Key Mechanism Behind Sleep Discovered: Finding Holds Promise for Treatment of Fatigue and Sleep Diso

[HuckleB]

Source: Science Daily

Washington State University researchers have discovered the mechanism by which the brain switches from a wakeful to a sleeping state. The finding clears the way for a suite of discoveries, from sleeping aids to treatments for stroke and other brain injuries.

"We know that brain activity is linked to sleep, but we've never known how," said James Krueger, WSU neuroscientist and lead author of a paper in the latest Journal of Applied Physiology. "This gives us a mechanism to link brain activity to sleep. This has not been done before."

The mechanism -- a cascade of chemical transmitters and proteins -- opens the door to a more detailed understanding of the sleep process and possible targets for drugs and therapies aimed at the costly, debilitating and dangerous problems of fatigue and sleeplessness. Sleep disorders affect between 50 and 70 million Americans, according to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies. The Institute also estimates the lost productivity and mishaps of fatigue cost businesses roughly $150 billion, while motor vehicle accidents involving tired drivers cost at least $48 billion a year.

The finding is one of the most significant in Krueger's 36-year career, which has focused on some of the most fundamental questions about sleep.

Read more: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/09/100914100302.htm

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Well, I could use a good night's sleep myself.

:hi:

[nebenaube]

1. oh goody

More downers and stimulants on the way; yippie... The majority of sleep disorders in this country are due to obesity, allergies, airway collapse and/or physical deformities of the upper airway tract not insomnia or depression.

[HuckleB]

2. Maybe.

Does that mean people with insomnia and depression should be ignored? By the way, your opening line makes little sense in the context of the research.

[nebenaube]

3. perhaps...

They should be treated via chronobiological methods instead. This paper is about the mechanism of sleep onset and finding drug targets to modulate it. So I doubt that my opening line makes little sense unless you are a lay person in regard to this area of research.

[HuckleB]

9. Specify the "methods" you have in mind.

[nebenaube]

12. google is your friend... n/t

[HuckleB]

16. That's really your response?

:rofl:

[dixiegrrrrl]

4. I would be interested in the source of that fact.

[nebenaube]

13. well

It's anecdotal, from 22 years of following the field.

[HuckleB]

17. An anecdotal "field?"

Goodness.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

10. Dumbass scientists learning new things. Who do they think they are? God?

[pennylane100]

11. Having severe sleep apnea,

my doctor tells me that even with cpap, I should expect to spend the rest of my life with excessive daytime sleepiness because of brain damage caused by years of undiagnosed treatment. So I would welcome a new type of stimulant that would get me through the day.

[nebenaube]

14. and that would be malpractice from my point of view.

Severe obstructive sleep apnea is difficult to eliminate; especially if it's the 'complex' variety. Eliminating only 50% of the apnea events/arousals is considered successful treatment despite the fact that you may only have half as many events as you used to.

The line about brain damage is probably bullshit unless you continue to perform poorly on cognitive testing.

Taking a stimulant will lower your threshold for arousal meaning that minor respiratory events that don't currently cause arousals will start to begin causing arousals; further degrading the current quality of your sleep.

[truthisfreedom]

15. I had a pretty bad case of sleep apnea going until I talked to my chiropractor about it.

She told me that I had too much fat in my neck, and in her experience, patients of hers who had lost significant weight also recovered from the apnea. I subsequently lost 50 lbs, going from 205 to 155 (I'm 5'10") and my apnea went away completely. I'm so thrilled!

[pennylane100]

18. That is a really good news,

I am also trying to lose weight and hoping for the same end result.

[Better Today]

5. Wouldn't the "mechanism" be whatever activated the cascade of

chemical transmitters and proteins? Seems to me that a cascade is the result of a mechanism, not the mechanism.

[Javaman]

6. The military will be all over this...

soldiers that require no sleep.

PTSD is bad enough without sleep deprivation.

[izquierdista]

7. They've been working the idea for a long time

The first military to try it was the Wehrmacht. They seemed to think soldiers hopped up on amphetamine would be a good thing.

[Javaman]

8. I know...

Mk-Ultra picked up where they left off.

A buddy of mine, who was in the first gulf war, told me before they started the invasion, they were all given "shots". They were told that these shots were to "guard against local diseases", but he found it very interesting that he required no sleep for the first 72 hours. He said he wanted to sleep, had the sensation, but he body just keep going. He was awake but not awake. That's not just adrenalin working.