25 July, 2013

Now, patch that makes you invisible to mosquitoes

A patch that is being hailed as the new age product of mosquito prevention has been developed.

According to the product's Chief Scientist Michele Brown, the patch, which can be attached to clothes and bags, uses non-toxic compounds to block ability of a mosquito to find people through carbon dioxide that humans exhale, ABC News reported.

Olfactor Laboratories and the University of California at Riverside were helped in their endeavour to create the Kite Patch by Bill andMelinda Gates Foundation and the National Institutes of Health.

The patch has been designed to be durable and affordable everywhere.

Grey Frandsen, co-founder of Kite, said that the patch has been made up of materials which are both flexible enough and lightweight.

Source: www.timesofindia.com

25.07.2013

Poor sleep accelerates skin ageing

A new study has found that sleep quality impacts skin function and ageing. 

The recently completed study by physician-scientists at University Hospitals (UH) Case Medical Center, commissioned by Estee Lauder, demonstrated that poor sleepers had increased signs of skin ageing and slower recovery from a variety of environmental stressors, such as disruption of the skin barrier or ultraviolet (UV) radiation. Poor sleepers also had worse assessment of their own skin and facial appearance. 

"Our study is the first to conclusively demonstrate that inadequate sleep is correlated with reduced skin health and accelerates skin ageing. Sleep deprived women show signs of premature skin ageing and a decrease in their skin's ability to recover after sun exposure," Primary InvestigatorElma Baron, MD, Director of the Skin Study Center at UH Case Medical Center and Associate Professor of Dermatology at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, said. 

"Insufficient sleep has become a worldwide epidemic. While chronic sleep deprivation has been linked to medical problems such as obesity,diabetes, cancer and immune deficiency, its effects on skin function have previously been unknown," she said. 

Skin functions as an important barrier from external stressors such as environmental toxins and sun-induced DNA damage. 

The research team set out to determine if skin function and appearance is also impacted by sleep quality, which is vital to the growth and renewal of the body's immune and physiological systems. The researchers found that good quality sleepers recovered more efficiently from stressors to the skin. 

Recovery from sunburn was more sluggish in poor quality sleepers, with erythema (redness) remaining higher over 72 hours, indicating that inflammation is less efficiently resolved. 

A Transepidermal Water Loss (TEWL) test was used at various time points to determine the ability of the skin to serve as an effective barrier against moisture loss. 

In measurements 72 hours after a skin barrier stressor (tape-stripping), the recovery of good quality sleepers was 30 percent higher than poor quality sleepers (14 per cent vs. -6 percent) demonstrating that they repair the damage more quickly. Additionally, poor quality sleepers were significantly more likely to have a higher Body Mass Index (BMI). 

For example, 23 per cent of good quality sleepers were obese compared to 44 per cent of poor quality sleepers.  Not surprisingly, self perception of attractiveness was significantly better in good quality sleepers (mean score of 21 on self evaluation) vs. poor quality sleepers (mean score of 18).

Source: www.timesofindia.com                  25.07.2013

A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality

John Lennon