Nicholas Jackson puts the latest facts and figures from the all of the most influential medical journals; newspapers; and health, fitness, and wellness websites.

• 5,400,000  – The approximate number of kids in the United States that have been diagnosed with ADHD, according to the Centers for Disease Control and  Prevention (CDC). Source: “ADHD More Common Among Youngest Kids in Class: Overdiagnosed?” CBS.
• 5.5 — The percentage that diagnosis rates of ADHD have increased, on average, per year from 2003 to 2007, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Source: “ADHD More Common Among Youngest Kids in Class: Overdiagnosed?” CBS.
• 6 — The percentage of airline pilots who work the same shift every day, according to a new 2012 Sleep in America poll, which suggests that variable schedules lead to sleepiness which leads to slower reaction times, decreased attention, and problems processing and learning information.  Source: “One in Five Pilots Report a Serious Error Related to Sleepiness,” the Wall  Street Journal. Read the rest of this entry

A recently concluded research study findings are important for parents who often think that snoring babies are deeply sleeping ones. This research however revealed that snoring, along with mouth-breathing and sleep apnea, are sure symptoms of disordered sleep and the chances of developing long-term problems in children’s behavior and emotional well-being are quite high.

Findings of this research study have been published in the journal Pediatrics, researchers say that babies who have these sleep problems at 6 months may be anywhere from 20% to 100% more likely to have problem behaviors such as hyperactivity by age 7.

The study was conducted with more  than 11,000 children followed for over six years at the at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University and the researchers found that young children with sleep-disordered breathing are prone to developing behavioral difficulties such as hyperactivity and aggressiveness, as well as emotional symptoms and difficulty with peer relationships. Read the rest of this entry

If you are getting older you are more likely to sleep like a baby!

Nearly 100 million Americans are suffering from one or other sleep disorders like sleep apnea, insomnia, sleep deprivation, sleep disturbance and daytime fatigue to name just a few. But those who are getting older have good news that their sleep is getting better as they grow old. A good night’s sleep just like a baby sleep gets possible in older age.

A research study performed on more than 150,000 Americans concluded recently and published in the March edition of the Journal SLEEP revealed that sleep seems to improve over a lifetime, with the fewest sleep complaints coming from people in their 80s. Read the rest of this entry

One of the most common health disorders among people around the world is “sleep apnea”. In its simplest sense ‘sleep apnea’ can be understood as one or more pauses in normal breathing. In many cases the shallow breathing during sleep is also termed as ‘sleep apnea’.

A pause in normal breathing during sleep may have an undefined duration. Meaning thereby, the pause could be for a few seconds only or it can even stretch up to few minutes.

Similarly, the rate of occurrence of such pauses during sleep may also vary up to great ranges. It could be five times per hour or even up to 30 times an hour. Normal breathing generally starts immediately after such a pause but this re-start could generate a snoring or choking sound as well.

Once a person is a victim of ‘sleep apnea’ this disorder converts in to a chronic disorder slowly over the years. In majority of the cases people never realize that the ‘sleep apnea disorder’ has crept in their lives. Read the rest of this entry

If you are suffering from the deadly sleep disorder called the obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) then you’re not breathing properly while you sleep because your airflow is blocked repeatedly throughout the night.

Almost one in four men and one in ten women suffer from sleep apnea. There are three different types of sleep apnea but obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is the most common. And it goes hand-in-hand with type 2 diabetes.

Among all of the sleep disorders, OSA has the strongest association with type 2 diabetes. That’s even taking into account other risk factors, such as weight, sex and age.

The main risk factor for OSA is obesity. Excess weight deposits extra fat around the thorax, reducing chest compliance and functional capacity, while increasing oxygen demand. Read the rest of this entry

Sleep disorders often remain undiagnosed. Untreated sleep disorders among police officers may adversely affect their health and safety and pose a risk to the public.

Researchers examined and evaluated associations between sleep disorder risk and self-reported health, safety, and performance outcomes in police officers.

Cross-sectional and prospective cohort study of North American police officers participating in either an online or an on-site screening (n=4957) and monthly follow-up surveys (n=3545 officers representing 15 735 person-months) between July 2005 and December 2007. A total of 3693 officers in the United States and Canada participated in the online screening survey, and 1264 officers from a municipal police department and a state police department participated in the on-site survey.             Read the rest of this entry

People sleep significantly better and feel more alert during the day  if they get at least 150 minutes of exercise a week, a new study  concludes.

A nationally representative sample of more than 2,600 men and women,  ages 18-85, found that 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity a  week, which is the national guideline, provided a 65% improvement in  sleep quality. People also said they felt less sleepy during the day,  compared to those with less physical activity.

The study, out in the December issue of the journal Mental  Health and Physical Activity, lends more evidence to mounting  research showing the importance of exercise to a number of health  factors. Read the rest of this entry

For patients with severe obstructive sleep apnea, three months of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy is associated with reduced blood pressure, and partial reversal of metabolic abnormalities, according to a study published in the Dec. 15 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

Surendra K. Sharma, M.D., Ph.D., from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi, and colleagues investigated the effects of CPAP treatment on metabolic syndrome in 86 patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome. Patients were assigned to real or sham CPAP for three months, followed by a washout period of one month, and then a crossover to the other intervention for three months. Anthropometric variables, blood pressure, fasting blood glucose levels and lipid profile, insulin resistance, glycated hemoglobin levels, carotid intima-media thickness, and visceral fat were measured before and after each intervention. Read the rest of this entry

Disturbing forecasts have prompted the Aviisha Medical Institute, LLC to  release a free guide to sleep apnea. A new study published in the Lancet  predicts that by 2030, 164 million Americans will suffer from obesity.

Given  obesity’s high correlation with sleep apnea, experts are beginning to brace for  an obesity-sleep apnea epidemic of epic proportions.

Current estimates predict that 1 in every 5 Americans suffers from mild sleep  apnea and 1 in every 15 from moderate sleep apnea or worse. These numbers are  expected to climb in coming years, and yet most sleep apnea sufferers have no  idea they have the condition.

“Studies estimate that between 80 and 90% of sufferers are undiagnosed and  need treatment,” said Dr. Avi Ishaaya, a sleep boarded physician and Medical  Director of the Aviisha Medical Institute, LLC.

“This is a serious problem when  you consider how untreated sleep apnea can devastate the cardiovascular system  and damage a person’s quality of life.” Sleep apnea has been linked to stroke,  heart failure, diabetes, hypertension, depression, erectile dysfunction, memory  loss, and more. Read the rest of this entry

Bay Sleep, the West Coast’s largest and fastest growing independent sleep  center, announced the opening of its newest, state-of-the-art sleep clinic in Oakland, California. 

Located one block from Summit Medical Center, this is Bay Sleep’s 16th clinic open  for business. Services include sleep physician consultations, diagnostic in-lab  and home sleep testing and dispensing CPAP and other therapies for patients  diagnosed with Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) and other sleep  disorders.

The growth trend continues as the company plans to open  their next full service sleep care facility in Solano County by mid-December.  Read the rest of this entry

Sleep apnea is a deadly sleep disorder.The overall effects of sleep apnea are more cumulative in nature and could kill a person being in association with other several disorders and diseases.

In the case of sleep apnea, which is cessation of breathing while sleeping, it can lead to high blood pressure and heart failure, stroke, diabetes, sexual dysfunction; and because it promotes a dangerous lack of good sleep, it also is being blamed for many traffic fatalities in this country brought about by drowsy drivers.

Former NFL players  like Aaron Taylor, a big former Chargers offensive lineman, and Rolf Benirschke, a thin former Chargers kicker, both have suffered from sleep apnea. Both of these NFL stars are contributing towards awareness of sleep apnea among masses.They are doing it through education, because the way to beat this thing is to go to bed wearing masks attached to positive airway pressure devices. Read the rest of this entry

Sleep apnea screening is rare among psychiatric patients at present, but it’s important to diagnose obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) because it can make mental illness worse, contributing to depression and possibly to the risk of manic episodes.

The symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea can mimic mental illness as well, making patients irritable and tired. If a patient is diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea it will further complicate the use of benzodiazepines and other respiratory depressants in such patients.

The lead investigator Dr. Vanita Jain, a psychiatry department resident at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City says,” “Sleep problems are so integral to psychiatric problems, [and] we wanted to make sure that along with psychiatric disorders, we were treating obstructive sleep apnea, too”. Read the rest of this entry

SleepApneaDisorder/ [  Press Release  ]/ Versailles, Ohio /October 17, 2011/ Sleep Apnea: A Growing Health Concern According to the National Institute  of Neurological Disorders and Strokes, an estimated 18 million Americans have  sleep apnea. However, few of them have had the problem diagnosed.

Sleep apnea is the repeated interruption of normal breathing during sleep.  Obstructive sleep apnea is the most common type of breathing-related sleep disorder. In patients with OSA, the airway collapses, temporarily restricting  airflow to the lungs. This partial airway obstruction causes the upper airway  tissue to vibrate and produce the sound of the classic snore.

As OSA develops, it has a cumulative effect, meaning that the longer the  disease goes untreated, the greater the negative side effects and associated  health risks. According to numerous  research studies, if sleep apnea remains untreated, other health conditions  may emerge or current health problems may worsen, including: Read the rest of this entry

Sleep apnea is a condition that can strike in age groupand in either gender. Although the most common group are older men, children and infants are also at risk. Asthma and sleep apnea are strange bedfellows. Several studies have linked the two issues and theorize that there is a group of people with asthma and sleep apnea who are unaware of the second diagnosis.

Sleep apnea is the description of the condition where the sufferer experiences a temporary, often repeated, pause of breathing during sleep. If a person with sleep apnea has a family member that can observe them they will often witness snoring, hyper-extended head position in children, pauses in breathing and startle responses during sleep.

Other symptoms of sleep apnea include loud snoring, obesity, lack of concentration, morning headaches, excessive sleepiness during the day, frequent visits to the bathroom at night, severe mood swings, low sex drive and a general lack of energy. Read the rest of this entry

Are you unable to fall asleep? Do you wake up often throughout the night? Do you feel well-rested when you awake in the morning? Do you want to improve your quality and quantity of your sleep? Symptoms of forgetfulness, headaches, lack of focus, itching, moodiness, cravings, headaches, and neck and backaches often disappear with a good night’s sleep.

Restful sleep is a must for health, vitality, longevity and fat loss. Researchers found that sleeping four hours a night interferes with your ability to secrete and regulate hormones, which in turn promote aging, increase appetite, add inches to your waistline and increases your risk of developing diabetes. Lack of sleep promotes an environment prime for inflammation and catabolism (muscle loss).

One loses ”one IQ point” for every hour of lost sleep one didn’t get the night before. Cognitive and mood problems develop, along with an increased risk of high blood pressure and heart disease are just a few consequences of too little sleep. Read the rest of this entry