Helping others sleep better every night!
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Researchers develop computational method for aligning internal body clock with local, environmental time.
Traveling across several times zones can cause an individual to experience jet lag, which includes trouble sleeping at night and trouble remaining awake during the day.
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New research conducted by Charles Wingo and his colleagues, at the University of Florida, Gainsville, suggests a link between the circadian rhythm and control of sodium (salt) levels in mice.
The hormone aldosterone regulates levels of sodium in the blood and thereby helps control blood pressure.
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If there’s one thing most everyone knows about newborn babies, it’s that babies don’t sleep through the night, and neither do their parents. But in fact, those first six months of life are crucial to developing the regular sleeping and waking patterns, known as circadian rhythms, that a child will need for a healthy future.
Some children may start life with the sleep odds stacked against them, though, say some sleep experts who study the issue.
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You may never hear fruit flies snore, but rest assured that when you’re asleep they are too. According to research published in a professional journal, scientists have shown that the circadian rhythms (sleep/wake cycles) of fruit flies and vertebrates are regulated by some of the same “cellular machinery” as that of humans.
The study is significant because the sleep-regulating enzyme analyzed in this research is one of only a few possible drug targets for circadian problems that can lead to seasonal affective disorder (SAD), insomnia, and possibly some cancers.
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Post-partum depression (PPD) may lead to poor sleep quality, a study of 46 post-partum women shows.
Sleep deprivation may hamper a mother’s ability to care for her infant because judgment and concentration decline. Sleep-deprived mothers may also inadvertently compromise their infants’ sleep quality as infants often adopt their mothers’ circadian rhythms.
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A study published in the December 1, 2008 issue of the journal Sleep shows the use of light exposure therapy, dark sunglasses, and a strict sleep schedule can help night-shift workers create a “compromise circadian phase position” which may result in increased performance and alertness during night shifts, yet still allow for adequate nighttime sleep on days off.
Results from the study show the performance was better for the experimental subjects than the control subjects. When the phase delays of the experimental group had likely reached the compromise circadian position, performance for this group was close to the level during day shifts, demonstrating fast reaction times with low variability and few or no lapses.
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