Anesthetics May Improve Sleep Medication
Researchers at the University of Alberta have discovered sleep patterns in a type of anesthesia that are the closest ever to a natural, non-groggy snooze.
The anesthetic used in the study, known as ethyl carbamate or urethane, provides researchers with a tool to more thoroughly investigate ways of treating sleep disorders and improving existing sleep medications, says Clayton Dickson, one of the study's co-authors and an associate professor of psychology, physiology and neuroscience at the University of Alberta in Canada.
"Most general anesthetics used for surgery and available medications used to treat sleeplessness promote what is called slow-wave sleep at the expense of the other main stage of sleep known as rapid eye movement or REM sleep so people tend to wake up groggy," Dickson said. "Our findings suggest that this type of anesthesia can induce the full spectrum of the stages you would see during natural sleep," which will allow researchers to fine-tune sleep medications and anesthetics, benefiting patients.
By comparing the brainwaves of rats under the anesthetic to those occurring with natural sleep, researchers discovered cyclic changes of brain states that were almost identical to those seen during the natural sleep cycle. Changes in muscle tone, respiration rates and heartbeat were also similar.
Though the ethyl carbamate is not suitable for use in human consumption because of the high chemical dosage required, the research findings can be used by neuroscientists, physiologists and others in the field to unravel the mysteries of sleep, Dickson says. The long-term implications for this discovery, he says, will benefit researchers by allowing them to study sleep pattern anomalies, including the puzzling paradox of why brain activity is similar in wakefulness as it is during REM sleep, despite a complete lack of awareness and responsiveness.
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Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release.
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The study was published in the scientific journal PLoS ONE, and was funded in part by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, and the Canadian Foundation for Innovation. Dickson is also a scholar of the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research.
Departments of Psychology, Physiology and the Centre for Neuroscience
University of Alberta
A Single Subjective Question Can Be An Effective Sleepiness Screening Tool
A single subjective (SS) question may be an effective screening tool for excessive daytime sleepiness, according to a study published in the April 15 issue of the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine (JCSM).
Sarah Nath Zallek, MD, of the Illinois Neurological Institute Sleep Center in Peoria, Ill., sought to determine whether the following single question about sleepiness can measure subjective sleepiness comparably to the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS):
"Please measure your sleepiness on a typical day: (0 = none, 10 is highest)."
The study focused on 303 subjects between 18-78 years of age, who had been diagnosed with a variety of sleep disorders, including obstructive or central sleep apnea, narcolepsy, periodic limb movement disorder, restless legs syndrome, psychophysiological insomnia, inadequate sleep hygiene, and idiopathic hypersomnia. ESS scores ranged from 0-24, while SS scores ranged from 0-10.
According to Dr. Zallek, the finding that the single question used in this study had significant associations with the ESS in all subject groups and was able to distinguish between "subjectively sleepy" and "subjectively not sleepy" groups suggests the SS is a good measure of subjective sleepiness.
"Excessive sleepiness is an important and widespread symptom of insufficient sleep and a variety of sleep disorders," said Dr. Zallek. "It increases the risk of accidents and injuries, and leads to lost work productivity. Recognition of sleepiness is the first step to finding a cause and treating it. Most physicians don't use the existing questionnaires to determine if someone is excessively sleepy. Sleepiness often goes unrecognized."
By using a single question to detect excessive sleepiness, one can quickly determine who might need further evaluation, noted Dr. Zallek.
"This scale can also assess change in an individual's sleepiness over time. This study provides individuals, physicians, and employers a simple, single question to initiate an evaluation of this important symptom," added Dr. Zallek.
On average, most adults need seven to eight hours of nightly sleep to feel alert and well-rested.
Those who think they might have a sleep disorder are urged to consult with their primary care physician or a sleep specialist.