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Show Study to examine effects of humans sleeping in WASHINGTON (KRT) -- Try sleeping on your head, strapped in with a bungee cord, in a noisy little room with five other people. Oh, and the air's stale, the windows don't open and the world outside cycles from daylight to darkness 15 times a day. That's what former NASA astronaut Jerry 143 Linenger endured for nights in space, most of it aboard Mir, the old Russian space station. Mars-explorin- astronauts g would have to put up with the same nasty conditions for more than a year. Although NASA has almost no money for sleep research these days, a new study is due to head aloft with the next shuttle launch, tentatively in May. It's a collaboration among two Irish researchers, a California maker of lightweight shirts that measure vital signs and a German astronaut who's willing to low-budg- vest-lik- e wear one. The European Space Agency is picking up the tab. According to Linenger, a physician, there's no question that sleep deprivation degraded his fellow astronauts' performance. "I'd be talking to them and they'd literally be falling asleep," he recalled. "They'd go back to work and 15 minutes later they'd be falling asleep again." Sleeping pills help. But they're not perfect, and astronauts in orbit still suffer disruption of their circadian rhythms, the behavioral and physiological pace set by Earth's rotation. Although astronauts keep diaries of their sleep and its quality, it's proved hard to study closely. That's partly because astronauts balked at the it took them to put on the traditional oversized hairnet with electrode tentacles that researchers use to 24-ho- half-hou- r monitor sleep. "Sleep is their free time, and they don't w,ant to be lab rats when they're doing it," said Derek O'Keeffe, a University of Limerick biomedical engineer and research partner in the new sleep study. O'Keeffe and Marc O'Griofa of University College Dublin will use an monitoring shirt, made by VivoMetrics of Ventura, Calif., which requires no costly design or testing because it's been approved since 2002 by the U S. Food and Drug Administration. Wires embedded in the sleeveless Lycra garment measure respiration while an electrocardiogram gauges heart rate. A tiny monitor powered by a rechargeable lithium battery records up to 24 hours of results on The health-carprovider Kaiser lf 7.4-vo- lt mini-carde Permanente uses VivoMetrics' LifeShirt to diagnose sleep disorders in children, and its use in sleep research is growing. The shirt also is being way eyed as a in the future to monitor patients' chronic illnesses at home. strapped himself to the Thomas Reiter, who's heading into space on the shuttle Discovery's next mission, is the guinea pig. He intends to wear a LifeShirt for five nights at a time at the beginning, middle and end of his prostay on the jected International Space Station. Linenger said his strategy was to don eyeshades and force himself to go to sleep at midnight Moscow time, in deference to his Russian hosts, and wake up at 6 a m. Moscow time. In his weightless world, he losing it." On short cost-savin- 150-da- y To send us your story Most of us have experienced the lossillness of a Loved one or friend from the effects of Drug abuse. Alcohol consumption or Tobacco usage. We want your story. bulkhead with a bunge, cord to mimic the blankets and gravity Despite his efforts, sleeping aboard the sp.. weigh-o- station "was like sleepir,. at a noisy motel," he sa.': "and after four months not getting much deep sleep at night, I started missions, tough n astronauts can out because they're "ver, fit and very disciplined said Tim Monk, a profe, sor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh Medical School. "But on missions, sleep starts disintegrate," he said, "and that's an issue we got to start taking serio. long-duratio- to ly" (c) 2006, Distributed wearable monitor continuously; collects anct analyzes at crdio-pulmonar- funetton cluringdaily abc-- Fmbedded sensors track breathing patterns, heart rale, pusiure, aulivi.y tod ajjilMflUv Chest band Checks 2 Recorder Stores data; patient kcr. diary of symptoms on removable memory breathing, sigh count: x Elcctrocardiognm (ECG) leads " Posture band 1 A sensor Abdominal i Measures respraoon Doctor car view data for your story. Just bring in your experience to The Wellness Center to receive your gift Certificate. The Wellness Center is located across the hall from the Advisement Center. r activities; t Vest - IWtfllil k u i S4.00 gift certificate to the Book Store b Knight RidderTribune Information Services. l':!3 b rco! Cr.3 Fc:r.i a 3Q measures, We want yon! g German astronaut Hew. DSC Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs Prevention and Education orbi or as in 1 charts I summary tot' I Optional devices die? blood aygf Vfvuwwtf;oa; (LS'ibfti: TO Tcv. levels bxrotl piussuie. temperature, movensr leg: |