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July 11, 2011, 1:51 pm

Really? The Claim: A Tennis Ball on the Back of Pajamas Can Cut Snoring

By ANAHAD O'CONNOR
Christoph Niemann

THE FACTS

For some people who snore, a slight tweak in sleeping position — lying on one side instead of the back — can lead to a better night’s rest. Yet staying put in that position, while wrapped in slumber, is not always an easy feat.

One of the oldest and simplest solutions involves a tennis ball, which is taped or sewn into the back of the pajamas to prevent a snorer from rolling onto his or her back at night. The technique is widely recommended by sleep experts, but studies have found it may not work for many chronic snorers.

In 2009 a team of researchers studied whether this trick could reduce snoring in 67 people with obstructive sleep apnea, which causes snoring and breathing interruptions throughout the night. The patients had an average of 30 breathing pauses per hour of sleep, which climbed to over 50 interruptions when they were on their backs, but was roughly 14 when they slept on their sides. They were taught to use the tennis ball technique, then followed for an average of over two years.

At the end of the study, which was published in The Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, the researchers found that most patients gave it up. Less than 10 percent still used the technique. Those who stopped said that it was ineffective or caused backaches, or that the ball moved around too much, among other problems.

For those in need of a more promising strategy, devices that provide continuous positive airway pressure, or C.P.A.P., help keep the airways open and are extremely effective. Some doctors also offer noninvasive treatments that tighten the throat tissue and improve breathing, taking the roar out of your snore.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Research shows that for many people, the tennis ball trick is not a very effective anti-snoring technique.

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June 2, 2011, 4:03 pm

The School Bully Is Sleepy

By TARA PARKER-POPE
Is the class bully simply in need of a nap?Is the class bully simply in need of a nap?

School bullies and children who are disruptive in class are twice as likely to show signs of sleep problems compared with well-behaved children, new research shows.

The findings, based on data collected from 341 Michigan elementary school children, suggests a novel approaching to solving school bullying. Currently, most efforts to curb bullying have focused on protecting victims as well as discipline and legal actions against the bullies. The new data suggests that the problem may be better addressed, at least in part, at the source, by paying attention to some of the unique health issues associated with aggressive behavior. Read more…

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May 23, 2011, 1:45 pm

How Much Do Your Children Sleep?

By TARA PARKER-POPE
Yvetta Fedorova

In this week’s Personal Health column, Jane Brody writes about the sleep needs of children and teenagers, finding that many young people are not getting nearly enough sleep.

Although young children are likely to arouse their groggy parents every morning, with no respect for weekends, after puberty the tables turn. Often I hear a familiar lament from parents of adolescents: Every day it’s a struggle to get the kids up and out to school on time.

Many youngsters and most teenagers do not get enough sleep, and this can result in serious consequences, impairing school performance and even raising the risk of depression and other mood disorders.

To learn more, read the full column, “Zombie Prevention: Your Child’s Sleep,” and then please join the discussion below.

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February 7, 2011, 5:22 pm

A Doctor’s Guide to the Sleepover

By TARA PARKER-POPE
Britt Erlanson/Getty Images

Sleepovers and slumber parties are now an intrinsic part of childhood, but a night away from home can create problems for both children and parents, writes Dr. Perri Klass, a pediatrician, in the “18 and Under” column.

Sleepovers raise a whole array of emotional issues for children and parents: separation, sleeping in a strange place, playing by another family’s rules. This is a case where you really have to know your own child, the other family, the whole situation — and the other family needs to know about your child, too.

Many children as young as 8 or 9 (or even younger) do fine with a good friend and a familiar family. But anxieties can loom at any age. The classic children’s book on the subject is “Ira Sleeps Over,” by Bernard Waber (Sandpiper, 1975), in which a boy worries about taking his beloved teddy bear to a sleepover while his older sister warns darkly that if he does he will be mocked.

“Clearly, kids who have some separation anxiety issues — it’s not a sleep disorder per se — may have some difficulty negotiating the sleepover experience,” said Dr. Judith Owens, a pediatrician who is director of sleep medicine at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington. “I certainly have had some kids come to our house who I ended up driving home at 10 at night.”

To hear more from Dr. Klass about the sleepover, read the full column, “Ensuring Domestic Tranquillity During Sleepovers,” and then please join the discussion below.

December 14, 2010, 9:39 am

Do Vitamins Interfere With Sleep?

By TARA PARKER-POPE
Christoph Niemann

Millions of Americans take a daily multivitamin, but anecdotal reports have suggested the pills may interfere with sleep. In today’s “Really?” column, Anahad O’Connor takes a look at the research.

In one study in 2007, researchers recruited hundreds of subjects and investigated their sleep habits — including looking at their use of vitamins and medications — then had them keep sleep diaries for two weeks.

After controlling for age, sex and other variables, the scientists found a slightly higher rate of poor or interrupted sleep in people taking multivitamins. But because they found only an association, they could not rule out the possibility that people with poorer sleep are simply more likely to seek out multivitamins.

To learn more, read the full report, “The Claim: Multivitamins Can Disrupt Users Sleep,” and then please join the discussion below.

December 10, 2010, 11:14 am

Searching for a Snoring Solution

By TARA PARKER-POPE
Dr. Elizabeth Walton at her home in Atlanta with an oral appliance she uses for sleep apnea.Tami Chappell for The New York Times Dr. Elizabeth Walton at her home in Atlanta with an oral appliance she uses to treat her sleep apnea.

Almost half of the adult population snores at least occasionally, and for many people snoring is a source of embarrassment or friction with a spouse. Finding a treatment can be frustrating and expensive, as explained in this week’s Patient Money column.

Dr. Elizabeth Walton, a 43-year-old internist in Atlanta and the mother of twin 4-year-old boys, has a common, if sometimes embarrassing, health problem. She snores — loudly. And she has tried to fix it with a variety of things, including a machine that blows air down her throat and an oral appliance that looks something like a mouthguard worn by a hockey player.

The appliance works, and Dr. Walton is finally sleeping more easily. (So is her partner.) And because she was diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea, a more serious disorder than simple snoring, her treatments have been mostly covered by insurance. Still, she estimates she has spent hundreds of dollars in deductibles, co-payments and fees.

Dr. Walton would have preferred not to go through so much expensive trial and error: “Unfortunately, it’s the nature of this condition.”

To learn about the various options to treat snoring, read the full column, “Snoring? It’s Trial and Error Time,” and then please join the discussion below. Has snoring disrupted your life? Have you found a treatment that works?

August 9, 2010, 1:18 pm

Do Noises Wake You Up at Night?

By TARA PARKER-POPE
Sleep spindles Sleep spindles, shown here between the red lines, are a distinctive brain wave pattern that resembles yarn wrapped around a dowel and may influence whether noise interrupts your sleep.

Why can some people sleep through noises like a honking car or flushing toilet, while others are awakened by the lightest sound?

To find the answer, sleep researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital conducted an unusual study of 12 self-described deep sleepers. After tests confirmed that the healthy volunteers were solid sleepers, they took part in a three-night study in the university’s sleep laboratory. The participants spent the night in a luxurious and comfortable room reminiscent of a hotel suite with soft pillows and cozy sheets. But the room also included four speakers positioned near the top of the bed. Read more…

July 26, 2010, 5:24 pm

Should Nightmares Have Happy Endings?

By TARA PARKER-POPE
<strong/>THERAPY Computers track data at the Maimonides clinic in Albuquerque.Mark Holm for The New York Times THERAPY Computers track data at the Maimonides clinic in Albuquerque.

Therapy may help people who suffer from chronic nightmares learn how to turn bad dreams into good ones. But now some experts wonder if changing your nightmares from scary to safe is always a good idea, reports Sarah Kershaw in Science Times.

The technique, used while patients are awake, is called scripting or dream mastery and is part of imagery rehearsal therapy. The therapy is being used to treat a growing number of nightmare sufferers. In recent years, nightmares have increasingly been viewed as a distinct disorder, and researchers have produced a growing body of empirical evidence that this kind of cognitive therapy can help reduce their frequency and intensity, or even eliminate them.

The treatments are controversial. Some therapists, particularly Jungian analysts, take issue with changing nightmares’ content, arguing that dreams send crucial messages to the waking mind.

To learn more, read the full article, “Following a Script to Escape a Nightmare,” then please join the discussion below.

May 26, 2010, 12:01 am

Phys Ed: Does Exercise Help You Sleep Better?

By GRETCHEN REYNOLDS
Tim Klein/Getty Images

Most of us think that exercise improves sleep. But it may be that thinking that exercise improves sleep improves sleep. That, at any rate, is the provocative finding of a new study completed recently in Switzerland and published last month in the journal of the American College of Sports Medicine. Read more…

May 24, 2010, 3:11 pm

Throat Exercise for Sleep Apnea

By TARA PARKER-POPE
DESCRIPTION

In today’s “Really?” column, Anahad O’Connor explores an alternative treatment for sleep apnea — throat exercises.

While they aren’t as established or as well studied as breathing machines, some research suggests they may reduce the severity of sleep apnea by building up muscles around the airway, making them less likely to collapse at night.

To learn more, read the full story, “The Claim: Throat Exercises Can Relieve Sleep Apnea,” and then please join the discussion below. Have you used a machine or mouthpiece as a treatment for sleep apnea? Tell us about your experience.

April 26, 2010, 3:12 pm

Less Sleep Linked With More Eating

By TARA PARKER-POPE
DESCRIPTIONChristoph Niemann

People who sleep less appear to eat more the next day.

Scientists have known for years that less sleep is associated with weight gain. Now new research, reported in this week’s “Really?” column, may help explain why. In one study, men were asked to sleep either four or eight hours. When the men slept less, they ate roughly 22 percent additional calories the next day compared with nights when they got more sleep.

To learn more about the link between sleep and obesity, read the full column, “The Claim: Lack of Sleep Increases Weight,” and then please join the discussion below.

April 22, 2010, 1:25 pm

Learning While You Dream

By TARA PARKER-POPE
Kutay Tanir/Getty Images

Why do we dream? It’s a question dream analysts and sleep researchers have been studying for years. Now new research suggests that some dreams may actually result from the brain’s effort to keep learning, even as we sleep.

In a study led by researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, 99 volunteers trained for an hour on a virtual maze, trying to find their way through the complicated, three-dimensional puzzle as quickly as possible. Then half the volunteers were allowed to sleep for 90 minutes. The other half stayed awake, reading or relaxing. During the resting period, the subjects were interrupted or awakened and asked to describe their thoughts or dreams.

After the resting period, the participants were asked to again tackle the maze. Those who hadn’t napped showed no improvement or did even worse after the break. Nappers who were rested but didn’t report any maze-related dreams did better but showed only marginal improvement.

However, four nappers who reported dreaming about the maze showed a startling improvement, cutting their completion time in half. The difference in scores before and after sleeping was 10 times higher for the maze dreamers than those who hadn’t dreamed about the task, according to the findings published Thursday in the journal Current Biology.

Even though the number of dreamers was small, the researchers noted that the gap in learning between the dreamers and nondreamers was so wide that the finding was highly statistically significant.

Notably, the dreamers had all performed poorly on the test prior to dreaming about it. That suggests that struggling with a task might be the trigger that prompts the sleeping brain to focus on the subject and work on getting better, explained the lead author, Robert Stickgold, a cognitive neuroscientist at Harvard Medical School.

“It’s almost as if your brain is rummaging through everything that happened today and deciding that you’re not done with it,” Dr. Stickgold said. “The things that really grip you, the ones you decide at an emotional level are really important, those are the ones you dream about. The things you’re obsessed with are the ones that your brain forces you to continue to process.”

The study subjects who dreamed about the maze didn’t dream about trying to complete it over and over. Instead, they simply dreamed about it in a variety of ways. One person said he dreamed about the music that played along with the task. Another dreamed about seeing people along checkpoints in the maze and remembering a bat cave he had once toured. Another dreamed of searching for something in a maze. The lesson may be that dreams don’t necessarily have to make sense or be obvious to the awake mind in order to have a learning benefit.

“It might be that sleep is the time when the brain is tuned to find those types of association you wouldn’t notice during waking,” Dr. Stickgold said. “It does this by focusing on weak associations. If that’s the case, the dreams you have in REM sleep might be so bizarre for exactly the same reasons. It’s not that the dreams make no sense. They make wacky sense.”

More study is needed to fully understand the power of dreams in learning. The researchers are planning a new study that “spiffs up” the maze tests using colors and images in a way that most likely will trigger an increase in dreaming among the study participants.

Whether someone can ultimately harness the power of dreaming to improve learning is an open question, but Dr. Stickgold does have a suggestion for students or others trying to master a task or study subject.

“If you’re a student and you want to do better on the test, you might need to dream about it,” Dr. Stickgold said. “The question is, ‘How do I get myself to dream about it?’ The answer is to get excited about it. That seems to be what you dream about.”

March 8, 2010, 3:18 pm

Too Tired for Sex

What’s happening in bedrooms across America? Not much, according to new research.

As reported in today’s Science Times, about one in every four Americans married or living with someone say they are so sleep-deprived that they are often too tired to have sex.

Read the full story here, and then please join the discussion below. Once your head hits the pillow, are you too tired for anything but sleep?

February 22, 2010, 2:01 pm

Napping to Boost Brain Power

New research shows what power nappers have believed all along: napping is good for your brain.

Young adults who slept for 90 minutes after lunch raised their learning power, with their memory apparently primed to absorb new facts, reports Roni Rabin in today’s Science Times.

To learn more about the power of the nap, read the full story, “Behavior: Napping Can Prime the Brain for Learning,” and then please join the discussion below.

January 4, 2010, 6:09 pm

New Health Rule: Quit Worrying About Your Health

By TARA PARKER-POPE
Stuart Bradford

Have you had your five to nine servings of vegetables today? Exercised for an hour? Cut back on saturated fat and gotten eight hours of sleep?

Dictating the rules for healthful living has become a cottage industry, with Web sites, talk shows and books (and health columns like this one) devoted to the dos and don’ts of staying healthy.

But when it comes to achieving these goals, many of us feel we are falling far short. Whether you’re a busy parent who can’t find time for exercise, a chronic dieter struggling to lose 20 pounds or a multitasker who gets by on six hours of sleep, it is virtually impossible to follow the rules.

Now Dr. Susan M. Love, one of the country’s most respected women’s health specialists, offers a new rule: stop worrying about your health. Read more…

July 13, 2011
Think Like a Doctor: The Gardener’s Illness

Can you solve a medical mystery involving a 38-year-old gardener with a leg rash, numbness, chills and a fever?

July 10, 2011
Screening for a Better Medical Student

Medical schools for years have accepted students with high academic skills. Now some schools are trying to find a way to screen students for better social skills.

More From Doctors and Patients »

July 13, 2011
Can Shoes Really Tone the Body?

In one study, toning shoes provided benefits, but for only a limited time and not to the big, showy muscles in the wearers’ calves and buttocks. And lawsuits have been filed against several makers of toning shoes, claiming that the shoes had failed to fulfill their promises or caused injury.

July 6, 2011
Why Exercise Makes Us Feel Good

A recent study provides some intriguing new clues into how exercise intertwines with emotions, along with the soothing message that it may not require much physical activity to provide lasting emotional resilience.

More From Phys Ed »

July 12, 2011
The Voices of Macular Degeneration

Six men and women talk about coping with the loss of vision that occurs with macular degeneration.

July 8, 2011
An Update From an Ironman (and Oprah)

Before retiring from his sport, the Ironman triathlete John Carson, a recovering quadriplegic, decided to put in one last race.

More From Patient Voices »

July 12, 2011
Worries About a Gonorrhea ‘Superbug’

Government heath officials are warning that gonorrhea, one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases, is becoming increasingly resistant to the last class of antibiotics left to treat it.

June 24, 2011
Pictures to Warn the World About Smoking

From graphic photos of face cancer in Thailand to skulls on cigarette packs in Romania, cigarette packs around the world vividly warn of the perils of smoking.

More From Healthy Consumer »

July 11, 2011
When Fatty Feasts Are Driven by Automatic Pilot

Recent findings add complexity to the obesity debate, suggesting that certain foods set off powerful chemical reactions in the body and the brain.

May 25, 2011
Less Active at Work, Americans Have Packed on Pounds

As workers moved from farms and factories to desks over the last half-century, calories have been piling up: about 120 to 140 a day, a new study has found.

More From Weigh In »

July 11, 2011
Keeping the Medical Secrets of Young Patients

In today’s 18 and Under column, pediatrician Dr. Perri Klass writes about the challenges doctors face in balancing medical confidentiality with the need to protect adolescent patients from harm.

July 5, 2011
Talking About the It Gets Better Project

The advice columnist Dan Savage and his partner, Terry Miller, recently sat down with The New York Times to discuss how the It Gets Better Project started.

More From Family Matters »

July 11, 2011
The Myth of the Allergy-Free Dog

Homes with supposedly hypoallergenic breeds had as much pet allergen as homes with ordinary dogs, according to a new report.

June 20, 2011
Really? The Claim: Pets Can Raise a Child’s Risk of Developing Allergies

Many parents worry that keeping a dog or cat in the home increases a child’s chance of developing pet allergies.

More From Well Pets »

July 13, 2011
Can Shoes Really Tone the Body?

In one study, toning shoes provided benefits, but for only a limited time and not to the big, showy muscles in the wearers’ calves and buttocks. And lawsuits have been filed against several makers of toning shoes, claiming that the shoes had failed to fulfill their promises or caused injury.

July 6, 2011
Why Exercise Makes Us Feel Good

A recent study provides some intriguing new clues into how exercise intertwines with emotions, along with the soothing message that it may not require much physical activity to provide lasting emotional resilience.

More From Fitness »

June 23, 2011
Coming Out With Mental Illness

Across the country, people with severe mental illness live what appear to be normal, successful lives. Now, a small number of them are risking it all because they want to openly discuss their struggles.

June 8, 2011
When the Therapist Yawns

Nobody knows exactly what causes yawning, but it’s hard to be on the receiving end of one, especially in the middle of a therapy session.

More From On Your Mind »

June 16, 2011
For Children on Medicaid, the Doctor Is Out

Children with Medicaid are more likely to be turned away by medical specialists compared to those with private insurance, a new study finds.

April 15, 2011
Hypnosis as a Health Option

Today’s Patient Money column looks into the costs and potential benefits of hypnosis for dealing with anxiety, pain management and other health issues.

More From Patient Money »

June 6, 2011
A Doctor Who Must Navigate a Contentious Divide

An international agency’s finding that cellphones are “possibly carcinogenic” has put Dr. Jonathan Samet in the middle of a scientific debate.

May 31, 2011
Cellphone Radiation May Cause Cancer, Advisory Panel Says

A World Health Organization panel has concluded that cellphones are “possibly carcinogenic,’’ putting the popular devices in the same category as certain dry cleaning chemicals and pesticides.

More From Cancer »

July 8, 2011
Recipes for a Saucy Summer

In this week’s Recipes for Health, Martha Rose Shulman makes sauces that are perfect for summer eating.

June 24, 2011
Giving Asparagus an Italian Accent

If your summer travels aren’t taking you to Italy, you can at least capture the country’s flavor in these tasty asparagus dishes from Martha Rose Shulman.

More From Eat Well »

May 10, 2011
Lowering Stress Improves Fertility Treatment

Women undergoing certain infertility treatments are more likely to get pregnant if they take part in a simultaneous stress reduction program, new research shows.

May 9, 2011
Local Honey for a Runny Nose

Among allergy sufferers, there is a widespread belief that locally produced honey can help build immunity local allergens. The honey, after all, is made by bees that pollinated local plants.

More From Alternative Medicine »

April 25, 2011
Less Sex for the Young

A new report on sexual behavior in America has a surprising finding: teenagers and young adults are having less sex.

March 23, 2011
What’s Your Biggest Regret?

We all have regrets, but new research suggests the most common regret among adults in the United States involves a lost romantic opportunity.

More From Love Well »

April 25, 2011
Less Sex for the Young

A new report on sexual behavior in America has a surprising finding: teenagers and young adults are having less sex.

March 23, 2011
What’s Your Biggest Regret?

We all have regrets, but new research suggests the most common regret among adults in the United States involves a lost romantic opportunity.

More From Love Well »

Archive

Patient Voices
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Six men and women discuss living with migraines.

Confronting Cancer
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Dana Jennings blogs about life after prostate cancer.

Eat Well
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Movie-theater popcorn has an alarming amount of fat, salt and calories in even the smallest sizes.

Well Pets
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Having to walk a dog can help people be more consistent about regular exercise.

Special Section
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Decoding Your Health

A special issue of Science Times looks at the explosion of information about health and medicine and offers some guidelines on how to sort it all out

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Small Steps: A Good Health Guide

Trying to raise a healthy child can feel overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be.

Special Section
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A Guided Tour of Your Body

Changes in our health are inevitable as we get older. What do we need to know about staying well as we age?

About Well

Tara Parker-Pope on HealthHealthy living doesn’t happen at the doctor’s office. The road to better health is paved with the small decisions we make every day. It’s about the choices we make when we buy groceries, drive our cars and hang out with our kids. Join columnist Tara Parker-Pope as she sifts through medical research and expert opinions for practical advice to help readers take control of their health and live well every day. You can reach Ms. Parker-Pope at well@nytimes.com.

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