The “New & Interesting” series is a biweekly compilation of select research findings, news articles, and random tidbits in bullet-point format. The entries are highly abbreviated, but provide links to the original articles or abstracts if you desire to read further.
General Articles
- Cell phones may protect brains from Alzheimer’s disease (Reuters)
- Chronic sleep loss hampers performance. One good night of sleep may not be adequate to recuperate from chronic sleep deprivation. (Reuters)
Technical Articles
- HIV infection is a risk factor for the development of subclinical coronary atherosclerosis, as studied in a cohort of young HIV-infected men (AIDS)
- Morphine use following trauma may reduce the risk of developing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (NEJM)
- Microarray technology provides more rapid, sensitive, and specific detection of bacterial species than gold-standard cultures (Lancet)
- The COMPARE trial revealed that the second-generation everolimus-eluting stent was superior in safety and efficacy to the paclitaxel-eluting stent in all-comers who undergo percutaneous coronary intervention. (Lancet)
Just as time and money are valuable commodities for most people–and often in short supply–sleep can be a particularly scarce one for many. According to a study published in the October 30 edition of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, approximately 28% of U.S. adults do not get enough rest or sleep for at least 14 out of the 30 days in a month.
The data for the report originate from the 2008 BRFSS (Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System), which involved a random-digit-dialed telephone survey of 403,981 U.S. adults (ages 18 or older) inquiring about their self-perceptions of restfulness or sleeplessness. One question asked, “During the past 30 days, for about how many days have you felt you did not get enough rest or sleep?” About 11.1% of respondents had insufficient rest or sleep for the entire month. This contrasts from the 30.7% who had no days of insufficient rest or sleep.
Where are the sleepiest people in the United States?
The sleepiest states include those with the highest percentage of respondents who reported 30 days of sleep deprivation for the last month. For those states where the percentages were equivalent, I further stratified them according to the percentage of respondents who reported sleeplessness for 14-29 days of the preceding month. Without further ado, here are the sleepiest states …
Read more … »
The “New & Interesting” series is a biweekly compilation of select research findings, news articles, and random tidbits in bullet-point format. The entries are highly abbreviated, but provide links to the original articles or abstracts if you desire to read further.
General Articles
- Antibiotics can be purchased online without the need for a prescription. The danger of making this freely available is the indiscriminant use of antibiotics to treat infections inappropriately. Moreover, this leads to the progressive selection of organisms resistant to current drug therapies. (Ann Fam Med)
- AIDS vaccine reduces rate of new infections by 31%. Although modest, this is the first time a vaccine has shown any efficacy against the spread of HIV since the discovery of the virus 26 years ago. (LA Times)
- Do mobile phones cause brain tumors? A meta-analysis performed by a team led by Dr. Seung-Kwon Myung of South Korea’s National Cancer Center found a mild increase in risk of benign brain tumors in people who have used cell phone for over a decade. Larger studies are still needed to answer this question. (Reuters)
Technical Articles
- Risk of hyperkalemia is small with use of ACE inhibitors in nondiabetic patients with hypertensive CKD (chronic kidney disease) (Arch Intern Med)
- Glucocorticoid use associated with increased risk of atrial fibrillation or flutter (Arch Intern Med)
The “New & Interesting” series features short compilations of select research findings, news articles, and random tidbits in bullet-point format.
General Interest Articles
- Beth Israel Deaconess researchers compared the effects of true and sham acupuncture in relieving symptoms of IBS (irritable bowel syndrome). The study did not find evidence to support superiority of true acupuncture over its sham counterpart. Both techniques were, however, shown to be more effective than no acupuncture treatment. (Am J Gastroenterol)
- Obesity in early adulthood was associated with an increased risk of pancreatic cancer, while obesity in older age had worse mortality outcomes with pancreatic cancer (JAMA)
Technical Articles
- Researchers at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the University of Michigan developed mathematical models to combat jet lag, shift-work, and other 24-hour work schedules. (PLoS Computational Biology)
Melatonin is a hormone produced by the pineal gland and associated with regulation of the sleep cycle. There have consequently been melatonin products, and biosynthetic variants (i.e., ramelteon), marketed as sleep aid products. A popular use for melatonin has been to combat jet lag or for adaptation to different time zones. Two recurring questions I have encountered regarding melatonin are whether it actually works and whether there are any adverse side-effects.
The February 10 issue of the British Medical Journal includes a study by a Canadian group that reviewed the efficacy and safety of melatonin use with secondary sleep disorders and sleep restriction. Secondary sleep disorders are sleep problems with a physiologic cause, such as hyperthyroidism or substance abuse (toxicity). Sleep restriction, on the other hand, results from voluntary sleep disruption. On-call physicians or third-shift police officers are examples of people who endure sleep restriction.
According to the meta-analysis (a review of several research efforts examining the same topic) of 15 separate studies (524 participants), melatonin is not effective for both secondary sleep disorders and sleep restriction. Commonly reported side-effects were drowsiness, headache, nausea, and dizziness. Otherwise, the report does not indicate significant adverse effects of short-term melatonin use (3 months or less).
In another meta-analysis performed by the same group, and published two months earlier in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, there is some evidence of efficacy in delayed sleep phase syndrome (DSPS), a shift in the circadian rhythm that makes it difficult for the person to fall asleep and wake up. Study participants who suffered from this disorder were able to fall asleep around 38.8 minutes earlier with melatonin. The study does not however report significant improvement in sleep onset with melatonin use for other sleep disorders. The findings on safety are similar here as in the BMJ article.
In short, melatonin is not effective for most sleep disorders, but it is safe with short-term use.
- Buscemi N, Vandermeer B, Hooton N, Pandya R, Tjosvold L, Hartling L, Baker G, Klassen TP, Vohra S. The efficacy and safety of exogenous melatonin for primary sleep disorders. A meta-analysis. J Gen Intern Med 2005;20:1151-8.
- Buscemi N, Vandermeer B, Hooton N, Pandya R, Tjosvold L, Hartling L, Vohra S, Klassen TP, Baker G. Efficacy and safety of exogenous melatonin for secondary sleep disorders and sleep disorders accompanying sleep restriction: meta-analysis. BMJ 2006.
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