A number of US newspapers today, Saturday 1st December, World AIDS Day, are reporting that the US federal government is about to increase its estimate of the annual incidence rate of HIV/AIDS in the country by as much as 50 per cent. [click link for full article]

The most common factors believed to contribute to diabetes are a decreased amount of physical activity and access to highly palatable processed foods. However, there is growing evidence that another aspect of our modern lifestyle, short sleep duration, is also contributing toward the “diabetes epidemic”.The study, authored by James E. [click link for full article]

In an examination of potential relationships between objective sleep measures, nocturnal sex hormone levels, and the nocturnal course of body temperature of older postmenopausal women, altered levels of both sex hormones and gonadotropins may contribute to sleep disturbance in older postmenopausal women and confirm the results of previous studies indicating that higher body temperature is associated with poorer sleep quality.The study, authored by Patricia J. [click link for full article]

Coffee is an effective countermeasure to sleepiness for both young and middle-aged people. However, napping is more efficient in young than in middle-aged people.Patricia Sagaspe, PhD, of the Clinique du Sommeil at CHU Pellegrin in Bordeau, France, studied 24 people, 12 young (between 20-25 years of age) and 12 middle-aged (between 40-50 years of age). Participants first drove 125 highway miles in the daylight, between 6:00 and 7:30 p.m. [click link for full article]

Hospital staff nurses who work extended hours, work at night, struggle to remain awake at work, or obtain less sleep are more likely to experience a drowsy driving episode. The study, authored by Linda D. Scott, PhD, of Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids, Mich. [click link for full article]

Practice parameters serve as both an update of previous practice parameters for the therapy of narcolepsy and as the first to address treatment of other hypersomnias of central origin, including idiopathic hypersomnia, recurrent hypersomnia and hypersomnia due to medical condition. [click link for full article]

The Pediatric Daytime Sleepiness Scale (PDSS) is an independent, reliable tool in predicting the negative impact of a sleep-related breathing disorder and daytime sleepiness on a teenager’s academic performance.The study, authored by Daniel Perez-Chada, MD, of Hospital Universitario Austral in Buenos Aires, Argentina, focused on 2,884 students, whose answers to a Spanish version of the PDSS were provided by their parents. [click link for full article]

Individuals with either current or past insomnia are more likely to report a family history of insomnia than are those who have never had the sleep disorder. The study, authored by Simon Beaulieu-Bonneau, MPs, of the École de psychologie at Université Laval in Québec, Canada, focused on 953 adults between 18 and 83 years of age, who completed several questionnaires, including a survey of current and past history of insomnia/sleep disorders for self and first-degree relatives. [click link for full article]

Both a decrease and an increase in sleep duration are associated with an elevated risk of mortality by cardiovascular and non-cardiovascular means, respectively. The study, authored by Jane E. Ferrie, PhD, of the University College London Medical School in London, U.K., focused on 10,308 participants between 35 and 55 years of age. Baseline screening (Phase 1), conducted between 1985 and 1988, involved a clinical examination and a self-administered questionnaire. [click link for full article]

Writing in this week’s edition of The Lancet, to coincide with today, Saturday 1st December being World AIDS Day, a senior science advisor and global health specialist argues that although we are making considerable progress in the global race against the spread HIV/AIDS, the disease is still outpacing us, and there is a need to dispel some myths if we are to stand a chance of winning the race. [click link for full article]