Limiting late night eating can ward off negative effects of sleep deprivation

A study indicates that eating less late at night may help curb negative effects of sleep deprivation such as concentration and alertness deficits.

Eating less late at night may help curb the concentration and alertness deficits that accompany sleep deprivation, according to results of a new study from researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania that will be presented at SLEEP 2015, the 29th annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies LLC.

"Adults consume approximately 500 additional calories during late-night hours when they are sleep restricted," said the study's senior author David F. Dinges, PhD, director of the Unit for Experimental Psychiatry and chief of the division of Sleep and Chronobiology. "Our research found that refraining from late-night calories helps prevent some of the decline those individuals may otherwise experience in neurobehavioral performance during sleep restriction."

The study gave 44 subjects, ages 21 to 50, unlimited access to food and drink during the day, followed by only four hours of sleep each night for three nights. On the fourth night, 20 participants received continued access to food and drinks, while the 24 others were allowed only to consume water from 10:00 p.m. until they went to sleep at 4:00 a.m.

At 2 a.m. each night, all subjects completed a variety of tests to measure their working memory, cognitive skills, sleepiness, stress level and mood.

During the fourth night, subjects who fasted performed better on reaction time and attention lapses than subjects who had eaten during those late-night hours. In addition, subjects who ate showed significantly slower reaction times and more attention lapses on the fourth night of sleep restriction compared to the first three nights whereas study subjects who had fasted did not show this performance decline.

While countless studies associate numerous physical and mental health benefits with a healthy night's sleep, the Centers for Disease Control Prevention reports that "insufficient sleep is a public health epidemic" in the United States, including the estimated 50 to 70 million U.S. adults suffering from sleep and wakefulness disorders.

The new study results serve as a book end to other research on the links between eating and sleep deprivation. A 2013 study from the same Penn team found that individuals with late bedtimes and chronic sleep restriction may be more susceptible to weight gain due to the increased consumption of calories during late-night hours.

The research team also includes Andrea Spaeth, PhD, and Namni Goel, PhD.

The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health (R01 NR004281, F31 AG044102); the Penn Clinical and Translational Research Center (UL1RR024134); and the Department of the Navy, Office of Naval Research (Award No. N00014-11-1-0361).

In a related study (Abstract #0332), the same team of Goel, Spaeth and Dinges, found that adults who are chronically sleep restricted may need to compensate for decreased morning resting metabolic rate by reducing caloric intake or increasing physical activity to prevent weight gain. That research was led by senior author Namni Goel, PhD, a research associate professor of psychology in Psychiatry and the Unit for Experimental Psychiatry.

"Short sleep duration is a significant risk factor for weight gain and obesity, particularly in African Americans and men," Goel said. "This research suggests that reducing the number of calories consumed can help prevent that weight gain and some of the health issues associated with obesity in Caucasians and particularly in African Americans."

The NIH reports that 69 percent of U.S. adults are overweight or obese. Being overweight or obese increases your risk of coronary heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, type 2 diabetes, cancer, sleep apnea, and other health problems.

In the study, 36 healthy adults, ages 21 to 50, slept for their usual amount for two nights. Next, they spent four hours in bed each night for five nights, followed by one night of 12 hours of recovery sleep. The control group of 11 subjects received 10 hours in bed each night for six nights. Resting metabolic rate, or measure of the amount of energy used in a relaxed condition, and respiratory quotient, or the ratio of the volume of carbon dioxide to oxygen used in a time period, were measured after overnight fasting.

In the experimental group, resting metabolic rate decreased after five nights of sleep restriction and returned to baseline levels after recovery sleep. No changes in resting metabolic rate were observed in control subjects. In the experimental group, African Americans exhibited comparable daily caloric intake relative to Caucasians, but a lower resting metabolic rate and higher respiratory quotient.

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Childhood sleep disorders could hurt a child's heath

When you think of sleep disorders in children, the first types likely to spring to mind are night terrors, nightmares and sleepwalking. These fall into a class of sleep disorders known as parasomnias.

It is estimated that up to 6.5% of children - particularly those aged 4-12 years - experience night terrors, defined as episodes of intense fear, screaming and flailing during sleep. Approximately 3% of preschool and school-aged children experience nightmares, while up to 15% of children aged 4-12 years sleepwalk.

Perhaps less associated with children and adolescents is insomnia and obstructive sleep apnea. In fact, insomnia, the inability to fall asleep or frequent awakening, is estimated to affect around 25% of children and teenagers. Obstructive sleep apnea - when an individual stops breathing for long periods during sleep - affects around 2-4% of children.

What are the causes and symptoms of childhood sleep disorders?

There are a number of factors that can cause childhood and adolescent sleep disorders.

Just like adults, children and teenagers can experience stress, which can interfere with sleep. Consumption of energy drinks - which contain caffeine - is also known to disrupt sleep, as is use of certain medications, such as antidepressants and corticosteroids.

Children and adolescents are also more likely to develop sleep disorders if they have a family history of such conditions, and poor sleep habits, or poor "sleep hygiene" - such as going to bed at irregular times or attempting to sleep in an inadequate environment - can negatively affect sleep quality.

Increasingly, researchers are pointing to the use of technology as a driver for sleep disorders. Last month,Medical News Today reported on a study published in BMJ Open that found children are 50% more likely to have problems getting to sleep if they spend 4 hours a day or more using media devices.

"In adolescents, with the increase in popularity of technology, many teens are staying up very late communicating with friends on smartphones and tablets. The stimulation and light exposure from these devices are associated with late bedtimes and insomnia," Dr. Neil Kline, a sleep physician and internist at the American Sleep Association, told MNT.

Although often harmless, snoring can be a major indicator for a sleep disorder in children and adolescents. It can be a sign of sleep apnea or disturbed sleep quality.

Other symptoms of sleep disorders to look out for include difficulty getting to sleep, daytime fatigue, poor memory, lack of concentration, reduced attention span, irritability and mood swings, hyperactivity and depression.

"If there is any concern for a sleep problem, such as a child taking longer than 20-30 minutes to fall asleep, not sleeping through the night after about age 1 year, or snoring, it is important to discuss this with the child's pediatrician, health care provider or a sleep doctor," Dr. Shalini Paruthi, a spokesperson for the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM), told us.

Children and teenagers are not getting enough sleep

According to recently updated recommendations from the National Sleep Foundation (NSF), the number of hours sleep children and adolescents need is as follows:

Over the past 20 years, the number of hours teenagers sleep each night has fallen.

• Newborns (0-3 months): 14-17 hours a day
• Infants (4-11 months): 12-15 hours
• Toddlers (1-2 years): 11-14 hours
• Preschoolers (3-5 years): 10-13 hours
• School-age (6-13 years): 9-11 hours
• Teenagers (14-17 years): 8-10 hours.

However, it seems many children and teenagers are failing to meet sleep recommendations.

A 2014 poll from the NSF, which asked parents to estimate how much sleep their child gets on a school night, found that children aged 6-10 are only getting around 8.9 hours sleep a night, while 13-14-year-olds are only getting around 7.7 hours sleep each night.

More recently, MNT reported on a study published in the journal Pediatrics revealing that the number of hours teenagers sleep each night has declined over the past 20 years.

The study, which involved more than 270,000 adolescents, found that 72% of 15-year-olds were getting at least 7 hours or sleep each night in 1991, but this fell to only 63% in 2012.

"Declines in self-reported adolescent sleep across the last 20 years are concerning and suggest that there is potentially a significant public health concern that warrants health education and literacy approaches," said lead study author Dr. Katherine W. Keyes, of Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health.

But why is lack of sleep among children and adolescents a public health concern?

Sleep deprivation linked to obesity, diabetes and heart problems

Sleep deprivation can cause a number of health problems for children and adolescents, both in childhood and adulthood.

In 2011, a study published in The BMJ claimed that children who do not get enough sleep are at significantly higher risk of becoming overweight, compared with children who get sufficient sleep.

Another study published in The Journal of Pediatrics in December 2014 reported a similar finding, associating severe lack of sleep and sleep-disordered breathing in early childhood with increased risk of obesity.

The researchers found that children with the shortest sleep time at the ages of 5 and 6 years were at 60-100% increased risk of obesity by the age of 15, compared with children with sufficient sleep times.

"If impaired sleep in childhood is conclusively shown to cause future obesity, it may be vital for parents and physicians to identify sleep problems early, so that corrective action can be taken and obesity prevented," commented lead study author Prof. Karen Bonuck, from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University in New York, NY.

In March last year, another study published in the same journal found that overweight adolescents who do not get enough sleep may be at increased risk of diabetes, heart disease and stroke.

Past studies have also associated sleep apnea in children with delayed growth and heart failure.

Lack of sleep 'makes it nearly impossible for children to reach their full potential'

It is widely accepted that sleep is important for learning and memory. In June 2014, MNT reported on a study that suggested as such. It found that sleep after learning boosts growth of connections between brain cells, helping them to communicate with each other.

A more recent study found that sleep is particularly important for infants' learning skills. Published in theProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers revealed that infants aged 6-12 months who had at least one 30 minute nap within 4 hours of learning a new skill were much more likely to demonstrate the skills they learned once they awoke.

With findings such as these, it is no wonder that lack of sleep and poor sleep quality has been associated with poor learning and educational attainment among children and adolescents.

A 2013 study conducted by researchers from Boston College in the UK found that sleep deprivation was a major contributor to poor grades in numerous countries. While taking literacy tests, 76% of American 9-10-years-olds were identified as sleep-deprived, and these students were found to have poorer results.

"I think we underestimate the impact of sleep. Our data show that across countries internationally, on average, children who have more sleep achieve higher in maths, science and reading. That is exactly what our data show," study co-author Chad Minnich told BBC News.

Dr. Paruthi believes sufficient sleep is crucial for a child's overall health and development. She told MNT:

"Sleep disorders in children and teens can hinder them in school, in social situations, in development and nearly every other aspect of their lives, with the negative impact potentially extending into adulthood. Without healthy sleep, it will be nearly impossible for children to reach their full potential."

Parents should not assume children will 'grow out' of sleep disorders

It is possible that as a child or teenager gets older, symptoms of their sleep disorder may ease. This is most likely for parasomnias, such as sleepwalking and night terrors.

But in some cases, sleep disorders can persist well into adulthood. "For example, children who have sleep apnea are more likely to develop sleep apnea as adults," noted Dr. Kline.

As such, sleep physicians say parents should not ignore signs of sleep disorders in children with the assumption they will "grow out" of them.

"Parents should never assume that their child will grow out of a sleep disorder," Dr. Paruthi told us. "Parents should talk to their child's doctor about how their child sleeps and discuss any potential sleep problems. It is important for a doctor to monitor sleep problems during childhood, identify any underlying causes and prescribe appropriate treatment when necessary."

Depending on what form of sleep disorder a child has, there are a number of treatments available. Doctors may recommend a melatonin supplement, for example. Melatonin is a natural hormone made by the body that helps regulate sleep.

Cognitive behavioral therapy may also be useful, in which psychological approaches - rather than medication - are used to improve a child's sleep time and quality.

Tips to improve a child's sleep

But while there are a number of therapies that can help treat symptoms of sleep disorders, there are many things the NSF say parents can do to improve the likelihood of their child getting a good night's sleep:

The NSF say parents should ensure their child is sleeping in an adequate environment; if it is too noisy, too cold or too hot, this can disrupt sleep.

• Make sleep a primary health priority in your family
• Talk to your child about the importance of sleep for their health and well-being
• Set regular bedtimes for yourself and your children and stick to them
• Be aware of how your child is using media devices in the bedroom and set boundaries for use before bedtime
• Ensure you and your child are educated on how light from media devices may impair sleep
• Rather than watching TV, playing video games or browsing the Internet before bedtime, encourage your child to read a book or listen to music
• Ensure your child is sleeping in an adequate environment; if it is too noisy, too cold or too hot, this can disrupt sleep
• Talk to your child's teacher to find out about their alertness during the school day, and ask them to inform you if they fall asleep in lessons.

To find out more about how to improve your child's sleep, visit the NSF website. Our Knowledge Center articles provide more general information on specific sleep disorders, including obstructive sleep apneaand insomnia.

How to avoid issues from Daylight Savings Time

With Daylight Savings on March 8th, we will lose an hour of sleep. This article explains why it may be an issue for people and gives tips on how to avoid any problems.

You may find you feel a little more tired than usual next month as you adjust to the start of Daylight Saving Time, which begins at 2 a.m on Sunday, March 8.

“An hour seems like a minor change, but moving the clock ahead one hour can be very stressful or disruptive for some people, particularly for those who are already sleep deprived,” says to Jeffrey P. Barasch, M.D., FACCP, FAASM, Medical Director of The Valley Hospital Center for Sleep Medicine.

“The problem goes beyond just the loss of a single hour of sleep on the night of the clock change,” Dr. Barasch says, “The time change also plays havoc with the body’s circadian rhythm, or biological clock.”

This biological clock, located within a part of the brain behind the eyes, determines when we feel alert and when we are sleepy. The internal clock keeps our bodies synchronized with the daily light-dark cycle of the outside world. The biologic clock is ‘set’ or fixed to the time of day by two factors: the time we regularly wake up in the morning and our exposure to sunlight during the day. It can be reset, but (as anyone who has traveled by airplane across several time zones has experienced), the biological clock cannot be adjusted too quickly.

When we move the time clock one hour earlier for daylight savings time, our bodies remain partly on the prior schedule (known as ‘jetlag’ in plane travel). The result: 7 am in daylight savings time is equivalent to 6 a.m. standard time. Also, your typically sunlit mornings will now be dark, and that lack of morning light makes it even more difficult for your internal clock to adjust. So not only are we losing an hour of sleep, but since it can take some time to readjust, we’re left feeling tired for more than the one day on which the clocks change.

People who normally sleep well can usually adjust to the time shift with relatively little difficulty. However, if someone has been barely coping with an undiagnosed and untreated sleep disorder, daylight saving time can exacerbate and therefore unmask problems such as sleep apnea, insomnia or periodic limb movement disorder.

The following tips from Dr. Barasch can help you get a good night’s sleep:
• On the nights after the time change, go to bed at your usual time. You may experience some difficulty falling asleep, because your body’s clock has not yet adjusted.
• Get up at your usual time regularly. Although you may find this a bit difficult, it will help you adjust to the time change.
• Avoid sunlight or bright light in the first few evenings after the time change, as this will tend to keep you awake later and prevent adjustment of your body’s clock.
• Try to get sunlight exposure soon after awakening in the first few mornings after the time change, as this will help you adjust to the new time.
• A short nap can help make up for less sleep, but won’t help you acclimate to the new schedule. Don’t nap within a few hours of your regular bedtime to avoid disrupting nighttime sleep.
• Create a sleep-friendly environment that is dark, cool, comfortable and quiet.
• Have a relaxing routine before bedtime, such as soaking in a hot bath, reading or listening to soothing music.
• Avoid caffeine, nicotine and alcohol for several hours prior to bedtime, as they can disrupt sleep.

If you regularly experience daytime drowsiness, fatigue or disturbed sleep, speak to your doctor or consult with a sleep medicine specialist.

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Most US teens are sleep deprived

A recent study shows that most of the teens in the US are sleep deprived.

More than 90 percent of American high school students are chronically sleep-deprived, putting their health and academic performance in jeopardy, a new report finds.

The study, based on U.S. national data, finds that most teens don't get the minimum 9 to 10 hours of sleep per night that's recommended by standard guidelines.

Teenagers do face a number of challenges as they try to get adequate sleep, experts say.

"I don't believe there's one culprit," said the study's lead author, Charles Basch, a professor of health and education at the Teacher's College at Columbia University in New York City.

"For some children it's too much homework, for some it's health problems like asthma," he explained. "For others it may be anxiety or depression, or the prescription medications they are taking for such conditions. Recreational drugs can be a factor, as can having electronics in the bedroom."

Whatever the reason, government surveys show that poor sleep is an ongoing issue for most teenagers.

"This type of data has only been collected since 2007, so we can't say whether the situation has been getting worse historically," Basch said. "But what we can clearly say is that a very substantial portion of high school students throughout America is not getting enough sleep."

His team noted that teens, especially, need adequate sleep because it's crucial to memory, attention, emotional well-being and overall physical health.

In the study, the researchers tracked findings from four U.S. government surveys conducted in 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2013 as part of the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System.

Each year, between roughly 12,000 to 15,000 students in grades 9 through 12 were asked about how many average hours of sleep they got each school night.

Overall, less than 10 percent of teens said they were actually meeting current U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines for sleep. Only about 7 percent of girls, and around 8 to 9 percent of boys said they got nine to 10 hours of sleep per night.

And, for the most part, sleep patterns for teenagers appeared to get worse with age -- surveys showed that by the time they reached 12th grade, a whopping 95 percent of high school seniors were not routinely meeting CDC sleep guidelines.

Girls tended to fare worse than boys, with girls being more prone to sleep five hours or fewer per night and less likely to get nine or more hours of sleep each night, the study found.

Race also appeared to figure into the equation: black teenagers were significantly more likely to get five or fewer hours of sleep per night than their white peers.

In each survey, 20 percent of black boys and girls were found to have daily sleep routines that included five or fewer hours of sleep. The same was true of 15 percent of Hispanic girls and about 12 percent of Hispanic boys.

According to Basch, early school start times are one major reason behind all those sleepless teens.

"More and more attention is being focused on the start times of schools, with the idea being that very early class schedules do not serve good sleep patterns," he said.

"That is certainly one of the problems," agreed Kelly Baron, an assistant professor of neurology and director of the Behavioral Sleep Medicine Program in the department of neurology with the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago.

She called the data from the new report "alarming."

"While we're still trying to understand why this is happening, one of the reasons is clearly school start times," Baron said. "Having children wake up to start school at 6 or 7 a.m. is really at odds with their biology."

She explained that a person's sleep patterns "naturally change across our lifespan. And one of the most profound changes is that our natural 24-hour rhythm shifts as we enter puberty. Sure -- some of it's social, [and] kids just want to say up late and such. But the need to stay up later and sleep in later is also biological. So early school times set them up for a chronic sleep disadvantage."

So, can parents do anything to encourage more shut-eye for their kids?

"They can and should get involved," Baron said, "setting curfews, establishing sleep schedules, and limiting screen time in the bedroom. A healthy sleep environment at home is key."

The new study is published in the December issue of the CDC journal Preventing Chronic Disease.

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Earlier school start time can mean more car crashes

Start changing your child's sleep schedule back to school time. - JR

Teens with an earlier school start time get into more car crashes which can indicate these teens are sleep deprived due to the earlier school start time.

A new study suggests that teen drivers who start class earlier in the morning are involved in significantly more motor vehicle accidents than peers with a later high school start time. The results underscore the importance of the "Awake at the Wheel" campaign of the National Healthy Sleep Awareness Project.

Results show that the weekday crash rate for teen drivers during the 2009 to 2010 school year was about 29 percent higher in Chesterfield County, Va., where high school classes began at 7:20 a.m., than in adjacent Henrico County, Va., where classes started at 8:45 a.m. Similar results were found for the 2010 to 2011 school year, when the weekday crash rate for 16-17 year old teens in Chesterfield County was about 27 percent higher than for those in Henrico County. In contrast, there was no difference in adult crash rates in the two counties for either year. A secondary analysis evaluating the causes and types of crashes found that Chesterfield County adolescents had a significantly higher rate of run-off-road crashes, which is a common feature of drowsy driving accidents.

"There are more and more data suggesting that insufficient sleep is common in our teens and that early high school start times are a contributor to teens' reduced sleep," said principal investigator and lead author Dr. Robert Vorona, associate professor in the Division of Sleep Medicine at Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, Va. "Insufficient sleep appears to have deleterious consequences such as decrements in mood and increased risk taking, impaired academics and increased crash rates."

The results corroborate the findings of a previous study by Vorona's team that evaluated teen crash rates from 2007 to 2008. Results of the current study are published in the November issue of the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine.

"When high school classes begin early in the morning, we ask teens to shine when their biological clock tells them to sleep," said American Academy of Sleep Medicine President Dr. Timothy Morgenthaler, a national spokesperson for the Healthy Sleep Project. "Many do not get adequate sleep as a result. Smarter school start times, that are more consistent with sleep needs, will improve students' safety, overall health, mood and academic performance."

Recently the Healthy Sleep Project launched the "Awake at the Wheel" campaign to increase public awareness of the risks of drowsy driving. More details are available athttp://www.projecthealthysleep.org.

The study involved an analysis of data provided by the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles. During both school years there were more than 520 motor vehicle accidents involving teen drivers in Chesterfield County and more than 320 teen crashes in Henrico County.

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends that adolescents get a little more than nine hours of nightly sleep for optimal health and daytime alertness during the critical transition from childhood to adulthood. The AASM advises parents and local school boards to work together to implement high school start times that allow teens to get the healthy sleep they need to meet their full potential.

A new report from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety estimates that drowsy driving may cause 328,000 motor vehicle accidents and 6,400 fatal crashes on U.S. roads each year. Previous data analysis by AAA also shows that the prevalence of drowsy driving crashes is highest among drivers between the ages of 16 and 24 years.

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Differences in sleep issues between women and men

This article explains the differences in sleep issues faced by women and men.

As a nation we are severely sleep-deprived. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as much as a third of all Americans do not get the recommended seven hours of sleep a night.

"One of the myths is that we can power through or sleep when we're dead," Dr. Charles Czeisler, chair of the National Sleep Foundation and director of sleep medicine at Harvard Medical School, told "CBS This Morning." "But of coursewe'll get there faster if we don't get enough sleep. "

Women and men run into different roadblocks when it comes to their quest for a good night's sleep.

Women are more likely to toss and turn frequently and fight bouts of insomnia, a result of differences in hormonal regulation. Estrogen tends to shorten the length of the sleep cycle, which is why women often report that they experience sleep troubles around the time of menstruation, pregnancy or menopause.

According to a poll taken by the National Sleep Foundation, 63 percent of women versus 54 percent of men experience insomnia at least few nights a week. Women are also more likely to experience daytime sleepiness.

"One of the things is the internal clock controls the timing of sleep," said Czeisler. "It runs faster in women than it does men. It's only about a tenth of an hour but it adds up so that women, in general, their internal clocks are set to about an hour or an hour and half earlier than men, and that means it wakes them up earlier in the morning and it's harder to stay awake in the evening."

On the other hand, anatomical differences in men mean they're more likely to have sleep apnea -- a result of more fat deposit around the neck. Approximately 17 percent of men and 9 percent of women are diagnosed with sleep apnea, a type of sleep disorder that is caused by infrequent or paused breathing.

"If you crowd out the airway then you're going to have trouble when you sleep," said Czeisler. "One out of 3 men and about 1 out of 6 women suffer from disturbed sleep disordered breathing. But unfortunately, because it tends to be viewed as a male dominated disease women are much less likely to be diagnosed. Only 1 out of 10 women compared with men get diagnosed for sleep apnea."

Regardless of these challenges, everyone can take a number of measures to avoid sleep deprivation. Czeisler says good sleep hygiene is essential, such as going to bed at the same time each night to regulate your circadian rhythm. Some people find it helpful to set an alarm for bedtime. Creating a bedroom that's conducive to sleeping is also essential: remove all electronics from the bedroom and keep your room cool and dark.

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5 Signs of Sleep Deprivation

This article discusses five signs that a person has sleep deprivation. If you have these, you may want to talk to your doctor.

People all over the country are walking around sleep deprived on a daily basis. Everyone thinks about the harried new mom or the busy executive, or the college kid with finals creeping up when the term “sleep deprived” comes up.

But there are many more Americans who are not getting enough sleep than you might think. About 20 percent of adults in the United States, one in every five, are considered sleep deprived, according to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

Sleep deprivation is not just about looking and feeling well rested in the morning. There are some real health risks linked to long-term sleep deprivation.

Anxiety, irritability, forgetfulness and lack of coordination, are just some of the effects lack of sleep can have on a person's life. It can also be associated with medical conditions such as high blood pressure, heart attack, obesity and diabetes.

Getting enough sleep is healthy for everyone. Knowing the signs of sleep deprivation is key for change to take place. Here are five signs that may indicate that you're not getting enough sleep.

Five Signs of Sleep Deprivation:

1) Being able to fall asleep fast 
According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, people who routinely fall asleep within five minutes of laying down are most likely suffering from severe sleep deprivation or even a sleep disorder. Falling asleep fast does not mean that person is just a “good sleeper”.

2) Being impulsive 
When you're not getting enough sleep, the prefrontal cortex is greatly affected. When you are sleep deprived, its effect on this area of the brain can lead a person to poor judgment or impulsive behaviors like buying expensive items or eating unhealthy foods. It can also create irritability and mood issues.

3) Being forgetful 
Memory is also affected by sleep deprivation. Sleep helps people consolidate memories and leads to emotional processing. When you don't get the proper amount of sleep, you'll have a harder time forming memories and putting those memories into context.This also makes it more difficult to act thoughtfully and rationally.

4) Being hungryYes, sleep deprivation can make you want to eat more. It does so by affecting leptin and ghrelin, two hormones that control appetite and hunger in the body. When you are sleep deprived, ghrelin (the hormone that increases appetite) increases and leptin (the hormone that tells the body to stop eating) decreases.

5) Being clumsy 
Lack of sleep affects everything, even coordination. Motor skills can be affected when you are sleep deprived, causing you to stumble or to just feel unsteady on your feet.

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Astronauts and sleep deprivation

A recent study found that astronauts suffer from chronic sleep deprivation and many compensate with sleeping pills.

The researchers at the Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders, Harvard Medical School and colleagues found that astronauts get around six hours of sleep during training and space flights. Also, several astronauts use sleeping pills, which could affect their performance during an emergency situation.

The study was conducted over a ten-year period and included data from 64 astronauts on 80 Shuttle missions and 21 astronauts on International Space Station (ISS) missions. This is the largest study of its kind, researchers say.

Sleeping in the shuttle or ISS is difficult because the Sun rises every 90 minutes. The several sunrises and sunsets coupled with excitement of being in space and living in closed quarters can severely affect sleep schedules.

"Sleep deficiency is pervasive among crew members," stated Laura K. Barger, PhD, associate physiologist in the BWH Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders and lead author of the study, according to a news release. "It's clear that more effective measures are needed to promote adequate sleep in crew members, both during training and space flight, as sleep deficiency has been associated with performance decrements in numerous laboratory and field-based studies."

The researchers found that despite NASA's recommendation that astronauts get at least 8.5 hours of sleep per night, crew members in training slept for less than six hours, while those in flight slept for about 6.09 hours on an average.

Another major find of the study was that astronauts were using sleeping pills such as zolpidem and zaleplon. Around 78 percent of shuttle-mission crew members used medication on 52 percent of flights.

Sleep-medication usage during space flights is problematic because research has shown that these drugs affect problem-solving abilities.

"The ability for a crew member to optimally perform if awakened from sleep by an emergency alarm may be jeopardized by the use of sleep-promoting pharmaceuticals," said Barger in a news release.

The researchers said that this study shows that it is important to promote healthy sleeping habits in astronauts. Future missions to Mars or beyond would require people who can cope with living in space for extended periods of time. Some measures such as exposure to specific wavelength of light could help regulate sleep pattern in space.

The study is published in the journal The Lancet Neurology. 

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Genetics may determine how much sleep a person needs

A study shows that genetics may play a role in how much sleep a person needs each night.

The news: Ever wondered why some people can get a whole lot less sleep than others and still function? Their secret isn't just coffee — it might also be their DNA.

Published in the journal Sleep, researchers largely from the University of Pennsylvania and the Philadelphia area claim that a genetic mutation may partly explain why a certain few can get by on six hours of sleep a night rather than the standard seven to nine.

The study: The team discovered the mutation while conducting a sleep study with 100 pairs of healthy, same-sex twins who were monitored while sleeping at home and were then subjected to a battery of cognitive tests during a 38-hour awake session.

The participants who performed relatively well despite the forced sleep deprivation — and who slept noticeably less — tended to have a mutation in the BHLHE41 gene, called p. Tyr362HIS. The researchers concluded that this and similar "mutations reduce total sleep while maintaining NREM sleep and provide resistance to the effects of sleep loss." What's more, the same group also recovered faster from the effects of the 38-hour sleep deprivation session.

"This work provides an important second gene variant associated with sleep deprivation and for the first time shows the role of BHLHE41 in resistance to sleep deprivation in humans," American Academy of Sleep Medicine President Dr. Timothy Morgenthaler told TechTimes.

Though the study doesn't prove that people who can sleep less have a genetic mutation, it does provide solid experimental evidence that the reason some people can sleep less is partly genetic.

What it means for you: Your optimal sleep schedule may be less a matter of personal preference and more a function of biological need. Sadly, you're also probably overestimating your ability to get by on insufficient sleep. Previous research has indicated that the number of people who are mostly unaffected by just five or six hours of sleep per night is as low as 5% of those making the claim — the rest are likely chronically sleep-deprived and don't realize it.

Experts have debated how much sleep is actually necessary for most people, but generally settle at around seven to eight hours a day. Leading sleep researcher Hans Van Dongen tells Vox that, "If you sleep much less than you need, we have good reason to believe that will impair your health."

Sleeping less is probably not in most peoples' genetic cards. But if it is, you've got mom and dad to thank. 

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Sleep deprivation and obesity in children

This article explains that sleep deprived children are more likely to be obese than children who get enough sleep.

Tired and hungry. There is a reason why these two conditions seem to go together so easily.

A “well established” link in medical research suggests young children and infants who do not get enough sleep are likely to develop obesity —and a host of devastating related health conditions — before they enter their teen years.

And by then, reversing the obesity is almost impossible, health experts say.

A study published in May in the journal “Pediatrics” hypothesizes that children sleeping less in early childhood developed obesity by age 7.

But the findings — from researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital for Children — are hardly shocking, say local physicians.

While studies such as this are likely to be confirmed by additional research in the years ahead, the other non-controversial conclusion is that obese children who suffer from obstructive sleep apnea also experience a variety of health issues, according to Dr. Ignacio Tapia, a pediatric pulmonologist and sleep medicine specialist at the Sleep Center in The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

Tapia notes that youngsters of normal weight who experience deep sleep and REM or rapid eye movement sleep find sleep restorative, resulting in benefit for everything from brain activity to hormone secretions.

But the obese often cannot attain deep sleep because of the apnea, a condition characterized by brief, numerous involuntary breathing pauses that prevent people from reaching restorative levels of slumber.

When children do not get the sleep they need, they are at risk for health, performance and difficulties in school; researchers find that sleep deficiencies in children can be misdiagnosed as attention-deficit or behavior disorders.

Young patients with sleep apnea can be treated effectively with surgery to remove their tonsils and adnoids but for obese children, such a procedure may not resolve the issue. Further treatment can involve wearing cumbersome masks that help regulate breathing.

“Remember when your grandparents told you you need to go to sleep to grow?” Tapia asked. “Well, that turned out to be true. Growth is associated with longer sleep. The people who sleep less (for example) may have less insulin secretion which can be related to diabetes and pre-diabetes.”

Since the 1800s, each generation has lived longer than the one that preceded it, said Tapia, also assistant professor of Pediatrics at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Such longevity can be linked to the development of antibiotics and advances in cardiac care.

Now, this generation may be the one that loses ground, because of the epidemic of obesity, which is a complex issue relating to social and cultural issues as well and having income components, physicians say. Those who earn less may not have ready access to healthy foods while eating at fast-food chains has been made increasingly affordable, Tapia said. Portion size also is an issue in this country.

“We are seeing patients who are not a little big but really really big,” he said. “It is not rare to see patients who have doubled their ideal weight. They do not weigh 20 or 30 percent more but 100 percent more’’ than growth charts indicate.

The “Pediatrics” study measured the effect of sleep deficiencies over time, using data from Project Viva, a longitudinal research study of women and children that examines the effects of mothers’ diets and other factors during pregnancy and after birth.

Obesity “definitely spans all ages,” said Dr. Tina Rakitt, a pediatric gastroenterologist at the Unterberg Children’s Hospital at Monmouth Medical Center. But the study published in May “is unique enough to say the obesity and sleep link even exists in young children,” she added. “There are many reasons for that link. People who don’t sleep well tend to eat more and they tend to eat more of the wrong things.”

The battle is lost once children are old enough to select their own snacks or meals, unless they are taught correctly. Physicians say healthy eating must be established when children are infants and must be carried on by the family. Obesity does not exist in a vacuum, the experts said.

“The obesity epidemic is not only an adult problem; it is a adult-pediatric problem,” Rakitt said. “We are seeing more sleep apnea…That is a terrible one. Children are developing fatty liver disease. We are starting to see some kids with serious complications either in their childhood or young adult years.”

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