Date:2/1/2008

e night, said Fronczek. Sleep and skin temperature are tightly related, as everybody who ever tried to go to bed with cold feet will know. Earlier researchers discovered that in healthy people, the temperature of the distal skin hands and feet not only increases just before falling asleep, but also influences sleep itself. Warm hands and feet thus promote sleep. Our research shows that, surprisingly, the temperature of the hands and feet of people with narcolepsy is on a high level throughout the day, a level that is normally only seen in healthy people just before falling asleep. We normalized this abnormal pattern of skin temperature using a specially designed thermosuit that can differentially manipulate the distal en proximal skin temperature with warm or cold water. In this way, we were able to decrease daytime sleepiness and improve vigilance. This could lead to new therapeutical applications that can help to alleviate some of the symptoms of narcolepsy.

Narcolepsy is a sleep disorder that causes people to fall asleep uncontrollably during the day. It also includes features of dreaming that occur while awake. Other common symptoms include sleep paralysis, hallucinations and cataplexy. About one out of every 2,000 people is known to have narcolepsy. There does seem to be a genetic link to it. It is very rare for more than two people in the same family to have this sleep disorder. It affects the same number of men and women.

It is recommended that adults get between seven and eight hours of nightly sleep.

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) offers the following tips on how to get a good nights sleep:

• Follow a consistent bedtime routine.

• Establish a relaxing setting at bedtime.

• Get a full nights sleep every night.

• Avoid foods or drinks that contain caffeine, as well as any medicine that has a stimulant, prior to bedtime.
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Contact: Jim Arcuri jarcuri@aasmnet.org 708-492-0930 American Academy of Sleep Medicine Source:Eurekalert

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