like had I been depressed. Now we are learning that new mothers who suffer from depression not only have increased risk for sleep disorders, they also pass on the tendency for poor sleep onto their infants. Here is how Medline reports this finding about depression and sleep deprivation in new mothers:

Greater amounts of sleep disruption were noted in infants whose mothers had higher levels of symptoms of depression and more worries about their infants’ sleep, the researchers found.

They then investigated whether the mothers’ symptoms of depression caused them to behave in ways that affected their infants’ sleep, or whether infants’ night awakenings led their mothers to be more depressed, perhaps because of lack of sleep.

The researchers found that it’s the depression-linked behavior of mothers that interferes with infants’ sleep. For example, mothers with more symptoms of depression and worries were more likely to pick up babies who were sleeping.

Mothers who are feeling depressed may seek emotional comfort by going to their infants during the night, the researchers explained. Mothers who worry excessively about their infants’ well-being might respond to any infant sound in the night and move their babies into their own beds in order to ease concerns about whether their infants are hungry, thirsty and comfortable.

The study was published April 17 in the journal Child Development.

The findings help “us better understand what factors influence infants’ sleep in homes in which mothers are depressed,” lead author Douglas Teti, a professor of human development, psychology and pediatrics, said in a journal news release.

“Sleep problems often endure beyond early childhood and can have a negative effect on various aspects of development, including emotional, behavioral and academic functioning,” Teti noted. read more here

If you suspect you or someone you know is experiencing depression, please try your best to recommend they seek help.

While we tend to think that older people are more prone to sleep issues, such as poor sleep, or early waking, a new study seems to indicate that we actually tend to sleep better as we get older. So much for the common thinking that older people sleep less, or can’t sleep enough.

A new study of 150,000 people indicates that one’s perception of how we sleep actually improves as we get older.

The study, appearing in the March edition of the journal Sleep, examined rates of sleep disturbance and daytime fatigue reported by 155,877 adults participating in a randomized telephone survey. Respondents were asked about sleep disturbances and daytime tiredness. The survey also asked about race, income, education, depressed mood, general health and time of last medical checkup. All responses were weighted so that they matched U.S. Census data.

Health problems and depression were associated with poor sleep, and women reported more sleep disturbances and tiredness than men. But except for an uptick in sleep problems during middle age – more pronounced in women than men – sleep quality improved consistently over a lifetime. Or at least that’s how people reported their sleep.

“Even if sleep among older Americans is actually worse than in younger adults, feelings about it still improve with age,” said Grandner, Research Associate at the Center for Sleep and Circadian Neurobiology at the Perlman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. “Once you factor out things like illness and depression, older people should be reporting better sleep. If they’re not, they need to talk to their doctor. They shouldn’t just ignore it.”
Grandner said the study’s original intent was to confirm that increased sleep problems are associated with aging, using the largest and most representative sample ever to address this issue. Instead, the results challenge the conventional wisdom that difficulty sleeping is perceived more by older adults, and challenge the general clinical practice of ignoring sleep complaints from older adults as a normal part of aging.  read more here

The only catch is that middle aged folks tend to report an increase in sleep issues, so it seems we earn our right to a good night’s rest over time.

Commenting on this intriguing research, we learn from Dr Michael Grander that the

original reason for setting up the study was to confirm the precise opposite – that sleep quality declined in old age.

He said: “These results force us to re-think what we know about sleep in older people – men and women.”

He suggested that it was possible that older people were sleeping worse, but simply felt better about it.

“Even if sleep among older Americans is actually worse than in younger adults, feelings about it still improve with age.”

 

Professor Derk-Jan Dijk, Professor of Sleep and Physiology and Director of the Surrey Sleep Research Centre, said the study was “interesting”.

He said: “We have got to get away from all these myths about ageing – many people are very content with their sleep.” read more at the BBC story here

This does give me some hope that as I get through this rough patch in middle age, that I may finally get the rest I have been craving all these years. I do hope this does re-set the thinking that older people sleep less, or at least, are not happy about the sleep they do get.

Did you know that the where we sleep dramatically affects how we sleep? If you have ever asked yourself—how can I sleep better?—one great way is to take a look at your bedroom. Is it warm and inviting, or messy and cramped? Do you have to watch TV before going to sleep? In fact, do you use any electronic devices that have as screen before bed? Many studies have shown that these screens activate the brain in a way that makes it difficult for us to get to sleep.

How are you sheets? Are they fresh? How about your mattress? I mention all these as I am often asked “how can I sleep better?” Before going the sleep medications route, take a look at these revealing results from a recent poll of 1,500 adults conducted by the National Sleep Foundation (as summarized by Dr. Breus):

The results of this survey confirm what I and other sleep experts have been saying for years: the condition of your bedroom really matters, for the quality of your sleep as well as your intimate life and your health. Here are my tips for keeping your bedroom in good shape—or shaping it up, if it’s been neglected:

• Invest in your sleep equipment. A good mattress and quality pillows are important investments in your sleep and health. Replace your pillows every year, and invest in a new mattress at least every 7 years—or whenever your body tells you it’s time.

• Go cool and dark. Your bedroom climate is important. Most of us sleep better in a cool room. And we all benefit from darkness for sleep. Try an electronic curfew about an hour before bed. Disengage from email, phone, and texting. -there’s plenty of research that shows how disruptive these devices are for sleep. Better yet, keep them out of the bedroom altogether. If you fall asleep to the TV, use your TV timer so it turns off after you have fallen asleep.

• Fresh sheets are an easy indulgence. Keep fresh sheets on your bed, wash them often, and invest in an extra set so you can change them frequently. As this survey indicates, fresh sheets are a big draw—they can entice you to bed earlier and help you sleep better once you’re there.

• Pamper. Give yourself a sleep vacation at home! Those sleep-spa getaways are increasingly popular, but you don’t have to leave home to reap the benefits of some sleep-focused down time. Unplug from your regular responsibilities—and your PDA. Sign up for a yoga class or a local spa visit. Follow up these relaxing activities with an afternoon nap and a quiet evening before bed. And think about adding some of these “indulgences” into your regular routine!  ~ read more here

It is very clear that a clean bedroom and an inviting bed make a huge difference in getting a good night’s sleep. One last note: those that said they made their beds every day reported much better sleep than those who did not. Now that is not a very big price to pay to get better sleep.

We all familiar with jet lag, and can see how it may negatively impact our health in the long-term if we fly long distances frequently. The disruption of our sleep patterns has been linked with many negative health consequences, such as obesity and even cancer. But did you know that up to two thirds of the so-called developed world may suffer similar health consequences by staying up later on the weekends?

The new findings suggest that what is being term “social jet lag” — to differentiate it from “travel jet lag” — may be impacting hundreds of thousands of people who stay up a few more hours on the weekends than they would during their work week.

This is how CNN recently broke the bad news to those of use who engage in this apparently risky behavior:

Researchers in Europe have coined the term “social jet lag” to describe the all-too common practice of following a different sleep schedule on weekdays versus the weekend.

Our circadian rhythms are out of sync with our hectic work schedules, the theory goes, so each weekend we’re effectively flying back and forth between time zones without ever leaving the ground.

Social jet lag is “the discrepancy between what our body clock wants us to do and what our social clock wants us to do,” says Till Roenneberg, Ph.D., a professor at the University of Munich’s Institute of Medical Psychology, in Germany. “It almost looks as if people on a Friday evening fly from Paris to New York, and on Monday morning they fly back again.” read more here

Apparently, this disruption can cause alterations in metabolism which can lead to obesity.

This is how Amanda Gardener at the Huffington Post phrased it:

This weekly disruption is more than just a nuisance. In a new study published today in the journal Current Biology, Roenneberg and his colleagues surveyed the sleep habits of more than 65,000 adults and found that people with different weekday and weekend sleep schedules had triple the odds of being overweight. read more here

The findings take into account other variables such as disruptions in eating times, which also are known bad guys when it comes to putting on the weight, as I mentioned in the post on shift workers.

The bad news just keeps piling up—for those of us that revel in irregular sleep patterns.

Many of us who suffer from sleep disorders have tried over the counter and prescription sleep medications. Perhaps you are currently taking one of these now. A recent study has shown that persons who use prescription sleep medications are up to 300% more likely to suffer an early death as compared to those who do not use medications.

It was suggested in the media that Whitney Houston’s death might have been in part due to sleep medications. In any case, it is fairly well established that prescription sleep medications are not intended for long-term use.

If you suffer from chronic insomnia and have tried many sleep medications, and are concerned about the long term implications of their use, you might wish to investigate a what a fairly new medical specialty has to offer–behavioral sleep medicine.

Here is a description of this medical area:

Sleeping pills are a common treatment for people who are unable to sleep well. But a growing number of sleep specialists are using other treatment methods to provide solutions for people with sleep disorders.

Behavioral sleep medicine (BSM) is a branch of clinical sleep medicine. It involves cognitive and behavioral treatments for sleep disorders. Cognitive therapy helps you develop positive thoughts and attitudes about sleeping. Behavioral therapy helps you change actions or habits that hurt your ability to sleep well.

BSM has gained the most ground in the treatment of insomnia. There are a number of proven BSM methods that doctors can use to help the sleepless. One example is relaxation training. This helps you reduce muscle tension and get rid of negative thoughts that hinder your sleep….More at Behavioral Sleep Medicine: Improving Sleep without Pills

I am currently looking into doctors in my area who offer this type of specialized care. Please stay tuned to this blog as I bring out the results from my treatment within this medical area, as I confess I have tried just about every prescription sleep medication and have been ultimately disappointed with the long term results.