Women and men sleep differently, so their sleep disorders should not be treated in the same way, suggests new research examining the biological sex characteristics of sleep disorders.
This is more likely in men obstructive sleep apneawhile women are more commonly affected insomnia and report poorer sleep quality. These are the results of a literature review published in the journal in April Sleep Medicine Reviews. The researchers came from Harvard University, Stanford University and the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom
This research is about both precision medicine and sleep differences between the sexes, says co-author Renske Lok, PhDPostdoctoral researcher at Stanford Center for Sleep and Circadian Sciences.
“We’re trying to move away from the one-size-fits-all solution,” she says Assets. “[Medicine] needs to be more tailored.”
Understanding how and why biological sex affects various sleep disorders is a crucial step toward individualized treatment. However, the long-standing lack of inclusion of women in biomedical and behavioral research is an obstacle. The National Institutes of Health did not require studies to be considered Gender as a biological variable until 2016.
“The biggest takeaway is that we absolutely need to better include women in our research designs,” says Lok. “In the past, women were not included as often as men, partly because it was always assumed that results from men would automatically be transferred to women. And we’re starting to find out more and more that that’s not the case.”
Sex and circadian rhythms
The mental, physical and behavioral changes that your body experiences within 24 hours are referred to as Daily rhythm. Almost all of your organs and tissues have their own rhythm and together form a kind of biological master clock that is particularly sensitive to light and darkness.
At night, your brain produces more of it Sleep hormone melatonin, which makes you feel tired. In a study According to a study by Lok and her colleagues, women released melatonin earlier in the evening than men. This agrees with other research shows that men are typically later chronotypes; that is, they go to bed later and get up later than women. Therefore, men tend to have more social jet lag when their biological clock doesn’t align with the traditional timing of social demands, such as a 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. job.
Another study showed that core body temperature – which is highest before sleep and lowest a few hours before waking – also peaked earlier in women. Other research found that women’s circadian periods were about six minutes shorter than men’s: 24.09 hours compared to 24.19.
“Although this difference may be small, it is significant. “The misalignment between the central body clock and the sleep-wake cycle is about five times greater in women than in men,” Lok said in a study Press release about the work of their team. “Imagine someone’s watch constantly going six minutes faster or slower. Over the course of days, weeks and months, this difference can cause a noticeable misalignment between the internal clock and external signals such as light and darkness.
“Circadian rhythm disruptions have been linked to various health problems, including sleep disorders, Mood swingsAnd impaired cognitive function. Even small differences in circadian periods can have significant impacts on overall health and well-being.”
“Cognitive behavioral therapy is a way to jump-start your circadian rhythms—especially if your biological and social clocks aren’t aligned,” he says Alaina Tiani, PhDa clinical psychologist at Cleveland Clinic Sleep Disorders Center.
“It varies from patient to patient, but we have them take melatonin (supplements) earlier in the evening and then have them use some bright light in the morning,” Tiani says Assetsin relation to Night owls who have to get up earlier. “These two things help anchor their sleep window while they work to change things.”
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Stress at work can affect women’s insomnia
You have probably experienced bouts of acute insomnia, stressful periods throughout your life in which you have had difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, or getting a good night’s sleep. They may have lasted just a few days or even a few weeks. However, chronic insomnia occurs when these sleep problems occur at least three times a week for more than three months, the study says National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. In addition, chronic insomnia cannot be explained by other health problems.
Insomnia is about 1.5 times more common in women, previous research has shown. Lok and her colleagues suspected that this could be due to certain risk factors that are more common in women, such as anxiety and depression.
Dr. Eric Sklar is a neurologist and medical director of the Inova program for sleep disorders in Northern Virginia. Insomnia is one of the most common sleep disorders he treats, and the results of the study didn’t surprise him.
“There is a high association with underlying psychiatric disorders and insomnia,” says Sklar Assets. “Some of the underlying societal stressors for men and women may be different.”
Women are still often cast in the role of family caregiver while climbing the corporate ladder, Sklar notes, not to mention working in the field The other stressors of life. In addition, evening rest periods are essential for a healthy circadian rhythm and women sometimes have to fight harder for this, he says. And if called that “Delaying bedtime out of revenge” When it comes to screen time, women may be disrupting their body clock even further.
The report shows that, by objective measures, women sleep better than men. Women have higher values Sleep efficiencywhich refers to the percentage of time in bed actually spent sleeping. Women entered dream-heavy rapid eye movement (REM) Sleep phase earlier and spent about eight minutes longer in it Non-REM sleep. However, women self-reported poorer sleep quality as men.
While new parents face a variety of sleep problems, Tiani shares Assets A majority of their postpartum patients and women with young children report reduced sleep quality.
“Almost as if her brain was half-listening to her children in the middle of the night, in case they needed something,” Tiani says. Patients who serve in other roles as caregivers have reported the same thing, “listening at night.”
Why do men and women sleep differently?
Women caught a break with a common sleep disorder: obstructive sleep apnea, when the upper airway becomes repeatedly blocked during sleep. The disorder is almost three times as common in menHowever, it is only connected to one increased risk of heart failure in womensays the review.
“It is known that men are at higher risk,” says Sklar Assets, adding that biological sex is used when assessing sleep apnea risk. “Men tend to have larger necks, and neck size is also a risk factor.”
Lok’s review also noted, among other things, these sleep differences between the sexes:
One key factor remained inconsistent across the nearly 150 studies Lok and her colleagues analyzed: women’s menstrual phases. Menstruation is accompanied by numerous changes that affect sleep, such as increased body temperature during menstruation Luteal phase of the cycle. Additionally, some research did not take subjects’ oral contraception into account, which may have led to biased results.
“It’s difficult because if someone doesn’t use hormonal contraceptives, for example, that means you have to include women in the same menstrual phase,” Lok explains Assets. “Otherwise you end up with all sorts of variations due to changes in hormone levels.”
Having overcome some of the hurdles that stood in her team’s way – namely, thin evidence for some biological sex differences – Lok is confident about the future.
In some cases, “we’re not sure if there are gender differences because no one has ever paid attention to them,” Lok says. “At the same time, it is a very encouraging article because it clearly shows where there are still gaps.”
More information about biological sex and health: