Originally I had posted a couple of studies saying how much sleep was necessary for recovery.
http://oc1dean.blogspot.com/2010/11/sleep-enhances-motor-memory-post-stroke.html
http://oc1dean.blogspot.com/2010/12/rem-sleep-and-stroke-fatigue.html
but the latest to come out suggests maybe not for older adults:
The study itself;
http://www.vawatchdog.org/09/nf09/nfjan09/nf012309-7.htm
Older people who need rehabilitation after a stroke or major surgery don't recover so well if they sleep more during the day, a study has found. Getting back to a normal sleep pattern may help people live independently once they get home, the researchers suggest.
What do we know already?
Many older people need to spend some time in a special unit after they've been in hospital. People who have had a stroke or a big operation, such as a hip replacement, may need specialist care before going home, to help them look after themselves when they get home. This type of care is called rehabilitation.
We know that poor night-time sleep is linked to poor health among older people. Those with more sleep problems have worse health and are more likely to have symptoms of depression.
Studies of patients recovering from heart surgery in hospital have also found that those who slept better at night generally felt better, recovered more quickly and stayed in hospital for less time than those who slept badly at night. Sleeping during the day may mean people don't sleep so well at night.
Researchers wanted to find out how people's sleep patterns in rehabilitation units affected their recovery.
What does the new study say?
The new study found that people who slept 'excessively' during the day while in the rehabilitation unit made a poorer recovery than those who slept less. We don't know exactly what the researchers meant by excessive sleep. On average, people in the unit slept for 2.1 hours during the day.
The link between less daytime sleep and a better recovery still held after the researchers took account how much therapy people received while in the unit, the reason they were admitted to the unit, and whether they had any mental health problems. These are all things that can influence how someone recovers.
Tell me more about the study's findings
The link between daytime sleeping and recovery lasted a long time. How much people slept during the day could predict how well they had recovered three months later, when the patients had been discharged and were at home or in a nursing home.
The researchers claim that reducing people's sleep during the day by 10% could mean they need 15 minutes less one-to-one care each week.
Where does the study come from?
The study was done in the U.S. by researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles, and from the Veterans Administration Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System. It was published in a medical journal called Sleep.
How reliable are the findings?
There were some problems with this study, which make the findings less reliable. Although the research shows people's recovery was less good if they slept a lot during the day, it doesn't tell us if the daytime sleep caused the poor recovery. It's possible that the people who slept more during the day were more frail or ill, so would have recovered less well no matter how long they slept. We don't know whether reducing people's daytime sleep would make any difference to how well they recover, because the study didn't try reducing daytime sleep.
What does this mean for me?
Findings from this study are important for anyone who needs to spend time in a rehabilitation unit. The study suggests that people who sleep more during the day while in such a unit recover less well.
The researchers say more research is needed to confirm this link. They also say that more studies need to be done to find out if improving sleeping patterns for people in rehabilitation units, especially reducing how much they sleep during the day, helps them gain greater independence and reduces how much extra care they need.
The average age of the people in the study was 80, so we don't know if the results apply to younger people.
What should I do now?
For the time being there's nothing to do. This is an interesting finding and could eventually affect how people are cared for in rehabilitation units. But before practices change more research needs to be done to establish whether sleeping more during the day causes a worse recovery.
From: Alessi CA, Martin JL, Webber AP, et al. More daytime sleeping
predicts less functional recovery among older people undergoing inpatient post-acute rehabilitation. Sleep. 2008; 31: 1291-1300.
6 of one, half dozen of another. Ask your doctor
My question is this: What are they calling a night's sleep? I sleep approx. 1 1/2 hours during the day. In other words, a nap. I sleep about 6 hours at night and that included waking up at least once.
ReplyDeleteIf you go by a family physician, you're probably going to be told that the human body needs from nine to ten hours of sleep in a twenty-four hour period.
If I could sleep even eight hours each night, I probably wouldn't need the nap at all. And I've had a stroke.
When we "strokies" sleep during the day - what kind of sleep is it? There is light napping, post-prandial ( meals) snooze - but for me - that 2 hours is very deep and restorative. I wish that there could be a study, using EEG, to figure out whether this is REM sleep. And, how about taking a blood sample just befoere a nap and waking up to sssess whether there are hormonal changes?
ReplyDeleteAs for hospital sleep - when one is assessed every hour and then every 4 hours, there is a lot of sleep deprivation experienced during a stroke hospitalization. It's kind of a "duh" observation that one sleeps during the day in a neurological unit, right?
it is true, in fact when it comes to health, there is nothing more important than managing to eat healthy food and doing exercise regularly.
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