https://medicalxpress.com/sleep-news/ en-us Latest health news and information about Sleep & Recovery 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 Sleep does not isolate the brain from the world—rather, it affects how the brain balances the processing of different types of sensory information. A Swiss study shows that as we drift off to REM sleep, signals from the outside world gradually decrease while those coming from our own body are preserved or even enhanced. Scientists from the universities of Lausanne and Geneva offer a partial explanation for this phenomenon. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-brain-rem-eeg.html Mon, 03 Aug 2026 11:00:05 EDT news704707141 A novel AI model can use information collected during routine sleep studies to identify patients' long-term health risks, according to a new study published in Nature Communications. Developed by a multidisciplinary research team, the model uncovered hidden sleep patterns linked to risks including heart disease, cognitive decline and death. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-ai-previously-unrecognized-health-insights.html Mon, 03 Aug 2026 10:40:01 EDT news704970422 REM sleep is already called "paradoxical sleep." The body is largely still, yet the brain is highly active. In humans, this is also the stage most closely associated with vivid dreaming. Our study, published in Communications Biology, has revealed another paradox hidden within REM sleep: Brain blood volume increased, but the ATP available inside neurons decreased. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-blood-neuronal-energy-rem.html Sun, 02 Aug 2026 11:00:04 EDT news704454464 Sleep is a crucial physiological process that supports recovery, clears metabolic waste products from the brain, regulates metabolism and supports the functioning of the immune system. Sleep is also known to play a key role in consolidating different types of memories, ranging from memories of past events and memorized facts to newly acquired skills or habits (i.e., procedural memories). https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-replay-skills-independently-hippocampus-mouse.html Thu, 30 Jul 2026 09:40:24 EDT news704550515 A growing body of scientific evidence confirms what many of us know innately—spending time in nature is good for us. It not only lowers stress and depression, it strengthens immunity, boosts cognitive performance, promotes better sleep, fights inflammation, and helps the lungs and heart, research suggests. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-medicine-free-daily-dose-nature.html Wed, 29 Jul 2026 17:20:02 EDT news704539853 Weaker rest-activity rhythms (RARs) and unfavorable sleep profiles are associated with a higher prevalence of overactive bladder (OAB), according to a study published online July 17 in Neurourology and Urodynamics. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-weaker-rest-rhythm-unfavorable-profile.html Tue, 28 Jul 2026 23:20:01 EDT news704463853 New research from the Guelph Family Health Study (GFHS) has found that circadian rhythm-related genes could influence the risk of obesity in children, highlighting an important connection between sleep and eating behavior. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-circadian-gene-variants-indicator-obesity.html Tue, 28 Jul 2026 18:00:02 EDT news704469902 Sleep disturbances are far more common among workers in middle to later life than previously believed, according to a study that links work-related stress to a range of well-being issues. Researchers found that nearly 70% of participants experienced persistent, clinically significant sleep problems, despite having no known history of sleep disorders. Even more concerning, almost 92% met the clinical threshold for a sleep disorder at least once during the study. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-potential-crisis-workers-links-stress.html Tue, 28 Jul 2026 16:20:03 EDT news704463781 Researchers at Kennedy Krieger Institute and Johns Hopkins Medicine have discovered that memory consolidation during sleep depends on coordinated activity among three brain regions, and disruptions to this activity can impair memory performance. This is the first human study to directly link interactions between the orbitofrontal cortex, thalamus and hippocampus to memory, offering new insight into how the brain strengthens memories and how epilepsy can affect the sleep-memory system. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-kind-reveals-memory-epilepsy-disrupt.html Tue, 28 Jul 2026 14:40:05 EDT news704463182 The brain demands a lot of energy compared with other organs. However, it can also make do when energy supplies are scarce, flexibly processing information using what is available. How the brain resourcefully allocates this limited energy across internal states remains a key question in neuroscience. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-energy-rem-paradox.html Tue, 28 Jul 2026 09:20:01 EDT news704448841 University of Missouri researchers have identified a simple, effective way to improve quality of life. A new study found that maintaining a consistent daily routine can reduce physical pain and ease symptoms of depression, demonstrating how everyday habits can have a meaningful impact on well-being, particularly for older adults with insomnia. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-simple-habit-physical-mental-health.html Tue, 28 Jul 2026 09:00:01 EDT news704442661 Jet lag threatens to turn even a dream vacation into a slog. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-jetting-summer-vacation-minimize-jet.html Sat, 25 Jul 2026 13:20:01 EDT news704204048 Disrupted sleep and anxiety may be ongoing issues for many people after the pandemic, whether due to COVID-19 directly or to the stress and anxiety caused by the global pandemic, and may contribute to the fatigue commonly reported by people with Post-COVID-19 Syndrome (PCS, or "long COVID"). https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-pandemic-issues-late.html Sat, 25 Jul 2026 12:00:01 EDT news704030805 A dream vacation, an exotic destination, a long-haul flight and finally some well-deserved rest. The problem is that many travelers arrive at their destination only to spend the first days of their vacation struggling with fatigue, sleep disturbances, low energy levels and digestive issues. Researchers from Wroclaw Medical University point out that these symptoms may be caused by more than classic jet lag. A growing body of evidence suggests that time zone changes also affect the trillions of bacteria living in our intestines. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-gut-jet-lag-days-vacation.html Fri, 24 Jul 2026 15:00:04 EDT news704118902 Infrared saunas are increasingly marketed as a post-exercise recovery tool that can reduce pain and fatigue, but the scientific evidence supporting these claims remains limited and conflicting. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-infrared-saunas-workout-recovery-evidence.html Wed, 22 Jul 2026 23:20:01 EDT news703943390 Researchers from Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) and Hospital Universitario Severo Ochoa in Leganés, part of the public health network of the Comunidad de Madrid, have developed a methodology that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze brain electrical activity during sleep and facilitate the early diagnosis of Alzheimer's. The study, recently published in the journal GeroScience, demonstrates that analyzing nocturnal brain waves using machine learning techniques makes it possible to noninvasively identify early neural alterations and classify patients into three distinct biological subgroups. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-ai-analysis-early-diagnosis-alzheimer.html Wed, 22 Jul 2026 17:20:06 EDT news703937750 Sleep is known to be essential for survival, as it allows both humans and other animals to rest, while the brain consolidates memories and clears out metabolic waste products. For many people worldwide, however, falling asleep at a reasonable time every evening and sleeping enough hours is challenging, due to various conditions such as insomnia, circadian rhythm disorders, depression and anxiety. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-newly-molecule.html Wed, 22 Jul 2026 09:20:03 EDT news703772239 In a randomized clinical trial published in the Journal of Internal Medicine, ingesting capsules containing fecal microbes from healthy donors helped treat symptoms of insomnia. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-fecal-microbe-transplantation-people-chronic.html Wed, 22 Jul 2026 03:00:09 EDT news703832621 In the 108-year history of daylight saving time in the United States, the country has moved three times to institute it year-round: during each of the two world wars and in 1973–74. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-clock-congress-daylight.html Tue, 21 Jul 2026 15:00:01 EDT news703858556 Two university faculty members, both certified audiologists, are the first to study how tinnitus affects student veterans as they navigate college classrooms. Hearing loss and tinnitus are the two most common service-related disabilities among U.S. veterans, affecting more than 3 million people nationwide. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-invisible-struggle-veteran-students.html Tue, 21 Jul 2026 11:20:05 EDT news703845002 For the first time, Northwestern Medicine scientists have detailed how fall and spring daylight saving time transitions affect a person's risk of developing retinal vascular disease. The study is published in Scientific Reports. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-daylight-eye-smallest-blood-vessels.html Mon, 20 Jul 2026 13:40:10 EDT news703772545 Most of us would like to hang around on the planet for as long as possible, and thankfully, lifespans in many countries are increasing. Scientists are also developing a new field known as longevity medicine, which aims to help people stay healthier for longer as they age. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-healthy-aging-born.html Mon, 20 Jul 2026 11:40:02 EDT news703763143 Nearly half of pregnant women in the United States report poor sleep quality, which has been associated with gestational diabetes and high blood pressure during pregnancy. A new study led by researchers at Washington University in St. Louis' Bursky School of Public Health found that depressive symptoms, prenatal distress and anxiety are the strongest predictors of poor sleep during late pregnancy, with environmental exposures such as air pollution and noise also playing significant roles. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-mental-health-environment-pregnancy.html Mon, 20 Jul 2026 07:20:07 EDT news703747621 Researchers estimate that more than 80 million U.S. adults are living with obstructive sleep apnea, a condition in which the soft tissue at the back of the throat collapses and blocks the airway during sleep. This blockage causes shallow or irregular breathing that lowers oxygen levels, decreasing sleep quality and raising the risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-hypoglossal-nerve-obstructive-apnea-downstream.html Fri, 17 Jul 2026 16:40:01 EDT news703497838 There's a small fire isolated in your kitchen. If you had the right tool, you might be able to put it out. But before you can, the sprinklers turn on and flood your entire house. An automatic response to an issue has now damaged everything you own. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-hours-alzheimer-breakthrough.html Fri, 17 Jul 2026 11:20:01 EDT news703497775