Acupuncture back pain success determined by psychological factors

According to new research, people being treated for lower back pain with acupuncture are likely to gain less benefit from the treatment if they have low expectations of how effective it is.

The study, published in The Journal of Clinical Pain, also suggests that patients who are positive about their back pain and feel in control of their symptoms go on to experience less back-related disability while receivingacupuncture.”The analysis showed that psychological factors were consistently associated with back-related disability,” says study author Dr. Felicity Bishop. “People who started out with very low expectations of acupuncture – who thought it probably would not help them – were more likely to report less benefit as treatment went on.”

Read the rest of the article at http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/289476.php.

Is perfectionism the problem behind chronic fatigue?

In the current issue of P&P a report outlines the role of perfectionism in chronic fatigue and in other medical disturbances such as irritable bowel syndrome and fibromyalgia. Biopsychosocial models of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) posit that personality and stress have predisposing and perpetuating roles in the persistent and unexplained fatigue that characterizes this functional somatic syndrome. Studies indicate that many CFS patients are characterized by an achievement-oriented and perfectionist personality, and that such tendencies coupled with self-criticism drive these individuals to work beyond the point of exhaustion in a way that may initiate or perpetuate chronic fatigue. Although research indicates that CFS patients use maladaptive coping strategies more than healthy controls, it is unknown whether this is true relative to other chronic illness groups.

This study examined perfectionism dimensions and maladaptive coping styles in CFS patients compared with healthy controls and two other chronic illness groups. Participants were drawn from a larger sample of community-dwelling adults from the USA or Canada (n = 980) who completed an anonymous online survey on personality and health after providing informed consent. Authors selected individuals who indicated on a medical checklist that included 13 different chronic health conditions that they had been diagnosed by a medical professional with CFS, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), or fibromyalgia (FM)/arthritis for 3 subsamples. The remaining participants were screened for the presence of other chronic diseases, leaving a final healthy sample of 564 subjects, which was divided into 6 random samples of comparable size to the illness groups, one of which was randomly chosen as the healthy control group.

Maladaptive perfectionism was significantly correlated with self-blame coping in both the CFS group and the healthy controls. The correlation between maladaptive perfectionism and behavioral disengagement coping was also significant for both group. However, these correlations did not differ significantly. Standards perfectionism was not significantly correlated with self-blame coping in the CFS group, but was negatively correlated in the healthy controls. The correlations with behavioral disengagement coping were negative in the CFS group and controls, but not significantly different. In the IBS group, maladaptive perfectionism was significantly correlated with each of the 4 maladaptive coping styles, whereas standards perfectionism negatively correlated with denial and behavioral disengagement. In the FM/arthritis group, maladaptive perfectionism was significantly correlated with all but substance use coping while standards perfectionism was not significantly correlated with any of the coping strategies.

Overall, these findings suggests that maladaptive perfectionism promotes self-critical thoughts that fuel a tendency to cope with stress by becoming consumed with self-blame rather than taking constructive action, a tendency that may be pronounced in the context of CFS, and that contributes to the prolonged chronic stress and subsequent allostatic crash posited by previous studies. Furthermore, they provide evidence that cognitive behavioral interventions that target perfectionism may help enhance the coping capacities of people with CFS.

Adapted by MNT from original media release

Picture courtesy of www.huffingtonpost.com.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/287529.php

 

Link discovered between tooth loss and slowing mind and body

The memory and walking speeds of adults who have lost all of their teeth decline more rapidly than in those who still have some of their own teeth, finds new UCL research.

The study, published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, looked at 3,166 adults aged 60 or over from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) and compared their performance in tests of memory and walking speed. The results showed that the people with none of their own teeth performed approximately 10% worse in both memory and walking speed tests than the people with teeth.

The association between total tooth loss and memory was explained after the results were fully adjusted for a wide range of factors, such as sociodemographic characteristics, existing health problems, physical health, health behaviours, such as smoking and drinking, depression, relevant biomarkers, and particularly socioeconomic status. However, after adjusting for all possible factors, people without teeth still walked slightly slower than those with teeth.

These links between older adults in England losing all natural teeth and having poorer memory and worse physical function 10 years later were more evident in adults aged 60 to 74 years than in those aged 75 and older.

“Tooth loss could be used as an early marker of mental and physical decline in older age, particularly among 60-74 year-olds,” says lead author Dr Georgios Tsakos (UCL Epidemiology & Public Health). “We find that common causes of tooth loss and mental and physical decline are often linked to socioeconomic status, highlighting the importance of broader social determinants such as education and wealth to improve the oral and general health of the poorest members of society.

“Regardless of what is behind the link between tooth loss and decline in function, recognising excessive tooth loss presents an opportunity for early identification of adults at higher risk of faster mental and physical decline later in their life. There are many factors likely to influence this decline, such as lifestyle and psychosocial factors, which are amenable to change.”

Adapted by MNT from original media release

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/287280.php

 

 

 

Could a hug a day keep infection at bay?

When feeling down, a hug from a friend or a loved one can really lift those spirits. But a new study finds hugging may do more than make us feel better emotionally; it could help protect against viruses, such as the common cold.

Lead author Sheldon Cohen and colleagues, of the Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA, found that frequent hugging – alongside good social support – may lower stress-induced susceptibility to infection, preventing or reducing the risk of illness.

The study – published in the journal Psychological Science – stemmed from the idea that hugging provides social support, as it represents having a close relationship with another person.

Cohen explains that past research has shown that people engaged in continuous conflict with others are less able to fight off cold viruses, while those who have social support appear to be protected from the psychological effects of stress, such as anxiety anddepression.

“We tested whether perceptions of social support are equally effective in protecting us from stress-induced susceptibility to infection and also whether receiving hugs might partially account for those feelings of support and themselves protect a person against infection,” he adds.

Hugs linked to lower risk of infection from cold virus

To reach their findings, the team asked 404 healthy adults to complete a questionnaire designed to determine their perceived social support. In addition, the participants engaged in 14 consecutive evening telephone interviews with the researchers, in which they discussed their conflicts with others and hugs they had received.

Next, subjects were deliberately exposed to a common cold virus and placed in quarantine while the researchers assessed any signs of infection and illness.

The researchers found that participants who reported having greater social support while experiencing conflicts were less likely to be infected by the cold virus, and hugs were found to be responsible for around a third of this protective effect.

What is more, participants who did become infected with the cold virus and who reported having greater social support and more frequent hugs displayed less severe symptoms than those who reported lower social support and fewer hugs, regardless of whether they experienced conflicts or not.

Cohen says these findings suggest that receiving a hug from a trusted person may trigger a sense of social support, and hugging more frequently could reduce the damaging effects of stress. Explaining the potential reasons behind this, he says:

“The apparent protective effect of hugs may be attributable to the physical contact itself or to hugging being a behavioral indicator of support and intimacy. Either way, those who receive more hugs are somewhat more protected from infection.”

Unlike hugging, kissing does not appear to have protective effects against infection. Last month, Medical News Todayreported on a study that found just one kiss for 10 seconds transfers around 80 million bacteria.

Written by Honor Whiteman

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/287242.php

 

 

The power of reward in learning and memory

A new study provides an illustration of the power that reward has over learning and memory. In an experiment reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, mere sips of apple juice overcame a well-documented phenomenon in psychology known as “retrieval-induced forgetting” — RIF.

Say you’ve been presented some simple facts from two different categories: “FISH” and “ANIMALS.” Here’s what RIF does for you: If you practice some of the facts from the FISH category, later on you’ll be worse at remembering the fish facts you didn’t practice than you will be at remembering the ANIMAL category facts you didn’t practice. Neuroscientists and psychologists believe RIF prevents us from becoming confused between information we’ve made an effort to learn and closely related information we didn’t strive to learn.

In the new study, Brown University brain scientists performed an experiment with 91 volunteers to see what effect reward had on RIF. They presented volunteers with some FISH and ANIMAL facts (e.g., FISH-Salmon, ANIMAL-dog), and asked them to practice a select few of the fish facts (e.g., fill in FISH-Sal_ _ _). In a third phase a little later they asked the volunteers to identify the fish and animal facts they saw from a list that also included ones they did not see.

Some volunteers did these tasks with no reward, but others were able to earn sips of apple juice if they did the practice round correctly (e.g., they correctly filled in the FISH-Sal_ _ _). Would being rewarded erase RIF and improve recall of the unpracticed facts in the category where some facts had been practiced?

Indeed it did. People who got rewards during practice were much better at recalling the unpracticed fish category facts than people who did not get rewards. Moreover, for the rewarded group, their recall of unpracticed fish facts was just as good as their recall of unpracticed animal facts. Reward abolished RIF, undermining its helpful filtering effect.

“Reward overall enhanced memorized items and abolished the suppression of the retrieval of non-learned items,” said senior author Takeo Watanabe, The Fred M. Seed Professor of Cognitive, Linguistic and Psychological Sciences at Brown University. “Attention enhances relevant signals and suppresses irrelevant signals, whereas reward seems to activate anything, whether it is relevant or irrelevant.”

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/285610.php

Picture courtesy of www.psypost.org

 

 

Can depression and guilt in preschool years change the brain?

New study published in JAMA Psychiatry suggests that children who were diagnosed with depression between the ages of 3-6 have a smaller brain region involved in emotion than those who were not depressed.

 

The researchers – led by Andrew Belden, assistant professor of child psychiatry at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, MO – say their findings could help predict the risk of future depression, giving them an “anatomical marker” to use for those at high risk.

The area of the brain they focused on is the right anterior insula; each side of the brain has an insula, a key brain area involved in emotion, perception, self-awareness and cognitive function.

To conduct their study, the team followed 306 children for 3 years as they aged from 3-6, as part of the Preschool Depression Study. They assessed the children for depression and guilt each year.

In addition, all children had MRI brain scans every 18 months from the ages of 7-13.

In total, 47 were diagnosed with depression during their preschool years, and 82 were confirmed to not be depressed. Of those with depression, 55% showed signs of pathological guilt, while 20% of the non-depressed children had “excessive guilt.”

The researchers explain that pathological guilt can be a symptom of clinical depression and other psychiatric disorders, such as anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder and bipolar disorder.

“A child with pathological guilt can walk into a room and see a broken lamp, for example,” Belden says, “and even if the child didn’t break it, he or she will start apologizing. Even after being told he or she is not at fault, the child will continue to apologize and feel bad.”

But he adds that the important question is whether depressed children are more prone to guilt or whether children prone to guilt are more likely to be depressed.

Kids with smaller right insula more likely to be depressed when older

Results of the long-term study revealed that children with a smaller right insula were more likely to experience repeated bouts of clinical depression as they got older.

The team also found that this same brain structure is smaller in children diagnosed with pathological guilt during the ages of 3-6, which provides evidence that too much guilt is a symptom of depression – related to the size of the insula.

“That’s not a complete surprise,” says Belden, “because for many years now, excessive guilt has consistently been a predictor of depression and a major outcome related to being depressed.”

Belden adds:

“Arguably, our findings would suggest that guilt early in life predicts insula shrinkage. I think the story is beginning to emerge that depression may predict changes in the brain, and these brain changes predict risk for recurrence.”

So what does this mean for preschoolers with depression? The researchers note that though some children experience depression and recover, never experiencing another episode, other children experience chronic depression. As such, Belden says it is important to identify those at risk for the latter trajectory of depression.

Study is ongoing

Other studies have shown that the insula is also smaller in depressed adults, compared with their non-depressed peers.

And a previous study from the Washington University School of Medicine team showed that preschool children with depression were 2.5 times more likely to be clinically depressed in elementary and middle school, compared with their non-depressed peers in preschool.

In order to assess longer-term results, the researchers plan to continue their study for 5 more years, when the study subjects will travel through adolescence – a high-risk period in terms of depression.

Belden also has hopes to follow them into adulthood. “On the immediate horizon is a look at the effects of some things that become more common during adolescent years as kids hit a high-risk time for substance and alcohol abuse and other problems that co-exist with clinical depression,” he says.

For now, however, their latest study is the first to examine changes in the anterior insula as a potential biomarker for the trajectory of childhood major depressive disorder, results of which could help psychiatrists better understand the course of depression throughout an individual’s life.

Medical News Today recently reported on a study that suggested stressed girls with a family history of depression may age faster than those without a family history of the illness.

Written by Marie Ellis

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/285359.php

 

 

Heightened risk of anxiety, depression among women after heart attack

A new study by researchers from Lithuania claims women are more likely to experience anxiety and depression following a heart attack than men. Furthermore, patients with depression may be at much higher risk of death in the 6 months after a heart attack than those without depression.

 

Study author Prof. Pranas Serpytis and colleagues presented their findings at the annual meeting of the Acute Cardiovascular Care Association – a part of the European Society of Cardiology – in Geneva, Switzerland.

To reach their findings, the team analyzed 160 patients who were admitted to the Vilnius University Hospital Santariskiu Clinics in Vilnius, Lithuania, with a heart attack.

The researchers interviewed patients around 1 month after their heart attack to gather demographic information, such as age, sex education and marital status, and to determine whether they had a history of mental illness.

The team also collected clinical information from the patients – such as whether they had experienced a heart attack before and whether they had a history of high blood pressure or diabetes – and determined if they had any other risk factors for cardiovascular disease, including smoking and lack of physical activity.

The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) was used to assess patients. Those who had a score of 0-7 had nodepression or anxiety, a score of 8-10 indicated possible depression and anxiety, while a score of 11 or more suggested mild to moderate levels of depression and anxiety.

The risks of anxiety, depression and death after heart attack

Almost 25% of patients were depressed, the researchers say, and 28.2% of these had used antidepressants.

The team found, however, that women were more likely to be depressed and anxious than men after a heart attack. Men had an average depression score of 6.87, while women’s average score was 8.66. For anxiety, men had an average HADS score of 7.18 and women had an average score of 8.20.

The researchers say that further studies are needed to determine why women appear to be at higher risk of anxiety and depression following a heart attack than men.

Commenting on this finding, Prof. Serpytis says:

“Women are misrepresented in many clinical studies on myocardial infarction (heart attack) even though they often have worse outcomes. Our study shows that women are more likely to develop anxiety and depression after myocardial infarction than men but until now this issue has been largely unnoticed.

Clinicians should assess myocardial infarction patients, particularly women, for anxiety and depression so that timely treatment can be started.”

Earlier this year, Medical News Today reported on a study suggesting the reverse effect – that depressed women are at higher risk of heart attack.

The researchers of this latest study also found that patients with depression following a heart attack were almost six times more likely to die in the 6 months after a heart attack, compared with patients who were not depressed.

“Major depression follows myocardial infarction in approximately 18% of cases and is an important predictor of disability and poor quality of life in the year post-myocardial infarction,” notes Prof. Serpytis.

“The increased risk of death in patients with depression persists up to 18 months after the myocardial infarction. But despite the fact that post-myocardial infarction depression is common and burdensome, the condition remains under-recognised and undertreated.”

Smoking increases anxiety risk, while lack of physical activity linked to depression

Furthermore, the team found an increased risk of anxiety among patients who smoked; the average HADS score for anxiety among smoking patients was 10.16, compared with an average score of 7.3 for patients who had never smoked and 4.55 for patients who stopped smoking more than 2 years before.

No link was found between smoking and depression after a heart attack, the researchers say.

However, a small link was found between lack of physical activity and depression. The 64% of patients who were physically inactive had an average HADS depression score of 8.96.

Commenting on the team’s overall findings, Prof. Serpytis says:

“Our study suggests that encouraging patients to quit smoking and increase their physical activity levels should reduce their risks of anxiety and depression after myocardial infarction. More research is needed on the links between myocardial infarction and mental health problems.”

MNT recently reported on a study by researchers from Duke University Medical Center in Durham, NC, claiming theeffects of mental stress on the heart differ between men and women.

Written by Honor Whiteman

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/284082.php

 

 

Alcohol more likely to induce ‘social bravery’ in men than in women

Most of us are familiar with the “social lubricating” effects of drinking alcohol with other people. But a new study suggests that alcohol heightens sensitivity to rewarding social behaviors – such as smiling – for men particularly, uncovering potential risk factors that contribute to problem drinking in this group.

The researchers, led by Catharine Fairbairn of the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania, publish their findings in the journal Clinical Psychological Science.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), men are more likely than women to drink excessively, which comes with significant increases in risks to health and safety – including chronic diseases such as liver cirrhosis, pancreatitis, certain cancers, high blood pressure and psychological disorders.

Fairbairn and her team say researchers have hypothesized that men experience greater rewards from alcohol than women do, but previous studies – in which participants were tested when they were drinking alone – have not offered substantial evidence.

As such, for their latest study, the researchers focused on the impact of gender and alcohol on “emotional contagion,” which is a social mechanism of bonding and social cohesion.

“Many men report that the majority of their social support and social bonding time occurs within the context of alcohol consumption,” explains Fairbairn. “We wanted to explore the possibility that social alcohol consumption was more rewarding to men than to women – the idea that alcohol might actually ‘lubricate’ social interaction to a greater extent among men.”

To examine an objective non-verbal indicator of social bonding in the wake of group drinking, the team focused on the infectiousness of genuine smiles – known as Duchenne smiles, which involve the muscles around the mouth and eyes – in study participants.

They explain that Duchenne smiles are linked to genuine felt emotion, in contrast to outward displays of emotion, which may not necessarily be genuine. What is more, a standardized procedure can accurately identify and measure these smiles.

Alcohol increased smile contagion in all-male groups

In total, 720 participants between the ages of 21-28 took part in the study; 360 were male and 360 were female. The researchers randomly assigned the participants to one of three groups: those receiving an alcoholic beverage (vodka cranberry), those receiving a non-alcoholic beverage, and those receiving what they thought was an alcoholic beverage, which was actually a non-alcoholic placebo.

The placebo beverage was served in a glass smeared with vodka and contained a few drops of vodka floating on top, in order to make it more believable.

Then, in smaller groups, participants were positioned around a table and casually introduced as the beverages were served in equal parts over time. The men and women were told to consume their drinks at an even rate, but other than that, they were not given any specific instructions so as to encourage free interaction.

Fairbairn and her team analyzed video recordings of the interactions using analyses that modeled smiling behavior, following the spread of smiles from one participant to the next.

Results of their analysis revealed that alcohol “significantly” increased smile contagion, but only in all-male groups; interestingly, it did not affect emotional contagion for groups containing any women.

The team says their findings suggest alcohol prompts “social bravery” among men in particular, interrupting processes that might normally stop them from responding to another person’s smile.

‘Creating social bonds is a fundamental human motive’

Additional findings showed that in the groups that received alcoholic beverages, a smile was more contagious if the individuals on the receiving end of it were heavier drinkers – whether male or female.

And among the sober groups, Duchenne smiles were much less “infectious” among all-male groups than all-female groups.

The researchers say smiles that caught on were linked with increased positive mood and social bonding and decreased negative mood, which suggests smile infection could be an important indicator of alcohol reinforcement, supporting drinking.

“Historically, neither the scientific community nor the general public has been terribly concerned about drinking that occurs in social settings,” says Fairbairn. “According to popular opinion, a ‘social drinker’ is necessarily a non-problem drinker, despite the fact that the majority of alcohol consumption for both light drinkers and problem drinkers occurs in a social context.”

She adds that “the need to ‘belong’ and create social bonds with others is a fundamental human motive. Therefore, social motives may be highly relevant to the understanding of how alcohol problems develop.”

When asked about potential public health efforts aimed at reducing excessive drinking among men, Fairbairn toldMedical News Today:

“Research has long shown that societal conceptualizations of ‘manliness’ are often at odds with male expressions of intimacy, warmth and closeness. It’s possible that the social limits we place on men push them toward drinking as a means of bonding with others (although the results of this study can’t speak to that directly).

In terms of interventions, it could be helpful to create more outlets where men can get to know one another socially without alcohol – cultural spaces where creating close relationships doesn’t come into conflict with masculinity.”

MNT recently reported on a study that suggested we drink more alcohol on days when we are more active.

Written by Marie Ellis

Copyright: Medical News Today

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/283304.php

 

Not everyone loses their depression following bariatric surgery

Most severely obese people experience much better spirits once they shed weight through a diet, lifestyle changes or medical intervention. This is unfortunately not true for everyone, says Valentina Ivezaj and Carlos Grilo of the Yale University School of Medicine in the US. In an article in Springer’s journal Obesity Surgery, the researchers advise that the levels of depression in patients be measured six to 12 months after they have had such bariatric surgery. This will ensure that the necessary help can be provided when needed.

Ivezaj and Grilo set out to investigate how prone bariatric patients are to still experiencing depressive symptoms, and especially if such symptoms increase markedly or not at all, after post-surgery. Their study is the first to examine patients with discernible worsening depressive symptoms six and 12 months following gastric bypass surgery.

Self-reported questionnaires were completed by 107 patients with extreme obesity before they underwent gastric bypass surgery, and then again six and 12 months after the procedure. They were asked to reflect on their levels of depression, possible eating disorders, their self-esteem and general social functioning. Of the 107 participants, 94 were women and 13 were men, 73 were white and 24 had completed college.

Consistent with previous research, Ivezaj and Grilo observed that most people who had undergone this procedure were in much better spirits. In fact, most patients reported experiencing a normal and improved mood at six and 12 months after surgery. However, in some cases negative mood changes started to creep in between six and 12 months after the operation, with 3.7 percent of patients reporting that they felt discernibly more depressed 12 months post-surgery. Between six and 12 months after the operation, however, even more patients (13.1 percent) reported increases in depressive symptoms. These changes went hand-in-hand with significantly lower levels of self-esteem and social functioning.

“The majority of patients whose mood had worsened discernibly experienced these mood changes between six and 12 months post-surgery, suggesting this may be a critical period for early detection and intervention, as needed,” explains Ivezaj.

“The increases in symptoms of depression are also notable given that they were associated with other difficulties including lower self-esteem and social functioning,” adds Grilo.

The authors note that the increases in depressive symptoms were indicative of only subthreshold or mild mood disturbances. They also indicated that future research is needed to determine whether these mood changes continue to worsen over time for this group.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/283096.php

 

Astronauts’ sleep deficiency in space could affect performance

Imagine hurtling through space at over 17,000 miles per hour in a space shuttle, the Earth shimmering below you. Would you be able to sleep? According to a new study in The Lancet Neurology, astronauts themselves find it difficult, as they suffer significant sleep deficiency in the weeks just prior to and during spaceflight.

 

According to the team – from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA, and the University of Colorado in Boulder – both Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were either unable to sleep or only got “a couple of hours of mentally fitful drowsing” during their 1969 moon landing expedition.

Unable to escape from the light and noise in the small spacecraft, the astronauts said the cooling system of their spacesuits also made it too cold to sleep.

Though technology has improved by leaps and bounds since then, today’s astronauts are still not getting adequate sleep. This latest research is the most extensive study of spaceflight sleep ever conducted, and it includes objective evaluations of sleep – using an actigraph worn on the astronauts’ wrists to record sleep/wake cycles – and subjective evaluations, which came from daily diaries.

An astronaut’s day is heavily planned, from what they eat, to how much they exercise, to how they spend their free time. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) schedule 8.5 hours of sleep per night for crew members in spaceflight, but the study reveals that the average duration of sleep was 5.96 hours on shuttle missions and 6.09 hours on International Space Station (ISS) missions.

Because the sun rises and sets every 90 minutes in a spaceflight environment, getting adequate sleep can be quite difficult, the researchers say.

Use of sleeping pills in space cause for concern

To obtain their data, the research team studied sleep patterns of 64 astronauts on 80 shuttle missions and 21 astronauts on ISS missions before, during and after spaceflight. Overall, they recorded more than 4,000 nights of sleep on Earth and over 4,200 in space.

The results show that the astronauts from shuttle missions attained 7 hours or more of sleep 42% of the time while they were sleeping at home after the missions, and those from ISS missions slept over 7 hours 50% of the time. However, when they were on missions in space, they only attained this level of sleep 12% and 24% of the time, respectively.

Additionally, their sleep deficiency began at least 3 months before they went into space, as the researchers found they averaged less than 6.5 hours of sleep per night during training, which is 30 minutes less per night than the average adult in the US.

Commenting on their findings, study author Dr. Laura K. Barger, from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, says:

“Sleep deficiency is pervasive among crewmembers. It’s clear that more effective measures are needed to promote adequate sleep in crewmembers, both during training and spaceflight, as sleep deficiency has been associated with performance decrements in numerous laboratory and field-based studies.”

Other findings from the study reveal that many astronauts used sleeping medications – such as zolpidem and zaleplon – while in space. At some point during their time on the ISS space station, 75% of crewmembers used the medications, while 78% of shuttle-mission crew members did.

What is more, during their shuttle missions, the astronauts used sleep medication on more than half of the nights in space.

Dr. Barger notes that use of such medications could mean that the “ability for a crewmember to optimally perform if awakened from sleep by an emergency alarm may be jeopardized.” She adds that regular use of such pharmaceuticals in space is a concern, “given that the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) warning that patients using sleeping pills should be cautioned against engaging in hazardous occupations requiring complete mental alertness or motor co-ordination.”

Alarmingly, the researchers found that on four of the shuttle missions – in which all crewmembers participated in the study – all astronauts reported taking sleeping medications on the same night 6% of the time.

‘Effective countermeasures to promote sleep in space are needed’

Although the ISS is now equipped with special quiet, dark “sleep stations,” astronauts are still continuing to experience sleep disturbances, which has led some scientists to believe that microgravity may be the culprit.

“Future exploration spaceflight missions to the moon, Mars, or beyond will require more effective countermeasures to optimize human performance by promoting sleep during spaceflight,” says co-author Dr. Charles Czeisler, of Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

“These may include modifications to schedules, strategically timed exposure to specific wavelengths of light, and behavioral strategies to ensure adequate sleep, which is essential for maintaining health, performance and safety,” he adds.

Though this is the most comprehensive study on the topic to date, it does have a few limitations. For one, it was “limited by the constraints of operational research,” the researchers say. Because actigraphy does not measure sleep stages directly, the team was not able to identify differences in sleep linked to sleeping medications.

They also used sleep duration upon the astronauts’ arrival to Earth as a comparison, but the team says this could be affected by their sleep deficiency during their time in space.

Additionally, because the study was observational, the researchers were not able to record “objective measures of cognitive or operational performance or errors.” As such, they say they can only conclude from research of other operational situations how chronic sleep deficiency and sleeping medications might interfere with the safety and success of a mission.

Still, the team’s findings are revelatory about the sleeping patterns of astronauts while in space, and they conclude by suggesting implementation of countermeasures to promote in-flight sleep.

Written by Marie Ellis

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/280818.php