Transport and Sleep Chance can kill you. So can sleepiness. People on the Metro-North commuter train into Manhattan were expecting a normal trip one morning last December. Until something “abnormal” occurred. At 7:20 AM, the train turned into a thirty mile an hour flying at 82 miles per hour. They were heading towards Spuyten […]
Dying for Sleep (3/24/14)
Sleeplessness Can sleep loss kill brain cells? Yes. Like the kind when I pull an all-nighter for school or work? Yes – if you are a mouse. So why should I care? Because if similar events befall people, you may really want to protect your sleep time – or at least how long you stay […]
Is Sleep Apnea Boring? (2/3/14)
Clinical Fascination Boredom can prove very personal. A few weeks ago I sat down in the hospital cafeteria. At my table was a polite, bright pulmonologist. He expressed sympathy for my work: “I find sleep apnea so boring.” For a doctor like him there’s isn’t much to do with sleep apnea. Somebody comes in. They […]
Treating Depression Effectively – Getting People To Sleep (11/25/13)
Treatment of Depression Is Often Ineffective The key to successful treatment of depression may be treating the insomnia that accompanies it. What New Research is Changing Attitudes? Rachel Manber at Stanford studied cognitive behavioral treatments for insomniac, depressed people. When their insomnia was fixed following CBT, depression treatment success doubled. Get them to sleep and they stopped being depressed. […]
Life Is So Fast You Have To Rest (11/4/13)
Cleansing the Brain What is sleep for? A few answers: 1. Learning 2. Memory Consolidation 3. Rebuilding Tissues and – 4. A brand new use – Cleansing the Brain (washing out toxins) What Happens When You Don’t Sleep Well? Much higher rates of 1. Heart disease 2. Heart Attack 3. Stroke 4. Depression 5. Infections […]