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Newsweek: Number of Women With Sleep Issues Growing

NEW YORK, April 16 /PRNewswire/ -- In the April 24 issue of Newsweek "Why Women Can't Sleep" (on newsstands Monday, April 17), Senior Editor Barbara Kantrowitz reports that women are more likely to have sleep issues. "Women are more likely than men to have insomnia and sleep complaints at every age" except childhood, Dr. Barbara Phillips, professor of medicine at the University of Kentucky and chair of the board of the National Sleep Foundation, tells Newsweek.

In the current issue of Newsweek, Kantrowitz takes a look at why women are more likely to have issues sleeping, and what changes can be made to help get that much needed rest. In recent years, there has been a growing recognition- by doctors and patients-that what might seem like simple new-mom fatigue or menopausal angst could actually be a physical or psychological problem that can be relieved with changes in sleep routines, medication or medical devices, Kantrowitz reports. Some of those yawns can be blamed on the complexity of modern women's lives-they're workers, wives, mothers and caregivers to elderly parents-all of which add up to stress and anxiety that doesn't stop when the lights go out. "With lack of sleep, you're more likely to have a lower mood, less energy, more irritability," says sleep expert Eve Van Cauter, a professor of medicine at the University of Chicago. Women who are sleep-deprived are also at risk for a range of problems: depression, heart disease, even obesity, Kantrowitz reports. Researchers have found that lack of sleep disrupts the production of hormones that regulate feelings of hunger and satiety. Many recent studies show that women (and men) who get less sleep are fatter.

Also part of the cover package, the most recent installment of the "Health for Life" series on the latest breakthroughs in women's health, written by Newsweek correspondents and experts from Harvard Medical School:

• Senior Writer Claudia Kalb and Correspondent Karen Springen report on the new HPV vaccine which is expected to be approved by the FDA in June. As one of the most common sexually transmitted infections on the planet -- as many as 80 percent of women will be exposed to it at some point in their lives -- certain HPV strains have a link to cervical cancer. If enough women receive the inoculation, tens of thousands of lives might one day be saved. "This is the first vaccine designed to strike at the root of a cancer," says Dr. Martin Murphy, executive editor of The Oncologist. "Boy, is this a new era."
  
  
• Society Editor Lisa Miller and Correspondent Anne Underwood report that contrary to conventional wisdom and medical lore, pregnancy does not necessarily equal happiness, and its hormones are not protective against depression. Doctors estimate that up to 20 percent of women experience symptoms of depression at some point during their pregnancy-about the same as women who are not pregnant. A series of studies, published this year in medical journals, is looking at all aspects of the problem-with special focus on the effects of anti-depressants on the health of pregnant women and newborn babies. "There are still unanswered questions" about SSRIs and pregnancy, says Lee Cohen, a psychiatrist at Mass General Hospital in Boston and author of one of the recent studies. "But the doctors-the psychiatrists, the OBs-can't be cavalier, and can't presume that [without treatment] things are going to be fine."
  
  
• Associate Editor Jennifer Barrett reports that many women are getting diagnosed with skin cancer and noticing wrinkles and other sun damage much earlier than they would ever expect. Dermatologists say that the increasing popularity of tanning beds and smoking among young women over the last two deca
  
  
  
  
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