9, August 2014

Insomnia directly linked to diabetes, obesity

Scientists have linked inadequate or disturbed sleep to the development of metabolic disorders, including diabetes and type 2 diabetes, in a review that highlights the significance of addressing sleep issues.

Addressing poor quality sleep should be a target for prevention and treatment of these disorders, said authors of the review published in The Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology journal.

"Metabolic health in addition to genetic predisposition, is largely dependent on behavioural factors such as dietary habits and physical activity.

"In the past few years, sleep loss as a disorder characterising the 24-hour lifestyle of modern societies has increasingly been shown to represent an additional behavioural factor adversely affecting metabolic health," said the authors.

Addressing some types of sleep disturbance -- such as sleep apnea -- may have a directly beneficial effect on patients' metabolic health, the authors said.

But a far more common problem is people simply not getting enough sleep, particularly due to the increased use of devices such as tablets and portable gaming devices, reported the Science Daily.

According to the authors, "These findings open up new strategies for targeted interventions aimed at the present epidemic of the metabolic syndrome and related diseases.

"Ongoing and future studies will show whether interventions to improve sleep duration and quality can prevent or even reverse adverse metabolic traits. Meanwhile, on the basis of existing evidence, health care professionals can be safely recommended to motivate their patients to enjoy sufficient sleep at the right time of day."

Source: www.timesofindia.com

09.08.2014

Most stem cell-based cosmetic surgeries fake

Next time you come across an advertisement offering cosmetic stem cell procedures not only to give your skin a glowing look but also to stop it from growing old, beware. 

Most of such ads claim benefits from procedures that have not undergone rigorous scientific evaluation - including potential risks related to stem cell and tissue processing and the effects of ageing on stem cells, a new research warns. 

"Stem cells offer tremendous potential but the marketplace is saturated with unsubstantiated and sometimes fraudulent claims that may place patients at risk," warned Michael T. Longaker from Stanford University's Medical Center. 

The procedures marketed as "stem cell facelifts" are often just "lipofilling" procedures, "an established fat injection technique with no prolonged anti-ageing effect", Longaker added. 

To gain insight into these claims, researchers performed a Google search for cosmetic stem cell treatments, the most common of which was "stem cell facelift". 

Most procedures used "stem cells" isolated from fat. 

However, the websites provided little information on the quality of the stem cells used. 

Without advanced cell-sorting procedures, the products used in these procedures likely contain many other types of cells besides fat-derived stem cells. 

To date, just one stem cell procedure for cosmetic purpose has received the approval from the US Food and Drugs Administration (FDA). 

That product, designed to treat fine facial wrinkles, is undergoing extensive post-approval surveillance. 

"With plastic surgeons at the forefront of stem cell-based regenerative medicine, it is critically important that we provide an example of a rigorous approach to research, data collection, and advertising of stem cell therapies," Longaker concluded. 

The research was published in the journal Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.

Source: www.timesofindia.com

09.08.2014

Be sure to taste your words before you spit them out