Efficacy of the treatment of sleep apnea using naltrexone. A clinical, polygraphic and gasometric study

Twelve patients with clinical, polysomnographic and oxymetric features of Sleep Apnoea Syndrome (S.A.S.) were recorded, after a 2-week wash-out period, during 2 nights without treatment and 2 nights after receiving 50 mg naltrexone at bed-time. Clinical symptoms improved immediately in four patients, within one month in three patients and after 3 months of treatment in the remaining five ones. Sleep Apnoea index as well as the number, duration and intensity of hypoxic events were dramatically improved by this treatment that has now been prescribed to 25 patients, for more than 2 years in 14 of them.     

Sleep characterization of a one-month-old freely moving stumptail macaque (Macaca arctoides): a pilot study

Electroencephalographic (EEG) activity during both human and adult primates' sleep has been proven to be similar and consequently, it could be assessed under similar parameters. However, there is no information regarding this EEG activity in the early stages of development in non-human primates. Therefore, the aim of this study was to describe EEG sleep patterns in a 1-month-old Macaca arctoides with a non-invasive and free-movement method. Sleep stages were initially scored using the criteria of quiet sleep and active sleep. This procedure allowed us to observe graphoelements to distinguish sleep phases as described in adult macaques. Afterwards, the final score was recorded following the Slow Wave Sleep and Rapid Eye Movement Sleep criteria. The present results suggest that sleep features of this monkey are similar to those of a 2-month-old human neonate.     

Supppression of paradoxical sleep by chloramphenicol. Absence of effect by thiamphenicol]

The oral administration of 160-250 mg/kg of chloramphenicol selectively suppresses Paradoxical Sleep in the cat for a duration of 10-20 hours. Larger doses (330 mg/kg) suppress Paradoxical Sleep for 27 hours, but aslso decrease Slow Wave Sleep. At the same dose, Thiamphenicol has no effect.     

Sleep architecture of adenosine A2A receptor-deficient mice

Sleep and Biological Rhythms - Adenosine signaling has profound effects on sleep, many of which depend on the adenosine A2A receptor (A2AR). Here, we compared the sleep architecture of adult male...     

Activation of phasic pontine-wave generator: A mechanism for sleep-dependent memory processing

Sleep and Biological Rhythms - Sleep and learning studies suggest that memory consolidation following learning requires processes selectively active during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. However,...     

Validation of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) with Arabic cancer patients

Sleep and Biological Rhythms - The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), a self-administrated questionnaire, is a frequently used instrument to assess sleep quality in clinical and non-clinical...     

The association of brain lesion locations and sleep parameters in patients with multiple sclerosis: a pilot study

Sleep and Biological Rhythms - The relationship between sleep and brain lesions remains unknown in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and is currently under investigation. Sleep deprivation and...     

Melatonin protects mice with intermittent hypoxia from oxidative stress-induced pancreatic injury

Sleep and Biological Rhythms - One of the most important mechanisms linking obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) to insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes involves oxidative stress. We examined whether...     

The effects of chronotype and social jetlag on medical students

Sleep and Biological Rhythms - The aim of our study is (1) to identify chronotypes and social jetlag of Korean medical students and (2) to investigate the effect of chronotypes and social jetlag on...     

Latency of auditory P300 response is related with cognitive deficits in Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome

Sleep and Biological Rhythms - Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome (OSAS) is characterized by desaturation in blood oxygen level and sleep fragmentation because of repeated upper airway obstruction....     

Nighttime cell phone use and sleep quality in young adults

Sleep and Biological Rhythms - Young adults are particularly vulnerable to sleep disturbances related to their cell phone use (CPU). The purpose of this study was to test Sleep Displacement and...     

Heterogeneity of sleep quality based on the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index in a community sample: a latent class analysis

Sleep and Biological Rhythms - This study aims to assess the latent dimensional structure of sleep quality as measured by seven components of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and evaluate...     

Advanced psychometric testing on a clinical screening tool to evaluate insomnia: sleep condition indicator in patients with advanced cancer

Sleep and Biological Rhythms - To examine the psychometric properties of the Sleep Condition Indicator (SCI) using different psychometric approaches [including classical test theory, Rasch models,...     

Transient changes in inflammatory and oxidative stress markers with total sleep deprivation

Sleep and Biological Rhythms - Sleep deprivation (SD) is known to modulate inflammatory and oxidative stress markers. How these markers change over the SD period have seldom been studied in healthy...     

Polysomnographic characteristics and predictors of positional obstructive sleep apnea in Japanese elderly

Sleep and Biological Rhythms - Sleep problems and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) increase with age and disturb life in old age. Positional therapy is one option to treat OSA, but the differences in...     

The impact of sleep timing and bright light exposure on attentional impairment during night work

The prevalence of hazardous incidents induced by attentional impairment during night work and ensuing commute times is attributable to circadian misalignment and increased sleep pressure. In a 10-day shift work simulation protocol (4 day shifts and 3 night shifts), the efficacies of 2 countermeasures against nighttime (2300 to 0700 h) attentional impairment were compared: (1) Morning Sleep (0800 to 1600 h; n = 18) in conjunction with a phase-delaying light exposure (2300 to 0300 h), and (2) Evening Sleep (1400 to 2200 h; n = 17) in conjunction with a phase-advancing light exposure (0300 to 0700 h). Analysis of the dim light salivary melatonin onset indicated a modest but significant circadian realignment in both sleep groups (evening sleep: 2.27 +/- 0.6 h phase advance, p < 0.01; morning sleep: 4.98 +/- 0.43 h phase delay, p < 0.01). Daytime sleep efficiency and total sleep time did not differ between them or from their respective baseline sleep (2200 to 0600 h; p > 0.05). However, on the final night shift, the evening sleep subjects had 37% fewer episodes of attentional impairment (long response times: 22 +/- 4 vs. 35 +/- 4; p = 0.02) and quicker responses (p < 0.01) on the Psychomotor Vigilance Task than their morning sleep counterparts. Their response speed recovered to near daytime levels (p = 0.47), whereas those of the morning sleep subjects continued to be slower than their daytime levels (p = 0.008). It is concluded that partial circadian realignment to night work in combination with reduced homeostatic pressure contributed to the greater efficacy of a schedule of Evening Sleep with a phase-advancing light exposure as a countermeasure against attentional impairment, over a schedule of Morning Sleep with a phase-delaying light exposure. These results have important implications for managing patients with shift work disorder.     

Disturbances of sleep and wakefulness associated with the use of antihypertensive agents

Sleep disturbances are frequently associated with the use of antihypertensive drugs. They are observed mainly during the administration of drugs that affect central adrenergic mechanisms. Beta-adrenoceptor antagonists which readily penetrate into the brain (propranolol, pindolol) increase wakefulness and/or decrease REM sleep. Alpha 2-adrenoceptor agonists (clonidine, guanfacine) markedly reduce the duration of REM sleep. The catecholamine depleting agent reserpine increases REM sleep during single or repeated-dose administration, while the MAOI phenelzine shows opposite effects. The 5-HT2 antagonist ritanserin, which is chemically related to the antihypertensive agent ketanserin, increases slow wave sleep while REM sleep is decreased. Sleep disturbances have not been reported during the administration of calcium entry antagonists. However, they seem to modify the effects of hypnotics and CNS stimulants. There are no formal studies on the effects of angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors and vasodilators on sleep in man.     

Individual differences in the sleep/wake cycle of Arctic flexitime workers

Daytime workers tend to have shorter sleep duration and earlier sleep onset during work days than on days off. Large individual differences in sleep onset and sleep duration may be observed on work days, but work usually synchronizes sleep offset to a similar time. The present study describes individual differences in sleep behaviour of 48 daytime workers (25 men, aged 20–58 years) from an iron ore mine in Northern Sweden. The aim of the study was to determine whether differences in sleep patterns during work days were associated with the outcomes of sleepiness and sleep complaints. Cluster analysis was used to group workers into two categories of sleep onset and sleep duration. The “Late Sleep Onset” cluster comprised workers who slept 1.30 h later than the “Early Sleep Onset” cluster (p < 0.0001 for all weekdays). The “Long Sleep Duration” cluster slept 1.10 h longer than the “Short Sleep Duration” cluster (p < 0.0002 for work nights). The “Late Sleep Onset” cluster reported less refreshing sleep (p < 0.01) and had lower sufficient sleep scores (p < 0.01) than the “Early Sleep Onset” cluster. The “Short Sleep Duration” cluster also reported lower scores for sufficient sleep (p < 0.04) than the “Long Sleep Duration” cluster. For combined characteristics (phase and duration), workers with a late phase and short sleep duration reported greater sleep debt and sleepiness than workers with an early phase and short sleep duration (p < 0.02). Work schedule and commuting time modulate both sleep phase and sleep duration independently. Workers, classified as having an intermediate sleep phase preference, can organize their sleep time in order to minimize sleep debt and sleepiness symptoms. Individual differences in sleep phase and duration should be considered when promoting well-being at work even among groups with similar sleep needs. In order to minimize sleep debt and sleepiness symptoms, successful sleep behaviour could be promoted involving extend use of flexitime arrangement (i.e. later starting times) and reduce use of alarm clocks.     

Misleading correlations: The case of the Canada warbler and spruce budworm

In a recently published article Sleep et al. ( 2009 ) suggested that 30-yr declines in Canada warbler (1975–2005) based on Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) data could be attributed to 30-yr declines in spruce budworm through a series of analyses based principally on correlations. We demonstrate that the relationship does not hold when a longer-term data set (1968–2008) is used for the analysis. Sleep et al. ( 2009 ) also demonstrated a positive relationship between correlations of Canada warbler abundance and time and spruce budworm defoliation and time using provincial data sets. We examined the underlying BBS data and found that there were insufficient observations of Canada warbler in the western provinces (Alberta and Manitoba) to support the conclusion because most Canada warbler observations occurred far (>100 km) from any budworm defoliation. As well, we used a density-dependent stochastic population growth model as proposed by Sleep et al. ( 2009 ) and found only 2 significant relationships (Nova Scotia, Alberta) between Canada warbler population growth rate and budworm defoliation at the provincial scale. We conclude that little analytical evidence exists to support the idea that Canada warbler decline is a function of spruce budworm decline. © 2011 The Wildlife Society.     

Day workers suffering from a wider range of sleep problems are more likely to experience suicidality

Both a higher suicide rate and widespread sleep problems are serious health concerns in Japan when compared with those of other countries. We investigated the relationship between suicidal ideation and sleep problems in Japanese day workers using the 3-dimensional sleep scale (3DSS), which measures three sleep elements (phase, quality, and quantity). Data from 635 Japanese day workers (461 mens and 174 womens) were included. The 3DSS was used to assess participants’ sleep condition. Participants were classified into eight sleep types based on scores of phase, quality, and quantity: All Good Sleep, Owl (poor phase), Inefficient (poor quality), Short (poor quantity), Owl + Inefficient (poor phase and quality), Owl + Short (poor phase and quantity), Inefficient + Short (poor quality and quantity), and All Poor Sleep. We assessed participants’ suicidal ideation using question 19 of the self-rating depression scale (SDS); 119 cases (18.7 %) had ratings of 2–4 for this question and were considered to have suicidal ideation. The higher the number of sleep problems, the higher the risk of suicidal ideation compared to sleep types not indicative of problems. All Poor Sleep had the highest risk of the eight sleep types. Individuals with Owl + Short, Inefficient + Short, or All Poor Sleep had a significant risk of suicidal ideation even after adjusting for hopelessness and nightmares. Our findings suggested that sleep problems assessed by the 3DSS were related to suicidal ideation. Analysis of various aspects of sleep could be helpful for suicide prevention.