The Insomnia Blog - Sleep Doctor Michael Breus, PhD

Police don’t get enough sleep

2012-02-06T09:31:59-08:00

This news concerns me both as a health issue and an issue of public safety: a survey of nearly 5,000 police officers in the United States and Canada revealed that these law enforcement professionals are frequently suffering from sleep problems—and this lack of sleep is negatively affecting both their health and their performance on the job.

Researchers at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital screened 4957 police officers for sleep disorders, beginning with an initial screening and following with check-in screenings every six months for the next two years. Their results showed a significant portion of police officers grappling with sleep disorders, weight problems, and complications from lack of sleep. Among the 5,000 police officers who were screened:

40.0% had some type of sleep disorder
6.5% suffered from moderate to severe insomnia
33.0% had obstructive sleep apnea

The link between obstructive sleep apnea and obesity is clear: being overweight or obese is the single greatest risk factor for sleep apnea. In this study:

4 out of 5 police officers were overweight or obese

Not surprisingly, officers who screened positive for obstructive sleep apnea were more likely to have other health problems as well. Those officers who suffered from obstructive sleep apnea were also:

61% more likely to have diabetes
148% more likely to report a diagnosis of depression
22% more likely to have an injury while on the job

These findings echo an earlier, similar study, also conducted at Harvard Medical School. The results also point to the sleep hazards associated with shift work, and the difficulty of these workers in protecting the quality and quantity of their sleep while working frequently changing schedules that often span both day and night shifts. Shift workers generally get about 2 hours less sleep than other types of workers, and as a result are at greater risk for a range of health problems, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, weight problems, and psychological problems.

It so happens that these workers are often in high-stress jobs where public health and safety are at stake. In addition to law enforcement officers, health-care workers, members of the military, airline pilots and air-traffic controllers are all frequently working day and night shifts, with changing schedules that make it difficult to establish and sustain a sleep routine. Their health and well being is more than a private matter: it is a matter of concern for all of us, a public safety issue as well as a personal health issue.

This most recent study indicates that police officers who are suffering from sleep problems are at higher risk for errors on the job. The officers who screened positive for sleep problems had higher rates of several job performance issues than their better-sleeping counterparts. They were more likely to:

Commit a serious administrative error
Fall asleep while driving on a shift
Make an error or commit a violation that was attributed to fatigue
Demonstrate poor behavior, including uncontrolled anger

There was one group of police officers included in this study that did not conform to the study’s overall results. Members of the Massachusetts State Police had significantly lower rates of obstructive sleep apnea than the general study populations. Not surprisingly, the Massachusetts officers also had much lower rates of obesity.

What made the Massachusetts State Police so different from the overall group? In discussing the study results, researchers point to the agency’s emphasis and encouragement of exercise and physical fitness.

Massachusetts requires its state police officers to pass a fitness test
All state police barracks are equipped with physical fitness centers on the premises
The agency requires that all its officers spend 60 minutes exercising on each of their shifts. This is paid work time, within a shift, not an extra or unpaid hour of work

This is a great example of how investing in employee health pays great dividends for everyone involved. In this case, that means healthier, more capable officers with fewer health issues—and less risk of workplace accidents, errors or incidents. This is a sleep issue that should matter to all of us, whether we personally know and love someone who works shifts or not. Our law enforcement officers—like our doctors, nurses, soldiers, firefighters and pilots—are people we entrust with our safety and security, and our health. It’s in everyone’s best interest for these people to be well rested and healthy themselves.

Sweet Dreams,

Michael J. Breus, PhD
The Sleep Doctor™
www.thesleepdoctor.com

The Sleep Doctor’s Diet Plan: Lose Weight Through Better Sleep

Everything you do, you do better with a good night’s sleep™
twitter: @thesleepdoctor
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Your Brain on Sleep

2012-02-03T10:54:18-08:00

There’s still a great deal of information about the effects of sleep on the brain that we don’t yet understand, so any research that sheds light on this subject is exciting and potentially important. We know that sleep has restorative, cognitively-enhancing effects. We also know the absence of sleep can have detrimental effects on brain function. Recent studies in sleep-brain research have shown:

A link between deep sleep and the formation of long-term memories. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine were able to establish this direct link by manipulating a cluster of cells in the brains of fruit flies. After breeding the flies to sleep on demand, the researchers discovered that with sleep, fruit flies were able to convert new information into long-term memories. Without sleep, the fruit flies were only able to retain new information for a brief period, as short-term knowledge.
Chronic insomnia may lead to damage in the brain. Another recent study in the sleep-brain connection revealed that chronic insomnia is associated with loss of grey-matter density in the human brain. Scientists in the Netherlands found a strong correlation between chronic insomnia and a decrease in grey matter in certain regions of the brain. Moreover, they discovered that the more severe the insomnia, the more significant the decrease in grey matter.

In this post, “Can Sleep Help Heal Painful Memories?”, I wrote about newly published research that showed REM sleep helps the brain to process emotional memories. In this study, people who slept after being exposed to emotionally charged images had a less intense reaction to seeing these images a second time, compared to people who saw the images twice without sleeping between viewings. Measuring brain activity using MRI, researchers observed a quieting of activity in the region of the brain that processes emotions, indicating that during REM sleep the brain is “soothing” itself of stress.

This latest study may provide another important piece of the puzzle as we work to understand how sleep affects our brain chemistry and brain function. This is also one of those studies that answers a question only to raise many more. Does this insight into the role of sleep in processing emotions provide us a glimpse into why we dream? For people who have suffered severe emotional trauma, is the “re-living” of those experiences connected to their sleep, and to the repetitive nightmares that often accompany significant emotional distress?

The implications of these most recent findings could be significant for people with a wide range of conditions. People with:

psychiatric disorders
who live and work under prolonged, chronic and intense stress
who suffer from mood disorders, depression and anxiety
post traumatic stress disorder

All of these and others stand to benefit from a greater understanding of how sleep can help process emotions.

Stress and emotional upheaval are part of everyone’s lives at some point, of course, so this news is relevant for every one of us. As science works toward greater knowledge of how sleep works within the brain, let’s take this moment to remember just how powerful—and helpful to your well being, emotionally and physically—a good night of sleep can be.

Sweet Dreams,

Michael J. Breus, PhD
The Sleep Doctor™

www.thesleepdoctor.com

The Sleep Doctor’s Diet Plan: Lose Weight Through Better Sleep

Everything you do, you do better with a good night’s sleep™
twitter: @thesleepdoctor
Facebook: www.facebook.com/thesleepdoctor

Can sleep help heal painful memories?

2012-01-26T07:25:47-08:00

Here’s some truly fascinating sleep news, the kind that shows just how deeply sleep can affect every facet of our lives. Scientists at the University of California, Berkeley examined the relationship between sleep abnormalities and the brain areas related to emotions. They discovered that REM sleep processes emotional experiences, so that these experiences feel less painful, difficult, and emotionally charged after sleep.

Thirty-five adults participated in the study, all in good health. Researchers divided the participants into two groups. Both groups were shown the same series of 150 emotionally charged images, while researchers monitored brain activity with MRI. Each group was shown the entire series of images two times, with a 12-hour break between viewings. One group saw the images first in the morning, and again in the afternoon, and they stayed awake during the 12-hour interim period. The other group saw the images for the first time in the evening, followed by a full night of sleep, during which their brain activity was monitored by electroencephalogram. Upon awakening, the second group was shown the images a second time. Researchers found that exposure to REM sleep had a dramatic effect on people’s reaction to the images:

People who slept between seeing the emotional images reported a decrease in the intensity of their emotional reaction the second time, compared to those who did not sleep
Brain scans during sleep showed that during REM sleep the brain’s electrical activity slowed, essentially “soothing” the brain of stress.
MRI showed a significant decrease in the region of the brain that processes emotions. This decrease corresponded with an increase in activity of the brain’s center for cognition, rational thought, and decision making.

Based on these results, it’s as though REM sleep allows the brain to have some control of an emotional memory.

This is a single study, and we need to see more research on this subject. But think for a moment about the implications of these results. Sleep problems and sleep disorders—from insomnia and sleep apnea to sleep deprivation and restless leg syndromes—can all increase risks for other health problems, from obesity to diabetes to heart disease. They also can affect mental health. One thing all sleep problems seem to have in common is in bringing about a feeling of being overwhelmed, or of having difficulty coping well with the demands of daily life. Anyone who has ever run short on sleep, or weathered a string of sleepless nights, will know what I’m talking about. Irritability, emotional fatigue, distractedness, short-temperedness—these feelings are common enough with disordered sleep as to be considered universal.

What if this possible function of REM sleep—to manage and soothe emotional experiences from our waking lives—is at play here? Is the absence of REM sleep a factor in the emotional and mental toll that sleeplessness takes on us? A greater understanding of this possible connection could have a profound effect on how we view, and treat, sleep problems and the secondary effects of sleeplessness.

So remember, as I always say, it is truly better to “Sleep on it” to feel better.

Sweet Dreams,

Michael J. Breus, PhD

The Sleep Doctor™
www.thesleepdoctor.com

The Sleep Doctor’s Diet Plan: Lose Weight Through Better Sleep

Everything you do, you do better with a good night’s sleep™

twitter: @thesleepdoctor
Facebook: www.facebook.com/thesleepdoctor