Expert Alert - Time to wake up for Sleep Awareness Week!

CIHR experts discuss how sleep can affect health

Attention: Assignment editors, health, research and science reporters

For immediate release - 2010-08

Ottawa (March 8, 2010) – Most people wish they could catch a few extra Zs in the morning. This week, push that snooze button one more time; it's good for your health!

With National Sleep Awareness Week in America taking place between March 7th and 13th, Canadians may be curious about the importance of a good night's rest. CIHR experts are available to discuss the necessity of sleep and how it impacts on your health.

Experts:

The best cure for insomnia is Monday morning: various ways to overcome sleeplessness without medication
Dr. Charles Morin, CIHR-funded researcher from Laval University, Quebec City

Do people with developmental difficulties dream differently?
Dr. Roger Godbout, CIHR-funded researcher at the Fernand-Ségin Research Centre, sleep laboratory and clinic, Louis-H. Lafontaine Hospital, Montreal

Lights out, but not for the graveyard shifts: does artificial light have negative health effects?
Dr. Robert Casper, CIHR-funded researcher at the Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto

Daylight Savings Time: how losing or gaining an hour of sleep can affect your health
Dr. John Peever, CIHR-funded researcher at the University of Toronto

How to help your child sleep like a baby
Dr. Wendy Anne Hall, CIHR-funded researcher at the University of British Columbia

Silent killer: Why do some stop breathing in their sleep: sleep apnea and links to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)
Dr. Richard Horner, Canada Research Chair in Sleep and Respiratory Neurobiology at the University of Toronto

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For an interview with a researcher, please contact:

David Coulombe,
CIHR Media Relations,
Tel: 613-941-4563
Cell: 613-808-7526
mediarelations@cihr-irsc.gc.ca 

The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) is the Government of Canada's agency for health research. CIHR's mission is to create new scientific knowledge and to enable its translation into improved health, more effective health services and products, and a strengthened Canadian health-care system. Composed of 13 Institutes, CIHR provides leadership and support to more than 13,000 health researchers and trainees across Canada.