Below is a short adaptation from a book about sleep just released in paperback.

I know most of us know sleep is important to all aspects of health, but this article drives the point home. I am going to have to try to get to bed earlier, especially on the days when I have to get up at 6:30.

From the article:

"Even moderate reductions in sleep for just one week disrupts blood sugar levels so profoundly that you would be classified as pre-diabetic."

"Perhaps you have also noticed a desire to eat more when you’re tired? This is no coincidence. Too little sleep swells concentrations of a hormone that makes you feel hungry, while suppressing a companion hormone that signals food satisfaction."


We can low carb all we want, but we're not going to get very far if we're not getting enough sleep.

Do you eat more when you are sleep deprived? I know I do. I have less self-control.

Article

Maybe that's why I usually get hungry at night especially if staying up later? I slept more hours when I was eating lots of carbs and still often felt drowsy after lunch.

I went on CPAP last year and for the first time in as long as I can remember I am getting decent sleep.

Where I live cool air-conditioning is mandatory for a good night sleep. It's the one mandatory luxury I have to have. I could live in a one room cabin but if it had air and a good bed, I'd be fine.

I just started reading this guy's book after reading this interview transcript:

https://www.npr.org/2018/07/20/6307...nderslept-state

Somedays I have so much energy that I can only survive on 3 hours sleep -- I couldn't sleep if you paid me. It's so annoying. zoom zoom! -- though I feel really good, and I just lie there with my eyes shut for a few hours in addition to little sleep.
It's a phase, it will pass again
I'm still smiling

BillyHW -- I too have been on CPAP -- I could not sleep very well on that dang machine blowing all the time grrrr -- I don't use it anymore though

Thanks, JLx, for posting the link to the interview with him.

I got my blue light blocker glasses and wore them a couple hours before bed last night. It seems I can tell when I get a good nights sleep by how I feel in the morning. Last few days I've felt tired and know my sleep apnea was affecting me even though I'm pretty sure I slept 7 or more hours. I should have my CPAP this week. The company will contact me and the nurse told me they'll come to my house to deliver it. I also purchased a sleep mask to try out.

Night Time Light Exposure – Not a Bright Idea Aug 2018

Dr. David Perlmutter's Tips for a Better Night's Rest 8-8-2013

We live in a very light polluted world in comparison to that of our very recent ancestors. Estimates now indicate that close to 99% of both Americans and Europeans are exposed to “light pollution.” Not only are we excessively exposed to light in modern times, but the type of light accounting for this exposure is changing rapidly. As we move away from incandescent lights in favor of light emitting diode (LED) technology, we are seeing an ever-increasing exposure to a particular part of the light spectrum – blue light, that has been associated with some worrisome effects in terms of human health.

New research shows that blue light exposure significantly reduces the amount of melatonin secreted by the brain’s pineal gland. This has obvious detrimental effects on both the duration as well as quality of sleep. Reduced quality of sleep has been associated with a number of issues including obesity, diabetes, and even Alzheimer’s disease.

In an interesting study, Spanish researchers evaluated 623 men with a diagnosis of prostate cancer and compared them to 879 male controls. Exposure to light from indoor sources at night was computed using a questionnaire, while outside exposure was calculated using data from the International Space Station. The latter data specifically allowed for the collection of information related to blue light exposure.

The study was carried out as it is known that light exposure may significantly alter hormone activity, and prostate cancer is a hormone related event. Further, previous research has demonstrated that night shift workers are known to have an increased of prostate cancer.

The researchers found that comparing those with the highest exposure to blue light to those with the lowest, the risk of prostate cancer was more than doubled. The risk was almost tripled in men who had high levels of light in their rooms when they slept in comparison to men who slept in “total darkness.”

So this is yet another argument in favor of considering the doctrine of the “paleo” movement. That is, there are health benefits associated with trying to emulate the environments of our ancestors. In this case, keeping in mind that when the sun went down, our ancestors were pretty much in the dark. And this history is recapitulated in our genetic code.

The important points here are that first, we should dramatically reduce our exposure to light as we approach and engage sleep. And the second, but nonetheless equally important point is that blue light, the kind emitted by out phones, computer screens and tablets, seems to be particularly disruptive of hormone activity and, according to this research, may well enhance the risk of prostate cancer.

For more information on sleeping soundly, please watch this video. [ same video as above ]

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Sleep Duration & Dementia: An Early Marker of Cognitive Decline? 1-17-2018

Sleep Duration & Dementia: An Early Marker of Cognitive Decline?

Sleep is, of course, incredibly important for our bodies. It allows our brain to consolidate thoughts into memories, and clean itself of toxins. Beyond that, numerous studies have pinpointed the adverse health impacts of not getting enough sleep.

What we now understand is that there truly is a sweet spot, in terms of getting the right amount of sleep for brain health. In fact, too much sleep can have just as significant harmful impacts on health as getting too little. Let’s look at this recent study, published in the journal Neurology.

^ study

Prolonged sleep duration as a marker of early neurodegeneration predicting incident dementia 2-22-2017

Objective: To evaluate the association between sleep duration and the risk of incident dementia and brain aging.

Methods: Self-reported total hours of sleep were examined in the Framingham Heart Study (n = 2,457, mean age 72 ± 6 years, 57% women) as a 3-level variable: <6 hours (short), 6–9 hours (reference), and >9 hours (long), and was related to the risk of incident dementia over 10 years, and cross-sectionally to total cerebral brain volume (TCBV) and cognitive performance.

Results: We observed 234 cases of all-cause dementia over 10 years of follow-up. In multivariable analyses, prolonged sleep duration was associated with an increased risk of incident dementia (hazard ratio [HR] 2.01; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.24–3.26). These findings were driven by persons with baseline mild cognitive impairment (HR 2.83; 95% CI 1.06–7.55) and persons without a high school degree (HR 6.05; 95% CI 3.00–12.18). Transitioning to sleeping >9 hours over a mean period of 13 years before baseline was associated with an increased risk of all-cause dementia (HR 2.43; 95% CI 1.44–4.11) and clinical Alzheimer disease (HR 2.20; 95% CI 1.17–4.13). Relative to sleeping 6–9 hours, long sleep duration was also associated cross-sectionally with smaller TCBV (β ± SE, −1.08 ± 0.41 mean units of TCBV difference) and poorer executive function (β ± SE, −0.41 ± 0.13 SD units of Trail Making Test B minus A score difference).

Conclusions: Prolonged sleep duration may be a marker of early neurodegeneration and hence a useful clinical tool to identify those at a higher risk of progressing to clinical dementia within 10 years.

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Dr. David Perlmutter is a Board-Certified Neurologist and four-time New York Times bestselling author. He serves on the Board of Directors and is a Fellow of the American College of Nutrition.

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Evaluating the Association between Artificial Light-at-Night Exposure and Breast and Prostate Cancer Risk in Spain (MCC-Spain Study) 4-23-2018

Publication

Environmental Health Perspectives
Author(s)

Ariadna Garcia-Saenz, Alejandro Sánchez de Miguel, Ana Espinosa, Antonia Valentin, Núria Aragonés, Javier Llorca, Pilar Amiano, Vicente Martín Sánchez, Marcela Guevara, Rocío Capelo, Adonina Tardón, Rosana Peiró-Perez, José Juan Jiménez-Moleón, Aina Roca-Barceló, Beatriz Pérez-Gómez, Trinidad Dierssen-Sotos, Tania Fernández-Villa, Conchi Moreno-Iribas, Victor Moreno, Javier García-Pérez, Gemma Castaño-Vinyals, Marina Pollán, Martin Aubé, and Manolis Kogevinas
Abstract

BACKGROUND: Night shift work, exposure to light at night (ALAN) and circadian disruption may increase the risk of hormone-dependent cancers.

OBJECTIVES: We evaluated the association of exposure to ALAN during sleeping time with breast and prostate cancer in a population based multicase–control study (MCC-Spain), among subjects who had never worked at night. We evaluated chronotype, a characteristic that may relate to adaptation to light at night.

METHODS: We enrolled 1,219 breast cancer cases, 1,385 female controls, 623 prostate cancer cases, and 879 male controls from 11 Spanish regions in 2008–2013. Indoor ALAN information was obtained through questionnaires. Outdoor ALAN was analyzed using images from the International Space Station (ISS) available for Barcelona and Madrid for 2012–2013, including data of remotely sensed upward light intensity and blue light spectrum information for each geocoded longest residence of each MCC-Spain subject.

RESULTS: Among Barcelona and Madrid participants with information on both indoor and outdoor ALAN, exposure to outdoor ALAN in the blue light spectrum was associated with breast cancer [adjusted odds ratio (OR) for highest vs. lowest tertile, OR = 1:47; 95% CI: 1.00, 2.17] and prostate cancer (OR = 2:05; 95% CI: 1.38, 3.03). In contrast, those exposed to the highest versus lowest intensity of outdoor ALAN were more likely to be controls than cases, particularly for prostate cancer. Compared with those who reported sleeping in total darkness, men who slept in “quite illuminated” bedrooms had a higher risk of prostate cancer (OR = 2:79; 95% CI: 1.55, 5.04), whereas women had a slightly lower risk of breast cancer (OR = 0:77; 95% CI: 0.39, 1.51).

CONCLUSION: Both prostate and breast cancer were associated with high estimated exposure to outdoor ALAN in the blue-enriched light spectrum.

study:

Evaluating the Association between Artificial Light-at-Night Exposure and Breast and Prostate Cancer Risk in Spain (MCC-Spain Study) 4-23-2018

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While I cut my blue light on my computer time with a software download, I still run into blue light before bed. I need blue light blocker glasses!

3 Blue Blockers Put to the Test
Light from smart gadgets can keep you awake, but these eyeglasses are meant to guard against that 1-3-2016

We tested three pairs of glasses in our labs for their ability to block blue light, measuring light intensity at all wavelengths to find out how much each lens absorbed. Of the three, only one—the Uvex Skyper safety eyewear (orange tinted), $8—cut out almost all blue light.

The Gunnar Intercept gaming glasses (medium yellow), $53, cut blue light by about half, and the Spektrum Pro Blue Light Blocking Glasses (light yellow), $40, cut it by only about a third.

free shipping amazon link Uvex Skyper

An aside on light pollution, when I go back to visit my mother I will walk outside after dark and look at the night sky. No city lights. Just the deep blue night sky with twinkling stars. AND silence. Total silence. It was eeiry, and I went inside. Apprently the many years living in the congested state of MA has warped my senses. Lots of background car noise here, and the local owl. I need white noise to sleep. Aka TV.

Clearly, I need to improve my sleep. I've been getting <6 hours sleep per night for what seems like weeks. Days when I get 8 hours are a rarity. Yes, I'm moving slowly, but I think it's sleep deprivation rather than mental deterioration.

"For now," whispers the demon on my left shoulder.

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Light therapeutics: How light (or darkness) affects our circadian clock, sleep, and mood 5-2-2018 Satchin Panda, PhD

What are circadian clocks, where are they, and how can we nurture them? 5-29-2018 Satchin Panda, PhD

Sleep, Daylight Anchoring, and Effects on Memory & Obesity with Dan Pardi 11-8-2017

Dan Pardi is a Ph.D candidate that researches sleep neurobiology at Stanford and University of Leiden. He is also co-founder of Dan’s Plan, an online wellness and technology company. In this podcast Rhonda and Dan discuss what the determinants of good sleep are including duration, timing and intensity, the major causes of less sleep in our society, the consequences of sleep loss including decreased purging of toxic substances from the brain, damage to neurons that signal to the brain to stay awake (and how this leads to that feeling that you need coffee in the morning), increased incidence of chronic diseases such as cancer and type 2 diabetes, cognitive and behavioral impairments, the impact on eating behaviors and weight gain. We also discuss what the optimal amount of sleep is, the importance of sleep timing, and keeping the same schedule as well as other ways to improve sleep.

Sleep, Daylight Anchoring, and Effects on Memory & Obesity with Dan Pardi 9-23-2015 video

Some years ago, I read the book, The Cortisol Connection by Shawn Talbot that inspired me to change my night owl ways. (There's probably better books out now, but that was the one I read then that introduced me to such concepts as turning lights off in the evening.)

I'm reading now the Matthew Walker book referenced above. Really interesting stuff and I'm only on page 30something.

Two scientists lived in a deep cave for a month and determined that the human circadian rhythm is endogenous and independent from light - something we disrespect at our peril. It also corrects itself by the sun, because the body's "day" is otherwise 24 hrs, 15 min. Without the sun's correction, those guys in the dark found their "days" were getting longer and they were sleeping longer. Fascinating stuff.

I have a feeling I'm going to be changing my tea to decaffeinated after reading this book. He already referenced this study: http://web.archive.org/web/20070704...ech%20Brief.pdf

Check out how those poor drugged spiders weave a web while on caffeine! (And chloral hydrate is basically sleeping pills.)

I'm on the wait list now. How is it?

Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams, Matthew P. Walker (2017)

Speaking of blue light, I now have my computer reduce the blue light on the screen between 9pm and 7am. Maybe it's just a placebo effect but I do feel that it has helped.

Why not just turn it off? I turn the computer completely off for the night, and for several hours during the day - that makes it difficult to mindlessly start reading stuff.