article
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Alters Sleep
By: Psych Central News Editor
on Tuesday, May, 1, 2007
Reviewed by: John M. Grohol, Psy.D.
on Tuesday, May, 1, 2007
We all know what it feels like when a good rest is not obtained
for several consecutive days. Now imagine what it is like to feel
this way everyday, a condition called chronic fatigue syndrome
(CFS). In a new study, researchers find that brain wave activity is
blunted in CFS, potentially clearing the distinction between CFS
and depression.
Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) has been associated with
altered amounts of slow wave sleep, which could reflect reduced
electroencephalograph (EEG) activity and impaired sleep
regulation.
The study published in the May 1st issue of the journal SLEEP
finds that CFS is also associated with a blunted slow wave
activity (SWA) response to sleep challenge, suggesting an
impairment of the basic sleep drive and homeostatic response.
The study, authored by Roseanna Armitage, PhD, and
colleagues at the University of Michigan, focused on 13 pairs of
identical twins discordant for CFS.
Analyses, which were restricted to the first four non-REM
periods each night in order to show comparability, revealed that
SWA, or other sleep EEG measures, did not differ between the
CFS and healthy twins during a regular night's sleep.
According to Armitage, it was only after a "challenge" to sleep
regulation was introduced (keeping them awake an extra four
hours) that the CFS twins exhibited significantly less SWA
power in the first non-REM period of recovery sleep and
accumulated a smaller percentage of SWA in the first non-REM
period than their twin counterparts.
"CFS shares symptoms with depression, and some experts
have suggested that it is not a distinctly different disorder," said
Armitage.
"We have also conducted studies of SWA response to sleep
challenge in depression, and the results are very different.
Depressed women did not show a blunted SWA response to
sleep challenge. The present CFS study included only women,
and none had current depression. Therefore, our results cannot
be explained on the basis of depression."
Experts recommend that adults get between seven and eight
hours of sleep each night to maintain good health and optimum
performance.
Persons who think they might have a sleep disorder are urged to
consult with their primary care physician, who will refer them to a
sleep specialist.
Source: American Academy of Sleep Medicine
http://www.aasmnet.org/
By: Psych Central News Editor
on Tuesday, May, 1, 2007
Reviewed by: John M. Grohol, Psy.D.
on Tuesday, May, 1, 2007
We all know what it feels like when a good rest is not obtained
for several consecutive days. Now imagine what it is like to feel
this way everyday, a condition called chronic fatigue syndrome
(CFS). In a new study, researchers find that brain wave activity is
blunted in CFS, potentially clearing the distinction between CFS
and depression.
Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) has been associated with
altered amounts of slow wave sleep, which could reflect reduced
electroencephalograph (EEG) activity and impaired sleep
regulation.
The study published in the May 1st issue of the journal SLEEP
finds that CFS is also associated with a blunted slow wave
activity (SWA) response to sleep challenge, suggesting an
impairment of the basic sleep drive and homeostatic response.
The study, authored by Roseanna Armitage, PhD, and
colleagues at the University of Michigan, focused on 13 pairs of
identical twins discordant for CFS.
Analyses, which were restricted to the first four non-REM
periods each night in order to show comparability, revealed that
SWA, or other sleep EEG measures, did not differ between the
CFS and healthy twins during a regular night's sleep.
According to Armitage, it was only after a "challenge" to sleep
regulation was introduced (keeping them awake an extra four
hours) that the CFS twins exhibited significantly less SWA
power in the first non-REM period of recovery sleep and
accumulated a smaller percentage of SWA in the first non-REM
period than their twin counterparts.
"CFS shares symptoms with depression, and some experts
have suggested that it is not a distinctly different disorder," said
Armitage.
"We have also conducted studies of SWA response to sleep
challenge in depression, and the results are very different.
Depressed women did not show a blunted SWA response to
sleep challenge. The present CFS study included only women,
and none had current depression. Therefore, our results cannot
be explained on the basis of depression."
Experts recommend that adults get between seven and eight
hours of sleep each night to maintain good health and optimum
performance.
Persons who think they might have a sleep disorder are urged to
consult with their primary care physician, who will refer them to a
sleep specialist.
Source: American Academy of Sleep Medicine
http://www.aasmnet.org/