News

Increasing physical activity may improve sleep for menopausal women

Mar 27 2013...

Getting a good night's sleep isn't always easy for women at menopause. Exercise may help, but women can have a tough time carving out leisure time for it. The good news from a study published online today in Menopause, the journal of the North American Menopause Society, is that higher levels of routine daily physical activity may be the more important key to a better night's sleep for many women who have hot flashes or night sweats.

Although exercise is known to improve sleep for people in general, studies in menopausal women haven't been conclusive. That's why the researchers at the Pittsburgh site of the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation (SWAN) focused exclusively on women with hot flashes or night sweats and also drew the distinction between leisure time and household activity. READ MORE>>

Women who work nightshift may have increased risk of ovarian cancer

Mar 18 2013...

A new study has found a link between working the night shift and ovarian cancer.

The study, published in the March issue of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, included 1,101 women with the most common form of advanced ovarian cancer, 389 women with borderline ovarian cancer and 1,832 women that were part of a healthy comparison group. READ MORE>>

Sleep disturbance common among gynecological cancer survivors

Mar 14 2013...

A new survey has found that more than half of gynecologic cancer survivors may have trouble sleeping.

"Physicians need to address the presence of sleep disturbance (SD) among their survivors," and modifiable risk factors, e.g., hot flashes, urinary urgency, and bowel complaints, should be addressed, Dr. Shannon Westin from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston told Reuters Health by email. READ MORE>>

Couples who sleep together have better health

Feb 14 2013...

In honor of Valentine’s Day, we’re taking a look back at a University of Pittsburgh study from 2009, that found that couples who sleep together have better sleep quality and experience better health.

“We discovered that these women had more restless sleep than the always married women,” said Wendy Troxel, PhD, the study’s lead author. “We speculate that these findings may reflect a ‘newlywed effect.’ These women may be less adjusted to sleeping with their partner than the ‘stably married’ women.” READ MORE>>

Women with OSA and cardiac symptoms have high incidence of cardiac dysfunction

Feb 11 2013...

In a study to be presented on February 15, at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine's annual meeting, The Pregnancy Meeting™, in San Francisco, researchers will report findings that women with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and cardiac symptoms have a 31 percent incidence of cardiac dysfunction. The use of echocardiograms should be considered in the clinical management of these women.

OSA is characterized by abnormal pauses in breathing or instances of abnormally low breathing, during sleep. These pauses can last from at least ten seconds to minutes, and may occur five to 30 times or more an hour; this can lead to cardiovascular disease. The objective of the trial was to measure the incidence of OSA among pregnant and reproductive women. READ MORE>>

Treating sleep-disordered breathing in pregnancy may improve fetal health

Jan 02 2013...

A new study suggests that treatment of mild sleep-disordered breathing with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy in pregnant women with preeclampsia improves fetal activity levels, a marker of fetal well-being.

Results show that the average number of fetal movements increased from 319 during a night without CPAP treatment to 592 during the subsequent night with CPAP therapy. During the course of the night without CPAP treatment, the number of fetal movements decreased steadily by 7.4 movements per hour. In contrast, the number of fetal movements increased by 12.6 per hour during the night with CPAP therapy. READ MORE>>

Melatonin could improve symptoms of premenstrual syndrome

Dec 21 2012...

A new study by Douglas Mental Health University Institute researchers shows altered body rhythms of the hormone melatonin in Premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) women with insomnia. This finding may help explain some of the sleep disruptions experienced by women with PMDD, also known as premenstrual syndrome.

PMDD is a mood disorder which appears in the week preceding menses and affects about 3-8 percent of women. PMDD sufferers can experience depression, tension and irritability of sufficient intensity to interfere with daily activities and relationships. Disturbed sleep is also a common symptom of the disorder, with up to 70 percent of patients frequently reporting either poor sleep quality with increased awakenings or excessive sleepiness during the symptomatic phase. READ MORE>>

Sleep apnea brain damage worse for women

Dec 04 2012...

Women suffering from sleep apnea have a higher degree of brain damage than men with the disorder, reported researchers from the UCLA School of Nursing.

"This study revealed that, in fact, women are more affected by sleep apnea than are men and that women with obstructive sleep apnea have more severe brain damage than men suffering from a similar condition."said chief investigator Paul Macey, assistant professor and associate dean of information technology and innovations at the UCLA School of Nursing. READ MORE>>

Sleep & women

Oct 31 2012...

As a woman you face many potential barriers that can disrupt and disturb your sleep. However, getting the right amount of sleep is vital in promoting a woman’s health and well-being.

There are many factors that could potentially disrupt and disturb a woman’s sleep including life events, depression, illness, bad sleep habits, medication use and physical or hormonal changes. READ MORE>>

Rotating Night Shift Work and Type 2 Diabetes in Women

Dec 12 2011...

A new study found that the longer women worked rotating night shifts, the greater their risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Researchers also found that extended years of rotating night shift work was associated with weight gain. The weight gain may have contributed to the increased risk of type 2 diabetes. READ MORE>>