OBJECTIVES This study examines the effects of sleep restricted to four hours for three consecutive nights on blood parameters, known to be associated with cardiovascular risk, in young healthy men. MATERIAL AND METHODS Eight young healthy men (age 24.5 +/- 3.3 years) were studied in the sleep restricted group. Nine young healthy men (age 24 +/- 2 years) were included in the control group and ...

BACKGROUND Concerns about duty hour and resident safety have fostered discussion about postshift fatigue and driving impairment. OBJECTIVE We assessed how converting to a night float schedule for overnight coverage affected driving safety for trainees. METHODS Brake reaction times were measured for internal medicine and orthopaedic surgery resident volunteers after a traditional 28-hour cal...

Gastro-oesophageal (GO) reflux is believed to be a possible cause of nocturnal asthma. The aim of this study was to see if there is any correlation between the incidence of GO-reflux at night and nocturnal asthma. Thirty-seven adult patients with a history of nocturnal asthma for more than one hundred days a year and of reflux disease were evaluated using 24 h pH-monitoring of the oesophagus an...

Conroy, R. T. W. L., Elliott, A. L., and Mills, J. N. (1970). Brit. J. industr. Med., 27, 356-363. Circadian excretory rhythms in night workers. Urine samples have been collected from day and night shift workers in a light engineering factory over periods of 24 or 48 hours during which blood was also collected for determination of plasma 11-hydroxycorticosteroids (11-OHCS). Different subjects d...

NKCC1 is a widely expressed isoform of the Na-2Cl-K cotransporter that mediates several direct and indirect vascular effects and regulates expression and release of renin. In this study, we used NKCC1-deficient (NKCC1-/-) and wild-type (WT) mice to assess day/night differences of blood pressure (BP), locomotor activity, and renin release and to study the effects of high (8%) or low (0.03%) diet...

Ninety-seven poor sleepers aged 40-68 years took capsules nightly for 32 weeks and made daily subjective ratings. The benzodiazepine hypnotics lormetazepam 2 mg and nitrazepam 5 mg appeared still to improve sleep after 24 weeks of intake when compared with continuous placebo intake. The sustained effectiveness was most evident in a significant shortening of the time taken to fall asleep in pati...

Twenty four young (mean age 29.2 years, range 25-35) and 21 elderly (mean age 66.5, range 60-80) healthy subjects collected their urine in timed aliquots over 24 hours. The elderly subjects had been selected for their fitness by clinical and laboratory examinations and all lived independently at home. Sodium and potassium excretions were reduced in the elderly subjects compared with the young s...

Backround: Night-time agitation is a frequent symptom of dementia. It often causes nursing home admission and has been linked to circadian rhythm disturbances. A positive influence of light interventions on night-time agitation was shown in several studies. The aim of our study was to investigate whether there is a long-term association between regional weather data (as indicator for daylight a...

Daily variations in cGMP, guanylate cyclase and phosphodiesterase activity in golden hamster retina were studied. Cyclic GMP content exhibited significant variations throughout the 24-hr cycle with maximal values during the dark phase. In order to establish the relative participation of nucleotide synthesis and breakdown during a 24-hr cycle, guanylate cyclase and phosphodiesterase activity wer...

OBJECTIVES We aimed to determine whether junior doctors and trusts in the region make use of published evidence relating to best practice during night shift work that can safeguard alertness, reduce fatigue and limit mistakes. We surveyed junior doctors' preparation for and practice during night shifts, and the working and living conditions offered by hospitals for junior doctors carrying out n...