Sleep Health

  • Sleep Apnea, Sleep Health

    How to tell if it’s time for a ‘sleep divorce’

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    (CNN)He snores until the walls rattle. She gives off a massive amount of body heat. One of you is a cover hog, kicks at night or takes consistent 3 a.m. bathroom breaks. Maybe you sleepwalk or suffer from insomnia. The list of reasons why your bed partner might be keeping you up at night could be long and as dreary as your mood when you drag yourself from bed each morning.

    When it comes to your health, that’s nothing to yawn at: Being deprived of a full seven to eight hours of sleep each night has been linked to a higher risk of diabetes, stroke, cardiovascular disease and dementia, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

    Sleep Divorce As A Result of Sleep Deprivation

    There’s an emotional toll as well, said sleep specialist Wendy Troxel, a senior behavioral scientist at RAND Corporation who authored “Sharing the Covers: Every Couple’s Guide to Better Sleep.”

    “Sleep deprivation can affect key aspects of relationship functioning, like your mood, your level of frustration, your tolerance, your empathy, and your ability to communicate with your partner and other important people in your life,” Troxel said.Poor sleep — and that resulting crummy mood — makes people “less able to engage in ‘perspective taking,’ or putting small adverse events in context,” said sleep specialist Rebecca Robbins, an instructor in the division of sleep medicine for Harvard Medical School, who coauthored the book “Sleep for Success!”

    That strain can contribute to depression, anxiety, and other emotional and relationship dysfunction, Robbins said.

    Sleep training for adults prevents depression, study findsResearch done by Troxel and her team found that a well-rested person is “a better communicator, happier, more empathic, more attractive and funnier” — all traits that are key to developing and sustaining strong relationships, she said.Sleeping apart can help couples be happier, less resentful and more able to enjoy their time together in bed, particularly on weekends when work demands are lighter, Troxel said.”I tell couples to try to think of it not as a filing for sleep divorce, but as forging a sleep alliance,” she added. “At the end of the day, there is nothing healthier, happier and even sexier than a good night of sleep.”https://www.cnn.com/audio/player?episodeguid=85e00da6-889c-4c66-a203-adb70011ee08&parentOrigin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com&canonicalUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F2021%2F12%2F04%2Fhealth%2Fsleep-divorce-wellness%2Findex.html

    Rule out underlying sleep issues

    Sleep partners are often the ones to flag signs of sleep disorders and encourage their loved one to visit a doctor or sleep specialist. Undiagnosed, sleep disorders may well harm you and your partner’s future health.That’s why experts say it’s best to check with a sleep specialist to rule out and treat any underlying condition before you leave your loved one’s bed — you may well be the key to identifying and treating a true health issue.

    Coping skills

    Once any serious health issue is ruled out, couples who find it emotionally bonding to sleep in the same bed may wish to try some practical coping tips before making the decision to sleep apart, Troxel said. No alcohol please. If you struggle with insomnia, cut out alcohol well before bed, experts say. It may appear to be helping you sleep, but booze actually causes middle of the night awakenings that can be hard to overcome. Snorers should eliminate alcohol as well, Troxel said, “because as everyone probably knows, if you sleep with a snorer and they have one too many drinks, the snoring will be much worse that night.” That’s because the alcohol further relaxes the throat muscles, encouraging that loud snore.

    Keep your brain sharp by finding your sleep ‘sweet spot,’ study saysThis is where partners can be powerful and beneficial sources of what experts call “social control,” Troxel said.”If you’re prone to drinking but you know that the consequences are not only going to bad for your sleep, but your partner’s sleep as well, then maybe you’ll be more motivated to cut back a bit,” she said.Raise the head. For snoring, try sleeping on additional pillows or using an adjustable bed — anything that raises the head to keep the throat open, Troxel said.”For many people snoring tends to be worse when they are flying flat on their backs, so raising the head a little bit can be useful,” she said.If the underlying issue is congestion, try adding a humidifier to the room, she added. “Some people have had success with over-the-counter nasal strips to keep the airway open.”Drown the sound. Survival 101 for dealing with a snoring partner is trying to deafen the noise, Troxel said. Try ear plugs and run a fan or white noise machine.Try sleep scheduling. A snorer who sleeps with a partner with insomnia can help that partner get more sleep by going to bed later than their partner, Troxel said.”For example, a snorer can delay their bedtime by a half an hour to an hour,” Troxel said. “That allows the partner to fall into a deeper stage of sleep and possibly stay that way once the snorer comes to bed.”Turn the snorer. Sleeping on the back is the worse position for snoring, because the soft tissues of the mouth and tongue collapse into the throat. As the sleeper unconsciously forces air past those soft tissues, snores emerge.

    How to fall asleep more quickly — the healthy way“If you can keep someone on their side, that can attenuate the snoring,” Robbins said. “I’ve heard of all kinds of creative techniques, such as putting a bra on the snorer in reverse and then putting tennis balls in the cups.”Full support body pillows may be an option, if they stay in place, said sleep specialist Dr. Raj Dasgupta, an associate professor of clinical medicine at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California.”I’m a fan of the simple things, but if you want to purchase something we’ve come a long way from sewing tennis balls into the back of our pajamas,” Dasgupta said. “You can buy a strap-on to your back that has little protruding foam-like things which are supposed to make you sleep on your side.”And there are some FDA-approved devices that strap to the throat or chest and provide vibrations designed to go off when you are on your back, prompting a move to side-sleeping.”

    Time for separate rooms?

    You’ve tried it all, and good sleep is still a distant dream. At this point, there’s no reason not to do what is best for each of you to get the quality sleep you need — especially since there are other ways to nurture a relationship besides sharing a bed.

    The best alarm clocks of 2021 (CNN Underscored)“Couples can still make the bedroom a sacred space, even if they choose not to actually sleep together,” Troxel said. “You can develop pre-bedtime rituals and use that time to actually connect with your partner instead of being independently on a phone or laptop or whatnot. “She encourages couples to spend quality time together before bed, sharing details of the day and sending positive messages to each other. “We know self-disclosure is good for relationships, it’s good for sleep,” Troxel said. “If you tell your partner you’re grateful for them, that’s a deep form of connection. Gratitude is good for relationships, it’s good for sleep.”

    Nor does a “sleep divorce” have to mean separate beds every night, Troxel said. It could be just the workweek, with weekends spent in the same bed. It could be every other night — the options are as unique as each couple. “There truly is not a ‘one-size-fits-all’ sleeping strategy for every couple,” Troxel said. “It’s really about finding the strategy that’s going to work best for the two of you.”

  • Sleep Health, Sleep Study

    Marijuana may make sleep worse, especially for regular users, study finds

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    By Sandee LaMotte, CNN | Original Article

    (CNN)It’s a common assumption among marijuana users: Using weed will help you fall asleep and stay asleep. Scientists, however, aren’t so sure that’s true.

    This is an understudied but important area, as many people are increasingly turning to cannabis products as sleep aids,” said sleep specialist Wendy Troxel, a senior behavioral scientist at RAND Corporation, who was not involved in the study.

    “But we really lack solid evidence demonstrating whether cannabis helps or hurts sleep,” Troxel added.

    Use of weed may actually harm sleep, a new study has found. The research, published Monday in a BMJ journal, revealed adults who use weed 20 or more days during the last month were 64% more likely to sleep less than six hours a night and 76% more likely to sleep longer than nine hours a night.

    Optimal sleep for adults is defined by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as seven to eight hours a night.Moderate consumption — using weed less than 20 days during the past month — didn’t create short sleep problems, but people were 47% more likely to snooze nine or more hours a night, the study also found.

    No clear evidence either way

    The study analyzed use of marijuana for sleep among 21,729 adults between the ages of 20 and 59. The data was gathered by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, and is considered representative of over 146 million Americans.

    Young adult cannabis consumers nearly twice as likely to suffer from a heart attack, research showsIn addition to issues with short and long sleep, people in the study who used weed within the last 30 days were also more likely to say they have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep, and were more likely to say they have discussed sleep problems with a health care provider, Diep said.”The problem with our study is that we can’t really say that it’s causal, meaning we can’t know for sure whether this was simply individuals who were having difficulty sleeping, and that’s why they use the cannabis or the cannabis caused it,” he added.Prior studies have also found a connection between the two components of marijuana, CBD and THC, and poor sleep. CBD, or cannabidiol, is a key component of medical marijuana, while THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, is the main psychoactive compound in cannabis that produces the high sensation.A 2018 randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study — the gold standard — found no benefit from CBD on sleep in healthy volunteers. Other studies have also found high rates of insomnia when withdrawing from nightly use of marijuana.”At this time there still isn’t any clear evidence that cannabis is helping sleep,” said Dr. Bhanu Prakash Kolla, a sleep medicine specialist in the Center for Sleep Medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, who was not involved in any of the studies.”We know that when people initiate use there is some benefit in the immediate short term but there is quick tolerance to this effect,” Kolla said. “There currently is no good quality evidence to suggest that cannabis will help improve sleep quality or duration.”

    Confounding factors

    Still, people continue to believe that weed is helping their sleep. Surveys of marijuana users show they do indeed rely on the drug for better sleep.”The issue is that there’s a disconnect between these anecdotal reports of people reporting therapeutic benefits and the evidence behind it in terms of the data,” Diep said.

    Sleep training for adults prevents depression, study finds One possible reason, Kolla said, is that when people stop using cannabis after a period of regular use, the withdrawal effects from weed can cause sleep disruptions. That leads people to believe “the cannabis was in fact helping (sleep), while what they are actually experiencing are withdrawal symptoms.” Another factor to consider is the increased potency of weed today as compared to when many of the studies on cannabis and sleep were conducted, said Dr. Karim Ladha, staff anesthesiologist and clinician-scientist in the department of anesthesiology and pain medicine at the University of Toronto.” A lot of the older data related to cannabis is based on lower doses of THC than what patients are using now, and there’s very little research related to CBD,” Ladha said.” Studies tell us about what happens at a population level, but on an individual level that discussion is much more personal,” he said. “The studies just give us the possibilities that (marijuana) could hurt your sleep, but it may help and so we just don’t know until you try it.”

    That’s why additional studies need to be done, he added.”Patients are spending money and time and resources to obtain cannabis right now to help with sleep,” Ladha said. “I think as the medical community, we need to do everything we can to make sure that we enable our patients to make the best possible decisions for their health.”

  • Obstructive Sleep Apnea, Sleep Apnea Dentist, Sleep Health

    Sleep-disordered breathing tied to greater preeclampsia risk

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    Women with high-risk pregnancies who experience sleep-disordered breathing have an increased risk for preeclampsia, according to a study published in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology.

    The prospective observational cohort study involved women with high-risk singleton pregnancies, author Stella S. Daskalopoulou, MD, MSc, PhD, of the department of medicine’s division of internal medicine at McGill University Health Centre in Montreal, and colleagues reported in the study.

    Women with mid-gestation sleep disordered breathing have a 3.4 odds ratio for preeclampsia, and women with late-gestation sleep-disordered breathing have an 8.2 odds ratio for preeclampsia.
    Phan K, et al. Am J Obstet Gynecol. | Original Post

    High-risk factors included age of at least 35 years, BMI of at least 25 kg/m2, chronic hypertension, pre-existing diabetes or renal disease, conception via in vitro fertilization and personal or first-degree relative family history of preeclampsia.

    Of the 235 women recruited between 10 and 13 weeks of gestation at two tertiary obstetric clinics in Montreal, 181 women completed questionnaires about their sleep based on the Epworth Sleepiness Scale, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and restless legs syndrome during each trimester.

    Women identified with sleep disordered breathing (SDB), defined as three or more incidences of loud snoring or witnessed apneas each week, in the first or second trimester were diagnosed with mid-gestation SDB. Women identified with SDB in the third trimester were diagnosed with late-gestation SDB.

    The researchers also conducted arterial stiffness, wave reflection and hemodynamic assessments between 10 and 13 weeks and again six more times at approximately 4-week intervals through the rest of the pregnancy.

    Carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV), which is considered the gold standard for predicting arterial stiffness and is predictive of preeclampsia, and carotid-radial PWV were calculated to determine aortic and peripheral arterial stiffness, respectively.

    According to the study, the 41 women (23%) who had SDB also had increased cfPWV across gestation independent of blood pressure and BMI (P = .042). Also, only women with SDB saw an association between excessive daytime sleepiness and increased cfPWV.

    After 20 weeks’ gestation, women who had BP of at least 140 mm Hg/90 mm Hg were diagnosed with preeclampsia.

    Women with mid-gestation SDB had an OR of 3.4 (95% CI, 0.9-12.9; P = .063) for preeclampsia, which increased to an OR of 5.7 (95% CI, 1.1-26; P = .028) for women who also experienced hypersomnolence. Women with late-gestation SDB had an OR of 8.2 (95% CI, 1.5-39.5; P = .009) for preeclampsia.

    Additionally, the researchers reported a positive association between excessive daytime sleepiness and central arterial stiffness in women with SDB but not in women who did not have SDB. Women who reported SDB and excessive daytime sleepiness appeared to have a greater risk for preeclampsia than women with SDB alone as well.

    However, women who had positive restless legs syndrome scores did not see increased odds for developing preeclampsia either in mid-gestation (OR = 1.23; 95% CI, 0.25-4.68) or late gestation (OR = 1.01; 95% CI, 0.21-3.75). The same held true for women who had positive Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index scores in mid-gestation (OR = 2.11; 95% CI, 0.58-8.66) or late gestation (OR = 2.83; 95% CI, 0.65-19.81).

    Overall, the researchers said, there was an association between SDB in the first or second trimester and greater central arterial stiffness starting at 10 to 13 weeks’ gestation for women with high-risk pregnancies.

    Further, the researchers said, their results provide supporting evidence for arterial stiffness as an important mediator and promising surrogate endpoint for vascular dysfunction in preeclampsia, as well as for the need to screen for SDB throughout pregnancy.

  • Sleep Health

    Menopause and insomnia: What is the link?

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    Original Post | Medical News Today

    After menopause, a person’s ovaries produce much lower amounts of certain hormones, including estrogen and progesterone. For some, this transition comes with sleep disturbances.

    Insomnia refers to the difficulty falling or staying asleep. It is a commonTrusted Source experience in menopause and may occur as a result of hormonal changes.

    It may also be a secondary result of the other symptoms of menopause, such as hot flashes.

    Read on for more information on menopause and insomnia, including why it happens, how long it may last, and what medical treatments and complementary therapies are available.

    Sex and gender exist on spectrums. This article will use the terms “male,” “female,” or both to refer to sex assigned at birth. Click here to learn more.

    Can menopause cause insomnia?

    The exterior of a large apartment building at night. Bright light illuminates one of the windows.
    Colin Anderson/Stocksy

    Yes – insomnia is a frequent occurrence during perimenopause and menopause. Some people only experience mild or occasional sleep disturbances, but for others, the insomnia can be severe.

    According to a 2018 article, 26%Trusted Source of people going through perimenopause and menopause experience insomnia that affects their daily activities.

    In females, the rate of insomnia increases with age. According to the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation (SWAN)Trusted Source, the prevalence of sleep disorders is as follows:

    • 16–42% in premenopause
    • 39–47% in perimenopause
    • 35–60% in postmenopause

    Why does menopause cause insomnia?

    Research on the exact cause of insomnia during menopause does not point to one clear cause. Several things may contribute to it, including:

    Hormonal changes

    Some evidence suggests that low hormone levels can increase the likelihood of insomnia during menopause.

    According to the SWANTrusted Source, previous longitudinal studies have found a correlation between lower levels of estradiol and poorer sleep. This is especially true if the decline in hormones happens quickly, as it does after a person undergoes surgery to remove the ovaries.

    Hot flashes

    Sometimes, insomnia happens during menopause because of hot flashes or night sweats. These symptoms can disrupt sleep, causing frequent waking.

    Hot flashes, which are one of the so-called vasomotor symptoms, are common in menopause, affecting 75–85%Trusted Source of people going through menopause.

    Hot flashes cause a sudden sense of heat around the face and neck and often occur with sweating and a fast heartbeat.

    Reduction in melatonin

    Melatonin is a hormone that plays a key role in the sleep-wake cycle, helping keep people asleep. It is especially important at the start of sleep.

    However, melatonin levels appear to decrease with age, which may cause sleep disturbances.

    It is not clear whether there is a link between menopause and a decline in melatonin. Some evidenceTrusted Source suggests that there is and that individuals during postmenopause have less melatonin than those during premenopause.

    Mental health

    For many people, menopause signals a major change. It is also a sign that a person is getting older. This, along with the symptoms of menopause, can have an impact on an individual’s mental health.

    Many mental health conditions, including anxiety and depression, affect sleep. However, insomnia can also make depression more likelyTrusted Source. The relationship between sleep and mood is bidirectional, and changing hormone levels can also play a role.https://a76fa006e565d376844b91a5d5a8864a.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html

    How long will insomnia last?

    How long insomnia lasts during and after menopause depends on many factors. Every person who goes through menopause has a different experience. Some will find that the symptoms last longer than they do for others.

    A person’s hormone levels can start to change 7–10 yearsTrusted Source before a person’s last period. After this point, people can continue to have symptoms such as hot flashes for several years.

    Estradiol levels continue to decline for the first 1–6 years in early postmenopause, which may result in continued symptoms.

    It is of note, however, that there are treatments and therapies available that can reduce sleep difficulties. It is also important to address any other factors that may be contributing to poor sleep quality.powered by Rubicon Project

    Medical treatments for insomnia during menopause

    The main treatment for menopause-related insomnia is hormone therapy. This works by replacing the lost hormones, which can improve many menopause symptoms. People may find that they sleep better and experience fewer hot flashes while using this treatment.

    Hormone therapy is available in topical gels, creams, and patches. People can also take it internally via tablets or an implant.

    Another potential treatment is a low-dose selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI).

    Doctors typically prescribe SSRIs for mental health conditions, but these medications can also reduce the frequency of hot flashes, which may help with sleep. However, it is of note that insomnia can also occur as a side effect of SSRIs.

    For those who are experiencing mood changes, anxiety, or depression, talk therapy may help them understand and cope with these feelings. Lessening the impact of mental health conditions may also benefit sleep.

    Doctors rarely prescribe sleeping pills to treat insomnia, as these can have serious side effects. Many are also addictive and are not suitable for managing a long-term sleep problem.

    Natural and complementary therapies

    According to a 2019 review, no study has found that herbal or dietary supplements consistently help with menopause symptoms. However, there are many other ways people can try to make sleep easier during menopause.

    Below are some evidence-based approaches:

    Avoiding caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol

    Smoking, consuming caffeine, and drinking alcohol can all make it more difficult to sleep. While it may seem that alcohol makes people drowsy, even a small amount reduces overall sleep quality.

    A person can try to reduce or avoid any of these, especially in the afternoon and evening.

    Aromatherapy

    Aromatherapy may be helpful in inducing relaxation and reducing hot flashes.

    In a clinical trial involving 100 women, researchers found that after 12 weeks of lavender essential oil inhalation, the participants had 50% fewer hot flashes.

    Other studies have also found that aromatherapy together with massage was more effective than massage or aromatherapy by themselves.

    Hypnosis

    A 2019 review notes that there is evidence that hypnosis may reduce the frequency and severity of hot flashes by up to 50%.

    Moreover, for people whose insomnia results from hot flashes, hypnosis may be a helpful complementary treatment.

    Yoga

    Some studies have found that yoga has a beneficial impact on the psychological symptoms of menopause. If a person is having difficulty sleeping due to stress or anxiety, yoga practice may help reduce these symptoms.

    However, the results of other studies on yoga have been mixed. This is partly because there are many styles of yoga and numerous ways of practicing, which may lead to inconsistent results.

  • Sleep Health

    5 reasons to start practicing mindfulness and how it can help you

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    Original Article CCN Health By Jen Rose Smith, CNN

    (CNN)Are you paying attention? Maybe not. We spend nearly half our waking lives with wandering minds, Harvard University scientists found over a decade ago. When you’re trying to get something done — such as reading an article about mindfulness, for example — that wandering mind can derail your goals. “If we’re not paying attention to the present moment when we’re trying to get something done, that’s a problem, whether the goal is to read a book or talk to a partner,” said Amishi Jha, professor of psychology at the University of Miami. “Whatever it is, it’s going to require you to actually be in the moment to do it. “That’s where mindfulness comes in.

    With roots in Eastern spiritual traditions, mindfulness has transformed into a secular practice in the West. The term encompasses a range of practices that include breathing exercises, guided meditations and more formal trainings. “It’s the antidote to mind wandering,” Jha said. “It’s paying attention to our present moment experience without editorializing or reacting to it. “Mindfulness is an effective way to quiet your mind. Benefits of mindfulness go beyond focus. Practicing mindfulness can be effective at improving focus, lessening pain, improving sleep, mitigating stress and easing feelings of anxiety and depression, studies have found in recent years. Those are five great reasons to try a mindfulness practice — and we’ve got five ways you can get started today. Enter your email to sign up for the Better Sleep newsletter. “close dialog”

    1. You want to fine-tune your focus

    Constantly getting distracted is annoying, but it can be more serious than that annoyance. “When you are not paying attention to what is in front of you, in the moment, you’re going to have errors, you’re going to make mistakes, you’re likely to have lapses in judgment,” said University of Miami psychologist Jha, author of the forthcoming book “Peak Mind: Find Your Focus, Own Your Attention, Invest 12 Minutes a Day,” which explores how mindfulness can improve focus and attention.

    This 5-minute meditation routine will calm you downShe works with military personnel and first responders, whose jobs require extreme focus in stressful situations. “If you have an attentional lapse, it could be the difference between life and death,” she said. Taking time for mindfulness is like strengthening a mental muscle, she said, and her lab has found positive results from just 12 minutes of daily practice.”It’s parallel to physical activity,” Jha said. “Engaging in a mindfulness practice is strengthening specific aspects of attention so that if we need them, we have access to that.”Try this: Join CNN’s Anderson Cooper for a guided meditation with mindfulness research pioneer Jon Kabat-Zinn

    2. You’re living with chronic pain

    More than a fifth of US adults have chronic pain, found the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2019, conditions that contribute to the country’s opioid epidemic.Mindfulness is a promising technique for managing symptoms while lessening prescription drug use, said Eric Garland, a distinguished endowed chair in research, professor and associate dean at The University of Utah College of Social Work.

    These people started using drugs as children but turned their lives around. Here’s how.“Practice of mindfulness seems to help people cope with chronic pain, and reduce their overreliance on opioids,” he said. “Mindfulness breathing can immediately reduce pain” by 23%, according to Garland’s research.It’s not a long-lasting effect, he added. But his research has found that 15 minutes of mindful breathing is enough for a temporary reduction in pain.”It’s meditation as medication. You’re hurting, and you take some ibuprofen, and it works to alleviate pain,” he said. “The effects wear off in a couple of hours and you need to take another medicine. Mindfulness is similar.”Try this: Follow step-by-step instructions for a short body scan to address pain

    3. You’d like a great night of sleep

    Missing out on sleep is linked to chronic diseases and poor health, but more than 35% of US adults get fewer than the recommended seven to nine hours, according to the CDC.

    Sleep hygiene: 8 ways to train your brain for better sleepIf you’re tossing and turning all night, a mindfulness practice may help, found a 2019 meta-analysis of 18 studies.A wide range of sleep-specific mindfulness meditations are available free online. A popular mindfulness-for-sleep technique is the “body scan,” an approach that outperformed cognitive behavioral therapy in a 2020 trial of adolescents with insomnia.Sign up for the Sleep, But Better newsletter series. Our seven-part guide has helpful hints to achieve better sleep.In a body scan sleep meditation created by UCLA’s Mindful Awareness Research Center, participants follow recorded instructions to notice sensations in each part of the body, starting at the top of the head and moving toward the feet and toes. The best part? It all happens in bed.Try this: Lie down and cue up UCLA’s 13-minute body scan for sleep

    4. You’re feeling the effects of too much stress

    “There’s definitely support for mindfulness reducing stress,” said Winston of UCLA’s Mindful Awareness Research Center. Years of research back the claim, though Winston noted that the studies’ definitions of stress can vary widely.

    5 natural ways to boost your mental health during stressful timesThe eight-week mindfulness-based stress reduction program designed by mindfulness expert Jon Kabat-Zinn is a deep dive into practices attuned to alleviate stress. But many shorter guided meditations are available online, including from the UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center.Such techniques may ease health problems that are commonly associated with stress. “It’s helpful with stress-related physical conditions,” Winston said. “It can impact blood pressure, it can boost the immune system, it can improve the healing response.”Try this: Stream Winston’s five-minute guided breathing mindfulness meditation

    5. You’re dealing with pandemic anxiety

    In mindfulness studies, “one of the easier effects to see is lowered anxiety,” said Susan Johnson, a professor of psychological science of The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, who noted the calming effect of sitting down and taking some deep, slow breaths.

    Americans are not getting the mental health treatment they need, report says“It’s kind of like a glass of muddy water. You let it sit, and the mud settles, and you see things a little more clearly,” she said.Mindfulness has been shown to relieve anxiety and boost mood, welcome news amid a pandemic that has triggered a global mental health crisis.Try this: Take five minutes for a guided breathing practice from Zindel Segal, distinguished professor of psychology in mood disorders at the University of Toronto — Scarborough

    The future — and limitations — of mindfulness science

    Mindfulness is not a cure-all, despite a growing number of studies and eager headlines. Some mindfulness research fails to meet the strictest norms of study design, Johnson said.

    The best yoga mats of 2021 (CNN Underscored)“Only about 10% of studies have active control groups,” she said. In a study with an active control group, some participants use mindfulness while others try a different activity entirely. It helps weed out the placebo effect.A 2021 meta-analysis in the British Medical Bulletin noted a need for more high-quality studies with larger sample sizes and more long-term follow-up. Evidence for some mindfulness benefits is robust, the study found, showing techniques can help with pain, insomnia, anxiety and stress. Evidence that mindfulness interventions help with post-traumatic stress disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorders and eating disorders — some of which have made splashy news in recent years — remain preliminary.”I think (mindfulness) can be beneficial. I do meditate myself,” said Johnson, who calls herself “a skeptic of the exaggerated claims that are made.”Get CNN Health’s weekly newsletter

    Sign up here to get The Results Are In with Dr. Sanjay Gupta every Tuesday from the CNN Health team.And even when it comes to targeting conditions like anxiety and stress, where benefits of mindfulness are strongly supported by research, there are no guarantees. “Mindfulness is not for everybody,” noted UCLA’s Winston. “Some people really respond to it and love it, and others don’t find it helpful.” Winston, too, said enthusiasm about the possible benefits of mindfulness sometimes gets ahead of the research.”Just keep in mind that the research on mindfulness is very young, even though it’s very exciting,” she said. “There’s so much more to do.”

  • Sleep Health

    Diabetics who sleep badly are at greater risk of dying prematurely, study suggests

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    Original Article | CNN Health By Sandee LaMotte, CNN

    (CNN)People with diabetes who had trouble falling or staying asleep were 87% more likely to die of any cause over the next nine years than people without diabetes or sleep problems, a new study finds.

    Poor sleep linked to weight gain in 2-year smartphone sleep tracking studyKnutson and her team also compared people with diabetes who slept well to people with the condition who often experience poor sleep.”People with diabetes who slept badly were 12% more likely to die over a nine-year followup period than people with diabetes who slept without frequent sleep disturbances,” Knutson said.The study is the first to look at the combination of diabetes plus sleep disturbances and mortality risk, she added.

    Known link between diabetes and sleep problems

    A study of this type can only show association and not causation, said sleep specialist Dr. Raj Dasgupta, an assistant professor of clinical medicine at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California, who was not involved in the research.Enter your email to subscribe to the Results Are In Newsletter with Dr. Sanjay Gupta.“close dialog”

    Sign up for the Results Are In NewsletterGet the latest expert advice to live
    a healthier and happier life
    Sign Me UpNo, ThanksBy subscribing you agree to ourPrivacy PolicyWhile the study’s findings are disturbing, he said, they are not surprising.”Diabetes is a deadly disease and it can be easily affected by sleep — or the other way around,” Dasguta said. “Are you getting poor sleep because your diabetes is poorly controlled or is the poor sleep making your diabetes worse?”For example, Dasgupta said, people with Type 2 diabetes, the most common type, tend to be overweight and may suffer from obstructive sleep apnea, when throat muscles relax and close the airway, thus disrupting sleep.

    Get better sleep by cuddling up with your partner“People with Type 2 diabetes are also predisposed to kidney issues and make multiple trips to the bathroom in the night because they’re always urinating, especially if their diabetes is poorly controlled,” he added. “They can also have damage to blood vessels which causes leg pain called neuropathy, and It’s hard to go to sleep because of that pain.”It’s also possible that poor quality sleep may impact the body’s ability to regulate blood sugars, thus contributing to the development of diabetes, Knutson said.”There’s experimental work which shows that if you take healthy people and disturb their sleep you see impairments in insulin sensitivity,” she said. “There could be a bidirectional association between the two, so if you have sleep issues for a long period of time it may actually lead to the development of diabetes.”

    What to do?

    Acknowledge and tackle your sleep problems, regardless of whether or not you have diabetes, Knutson said. Sleeping poorly is a risk factor for premature death from any cause all by itself.

    Sleep hygiene: 8 ways to train your brain for better sleep“If you usually have trouble falling or staying asleep, you need to talk to a physician and really get at the root of the problem. Find out why aren’t you sleeping well and then figure out how to fix it,” she said.Want some tips for better sleep? SIGN UP FOR CNN’s SLEEP, BUT BETTER newsletterIf you have diabetes, “treat your diabetes — that’s the take home message from this study,” Dasgupta said.”Diabetes is something that needs to be managed by your primary care doctor and endocrinologist.”If you’re not sleeping well, it may be harder to manage your diabetes, Knutson said.Get CNN Health’s weekly newsletter

    Sign up here to get The Results Are In with Dr. Sanjay Gupta every Tuesday from the CNN Health team.”It’s not easy to do and then if you’re sleep deprived, maybe you’re just not as good at remembering to take your medication or measure your blood sugars,” she said.A sleep specialist may also need to do a sleep study to see if you have an underlying sleep disorder, Dasgupta said.”When you tell me someone’s waking up quite a bit and they have diabetes, I may not only do need to treat the diabetes, I need to treat sleep apnea or restless leg syndrome or another sleep issue,” Dasgupta added. “Don’t hesitate to get the help you need.”