By SUSAN ASCHOFF and wire reports
Published October 21, 2003
NIGHTTIME ASTHMA may worsen depending on the levels of melatonin in the body, according to a study published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, which receives peer review bythe American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology.
Melatonin is a hormone that regulates the body's circadian rhythms, such as eating and sleeping. It is also sold over the counter as a sleep aid and to treat jet lag.
But melatonin may have adverse effects on asthma symptoms, increasing airway inflammation at night, the study found.
A research team in Denver, Colo., discovered that patients who suffer nocturnal asthma, or asthma in which symptoms worsen between midnight and 4 a.m., have significantly higher levels of melatonin than healthy people. The higher the melatonin, the worse the asthma symptoms, they found.
The study suggests that people with asthma should avoid taking over-the-counter medications until further research can explain their impact.
For more information on asthma and allergies, go to www.aaaai.org or phone toll-free 1-800-822-2762.
NARCOLEPSY, a disorder in which a person involuntarily falls asleep, occurs at a higher rate in people born in March, according to a study published this fall in the journal Sleep.
Researchers found 11.8 percent of narcolepsy patients were born in March compared to 8.45 percent of the general population. September was the birth month reporting the fewest cases, or about 5.64 percent. Other differences such as gender, age and where someone resided did not explain why birth month seems to matter.
Researchers in France, Canada and the United States looked at 886 subjects ranging in age from 12 to 92.
The findings indicate the disorder begins very early in life, said Dr. Yves Dauvilliers, principal investigator, and may lead to finding environmental factors which increase the risk of narcolepsy.
AND MORE ON SLEEP, this from the Web site of Serta mattresses and sleep expert Joyce Walsleben, Ph.D., director of Sleep Disorders Center at New York University School of Medicine, on the quality of our zzzzs:
-- Getting only six hours of sleep a night over a two-week period produces the same effect as going without sleep for a 24- to 48-hour stretch.
-- People are paralyzed during much of their sleeping time.
-- Left-handed people are more likely to recall their dreams than right-handed people.
-- The first dream of the night is most negative in tone, and the last dream the most positive.
