Further to discussion on sleeping problems I thought I would share this article I found on Life Extension.org
Quote:
The Detrimental Effects of Sleep Deprivation
On June 22, 2002, researchers at the annual meeting of the Endocrine Society held in San Francisco reported that sleep deprivation markedly increases inflammatory cytokines. This finding helps explain why pain flare-up occurs in response to lack of sleep in a variety of disorders. According to the researchers, even modest sleep restriction adversely affects hormone and cytokine levels. In this carefully controlled study, sleep deprivation caused a 40% to 60% average increase in the inflammatory marker IL-6 in men and women, while men alone showed a 20% to 30% increase in TNF-a. Both IL-6 and TNF are potent pro-inflammatory cytokines that induce systemic inflammation (Vgontzas et al. 1999; Vgontzas et al. 2001).
The study results were presented by Dr. Alexandros Vgontzas, professor of psychiatry at The Pennsylvania State University in Hershey. Dr. Vgontzas stated that the findings indicate that getting a full night's rest of eight hours is not just a nice bonus, but a necessity. He stated that people who are missing even two to three hours of sleep function poorly the next day.
Dr. Vgontzas added that the finding that lack of sleep may stimulate an increase in chronic inflammatory response is worrisome because inflammation has been linked to the most common lethal conditions affecting humans today. Vgontzas warned: "Restriction of sleep a few hours is a major risk for public safety."
This study has significant implications for the treatment of chronic pain and inflammatory disorders. For many, following the recommendations in Life Extension's Insomnia Protocol could provide considerable relief from pain and other disorders by preventing the increase of pro-inflammatory cytokines.
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While the article does not speak directly to RSD, there is enough research out there to suggest that those of us who suffer from RSD have a chronic inflammation. For those interested in reading more on Chronic Inflammation here is a link to this article.
http://www.lef.org/protocols/prtcl-146.shtml
Staying on topic of the thread here is the link to the article on Life Extension's Insomnia Protocol
http://www.lef.org/protocols/lifesty...nsomnia_01.htm
MsL