Lack of 'sleep' may zap cell growth, brain activity, study in plants suggests

Lack of adequate sleep can do more than just make you tired. It can short-circuit your system and interfere with a fundamental cellular process that drives physical growth, physiological adaptation and even brain activity, according to a new study.

Originally published at http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/10/151030153115.htm

Forget counting sheep - therapy could help chronic pain sufferers get a good night’s sleep

Research indicates that chronic pain sufferers could benefit from therapy to help them sleep better.

Originally published at http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/10/151030161421.htm

Sleep interruptions worse for mood than overall reduced amount of sleep, study finds

A new study suggests that awakening several times throughout the night is more detrimental to people's positive moods than getting the same shortened amount of sleep without interruption.

Originally published at http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/10/151030220514.htm

Jet lag-like sleep disruptions spur Alzheimer's memory, learning loss

Chemical changes in brain cells caused by disturbances in the body’s day-night cycle may be a key underlying cause of the learning and memory loss associated with Alzheimer’s disease, according to a new study.

Originally published at http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/10/151029103405.htm

Watching TV for more than three and a half hours a day linked to 8 diseases

The National Cancer Institute in Michigan discovered that long-term TV watchers are at risk of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, influenza, pneumonia, Parkinson's and liver disease.

Read the rest at http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3294520/How-watching-TV-kill-Sitting-box-three-half-hours-day-linked-eight-major-diseases.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490

Mortality rates for leading causes of early death SLOW

A study by the American Cancer Society reveals between 1969 and 2013 age-standardized death rates for all causes of death fell by 43 per cent - with falls in death rates for heart disease, stroke, cancer and diabetes.

Read the rest at http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3294299/Mortality-rates-leading-causes-early-death-SLOW-fewer-succumb-heart-disease-cancer-stroke.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490

New finding helps explain why many alcohol drinkers also are smokers

Alcohol and nicotine use have long been known to go hand in hand. Previous research shows that more than 85 percent of US adults who are alcohol-dependent also are nicotine-dependent. Now, researchers have found that nicotine cancels out the sleep-inducing effects of alcohol. It's a finding that sheds light on the reason alcohol and nicotine usage are so closely linked.

Originally published at http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/10/151027154958.htm

Learning in your sleep, the right way

You can swot up on vocabulary in your sleep, but only if you don’t confuse your brain in the process. Researchers have invited people to their sleep lab for a Dutch language course.

Originally published at http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/10/151028084925.htm

Three cups a day could improve blood sugar levels

Researchers gave 64 people with diabetes either camomile tea or water to drink three times a day after meals for two months.

Read the rest at http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3290703/Diabetes-Herbal-tea-help-Three-cups-day-improve-blood-sugar-levels.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490

Diabetes? Herbal tea could help: Three cups a day could improve blood sugar levels

Researchers gave 64 people with diabetes either camomile tea or water to drink three times a day after meals for two months.

Read the rest at http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3290703/Diabetes-Herbal-tea-help-Three-cups-day-improve-blood-sugar-levels.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490

Abstaining from alcohol heals the liver, lower blood pressure and cholesterol

Patients who gave up alcohol for four weeks were at lower risk of developing cancer and diabetes, a new study at the Royal Free Hospital has revealed.

Read the rest at http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3289187/Month-drinking-slashes-risk-disease-Abstaining-heal-liver-lower-blood-pressure-cholesterol-levels.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490

HEALTH NOTES: Sniffer dogs that spot diabetes danger signs

After training, animals were able to spot hypoglycemia episodes – or hypos – with an accuracy of nearly 90 per cent, according to new research published in the journal Diabetes Therapy.

Read the rest at http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3287646/HEALTH-NOTES-Sniffer-dogs-spot-diabetes-danger-signs.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490

World-first study links light exposure to weight gain in children

A world-first study has revealed pre-schoolers exposed to more light earlier in day tend to weigh more. She says the research suggests light exposure, artificial and natural, needs to be part of the conversation about the weight of children, along with calorie intake, decreased physical activity and sleep patterns.

Originally published at http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/10/151023105914.htm

New insights into REM sleep crack an enduring mystery

REM sleep -- the phase of night-time mammalian sleep physiology where dreams occur -- has long fascinated scientists, clinicians, philosophers, and artists alike, but the identity of the neurons that control REM sleep, and its function in sleep have been controversial due to a lack of precise genetic methods to study the sleeping brain. Now, in a remarkable demonstration of a recent brain technology, neuroscientists provide the first answers to both questions, identifying a neural circuit in the brain that regulates REM sleep, and showing that REM sleep controls the physiology of the other major sleep phase, called non-REM (NREM) sleep.

Originally published at http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/10/151022141800.htm

Alzheimer's disease: Plaques impair memory formation during sleep

Alzheimer's patients frequently suffer from sleep disorders, mostly even before they become forgetful. Furthermore, it is known that sleep plays a very important role in memory formation. Researchers have now been able to show for the first time how the pathological changes in the brain act on the information-storing processes during sleep. Using animal models, they were able to decode the exact mechanism and alleviate the impairment with medicinal agents.

Originally published at http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/10/151022111341.htm

What's YOUR risk of serious disease? New quiz reveals your likelihood of cancer, diabetes, heart or bowel problems - based on you diet, exercise and family history...

EXCLUSIVE: The quiz's creator, Professor Martyn Caplin, a consultant gastroenterologist at London’s Royal Free Hospital, says diet is associated with up to a quarter of all cancers.

Read the rest at http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3280808/What-s-risk-disease-New-quiz-reveals-likelihood-cancer-diabetes-heart-bowel-problems-based-diet-exercise-family-history.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490

James Bond's Sir Roger Moore admits to giving up drink during diabetes battle

James Bond star Sir Roger Moore may have once had a licence to thrill, but since being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, the actor admits to giving up dry martinis to keep his sugar consumption in check.

Read the rest at http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3277145/No-Moore-martinis-diabetic-007-star-Sir-Roger-88-admits-giving-drink-sugar-consumption-check.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490

A Nap to Recap: How reward, daytime sleep boost learning

Rewarding learning selectively enhances the consolidation of learned information during sleep, report scientists. This human study builds on what we know from Drosophila by showing how sleep and reward combine to boost memory.

Originally published at http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/10/151016135315.htm