Poor Sleep Is Associated With Lower Relationship Satisfaction In Both Women And Men

Posted by Neill Abayon

A bidirectional association exists between couples' sleep quality and the quality of their relationship, according to a research abstract that will be presented on Wednesday, June 10, at SLEEP 2009, the 23rd Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies.
Results indicate that on a day to day basis, couples' relationship quality affects their sleep, and their sleep also affects their subsequent relationship functioning. For men, better sleep (as indicated by diary–based sleep efficiency) was associated with more positive ratings of relationship quality the next day. For women, negative partner interactions during the day were associated with poorer sleep efficiency for both themselves and their partner that night.

Read the full article here.

Losing weight can cure obstructive sleep apnea in overweight patients

Posted by Neill Abayon

For sufferers of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), a new study shows that losing weight is perhaps the single most effective way to reduce OSA symptoms and associated disorders, according to a new study in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, one of the American Thoracic Society's three peer-reviewed journals.

Weight loss may not be a new miracle pill or a fancy high-tech treatment, but it is an exciting therapy for sufferers of OSA both because of its short- and long-term effectiveness and for its relatively modest price tag. Surgery doesn't last, continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machines are only as effective as the patient's adherence, and most other devices have had disappointing outcomes, in addition to being expensive, unwieldy and having poor patient compliance. Furthermore, OSA is generally only treated when it has progressed to a moderate to severe state.

"Very low calorie diet (VLCD) combined with active lifestyle counseling resulting in marked weight reduction is a feasible and effective treatment for the majority of patients with mild OSA, and the achieved beneficial outcomes are maintained at 1-year follow-up," wrote Henri P.I. Tuomilehto, M.D., Ph.D., of the department of Otorhinolaryngology at the Kuopio University Hospital in Finland.

Read the full article here.

Sleep Apnea Causes Other Problems in Bed

Posted by Neill Abayon

Men with sleep apnea may suffer from a treatable form of erectile dysfunction caused by regular deprivation of oxygen experienced during their episodes of obstructed breathing.

A study on mice found that one week of chronic intermittent hypoxia (CIH) -- lack of oxygen suffered during obstructive sleep apnea syndrome -- resulted in a 55 percent decline in daily spontaneous erections. After five weeks, the length of time between mice attempts at mating increased, on average, by 60-fold.

However, when the mice went back on standard oxygen levels for six weeks, they recovered 74 percent of their original erectile function.