'Nightcaps' don't help you sleep better after all

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Golf Tournament Benefits Children at Risk
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The 11th Annual Children at Risk Golf Classic, hosted by FOX 26 anchor Melissa Wilson, was a huge success! The event took place at The Woodlands Country Club on the tournament course.
'Heights of Health' Alternative Medicine
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This FOX 26 Morning News Extra special focuses on everything alternative health. INSIDE: Watch all 9 segments.

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Teen birth rates in the United States are dropping sharply, especially among Hispanic teens, according to a new government report.
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Kids who eat fast food at least twice a week are 50 percent less likely to use calorie and nutritional information than kids who eat fast food less often.
American Cancer Society celebrates 100 years of progress
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Simple steps can protect pets in weather disasters
Simple steps can protect pets in weather disasters
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In the aftermath of this week's deadly tornado, many people in Oklahoma are not only struggling to care for children and relatives, but also their pets.
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Over the last decade, the number of American children who die each year awaiting an organ donation dropped by more than half, new research reveals. And increasing numbers of children are receiving donor organs.
Americans still making unhealthy choices
Americans still making unhealthy choices
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The overall health of Americans isn't improving much, with about six in 10 people either overweight or obese and large numbers engaging in unhealthy behaviors like smoking, heavy drinking or not exercising.
Weather worries can threaten a child's mental health
Weather worries can threaten a child's mental health
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The monstrous tornado that devastated Moore, Okla., on Monday, killing dozens of adults and children, is a stunning example of violent weather that can affect a child's mental well-being.
Student suicide may spur similar thoughts in teens
Student suicide may spur similar thoughts in teens
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When a classmate commits suicide, teens are more likely to consider or attempt suicide themselves, according to a new study.
Sleepless nights may hurt school performance of kids with asthma
Sleepless nights may hurt school performance of kids with asthma
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Urban elementary school children with poorly controlled asthma are likely to experience sleep problems and suffer academically, new research indicates.

WEDNESDAY, Jan. 23 (HealthDay News) -- Alcohol may help you get to sleep faster and sleep better at first, but it disrupts your sleep later in the night, according to British researchers who reviewed all known scientific studies on alcohol's impact on sleep.

The authors said they hope their findings will help people understand that drinking alcohol only gives the impression of improving sleep, and that it should not be used as a sleep aid.

The review found that alcohol consumption shortens the time it takes to get to sleep and increases initial deep sleep, but reduces rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. Lack of REM sleep can harm concentration, motor skills and memory.

The review appeared online Jan. 22 and is in the April print issue of the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research.

"One hypothesis is that alcohol acts like medications that are used for depression and anxiety," review corresponding author Irshaad Ebrahim, medical director at the London Sleep Centre, said in a journal news release.

"Studies on patients with depression have identified that untreated patients had excessive REM sleep, particularly in the early part of the night, and that antidepressant medication suppressed REM sleep. Alcohol acts like antidepressants, reducing REM sleep particularly in the first part of the night. This impact of alcohol on REM sleep may explain the mood elevation and anxiety reduction associated with alcohol use," Ebrahim said.

Ebrahim's colleague, Chris Idzikowski, director of the Edinburgh Sleep Center in Scotland, pointed out that the review helps clarify the research findings. "Certainly a mythology seems to have developed around the impact of alcohol on sleep," Idzikowski said in the news release.

"In sum, alcohol on the whole is not useful for improving a whole night's sleep. Sleep may be deeper to start with, but then becomes disrupted. Additionally, that deeper sleep will probably promote snoring and poorer breathing. So, one shouldn't expect better sleep with alcohol," Idzikowski said.

More information

The U.S. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke has more about sleep.

*DISCLAIMER*: The information contained in or provided through this site section is intended for general consumer understanding and education only and is not intended to be and is not a substitute for professional advice. Use of this site section and any information contained on or provided through this site section is at your own risk and any information contained on or provided through this site section is provided on an "as is" basis without any representations or warranties.

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'Nightcaps' don't help you sleep better after all

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