Out on a limb: Arm-swinging riddle is answered

Biomedical researchers on Wednesday said they could explain why we swing our arms when we walk, a practice that has long piqued scientific curiosity.

Swinging one's arms comes at a cost. We need muscles to do it, and we need to provide energy in the form of food for those muscles. So what's the advantage?

Little or none, some experts have said, contending that arm-swinging, like our appendix, is an evolutionary relic from when we used to go about on all fours.

But a trio of specialists from the United States and the Netherlands have put the question to rigorous tests.

They built a mechanical model to get an idea of the dynamics of arm-swinging and then recruited 10 volunteers, who were asked to walk with a normal swing, an opposite-to-normal swing, with their arms folded or held by their sides.

The metabolic cost of this activity was derived from oxygen consumption and carbon dioxide (CO2) production as the human guinea pigs breathed in and out.

Arm-swinging turned out to be a plus, rather than a negative, the investigators found.

For one thing, it is surprisingly, er, "'armless" in energy costs, requiring little torque, or rotational twist, from the shoulder muscles.

Holding one's arms as one walks requires 12 percent more metabolic energy, compared with swinging them.

The arms' pendulum swing also helps dampen the bobbly up-and-down motion of walking, which is itself an energy drain for the muscles of the lower legs.

If you hold your arms while walking, this movement, called vertical ground reaction moment, rises by a whopping 63 percent.

Should you prefer to walk with an opposite-to-normal swing -- meaning that your right arm moves in sync with your right leg and your left arm is matched to the motion of your left leg -- the energy cost of using your shoulder muscles will fall.

The downside, though, is that opposite-to-normal swing forces up the metabolic rate by a quarter.

The study, headed by Steven Collins at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, says we should give the thumb's-up to arm swinging.

"Rather than a facultative relic of the locomotion needs of our quadrupedal ancestors, arm swinging is an integral part of the energy economy of human gait," says the paper.

It appears in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, the biological research journal of the Royal Society, Britain's de-facto academy of sciences.

Fatty Diet Linked to Pancreatic Cancer

To the risk of obesity and heart attack, the government had added yet another reason to avoid eating lots of fat, especially from meat and dairy products: pancreatic cancer.


Overweight adults are more likely to be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
The National Institutes of Health has determined that people who indulge heavily in meat and dairy fats are likely more to develop this deadly disease, which will strike more than 42,000 Americans this year and kill more than 35,000, according to the American Cancer Society.
Men and women who consumed large amounts of saturated fat were 36 percent more likely to suffer from pancreatic cancer, researchers reported online in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
The study found that the link between fat intake and cancer was strongest for saturated fat from animal food sources, which were associated with a 43 percent increase in cancer risk.
Related


To reach their conclusion, NIH researchers analyzed records of more than 500,000 people enrolled in the National Institutes of Health-AARP Diet and Health Study.
Participants completed a food frequency questionnaire in 1995 and 1996 and were followed to track a variety of health issues, including pancreatic cancer.
Over an average follow-up of 6.3 years, 865 men and 472 women were diagnosed with exocrine pancreatic cancer.

Among the participants who consumed the highest amounts of total fats, the rate of cancer was 53 percent higher for men and 23 percent higher for women, compared to participants with the lowest fat diets.
Combining the data for men and women, the researchers found that total fat consumption was associated with 23 percent higher rates of pancreatic cancer, while high intake of monosaturated fats was associated with 22 percent higher cancer rates.
They theorized that the association between fat intake and pancreatic cancer could be related to the so-called exocrine function of the pancreas, which excretes enzymes such as those that help digest fat.
They also noted that studies have linked saturated fat to insulin resistance and that diabetes and insulin resistance have been associated with increased pancreatic cancer risk.

Diet Link to Pancreatic Cancer Needs More Study
In an accompanying editorial, two prominent cancer researchers praised the NIH team, although they noted that more research would be necessary to definitively prove a direct link between fat intake and pancreatic cancer.

Dr. Brian Wolpin of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston and Dr. Meir Stampfer of the Harvard School of Public Health noted that pancreatic cancer kills 95 percent of its victims, and though it's far less common than many other types, it's the nation's fourth leading cause of cancer deaths.

Overall, they called on scientists "to push our research efforts in novel directions and provide hope for meaningful progress in this highly lethal disease."

Wish Fulfillment? No. But Dreams (and Sleep) Have Meaning

Dreams may not be the secret window into the frustrated desires of the unconscious that Sigmund Freud first posited in 1899, but growing evidence suggests that dreams - and, more so, sleep - are powerfully connected to the processing of human emotions.
According to new research presented last week at the annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies in Seattle, adequate sleep may underpin our ability to understand complex emotions properly in waking life. "Sleep essentially is resetting the magnetic north of your emotional compass," says Matthew Walker, director of the Sleep and Neuroimaging Lab at the University of California, Berkeley. (See the top 10 scientific discoveries of 2008.)
A recent study by Walker and his colleagues examined how rest - specifically, rapid eye movement (REM) sleep - influences our ability to read emotions in other people's faces. In the small analysis of 36 adults, volunteers were asked to interpret the facial expressions of people in photographs, following either a 60- or 90-minute nap during the day or with no nap. Participants who had reached REM sleep (when dreaming most frequently occurs) during their nap were better able to identify expressions of positive emotions like happiness in other people, compared with participants who did not achieve REM sleep or did not nap at all. Those volunteers were more sensitive to negative expressions, including anger and fear.
Past research by Walker and colleagues at Harvard Medical School, which was published in the journal Current Biology, found that in people who were sleep deprived, activity in the prefrontal lobe - a region of the brain involved in controlling emotion - was significantly diminished. He suggests that a similar response may be occurring in the nap-deprived volunteers, albeit to a lesser extent, and that it may have its roots in evolution. "If you're walking through the jungle and you're tired, it might benefit you more to be hypersensitive to negative things," he says. The idea is that with little mental energy to spare, you're emotionally more attuned to things that are likely to be the most threatening in the immediate moment. Inversely, when you're well rested, you may be more sensitive to positive emotions, which could benefit long-term survival, he suggests: "If it's getting food, if it's getting some kind of reward, finding a wife - those things are pretty good to pick up on."
Our daily existence is largely influenced by our ability "to understand our societal interactions, to understand someone else's emotional state of mind, to understand the expression on their face," says Ninad Gujar, a senior research scientist at Walker's lab and lead author of the study, which was recently submitted for publication. "These are the most fundamental processes guiding our personal and professional lives."
REM sleep appears to not only improve our ability to identify positive emotions in others; it may also round out the sharp angles of our own emotional experiences. Walker suggests that one function of REM sleep - dreaming, in particular - is to allow the brain to sift through that day's events, process any negative emotion attached to them, then strip it away from the memories. He likens the process to applying a "nocturnal soothing balm." REM sleep, he says, "tries to ameliorate the sharp emotional chips and dents that life gives you along the way." (See the top 10 medical breakthroughs of 2008.)
"It's not that you've forgotten. You haven't," he says. "It's a memory of an emotional episode, but it's no longer emotional itself."
That palliative safety-valve quality of sleep may be hampered when we fail to reach REM sleep or when REM sleep is disrupted, Walker says. "If you don't let go of the emotion, what results is a constant state of anxiety," he says.
The theory is consistent with new research conducted by Rebecca Bernert, a doctoral candidate in clinical psychology at Florida State University who specializes in the relationship between sleep and suicidal thoughts and behaviors, and who also presented her work at the sleep conference this week.
In her study of 82 men and women between the ages of 18 and 66 who were admitted into a mental-health hospital for emergency psychiatric evaluation, Bernert discovered that the presence of severe and frequent nightmares or insomnia was a strong predictor of suicidal thoughts and behaviors. More than half of the study participants had attempted suicide at least once in the past, and the 17% of the study group who had made an attempt within the previous month had dramatically higher scores in nightmare frequency and intensity than the rest. Bernert found that the relationship between nightmares or insomnia and suicide persisted, even when researchers controlled for other factors like depression.
Past studies have also established a link between chronic sleep disruption and suicide. Sleep complaints, which include nightmares, insomnia and other sleep disturbances, are listed in the current Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's inventory of suicide-prevention warning signs. Yet what distinguishes Bernert's research is that when nightmares and insomnia were evaluated separately, nightmares were independently predictive of suicidal behavior. "It may be that nightmares present a unique risk for suicidal symptoms, which may have to do with the way we process emotion within dreams," Bernert says.
If that's the case, it may help explain the recurring nightmares that characterize psychiatric conditions like posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), Walker says. "The brain has not stripped away the emotional rind from that experience memory," he says, so "the next night, the brain offers this up, and it fails again, and it starts to sound like a broken record ... What you hear [PTSD] patients describing is, 'I can't get over the event.' "
At the biological level, Walker explains, the "emotional rind" translates to sympathetic nervous-system activity during sleep: faster heart rate and the release of stress chemicals. Understanding why nightmares recur and how REM sleep facilitates emotional processing - or hinders it, when nightmares take place and perpetuate the physical stress symptoms - may eventually provide clues to effective treatments of painful mental disorders. Perhaps, even, by simply addressing sleeping habits, doctors could potentially interrupt the emotional cycle that can lead to suicide. "There is an opportunity for prevention," Bernert says.
The new findings highlight what researchers are increasingly recognizing as a two-way relationship between psychiatric disorders and disrupted sleep. "Modern medicine and psychiatry have consistently thought that psychological disorders seem to have co-occuring sleep problems and that it's the disorder perpetuating the sleep problems," says Walker. "Is it possible that, in fact, it's the sleep disruption contributing to the psychiatric disorder?"

watch the video here - http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=13930492&ch=4226723&src=news

A good night's sleep associated with reduced blood pressure

More evidence that a good night's sleep is associated with better control of blood pressure has come from a new study [1].
The study, published in the June 8, 2009, issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, was conducted by a group led by Dr Kristen Knutson (University of Chicago, IL).
Knutson explained to heartwire that previous studies have suggested a link between poor sleep and increased blood pressure but that these have had limitations. "They have generally been short-term laboratory tests, but we wanted to look at the real-life situation and study the effects of habitual sleep patterns. In addition, previous studies that have tried to address longer-term sleep issues have relied on self-reporting of sleep quality, but we measured actual sleep duration and quality using a specifically designed wrist band," she said.
The band, known as an Actiwatch-16 (Philips Respironics, Murrysville, PA) wrist-activity monitor, contains sensors that count wrist movements in 30-second time periods, which determine whether the subject is asleep or awake, and has been validated against polysomnography as a good measure of sleep duration and quality, Knutson commented.
"We found that short sleepers had a larger increase in blood pressure over five years than those who slept longer," Knutson said. "Evidence suggests that a certain amount of sleep is necessary for many different functions in the body, including immune function and glucose metabolism, and if we can extend sleep in those who don't sleep well or for long enough, this should translate into many health benefits—one of which may well be lower blood pressure," she added.
Knutson said it was important to acknowledge the need to spend a certain amount of time asleep. "Five or six hours a night is not enough. Seven hours should really be the minimum. In the US, we have a work culture that discourages decent sleeping patterns. There seems to be a sort of badge of honor associated with sleeping only a few hours each night, and someone who sleeps for seven to eight hours may be perceived as not being hard-working enough. We need to change that culture."
She also believes that those individuals who appear to need only three or four hours of sleep each night may be fooling themselves. "People who sleep for short times do not do well in performance tests, even if they think they are well rested. Even these people should try to increase their sleep times," she said.
The current sleep study was ancillary to the large ongoing cohort CARDIA study, which is examining coronary risk in young adults. For the sleep study, 578 early-middle-aged adults participating in the CARDIA study had their blood pressure measured in 2000 and 2001 and in 2005 and 2006 and underwent sleep assessments using wrist actigraphy on two occasions for three consecutive days between 2003 and 2005.
Results showed that after the exclusion of patients who were taking antihypertensive medications, shorter sleep duration and lower sleep quality predicted significantly higher systolic and diastolic blood pressure at baseline as well as more adverse changes in blood-pressure levels over five years.
Short sleep duration also predicted significantly increased odds of incident hypertension (odds ratio 1.37; 95% CI 1.05-1.78). Each hour of reduction in sleep duration was associated with a 37% increase in the odds of incident hypertension.Might explain higher blood pressure in men and African Americans
Consistent with other studies, the current results show higher blood pressure in men, particularly African American men, who also slept much less than white women. "These two observations suggest the intriguing possibility that the well-documented higher blood pressure in African Americans and men might be partly related to sleep duration," the researchers write.
The authors note that laboratory studies of short-term sleep deprivation have suggested potential mechanisms for a causal link between sleep loss and hypertension: it is thought that sleep loss may lead to increased sympathetic nervous activity, which could cause high blood pressure if sleep loss were chronic.
They point out that, to their knowledge, the present study is the first to obtain objective measures of sleep duration and quality in a large sample of adults and to reveal associations between poor sleep quality and adverse effect on blood-pressure regulation and risk of hypertension in early-middle-aged adults.
"Because of the major adverse health consequences of high blood pressure, the identification of a new and potentially modifiable risk factor has clinical implications," the authors conclude. "The next step would be intervention studies to try to extend or improve sleep in hypertensive patients and see if we can improve their blood-pressure profile. Such a study is in the works," Knutson told heartwire.

Too Much Computer Gaming Can Steal Your Sleep

The thrills and chills of computer games can be a nocturnal nightmare for some people, new research suggests.
Excessive gamers get too little sleep at night, then spend their days struggling to stay awake. But many of them aren't aware of the link between the two, the study found.
The study revealed that college students, who play video games more than seven hours a week and consider themselves addicted, sleep almost two hours less a night than occasional or non-gamers.
The research team, led by Amanda Woolems of the University of Arkansas in Little Rock, collected data on 137 students. Nearly 11 percent said gaming interfered with their sleep, and 12.6 percent said they were addicted to gaming.
"Our statistics revealed that those who admitted addiction scored higher on the Epworth Sleepiness Scale," Woolems said in a prepared statement. "It surprised us, however, that of the people who admitted being addicted to gaming, only about a third of them recognized an interference with their sleep."
Other health-care professionals weren't surprised by the study's findings.
"These findings are not unexpected," said sleep expert Dr. Alexandre Rocha Abreu, an assistant professor in the division of pulmonary, critical care and sleep medicine at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine in Florida, who was not involved with the study.
A concern is that people who are sleep-deprived don't function optimally in the daytime. "These people may have some cognitive impairment," he said.
It's not just the excitement of gaming that keeps folks wired. Another factor in sleep loss is the environment. "These people tend to be in a room where there is a lot of indirect light from the TV and the screen on the computer. The computer screen tends to simulate sunlight, so even at night you can delay your sleep phase," Abreu said.
Also, because of different times zones, it's possible to play computer games around the clock. "You can be playing games 24/7 with different people from different countries. These people tend to sleep less," he said.
The results of the study were to be presented Monday at the Associated Professional Sleep Societies annual meeting, in Seattle.
Another study presented at the meeting concluded that sleep problems among children often go unnoticed by their doctors.
According to the study, data from pediatricians on nearly 155,00 patients, ranging in age from infancy to 18 years old, showed that fewer than 4 percent were diagnosed with a sleep problem. The most common diagnoses were sleep disorders that were "not otherwise specified" (1.42 percent), bedwetting (1.24 percent), sleep disordered breathing (1.04 percent) and insomnia (0.05 percent).
Lead researcher Lisa Meltzer, of the Sleep Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, noted the rate of diagnosis in this study is far below the prevalence of children's sleep problems reported in epidemiological studies.
"Sleep is often discussed during checkups for young children, but it may not come up as a topic with teenagers, resulting in an under-diagnosis of sleep disorders for this group of adolescents," Meltzer said in a prepared statement. "Pediatricians should ask about sleep during every well-child visit. Children who snore, have problems falling asleep, are difficult to wake in the morning or who fall asleep in school should be further evaluated for sleep disorders."

School Start Times and Sleep

BASICS:
"Early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise," said Ben Franklin. But does this adage apply to teenagers? Research in the 1990s found that later sleep and wake patterns among adolescents are biologically determined; the natural tendency for teenagers is to stay up late at night and wake up later in the morning. This research indicates that school bells that ring as early as 7:00 a.m. in many parts of the country stand in stark contrast with adolescents' sleep patterns and needs.
Evidence suggests that teenagers are indeed seriously sleep deprived. A recent poll conducted by the National Sleep Foundation found that 60% of children under the age of 18 complained of being tired during the day, according to their parents, and 15% said they fell asleep at school during the year.
On April 2, Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), introduced a congressional resolution to encourage schools and school districts to reconsider early morning start times to be more in sync with teens' biological makeup. House Congressional Resolution 135 or the "ZZZ's to A’s" Act would encourage individual schools and school districts all over the country to move school start times to no earlier than 8:30 a.m.
"I hope this is a wake up call to school districts and parents all over this country," said Lofgren. "With early school start times, some before 7:00 a.m., adolescents are not getting enough sleep.
"Over time, sleep deprivation leads to serious consequences for academic achievement, social behavior, and the health and safety of our nation's youth," the Congresswoman added. "We must encourage schools to push back their start times to at least 8:30 a.m. — a schedule more in tune with adolescents' biological sleep and wake patterns and more closely resembling the adult work day."
POLL DATA:
In fact, public opinion seems to side with Lofgren's "Zzz's to A's" resolution. According to the National Sleep Foundation's 2002 Sleep in America poll, 80% of respondents said high schools should start no earlier than 8:00 a.m. each day; nearly one-half of these respondents (47%) said start times should be between 8:00 and 8:30 a.m. Only 17% of those polled said high school classes should begin before 8:00 a.m.
EFFECTS:
A study by Dr. Kyla Wahlstrom at the University of Minnesota, demonstrates the impact of pushing back school start times. After the Minneapolis Public School District changed the starting times of seven high schools from 7:15 a.m. to 8:40 a.m., Dr. Wahlstrom investigated the impact of later start times on student performance, and the results are encouraging. Dr. Wahlstrom found that students benefited by obtaining five or more extra hours of sleep per week.
She also found improvement in attendance and enrollment rates, increased daytime alertness, and decreased student-reported depression. Many experts agree that adolescents require 81/2 to 91/4 hours of sleep each night, however, few actually get that much sleep.
Even with compelling research, changing school start times can be challenging for school districts. Administrators have to delay busing schedules. Coaches worry about scheduling practices and many parents rely on the current start times for reasons such as childcare or carpools.
Students are concerned that being in school later in the day means that it will cut into after-school jobs and other extracurricular activities. Still, there are convincing reasons to push back school start times. Mary Carskadon, PhD, a renowned expert on adolescent sleep, cites several advantages for teens to get the sleep they need:
less likelihood of experiencing depressed moods;
reduced likelihood for tardiness;
reduced absenteeism;
better grades;
reduced risk of fall asleep car crashes; and
reduced risk of metabolic and nutritional deficits associated with insufficient sleep, including obesity.
Dr. Carskadon is Director of the Chronobiology/Sleep Research Laboratory at Bradley Hospital in East Providence, R.I., and Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at the Brown University School of Medicine. She is a member of NSF's Sleep and Teens Task Force. With the resumption of school classes in the fall, start times are likely to remain a hot topic. Thus far, individual schools or districts in 19 states have pushed back their start times, and more than 100 school districts in an additional 17 states are considering delaying their start times.
"Changing school start times is not the only step needed," says Dr. Carskadon. She also advocates reducing weekend sleep lag (staying up later). "It's important to add sleep to the school curriculum at all grade levels and make sleep a positive priority."
ADVOCACY:
Advocating for Sleep Friendly Schools can seem like a challenging task; however, here you will find tips, guides sample materials and case studies to support your efforts and help you conduct your advocacy campaign. Sleep is so important to all of us, and for teens it seems nearly impossible to get enough. So don't sleep on it; start today to help create sleep-friendly schools that promote healthy, safe and productive students!

Early Bedtime May Help Stave Off Teen Depression

Extra sleep quells suicidal thoughts as well, study finds

Teens whose parents pack them off to bed at 10 p.m. are less apt to become depressed or have suicidal thoughts than their peers who stay up much later, recent research shows.
"This study bolsters the argument that a lack of sleep can cause depression," said study author James Gangwisch, an assistant professor of psychiatry at Columbia University Medical Center in New York City. "Teens with earlier parental-mandated bedtimes were less likely to suffer from depression and suicidal thoughts."
Gangwisch was to present the findings Tuesday at the Associated Professional Sleep Societies annual meeting, in Seattle.
The study stemmed from data on more than 15,000 adolescents who participated in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health.
The researchers found that 1,143 of the teens were depressed and 2,038 had suicidal ideation, the term clinicians use to describe suicidal thinking. Dr. Jonathan Pletcher, an adolescent medicine specialist from Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, pointed out that suicidal thoughts are common in teenagers, which is why the study included more teens with suicidal thoughts than depressed adolescents.
"A lot of teens have suicidal thoughts, but there's a big difference between suicidal ideation and being suicidal," Pletcher said.
When Gangwisch and his research team looked at the relationship of depression and suicidal thoughts to parental-mandated bedtimes, they found a clear correlation.
Teens whose parents insist on 10 p.m. or sooner for lights out were 25 percent less likely to be depressed and 20 percent less likely to have suicidal thoughts, compared with kids who hit the sack at midnight or later.
Gangwisch said he adjusted the data to account for numerous factors, including parental connectedness and the age of the teens, because older teens probably would have later bedtimes. After controlling for these factors, he said, it was clear that a lack of sleep was to blame for the increased risk of depression and suicidal thoughts.
"Kids that have to go to bed earlier are getting more sleep," he said.
Pletcher said it's likely that a combination of factors accounted for the increased risk. "There's a bi-directional relationship between depression and sleep," he said. "Teens who get less sleep may be more anxious and more likely to feel badly. But, I think this study's findings also speak to a connection between the teen and their parents and their ability to work together."
Both Gangwisch and Pletcher agreed that most teens need at least eight to nine hours of sleep a night, and said that parents might underestimate their teen's need for sleep.
"Getting adequate sleep is a huge priority," said Pletcher. Besides increasing the risk for depression and suicidal thoughts, a lack of sleep can affect a child's focus and learning, he said. And Gangwisch said that a dearth of sleep is also associated with obesity and type 2 diabetes.
Pletcher said that teens who don't get enough sleep may also be more impulsive.
"Don't underestimate how a lack of adequate sleep can affect everything from mood to behavior," he advised.

Importance of sleep

Teens and Sleep
BASICS:
Sleep is food for the brain. During sleep, important body functions and brain activity occur. Skipping sleep can be harmful — even deadly, particularly if you are behind the wheel. You can look bad, you may feel moody, and you perform poorly. Sleepiness can make it hard to get along with your family and friends and hurt your scores on school exams, on the court or on the field. Remember: A brain that is hungry for sleep will get it, even when you don’t expect it. For example, drowsiness and falling asleep at the wheel cause more than 100,000 car crashes every year. When you do not get enough sleep, you are more likely to have an accident, injury and/or illness.
FACTS:
Sleep is vital to your well-being, as important as the air you breathe, the water you drink and the food you eat. It can even help you to eat better and manage the stress of being a teen.
Biological sleep patterns shift toward later times for both sleeping and waking during adolescence -- meaning it is natural to not be able to fall asleep before 11:00 pm.
Teens need about 9 1/4 hours of sleep each night to function best (for some, 8 1/2 hours is enough). Most teens do not get enough sleep — one study found that only 15% reported sleeping 8 1/2 hours on school nights.
Teens tend to have irregular sleep patterns across the week — they typically stay up late and sleep in late on the weekends, which can affect their biological clocks and hurt the quality of their sleep.
Many teens suffer from treatable sleep disorders, such as narcolepsy, insomnia, restless legs syndrome or sleep apnea.
CONSEQUENCES:
Not getting enough sleep or having sleep difficulties can:
Limit your ability to learn, listen, concentrate and solve problems. You may even forget important information like names, numbers, your homework or a date with a special person in your life;
Make you more prone to pimples. Lack of sleep can contribute to acne and other skin problems;
Lead to aggressive or inappropriate behavior such as yelling at your friends or being impatient with your teachers or family members;
Cause you to eat too much or eat unhealthy foods like sweets and fried foods that lead to weight gain;
Heighten the effects of alcohol and possibly increase use of caffeine and nicotine; and
Contribute to illness, not using equipment safely or driving drowsy.
SOLUTIONS:
Make sleep a priority. Review Teen Time in this toolkit and keep the Teen Sleep Diary. Decide what you need to change to get enough sleep to stay healthy, happy, and smart!
Naps can help pick you up and make you work more efficiently, if you plan them right. Naps that are too long or too close to bedtime can interfere with your regular sleep.
Make your room a sleep haven. Keep it cool, quiet and dark. If you need to, get eyeshades or blackout curtains. Let in bright light in the morning to signal your body to wake up.
No pills, vitamins or drinks can replace good sleep. Consuming caffeine close to bedtime can hurt your sleep, so avoid coffee, tea, soda/pop and chocolate late in the day so you can get to sleep at night. Nicotine and alcohol will also interfere with your sleep.
When you are sleep deprived, you are as impaired as driving with a blood alcohol content of .08%, which is illegal for drivers in many states. Drowsy driving causes over 100,000 crashes each year. Recognize sleep deprivation and call someone else for a ride. Only sleep can save you!
Establish a bed and wake-time and stick to it, coming as close as you can on the weekends. A consistent sleep schedule will help you feel less tired since it allows your body to get in sync with its natural patterns. You will find that it’s easier to fall asleep at bedtime with this type of routine.
Don’t eat, drink, or exercise within a few hours of your bedtime. Don’t leave your homework for the last minute. Try to avoid the TV, computer and telephone in the hour before you go to bed. Stick to quiet, calm activities, and you’ll fall asleep much more easily!
If you do the same things every night before you go to sleep, you teach your body the signals that it’s time for bed. Try taking a bath or shower (this will leave you extra time in the morning), or reading a book.
Try keeping a diary or to-do lists. If you jot notes down before you go to sleep, you’ll be less likely to stay awake worrying or stressing.
When you hear your friends talking about their all-nighters, tell them how good you feel after getting enough sleep.
Most teens experience changes in their sleep schedules. Their internal body clocks can cause them to fall asleep and wake up later. You can’t change this, but you can participate in interactive activities and classes to help counteract your sleepiness. Make sure your activities at night are calming to counteract your already heightened alertness.
If teens need about 9 1/4 hours of sleep to do their best and naturally go to sleep around 11:00 pm, one way to get more sleep is to start school later.
Teens' natural sleep cycle puts them in conflict with school start times. Most high school students need an alarm clock or a parent to wake them on school days. They are like zombies getting ready for school and find it hard to be alert and pay attention in class. Because they are sleep deprived, they are sleepy all day and cannot do their best.
Schools that have set later bell times find that students do not go to bed later, but get one hour more of sleep per school night, which means five hours more per week.
Enrollment and attendance improves and students are more likely to be on time when school starts. Parents and teachers report that teens are more alert in the morning and in better moods; they are less likely to feel depressed or need to visit the nurse or school counselor.
POLL DATA:
While everyone is accustomed to having a bad morning here and there – feeling irritable, unhappy or even sad, NSF's 2006 Sleep in America poll found that many adolescents exhibit symptoms of a depressive mood on a frequent if not daily basis, and these teens are more likely to have sleep problems.
The NSF poll calculated depressive mood scores for each of the 1,602 poll respondents by measuring adolescents' responses to four mood states (using a scale of "1" to "3" where 1 equals "not at all" and 3 equals "much"):
Felt unhappy, sad or depressed;
Felt hopeless about the future;
Felt nervous or tense; and
Worried too much about things.
The results showed that about half (46%) of the adolescents surveyed had a depressive mood score of 10 to 14, 37% had a score of 15 to 19, and 17% had a score of 20 to 30; these scores are considered low, moderate and high respectively.
Most notably, those adolescents with high scores ranging from 20 to 30 were more likely than those with lower scores to take longer to fall asleep on school nights, get an insufficient amount of sleep and have sleep problems related to sleepiness. In fact, 73% of those adolescents who report feeling unhappy, sad, or depressed also report not getting enough sleep at night and being excessively sleepy during the day.
While many adults may think that adolescents have things easy or don't have much to worry about – the opposite seems true according to the NSF poll. Most adolescents were likely to say they worried about things too much (58%) and/or felt stressed out/anxious (56%). Many of the adolescents surveyed also reported feeling hopeless about the future, or feeling unhappy, sad or depressed much or somewhat within the past two weeks of surveying.
Research shows that lack of sleep affects mood, and a depressed mood can lead to lack of sleep. To combat this vicious cycle, sleep experts recommend that teens prioritize sleep and focus on healthy sleep habits. Teens can start by getting the 8.5 to 9.25 hours of sleep they need each night, keeping consistent sleep and wake schedules on school nights and weekends, and opting for relaxing activities such as reading or taking a warm shower or bath before bed instead of turning on the TV or computer.
"If parents and teens know what good sleep entails and the benefits of making and sticking to a plan that supports good sleep, then they might re-examine their choices about what truly are their ‘essential’ activities," says Mary Carskadon, Ph.D., Director of Chronobiology/Sleep Research at the E.P. Bradley Hospital and Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at Brown Medical School in Providence, R.I. "The earlier parents can start helping their children with good sleep habits, the easier it will be to sustain them through the teen years."

13 ways to naturally boost your testosterone level.

The normal level of testosterone in your bloodstream is between 350 and 1,000 nanograms per deciliter (ng/dl). Like combable hair, those quantities silently start to wane around age 40. You lose about 1 percent a year -- a harmless decline in the short term, but a cause of obesity, brittle bones, muscle loss and impotence by the time you reach your 60s -- if you live that long. Testosterone levels in the low range (a blood serum score below 350 ng/dl) may increase your chances of dying of a heart attack.

It's not just an old man's problem, either. Men in their 30s and 40s also fall prey to low testosterone counts. It's a disorder called hypogonadism, and it can be caused by an undescended testicle, a testicular injury, a pituitary gland disorder or even prescription drugs. It usually goes undiagnosed until a man hits his doctor with a telltale complaint: "I can't get an erection."

"If you have reduced levels of sexual desire, have your testosterone level checked immediately," says Dr. Allen Seftel, a urologist at Case Western Reserve University Hospitals of Cleveland. You can replenish your testosterone stores with injections, gels, pills or patches, but these medical treatments are no panacea: Side effects include acne, high cholesterol, shrunken testicles and liver damage. Further, don't take supplements like DHEA or androstenedione to boost testosterone; they might increase your risks of prostate cancer and heart disease.

"For men with borderline testosterone scores, I advise them to try to raise their levels through exercise and weight loss before going on testosterone therapy," says Dr. Goldberg. And it might pay to start young. "Since your testosterone declines at a steady rate, it's conceivable that raising your hormone levels naturally in your 20s and 30s could help you maintain higher levels later on," he says. Either way, the reward can be a stronger physique and better bedroom sessions than you'd otherwise deserve. Below are 13 tips designed to get your juice up -- safely.

Get Rid of the Flopping Belly

Or you'll grow a pair of fetching breasts to complement it. Carrying excess body fat elevates your estrogen levels, and that may cause your testosterone levels to sink, says Joseph Zmuda, an epidemiologist at the University of Pittsburgh. Louie Anderson is proof enough of this. Two or three extra pounds won't cause this hormonal shift; it really occurs once you're 30 percent over your ideal body weight. "Unfortunately, that's pretty common now," says Dr. Dobs.

But Lose Only One Pound a Week

When you want to trim down quickly, you probably starve yourself while exercising like a madman. One of the many reasons this stops working in your 30s, when your natural testosterone levels start dropping, is pretty simple: Cutting your calorie intake by more than 15 percent makes your brain think you're starving, so it shuts down testosterone production to wait out the famine. "There's no need to reproduce if you're starving," explains Thomas Incledon of Human Performance Specialists in Plantation, Fla. Ironically, this dive in circulating testosterone stops you from burning body fat efficiently, so you're actually thwarting your hard efforts to melt that tire off your gut.

Skip the Atkins Fad

Research suggests that eating a high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet can cramp your testosterone levels. High amounts of dietary protein in your blood can eventually lower the amount of testosterone produced in your testes, says Incledon, who observed this relationship in a Penn State study of 12 healthy, athletic men.

Your protein intake should be about 16 percent of your daily calories, Incledon says. So, if you're the average 170-pound man who eats 2,900 calories a day, you should eat about 140 grams of protein daily, which is about the amount in two chicken breasts and a 6-ounce can of tuna.

Have Morning Sex

German scientists found that simply having an erection causes your circulating testosterone to rise significantly -- and having one in the morning can goose your natural post-dawn testosterone surge. It's a sure bet you'll burn a little fat, too.

Stick With Tough Exercises

To beef up your testosterone levels, the bulk of your workout should involve "compound" weight-lifting exercises that train several large muscle groups, and not just one or two smaller muscles. For example, studies have shown that doing squats, bench presses or back rows increases testosterone more than doing biceps curls or triceps pushdowns, even though the effort may seem the same. This is why doing squats could help you build bigger biceps.

Make Nuts Your Midnight Snack

Nuts are good for your nuts. Research has found that men who ate diets rich in monounsaturated fat -- the kind found in peanuts -- had the highest testosterone levels. "It's not known why this occurs, but some scientists believe that monounsaturated fats have a direct effect on the testes," says Incledon. Nuts, olive oil, canola oil and peanut butter are good sources of monounsaturated fat.

Squeeze Out Five Repetitions per Set

Throwing around 5-pound dumbbells won't help you effect a rise in testosterone. Start off by using a heavy weight that you can lift only five times. That weight is about 85 percent of your one-repetition maximum. A Finnish study found that this workload produced the greatest boosts in testosterone.

Do Three Sets of Each Weight-Lifting Movement

Researchers at Penn State determined that this fosters greater increases in testosterone than just one or two sets. Rest a full minute between sets, so you can regain enough strength to continue lifting at least 70 percent of your one-rep maximum during the second and third sets.

Rest Harder Than You Work Out

If you overtrain -- meaning you don't allow your body to recuperate adequately between training sessions -- your circulating testosterone levels can plunge by as much as 40 percent, according to a study at the University of North Carolina. The symptoms of overtraining are hard to miss: irritability, insomnia, muscle shrinkage, joining the Reform Party. To avoid overtraining, make sure you sleep a full eight hours at night, and never stress the same muscles with weight-lifting movements two days in a row.

Drive Home Sober

To maintain a healthy testosterone count -- and titanium erections -- cut yourself off after three drinks. "Binge drinking will kill your testosterone levels," warns Incledon. Alcohol affects the endocrine system, causing your testes to stop producing the male hormone. That's one reason drinking often causes you to go limp at the moment of truth.

Have a Sandwich at 3 p.m.

As any sensible woman knows, the way to put hair on a man's chest is to fill his stomach. Your body needs a ready supply of calories to make testosterone, so regularly skipping meals or going for long stretches without eating can cause your levels of the hormone to plummet. Then again, that's probably the warden's plan.

Buy the Fried Tortilla Chips

If you want to raise your testosterone score, eat a diet that includes about 30 percent fat, and not much less. Your body needs dietary fat to produce testosterone, so eating like a vegetarian aerobics instructor will cause your testosterone levels to sink drastically. This is bad, unless you actually are a vegetarian aerobics instructor.

Stop Surfing for Porn at 2 a.m.

Sleeping less than seven to eight hours a night can screw up your circadian rhythm. That's why it's no wonder your testosterone levels are higher in the morning after a good night's sleep. So if your work or social schedule keeps you stooped in perpetual jet lag, don't be surprised if you stop craving sex. At least that'll make it easier to stay out of bed.

Untreated gingivitis can advance to periodontitis and eventually lead to tooth loss and other health problems.

Periodontal (gum) diseases, including gingivitis and periodontitis, are serious infections that, left untreated, can lead to tooth loss. The word periodontal literally means "around the tooth." Periodontal disease is a chronic bacterial infection that affects the gums and bone supporting the teeth. Periodontal disease can affect one tooth or many teeth. It begins when the bacteria in plaque (the sticky, colorless film that constantly forms on your teeth) causes the gums to become inflamed.




Gingivitis
Gingivitis is the mildest form of periodontal disease. It causes the gums to become red, swollen, and bleed easily. There is usually little or no discomfort at this stage. Gingivitis is often caused by inadequate oral hygiene. Gingivitis is reversible with professional treatment and good oral home care.

Periodontitis
Untreated gingivitis can advance to periodontitis. With time, plaque can spread and grow below the gum line. Toxins produced by the bacteria in plaque irritate the gums. The toxins stimulate a chronic inflammatory response in which the body in essence turns on itself, and the tissues and bone that support the teeth are broken down and destroyed. Gums separate from the teeth, forming pockets (spaces between the teeth and gums) that become infected. As the disease progresses, the pockets deepen and more gum tissue and bone are destroyed. Often, this destructive process has very mild symptoms. Eventually, teeth can become loose and may have to be removed.

There are many forms of periodontitis. The most common ones include the following.

Aggressive periodontitis occurs in patients who are otherwise clinically healthy. Common features include rapid attachment loss and bone destruction and familial aggregation.
Chronic periodontitis results in inflammation within the supporting tissues of the teeth, progressive attachment and bone loss. This is the most frequently occurring form of periodontitis and is characterized by pocket formation and/or recession of the gingiva. It is prevalent in adults, but can occur at any age. Progression of attachment loss usually occurs slowly, but periods of rapid progression can occur.
Periodontitis as a manifestation of systemic diseases often begins at a young age. Systemic conditions such as heart disease, respiratory disease, and diabetes are associated with this form of periodontitis.
Necrotizing periodontal disease is an infection characterized by necrosis of gingival tissues, periodontal ligament and alveolar bone. These lesions are most commonly observed in individuals with systemic conditions such as HIV infection, malnutrition and immunosuppression.

New Study Shows Seaweed Supplement Can Ease Your Arthritis Pain

Alternative health experts often tout the benefits of seaweed when it comes to promoting great health. And now there’s one more reason to incorporate the weeds that come from the sea into your dietary regimen. A new study reveals that a supplement derived from seaweed can lead to a reduction of inflammation in knee arthritis, along with a decrease in the need for potentially harmful pain relievers.

A recent study performed by Dr. Joy Frestedt of Frestedt, Inc., a company in Minnesota that conducts clinical trials, has indicated that a supplement derived from seaweed can lead to a reduction of inflammation of knee arthritis as well as decrease the need for non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). This is especially promising as NSAIDs have been known to have a whole host of negative health repercussions of their own.

Details of the Study
The seaweed supplement (sold under the manufacturer’s name of “Aquamin”) was tested on 22 adults who had moderate to severe arthritis of the knee. Of the adults who took the supplement for 12 weeks, all of them were able to reduce their intake of NSAIDs as well as improve walking and range of motion of their knees. Although more studies are needed to form a conclusive option, the consensus is that a seaweed supplement (such as the one tested) can help those who have arthritis avoid NSAIDs.

The group was split into two factions - those who took the supplement and those who took a placebo. All subjects were asked to gradually reduce their use of NSAIDs during the study. Five of those in the group that received the placebo dropped out of the study because of worsening pain. Those who continued with the study and took the supplement were able to cut out the NSAIDs altogether, with the exception of one person.

Arthritis is a condition that affects the joints of the body and causes swelling, stiffness and pain. Common treatment for the pain associated with arthritis is taking NSAIDs. NSAIDs are painkillers that are typically sold over the counter and include aspirin and ibuprofen. These can be helpful when dealing with pain on occasion. However, recent studies on NSAIDs are beginning to reveal the negative side effects of long-term use. These effects include stomach ulcers, gastrointestinal problems and even stomach cancer.

This study was only conducted on those with arthritis of the knee and not those who have other forms of this condition. And, while this study does not state that a seaweed supplement can totally treat knee arthritis, early research suggests the supplement may be effective when it comes to helping eliminate the daily use of NSAIDs.

If you have arthritis of the knee and want to try an alternative to NSAIDs, you can purchase Aquamin (and supplements like it) from health food stores and online outlets. You may find that the supplement will work to help you reduce the amount of NSAIDs you take on a daily basis. As frequent use of NSAIDs has proven to be dangerous, any reduction in the amount you take has the potential to improve your gastrointestinal health.

If You're Like Most of Us, You Need to Supplement
And you should. Every day. For your bone and joint health, AHJ recommends you try: Arthri-Zen

Why Every Kid Needs a Vitamin C Supplement

You may know that it's important to get enough vitamin C into your diet, but what about when it comes to your kids? Are they getting enough vitamin C? With all the fast food, packaged foods and on-the-go eating in today's age, it's likely that your kids are not getting enough of this essential vitamin. That's where supplementation steps in to help! Keep reading for more information on why every kid needs a vitamin C supplement.


Vitamin C is extremely essential to your body so knowing what it is and does is important. Vitamin C, also known as ascorbic acid, is a water-soluble vitamin that is essential to form collagen in your cartilage, bones, blood vessels, muscles, and helps in iron absorption. The nutrient is manufactured by almost every living being except for human beings. It is therefore required that you ingest it through the food and supplements that you consume. You may already be eating some of the food sources that contain vitamin C, such as oranges, berries, garlic, kiwi, cabbage, parsley, red pepper, guava, papaya, broccoli, cauliflower, potatoes, Brussel sprouts, spinach and tomatoes.

Your body cannot store Vitamin C because it is water-soluble. This is why getting enough vitamin C on a regular basis is extremely important. Vitamin C is vital for both growth, as well as for the development of tissues in every part of your body. It is an essential component both for body building functions as well as for prevention of diseases. This is especially true when it comes to your children. It is necessary that your children get enough vitamin C, whether it is through diet or supplements.

If you have children you know how they can get cuts and bruises, and as an adult, you’re not exempt from the bumps and bruises either! Ascorbic acid as it is essential for healing wounds as well as for the repair and maintenance of your cartilage, bones and teeth. At the time of healing, be it from injury, infection, surgery or disease, the body requires large quantities of ascorbic acid.

Along with helping your body repair itself, Vitamin C is one of the most potent antioxidants and is also a natural antihistamine. The immune-enhancing effects that vitamin C has on your body makes it an important ingredient in preventing infections and also in decreasing the duration of illnesses. In fact children fighting illnesses have shown remarkable improvement when they were given high doses of Vitamin C. Studies have also shown that vitamin C is instrumental in both antiviral and antibacterial purposes. Also, large doses of vitamin C are important in fighting the flu virus.

Vitamin C is also helpful in blocking the damage caused from free radicals. For maximum effect it is best to take your vitamin C with bio-flavonoids spaced all through the day.

Vitamin C is safe for your body even when the doses are high. No one has been known to overdose on vitamin C (at least not to our knowledge) but it may have a slight laxative effect. It is therefore recommended that you slowly increase the amount you take.

If your child is not getting enough vitamin C through food, it is essential that supplements be taken. Taking vitamin C supplements will ensure that children never suffer from Vitamin C deficiency. A great way to encourage kids to get their daily dose of vitamin C is to give them a chewable or gummy vitamin C supplement. Just make sure these supplements don’t have any added sugar (such as high fructose corn syrup).

If You're Like Most of Us, You Need to Supplement
And you should. Every day. Adults need Vitamin C too! If you're looking to bump up your antioxidants, AHJ recommends you try: MangoBerry-ES

The Dangers of Becoming Insulin Resistant

In our "Under the Microscope" series, we're presenting you with some heavy-duty scientific articles about recent discoveries in alternative health. In order to understand what it means to be insulin resistant, one must first understand what it means to be insulin sensitive. Insulin is a hormone that is produced by the pancreas as a reaction to the consumption of carbohydrates or foods with sugar content. Sugars and carbohydrates are converted into fuel in the form of glucose which gives your body energy. Keep reading to learn more about how type-2 diabetes is caused and the connection between insulin resistance and obesity.

The insulin hormone acts as trigger for your body’s cells to absorb glucose from the blood stream. As the glucose enters the blood stream via normal digestion, the pancreas initiates the production of the insulin hormone. Insulin is designed to transport the glucose through the blood stream to the muscles and other tissues. Your body carefully and constantly monitors glucose levels and produces just the right amount of insulin that is needed. When a healthy diet is maintained along with regular exercise, the body can efficiently manage normal fluctuations in insulin production and glucose absorption. This is referred to as being insulin sensitive.

How Type-2 Diabetes is Caused

However, complications with insulin production and glucose absorption can occur. If too much glucose is introduced into the blood stream through a diet high in refined sugars and carbohydrates, the pancreas will automatically initiate the production of more insulin. Less complex carbohydrates, like those found in foods containing refined sugar, are able to quickly enter the blood stream. The body sees the “extra” glucose as a surplus and the only way of decreasing it is to generate more insulin. The extra insulin creates a hormonal imbalance that simply is just not tolerated. The muscles are unable to efficiently absorb the “extra” glucose, so the pancreas keeps producing more insulin as a result. The body, unable to manage the increased insulin production, becomes weary and eventually builds up a resistance. This is what it means to be insulin resistant. In lay terms, it is simply the body’s inability to use all of the insulin that is being produced for glucose absorption. This syndrome can, and usually does, eventually lead to type-2 diabetes.

The Connection between Insulin Resistance and Obesity

In the past, insulin resistance was almost exclusively associated with obesity and diabetics. However, obesity is not necessarily a precondition of insulin resistance, nor is diabetes necessarily always the end result. It has been proven that a diet low in carbohydrates and refined sugar combined with participating in regular physical exercise can eventually resolve a person’s resistance to insulin. This resolution is possible because when normal amounts of sugars and carbohydrates are introduced into the blood stream as glucose, the pancreas does not need to produce as much insulin. Additionally, with regular exercise the muscles are able to more efficiently absorb the sugars and carbohydrates that are introduced through food. Your body requires sugar and carbohydrates because they provide the most basic form of energy. Therefore, complete cessation of sugar and carbohydrate consumption is not recommended.

To avoid insulin resistance it is absolutely critical to restrict the amount of refined sugar and empty carbohydrates that you eat. By maintaining a healthy diet and following a regular exercise regime, it is possible to avoid this health condition.

If You're Like Most of Us, You Need to Supplement
And you should. Every day. For your overall health, AHJ recommends you try: BioQ8

Skin Cancer

Skin care is a serious problem and definite risk. The sun's rays have long been thought harmful, and now the truth of that fear has been proven. UVA and UVB rays are not the only things which cause skin cancer, but the sun is a very common cause. The point is that skin cancer is now on a lot of people's minds. However, the problem is that most do not understand very much about the different types of skin cancer, specifically melanoma and basal cell carcinoma. Because knowledge is the best prevention, knowing the difference is crucial.

Melanoma is actually the most serious kind of skin cancer. In this case, the cancer develops in the body's melanin producing cells. Melanin is the pigment which gives skin its color. It can also make up the eyes and occasionally forms internal organs. No one is exactly sure what causes melanoma but it has definite warning signs.

For instance, a mole may change in size and shape or a new, strange looking growth may show up. However, melanoma can also occur in normal moles; it can show up in abnormal looking moles too. The mole may be scaly, it may be itchy, its texture may undergo a change, or is pigmentation may start spreading; it may even begin to bleed or ooze. There are certain types of hidden melanomas as well. They can occur in the mouth, under the nails, in the digestive tract, the urinary tract, or the vagina; some types can show up in the eye.

Conversely, basal cell carcinoma, while it is the most common kind of skin cancer, is significantly less serious. It is, in fact, quite easily treated and only rarely spreads to other areas. All the same, these cancer cells can damage the surrounding tissue and even the bone if they are not removed in a timely manner.

This can be somewhat difficult, as basal cell carcinoma can take years to develop. They generally occur in older adults because of that fact. They also tend to recur. It is known that this type of skin cancer is most often caused by long term exposure to the sun's UV radiation. It cannot be prevented by sun screen, although that is an important part of being safe in the sun.

This type of skin cancer can show up in several ways, such as in the form of a sore which will not heal properly; it can be a white or wax like bump on the face, neck, or ears. Sometimes an unusual patch of skin will appear on the back or chest area.

However, basal cell carcinoma is relatively easy to prevent. Avoiding the sun when it is at its most blazing is the easiest way to avoid this type of skin cancer. One should always wear sun screen as much as possible when out in the sun for an extended period of time. Protective clothing and plenty of vitamin D are essential preventative measures as well. Of course, regularly checkups are a crucial part of preventing any type of skin cancer.

For something so serious, it is surprisingly easy to prevent melanoma as well. The prevention measures here are much the same as those for basal cell carcinoma. Avoiding the sun at its hottest point, wearing sun screen and protective clothing, and having frequent check ups are all important. One should avoid tanning beds or sun lamps as well.

Low Vitamin D Levels May Initiate Cancer Development

Low levels of vitamin D may contribute to cancer development, U.S. researchers have found.

"The first event in cancer is loss of communication among cells due to, among other things, low vitamin D and calcium levels," study leader Cedric Garland, an epidemiologist at the Moores Cancer Center at the University of California, San Diego, said in a university news release.

Garland and colleagues developed a scientific model that suggests "this loss may play a key role in cancer by disrupting the communication between cells that is essential to healthy cell turnover, allowing more aggressive cancer cells to take over."

This cellular disruption could account for the earliest stages of many cancers, according to the study, which was published online in the Annals of Epidemiology.

Maintaining adequate levels of vitamin D may help stop cancer development, Garland suggested.

"Vitamin D may halt the first stage of the cancer process by re-establishing intercellular junctions in malignancies having an intact vitamin D receptor," Garland said.

He noted that appropriate vitamin D levels can be restored and maintained through diet and supplements. More research into the link between vitamin D and cancer is required, but Garland recommended that people get their vitamin D levels tested during annual check-ups.

More information

The Office of Dietary Supplements at the U.S. National Institutes of Health has more about vitamin D.

Study Says Long Slow Walks Better For Heart Patients

Long regular walks have been proven to be very helpful for overweight heart patients recovering from a heart attack.

Traditionally heart patients have been told to exercise moderately after experiencing a heart attack, to help lose weight and lower levels of bad cholesterol.

This new study, suggests that taking long slow walks maybe more beneficial for heart patients than shorter brisker ones.

The researchers stress the fact that people do not lose enough weight post heart attack, because they are not burning enough calories.

“The benefits of weight loss in cardiac patients have not been all that clear,” said Dr. Philip A. Ades, a professor of medicine and director of cardiac rehabilitation and prevention at the University of Vermont College of Medicine and the study’s lead researcher. “And docs are usually pessimistic that their patients can accomplish weight loss.”

Taking 4 to 5 hour long walks a week were found to burn more calories and resulted in increased reduction of body fat than shorter faster strolls.

For those interested in finding out more about this study, check it out in the May 11 online edition of Circulation

Having Psoriasis(dry skin) Raises Risk of Hypertention, Diabetes

Results of a new study find that having psoriasis can put a person at increased risk of diabetes, hypertention and other health problems.

The study was carried out by researchers from the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston.

According to researchers, this is not the first time that studies have found a link between the debilatating skin condition, and the associated heightened risk of health problems, and is just more evidence that people with the skin condition should take really good care of their physical health.

For the study the researchers studied data on 78,061 women aged 27 to 44.

All of the women in the study had participated in a Nurses Health Study, and all were free of diabetes at the beginning of the study.

The researchers compared the rate of diabetes in the women who had psoriasis compared with those who did not.

Women with psoriasis were more than 60% more likely to be diagnosed with diabetes than women without psoriasis.

Psoriasis is a type of skin condition, that is said to effect up to 3% of the general population.

The study can be found in the April issue of the Archives of Dermatology.

Night watch: studying sleep

Night watch: studying sleep

Researchers at the Boston University School of Medicine studied the sleep habits of approximately 1,500 people between the ages of 53 and 93. They tested blood sugar levels and glucose tolerance then compared these findings with the numbers of hours of sleep. People who got five hours of sleep or less per night were 2.5 times as likely to develop diabetes and 1.3 times as likely to have impaired glucose tolerance. People who slept nine hours or more were 1.8 times as likely to develop diabetes, and 1.9 times as likely to develop impaired glucose tolerance. Researchers noted that these results were based on voluntary sleep habits so do not apply to people with insomnia. It seems that eight hours a night for adults is a healthy amount.
A study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute has shown that women who work the night shift may have as much as twice the risk of breast cancer as do the nine to fivers. Researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston theorized that the connection may be levels of melatonin, the hormone produced by the body in the dark that regulates sleep. Decreased levels of melatonin are linked with increased estrogen production, a significant risk factor for breast cancer. Researchers found that women who had the highest melatonin levels had a 41 per cent lower risk of developing invasive breast cancer, compared with those who had the lowest levels.
Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit conducted a study of women between the ages of 46 and 51, who were not on any medications. They found that women are more likely to be awakened by hot flashes during the first half of their sleep rather than later in the night. They further found that during the first half of the night the women typically were wakened by their hot flashes, whereas later in the night women woke up first and then experienced the hot flashes. During the first part of the night, women had 2.2 flashes when the temperature was set to neutral (23 C) or warm (37 C) but only had 1.5 hot flashes when the room was cool at 18 C.
A study published in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism showed only a weak correlation between sleep apnea and excessive daytime sleepiness. More importantly, a stronger link was demonstrated between depression and excessive daytime sleepiness and metabolic disorders such as obesity and diabetes. Depression was the strongest co-relater followed by Body Mass Index, age, typical sleep duration, diabetes, and smoking. Sleep apnea ranked last. Researchers suggested that those complaining of excessive daytime sleepiness should be thoroughly assessed for depression, diabetes, and obesity independent of any sleep-disordered breathing issues.
People with obstructive sleep apnea are far more likely to die suddenly in their sleep from heart related problems than the rest of the population, according to researchers at the Mayo clinic in Rochester Minnesota. The study which was published in the New England Journal of Medicine also described the likelihood of dying from cardiac causes overnight, correlates directly with the severity of obstructive sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is a condition that causes sleepers to stop breathing for numerous brief periods. This causes oxygen levels in the body to drop and carbon dioxide levels to escalate, straining the heart. Losing weight as well as wearing a mask that supplies constant airflow helps the condition.
A new study published in the journal Chest is the largest study to date on the incidence of nighttime heartburn. Approximately one quarter of the North American population loses sleep because of night time heart burn and manifest excessive daytime sleepiness. Excess weight is a known risk for heartburn, as is consumption of soft drinks and certain sleeping pills such as Valium, Xanax and Ativan. Also to blame are meals that are heavy, spicy, or consuming too much alcohol or lying down too soon after eating. Changing these habits, reducing weight, and focusing on healthful pursuits can eliminated many night time sleeping problems.

Too much cola zaps muscle power

Too much cola zaps muscle power

Sugars and caffeine in cola are probably to blame
Excessive cola consumption can lead to anything from mild weakness to profound muscle paralysis, doctors are warning.
This is because the drink can cause blood potassium to drop dangerously low, they report in the International Journal of Clinical Practice.
They tell of the curious case of an Australian ostrich farmer who needed emergency care for lung paralysis after drinking 4-10 litres of cola a day.
He made a full recovery and was advised to curtail his cola drinking.
We have every reason to think that it is not rare
Dr Clifford Packer from the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Centre in Ohio
Another example included a pregnant woman who regularly consumed up to three litres a day for the last six years and complained of tiredness, appetite loss and persistent vomiting.
A heart trace revealed she had an irregular heartbeat, most likely caused by her low blood potassium levels.
Once she stopped drinking so much cola, she made a full and uneventful recovery.
The investigators believe these cases are not atypical and that many people risk problems due to their intake.
Moderate consumption of cola drinks is completely safe and people can continue to enjoy such drinks as part of a balanced diet and active lifestyle
A spokeswoman from the British Soft Drinks Association
Manufacturers insist the products are safe when consumed in moderation.
In a commentary, Dr Clifford Packer from the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Centre in Ohio said: "We have every reason to think that it is not rare.
"With aggressive mass marketing, super-sizing of soft drinks, and the effects of caffeine tolerance and dependence, there is very little doubt that tens of millions of people in industrialised countries drink at least 2-3 l of cola per day.
"It follows that the serum potassium levels of these heavy cola drinkers are dropping, in some cases, to dangerous low levels."
Moderation
The author of the research paper, Dr Moses Elisaf from the University of Ioannina in Greece, said it appeared that hypokalaemia can be caused by excessive consumption of three of the most common ingredients in cola drinks - glucose, fructose and caffeine.
"The individual role of each of these ingredients in the pathophysiology of cola-induced hypokalaemia has not been determined and may vary in different patients.
"However in most of the cases we looked at for our review, caffeine intoxication was thought to play the most important role.
"This has been borne out by case studies that focus on other products that contain high levels of caffeine but no glucose or fructose."
Despite this, he warned that caffeine free cola products could also cause hypokalaemia because the fructose they contain can cause diarrhoea.
"We believe that further studies are needed to establish how much is too much when it comes to the daily consumption of cola drinks."
Excessive consumption has already been linked with obesity, diabetes and tooth and bone problems.
A spokeswoman from the British Soft Drinks Association said: "The examples used in this paper by the IJCP are all very extreme cases - moderate consumption of cola drinks is completely safe and people can continue to enjoy such drinks as part of a balanced diet and active lifestyle.
"The soft drinks industry is committed to encouraging responsible consumption of all its products. Nutrition labelling is included on pack so people can make an informed choice about the products they are drinking."

Sunglasses have health benefits

Two U.S. ophthalmologists say wearing protective sunglasses helps preserve eye health.

Dr. Donald J. D'Amico and Dr. Stephen Trokel, both of the NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, warn overexposure to the sun can not only cause skin cancer of the eyelids, but cornea sunburn and vision-blocking tissue growth. It has also been implicated in the development of cataracts and, possibly, macular degeneration.

"There are strong indications that chronic exposure to the components of sunlight may accelerate aging of ocular tissues," Trokel says in a statement. "Any protective eyewear should have side shield protection or wrap around the eye so light cannot enter the eye from side reflections."

The doctors advise to get sunglasses:

-- That are labeled "over 95 percent UV protection."

-- That have a lens tint -- such as neutral gray, amber, brown or green -- that blocks 80 percent of transmissible light, but no more than 90 percent to 92 percent of light.

-- That can be worn over contact lenses because sunglasses help prevent the drying effects of warm wind.

-- For infants because eyes should always be shaded from direct exposure to the sun.