This week in sleep news:
Acupuncture can improve sleep for cancer survivors with chronic pain
A new study found that acupuncture can improve sleep quality for cancer survivors with sleep disturbances and chronic pain. A team at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City found that both electroacupuncture (or current-stimulated acupuncture) and auricular (or ear-based) acupuncture therapies resulted in improvements in sleep quality when compared to methods like analgesic medications, physical therapy, and glucocorticoid treatments. Results showed that more than 40% of participants who received acupuncture treatments saw improvement in sleep quality. This study was published in the journal Cancer.
Sleep disturbances linked to post-COVID dyspnea
Scientists are yet again looking into the link between sleep disturbances and COVID-19. A new study published in the Lancet shows that sleep disturbances after a COVID hospitalization are associated with shortness of breath (dyspnea), anxiety, and muscle weakness. In further analysis, they found that sleep quality, deterioration in sleep quality following hospital admission, and sleep irregularity were all associated with higher dyspnea scores. Researchers believe targeting sleep disturbances might be beneficial in treating the post-COVID-19 condition due to the breadth of the impact.
Florida’s surprise wake-up call
Millions of Floridians were woken at 4:45 a.m. Thursday morning by an accidental emergency alert phone notification from the state Division of Emergency Management. In a tweet sent out by the department, they clarified that each month, they test emergency alerts on a variety of platforms. Unfortunately, the alert, which was meant only for television sets, was instead deployed to cell phones, resulting in startling alarm noises that were a most unwelcome early wake-up call.
In more fun sleep news…
Elephant seals spend seven to eight months foraging for food, sometimes traveling thousands of miles away from land. This has led researchers to question how and where the marine mammals sleep on the high seas. A new study, which involved seals fitted with caps similar to those worn by humans in sleep clinics, shows us that the seals sneak in short naps during deep dives while holding their breath. Researchers found that when the seals experience sleep paralysis as they enter rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, they lose control of their posture and continue to spiral down in a corkscrew pattern.
