This week in sleep news …
Napping could improve your cognition
Worried a nap might set you back? A study released this week could be proof that napping is great for your brain. Released in the journal Sleep Health, the study focused on data from UK Biobank from 378,932 people ages 40-69 who never/rarely, sometimes, or usually nap. The study found a modest causal link between habitual napping and larger total brain volume, which should be all the evidence you need to give yourself that afternoon rest.
Type 2 diabetes risk linked to sleep duration and sleep quality, study finds
The amount of sleep and the quality of it may play a part in your risk of developing type 2 diabetes, according to an ongoing study presented at ENDO 2023, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting. The study reports that people who sleep more than 10 hours, those who sleep less than six hours, or those with poor quality of sleep have the highest risk of developing the disease. This is primarily due to the role sleep plays in insulin resistance and secretion.
The researchers divided study participants into four groups: those who slept fewer than six hours a night, those who slept six to seven hours a night, those who slept eight to nine hours a night, and those who slept more than nine hours a night. Over the course of the 14-year follow-up period, 18% of participants developed type 2 diabetes, with the over 10 hours and the less than six hours groups having the most risk.
Why night owls might be more likely to die younger
Are you a night owl? Be sure not to spend those late hours drinking and smoking. According to a new study in Chronobiology International, mortality risk increases by 21% for people who are evening types. The research found that the difference has to do with how people spend their time, as evening types were more likely to smoke and consume alcohol.
Once researchers accounted for smoking and drinking, the levels evened out.
Pediatricians urge parents to avoid weighted sleep sacks
The American Academy of Pediatrics is urging parents to avoid weighted sleep sacks for babies and children. In a letter to the chairman of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, the AAP president, Dr. Sandy Chung, expressed concern about voluntary safety standards for these products, reiterating the AAP recommendation that babies sleep on their back on a separate, firm, flat surface, then cited the recent recommendations to avoid weighted blankets, weighted sleepers, weighted swaddles, or other weighted objects.
In sleep-centric social media news …
TikTok user Natalie Doef gives us all the bedroom inspiration we need with her beautiful, early morning time-lapse of making her bed.
