Sleep and Women's Health
Michelle Tollefson, Nancy Eriksen, Neha Pathak in Improving Women's Health Across the Lifespan, 2021
Conversations and education about the role of sleep in improving energy, mood, and school performance can be performed at check-ups. When parents set bedtimes, adolescents have longer, better sleep and improved daytime functioning.98 Suggestions for realigning circadian rhythms include limiting light exposure at night with reasonable limits on screen use (stopping screens 30–60 minutes before bedtime, keeping them out of the bedroom). Reinforcing and reminding older adolescents of the aftereffects of staying up late (tiredness and irritability) may help them internalize their awareness of the importance of consistent and adequate sleep.99 Encouraging a relaxation practice in the evening such as meditation, yoga, reading, or journaling may be helpful.
Sleep deprivation therapy: A rapid-acting antidepressant
S.R. Pandi-Perumal, Meera Narasimhan, Milton Kramer in Sleep and Psychosomatic Medicine, 2017
Indirect evidence supports circadian abnormalities in the pathophysiology of depression. However, it was not until recently that the expression of clock genes, which control circadian rhythms in the human brain, was investigated by our group.84 Time of death of gene expression data of 24-hour cyclic patterns from six cortical and limbic regions (dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate, hippocampus, nucleus accumbens, amygdala, and cerebellum postmortem tissue) compared findings from 55 nonpsychiatric controls and 34 MDD patients. Microarray analyses including 12,000 transcripts identified the genes with the most robust 24-hour sinusoidal rhythms. To discover the cyclic genes, the expression values for each of the genes were fit by a sinusoidal function of time using the method of least squares and fixing the period at 24 hours. Highquality postmortem brain tissue was collected (all cases had sudden death and high pH values >6.5). Additionally, a 141-item questionnaire, as part of a psychological autopsy, was completed by
Age-Related Changes in Neuropeptidergic Neurons in the Human Hypothalamus
Alvaro Macieira-Coelho in Molecular Basis of Aging, 2017
The suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) is the major circadian pacemaker of the mammalian brain and coordinates hormonal and behavioral circadian rhythms.19 A relatively large number of neuropeptides have been identified in the human SCN. Neurons that are immunoreactive for vasopressin (AVP), vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP), neuropeptide-Y (NPY), neurotensin (NT), and somatostatin (SOM) are present in the SCN in a characteristic anatomical orientation (Figure l).20–23 Typical for the human SCN, as compared to monkeys and other animals, are the very large populations of NT and NPY neurons.23 Colocalization of different neuropeptides in the SCN has been found mainly in rat but also in human.24,25 For example, VIP-producing neurons in the SCN were shown to colocalize galanin, AVP,25 gastrin releasing peptide (GRP),26 or GABA.27
The Type, Severity, and Impact of Sleep Problems in Children With Angelman Syndrome and Parental Help-seeking Patterns
Published in Behavioral Sleep Medicine, 2023
Laurie K. McLay, Sarah G. Hansen, Neville M. Blampied, Karyn G. France, Mandy Rispoli
The average number of separate sleep problems reported by individual respondents was 4.5 (range of 1–11 separate problems). The most frequent category of sleep problems identified was insomnias (difficultly initiating and maintaining sleep) and included sleep onset delay, co-sleeping (in child’s or parents’ bed) frequent and prolonged night waking, and early waking. Less frequently reported under this category was day-time sleepiness. Circadian rhythm disorders, such as sleep phase disorders and fragmented sleep was a category which also affected a majority of participants. Sleep interfering behavior affected a sizable minority of participants and ranged from noncompliance, various kinds of bed-time resistance (e.g., bids for parental attention, bed-time refusal, and crying) to competing activities such as playing with toys through to vocal and motor stereotypies. Fewer children were identified as experiencing phenomena classified as parasomnias, such as nightmares, sleep walking/talking, night terrors, or tooth-grinding. Over two-thirds of children were described as experiencing medical/physical problems likely to adversely affect sleep such as asthma or obstructive breathing, seizures, bed-wetting, gastrointestinal disorders, eczema, medically identified problems with endogenous melatonin, and rhythmic movement disorders. An examination of the data by age revealed few differences. Frequent and lengthy night wakings, accompanied by early wakings dominated presentations across the age ranges.
Chronotherapy in dentistry: A scoping review
Published in Chronobiology International, 2023
Mohammad Abusamak, Mohammad Al-Tamimi, Haider Al-Waeli, Kawkab Tahboub, Wenji Cai, Martin Morris, Faleh Tamimi, Belinda Nicolau
Furthermore, there are several factors/modifiers that have been reported to influence\alter one’s circadian rhythm such as age, sex, chronotype, diet, sleeping habits, social interactions, exercise, disease status, smoking and drugs (Walton et al. 2022; Yousefzadehfard et al. 2022). Most included human studies did not consider circadian rhythm modifiers in their analyses. Only one study looked in the chronotype of their studied population, and three studies performed secondary subgroup analyses for circadian rhythm modifiers (Supplemental Table S4). Considering such modifiers are important; for example, Bjarnason et al. (2009) observed different trends in the chrono-radiotherapy effect between males and females, which could be attributed to gender-specific genes involved in various pathways including the cell cycle (Bjarnason et al. 2007). While a proper study design with randomization would eliminate the subtle confounding difference in recruited patients, considering circadian rhythm modifiers would increase the internal validity and reliability. However, there are limitations in terms of feasibility and maintaining internal validity of the study (i.e. restricted inclusion/exclusion criteria) (Yousefzadehfard et al. 2022). Nonetheless, prospective studies should consider incorporating circadian-based protocols into patient recruitment strategies, study design and analyses.
Social Jetlag and Other Aspects of Sleep Are Linked to Non-Suicidal Self-Injury Among College Students
Published in Archives of Suicide Research, 2023
Andrew S. Tubbs, Sierra Hendershot, Sadia B. Ghani, Michael R. Nadorff, Christopher W. Drapeau, Fabian-Xosé Fernandez, Michael L. Perlis, Michael A. Grandner
Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is associated with two-fold greater odds of suicidal thoughts and behaviors and a 1.5-fold greater likelihood of suicide (Ribeiro et al., 2016). The prevalence of NSSI is particularly high among adults aged 18–24; 8.4% of college students report NSSI in the last 12 months and up to 18% report a lifetime history of NSSI compared to a 5.5% lifetime prevalence among adults 25 and older (Kiekens et al., 2021; Sivertsen et al., 2019; Swannell, Martin, Page, Hasking, & St John, 2014). The elevated prevalence of NSSI among college students may translate to greater danger for suicidal behavior, as students who report NSSI have a 2.8-fold greater likelihood of subsequent suicidal ideation and 5.5-fold greater odds of attempting suicide (Kiekens et al., 2018). Given that suicide is at the highest rates ever recorded among individuals 15–24 (Drapeau & McIntosh, 2020; Hedegaard, Curtin, & Warner, 2018; Xu, Murphy, Kochanek, & Arias, 2020), and that the prevalence of NSSI tends to peak in adolescence and young adulthood (Plener, Schumacher, Munz, & Groschwitz, 2015; Swannell et al., 2014), efforts to understand and mitigate the causes of NSSI in college students may reduce future suicide risk. Sleep and circadian rhythms are a promising place to start.
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