Pre-sleep drinking disrupts sleep

 

January 17, 2015 Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research For individuals who drink before sleeping, alcohol initially acts as a sedative -- marked by the delta frequency electroencephalogram (EEG) activity of Slow Wave Sleep (SWS) -- but is later associated with sleep disruption. A study of the effects of alcohol on sleep EEG power spectra in college students has found that pre-sleep drinking not only causes an initial increase in SWS-related delta power but also causes an increase in frontal alpha power, which is thought to reflect disturbed sleep. For individuals who drink before sleeping, alcohol initially acts as a sedative -- marked by the delta frequency electroencephalogram (EEG) activity of Slow Wave Sleep (SWS) -- but is later associated with sleep disruption. Significant reductions in EEG delta frequency activity and power also occur with normal development between the ages of 12 and 16; likewise this is a time when alcohol is commonly consumed for the first time, with dramatic increases in drinking occurring among collage-age individuals. A study of the effects of alcohol on sleep EEG power spectra in college students has found that pre-sleep drinking not only causes an initial increase in SWS-related delta power but also causes an increase in frontal alpha power, which is thought to reflect disturbed sleep. Results will be published in the February 2015 online-only issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research and are currently available at Early View. "People likely tend to focus on the commonly reported sedative properties of alcohol, which is reflected in shorter times to fall asleep, particularly in adults, rather than the sleep disruption that occurs later in the night," said Christian L. Nicholas, National Health & Medical Research Council Peter Doherty Research Fellow in the Sleep Research Laboratory at The University of Melbourne as well as corresponding author for the study. "The reduction in delta frequency EEG activity we see across the ages is thought to represent normal brain maturational processes as the adolescent brain continues to develop to full maturity," said Nicholas. "Although the exact function of non-Rapid Eye Movement (NREM) sleep, and in particular SWS, is a topic of debate, it is thought to reflect sleep need and quality; thus any disruption to this may affect the underlying restorative properties of sleep and be detrimental to daytime functioning." Nicholas and his colleagues recruited 24 participants (12 female, 12 male), healthy 18- to 21-year-old social drinkers who had consumed less than seven standard drinks per week during the previous 30 days. Each participant underwent two conditions: pre-sleep alcohol as well as a placebo, followed by standard polysomnography with comprehensive EEG recordings. Results showed that alcohol increased SWS delta power during NREM. However, there was a simultaneous increase in frontal alpha power. "For individuals researching sleep in the field of alcohol studies," said Nicholas, "our findings indicate that care needs to be taken when interpreting increases in 'visually scored' SWS associated with alcohol consumption. Increases in SWS, which traditionally would be interpreted as a good thing, can be associated with more subtle changes indicating disrupted sleep, such as the increases we observed in alpha activity, which are revealed when more detailed micro-structural components of the sleep electroencephalogram are assessed." Nicholas explained that the increase in frontal alpha power that occurs as a result of pre-sleep drinking likely reflects a disruption of the normal properties of NREM slow wave sleep. "Similar increases in alpha-delta activity, which are associated with poor or unrefreshing sleep and daytime function, have been observed in individuals with chronic pain conditions," he said. "Thus, if sleep is being disrupted regularly by pre-sleep alcohol consumption, particularly over long periods of time, this could have significant detrimental effects on daytime wellbeing and neurocognitive function such as learning and memory processes." Alcohol is not a sleep aid, said Nicholas. "The take-home message here is that alcohol is not actually a particularly good sleep aid even though it may seem like it helps you get to sleep quicker. In fact, the quality of the sleep you get is significantly altered and disrupted." Story Source: The above story is based on materials provided by Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. Journal Reference: Julia K. M. Chan, John Trinder, Ian M. Colrain, Christian L. Nicholas. The Acute Effects of Alcohol on Sleep Electroencephalogram Power Spectra in Late Adolescence. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 2015; DOI: 10.1111/acer.12621

Exploring the use of alcohol-interactive prescription medication among US drinkers

January 17, 2015

Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research

Approximately 71 percent of people in the US (adults) drink alcohol. While alcohol interacts negatively with a number of commonly prescribed medications, little is known on a population level about the use of alcohol-interactive prescription medication among US drinkers. A new study has found that almost 42 percent of drinkers in the US population have used one or more alcohol-interactive prescription medications.

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While alcohol interacts negatively with a number of commonly prescribed medications, little is known on a population level about the use of alcohol-interactive (AI) prescription medication among US drinkers. A new study has found that almost 42 percent of drinkers in the US population have used one or more alcohol-interactive prescription medications.

Results will be published in the February 2015 online-only issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research and are currently available at Early View.

"To our knowledge there have been only four previous US population-based studies," said Rosalind A. Breslow, an epidemiologist in the division of epidemiology and prevention research at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism as well as corresponding author for the study. "Three, conducted only among elderly people, concluded that substantial numbers of seniors were both drinking and taking alcohol-interactive medications and called for increased awareness about possible harmful consequences. One, conducted among adults of all ages, had a similar conclusion based on assessment of a limited number of prescription medications. Ours is a national-level study that estimates the proportion of adult drinkers who use a wide range of prescription medications that can interact with alcohol to cause numerous harms ranging from nausea, headaches, and loss of coordination to internal bleeding, heart problems, and difficulties in breathing."

Breslow added that her group expected to find greater prevalence among older drinkers. "People develop more chronic diseases as they age," she said, "so older people are more likely to be taking medications, many of which can interact harmfully with alcohol. They also may be taking multiple medications to treat multiple diseases. In addition, older people are at particularly high risk for harmful alcohol-medication interactions. There is some evidence that, as we age, our ability to metabolize alcohol decreases so alcohol might remain in our systems longer to interact with medications. Furthermore, the metabolism of several medications that interact with alcohol slows as we get older, creating a larger window for potential alcohol/medication interactions. For instance, diazepam -- known as Valium -- hangs around in the body about three times longer in a 60-year-old than a 20-year-old, thereby creating a much longer window for potential interactions with alcohol."

Breslow and her co-authors examined data from the 1999-2010 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, in which 26,657 adults (13,557 men, 13,100 women) aged ?20 years had provided data on past-year alcohol consumption and past-month prescription medication use. Analyses were adjusted for age, race/ethnicity, education, marital status, and smoking, and were also weighted in order to be nationally representative.

"Almost 42 percent of drinkers in the US population used one or more AI prescription medications," said Breslow. "Among seniors, aged 65 and older, the proportion was even higher, almost 78 percent. Regardless of age, the main therapeutic classes of AI medications used in the population were cardiovascular agents such as blood pressure medications, central nervous system agents such as sleeping pills, pain medications, and muscle relaxers, metabolic agents such as medications for diabetes and cholesterol, and psychotherapeutic agents such as antidepressants and antipsychotics."

Breslow noted that her group had expected a high prevalence rate, however, she emphasized that the data referred to potential, not actual, prevalence. "The data don't tell us exactly how many people in that 41.5 percent actually drink and take their medications within a similar time frame or how often they do so," she said. "However, if someone drinks regularly and takes medications regularly, the likelihood of taking them within a similar time frame is pretty high."

According to co-author Aaron White, a neuroscientist in the division of epidemiology and prevention research at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, the consequences of mixing prescription medications with alcohol can have a variety of effects, some deadly.

"Alcohol can increase blood pressure, which could be counterproductive if one is taking medications to control blood pressure," he explained. "Mixing diuretic medications with alcohol, which is also a diuretic, could contribute to dehydration. Mixing alcohol and other sedatives, like sleeping pills or narcotic pain medications, can cause sleepiness, problems with coordination, and potentially suppress brain stem areas tasked with controlling vital reflexes like breathing, heart rate, and gagging to clear the airway. Alcohol increases insulin levels and lowers blood glucose, so combining alcohol with antidiabetic agents that regulate glucose levels could cause an undesirable drop in blood sugar. And, over time, alcohol can contribute to insulin insensitivity."

"Our findings highlight a major gap in the literature," said Breslow. "We found no US nationally representative data that queried combined use of alcohol with a wide range of prescription medications and yet it appears that a large percentage of people who drink regularly could be at risk of serious alcohol and medication interactions."

Breslow suggested that individuals who drink, particularly the elderly, should be educated about of the risks of combining alcohol with their medications. "We suggest asking one's doctor or pharmacist whether they should avoid alcohol while taking the medications they are prescribed," she said.

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Story Source:

The above story is based on materials provided by Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

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Journal Reference:

1. Rosalind A. Breslow, Chuanhui Dong, Aaron White. Prevalence of Alcohol-Interactive Prescription Medication Use Among Current Drinkers: United States, 1999 to 2010. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 2015; DOI: 10.1111/acer.12633

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Breakthrough lights up metamaterials

 

This is a schematic of active metamaterial which shows enhanced light emission and extraction. A City College of New York led-team has successfully demonstrated how to both enhance light emission and capture light from metamaterials embedded with light emitting nanocrystals. The breakthrough, headed by physicist Dr. Vinod Menon, could lead to a range of applications including ultrafast LEDs, nanoscale lasers and efficient single photon sources. In the demonstration, the team used metamaterials having hyperbolic dispersion to enhance the light emission properties of the nanocrystals and simultaneously engineered an efficient light extraction scheme. "The idea of metamaterials in the context of optics is that you can manipulate light and decide how you want it to behave in this medium," said Professor Menon a photonics expert whose specialty includes control of light-matter interaction at the nanoscale. While enhancement in light emission from such systems was shown by different groups, including Dr. Menon's, in the past, they were not useful since light did not come out easily from them, making their practical application an issue. The present work alleviates this issue and takes the first step towards developing practical light emitters based on metamaterials. "We've shown both an increase in light emission and were able to extract light." added Professor Menon, whose team included City College PhD students Tal Galfsky and H.N.S. Krishnamoothy Also part of the research team were scientists from the University of Alberta (Canada), Purdue University in Indiana. Part of the research was also carried out at the Center for Functional Nanomaterials at Brookhaven National Laboratory. The paper appears in the latest issue of Optica. Story Source: The above story is based on materials provided by City College of New York. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. Journal Reference: T. Galfsky, H. N. S. Krishnamoorthy, W. Newman, E. E. Narimanov, Z. Jacob, V. M. Menon. Active hyperbolic metamaterials: enhanced spontaneous emission and light extraction. Optica, 2015; 2 (1): 62 DOI: 10.1364/OPTICA.2.000062

NEOWISE: A yearlong look at the sky

 

This movie shows the progression of NASA's NEOWISE survey in the mission's first year following its restart in December 2013. NASA's Near-Earth Object Wide-field Survey Explorer (NEOWISE) spacecraft discovered and characterized 40 near-Earth objects (NEOs) in the first year after the mission was re-started in December 2013. Eight of the discoveries have been classified as potentially hazardous asteroids (PHAs), based on their size and how close their orbits could come to Earth's orbit. The mission has further observed and characterized 245 previously known near-Earth objects. From December 2013 to December 2014, NEOWISE discovered three new comets and observed 32 others. One of the others has turned into the brightest comet in Earth's night sky in early 2015, comet C/2014 Q2 (Lovejoy). A new movie depicts asteroids and comets observed in the past year by NEOWISE. It is online at: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/spaceimages/details.php?id=PIA19101 A series of NEOWISE images of comet Lovejoy is online at: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/spaceimages/details.php?id=PIA19102 NEOWISE always looks in the dawn and twilight skies -- the direction perpendicular to a line between Earth and the sun. This unique vantage point makes it easy for NEOWISE to spot NEOs that get particularly close to Earth. Originally called the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), the spacecraft was placed in hibernation in 2011 after its primary mission was completed. In September 2013, it was reactivated, renamed NEOWISE and assigned a new mission to assist NASA's efforts to identify the population of potentially hazardous near-Earth objects. NEOWISE is also characterizing previously known asteroids and comets to provide information about their sizes and compositions. NEOWISE is a space telescope that scans the skies for asteroids and comets. The telescope sees infrared light, which allows it to pick up the heat signature of asteroids and obtain better estimates of their true sizes. As a result, NEOWISE can see dark asteroids that are harder for visible-light surveys to find. Nearly all of the NEOWISE discoveries have been large (hundreds of yards, or meters, wide) and very dark, similar to printer toner. When NEOWISE's infrared data on an object is combined with that of a visible-light optical telescope, it helps scientists understand the object's composition. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, manages the NEOWISE mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The Space Dynamics Laboratory in Logan, Utah, built the science instrument. Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. of Boulder, Colorado, built the spacecraft. Science operations and data processing take place at the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. Caltech manages JPL for NASA. For more information about NEOWISE, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/neowise More information about asteroids and near-Earth objects is at: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/asteroidwatch Story Source: The above story is based on materials provided by NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

Sentences that can change your life

 

1. Never compare your weaknesses to other people's strengths. 2. Own your life, or someone will own it for you. 3.  We cannot change the cards we are dealt,just how we play the hand. 4. Climb mountains not so the world can see you but so you can see the world. 5. If you accept your limitation, you go beyond them. 6. Comfort is the enemy of achievement. 7. No matter anyone says to you,you don't have to eat dinner with them, live with them or go to bed with them. 8. If you risk nothing, you risk everything. 9. Don't give others the power to control your emotion. Those are only yours and it is only for you to manipulate. 10. Victory introduces you to the world, but defeat introduces the world to you. 11. If you don't do stupid things while you are young,you will have nothing to smile about when you are old. 12. Don't waste your time with explanation,people only hear what they want to hear. 13. Don't rest after your first victory,because if you fail the second time,more lips will be waiting to say that your first victory was just luck. 14. Everyone thinks of changing the world,but no one thinks of changing themselves. 15. The person that you will spend most time with in your life is yourself, so better try to make yourself as interesting as possible. Source : Sentences that Can Change Your Life - Lifehack

A Happiness Tip From Aristotle

 

Do you know the difference between pleasure vs. happiness? by Karen Salmansohn in Bouncing Back Quickie Question: If you could live 10 years of your life in total bliss - with NO pain - but in the end, not remember any of it - would you do it? According to Aristotle - the answer should be NO. My favorite philosopher buddy Aristotle says true happiness comes from gaining insight and growing into your best possible self. Otherwise all you’re having is immediate gratification pleasure - which is fleeting and doesnt grow you as a person. In a way the above scenario is a description of someone who does crack or drinks into oblivion. At the time it feels like you’re avoiding pain and seeking bliss - but in longterm you’re NOT really enjoying real life — with life’s inevitable ebbs and flows which give you needed insights and exciting experiences which grow you and let you know more about who you are and what you love and who you truly love! Aristotle has a wonderful quote related to this topic: “We live in deeds, not years; in thoughts not breaths; in feelings, not in figures on a dial. We should count time by heart throbs. He most lives who thinks most, feels the noblest, acts the best.” Translation: I intuit what Aristotle was saying is that life has ebbs and flows. There’s no such thing as endless flow. Unfortunately life can sometimes feel like ebb, ebb, ebb, brief-flash-of-flow, more ebb, ebb, ebb. But every ebb always offers the opportunity to think a new thought flavor and feel a new emotion flavor. The more varied the flavors of life you get to taste, the more interesting, layered, educated, self-developed, world-experienced and mightier You will be! In keeping with this theme, Aristotle believed the highest form of knowledge is insight - because it's the only knowledge which leads to growth - and evolving into your highest potential is what leads to true happiness. For this reason, Aristotle believed that the reason why so many people are unhappy is that they keep foolishly confusing "pleasure" for "happiness." "Pleasure" is simply about immediate gratification -- of your body/ego. "Happiness" is about seeking longterm growth for yourself as a thriving individual - and is about nourishing your soul/core self.