Insomnia Research News

November 17, 2025

Top Headlines

Think Melatonin Is Safe? New Research Reveals a Hidden Heart Risk

Nov. 4, 2025 Long-term melatonin use for sleep problems may come with unexpected heart dangers. Researchers found that chronic users were almost twice as likely to die and 3.5 times more likely to be hospitalized for heart failure. Though melatonin is widely ...

Your Bedroom Glow Might Be Quietly Damaging Your Heart

Nov. 3, 2025 Boston researchers linked nighttime light exposure to greater stress-related brain activity and inflamed arteries, signaling a higher risk of heart disease. The study suggests that artificial light at night disrupts normal stress responses, leading ...

Alzheimer’s Might Be Powered by a Broken Sleep-wake Cycle

Nov. 3, 2025 Disrupted sleep patterns in Alzheimer’s disease may be more than a symptom—they could be a driving force. Researchers at Washington University found that the brain’s circadian rhythms are thrown off in key cell types, changing when hundreds of ...

Resetting the Body’s Rhythm Could Protect the Brain from Alzheimer’s

Nov. 1, 2025 Researchers discovered that altering the body’s natural rhythm can help protect the brain from Alzheimer’s damage. By turning off a circadian protein in mice, they raised NAD+ levels and reduced harmful tau buildup. The findings suggest that ...

Scientists Say This Simple Diet Change Can Improve Sleep Fast

Oct. 25, 2025 A new study shows that eating more fruits and vegetables during the day can significantly improve sleep that same night. Researchers found a clear link between diet quality and sleep depth, with participants who met the CDC’s daily produce ...

C-section Births Linked to Sleepless Nights and Painful Recoveries

Oct. 13, 2025 Women who undergo C-sections are more likely to experience debilitating pain and sleep disorders in the months after giving birth. Researchers found both qualitative and large-scale data supporting this link, including a 16% increase in sleep ...

Poor Sleep Speeds Brain Aging and May Raise Dementia Risk

Oct. 2, 2025 New research shows that poor sleep could make the brain appear years older than it really is. Using MRI scans and machine learning, scientists found a clear link between unhealthy sleep patterns and accelerated brain ...

Hidden Bacterial Molecules in the Brain Reveal New Secrets of Sleep

Sep. 25, 2025 New studies show that a bacterial molecule, peptidoglycan, is present in the brain and fluctuates with sleep patterns. This challenges the idea that sleep is solely brain-driven, instead suggesting it’s a collaborative process between our bodies ...

Stanford Scientists Reveal Simple Shift That Could Prevent Strokes and Obesity Nationwide

Sep. 16, 2025 Switching clocks twice a year disrupts circadian rhythms in ways that harm health. Stanford scientists found permanent standard time would reduce obesity and stroke rates nationwide, making it the ...

Sleepless Nights May Raise Dementia Risk by 40%, Mayo Clinic Reveals

Sep. 14, 2025 Chronic insomnia may do more than leave you groggy, it could speed up brain aging. A large Mayo Clinic study found that people with long-term sleep troubles were 40% more likely to develop dementia or cognitive impairment, with brain scans showing ...

The Sleep Switch That Builds Muscle, Burns Fat, and Boosts Brainpower

Sep. 8, 2025 UC Berkeley researchers mapped the brain circuits that control growth hormone during sleep, uncovering a feedback system where sleep fuels hormone release, and the hormone regulates wakefulness. The discovery helps explain links between poor sleep, ...

Overworked Neurons Burn Out and Fuel Parkinson’s Disease

Sep. 3, 2025 Overactivation of dopamine neurons may directly drive their death, explaining why movement-controlling brain cells degenerate in Parkinson’s. Mice with chronically stimulated neurons showed the same selective damage seen in patients, along with ...

Latest Headlines

updated 10:54am EST

Stunning Images Reveal How Antibiotics Shatter Bacterial Defenses

Sep. 29, 2025 Researchers have revealed how polymyxins, crucial last-resort antibiotics, break down bacterial armor by forcing cells to overproduce and shed it. Astonishingly, the drugs only kill bacteria when ...

Study Finds Cannabis Improves Sleep Where Other Drugs Fail

Sep. 2, 2025 A long-term study following insomnia patients treated with cannabis-based medical products revealed sustained improvements in sleep quality, mood, and pain management over 18 months. Most ...

Losing Weight but Gaining Weakness? What Ozempic Might Be Doing to Your Muscles

Aug. 10, 2025 Ozempic’s weight loss benefits might come at the cost of muscle strength, even if muscle size remains relatively stable. This raises significant ...

The Hidden Ways Light at Night Damages Your Brain, Mood, and Metabolism

Aug. 8, 2025 Neuroscientist Dr. Randy J. Nelson explores how artificial light at night disrupts our bodies, from immune health to mood. His work bridges lab research, clinical trials, and everyday solutions while ...

Tai Chi, Yoga, and Jogging Rival Pills for Beating Insomnia

July 17, 2025 Yoga, Tai Chi, walking, and jogging may be some of the best natural remedies for improving sleep and tackling insomnia, according to a large analysis comparing various treatments. While cognitive ...

Can’t Sleep, Can’t Focus, Can’t Thrive? ADHD and Insomnia May Be a Vicious Cycle

July 16, 2025 Struggling to sleep might be the hidden reason why adults with ADHD traits often feel less satisfied with life. New research reveals a strong link ...

Parkinson’s Reversal? One Drug Brings Dying Brain Cells Back to Life

July 3, 2025 Stanford researchers discovered that dialing down an overactive enzyme, LRRK2, can regrow lost cellular “antennae” in key brain cells, restoring vital dopamine communication and neuroprotective ...

Sleep-in Science: How 2 Extra Weekend Hours Can Calm Teen Anxiety

June 13, 2025 Teens might finally have a good reason to sleep in on weekends within limits. A new study reveals that teenagers who get up to two extra hours of sleep on weekends show fewer anxiety symptoms than ...

Timing, Consistency of Activity Linked to Better Fitness

May 28, 2025 The timing and consistency of your daily activity might be associated with improved cardiorespiratory fitness and walking ...

Daytime Boosts Immunity, Scientists Find

May 26, 2025 Daylight can boost the immune system's ability to fight ...

Long Commutes and Small Homes Are Wrecking Sleep

Sep. 30, 2025 Tokyo residents face a trade-off between home size and commute time when it comes to sleep health. A new study shows longer commutes increase both insomnia and daytime sleepiness, while smaller ...

Newfound Mechanism Rewires Cellular Energy Processing for Drastic Weight Loss

May 21, 2025 Scientists have uncovered a startling metabolic twist: mice engineered to lack the amino acid cysteine, and fed a cysteine-free diet, shed nearly a third of their body weight in just a week. The ...

A New Technology for Extending the Shelf Life of Produce

May 21, 2025 Researchers developed a way to extend the shelf life of vegetables by injecting them with melatonin using biodegradable ...

Survival Trick: Pathogen Taps Iron Source in Immune Cells

May 19, 2025 The body defends itself against pathogens by depriving them of vital iron. However, this strategy doesn't always succeed against Salmonella. Researchers have discovered that these bacteria ...

Don't Hit Snooze on New Research About Waking Up Each Morning

May 19, 2025 Sleep experts recommend against snoozing after a wake-up alarm, but a study shows the practice is common, with more than 50% of sleep sessions logged ending in a snooze alarm and users spending 11 ...

Scientists Discover New Way the Brain Learns

May 14, 2025 Neuroscientists have discovered that the brain uses a dual system for learning through trial and error. This is the first time a second learning system has been identified, which could help explain ...

Lack of Sleep Can Increase the Risk of Cardiovascular Disease

May 8, 2025 Even a few nights with insufficient sleep promote molecular mechanisms linked to a greater risk of heart problems. This has been shown in a new study in which the researchers investigated how sleep ...

Biological 'Clocks' Key to Muscle Health and Accelerated Aging in Shift Workers

May 5, 2025 Muscle cells contain their own circadian clocks and disrupting them with shift work can have a profound impact on aging, according to new ...

Link Between Heart Attack Severity and Circadian Rhythm Unveiled

Apr. 23, 2025 The molecular mechanism behind why heart attacks can vary in severity depending on the time of day has been uncovered, potentially paving the way for innovative treatments that align with the natural ...

Adolescents Who Sleep Longer Perform Better at Cognitive Tasks

Apr. 22, 2025 Adolescents who sleep for longer -- and from an earlier bedtime -- than their peers tend to have improved brain function and perform better at cognitive tests, researchers have shown. But the study ...

Early-Life Exposure to Air and Light Pollution Linked to Increased Risk of Pediatric Thyroid Cancer

Apr. 18, 2025 A new study suggests that early-life exposure to two widespread environmental pollutants -- small particle air pollution and outdoor artificial light at night -- could increase the risk of pediatric ...

Insomnia and Sleep Medication Use Connected to Disability in Older Adults

Apr. 18, 2025 For adults over the age of 65, higher levels of both insomnia symptoms and sleep medication use were associated with higher risk of disability a year later, according to a new ...

How Disturbed Signaling Pathways Could Promote Epileptic Seizures

Apr. 16, 2025 Focal cortical dysplasia (FCD) type 2 is a congenital malformation of the cerebral cortex that is often associated with difficult-to-treat epilepsy. In the affected areas, nerve cells and their layer ...

How Circadian Clocks Maintain Robustness in Changing Environments

Apr. 15, 2025 New research has uncovered how a simple circadian clock network demonstrates advanced noise-filtering capabilities, enhancing our understanding of how biological circuits maintain accuracy in dynamic ...

Sleep Matters: Duration, Timing, Quality and More May Affect Cardiovascular Disease Risk

Apr. 14, 2025 Healthy sleep includes multiple components, such as number of hours of sleep per night, how long it takes to fall asleep, daytime functioning and self-reported sleep satisfaction, and addressing ...

Stress, Depression Factor Into Link Between Insomnia, Heavy Drinking

Apr. 14, 2025 A new study suggests that perceived stress and depression factor into the relationship between insomnia and hazardous drinking -- perhaps not a surprise. But because the relationship between insomnia ...

Brain Pathway Links Inflammation to Loss of Motivation, Energy in Advanced Cancer

Apr. 10, 2025 Researchers identified a direct connection between cancer-related inflammation and the loss of motivation characteristic of advanced cancer. In a mouse study, they describe a brain pathway that ...

What Links Cannabis Use and Psychosis? Researchers Point to Brain's Dopamine System

Apr. 9, 2025 A new study found that people with cannabis use disorder (CUD) had elevated dopamine levels in a brain region associated with ...

Starch-Based Microplastics Could Cause Health Risks in Mice

Apr. 9, 2025 Wear and tear on plastic products releases small to nearly invisible plastic particles, which could impact people's health when consumed or inhaled. To make these particles biodegradable, ...

Eating Only During the Daytime Could Protect People from Heart Risks of Shift Work

Apr. 8, 2025 Numerous studies have shown that working the night shift is associated with serious health risks, including to the heart. However, a new study suggests that eating only during the daytime could help ...