Bill Clinton: The Importance of Sleep

Former President Bill Clinton again emphasized the importance of sleep at a Clinton Foundation event earlier this week.

Clinton was speaking about being admitted to the hospital to have a clogged artery opened. He placed part of the blame on his lack of sleep after responding to the recent earthquake in Haiti.

“I didn’t sleep much for a month,” he said. “And that probably accelerated what was already going on with this failing vein.”

Research does show that sleep can improve your heart health. Last year a study reported that men who went to bed before midnight had more relaxed arteries. Another study found that longer sleep duration was associated with a lower rate of coronary artery calcification. This is a predictor of coronary heart disease.

This wasn’t the first time that Clinton has discussed the benefits of sleep. In December 2008 he appeared on “The Situation Room” on CNN. Anchor Anjali Rao asked if he had any advice for President-Elect Obama.

“In my long political career, most of the mistakes I made, I made when I was too tired, because I tried too hard and worked too hard,” he told Rao. “You make better decisions when you're not too tired. So that would be my only advice.”

And in September 2007 he appeared on “The Daily Show” to discuss his book Giving. He told Jon Stewart that sleep deprivation is part of the problem in Washington politics today.

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“You have no idea how many Republican and Democratic members of the House and Senate are chronically sleep deprived because of this system,” he told Stewart. “I know that this is an unusual theory, but I do believe sleep deprivation has a lot to do with some of the edginess of Washington today.”

Are you sleep deprived? Find out by reading the seven signs you need sleep on SleepEducation.com. Get help for an ongoing sleep problem at an AASM-accredited sleep center near you.

Obama White House: No Time for Sleep?

An important speech in Russia on Tuesday. The G-8 Summit in Italy on Wednesday. A visit to the Vatican in Rome on Friday. Another speech in Ghana on Saturday. Back to the White House to introduce the nominee for the U.S. Surgeon General yesterday.

Keeping up with President Obama is no easy task. It requires a pace that often leaves little time for White House staffers to sleep, the Washington Post reports.

The long days may come with the territory. But the need for sleep won’t go away.

“You have your coffee at five in the afternoon, and it just doesn't do anything," press secretary Robert Gibbs told the Post. "Because you realize you're so far behind [in sleep] that a jolt -- you don't even feel it."

Administration officials insist that adrenaline keeps them going. But sometimes the exhaustion is too hard to hide: Economic adviser Larry Summers was seen snoozing during a meeting in April.

But after six months in office, maybe White House staffers have trained their bodies to get by on less sleep. Does the body adapt to a schedule of restricted sleep?

A 2002 study in the journal Sleep put this question to the test. It examined the effects of “chronic sleep restriction.”

Participants slept for either 4 hours, 6 hours or 8 hours per night. They maintained this schedule for 14 days. Effects were compared with three nights of total sleep deprivation.

Results show that chronic restriction of sleep periods to 4 hours or 6 hours per night resulted in significant deficits in cognitive performance. The effects of sleep restriction were similar to those of up to two nights of total sleep deprivation.

So did participants adapt to the effects of sleep restriction? Not at all: Performance “progressively eroded.” It got worse over time, not better.

And participants didn’t seem to notice. Results suggest that they were largely unaware of these cognitive deficits.

“Claims that humans adapt to chronic sleep restriction within a few days…are not supported by the present findings,” the authors concluded. “It appears that even relatively moderate sleep restriction can seriously impair waking neurobehavioral functions in healthy adults.”

Official White House Photo by Pete Souza

Sleep, Jet Lag and “March Madness”

The NCAA basketball tournament tips off today at 12:20 p.m. EDT. Did you finish your bracket yet?

President Obama completed his bracket early. Surprisingly, he was extremely “conservative” with his picks.

His Elite Eight includes all four of the number-one seeds and three of the number-two seeds. His only sleeper? Third-seeded Syracuse over second-seeded Oklahoma.

If you’re still finalizing your bracket, one thing to keep in mind is jet lag. Some teams have to travel a long way to play their first game.

One example is UCLA. The Bruins have to cross three time zones to play upset-minded Virginia Commonwealth in Philadelphia, Pa., tonight.

The good news for UCLA is that the game won’t start until almost 10 p.m. EDT. They’ll be playing when their body clocks are set at a West-Coast time of 7 p.m. So it will feel like a normal tip-off time for the Bruins.

It’s the earlier, 12:30 p.m. EDT start times that can be more difficult for some players. Cal State Northridge and BYU both must cross two time zones to play opening-round games today. It will feel like a 10:30 a.m. start for the players on both teams.

Cal State Northridge plays Memphis in Kansas City, Mo. BYU plays Texas A&M in Philadelphia.

But can sleep really have an effect on a basketball game?

Just ask Cheri Mah of the Stanford Sleep Disorders Clinic and Research Laboratory. She has studied how sleep affects players on many of the Stanford sports teams.

One study involved six players on the men’s basketball team. Performance measures such as sprint times and free-throw shooting improved after extra sleep. So did ratings of mood and alertness.

“Sleep is a significant factor in achieving peak athletic performance,” said Mah. “Athletes across all sports can greatly benefit from extra sleep and gain the additional competitive edge to perform at their highest level.”

So sleep may be one factor that adds to the madness of this year’s tournament.

White House Photo, 3/17/09, Pete Souza

President’s Address: Economy is the “Source of Sleepless Nights”

Last night President Obama gave his first address to a joint session of Congress. As expected, it was dominated by talk of the economy.

Early in his remarks the president noted one side effect of the struggling economy: It’s keeping us awake at night.

“You don’t need to hear another list of statistics to know that our economy is in crisis, because you live it every day. It’s the worry you wake up with and the source of sleepless nights.”

Research shows that the president may be right. There is a connection between financial struggles and sleep problems.

In January we described how women who report financial strain have more sleep complaints. They also spend a greater percentage of time awake while in bed.

Another study shows that ongoing financial strain has a similar effect on the elderly. They also spend more time awake while in bed.

A study of farmers shows that economic concerns also can be severe for people involved in seasonal work. Many of the farmers suffered from sleep deprivation during peak seasons. This sleep loss was linked to worries about cash flow.

A new study shows that unemployment is another economic concern that can affect sleep. It found a strong independent association between sleep problems and unemployment.

In January the U.S. unemployment rate rose to 7.6 percent. About 11.6 million people were without a job.

Worrying about the economy can cause insomnia, which is the most common sleep complaint. About one-third of adults report having insomnia symptoms.

A stressful event such as a job loss or a pay cut can cause adjustment insomnia. It often occurs along with anxiety, worry, sadness or depression. You also may be unable to stop thinking about the problem.

The good news is that adjustment insomnia tends to last for only a few days. Sometimes it may linger for a few weeks. Normal sleep returns when the stressful event has passed or you have adapted to it.

About 10 percent of adults have chronic insomnia that lasts for more than a month. It can affect how you function during the day.

Get help for chronic insomnia at an AASM-accredited sleep center near you.

White House photo 2/24/09 by Pete Souza

Sleep Prescribed for President Obama

Doctor’s orders: The new president needs to get some sleep.

FOX News reports that President Obama likely got little more than an hour of sleep Tuesday night. After attending 10 inaugural balls, Obama got to work on Wednesday for his first full day in office.

FOX contacted three doctors to get health advice for the president. At the top of the list? More sleep.

“The 3 a.m. emergency phone call aside, if you don’t get your 7 hours of sleep a night, recent studies have shown your risk of heart disease, stroke, weight gain, diabetes and cancer go up,” Dr. Marc Siegel told FOX. “Lack of sleep interferes with thinking as well."

Dr. Keith Ablow agreed. He warned that cutting back on sleep could cause problems for the president.

“Ultimately, it’s going to be too much of a risk to his health,” he said.

Click here to read the full story.

A Note to President Obama

Mr. President,

After today’s inauguration and many inaugural events, the hard work begins. Actually, it continues. During this time of transition you had to hit the ground running.

The days ahead are sure to be long and hard. These times are uncertain. But one thing is for sure: You’re going to need some sleep.

The sleep habits of your predecessor are well known. President Bush made it clear from the beginning that he likes an early bedtime. This even became known around the world.

Now you may not agree with many of his policies or strategies. But hopefully you see wisdom in making your need for sleep a high priority.

Sleep has such a profound effect on virtually every aspect of your life. Your physical health. Your mental and emotional well-being. Your performance. Your alertness. Your memory.

And America needs you at your best. As you said during today’s inaugural address, “That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood... the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many.”

There is plenty of research that could convince you of the importance of sleep. But consider this one scientific review that seems to apply so well to your situation.

It focused on studies of sleep deprivation’s effect on how people make decisions. The review found that sleep loss impairs certain types of decision making.

In fact it reads like a checklist of decisions that a president has to make every day: “decision making involving the unexpected, innovation, revising plans, competing distraction, and effective communication.”

The review also pointed out that these skills are most needed by leaders during emergency situations. Unfortunately emergencies don’t follow a schedule.

“Expect the unexpected,” it is often said. Perhaps it should also be said to prepare for the unexpected by being well rested.

You’re going to have some important decisions to make, Mr. President. So get a good night’s sleep. And another. And another. Why don’t you just make it a habit?