In This Issue:

• What's Happening
  
  
• Sleep: The missing ingredient for weight loss?
  
  
• Sleep is the best defense.
  
  
• The Integrative Sleep Medicine Program

What's Happening

Dear Patients:

DID YOU KNOW?

• 10% of Americans suffer from ongoing insomnia?
• An estimated 50% of patients who see a doctor suffer from insomnia?
• Sleep deprivation increases your chance of catching a cold?
• Deprivation leads to weight gain?

When I started medical school 23 years ago, medical experts had a narrow view of sleep impairment. Today, we know that sleep is a vital part of almost every aspect of our health. This quantum leap in our understanding of sleep has compelled me to incorporate new treatment strategies for sleep-deprived patients.

Not only are we learning what the body does during sleep; we are learning about the many ways the body suffers if we don’t get enough sleep. A generation ago, we viewed sleep deprivation as a risk factor for auto accidents as well as moodiness and cognitive impairment. Now we know sleep deprivation goes well beyond these areas. Those of us who do not sleep enough are at greater risk of developing depression, high blood pressure, heart attacks, becoming obese, committing suicide, getting infectious illnesses and perhaps even developing cancer.

This newsletter contains clinical information describing recent sleep research investigating the effects on weight gain and immune function. One section describes the Integrative Sleep Medicine Program that I have developed to help people reclaim the gift of sleep. I encourage all of you to learn more about sleep, do your best to sleep well and let me know if you need assistance.

Sincerely,

Barry Rotman, MD

To learn more, visit www.barryrotmanmd.com/sleep.

Sleep: The missing ingredient for weight loss?

Over the last 40 years, Americans report sleeping almost two hours less per night. During that same time period, the rate of obesity doubled from 15% to over 30%. Recent medical research indicates that these two trends are probably related. Sleep deprivation alters the body’s levels of leptin and ghrelin, two hormones that are vital in regulating appetite and satiety. Also, people with less sleep are less inclined to move around and burn calories.

A recent study in the Jan 2009 issue of American Journal of Clinical Nutrition measured the amount of calories consumed by two different groups of volunteers – one group was able to sleep 8.5 hours and the other group only 5.5 hours. The sleep deprived group consumed over 200 calories more per day, mostly carbohydrate-laden snacks. This was a big difference, if sustained would have led to a two pound per month weight gain!

In addition to the standard techniques of diet and exercise, careful attention to sleep should be part of a good weight loss program. Yet there are only so many hours in the day and time for sleep often gets short-changed. An estimated 10% of Americans suffer from chronic insomnia. They cannot get the quantity of sleep they need, even given the opportunity. Another 3-5% of Americans suffer from sleep apnea. They can fall asleep but suffer from poor quality sleep due to frequent awakenings from breathing difficulties. All of these causes of sleep deprivation can lead to weight gain and difficulty losing weight. If you are trying to lose weight and are having sleep difficulties, you may benefit from taking healthy steps to improve your sleep.

Sleep is the best defense.

Not infrequently, medical research takes many years to document what our grandmothers already know. We have a general sense that if we get “run down” and don’t sleep, we are at greater risk of “catching something.” We probably heard it from our parents, who heard it from their parents. Well, modern science has been catching up. The last decade or two has led to a growing body of medical evidence linking sleep and the function of our immune systems.

Our immune systems are a vastly complex array of cells and hormones that communicate with the rest of the body. Research has documented how sleep deprivation alters the levels of these messenger signals and the function of component parts. The most convincing study to date was published in 2009 in Archives of Internal Medicine. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University recorded sleep activity of 153 volunteers for two weeks. Then the volunteers were given a fixed dosage of rhinovirus, the virus that causes the common cold....

Those who had averaged less than seven hours of sleep per night in the prior two weeks were about three times more likely to contract a cold than those who had averaged greater than eight hours of sleep. Furthermore, the worst group of sleepers were more than five times as likely to have gotten sick than the best sleepers. These compelling results demonstrate sleep’s crucial role in defending against the common cold as well as its value in protecting our bodies from a range of infectious illnesses.

The Integrative Sleep Medicine Program

The Integrative Sleep Medicine Program from Barry Rotman, MD, Inc. provides a unique approach to treating insomnia, combining the best of evidence-based Western Medicine with acupuncture and other alternative medicine therapies.

You may have tried an over-the-counter or prescription sleep medicine. Like many, you discovered that it did not work or had intolerable side effects. The Integrative Sleep Medicine (ISM) Program goes well beyond a single drug, providing a comprehensive program designed to rehabilitate your sleep. The program consists of four sessions over six weeks. This allows adequate time for evaluation, possible additional studies, patient education, behavior modification and feedback, herbal treatments and four acupuncture sessions. The ISM Program can provide you with the tools you need to reclaim the gift of sleep.

Sleep problems can be difficult to treat. The philosophy of the ISM Program is that “complex problems require complex solutions.” The program works best for those willing to commit the time and energy for a collaborative effort of sleep rehabilitation. An investment of a few weeks can potentially yield a lifetime of benefit. Take the first step! Call (925) 296-9228 or go to http://www.barryrotmanmd.com/sleep.