Sleep as a tactical advantage

The Portland Trail Blazers call him "the sleep doctor."

Dr. Charles Czeisler of Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School is well known in local and international medical circles as a researcher specializing in the body's internal clocks. NASA has called on him to advise about the rigors of extended space missions. US Olympic athletes have learned how to stay well-rested and in top form.

According to a story in yesterday's Oregonian, Czeisler connected to the Trail Blazers through team doctor Don Roberts, a medical school classmate at Stanford.

After a consult in the fall, Czeisler has revamped the team's travel and practice schedules based on two simple ideas: stay on West Coast time and protect time for sleep.

"This is a relatively simple way to take advantage of their talent to the fullest," Czeisler told the Oregonian. "In the same way the team needs to stay in sync with each other on the court, they need to be in sync internally and physiologically, in order to perform."

When the team came to Boston the face the Celtics last month, Czeisler made a house call during practice, the story says.

"I thought I would talk to them for 10 minutes, tops," Czeisler says in the story. "I answered their questions for one hour. It was remarkable. They understood the underlying science. I was delighted at how enthusiastically they grasped how this could affect them."

So far it seems to be working. After going 7-14 last season in games played two or more time zones away, the Blazers are 7-2 this season, the story says.

"Sleep can provide a tactical advantage, and it is largely unrecognized in sports," Czeisler said.

But not that night in Boston. The Celtics won, despite the visit from the sleep doctor.