May 22nd, 2012
People who don’t snore as they lay in their white, wooden, or leather beds
have a lower risk of suffering from health problems including cancer, a study has indicated.
While those whose sleep is disturbed by their own interrupted breathing are up to 4.8 times more likely to be affected by cancer, those who are less affected by breathing disorders experienced a decreased risk in correlation to their ease of breathing as they sleep.
Snoring is one symptom of a range of disorders, known as sleep disordered breathing (SDB) that cause this increased risk. The most common of these disorders is sleep apnoea.
These new findings from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the US have highlighted the need to treat these night time breathing disorders, so people can not only get a more refreshing sleep, but can avoid the higher risk of health problems.
Dr Javier Nieto from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health was the study’s leader. He explained that the link between clear breathing during sleep and a reduced risk of cancer may be due to a good supply of oxygen discouraging a tumour from thriving.
He said: “The consistency of the evidence from the animal experiments and this new epidemiologic evidence in humans is highly compelling. In vitro (laboratory) and animal studies suggest that intermittent hypoxia promotes angiogenesis and tumour growth, which can explain these observations.”
May 21st, 2012
Funnyman Sacha Baron Cohen sung his wife’s praises recently, for not asking him to sleep in the spare room when he’s sporting his weird and wonderful looks.
Sacha told The Sun on May 21st that his wife didn’t mind him sleeping in their double bed even when his roles required him to make dramatic changes to his appearance. He said: “With Borat she had to sleep with a man with a handlebar moustache. And doing Bruno I had all my body hair shaved off”.
Sacha rose to fame as Ali G and has since created the characters Borat, Bruno, and most recently, The Dictator. He married Isla Fisher, the stunning Confessions of a Shopaholic actress, in 2010. The couple have two young children together.
For the actor’s latest film – a comedy about a ruthless dictator – Sacha’s main piece of costume was a huge bushy beard. Isla told BBC Radio 1’s Newsbeat: “The good news is the beard came off in the evening, so I did not have to look at the beard, unlike the Borat handlebar moustache which I was saddled with for months and months.”
May 18th, 2012
Our bodies rely on a biological clock that is immune to light or darkness, but controls how long we sleep in our oak beds and can give us jetlag.
This clock is found in an enzyme called peroxiredoxin (PRX) and is common to almost all life, Akhilesh Reddy at the University of Cambridge has discovered alongside his colleagues.
The fact that PRX has been found in mice, fruit flies, a plant, a fungus, an alga, bacteria, and even in archaea, which is the most primitive form of cellular life, implied that the enzyme has been around for 2.5 billion years. A gene sequence analysis carried out by the researchers backed this up, leading to PRX being dubbed a ‘grandfather clock’.
When PRX first came about, days only lasted 11 hours as the Earth spun faster. However, the enzyme has moved with the times. “It will have adapted to the lengthening of the day-night cycle over time,” Reddy told New Scientist (May 16th).
This clock is the only one found so far that is common to different groups of organisms. It helps them to survive, and keeps running on its own 24-hour cycle even if the organism is kept in constant light or constant darkness.
This research has shown that our biological clocks are much older than it was previously believed, and that they may have evolved during the Great Oxygenation Event (GOE) when the oxygen released by photosynthesis began to gather in the atmosphere.
May 17th, 2012
The effect of colour on our mood has been explored in several ways, and for hundreds of years. It has the ability to make us feel warm or cold, uplifted or calm, and has even been discussed as a treatment for illness by several published works including the snappily-titled The Influence Of The Blue Ray Of The Sunlight And Of The Blue Color Of The Sky 1876 by General A. J. Pleasonton.
But how can we use this connection between ourselves and colour to improve the time we spend in our wooden, metal or upholstered beds
?
Although the modern bedroom is used for many things including working, watching TV and even eating and exercising, we should all aim to view our bedroom as a restful haven that we associate with sleep. Therefore, the décor we choose should promote a relaxed, calming atmosphere that allows us to escape from the distractions and stresses of everyday life. Some colours deliver this air of calm, while others could have you tossing and turning all night…
Colours to avoid:
Red and dark purple should not be used in the bedroom. They are both stimulating colours that can set the mind racing, making it almost impossible to feel restful.
Bright yellow is loud and cheerful and looks lovely when the sunlight pours into the room, but for an end-of-day retreat, the colour is not ideal. If you have your heart set on yellow, choose more muted sorbet shades.
Colours to go for:
Light blues and lavenders are the optimum choices for the bedroom as they have a calming effect on the mood. While any pale colour – such as white or cream – is more relaxing than a bright shade, it can leave a room a little lacking in personality, so delicate colours could be a better option.
May 16th, 2012
Actress Charlize Theron has recently revealed that she gets just four hours of sleep since she adopted her son, Jackson.
The star, who won the Best Actress Oscar for her lead role in Monster in 2003, insists that she “can function” on such a small amount of time in her double bed
.
Charlize’s career keeps going from strength to strength as she flexes her talent for all kinds of roles. She plays the evil queen in her new film Snow White and the Huntsman, and will star in Alien prequel Prometheus which is released on June 1st. The blonde beauty is also the face of Dior’s perfume J’adore.
Charlize insists her creativity and energy will not be affected by her sleep deprivation, and told The Sun (May 16th) that she is still wholeheartedly enjoying her acting career. “I love what I do,” she said. “I feel blessed. Most people grow up to work in an office and I get to play. I don’t take that for granted.”
The South African said the key was to put home life before work. “I’ve always been very aware of balance and, even before I had a child, my life always takes priority to my work.”
May 15th, 2012
Blackout curtains will let Olympic athletes get a lie-in when they stay in the specially built Games Village in London this year.
Costing £1.1 billion to construct, the village contains 2,800 apartments and will be home to up to 16,000 athletes and officials between July 27th and August 12th. The Games Village with be back in use a couple of weeks later when the Paralympics begin.
The curtains will block out all light to ensure the athletes aren’t forced out of their guest beds at sunrise, affording them the sleep they need to perform at their best.
The feature is one of many forward-thinking plans put in place; others include “grab and go” food carts and dedicated jogging areas.
These luxuries are a far cry from the humble beginnings of the village’s site; the area was a neglected industrial landscape before building began.
Triple jump world-record holder Jonathan Edwards, who heads the London 2012 Athletes’ Committee, praised the Games Village, saying it is one of the best at any Games so far.
“It has been built around the specific needs of modern performance athletes”, he said, “and I am confident they will benefit from the new features and initiatives the Athletes’ Commission have helped deliver.”
May 14th, 2012
Almost one-third of people may sleepwalk in their lives, according to a recent US study. Findings showed 29 per cent of people had sleepwalked at least once, while almost three per cent said they did it between once a month and once a year. One per cent revealed they sleepwalked on at least two occasions each month.
Researchers from the Stanford Sleep Epidemiology Research Center in California wished to find out how prevalent sleepwalking was in the US, so they called around 16,000 adults in 15 different states to collect data.
The study showed that people who have sleep apnoea or insomnia, as well as those who drink heavily, are among those most likely to sleepwalk.
Sleepwalking is the umbrella term for a range of nap-time actions from sleep talking to getting up out of their single bed
and walking about. Neurologist and sleep medicine specialist Dr Timothy Young said sleepwalking becomes a problem when sleepers begin to make their way downstairs or leave their houses.
Dr Young gave advice about the best way to deal with a sleepwalker, saying: “Redirect the person and get them back to bed.”
Although the study examined the sleepwalking habits of people as reported by themselves, the researchers said the condition may be underreported as forgetting you have sleepwalked is a common characteristic of the disorder.
The study was published on May 14th in the journal Neurology.
May 11th, 2012
Maurice Sendak, author of “Where the Wild Things Are”, died on May 8th leaving behind a legacy of happy bedtimes for children – and parents – all over the world.
Mr Sendak was also an illustrator for over 100 books, including many of his own. His death came about after he suffered complications from a stroke he’d recently had, according to Channel 4 News.
His books have been enjoyed by generations who have listened to or read the tales in their children’s beds
, with “Where the Wild Things Are” being the biggest hit. In 2009, the well-loved characters were taken off the pages and brought to life on the big screen by director Spike Jonze.
Mr Sendak’s literary feats did not go unnoticed; his work was honoured with the Hans Christian Andersen Award, and in 1996 he received the National Medal of Arts.
His books are sure to continue to enthral children for generations to come.
Susan Katz, the president of HarperCollins, which published Maurice Sendak’s work, paid tribute to him as a “a glorious author and illustrator, an amazingly gifted designer, a blisteringly funny raconteur, a fierce and opinionated wit, and a loyal friend to those who knew him.”
She concluded by saying that the author had changed the world for the better.
May 10th, 2012
Letting your child climb into your bed when they have a nightmare may stave off obesity problems, a preliminary study has found.
The feeling of security a child gets from being able to spend the rest of the night in a parent’s bed, rather than being sent back to their children’s beds
, could stop them eating as much throughout the day.
Children who were allowed to cosy up with their parents were three times less likely to be obese than those who were never allowed to do so.
Researchers at Copenhagen University Hospitals studied a group of 500 Danish children, aged from two to six years old, to find the link. Each child was considered to be at greater risk of being overweight, either because they weighed more as a baby, because their mother was poor, or because their mother was overweight before getting pregnant.
In the past, studies have suggested that children who are allowed to move into their parents’ bed do not sleep as well as those who are not allowed, and poor-quality sleep is linked to obesity. This study disagrees with these previous findings, however.
The study’s author, Nanna Olsen, said: “Types of negative psychosocial responses, such as feelings of rejection when not being allowed to enter parents’ bed, may lead to [being] overweight,” according to US News (May 9th).
May 9th, 2012
Even the rich and famous need a little help dropping off to sleep when they’re away from their high gloss beds, and streetwise rapper Eminem is no exception.
The Real Slim Shady likes the windows of his hotel bedrooms to be covered in tinfoil, it was recently revealed, to stop any light creeping in and infringing upon his trip to the land of nod.
As a jet-setting star, the 39-year-old’s sleep is of great importance, especially as his schedule involves regularly crossing time zones.
A source told The Sun (May 9th) that as well as foil over the windows, Eminem has white noise coming through the TV to soothe him to sleep. “The noise and darkness gets Eminem the best night’s sleep”, the source explained.
Missing out on a good night’s sleep because you’re away from the comfort of your own bed is a common problem, but as Eminem has found, there are ways to combat the problem. When booking a room in a hotel, guests can ask for a room away from sources of noise like lifts and ground floor reception areas. As long as guest’s requests don’t damage the hotel or cause problems to other guests, most hotels would be happy for visitors to do what they need to in order to get a good night’s sleep; good news for Eminem’s tinfoil habit!
