Bed2U

I don’t know how many nights I have lain awake worrying about something I did, something I need to do, or something disastrous that’s about to happen. via HealthCentral

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Alexza Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALXA) announced positive results from a Phase 1 clinical trial of AZ-007 (Staccato(R) zaleplon). AZ-007 is an inhalation product candidate being developed for the treatment of insomnia patients who have difficulty falling asleep, including patients who awake in the middle of the night and have difficulty falling back asleep.

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Recently I updated the most important 6 basic activities that everyone who has trouble sleeping should follow. They are in the Sleep Goal of the Can’t Sleep Café.

I’d like to briefly explain them here.

1.    Get 30 minutes of outdoor time each day. This is the easiest way for most people to get bright light. Getting some bright light helps to set your body clock and stimulates portions of the sleep-wake rhythm generators in the brain. Try to get the bright light at about the same time each day.

2.    Take only one serving of caffeine each day, only in the morning. Caffeine taken after lunch lingers in the system and can worsen sleep. Too much caffeine in the morning can cause a rebound of drowsiness later in the day.

3.    Practice a relaxation technique such as meditation for at least 20 minutes each day. This could also be exercise, prayer, or biofeedback. Prayer and meditation have the advantage that you can also do them when you might be awake in the night.

4.    Get up at the same time each day. This is the most important rule, and it is best to move the time a little earlier than you might naturally wake up. Somewhere near sunrise is also ideal if you can manage it.

5.    Plan your bedtime based on your wake-up time; for most people about 7 hours before the wake up time. The worst mistake for most people is to go to bed too early, hoping for 9 hours of sleep.

6.    Lastly, if you cannot sleep during the night, it is vitally important that you stop trying for a while. Get up, go sit in a recliner, and spend 20 to 30 minutes there before trying to sleep again. Then go into bed and try it again.

So there you have it—a little sunlight, only a little caffeine, a regular morning wake up time, some daily stress reduction, planning for 7 hours in bed, and if you still can’t sleep, get up for a while and stop trying.

J. Steven Poceta MD

is a licensed practitioner of neurology and sleep disorders who has been engaged by Revolution Health. No information in this blog is intended to diagnose or treat any condition. The opinions expressed here are Dr. Poceta’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of Revolution Health.

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Bed Bug-Sniffing Dogs Used To Fight Pesky Critters WCBS-TV New York, NY - Apr 28, 2008 Now there's a new weapon in the fight against bed bugs, and its barking up a storm where the bed bugs bite. Smaller than a poppy seed, beg bugs nest in just …

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Bed bugs cause relocation of L/L residents Vermont Cynic (subscription), VT - Apr 28, 2008 The rooms that the students are moving into have been pre-treated to prevent the possibility of any bed bugs being transmitted to the new spaces. …

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A Johns Hopkins University biologist, in research with implications for people suffering from seasonal affective disorder and insomnia, has determined that the eye uses light to reset the biological clock through a mechanism separate from the ability to see.

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In spring, a young man's fancy turns to … bugs? Christian Science Monitor, MA - 1 hour ago What Fabre was looking for, as he poked and prodded his way through a plot of dirt in the south of France, were bugs.

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“Of course you’ll sleep. Don’t panic, it makes it worse.”

The child: Charlotte and daughter Flora, 10 When it gets dark, Flora tells me: ‘I feel it, I am not going to sleep tonight.’ Bedtime takes two hours. via Guardian Unlimited

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Useless Leaders BorderFire Report, TX - Apr 27, 2008 I’ll finish up this rant noting that, back when its use was permitted, the same DDT had virtually eliminated the problem of bed bugs in America. …

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Useless Leaders BorderFire Report, TX - 1 hour ago I’ll finish up this rant noting that, back when its use was permitted, the same DDT had virtually eliminated the problem of bed bugs in America. …

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Creeped out by creepy-crawly season on Cape Cape Cod Times, MA - 6 hours ago "Bed bugs are pretty gross. They live in the bed frames, molding, behind pictures, and when it gets dark and quiet, they come out to get you," he said. …

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The Kansas blog

asks about Saturday morning preferences. Sleep in until noon? or get up early, jog, go to the farmer’s market, and call your mom.

Let’s talk about he benefits of sleeping in—or getting up—on Saturday, which just happens to be today! The decision of when to get up on Saturday and Sunday has to do with the two basic aspects of sleep-wake: 1. Homeostatic sleep drive, and 2. Circadian rhythms. Homeostatic sleep drive is that aspect of sleep that works like food and hunger. If you stay asleep more you are less sleepy when you are awake, and if you sleep less you get more sleepy. Circadian rhythms are that part of our sleep-wake tendencies that make us sleepy after lunch, sleepy at bedtime, and relatively alert in the morning and near dinnertime. Circadian rhythms are independent of the homeostatic sleep drive, but the two interact at all times to determine how sleepy or how alert we are at any one moment.

So here is what happens to a lot of people, especially young people. During the weekdays they force themselves up earlier than natural to get to work or to school. For example, they sleep from midnight until 6 am. This leads to a degree of sleep deprivation after a couple of days, so that by Friday the person is rather sleepy in the day. Then, by Saturday morning, the body needs to make up that sleep debt by sleeping longer, say for 10 hours, from midnight until 10 am or noon. This is good—catching up on lost hours of sleep makes us more alert and less drowsy.

The only problem with this is that the circadian rhythm tends to remain late, or delayed. This is particularly a problem for those people who tend to be delayed—night owls who naturally prefer to stay up late and sleep in. For these people, the sleep deprivation of getting up early during the week becomes severe, but if they let themselves sleep in during the weekend, their body rhythm delays again so that Sunday night they can’t get to sleep early and Monday morning is very difficult. In addition, many people find that sleeping late on Saturday and Sunday morning increases the likelihood of migraine headache and depressed mood.

Like other balancing acts in life, you have to balance the need to catch up on sleep with the need to keep your body rhythms fairly regular. Here is my advice: Sleep in only 1 to 2 hours extra on Saturday and Sunday, and still get up with an alarm even if you are asleep. Get morning bright light soon after waking up, like a walk outside for one hour. If you need more sleep, better to take a nap in the afternoon than to sleep too long in the morning. Naps are a natural way to get more sleep, and the body is most likely to nap about 8 hours after the usual morning wake up time. Enjoy your sleep.

J. Steven Poceta MD

is a licensed practitioner of neurology and sleep disorders who has been engaged by Revolution Health. No information in this blog is intended to diagnose or treat any condition. The opinions expressed here are Dr. Poceta’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of Revolution Health.

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Bed bugs at high rise The Bridgeton News – NJ.com, NJ - Apr 25, 2008 By SEAN C. McCULLEN BRIDGETON — The Bridgeton Housing Authority (BHA) is once again contending with bed bugs at its East Commerce Street senior high-rise. …

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“We are very happy to offer this technology to give consumers a great night’s sleep without compromising their health. This is truly an amazing product. It is easy to apply, drug free with no addiction and no side effects!”

Sleep disorders affect millions of people. According to the National Sleep Foundation’s national survey, 54% of adults said they have experienced at least one symptom of insomnia. via Press Release News From 24-7 Press Re…

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Bed Bug Comeback Brings Launch of World's First Off-Site … PR Newswire UK (press release), UK - Apr 25, 2008 LONDON, April 25 /PRNewswire/ — They may be called bed bugs but they do not just live in beds. They can make their home anywhere that their human food …

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