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Feb 5, 2008 12:03 pm US/Pacific
Study Finds Smoking, Sleep Deprivation Link
BALTIMORE (CBS) ―
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Johns Hopkins researchers found smokers tend to have difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep. (File)
CBS
A just-released study reveals new information about the impact of smoking on sleep.
Johns Hopkins researchers have discovered that cigarettes can negatively affect sleep quality, reports CBS station WJZ-TV in Baltimore.
It appears to be a common complaint. The Johns Hopkins study found cigarette smokers are more likely than non-smokers to report unrestful sleep.
"Less deep sleep and more lighter sleep," Dr. Naresh Pujabi, a sleep specialist from Johns Hopkins Bayview.
Pujabi had 40 smokers and 40 non-smokers take a sleep test. The smokers were four times more likely to complain of poor quality.
"They have difficulty falling asleep and maintaining sleep. So early morning awakenings and maintaining deep sleep throughout the night," said Dr. Punjabi.
Scans of smoker's brains showed increased activity at night. The researchers think stimulating effects of nicotine are preventing smokers from sleeping deeply.
Ella Thompson started smoking when she was 12 years old and rarely has a restful night.
"I usually go to sleep around 9 or 10 and I'm up at 12 and I go down and smoke a cigarette, go to bed at 1, up at 2, back down at 4 and up at 5 and I'm up," said Thompson.
Punjabi says the heightened brain activity during sleep could also be the result of nicotine withdrawal.
It makes sense to David Matthews, a smoker, who averages about four to five hours of sleep a night.
"During the course of the evening I smoke a few before bed and the first thing I reach for in the morning is a cigarette," said Matthews.
To get a good night's rest, smokers should kick the habit.
The researchers made sure all of the study participants had no existing health problems that could have influenced their sleep.
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