https://medicalxpress.com/sleep-news/ en-us Latest health news and information about Sleep & Recovery For decades, the answer to "how much sleep does an adult need?" has been simple: eight hours. The idea dates back to the mid-19th century, when the notion of eight hours of work, eight for recreation and eight for sleep first took hold. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-eighthour.html Tue, 25 Aug 2026 10:00:03 EDT news706868582 A short workout or a nap can help protect memory after a sleepless night, a McGill University-led study has found. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-workout-nap-sleepless-brain.html Mon, 24 Aug 2026 12:00:05 EDT news706790281 It's 4 a.m., you've finally drifted off, and then the phone rings. It's work calling. You have to go in. The right to disconnect from work has been protected by law in Australia since 2024. This means most employees can refuse to answer calls from work outside their regular work hours. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-oncall-disrupt.html Fri, 21 Aug 2026 18:40:03 EDT news706529007 COVID-19 can leave behind fatigue, breathing difficulties and neurological symptoms that persist long after the initial infection. Because these effects can also disturb sleep, researchers have questioned whether COVID-19 might alter the physiological mechanisms underlying obstructive sleep apnea. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-covid.html Fri, 21 Aug 2026 15:20:06 EDT news706538461 With more than 7 million Americans living with Alzheimer's dementia—a number projected to reach nearly 13 million by 2050—new Emory University research suggests that higher vitamin D supplement intake may be associated with better cognitive function in adults at elevated risk of dementia. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-high-dose-vitamin-d-cognition.html Wed, 19 Aug 2026 12:40:05 EDT news706361941 Why does staying awake inevitably make us sleepy? Researchers at the University of Basel, Switzerland, have identified neuronal populations in the brains of mice that become activated during prolonged wakefulness and are crucial for sleep drive. Their findings provide new insights into how the brain generates the need for sleep. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-sleepy-neurons.html Wed, 19 Aug 2026 11:00:08 EDT news706195621 Healthy sleep patterns in midlife are linked to longer working life expectancy, findings from a large study of working-age men and women suggest. The study was published online in Occupational & Environmental Medicine. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-healthy-patterns-midlife-linked-longer.html Tue, 18 Aug 2026 18:30:06 EDT news706183022 For many teenagers, the hardest part of the school day may begin well before the first bell rings: waking up when their brains are still wired for sleep. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-experts-science-school.html Tue, 18 Aug 2026 09:00:03 EDT news706258423 University of Missouri researchers have found that a simple scheduling change can improve the health and well-being of physicians working overnight shifts. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-small-big-health-benefits-night.html Mon, 17 Aug 2026 12:00:05 EDT news706183081 Ever feel that the arrival of summer sun makes you feel a bit dopey? You wouldn't be the only one. Soaring temperatures are known for their ability to slow our thought processes, making even everyday tasks seem like a baffling ordeal. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-hot-extreme-affect-brain.html Fri, 14 Aug 2026 19:40:04 EDT news705756591 A person's sleep patterns could be an early sign of Alzheimer's disease, a new study says. A greater number of micro-awakenings during sleep is linked to a greater genetic risk for Alzheimer's, researchers report in the journal Sleep. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-disturbances-linked-genetic-alzheimer.html Fri, 14 Aug 2026 18:40:02 EDT news705910422 Research has shown that a good night's sleep has many benefits, including memory consolidation. How sleep enables the brain to strengthen memories is still not completely understood, but a new study published in Neuron reveals how astrocytes, brain cells known for supporting neurons and their functions, can directly regulate brain circuits involved in memory consolidation. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-astrocytes-brain-circuits-memories-reveals.html Thu, 13 Aug 2026 11:40:07 EDT news705839042 Most individuals encounter their health primarily through an annual health screening, which provides a limited snapshot of their health status. A new study by the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore (NUS Medicine), challenges the way we think about health and longevity by seeking to understand what occurs between those assessments, focusing on function rather than static markers and tracking how physiology changes moment to moment. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-professor-subject-longevity-biological-age.html Thu, 13 Aug 2026 11:40:01 EDT news705839287 A new national survey commissioned by The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center finds most U.S. adults believe brain health habits should begin before age 40. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-survey-americans-brain-health-habits.html Wed, 12 Aug 2026 00:10:01 EDT news705588539 What if certain signs of the disease were to manifest subtly during sleep, long before the first memory problems appear? This is the line of inquiry being explored by a team of researchers at ULiège. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-people-alzheimer-disease-earlier-stage.html Tue, 11 Aug 2026 14:20:06 EDT news705668821 Almost half of Finnish parents feel that their infants' sleep is abnormal. However, measuring sleep disturbances is complicated. In her doctoral thesis, University of Helsinki researcher Sofie de Sena investigated infant sleep using a smart wearable system called NAPPA (NAPping PAnts). It measures infant sleep at home and provides information on body position, respiration and activity. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-wearable-tech-babies-night-awakenings.html Tue, 11 Aug 2026 13:40:03 EDT news705665422 The first night in a new place is always the same for Robinson Leoni: He takes longer to fall asleep, wakes up more often during the night and gets less sleep overall. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-night-effect.html Tue, 11 Aug 2026 06:20:02 EDT news705634637 Researchers at the Mass General Brigham Neuroscience Institute found that most patients with early Alzheimer's disease are not optimally adhering to recommendations for improving their brain health, including exercising, getting adequate sleep, preventing hypertension and eating a heart-healthy diet. The results, published in The Journal of Prevention of Alzheimer's Disease, show that fewer than 3% of the studied patients followed all 15 brain health recommendations the researchers examined. Both patients with early Alzheimer's disease who pursued treatment with lecanemab, an anti-amyloid antibody medication for Alzheimer's disease, and patients who did not pursue anti-amyloid therapy had poor adherence to brain health recommendations, with no significant difference between the groups. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-early-alzheimer-patients-pursuing-lecanemab.html Sun, 09 Aug 2026 07:00:02 EDT news705376528 The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Orzeyful (oveporexton) tablets to treat narcolepsy type 1 in adults. Orzeyful marks the first medication approved for the full range of symptoms associated with narcolepsy type 1 and is the first approved drug to directly target the loss of orexin signaling that causes the disease. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-fda-drug-full-range-narcolepsy.html Thu, 06 Aug 2026 18:00:03 EDT news705255962 The first evidence that night work and chronic insomnia may increase the risk of developing long COVID comes from a new study led by ISGlobal, a center supported by the "la Caixa" Foundation, in collaboration with the Germans Trias i Pujol Research Institute (IGTP) through the GCAT | Genomes for Life cohort. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-night-shift-linked-higher-covid.html Thu, 06 Aug 2026 17:40:07 EDT news705255661 LMU researchers have elucidated how different organs adapt the same clock machinery to regulate their individual needs over the course of a day. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-proteins-tailor-circadian-clock-individual.html Thu, 06 Aug 2026 17:40:02 EDT news705253561 According to a study conducted in Brazil by researchers at the Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP) with participants from the São Paulo Epidemiological Sleep Study (EPISONO 2018), people with hypothyroidism experience more frequent and severe obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). The results also indicated that patients receiving hormone replacement therapy for thyroid dysfunction slept longer and spent more time in deep sleep. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-link-hypothyroidism-apnea.html Wed, 05 Aug 2026 16:20:11 EDT news705162662 "Health optimization" and "body hacking" are all the rage as people strap on wearable technology, undergo blood tests to monitor health biomarkers and commit to extreme exercise, supplements, diets and often unapproved medical therapies to maximize longevity. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-trend-health-optimization-scientists-focus.html Wed, 05 Aug 2026 10:20:02 EDT news705137881 Close the door, shut the windows and turn up the heat, and you have all the ingredients for a sick bedroom in your home—and you spend about eight hours there every night. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-bedroom-unhealthiest-room-home.html Wed, 05 Aug 2026 09:00:03 EDT news705134342 Narcolepsy is a chronic neurological condition characterized by disruptions in the regulation of sleep-wake cycles. People with this condition often experience extreme sleepiness during the day and, in some cases, a sudden but temporary loss of muscle strength while conscious, called cataplexy. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-laughter-trigger-sudden-muscle-weakness.html Wed, 05 Aug 2026 08:00:03 EDT news705056244 A new UC Davis Health study published in Psychological Medicine suggests that when it comes to helping adolescents succeed in school and maintain healthy friendships, sleep may matter more than screen time, exercise or diet. This was particularly true for youth experiencing anxiety, depression or other mental health challenges. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-good-night-adolescents-school-friends.html Tue, 04 Aug 2026 22:40:01 EDT news705068101 Your bones may seem like the most permanent part of your body: hard, solid and finished. In reality, they're under constant renovation. Every day, tiny teams of cells are breaking down old bone and building new bone in its place. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-bones-dynamic-scientists-believed-daily.html Tue, 04 Aug 2026 19:00:01 EDT news705062941 Today, neuroscience treats consciousness as a process confined to the brain, as something that makes us aware of information that would otherwise be unconscious. This view is underpinned by an assumption: that consciousness is a self-contained and self-governing mechanism, a hidden entity waiting to be located and explained. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-ancient-chinese-medicine-consciousness-health.html Tue, 04 Aug 2026 18:20:02 EDT news705062882 Your neighborhood's "streetscape"—the physical environment of your street—is something you have probably never consciously thought about, despite seeing it every day. But what if the streetscape was affecting you on a subconscious level and disrupting your sleep? https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-relationship-streets-safety.html Mon, 03 Aug 2026 18:20:03 EDT news704986922 This summer's amber heat warnings have brought with them many health risks. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-hot-weather-pain-worse.html Mon, 03 Aug 2026 17:20:08 EDT news704978701