Feeling Sleepy? 3 Effective Ways of Helping to Prevent Insomnia

The majority of us will have difficulty sleeping at one point, or another throughout the course of our lives. It could be because we’re worrying about work, or for others it may be as the result of money problems. However, for many people, it’s simply a case of being so busy that they find it difficult to switch off at the end of the day. Whatever the cause may be, insomnia can lead to a whole host of problems if left untreated.

You may find that you feel lethargic and have difficulty concentrating for long periods of time. Other people may start to experience headaches and become more prone to catching coughs and colds. Such health problems can lead to having to take time off of work, which can cause yet more stress, and before you know it, you’re caught in a vicious cycle. You can’t sleep because you’re stressed out, and you’re stressed out because you can’t sleep. Thankfully, there are steps that you can take to help prevent insomnia from happening in the first place. As well as improve the overall quality of sleep you get each night.

1. Get Rid of Distractions

Bedrooms today don’t tend to be used for just sleeping. Many people also have TVs in there, and maybe even eat their breakfast in bed. The biggest culprit for keeping us awake, however, is unsurprisingly digital devices like tablets and cell phones. So, if you’re having trouble sleeping, it’s time to give your bedroom a makeover. Get rid of the TV and fill the room with scented candles and other items that are going to encourage relaxation rather than provide stimulation.

2. Natural Remedies

There are lots of herbal supplements on the market that can help to promote natural sleep. Valerian capsules are one such example, and some even swear by using medical marijuana to help them drop off at night. This subject is still somewhat up for debate, but you can learn more about the topic on the vaporizerblog and other similar websites.

Another option that is well worth considering is to add a few drops of lavender to an oil burner and add a couple to your pillow before going to sleep at night. Lavender has long been recognized for its relaxing scent and sleep-promoting properties. So, if you were keen to go down the natural route, this is definitely worth trying before pursuing other options.

3. Winding Down

The mistake that many people make is that they rush around trying to get everything done until last thing at night, and then jump in bed wondering why they can’t fall asleep. You need to start the process of relaxing and winding down at least an hour before you get in bed. Take a bath, read a book or drink a warm glass of milk. By repeating this every night, you’re teaching your body to see these activities as cues to start preparing for bed.

So, next time you can’t sleep, and you think your only option is to start counting sheep, think again. Cast your mind back to this handy guide, and you’ll soon be sleeping as soundly as a newborn baby.

Source-www.facebook

Rates of thyroid cancer tripled since 1975 - public water utilities continue to poison us with water fluoridation

NaturalNews) As scientists struggle to explain why thyroid cancer rates have more than tripled in the U.S. since the mid-1970s, nobody's addressing the elephant in the room that is artificial water fluoridation and the confirmed toxicity of fluoride chemicals when they enter the thyroid gland.

A study published last year attempted to explain away the thyroid cancer epidemic in the U.S. today, blaming it not on more actual cases of the disease, but rather on more diagnoses. The problem, say researchers from Dartmouth University, is that thyroid cancer is supposedly overdiagnosed and overtreated.

"The incidence of thyroid cancer is at epidemic proportions, but it doesn't look like an epidemic of disease," believes Dr. H. Gilbert Welch, a professor of medicine at the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice. "[I]t looks like an epidemic of diagnosis," he's quoted as saying by HealthDay News.

It's a plausible hypothesis, actually: Just like with prostate cancer, testing regimens for thyroid cancer oftentimes pick up benign cancers that never would have developed into anything serious. Meanwhile, many of those diagnosed undergo invasive procedures, such as having their thyroids completely removed, that were never even necessary.

"This means that a lot of people are having their thyroids removed for a cancer that was never going to bother them," said Dr. Welch, suggesting that, as more people become aware of thyroid cancer and have their necks examined to look for problems, they're being misdiagnosed.

Multiple studies dating back to the 1970s link fluoride exposure to thyroid and other cancers

But what about the fluoride connection? Sure, some folks are being misdiagnosed as this study suggests, but it's surely not misdiagnosis that's primarily responsible for the more than 300% rise in thyroid cancer rates over the past 40 years. So what is it?

A study published just this year showed that fluoride ingestion is directly associated with rising rates of underactive thyroid, or hypothyroidism. Published in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, the paper "raises questions about the safety of community fluoridation," to quote the words of one of its authors.

After looking at thyroid health in two separate communities in England, one that fluoridates its public water and one that doesn't, researchers determined that fluoridated areas are much worse off in the cancer department. And this was at water fluoridation rates of 0.3 parts per million (ppm), an amount far lower than what the average municipal utility in the U.S. dumps into city water.

"I think the results clearly demonstrate an increased risk of hypothyroidism associated with areas of [high] water fluoridation," stated Professor Stephen Peckham, lead author of the study from the University of Kent in the UK.

Multiple studies by Dr. Dean Burk, the former head of the Cytochemistry Section at the National Cancer Institute, have also drawn connections between fluoride exposure and cancer. Dr. Burk's research dating back to 1977 revealed that fluoride ingestion led to the growth of thyroid follicular cell tumors in mice.

"Analysis of the results in rats showed that animals who drank fluoridated water showed: an increase in tumors and cancers in oral squamous cells, a rare form of bone cancer (osteosarcoma), and an increase in thyroid follicular cell tumors," reads a paper by Dr. Lita Lee, Ph.D., entitled "Fluoride - A Modern Toxic Waste."

"A rare form of liver cancer (hepatocholangiocarcinoma) occurred only in animals who drank fluoridated water," it adds.

Fluoride displaces necessary iodine in the thyroid gland

As we've previously covered, fluoride also displaces iodine in the thyroid gland. Iodine deficiency is widespread and increasing in frequency, and studies have shown that repeated exposure to fluoride, including in laced municipal water, makes iodine deficiency much worse than it would otherwise be.

"Iodine is the basic building block of the T3 and T4 hormones and thus an adequate iodine intake is essential for the proper functioning of the thyroid gland," explains the Fluoride Action Network.

"When iodine intake is inadequate during infancy and early childhood, the child's brain can suffer permanent damage, including mental retardation. (Iodine deficiency is the leading cause of mental retardation throughout the world.)"

From a neurological perspective, there really isn't an "optimal" fluoride level at all, apart from zero. Fluoride isn't a nutrient, and the kind added to municipal water isn't anything like the naturally occurring calcium fluoride already present in many water sources. Public awareness about this distinction, as well as the link between fluoride exposure and thyroid damage, needs to grow.


Sources:naturalnews

Meldonium (Mildronate): What Is It And What Does It Do?

Meldonium, brand name Mildronate, is the basis of much debate in the world of sports doping. Initially designed in Latvia for use in animals, the drug is now under the watchful eye of the World Anti-Doping Agency.
Meldonium, also known as Mildronāts, Quaterine, MET-88, THP, trimethylhydrazinium propionate and 3-(2,2,2-trimethylhydraziniumyl)propionate, is primarily manufactured by a Latvian drug company called Grindeks.
It is a licensed medical drug used widely throughout Eastern Europe and Central Asia for a number of conditions, including cardiac complaints. Meldonium is not licensed for use in the US.
Since January 1, 2016, meldonium has been on the World Anti-Doping Agency's list of banned drugs. A number of athletes from America, Russia and Europe are currently facing bans for using meldonium.¹
In this article, we will look at the origins of meldonium, its medical uses and associated research.

Fast facts on meldonium (Mildronate)
Here are some key points about meldonium. More detail and supporting information is in the main article.

• A Latvian pharmaceutical company created meldonium
• Meldonium is a fatty acid oxidation inhibitor
• Use of meldonium in sports is banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)
• As of April 2016, at least nine athletes have been provisionally suspended after testing positive for meldonium
• Meldonium is predominantly used to treat heart conditions but has a range of pharmaceutical uses
• Meldonium is not licensed for use in the US
• The drug was used extensively by Soviet troops in Afghanistan.

What is meldonium (Mildronate)?

Meldonium has a number of uses, one of which being performance enhancement.

One of meldonium's early uses was in animals; the drug was specifically used to enhance the sexual performance and sperm motility of boars. Its license was later expanded for use in humans.²
Meldonium is produced by the Latvian pharmaceutical company Grendiks. With sales of the drug reaching 56 million euros in 2013, it is one of Latvia's biggest medical exports.
Prior to the use of meldonium for cardiac health issues, large quantities of the drug were shipped to Soviet troops in Afghanistan between 1979 and 1989.
According to the drug's designer, Ivar Kalvins - chair of the scientific board of the Latvian Institute of Organic Synthesis - it was created to increase the body's oxygen-carrying capacity.
Because of Afghanistan's mountainous terrain and the need to carry large backpacks, Soviet soldiers would take meldonium to increase their endurance in the oxygen-reduced air.

Uses of meldonium (Mildronate)

Meldonium is a fatty acid oxidation inhibitor and, today, it is principally used to treat angina and heart attacks (myocardial infarction). Its therapeutic activity is produced by altering pathways for carnitine, a nutrient involved in fat metabolism.³
A study in 2005 found that meldonium, in combination with an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor called lisinopril, improved exercise capability and peripheral circulation for individuals with chronic heart failure.⁴
A Chinese study group then tested meldonium for its efficacy in treating acute ischemic stroke, finding it as useful as cinepazide, a vasodilator commonly used to treat acute cerebral infarction.⁵
In some countries, including Latvia, Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Moldova and Kyrgyzstan, meldonium is used to treat problems with circulation in the brain and has been reported to elevate mood and improve motor symptoms, dizziness and nausea. Meldonium has also been found to help reduce withdrawal symptoms in people with alcoholism.
Other uses for meldonium include:⁶

• Immune system modulation
• Treating stomach ulcers
• Treating eye trauma
• Treating infections of the lungs and upper respiratory tract.

Meldonium (Mildronate) in sports

Meldonium has recently been added to WADA's list of banned substances because of "evidence of its use by athletes with the intention of enhancing performance." WADA classes meldonium as a metabolic modulator, in the same bracket as insulin.⁷
A study published in Drug Testing and Analysis in December 2015 summarized that meldonium:

"Demonstrates an increase in endurance performance of athletes, improved rehabilitation after exercise, protection against stress, and enhanced activations of central nervous system (CNS) functions."⁸

Meldonium hit the headlines in 2016 thanks to the former world number one tennis player - Maria Sharapova - who tested positive for the substance on March 7, 2016. Although she contested that she had been taking meldonium for 10 years to treat an ongoing medical issue, she was provisionally suspended.
On the same day that Sharapova's results became public, Russian ice skater Ekaterina Bobrova also announced that she had tested positive for the drug. Since then, at least another nine sportspeople from Russia, Ethiopia, Sweden, Germany and Ukraine have received provisional bans after positive tests for meldonium.
However, on April 13, 2016, WADA advised that any athletes who tested positive before March 1, 2016 could still compete. The change in decision came because reliable data on how long the body takes to excrete meldonium does not yet exist.^{9
Source- medicalnewstoday}

Marijuana use may reduce dopamine in the brain

Dopamine is a transmitter in the brain that is important for movement, thinking and memory, but it is also known as the "reward chemical" for its role in pleasure. Now, a recent study reveals that heavy marijuana use could compromise the dopamine system.

Heavy marijuana use is linked with decreased dopamine release in the brain, researchers say.

The researchers, who publish their work in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, say that heavy cocaine and heroin use have been shown to decrease dopamine release, but until now, such data regarding cannabis was notably absent.
Lead author Dr. Anissa Abi-Dargham, of the Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) in New York, says the recent "widespread acceptance and use of marijuana" makes looking into the effects of cannabis on the brain extremely important.
She and her team explain that most drug addictions blunt dopamine release during the chronic phase of drug dependence, which results in poor outcomes.
To further investigate whether marijuana dependence is linked with similar effects, the researchers conducted their study in 11 adults aged 21-40 years who were heavily dependent on marijuana, and they matched them with 12 healthy controls.
The adults in the marijuana group started using it at around age 16 on average, became dependent by age 20 and had been dependent for around 7 years.
Nearly all users in the study smoked marijuana daily in the month leading up to the study, the researcher say.

'Heavy use may negatively affect learning and behavior'

The researchers used positron emission tomography (PET) scans to track a radiotracing molecule that binds to the brain's dopamine receptors. From this, they were able to measure the release of dopamine in the striatum, which is a brain region involved in memory, impulsive behavior and attention.
Additionally, the team was able to track dopamine release in other brain regions, including the thalamus, midbrain and globus pallidus.
During the study, the marijuana users stayed in the hospital for a week, during which they abstained from using it. This was to ensure that the scans were not measuring the drug's effects.
Both before and after being given oral amphetamine to draw out dopamine release, the participants' brains were scanned. The researchers used the percent change in the binding of the radiotracer as a sign of dopamine release capacity.
Results showed that, compared with the control group, the marijuana users' striatum had lower dopamine release. There was also lower release in subregions that play a role in associative and sensorimotor learning, as well as in the globus pallidus.
Upon investigating the link between dopamine release in the striatum and cognitive performance on learning and working memory tasks, the researchers did not observe a difference in performance between the two groups.
However, they do note that among all participants, those who had lower dopamine release performed worse on both tasks
source-

Night shift work may affect women more than men

Night shift working could affect women's ability to function more than men's, suggests a study that compared men and women's performance after experiencing 28-hour day schedules that delayed their sleep-wake cycle until it was out of sync with their internal 24-hour body clock.

The study is the first to show that shifted sleep-wake cycles affect men and women's ability to function differently.

The study - from the Surrey Sleep Research Centre (SSRC) at the University of Surrey, UK, and published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - is the first to show that shifted sleep-wake cycles affect men and women's ability to function differently, revealing key differences in cognitive performance and changes of mood.
First author Dr. Nayantara Santhi, a research fellow at the SSRC, says:
"Extrapolation of these results would suggest that women may be more affected by night shift work than men."
The study could have significant implications for women who work night shifts in professions such as nursing and the police, suggest the authors.
Our body clock, or circadian rhythm, regulates the daily cycles of our bodies as we transition from day to night, and from wakefulness to sleep. A "master clock" in the brain coordinates the clocks of various different processes - for example, hormone production, metabolism and blood pressure - so they are in sync.
There is evidence that some circadian features - such as the frequency of the clock and the size of highs and lows in production of the sleep hormone melatonin - differ between men and women, but the authors note they are the first to see if these differences extend into mental function.

Circadian rhythm changes affect brain differently in men and women

For the study, the researchers put 16 male and 18 female volunteers on 28-hour days in a controlled sleep lab at the SSRC. This meant that they experienced day-night changes on a 28-hour pattern instead of the 24-hour pattern of their inbuilt circadian rhythm.
As the days went on, the participants began to sleep out of sync with their internal clock - similar to what happens when working shifts or due to jet lag, for example.
Every 3 hours during the wakeful part of their 28-hour day, the participants underwent a range of objective tests of their performance - such as attention, motor control and working memory. They also completed subjective tests - self-assessments of sleepiness, mood and effort.
The researchers also took continuous readings (electroencephalograms, or EEGs) of electrical activity in the participants' brains as they slept.
The results showed that for both men and women, the subjective measures - the self-assessments - were more sensitive to the effects of time awake and circadian rhythm than many of the objective measures of performance.
But the more crucial finding was that the effect on the objective measures of performance was stronger in the women's results than in the men's; they showed the women performed less well during the early morning, which would be around the time a night shift worker comes off a night shift.
Senior author Derk-Jan Dijk, professor of sleep and physiology at the University of Surrey, concludes:

"These results show that in both men and women circadian rhythmicity affects brain function and that these effects differ between the sexes in a quantitative manner for some measures of brain function."

He also points out that the study highlights the importance of including male and female subjects in this kind of research and of using a range of subjective and objective measures of brain function.
Meanwhile, Medical News Today recently learned how key mechanisms in the brain - called BK channels - play a major role in the regulation of sleep-wake cycles.
Source- medicalnewstoday.

High levels of phthalates detected in people who eat fast food

Eating fast food exposes people to higher levels of potentially noxious chemicals known as phthalates, says research published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.

Phthalates can leach into processed food from packaging.

Phthalates come from a class of industrial chemicals that are used to make food packaging materials and other items involved in the manufacture of fast food and dairy produce.
Previous studies have suggested that these chemicals leach out of plastic food packaging, causing contamination of highly processed foods.
Researchers at Milken Institute School of Public Health at the George Washington University in Washington, DC, led by Ami Zota, are among the first to investigate the relationship between fast-food consumption and exposure to the chemicals.
Zota and coauthors examined data for 8,877 participants. To gather the information, they distributed a questionnaire and collected a urinary sample for each respondent.
The subjects answered detailed questions on what food they had eaten, including fast food, in the last 24 hours.
The researchers tested the urinary samples to see if they contained the breakdown products of two phthalates: di-isononyl phthalate (DiNP) and di-2-ethylhexylphlatate (DEHP).

23.8% more DEHP, 40% more DiNP in fast-food consumers

Findings showed that the more fast food an individual reported eating, the higher their exposure to phthalates.
Compared with those who had not consumed fast food, the urine of participants who ate the most fast food had 23.8% higher levels of the breakdown product for DEHP, and the levels of DiNP metabolites were 40% higher.
Meat items and grain-based foods, such as bread, cake, pizza, burritos, rice dishes and noodles, appeared to contribute the most significantly to phthalate exposure, supporting previous findings that grains are an important source of phthalate exposure.
Another chemical used in plastic food packaging, Bisphenol A (BPA), has been linked with health and behavioral problems, especially among young children. Zota's team also looked for signs of BPA among their participants.

High BPA levels after eating fast-food meat products

The team found no association between total fast-food intake and BPA, but those who consumed fast-food meat products had higher BPA levels than those who had not eaten fast food.
Zota says:

"People who ate the most fast food had phthalate levels that were as much as 40% higher. Our findings raise concerns because phthalates have been linked to a number of serious health problems in children and adults."

Ongoing research suggests that phthalates feature in a range of personal products, toys, perfume and even foods. In 2008, Congress banned phthalates in children's toys due to concerns that they could be hazardous to health.
There is also evidence that DEHP and DiNP leach out of products and into the body, potentially causing problems for the reproductive system, including infertility.
However, they remain in use, and it could be years before large studies confirm a link between phthalates, fast food and health problems, says Zota.
Meanwhile, she suggests avoiding frequent consumption of fast foods because of the amounts of fat, salt and calories that they contain. ople "can't go wrong by eating more fruits and vegetables and less fast food." She adds that the health benefits of consuming whole foods "go far beyond the question of phthalates
She says pe

Happiness fueled by relationships, work and something 'larger than self,' filmmaker finds

What does it take to be happy — to escape life's ennui, low-level sorrow or what Freud called the "worried well?"
Can you consciously make yourself happy?
Probably not, experts say. But understanding your biological makeup, how you perceive the world and your relationships with others can help to boost happiness.
Stefan Sagmeister, a New York City-based graphic artist who created album covers for the Rolling Stones, Jay-Z and the Talking Heads, set out to see if he could orchestrate his own happiness.
His quest, which was in many ways a failure, is the subject of his first documentary with Ben Nabors, "The Happy Film," which premieres at the Tribeca Film Festival this weekend and goes on to international festivals.

Courtesy of Ben Wolf

During a cognitive behavioral therapy experiment, Stefan Sagmeister follows his doctor's advice to "seek discomfort" by attempting to pick up a woman on the street.

"Ultimately, we have a conscious and unconscious mind," Sagmeister, 52, told TODAY. "The unconscious mind is a big elephant and the conscious mind is a tiny rider who thinks he can tell the elephant what to do. But in real life, the sub-conscious mind has its own ideas and direction."
Watch the trailer for "The Happy Film"
"Only through training can we make the two work together," he said. "And it doesn't happen overnight."
Sagmeister is highly successful and had every reason to be happy, but he became easily bored with creative projects when they were not new, and with women after passion waned.


So what was missing in his life?
Jonathan Haidt, a social psychologist from New York University and author of "The Happiness Hypothesis," says humans are complex creatures who "survive and thrive" in an intensely social world.
"True happiness comes when you get three kinds of relationships right," he told TODAY. "The one between yourself and others, between yourself and work or something productive and between yourself and something larger than yourself."

The Happy Film

Happiness depends on many factors, but you can't just think happy to make it happen.

As for love, passion usually ends in about six months, but the joys of companionship rise. He also advises finding a sense of fun and playfulness in life.
Before embarking on his experiment, Sagmeister consulted Haidt, who recommended three scientifically valid approaches to curbing his relationship anxiety — meditation, cognitive therapy and SSRI antidepressants. He also graded his happiness level.
source--healthnews

5 yoga poses guaranteed to engage your child in the practice

Parents, we hear you. Getting your child to sit still is never an easy task. But one yoga instructor is showing it's possible to do just that, and more.
Pilar Salazar has been doing yoga for the past 14 years, and teaching her own classes for half of those. The Costa Rican native honed her craft at Bodhi Surf School, where she practices Ashtanga yoga.
Today, she works to get others just as excited about the discipline.
"I knew I was going to like it. I like physical exercising and dancing. I have always been a very fit girl. When I went to Hatha yoga, it combined what I like about body movement and spirituality."

Pilar Salazar

Luckily for Salazar, she often has at least one buddy to perform the sequences with — her 5-year-old daughter, Maya.
Ever since she could walk, Maya has been practicing yoga. Her first move? Downward-facing dog.


"She has been very surrounded by practitioners, so it has been very present in her life."
Whether Maya is active for 15 minutes or an hour, she is reaping the many benefits that yoga offers. Salazar shared those and a few tips exclusively with TODAY.com.

Yoga creates bodily awareness

It gives kids moves, stretches and a better connection with their bodies.

It puts emotions under a magnifying glass

They learn how to breathe deeply and understand their emotions better. What I have learned through the practice of yoga — we can apply it through the day. "If she gets upset during the day, I ask her to take a moment, breathe deeply and figure out what exactly we are feeling," Salazar said.

With good posture, comes better coordination

Coordination is really important for kids to develop. The process helps with flexibility, coordination of movement and connection to oneself.

Do it as a family

Try to make it the most fun thing to do. Rather than sending them off to a children's yoga class, do it as a family. If we want people to learn, we always have to think about the best way to introduce information based on where the person is in their journey. It's a learning process that you'll take on together.

dee frog photography

There are many ways to ease into yoga, especially for families who haven't previously tried it.
Sun salutations, which are very simple ways to stretch, are for kids around 4 years of age or older. The important thing is to make it as natural and playful as it can be, Salazar said. Never force anything — start by doing it as a family.
Kids have a different span of attention than adults, so it's important to be patient and understanding. And so, maybe 10-15 minutes of yoga, three times a week is a great start.


They can start with three to five per day and ultimately build up to 10 per day. From there, they can start incorporating more yoga postures. In order to make it fun, use your imagination and create a story for every move and pose (Salazar tends to develop stories about animals and the jungle).
Salazar shared this sun salutation that she regularly does with her daughter:
1. Start in "mountain pose" with feet and hands together. Pretend you are a mountain, quiet and steady. Close your eyes and concentrate on hearing yourself breathe.

Pilar Salazar

2. Take a deep breath and and raise your hands up to the sky. Can you see the clouds? Try to touch them with your fingertips!

Pilar Salazar

3. Now, bend all the way forward to touch and feel the grass in feet and hands.

Pilar Salazar

4. Jump back as a frog would — your belly is going to touch the floor. As soon as this happens, lift your chest up and pretend to be a cobra.

Pilar Salazar

5. Stretch back to down dog. Hold it here for a moment.

Pilar Salazar

6. OK, Let's jump back to the front, raised your hands back to the sky and come back to mountain pose.

source-- .today

Groggy? 3 easy ways to improve the quality of your sleep

After receiving a diagnosis of degenerative disc disease, Shawn Stevenson wanted to improve his overall health. He changed his diet and exercise routine, but it soon became clear that a good night's rest remained as important as working out and eating right. This realization became a passion and he found himself reading study after study about sleep.
What he learned became the basis for the book, "Sleep Smarter: 21 Essential Strategies to Sleep Your Way to a Better Body, Better Health, and Bigger Success." While he provides 21 ways to get better sleep, he admits that most people won't use every tip — they'll mix and match what works for them. While some of the tips include traditional advice, such as having a good sleep environment, others include lifestyle changes that bolster sleep quality. He shares a few with TODAY:

"Timing of sleep is like timing in investment. It doesn't matter how much you invest, it is about when," he says.
When should people catch Zs? Between 10 p.m. to 2 a.m.
According to research, the body secretes the most human growth hormone during this time, which is essential for regulating muscle growth, bolstering the immune system, strengthening the bones, among other things. Sleeping during this time means the body produces the perfect amount of hormones.
It's also during this time that the body also produces the most melatonin, a hormone that regulates sleep and wake cycles. Assuring that you're in bed at this time keeps melatonin production in check.
"It really supports our normal sleep cycles. It is not about getting so many hours, [it's about] getting full normal sleep cycle," Stevenson says.
Play Video

source--www.today

Hepatitis C Therapy May Reduce Need for Liver Transplants

Treatment with antiviral drugs may reduce the need for a liver transplant for people with severe liver damage and hepatitis C, a new study suggests.
This study included 103 liver transplant candidates in Europe with severe liver damage and hepatitis C. They were treated with direct-acting antiviral drug combinations used to treat and cure people with hepatitis C.
Thirty-five percent of the patients improved to the point where they were no longer in urgent need of a liver transplant. And 20 percent got so much better that they no longer needed a transplant, researchers found.
Currently, more than 15,000 people in the United States are on the liver transplant waiting list. About 16 percent will die before receiving a new liver. And roughly 30 percent of adults on the liver transplant waiting list have severe liver damage and hepatitis C, the researchers said.
The study was to be presented Thursday at the International Liver Congress in Barcelona, Spain. Findings presented at meetings are generally viewed as preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.
"The results of the study are very encouraging, but a word of caution is to be mentioned since it is presently unknown how long the clinical improvement will last," study author Dr. Luca Belli said in an International Liver Congress news release. Belli is from the gastroenterology and hepatology liver unit at Niguarda Hospital in Milan, Italy.
Belli said international studies need to be done to see how patients taken off the transplant list fare. He said it's critical to assess the long-term risk of death, development of liver cancer and further deterioration of the liver.
"These results show notable improvements in the outlook for some of these patients," Laurent Castera, secretary general of the European Association for the Study of the Liver, said in the news release.
"Treating these patients with direct-acting antiviral therapy could result in those with a more pressing need for a liver transplant receiving the donation they need, potentially reducing the number of deaths that occur in patients on the waiting list," Castera added.
source- health.usnews

Hepatitis C-Infected Liver Transplants May Work Well for Those With the Virus

- Here's some potentially good news for people with hepatitis C who are waiting for liver transplants: Hepatitis C-infected livers seem to do as well as healthy livers in these patients, a new study indicates.
The findings suggest that using hepatitis C-infected (HCV-positive) livers could help reduce wait times for people with hepatitis C who need a transplant, the researchers said. Hepatitis C is a virus that can infect the liver, leading to inflammation, scarring and liver cancer.
More than 15,000 people in the United States are on the liver transplant waiting list, and about 16 percent will die before they receive a new liver, according to background notes with the study.
In the United States, use of HCV-positive livers for liver transplants in people with hepatitis C has tripled, from less than 3 percent in 1995 to more than 9 percent in 2013.
Researchers analyzed data from nearly almost 44,000 people with hepatitis C who received a liver transplant in the United States during that time. Almost 6 percent received an HCV-positive liver. There was no difference in time to death between those who received either a liver with hepatitis or a healthy liver, the study found.
The study was to be presented Thursday at the International Liver Congress in Barcelona, Spain.
"Over the past two decades, mainly due to shortages in organs, the use of HCV-positive organs for liver transplantation has tripled," said study author Dr. Zobair Younossi, chair of the department of medicine at Inova Fairfax Hospital in Falls Church, Va.
"Our study clearly shows that people with HCV who received HCV-positive livers had the same medium- to long-term outcomes as people that received healthy livers. As highly effective treatments for HCV are available for transplanted patients, the future of these patients is bright," Younossi added in a Congress news release.
This study demonstrates a greater opportunity for use of HCV-positive livers due to their comparable outcomes with healthy livers, Tom Hemming Karlsen, vice secretary of the European Association for the Study of the Liver, said in the news release.
"With the number of people waiting for a liver transplant expected to rise, the study results should give hope over the coming years for those on the waiting list," he said.
Data and conclusions presented at meetings are usually considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed medical journal.
Source--health.usnews

Radiation May Help After Surgery for 'Soft-Tissue' Cancers

Older patients with a type of cancer called soft-tissue sarcomas may benefit more from radiation therapy after surgery than younger patients do, a new study suggests.
The results might change the way older patients are treated for soft-tissue sarcomas, which are cancers that develop in muscles, fat and other types of tissue, the study authors said.
Surgery is typically used to treat these cancers. But it hasn't been clear if radiation therapy after surgery improved survival.
The new study looked at information from more than 15,300 U.S. adults with localized soft-tissue sarcomas. Some were treated with surgery alone, while others had surgery and radiation. Treatments occurred between 1990 and 2011.
Radiation after surgery improved survival compared to surgery alone, but this was seen mostly in patients 65 and older, the study showed.
"We found that older patients had a survival benefit with radiation, but in younger patients, many of those benefits went away," said principal investigator Dr. Robert Canter, an associate professor of surgery at the University of California, Davis.
"It seems that older patients respond better to the combination of surgery and radiation," he said in a university news release.
Because the study findings were based on observations of previous trial data, it did not prove that radiation benefited older patients.
Further research is needed to confirm the findings and to learn more about why radiation after surgery seems to offer greater benefits to older patients, Canter said. With follow-up, this might lead to improved treatment for older patients, he said.
source-- health.usnews

Thyroid Cancer Cases in U.S. Level Off, Perhaps Reflecting Diagnostic Changes

Fewer thyroid cancers are diagnosed in the United States now than in the recent past, perhaps signaling a change in physician practices, a new study says.
And many thyroid growths won't even be called "cancer" any more, according to another new report.
The tripling of thyroid cancer cases over the past 30 years "used to be a mystery," said Dr. Luc Morris, lead author of a report published online April 14 in the journal JAMA Otolaryngology--Head & Neck Surgery.
But recently, many researchers attributed the rise largely to technological advances that allow doctors to identify and biopsy small, harmless nodules in the thyroid gland, said Morris. He is a surgical oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City.
"Up to 30 percent of healthy persons have small cancers in their thyroid glands, and nearly all of these would not go on to cause any problems for the person if the cancer were never discovered," he explained.
They've always been present, "like a huge submerged iceberg, but we are just getting better at finding them," Morris said.
That explains why the dramatic jump in thyroid cancer is best described as an "epidemic of diagnosis," not an epidemic of disease, he added.
For many patients, there would be no benefit -- only potential harm -- in diagnosing and surgically removing these growths, Morris said.
The thyroid is the gland at the base of your neck.
In the other report, published April 14 in JAMA Oncology, researchers announced that one type of thyroid cancer has been reclassified to reflect it is noninvasive and has a low risk of recurrence.
The name change applies to a tumor known as encapsulated follicular variant of papillary thyroid carcinoma, which accounts for 10 to 20 percent of all thyroid cancers diagnosed in Europe and North America, the researchers noted. Morris said this is among the tumor types that have led to overdiagnosis in the United States.
The new name keeps key features to aid pathologists in diagnosis, but leaves out "cancer," indicating that it need not be treated aggressively, the study authors said.
"Not only does the reclassification eliminate the psychological impact of the diagnosis of 'cancer,' it reduces the likelihood of complications of total thyroid removal, and the overall cost of health care," said the study's senior investigator, Dr. Yuri Nikiforov. He is professor of pathology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
In the study by Morris and colleagues, the investigators tracked thyroid cancer cases in the United States from 1983 to 2012. Incidence increased 3 percent a year from 1988 to 1998. Over the next decade, the trend more than doubled, reaching 6.7 percent annually, then leveled off at 1.75 percent, the findings showed.
In the past few years, thyroid cancer specialists have urged doctors to be more selective about investigating and biopsying small thyroid nodules, Morris said.
These recommendations are reflected in national clinical practice guidelines, such as those of the American Thyroid Association. It's possible the new findings are a result of those guidelines, he said.
"We infer, but cannot prove, that the leveling off may be due to changes in physician practices," Morris said.
These findings mirror recent events in South Korea, where incidence of thyroid cancer skyrocketed due to widespread screening, Morris said.
"Concerned physicians appealed to the public about overdiagnosis of small thyroid cancers, leading to a dramatic reversal and an actual drop in thyroid cancer diagnoses," he said. "We anticipate that a similar course correction may be beginning in the U.S."
A similar trend has been seen with prostate cancer, said Carol DeSantis, an epidemiologist at the American Cancer Society.
Source--health.usnews

President Barack Obama says the sight of wounded service members riding bicycles is a reminder that service doesn't end when they take off the uniform

President Barack Obama says the sight of wounded service members riding bicycles is a reminder that service doesn't end when they take off the uniform.
Some participants in the annual Wounded Warrior Ride who were welcomed at the White House on Thursday are working through less visible wounds, like post-traumatic stress disorder. The ride was established to raise awareness of U.S. service members who suffer the physical and psychological effects of combat.
Obama says the ride highlights the sacrifices U.S. service members have made in defense of the nation.
He says service is in their DNA and giving back is what they do.
After Obama sounded the horn, riders rode a lap around the South Lawn before heading out onto the streets of the nation's capital.
SOURCE--.usnews

No Drop in Teen Use of Tobacco Products, CDC Says, and E-Cigs May Be Why

Use of tobacco products by U.S. teens hasn't fallen since 2011, and federal officials say electronic cigarettes may be to blame.
One in four high school students now uses what officials define as a tobacco product. And e-cigarettes have eclipsed traditional cigarettes as the most widely used tobacco product among teens, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"E-cigarettes are now the most commonly used tobacco product among youth, and use continues to climb," CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden said Thursday in an agency news release. "No form of youth tobacco use is safe. Nicotine is an addictive drug, and use during adolescence may cause lasting harm to brain development."
Electronic cigarettes are battery-powered devices that heat nicotine and flavorings to create a vapor that is inhaled by the user.
Last year, 4.7 million middle and high school students said they used a tobacco product at least once in the previous 30 days, and more than 2.3 million used two or more tobacco products.
Three million middle and high school students used e-cigarettes in 2015, up from 2.5 million in 2014, according to data from the 2015 U.S. National Youth Tobacco Survey.
Last year, 16 percent of high school and 5.3 percent of middle school students were users of e-cigarettes, making the devices the most widely used tobacco product among young people for the second straight year, federal officials said.
From 2011 to 2015, e-cigarette use rose from 1.5 to 16 percent among high school students and from 0.6 percent to 5.3 percent among middle school students, according to the study.
While there was a significant drop in cigarette smoking between 2011 and 2015, there was no change between 2014 and 2015, the report found. Last year, just over 9 percent of high school students and slightly over 2 percent of middle school students smoked cigarettes, making them the second most widely used tobacco product among youth.
Other tobacco products used by high school students in 2015 included: cigars, 8.6 percent; hookahs, just over 7 percent; smokeless tobacco, 6 percent; and bidis, 0.6 percent. Other tobacco products used by middle school students included: hookahs, 2 percent; smokeless tobacco, 1.8 percent; cigars, 1.6 percent; pipe tobacco, 0.4 percent; and bidis, 0.2 percent.
The new study appears in the April 14 issue of the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
"We're very concerned that one in four high school students use tobacco, and that almost half of those use more than one product," Corinne Graffunder, director of CDC's Office on Smoking and Health, said in the news release.
"We know about 90 percent of all adult smokers first try cigarettes as teens. Fully implementing proven tobacco control strategies could prevent another generation of Americans from suffering from tobacco-related diseases and premature deaths," she added.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is finalizing a rule to bring "tobacco products" such as e-cigarettes, hookahs (water pipes) and some or all cigars under its regulatory control. The agency already regulates cigarettes, cigarette tobacco, roll-your-own tobacco and smokeless tobacco.
"The FDA remains deeply concerned about the overall high rate at which children and adolescents use tobacco products, including novel products such as e-cigarettes and hookah," said Mitch Zeller, director of the FDA's Center for Tobacco Products.
"Finalizing the rule to bring additional products under the agency's tobacco authority is one of our highest priorities, and we look forward to a day in the near future when novel tobacco products like e-cigarettes and hookah are properly regulated and responsibly marketed," he said in the news release.
source--health.usnews

One-a-Day Anti-Seizure Drug Shows Promise for People With Epilepsy

- A once-daily epilepsy drug may control seizures just as well as a twice-daily drug, researchers report.
Their preliminary study compared the once-a-day drug eslicarbazepine acetate (Aptiom) to the twice-daily drug carbamazepine (Tegretol, Carbatrol) for more than 800 people newly diagnosed with partial seizures, which originate in one area of the brain.
After six months, 71 percent of those taking eslicarbazepine and 76 percent of those taking carbamazepine were seizure-free.
After one year, 65 percent of those taking eslicarbazepine and 70 percent of those taking carbamazepine were seizure-free, said the team led by Dr. Elinor Ben-Menachem, of Gothenburg University in Sweden.
The study was funded by Portuguese drug maker BIAL-Portela & Ca., and will be presented April 19 at the American Academy of Neurology's annual meeting, in Vancouver.
"Seizure control is crucial. A once-a-day drug may help people stick to their medication schedule," Ben-Menachem said in an academy news release.
"Memory issues, fatigue or a complicated medication schedule can all interfere with a person taking their seizure-control medications on a regular basis," she added, "so having a once-daily option for patients, especially when they are newly diagnosed and still learning to manage the disease, may be beneficial."
An epilepsy expert in the United States agreed.
"The study shows eslicarbazepine to be as effective as the older, more tried-and-true drug, carbamazepine, from which it is derived," said Dr. Sean Hwang, an attending neurologist at Northwell Health's Comprehensive Epilepsy Care Center in Great Neck, N.Y.
"A longer-acting compound, with once daily dosing, may make it easier for patients to comply with their medication regimen, avoid missed doses, and reduce their risk for breakthrough seizures," he said.
source--health.usnews

Antibiotics in Animal Feed Contribute to Drug-Resistant Germs: Study

Use of antibiotics in farm animal feed is helping drive the worldwide increase in antibiotic-resistant bacteria, researchers report.
"In the fight against the rise of antibiotic resistance, we need to understand that the use of one antibiotic or, in some cases, antibacterial disinfectants may increase the abundance of multidrug-resistant bacteria," said study leader James Tiedje. He is a professor of microbiology and molecular genetics at Michigan State University.
The research team studied large-scale swine farms in China and a population of pigs in the United States. The findings showed that multidrug-resistant bacteria were the norm, not the exception, on farms where antibiotics are used continuously in feed to promote growth and prevent disease in animals.
"Tracking the source of antibiotic resistance is quite complicated because antibiotic use, which increases the occurrence of resistance, is widespread, and antibiotic resistance can spread between bacteria," Tiedje added in a university news release.
The Chinese farms in the study were close to large cities, so controlling antibiotic resistance in the pigs is important to minimize the risk to people, Tiedje explained.
This is a global issue, not an isolated Chinese issue, Tiedje said. "Multidrug resistance is just a plane ride away. This is why our work in China is definitely as relevant as in the United States," he said.
The findings were published online April 12 in the journal mBio.
Antibiotics have been used so extensively that the bacteria they are intended to kill have adapted to them, making the drugs less effective, health experts say.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at least 2 million Americans a year become infected with antibiotic-resistant bacteria and at least 23,000 people die each year as a result of these infections.
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Study Links Green Spaces to Longer Lives for Women

Women living in homes surrounded by lots of trees and vegetation may have a lower risk of death than those in areas with less greenery, a new study suggests.
Researchers sifted through data on more than 108,000 women across the United States. The information was collected between 2000 and 2008.
The researchers found that women living in the greenest surroundings had a 12 percent lower risk of death than those in the least green locations. The study also found that women with the most vegetation around their homes had a 34 percent lower rate of respiratory disease-related death. And women living with lush vegetation had a 13 percent lower rate of cancer death than those with the least green surroundings, the study reported.
Although the study found associations between living in greener areas and living longer, it wasn't designed to prove a cause-and-effect relationship.
"We were surprised to observe such strong associations between increased exposure to greenness and lower [death] rates," said study author Peter James, a research associate at Harvard T.S. Chan School of Public Health, in Boston.
"We were even more surprised to find evidence that a large proportion of the benefit from high levels of vegetation seems to be connected with improved mental health," he said in a school news release.
The researchers said that better mental health was observed through lower levels of depression. Other elements that may be involved in the benefits of greenery include more opportunities for socializing, more physical activity and less exposure to air pollution, the study authors said.
source--usnew s

Psoriasis May Raise Risk for Aneurysms in Abdomen: Study

Psoriasis patients may face a higher risk of an abdominal aortic aneurysm, though the overall odds of experiencing this potentially deadly blood vessel rupture are small, new research shows.
The Danish scientists also found that the more severe the psoriasis -- a chronic autoimmune condition characterized by scaly, red patches of skin -- the more likely a person will develop an abdominal aortic aneurysm. They believe the two conditions share overlapping inflammatory processes in the body.
"The association between [abdominal aortic aneurysm] and psoriasis has not been examined before, but we are not surprised by seeing a heightened risk in our study," said lead researcher Dr. Usman Khalid, a fellow in the department of cardiology at Herlev and Gentofte Hospital in Hellerup, Denmark.
"Our results add to the evidence that there is an increased risk of various cardiovascular diseases in patients with psoriasis," Khalid added.
The study is published April 14 in the journal Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology.
About 7.5 million people in the United States are affected by psoriasis, an incurable condition that occurs when the immune system attacks healthy skin cells, causing them to shed more quickly, according to the American Academy of Dermatology.
Abdominal aortic aneurysms occur when the main blood vessel supplying blood from the heart to the abdomen becomes enlarged. Often, there are no symptoms until there is a rupture, which can often prove fatal. Their prevalence increases with age and affects about 2 percent of people 65 and older, typically men, according to the study.
Khalid and his team analyzed more than 59,000 patients with mild psoriasis and 11,000 patients with severe psoriasis using 14 years of data from nationwide registries in Denmark. The patients were tracked until they were diagnosed with an abdominal aortic aneurysm, died, moved or the study ended.
The researchers found that patients with mild psoriasis were 20 percent more likely to develop an abdominal aneurysm than people without psoriasis. And those with severe psoriasis were 67 percent more likely to develop an aneurysm.
However, the study did not prove that psoriasis causes these aneurysms, merely that an association exists between the two conditions.
"More research is needed to explain the causal mechanisms," Khalid said. "Nonetheless, our findings not only stress the need to treat the symptoms of the skin disorder, but also a regular evaluation of the risk factors that are associated with cardiovascular disease outcomes.
"Also, patients with psoriasis must be encouraged to change [an] unhealthy lifestyle and adhere to a daily program that will minimize the risk of cardiovascular problems," Khalid added.
Dr. James Elder, a dermatologist at the University of Michigan Health System, contended that screening psoriasis patients for these aneurysms -- which involves expensive imaging tests such as ultrasound or CT -- isn't cost-effective.
"You'd only find one [extra] case for spending a lot of money," said Elder.
Elder agreed with Dr. Katherine Cox, a dermatologist at Houston Methodist West Hospital in Texas, that the study offers useful information, especially since it showed psoriasis seems to be an independent risk factor for abdominal aortic aneurysms, beyond patients' other heart risk factors.
"We have known for a long time that psoriasis is not just a skin-deep issue. We've known there's a cardiovascular risk issue with psoriasis. So, it's not surprising to see now that it's connected with [abdominal aneurysms] as well, especially since they share similar inflammatory pathways," said Cox.
"Being able to give [risk] numbers to patients makes it more real for patients," Cox added. Abdominal aneurysms "are a silent killer. I'm not a cardiologist, but because a lot of people are asymptomatic for it, because they're not looking for it, they may miss it," she said.
source-usnews.

About Half of Women May Benefit From Mammograms at 40: Analysis

New research suggests that all women turning 40 should get a breast cancer risk assessment, since half of them may have risks that are high enough to warrant annual mammograms right away.
The finding is important because the latest guidelines on mammograms advise that most women can wait until the age of 45 or 50 to start having annual screenings.
But the review of female patients between the ages of 40 and 44 found that 50 percent had an above-average risk for breast cancer, and therefore would be eligible to begin screening mammography at age 40, said lead researcher Dr. Jennifer Plichta. She's a breast surgery fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.
The study also found a significant percentage of women would qualify for other breast screening methods, including breast MRI and genetic testing, Plichta said.
"We believe formal risk assessment is essential for women ages 40 to 44 in order to identify those who require screening mammography to start at the age of 40, and those who would qualify for screening MRIs and genetic testing," Plichta said.
Plichta was to present her team's findings Thursday at the American Society of Breast Surgeons annual meeting in Dallas. Findings presented at meetings are generally viewed as preliminary until they've been published in a peer-reviewed journal.
The analysis was designed to look at new breast cancer screening guidelines from the American Cancer Society and the American Society of Breast Surgeons.
The cancer society updated its guidelines in 2015, recommending that women could wait until age 45 to start receiving annual mammograms. Previously, the cancer society had recommended yearly screenings starting at age 40.
The American Society of Breast Surgeons (ASBS) subsequently changed its guidelines to mirror the new cancer society recommendation, Plichta said. However, she noted the ASBS added a few extra conditions:

• Women should start mammograms earlier than 45 if they have a calculated lifetime risk greater than 15 percent.
• Women with a 20 percent or greater lifetime risk of breast cancer also should undergo screening MRIs.
• Women with a 5 percent or greater risk of a breast cancer-related genetic mutation should receive genetic testing.

"Critical to the development and interpretation of both of these new guidelines is formal risk assessment," Plichta said. "Furthermore, risk assessment is needed not only to determine who qualifies for mammography, but also who may require screening MRIs and/or genetic testing."
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommendations state that most women begin mammography at age 50. However, they also say that women should talk to their doctors about risk factors that could lead them to start breast cancer screening earlier.
The new study involved more than 900 women. None had been diagnosed with breast cancer. All were seen as new patients at the Massachusetts General Hospital breast clinic between March 2011 and October 2015, the researchers said.
Fifty percent of these women met either the ACS or the ASBS requirements for early mammography, Plichta said. That includes 39 percent who met the ACS criteria for above-average risk for breast cancer, and an additional 11 percent who met the American Society of Breast Surgeons' criteria.
The researchers also found that 32 percent of the women met the groups' eligibility standards for regular screening MRIs, and 25 percent would be eligible for genetic testing, Plichta said.
Breast cancer risk assessments are typically not a part of standard care for this age group, the researchers noted. Since the new guidelines lean heavily on knowing breast cancer risk, doctors need to redouble their efforts to make sure risk assessments are done for women in their early 40s, they concluded.
source-.usnews