One-third of US adults don't get enough sleep, putting them at risk of serious health consequences



Americans are not getting enough sleep, which could have serious consequences for their health.

One in three American adults is not getting enough sleep — defined as seven or more hours a night — per a study recently conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Axios reported.

A press release from the CDC regarding the study states, "More than a third of American adults are not getting enough sleep on a regular basis, according to a new study in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report."

The press release continued to indicate that this study was the first of its kind and documented the sleep habits of Americans across the country.

It said, "This is the first study to document estimates of self-reported healthy sleep duration (7 or more hours per day) for all 50 states and the District of Columbia."

The study found that rates of "healthy sleep duration" were lower among Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders, non-Hispanic blacks, multiracial non-Hispanics, and American Indians/Native Alaskans.

Non-Hispanic whites, Hispanics, and Asians tended to get more sleep.

Lower portions of adults reported getting at least seven hours of sleep a day in states located in the southeastern region of the country and adults in the Appalachian Mountains. These areas have the highest prevalence of obesity and other chronic health conditions in the country.

Reportedly, over time, not getting enough sleep on a regular basis can drastically increase a person's risk of experiencing heart disease, strokes, and cancer.

Medical research has also linked insufficient sleep to obesity, depression, anxiety, heart failure, and dementia.

Lack of sleep is also directly tied to increases in an individual's health care costs and poor job performance. Employees who do not get enough sleep are much more likely to be unfocused at work, miss work, or get injured while on the job.

The CDC's study even found that people who said they were unable to work or were unemployed had lower reported rates of healthy sleep duration than employed respondents did.

Healthy sleep duration was also highest among people who received at least one college degree.

Francesco Cappuccio, a heart health and sleep expert at the University of Warwick, said, "Sleep is not a dead state. It's like pressing the 'save' button on a computer"

While we sleep, our bodies repair tissue, organize our thoughts, and consolidate memory.

What we know about the spread of MONKEYPOX so far

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Mammograms finding COVID-19 vaccine-related swelling in lymph nodes — but health care providers say the findings are causing 'unnecessary fear'



Mammograms are picking up COVID-19 vaccine-related swelling, according to a new report from CNN.

Radiologists, however, say that the findings are causing "unnecessary fear."

What are the details?

A Wednesday report from CNN recounts Boston primary care physician Dr. Devon Quasha's journey when she noticed a lump in her breast.

Following through with preventive care, Quasha scheduled a mammogram to rule out any concern.

Quasha, according to the outlet, received her first Moderna vaccine a week before her scheduled mammogram and didn't notice any immediate reaction to the vaccine.

"A couple of days before her appointment her left arm began to hurt," the outlet reported. "Tender, swollen lumps developed under her left armpit, along with a large swelling above her collarbone — all areas where there are lymph nodes, the body's filters for germs."

Quasha said that she was alarmed when she made the discovery.

"You have lymph nodes above and below your collarbone," she said. "You don't want to feel those. It was scary when I felt it."

The swelling, CNN notes, was only on the left side, where she received the shot.

Following the test, radiologists told Quasha that the initial lump in her breast was of little significance, but the lymph node swelling was something else.

"After talking it over with her [healthcare provider], Quasha said her doctor decided not to do a biopsy at that time," the outlet reported. "Instead, she told Quasha to come back for a follow-up ultrasound in six weeks."

Six weeks later, the lymph node swelling had abated.

"I was very reassured," she said. "The point here is that there are a number of side effects from the vaccine which are not dangerous, but can sometimes increase patient anxiety."

What else?

Dr. Connie Lehman, chief of breast imaging at Massachusetts General and professor of radiology at Harvard Medical School, said that the phenomenon is becoming rather common.

"We all started talking about it, and it was like a wildfire," Lehman said. "I cannot tell you how many women are showing nodes on mammograms and people thought it was going to be not that common."

Lehman pointed out that she believes it is unnecessary to run immediately straight to a biopsy when finding swollen nodes on mammograms.

"If a woman had a vaccine in the arm on the same side, and the lymph nodes are swollen, this is a normal biological response," Lehman insisted. "It's totally expected."