Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Impairs A Person's Slow Wave Activity During Sleep

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Title: Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Impairs A Person's Slow Wave Activity During

Sleep

Science Daily — 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. A study published in 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.

 

Article: " The Impact of a Four-Hour Sleep Delay on Slow Wave Activity in Twins

Discordant for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome " , Sleep, May 1, 2007.

 

Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by American Academy

of Sleep Medicine.

 

Recieved this article from another group I belong to. Thought it would

be of interest to some of you.

 

Biofeedback works with the brain waves to reduce stress, tension and

balance brain waves.

 

Jenny Kernan

Quantum Biofeedback Therapist

Quantum Touch Practitioner