Benefit
of Daytime Sleeping
Research on Significant Link Found Between Daytime
Sleepiness and Vitamin D
A new study suggests that there is a significant
correlation between excessive daytime sleepiness and vitamin D, and race plays
an important factor.
Results show that in patients with normal vitamin D
levels, progressively higher levels of daytime sleepiness were correlated
inversely with progressively lower levels of vitamin D. Among patients with
vitamin D deficiency, sleepiness and vitamin D levels were associated only
among black patients. Surprisingly, this correlation was observed in a direct
relationship, with higher vitamin D levels associated with a higher level of
sleepiness among black patients.
"While we found a significant correlation between
vitamin D and sleepiness, the relationship appears to be more complex than we
had originally thought," said David McCarty, MD, the study's principal
investigator. "It's important to now do a follow-up study and look deeper
into this correlation."
The study, appearing online in the Dec. 15 issue of the
Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, involved a consecutive series of 81 sleep
clinic patients who complained of sleep problems and nonspecific pain. All
patients eventually were diagnosed with a sleep disorder, which in the majority
of cases was obstructive sleep apnea. Vitamin D level was measured by blood
sampling, and sleepiness was determined using the Epworth Sleepiness Scale.
According to the authors, this is the first study to
demonstrate a significant relationship between sleepiness and vitamin D. They
noted that it is logical for race to affect this relationship because increased
skin pigmentation is an established risk factor for low vitamin D.
The study was not designed to examine causality. However,
the authors' previous and current research suggests that suboptimal levels of
vitamin D may cause or contribute to excessive daytime sleepiness, either
directly or by means of chronic pain.
Image source: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/863323
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