Sleep News and Research

Latest Sleep News and Research

Blue light and fruit flies: a warning for humans

A new study involving the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, published in the journal npj Aging and Mechanisms of Disease, shows that when flies are kept in darkness, or in white light from which the blue spectrum has been excluded, they live longer, compared to flies kept in alternating 12-hour shifts of blue LED light and darkness. The reason appears to be a speeded-up version of aging; the brain cells, retinal cells and climbing ability, all suffer a breakdown.

18 Oct 2019

Fitbit and Bristol-Myers Squibb-Pfizer Alliance team up to address gaps in atrial fibrillation

The Bristol-Myers Squibb-Pfizer Alliance and Fitbit today announced at the TIME 100 Health Summit in New York that they are working together to help drive timely diagnosis of atrial fibrillation (AFib) with the aim of improving earlier detection in individuals at increased risk of stroke.

17 Oct 2019

Frequent drinking strongest risk factor for atrial fibrillation

A new study published on October 17, 2019, in the journal EP Europace, shows that people who drink alcohol almost every day, even in small amounts, are more at risk to develop an irregular heart rhythm called atrial fibrillation (AF), which is linked to a five-fold higher risk of stroke.

17 Oct 2019

Prolonged exposure to blue light may affect longevity

Prolonged exposure to blue light, such as that which emanates from your phone, computer and household fixtures, could be affecting your longevity, even if it's not shining in your eyes.

17 Oct 2019

Tips to help strengthen your defenses this flu season

Flu season can take its toll on your health, but one way to fight the virus is to stop the spread of germs at home.

17 Oct 2019

Survey: 41% of adults will fall back to sleep when daylight saving time ends

What will you do with an extra hour when daylight saving time ends at 2 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 3? Forty-one percent of adults indicated that they will fall back to sleep, according to a survey conducted by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

17 Oct 2019

Young adults with PTSD more likely to experience a stroke event by middle age

Young adults who suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder may be more likely to experience a transient ischemic attack or major stroke event by middle age, raising the risk as much as other better-known risk factors, according to new research published in Stroke, a journal of the American Stroke Association, a division of the American Heart Association.

17 Oct 2019

Study compares frequent drinking and binge drinking for new-onset atrial fibrillation

Drinking small amounts of alcohol frequently is linked with a higher likelihood of atrial fibrillation than binge drinking, according to research published today in EP Europace, a journal of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC).1

17 Oct 2019

Study reveals reason for increased cardiovascular risk among football players in the U.S.

Research has shown that while elite athletes overall are at decreased risk of death from cardiovascular problems, a certain group of athletes -- football linemen in the United States -- actually have higher risk than the general population than other elite athletes.

16 Oct 2019

Researchers develop new smart speaker that uses white noise to monitor infants' breathing

Gone are the days when people use smart speakers - like Amazon Echo or Google Home - only as kitchen timers or dinner party music players. These devices have started helping people track their own health, and can even monitor for cardiac arrest.

16 Oct 2019

White noise listening device for monitoring infant breathing

Researchers at the University of Washington have come up with a device which acts as a monitor for infant breathing patterns while playing white noise to soothe them to sleep. The results of their study with the new device would be presented in an article titled, “Contactless Infant Monitoring using White Noise,” at the MobiCom 2019 conference in Los Cabos, Mexico on the 22nd of this month.

15 Oct 2019

Retinal macular damage linked to sleep apnea in diabetes

A new Taiwanese study presented on October 14, 2019, at the Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, reports that macular edema in diabetes occurs more often in those who have severe sleep apnea.

15 Oct 2019

New technique reveals how the brain responds to light signals received by the retina

In recent decades, scientists have learned a great deal about how different neurons connect and send signals to each other. But it's been difficult to trace the activity of individual nerve fibers known as axons, some of which can extend from the tip of the toe to the head.

15 Oct 2019

Early diagnosis of infantile seizures crucial to brain development

When caring for a baby who is younger than 2 years old, you may focus on the usual development milestones like weight gain and head circumference. However, it may be worthwhile for pediatric specialists and parents to work together to identify if the baby has any neurological disorders.

15 Oct 2019

PAP therapy associated with reduced acute care visits for patients with obstructive sleep apnea

Treating patients with moderate or severe obstructive sleep apnea with positive airway pressure (PAP) therapy is associated with reduced acute care visits and health care expenditures, according to a recent study.

15 Oct 2019

Sleep DownUnder 2019 hosts leading experts to reveal latest snooze secrets

Kiwifruit, cannabis, tongue implants and smartphone apps are among the latest sleep aids in the spotlight at an international sleep conference to be held in Sydney this week.

15 Oct 2019

Sleep apnea is a risk factor for developing diabetic macular edema, study shows

New research from Taiwan shows that severe sleep apnea is a risk factor for developing diabetic macular edema, a complication of diabetes that can cause vision loss or blindness. Diabetic macular edema was also more difficult to treat in patients with severe sleep apnea.

14 Oct 2019

Snacking could be banned on local transport in a bid to curb childhood obesity

England’s outgoing Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dame Sally Davies, the top doctor in the country, believes that snacking ought to be banned on public transport and additional taxes should be placed on unhealthy foods to make them less affordable, in order to fight the menace of childhood obesity.

14 Oct 2019

Military veterans with PTSD suffer from rare sleep disorder

Military veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder or concussion suffer from a thrashing form of sleep behavior at a rate that is far higher than the general population, according to a new study by researchers at the VA Portland Health Care System and Oregon Health & Science University.

11 Oct 2019

Combination drug appears to improve lung health in patients with cystic fibrosis, but with caveats

In adolescent and adult patients with cystic fibrosis taking lumacaftor-ivacaftor (ORKAMBI), the combination drug appears to improve lung function and body weight and reduce the need for intravenous antibiotic treatment, according to a French study published online in the American Thoracic Society's American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

11 Oct 2019