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Healthwatch
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Healthwatch
Should You Be Sleepmaxxing To Boost Health And Happiness?
~6.1 mins read
This viral wellness trend may be more hype than substance.
taping your mouth shut while sleeping
not drinking anything during the two hours before bedtime
a cold room temperature
a dark bedroom
using a white noise machine
not setting a morning alarm
showering one hour before bedtime
eliminating caffeine
eating kiwis before going to bed
taking magnesium and melatonin
using weighted blankets
getting 30 minutes of sunlight every day
meditating daily for 30 minutes.
Taking melatonin is recommended by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine to treat circadian rhythm disorders such as jet lag. But it's not recommended for insufficient sleep, poor sleep quality, or difficulty with falling asleep or staying asleep.
Is it healthier to be asleep by 10 p.m.? One video that garnered more than a million views claims it is. While it is important to maximize morning sunlight exposure and minimize evening light exposure to regulate circadian rhythms, there is such variability in how much sleep someone requires and individual chronotypes (not to mention varying personal and professional responsibilities!) that it is difficult to state there is an ideal bedtime for everyone.
While intriguing research has been done on weighted blankets, there is no convincing evidence that they are truly effective for the general adult population.
Overall, it's important to be cautious about the impact of the placebo effect on how someone sleeps. An analysis of more than 30 studies showed that roughly 64% of the drug response for a sleep medication in insomnia patients could be due to the placebo effect. A key takeaway is that studies that are not randomized controlled trials — such as this small study on 24 people suggesting that kiwi fruit may improve sleep — should be interpreted with a grain of salt.
If you've been on TikTok lately, you know it's hard to avoid countless influencers touting a concept called sleepmaxxing. Their posts provide tips and tricks to get longer, better, and more restorative sleep. And why not? Sleep is considered a pillar of good health and is related to everything from brain health to cardiovascular health, and even diabetes.
But what exactly is sleepmaxxing? And how likely is it to deliver on claims of amped-up energy, a boost to the immune system, reducing stress levels, and improving your mood?
What is sleepmaxxing?
Depending on which social media platform you happen to be looking at, the recommended strategies for maximizing sleep differ. Tips include:
Does any research support sleepmaxxing?
A thorough search through PubMed, PsycNet, and Google Scholar reveals zero results for the terms "sleepmaxx" and "sleepmaxxing." But wait — this certainly doesn't mean that some influencer-recommended strategies are not evidence-based, just that the concept of sleepmaxxing, as a defined package, has not been scientifically studied. But yes, some of the strategies — including one uncomfortable, though popular, choice — lack evidence.
Can mouth-taping improve your sleep?
TikTok users have claimed that taping your mouth while you sleep has benefits, such as reducing snoring and improving bad breath. A team from the department of otolaryngology at George Washington University was prompted by all of the social media buzz on the topic to review research on the impact of nocturnal mouth taping. Spoiler alert: the authors note that most TikTok mouth-taping claims aren't supported by research.
If you do snore, it's important to discuss this with your medical team. Even if taping your mouth reduces your snoring, it can't effectively treat a potential underlying cause of the snoring, such as allergies, asthma, or sleep apnea.
Sleepmaxxing or basic sleep hygiene?
Many strategies recommended by sleepmaxxers are essentially what sleep experts prescribe as good sleep hygiene, which has plenty of research backing its value. Common components of sleep hygiene are decreasing caffeine and alcohol consumption, increasing physical activity, sleep timing, reducing evening light exposure, limiting daytime naps, and having a cool bedroom.
While tips like these help many people enjoy restful sleep, those who have an insomnia disorder will need more help, as described below.
Melatonin, early bedtime, weighted blankets, and — kiwi fruit?
Other strategies suggested by sleepmaxxers are based on limited scientific data. For example:
Could you have orthosomnia?
The expectation of flawless sleep, night in and night out, is an unrealistic goal. Orthosomnia is a term that describes an unhealthy pursuit of perfect sleep. The pressure to get perfect sleep is embedded in the sleepmaxxing culture.
With more and more people able to access daily data about their sleep and other health metrics through consumer wearables, even a person who is objectively sleeping well can become unnecessarily concerned with optimizing their sleep. While prioritizing restful sleep is commendable, setting perfection as your goal is problematic. Even good sleepers vary from night to night, experiencing less than desirable sleep a couple of times per week.
It is also noteworthy that some of the most widely viewed recommendations on TikTok are not supported by scientific evidence.
Do you really need to fix your sleep?
A good first step is to understand whether or not there is anything that you need to fix! Consider tracking your sleep for a few weeks using a sleep diary, and pair this data with a consumer wearable (such as a Fitbit or Apple Watch). Both imperfectly capture sleep data when compared to the gold-standard tool sleep experts use (polysomnography, or a sleep study). However, combining the information can give you a reasonable assessment of your sleep status.
Regularly getting restful sleep can indeed boost health and mood. And all of us can benefit from following basic sleep hygiene tips. But if it takes you 30 minutes or more to fall asleep, or if you are up for 30 minutes or more in the middle of the night, and this happens three or more times per week, then consider reaching out to your health care team to seek further evaluation.
There are effective, nonmedication treatments that are proven to help you sleep better. One example is cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia, which can dramatically improve insomnia symptoms in a matter of weeks.
Want to learn more about cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia? Watch this video from the Division of Sleep Medicine at Harvard Medical School with Eric Zhou describing how it works.
Worldnews
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Worldnews
Elon Musk Launches The America Party As Feud With Trump Escalates
~2.4 mins read
Tesla CEO says he has formed a new political party after falling out with US President Donald Trump over the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’. Billionaire Elon Musk has followed through on his pledge to create a new political party in the United States after President Donald Trump signed his controversial budget legislation, the so-called “One Big, Beautiful Bill”, into law. Musk in a post on X on Saturday declared the formation of the “America Party“, to “give back” the people of the US their freedom and challenge what he called the nation’s “one-party system”. He cited a poll, uploaded on Friday – the US’s Independence Day – in which he asked whether respondents “want independence from the two-party (some would say uniparty) system” that has dominated US politics for some two centuries. The yes-or-no survey earned more than 1.2 million responses. “By a factor of 2 to 1, you want a new political party and you shall have it!” Musk wrote on Saturday. “When it comes to bankrupting our country with waste & graft, we live in a one-party system, not a democracy. Today, the America Party is formed to give you back your freedom,” he declared. The move comes amid a worsening of the feud between the world’s richest man and Trump over the new budget law, which the Tesla and SpaceX CEO said would bankrupt the US. Musk was Trump’s main campaign financier during the 2024 election, and led the Department of Government Efficiency from the start of the president’s second term, aimed at slashing government spending. The two have since fallen out spectacularly over disagreements about the “Big, Beautiful Bill”. Musk said previously that he would start a new political party and spend money to unseat lawmakers who supported the bill, which experts say will pile an extra $3.4 trillion over a decade onto the US deficit. “They will lose their primary next year if it is the last thing I do on this Earth,” Musk had said. There was no immediate comment from Trump or the White House on Musk’s announcement. Trump earlier this week threatened to cut off the billions of dollars in subsidies that Musk’s companies receive from the federal government, and to deport the South African-born tycoon. “We’ll have to take a look,” the president told reporters when asked if he would consider deporting Musk, who has held US citizenship since 2002. It is not clear how much impact the new party will have on the 2026 mid-term elections, or on the presidential vote two years after that. On Friday, after posting the poll, Musk laid out a possible political battle plan to pick off vulnerable House of Representatives and Senate seats, and for the party to become “the deciding vote” on key legislation. “One way to execute on this would be to laser-focus on just 2 or 3 Senate seats and 8 to 10 House districts,” Musk posted on X. All 435 US House seats are up for grabs every two years, while about one-third of the Senate’s 100 members, who serve six-year terms, are elected every two years. Despite Musk’s deep pockets, breaking the Republican-Democratic duopoly is a tall order, given that it has dominated US political life for more than 160 years, while Trump’s approval ratings in polls in his second term have generally held firm above 40 percent, despite the president’s often divisive policies. Follow Al Jazeera English:...
Read this story on Aljazeera
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Healthwatch
Should You Be Sleepmaxxing To Boost Health And Happiness?
~6.1 mins read
This viral wellness trend may be more hype than substance.
taping your mouth shut while sleeping
not drinking anything during the two hours before bedtime
a cold room temperature
a dark bedroom
using a white noise machine
not setting a morning alarm
showering one hour before bedtime
eliminating caffeine
eating kiwis before going to bed
taking magnesium and melatonin
using weighted blankets
getting 30 minutes of sunlight every day
meditating daily for 30 minutes.
Taking melatonin is recommended by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine to treat circadian rhythm disorders such as jet lag. But it's not recommended for insufficient sleep, poor sleep quality, or difficulty with falling asleep or staying asleep.
Is it healthier to be asleep by 10 p.m.? One video that garnered more than a million views claims it is. While it is important to maximize morning sunlight exposure and minimize evening light exposure to regulate circadian rhythms, there is such variability in how much sleep someone requires and individual chronotypes (not to mention varying personal and professional responsibilities!) that it is difficult to state there is an ideal bedtime for everyone.
While intriguing research has been done on weighted blankets, there is no convincing evidence that they are truly effective for the general adult population.
Overall, it's important to be cautious about the impact of the placebo effect on how someone sleeps. An analysis of more than 30 studies showed that roughly 64% of the drug response for a sleep medication in insomnia patients could be due to the placebo effect. A key takeaway is that studies that are not randomized controlled trials — such as this small study on 24 people suggesting that kiwi fruit may improve sleep — should be interpreted with a grain of salt.
If you've been on TikTok lately, you know it's hard to avoid countless influencers touting a concept called sleepmaxxing. Their posts provide tips and tricks to get longer, better, and more restorative sleep. And why not? Sleep is considered a pillar of good health and is related to everything from brain health to cardiovascular health, and even diabetes.
But what exactly is sleepmaxxing? And how likely is it to deliver on claims of amped-up energy, a boost to the immune system, reducing stress levels, and improving your mood?
What is sleepmaxxing?
Depending on which social media platform you happen to be looking at, the recommended strategies for maximizing sleep differ. Tips include:
Does any research support sleepmaxxing?
A thorough search through PubMed, PsycNet, and Google Scholar reveals zero results for the terms "sleepmaxx" and "sleepmaxxing." But wait — this certainly doesn't mean that some influencer-recommended strategies are not evidence-based, just that the concept of sleepmaxxing, as a defined package, has not been scientifically studied. But yes, some of the strategies — including one uncomfortable, though popular, choice — lack evidence.
Can mouth-taping improve your sleep?
TikTok users have claimed that taping your mouth while you sleep has benefits, such as reducing snoring and improving bad breath. A team from the department of otolaryngology at George Washington University was prompted by all of the social media buzz on the topic to review research on the impact of nocturnal mouth taping. Spoiler alert: the authors note that most TikTok mouth-taping claims aren't supported by research.
If you do snore, it's important to discuss this with your medical team. Even if taping your mouth reduces your snoring, it can't effectively treat a potential underlying cause of the snoring, such as allergies, asthma, or sleep apnea.
Sleepmaxxing or basic sleep hygiene?
Many strategies recommended by sleepmaxxers are essentially what sleep experts prescribe as good sleep hygiene, which has plenty of research backing its value. Common components of sleep hygiene are decreasing caffeine and alcohol consumption, increasing physical activity, sleep timing, reducing evening light exposure, limiting daytime naps, and having a cool bedroom.
While tips like these help many people enjoy restful sleep, those who have an insomnia disorder will need more help, as described below.
Melatonin, early bedtime, weighted blankets, and — kiwi fruit?
Other strategies suggested by sleepmaxxers are based on limited scientific data. For example:
Could you have orthosomnia?
The expectation of flawless sleep, night in and night out, is an unrealistic goal. Orthosomnia is a term that describes an unhealthy pursuit of perfect sleep. The pressure to get perfect sleep is embedded in the sleepmaxxing culture.
With more and more people able to access daily data about their sleep and other health metrics through consumer wearables, even a person who is objectively sleeping well can become unnecessarily concerned with optimizing their sleep. While prioritizing restful sleep is commendable, setting perfection as your goal is problematic. Even good sleepers vary from night to night, experiencing less than desirable sleep a couple of times per week.
It is also noteworthy that some of the most widely viewed recommendations on TikTok are not supported by scientific evidence.
Do you really need to fix your sleep?
A good first step is to understand whether or not there is anything that you need to fix! Consider tracking your sleep for a few weeks using a sleep diary, and pair this data with a consumer wearable (such as a Fitbit or Apple Watch). Both imperfectly capture sleep data when compared to the gold-standard tool sleep experts use (polysomnography, or a sleep study). However, combining the information can give you a reasonable assessment of your sleep status.
Regularly getting restful sleep can indeed boost health and mood. And all of us can benefit from following basic sleep hygiene tips. But if it takes you 30 minutes or more to fall asleep, or if you are up for 30 minutes or more in the middle of the night, and this happens three or more times per week, then consider reaching out to your health care team to seek further evaluation.
There are effective, nonmedication treatments that are proven to help you sleep better. One example is cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia, which can dramatically improve insomnia symptoms in a matter of weeks.
Want to learn more about cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia? Watch this video from the Division of Sleep Medicine at Harvard Medical School with Eric Zhou describing how it works.
News_Naija
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News_Naija
Police Nab Six Over Abuja Market Killing
~1.5 mins read
No fewer than six suspects linked to the killing that triggered unrest at Gosa Market along Airport Road in Abuja have been arrested by the operatives of the Federal Capital Police Command. The incident, which caused fear among traders and residents, followed the death of a man accused of stealing tubers of yam. As a result of the incident, many have abandoned the market, which is often regarded as one of the most affordable places to buy food items in Abuja. Speaking during a press briefing in Abuja, the Commissioner of Police, Adewale Ajao, said following the incident, the police swiftly moved into the area to douse tensions and restore normalcy. He said, “A young man was accused of stealing some tubers of yam at the market. And lo and behold, an individual decided to take the law into his hands. That’s a complete human being. This is what led to the crisis. “Following the police swiftly moved into the area to douse tensions and restore normalcy. Six suspects are currently in custody over the matter, which the police are treating as a clear case of murder. “ He added that the police engaged community leaders and traditional rulers in dialogue, which helped calm the situation. “Immediately after the incident, we engaged the community leader there. The traditional ruler was with us. We discussed and tried to find out what went wrong. They saw the need to embrace peace,” he said. He said as of Thursday, the Gosa Market had resumed full operations under tight police surveillance. Ajao noted that in efforts to tackle robbery, five armed robbery cases led to the arrest of 17 suspects, while six others were nabbed in connection with foiled robberies in Apo and Kubwa. “Items recovered included four vehicles, a jackknife, military camouflage, and pistol ammunition. “Other arrests included: Nine suspects for theft, four for “one-chance” robbery, five for car theft involving illegal scrap dealers, two for fraud, one each for illegal possession of firearms and attempted homicide, eight for child trafficking, ten for rape, and one suspect for domestic violence,” he added.
Read more stories like this on punchng.com
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