|
|
| |
| Free Weekly Newsletter | Post a Question on this Site |
 |
Home |  |
About |
|
Daily Program | |
Lifestyle Tips | |
Why VRP? | |
Order Products | |
Checkout |
|
Account Information | |
Security | |
|
· · |
Bad sleep hurts women more than men Evidence continues to mount that sleep problems can affect heart health, with worse consequences for women, and a new study could help explain why. Women who reported poor sleep quality and had difficulty falling asleep had more psychosocial distress than their peers who slept well, and also had higher blood levels of substances linked to type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and other health problems. The study was led by Dr. Edward C. Suarez of Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina. But for men, there was no link between how well they slept and their mental or physical health. To date, most studies investigating sleep and heart disease have included people with serious sleep disorders, such as sleep apnea, the researcher points out. In the current study, Suarez had 210 healthy men and women without clinically diagnosed sleep disorders fill out a questionnaire evaluating sleep quality. Among women, Suarez found, poor sleep quality, having difficulty falling asleep more than two nights a week and taking longer than half an hour to fall asleep were tied to higher levels of fasting insulin -- a sign of increased type 2 diabetes risk -- as well as higher levels of markers of inflammation and of fibrinogen, a clotting factor that has been tied to stroke. Women who slept poorly also reported more symptoms of depression, hostility and anger. "Interestingly, it appears that it's not so much the overall poor sleep quality that was associated with greater risk, but rather the length of time it takes a person to fall asleep that takes the highest toll," Suarez noted in a Duke University press release. "Women who reported taking a half an hour or more to fall asleep showed the worst risk profile." Gender differences in the function of the brain chemical serotonin, the hormone melatonin, or the amino acid tryptophan could help explain the findings, Suarez said, given that all three chemicals are involved in both mood and cardiovascular health. "Improvements in sleep as a means of reducing risk for cardiovascular disease may prove particularly important in women," he concludes. SOURCE: Brain, Behavior and Immunity, March 18, 2008 Dr. Cinque's comments: I found this surprising, although we don't really know the nature of the association between women's sleep problems and high levels of insulin, fibrinogen, and inflammatory markers. And why does the association exist for women and not for men? There are a lot of unanswered questions. But I will take the liberty of giving you my opinion about dealing with sleep problems in general. I don't like any of the drugs used in Medicine for sleep, and I wouldn't take any of them. And if depression were the issue, I wouldn't take any of the pharmaceutical antidepressants either. I would take natural ones such as SAMe or L-tryptophan. Now that L-tryptophan is available again, I prefer it to 5htp, even though it requires higher dosing. If nerves and anxiety are the issue, I would steer clear of benzodiazepines because they are very addicting. Sun Theanine is very good to take for anxiety. And these supplements can be combined. I know of no reason why a person could not take SAMe, L-tryptophan, and Sun Theanine at the same time. SAMe would be taken in the morning and afternoon, and L-tryptophan and Sun Theanine would be taken at night. And of course, there is also Melatonin, which, of course, is also taken at night. And I won't fail to mention that lifestyle measures, such as exercise, sunlight exposure (especially in the morning), avoidance of stimulants, and learning stress management support healthy sleep. It's true that it's how you spend your day that determines how you sleep at night. But the most important thing is to realize that sleep cannot be faked. Natural sleep is the only good sleep. And that's why taking knockout pills is a bad path to follow. It doesn't lead anywhere good. E-mail to a friend Next Article |
