Sleep Deprivation

[Kristy]

All I could think was Where does this information put the Cushing's patient, who has disruption of the diurnal rhythm?. I am a little cranky today. I haven't been sleeping well. I am having problems focusing today ???

 

From Reuters:

 

http://www.reutershealth.com/archive....28.html

 

"SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters Health) - Just a few hours of sleep deprivation could impair daily functioning and affect hormonal levels in the body, researchers reported here Saturday at the annual meeting of the Endocrine Society."

 

Check out the 2002 Daily Highlights:

http://www.endo-society.org/scimeet....s20.cfm

 

Abstract:

Effects of One Week of Modest Sleep Restriction to 6 Hours Per Night on Daytime Sleepiness, Performance, IL-6, TNF, and Cortisol Plasma Levels.

Alexandros N Vgontzas, Manolis Zoumakis, Edward O Bixler, Hung-Mo Lin, Heather Follett, George P Chrousos Sleep Res and Treatment Ctr, Psychiatry, Penn State Coll of Med, Hershey, PA; Pediatric and Reproductive Endocrinology Br, NIH, Bethesda, MD; Hlth Evaluation Scis, Penn State Coll of Med, Hershey, PA

 

Objectives: Total sleep deprivation or severe sleep restriction (50% or 4 hours per night for several nights) is associated with daytime sleepiness, performance decrements and stimulation of daytime IL-6 secretion. The goal of this study was to assess the effects of modest sleep restriction by 2 hours (25%) to mimic "real life situations."

Methods: Young healthy normal sleepers, both men and women, were recorded in the sleep laboratory for 12 consecutive nights (4 baseline nights during which subjects were allowed to sleep for 8 hours followed by 1 week of sleep restriction to 6 hours). At baseline and following 1 week of sleep restriction, we obtained measures of daytime sleepiness (multiple sleep latency test [MSLT]), performance (psychomotor vigilance test [PVT]), and serial twenty-four hour plasma measures of IL-6, TNF, and cortisol.

Results: Preliminary analysis of 13 young men showed that after one week of sleep restriction, there was a significant increase of daytime sleepiness. The average sleep latency on MSLT was significantly decreased post-deprivation compared to baseline (P

Conclusions: Modest sleep loss for a short period increases sleepiness and deteriorates the performance of young healthy subjects. Furthermore, it is associated with a shift of IL-6 secretion from sleep to wake and an elevation of circulating TNF levels. These findings suggest that modest sleep loss appears to be a significant risk in terms of public safety, i.e., traffic accidents and through the stimulation/alteration of IL-6, and TNF secretion increases the risk of major health hazards associated with insulin resistance and smoldering systemic inflammation, such as cardiovascular disease and osteoporosis.

Supported by the National Institutes of Health