Sleeping Fewer Than 5 Hours a Night Tied to Bone Problems

as an Orthopedist treating osteoporosis,this article is lacking scientific basis. First the study is a bone density exam-Dexa. Not a bone scan which is a nuclear medicine test . The sample size is woefully small. This offers no basis for the conclusions. This may suggest a theory to be tested with a properly random clinical trial.Don't put this out without better evaluation to it's worth,please.

This is not scientific at all, but I have noticed that a large proportion of my patients with untreated sleep apnea have very low vitamin D levels- I wonder if there is a correlation there. On a personal note- my bones and joints always hurt when I’m sleep deprived. I definitely believe this study is on to something.

Being in bed is not necessarily getting sleep. I have been thin boned all my life. Now into my 60s, lots of nights I wake at 4 or 3 and toss and turn till all my animals leave the bedroom. Does staying in bed apply for getting sleep? Why are my bones continuing to get thinner if I stay in bed and read a book?

I know that these articles are intended to help, but they don’t. The headlines are click bait screamers that tell me to worry over things of which I am vaguely aware and cannot control. Or don’t want to control. Moreover, these articles are often from dubious studies, or are preliminary, or are simply about correlation. They sometimes are contradictory. I guess the domain covered by these reports needs data driven reporting techniques. Discuss all key research findings, talk to sampling size, expose strengths and weaknesses in the analysis and so forth. As they are, they are written to a high school comprehension level at best.

Sleep is another one of those areas where non pharmaceutical remedies like diet, exercise, lower stress, proper light, behavior before bed and yes, herbal supplements really can be effective, and where the health care industry doesn’t study thoroughly.

If you're not getting enough sleep, and anything less than six hours is not enough (except for a fraction of people who genetically don't need as much), osteoporosis may be the least of one's worries. Research shows that the immune system takes a big hit from sleep deprivation, and has been tied to everything from heart disease and diabetes to cancer.

"This study does not prove that short sleep causes osteoporosis." Enough said.

So, up since 1 am and reading this at 3:30. And yes, already diagnosed. Sigh.

So fill my Ambien prescription without giving me a lot of chatter.