Sleep And Environment

A good night's sleep is pivotal for human physical and emotional health, overall wellbeing and good quality of life. Sleep and Environment provides an up-to-date review of the various environmental factors that influence sleep and wakefulness. The book first discusses the neurophysiology, neuropharmacology and neuroendocrinology of sleep. The editors explore how internal and external environments affect sleep, such as light, noise, temperature and electronic use. Also discussed are social environments such as socioeconomic status and lifestyle factors. The book provides recommendations on preserving sleep environments, sleep hygiene principles, and pharmacological and non-pharmacological management to improve sleep.

"Rand National Defense Research Institute."

Clinical practice related to sleep problems and sleep disorders has been expanding rapidly in the last few years, but scientific research is not keeping pace. Sleep apnea, insomnia, and restless legs syndrome are three examples of very common disorders for which we have little biological information. This new book cuts across a variety of medical disciplines such as neurology, pulmonology, pediatrics, internal medicine, psychiatry, psychology, otolaryngology, and nursing, as well as other medical practices with an interest in the management of sleep pathology. This area of research is not limited to very young and old patientsâ€"sleep disorders reach across all ages and ethnicities. Sleep Disorders and Sleep Deprivation presents a structured analysis that explores the following: Improving awareness among the general public and health care professionals. Increasing investment in interdisciplinary somnology and sleep medicine research training and mentoring activities. Validating and developing new and existing technologies for diagnosis and treatment. This book will be of interest to those looking to learn more about the enormous public health burden of sleep disorders and sleep deprivation and the strikingly limited capacity of the health care enterprise to identify and treat the majority of individuals suffering from sleep problems.

Foundations of Sleep Health presents sleep health as a critical element of overall individual and population health. Sleep disorders are an increasing problem plaguing more than 40 million Americans. Sleep impacts numerous biological functions and plays a critical role in brain development, including learning and memory consolidation, cognitive functioning, and emotion regulation. This book provides an historic and current overview of the state of sleep health with an emphasis on the interplay between several levels of determinants and factors that influence sleep health. The text provides students in the health professions with in-depth discussion on the theory, research, and practice of sleep health, while also detailing mechanisms, hypotheses, and determinants of sleep and ways to improve sleep health. Discusses the current state of knowledge of sleep health, research into the factors that contribute to and are impacted by sleep health Uses a socioecological model to examine the whole range of determinants of sleep health, from biological to upstream environmental factors and possible modes of intervention Contains a detailed glossary of sleep health terms to aid in the understanding of key concepts Includes learning outcomes for each chapter, objective assessments of knowledge, with explanations, and open-ended questions designed to facilitate discussion

Treatment of Late Life Insomnia is an extremely valuable, authoritative and comprehensive resource not only for practitioners of sleep medicine but also for any health-care practitioner who finds themselves working with the elderly population. —Michael V. Vitiello, Ph.D. Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington & Editor in Chief (for the Americas) of Sleep Medicine Reviews Insomnia occurs among older adults (65+ years) at a rate 50% to 100% higher than in younger age groups, and the consequences of insomnia in the elderly are much more severe than in younger age groups. Elders who exhibit a chronic pattern of insomnia dwell on their anticipation of a poor night′s sleep. In many cases, this worry takes on an obsessive quality that degrades multiple aspects of the individual′s life. In the past decade there has been a great deal of clinical research directed toward the development of effective interventions for insomnia among older adults. Methods of insomnia assessment have been developed and key diagnostic issues have crystallized. Yet until now, no book has gathered together this flourishing body of literature. Treatment of Late-Life Insomnia provides a comprehensive research/clinical accounting of insomnia treatment in older adults. The first section of the book, Overview, describes typical normal and disturbed sleep patterns in older adults, demographics, and methods of evaluation and differential diagnosis. The core of the book, the middle section, entitled Intervention Strategies, reviews the clinical outcome research of the major treatments for late-life insomnia and teaches the clinical procedures in the style of a clinical handbook. The final section, Special Treatment Topics, explores cutting-edge research and methods of clinical management for pressing topics in late-life insomnia that have only recently attracted systematic investigation. This book is geared toward students, scientists, and health practitioners engaged in the areas of geriatrics, sleep disorders, and behavioral medicine. These disciplines cut across a wide variety of professional groups that would find such a book useful, including psychology, psychiatry, counseling, internal medicine, geriatric medicine, nursing, and social work.

The WHO Regional Office for Europe set up a working group of experts to provide scientific advice to the Member States for the development of future legislation and policy action in the area of assessment and control of night noise exposure. The working group reviewed available scientific evidence on the health effects of night noise, and derived health-based guideline values. In December 2006, the working group and stakeholders from industry, government and nongovernmental organizations reviewed and reached general agreement on the guideline values and key texts for the final document of the "Night noise guidelines for Europe". Considering the scientific evidence on the thresholds of night noise exposure indicated by "Lnight,outside" [L suffix night,outside] as defined in the Environmental Noise Directive (2002/49/EC), an Lnight, outside of 40 dB should be the target of the night noise guideline (NNG) to protect the public, including the most vulnerable groups such as children, the chronically ill and the elderly. "Lnight,outside" value of 55 dB is recommended as an interim target for the countries where the NNG cannot be achieved in the short term for various reasons, and where policy-makers choose to adopt a stepwise approach. These guidelines are applicable to the Member States of the European Region, and may be considered as an extension to, as well as an update of, the previous WHO "Guidelines for community noise" (1999). [Ed.]

Sleep, along with the sleep-related behaviours that impact sleep quality, have emerged as one of the major determinants of health and well-being (alongside good diet, regular exercise, and not smoking). In turn research is beginning to identify that sleep is strongly socially patterned--by socioeconomic status, race/ethnicity, immigrant status, stage of the life course, work experiences, stress, and neighbourhood contexts. Yet no textbook currently exists that brings together the accumulated evidence on the social epidemiology of sleep. This text is targeted toward (a) social epidemiologists who wish to study sleep as a health outcome, (b) sleep epidemiologists who want to learn about the social determinants of sleep, and (c) other scholars working in the intersection between sleep health, social epidemiology, and health disparities.