The authors are SIDS researchers Rachel Moon, MD, a pediatrician, and Brandi Joyner at Children’s National Medical Center. They evaluated pictures for sleep positions, including whether or not the baby was placed on its side or stomach rather than on its back, as well as hazards in infant sleeping environments, including soft bedding. The study reviewed photos in both articles and advertisements.

“There are major discrepancies between what doctors recommend to prevent sudden infant death syndrome and what moms may see in mainstream media,” said Dr. Moon. “The most important thing for moms to realize is that what they see in magazines may not be what’s best for their baby in real life.”

To reduce the risk of SIDS, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that babies be placed on their backs when sleeping, on a separate sleep surface from their parents, without blankets, pillows, or other soft bedding. Dr. Moon is a member of the AAP’s Task Force on SIDS, which issued revised guidelines for SIDS prevention in October of 2005.

The study, titled “Infant Sleep Environments Depicted in Magazines Targeted to Women of Childbearing Age,” appears in the September issue of Pediatrics.

For the bold there is the Uberman Schedule, 20-30 minutes every 4 hours for a total of 2-3 hours sleep a day.   A good source of information about it is from the pioneering puredoxyk in her polyphasic portal. “I’m one of the intrepid pair of college girls who lived on the Uberman Sleep Schedule (and gave it its name) back in The Distant Future, The Year 2000.” She relates that she has gone over to the so-called Everyman schedule with a 3 hour core and 3 20 minute naps, and has been doing it consistently for several years without problems.

Another polyphasic sleeper who recorded his experiments is Steve Pavlina. He has returned to monophasic sleep, apparently as it was difficult to mesh that life with ‘normal’ society.

Of course, little is known about the long term effects of this kind of sleeping pattern, so it must be viewed as a somewhat risky undertaking. We are still learning from the pioneers.

Many people and several studies have found cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to be the most effective for getting rid of problems with insomnia.  It’s drug free, has no side effects and the benefits may last a lifetime.  Unfortunately this type of treatment does not seem to be easily available outside of sleep clinics.  Many people are reluctant to go there for cost and other reasons.

It’s a puzzle here is why is CBT not more prescribed and available, given that it works, at least according to some users and researchers. Actually, what I would like to do here is get some input from anyone with experience of trying to get rid of insomnia, and how it turned out. I’d like to hear from anyone who has tried sleeping pills, relaxation therapies, mediation, cognitive behavioral therapy and whatever else.

What do you think?

Boston, MA, August 06, 2009 –(PR.com)– Researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) and Biotek Inc. found that transdermal delivery of melatonin, through a skin patch, is successful in maintaining sleep for several hours during daytime. Thus, a patch may have advantages over oral melatonin, whose effect is often short-lasting. This research appears in the July 15, 2009 issue of Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics.

Melatonin, a hormone naturally produced in the pineal gland and secreted at night time, plays an important role in regulating sleep. “Melatonin supplements can be used to treat jet lag and some sleep problems by inducing sleep, particularly during hours of daylight when natural melatonin production does not normally occur,” said Daniel Aeschbach, PhD, of the Division of Sleep Medicine at BWH. “A limitation of this treatment has often been an inability to maintain sleep though, because melatonin taken orally often wears off quickly, as it is rapidly removed from the body.”

Researchers studied eight participants who received either a patch containing 2.1 mg melatonin or no drug. The controlled inpatient setting simulated a change from a traditional nighttime sleep schedule to a sleep schedule typical for shift workers, where participants were asked to sleep during the morning and into the early evening. By measuring melatonin levels in the blood, the researchers found that participants receiving the active patch showed elevated melatonin levels for an extended duration, differing greatly from a typical melatonin profile after oral administration.

“The melatonin levels in the blood observed with the active patch resembled natural nighttime melatonin levels more closely than did those previously observed after oral administration of melatonin.” said Dr. Aeschbach. “And importantly, melatonin levels rose gradually, such that the peak concentration occurred in the early evening, during the latter part of the bed rest. We know – and shift workers know – that this is a time during which it is particularly difficult to remain asleep.” The researchers found that when the study participants wore the active patch, they were indeed able to maintain sleep better, and their sleep was more comparable to natural nighttime sleep.

Transdermal melatonin delivery may have promise not only for shift workers and individuals with jet lag, but also as a remedy against early-morning awakenings, a sleep problem frequently associated with older age. Dr. Aeschbach notes that future research needs to be aimed at testing transdermal melatonin delivery in different populations with specific sleep problems.

This study was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health.

The investigators examined markers for the immune response to the bacteria in narcolepsy/catalexy patients and controls. The study concludes that streptococcal infections are probably a significant environmental trigger for narcolepsy. By contrast, the helicobacter pylori does not seem to be implicated.
(from SLEEP Volume 32 August 01, 2009.)

The National Transportation Safety Board considers that starting work at 5:40 a.m. for three consecutive days before the incident likely contributed to the pilot’s  fatigue.   In addition the captain’s severe sleep apnea wasn’t diagnosed until after the flight.

I like what the good doctor Dement says “My fellow sleep specialist and I are campaigning to rehabilitate napping and demonstrate that taking naps is an excellent and respectable strategy for sleep management.  Naps can make you smarter, faster and safer than you would be without them.  They should be widely recognized as a powerful tool in battling fatigue, and the person who chooses to nap should be regarded as heroic.” (William C. Dement, The Promise of Sleep, 1999).

There are those who take the napping life pretty seriously – they call it polyphasic sleeping. For a great overview see this polyphasic portal

Conclusions: These findings emphasize the importance of physical activity for children, not only for fitness, cardiovascular health and weight control, but also for promoting good sleep.

Once the biological clock is established and the parents can begin to think of ‘putting the baby to sleep’ there arises disagreement about how this should be accomplished.  There are essentially two schools of thought about this.  Elizabeth Pantley summarizes them like this:

• Cry it out
• Live with it.  Nurture the baby all day and all night.  Eventually, baby will sleep through the night.

As she says, the ‘cry it out’ method sounds simple but often is not.  Many parents will reject this method as cruel and virtual abandonment of parental responsibility.  Pantley describes a method for parents to help their baby learn to go to sleep willingly.   It’s based on results obtained from a large group of participating parents.   For parents who are having trouble  she recommends keeping a log of the baby’s naps, where and how he falls asleep and how long it takes.  Then review and choose a ’sleep solution’.  She has specific suggestions for breastfed, bottlefed, crib sleepers, co-sleepers and pacifier users.  Then do the sleep log after 10 days and review the progress.

It struck me after a while that this is pretty much applying the ’scientific method’ to each individual child to help in creating an individual program.  Her book is well worth reading.

At the onset of puberty there is a rise in the amount of growth stimulating hormone that is released into the blood stream at night.  So too little sleep during this period can stunt growth.  Also at the start of puberty there is a drop in the level of melatonin – the hormone that helps regulate other hormones and maintains the body’s circadian rhythm – the internal 24-hour time-keeping system.

Some sex hormones have a close relationship with the sleep cycle during puberty.  These hormones – testosterone, follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) are released in small amounts during childhood, but not at any particular time of day.  During puberty, however, all three are released in much larger quantities, and all three are released mostly during sleep.  This again emphasizes the importance of adequate sleep for teens (about 9 hours).