Lack of sleep linked to early death: study (reposted from Yahoo)

Wed May 5, 9:44 am ET

LONDON (AFP) – People who get less than six hours sleep per night have an increased risk of dying prematurely, researchers said on Wednesday.

Those who slumbered for less than that amount of time were 12 percent more likely to die early, though researchers also found a link between sleeping more than nine hours and premature death.

"If you sleep little, you can develop diabetes, obesity, hypertension and high cholesterol," Francesco Cappuccio, who led research on the subject at Britain's University of Warwick, told AFP.

The study, conducted with the Federico II University in Naples, Italy, aggregated decade-long studies from around the world involving more than 1.3 million people and found "unequivocal evidence of the direct link" between lack of sleep and premature death.

"We think that the relation between little sleep and illness is due to a series of hormonal and metabolical mechanisms," Cappuccio said.

The findings of the study were published in the Sleep journal.

Cappuccio believes the duration of sleep is a public health issue and should be considered as a behavioral risk factor by doctors.

"Society pushes us to sleep less and less," Cappuccio said, adding that about 20 percent of the population in the United States and Britain sleeps less than five hours.

Sleeping less than six hours is "more common amongst full-time workers, suggesting that it may be due to societal pressures for longer working hours and more shift work"

The study also found a link between sleeping more than nine hours per night and premature death, but Cappuccio said oversleeping is more likely to be an effect of illness, rather than a cause.

"Doctors never ask how much one sleeps, but that could be an indicator that something is wrong," said Cappuccio, who heads the Sleep, Health and Society Programme at the University of Warwick.

Research showed no adverse effects for those sleeping between six and eight hours per day.

Insomnia again

Last night, there was simply no sleep to be had. I couldn't figure it out. I could have sworn I took my medication, and I was so, so tired. I have been feeling like an old dishrag for the last three days and had an epic case of the drag-ass. It makes sense--I've been sitting here listening to my ass spread for months (I think an old-school term I've heard for this is "woolgathering", but I'm allergic to wool, no wonder I feel a little off)--and suddenly BOOM! I'm temping twenty hours a week, I've got freelance work, and we just finally re-submitted to insurance for surgery, which I'm supposed to hear about within two weeks. The least stressful thing I've done in the past few days is stop writing in the food journal for a while. And it was Mr. Salted's birthday in there as well. So my being a bit wound up definitely makes sense.

Unfortunately, sleeplessness is just a fact of life for me, and it often strikes at random. I tried listening to my "sleepy" iPod playlist. Didn't work. Gave up; got online. Put some pictures on my Flickr site, looked at friends' pictures. Edited more pictures. Facebooked a little. Of course, my computer was running one automatic virus and spyware scan one after the other so everything was slow or wouldn't work or kicked me out all night long, but I kept at it for whatever reason--probably because I didn't want to start reading a new book when my brain was at such a low wattage.

I crawled into bed about an hour before the Mr. had to get up and dozed, with him and without. Before he left for work, I woke up more completely and turned on the bedroom light. There on my nightstand sat my lonely Seroquel, lined up sadly like a trio of forgotten soldiers. No wonder, I thought. Shit. I was supposed to go to work today, but fortunately, with the current situation, things are flexible--as long as the hours add up to twenty for the week.

I considered, and certainly could have, gone in on autopilot as I've frequently done--I've almost fallen asleep at the wheel hurtling down the freeway many more times than I feel comfortable 'fessing up to here. But for once, I didn't have to, and I made myself stay home. It seems like a small thing--maybe even a cop-out thing--but for me, it's a self-care thing--and I'll certainly be a more productive (and less irritable) employee tomorrow when I've had some sleep, so everybody wins. The odd thing is--and it truly is a revelation: I am not beating myself up about this. The usual internal continuous-loop tape that says things like, "dammit, what is your pansy-ass problem for needing sleeping pills this bad?" is magically, blessedly silent.

This unfamiliar silence, this calm, feels like nothing short of a gift. I am what I am, that's all I am, I do the best I can, and--at least today--that's just exactly enough for me.

Not much to report

Have not felt like writing much the past few days. My sleep is still all over the place. I notice I crash after 2 days without it; last night I took a couple of Benadryl to help it along, and it did the trick.

I have spent most of today on the phone with doctors and insurance, trying to get new sleep medication ordered, and then a "health advisor" from insurance called and advised me to check in regarding the appeals process. So I did, and as I thought, I don't have a leg to stand on without that 6 months of documentation, which I am in the process of obtaining.

I see the nutritionist Monday, and I have a lot of questions for her. A friend recommended the South Beach Diet, or at least many of their recipes, so I've been reading the book. It seems like a reasonable diet in the 3rd phase, but Phase 1 throws me into a panic. I don't think I feasibly can go to that extreme, and I hope I don't need to--just being able to have some sugar-free pudding or Crystal Light helps tremendously with curbing my appetite for sweets.

I have gotten a couple of hip-hop and salsa dance-based workout DVDs that I am enjoying and alternating with the t'ai chi. I don't look as cute doing salsa dance steps as the instructor, but thankfully, there is no one here to see me trying to learn them but the cats.

I've also been applying for a lot of jobs.

Going off Ambien CR

I decided this evening that I am just going to quit taking Ambien. I forgot to bring any with me when I went to visit my friends out of town last night, just toughed it out and tried to doze a bit with the Ipod on my special insomnia/quiet playlist. I didn't sleep all night.

When I got home today, I thought: why am I taking this stuff? I've been taking it for years, and it's not helping me much. I'm eating in the middle of the night, and I definitely don't need THAT. (I can imagine the complications that could cause over and above potential weight gain, particularly post-op when some foods are going to make me sick--I'm going to want to remember what they are so I don't eat them again.)

So, I'm awake for the second night in a row. I'd rather just stop taking Ambien and have a bad day or two, not have it in my body, and not pay for it--even with insurance, it is not cheap. I was also reading online tonight about some of the side effects others have had with it, both while taking it and while trying to discontinue its use. I have escaped unscathed compared to many of these folks.

I just hope I will be able to sleep at some point before too much longer.