No evidence that sex spoils sport

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No evidence that sex spoils sport

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More Evidence That Shift Work Might Raise Heart Risks

HealthDay – 1 hr 11 mins ago THURSDAY, July 26 (HealthDay News) -- People working evening shifts, irregular shifts, night shifts and rotating shifts are at an increased risk for heart attack and stroke, a large, new review finds.

The best way to lower the risk of heart attack and stroke associated with shift work is to keep the usual risk factors -- such as blood pressure, cholesterol, weight and diabetes -- under control, experts say.

"Given the commonness of shift work in modern industrialized nations, and industrializing nations, many heart attacks and strokes are likely directly attributable to the effects of shift work," said lead researcher Dr. Daniel Hackam, a clinical pharmacologist at the Stroke Prevention and Atherosclerosis Research Centre in London, Ontario, Canada.

Employers and employees must be aware of this problem, as should doctors and others who see shift workers, he said.

"Shift workers should receive cardiovascular risk factor screening and prevention, and this should be ongoing and regular," Hackam added.

Particular attention should be paid to risk factors that may be worsened by shift work, such as blood pressure, cholesterol and diabetes, he noted.

"Since we are now in a 24/7 society, this problem is not likely to go away any time soon," Hackam pointed out.

The report was published online July 26 in the BMJ.

To look at the connection between heart attack, stroke and shift work, Hackam's group analyzed 34 studies that included more than 2 million people.

This process of pooling results from different studies is called a meta-analysis, and is used by researchers to uncover patterns that are consistent across a large population.

Among the people in these studies, more than 17,000 had some kind of cardiovascular problem. More than 6,500 had heart attacks and almost 1,900 had strokes, the research showed.

Hackam's team found that shift workers had a nearly 25 percent increased risk of having a cardiovascular problem, a 23 percent increased risk of a heart attack and a 5 percent increased risk of a stroke when compared to non-shift workers.

People working night shifts had the highest risk of a coronary event (41 percent), they added.

Although the increased risks are small, because many people are shift workers the number of people at risk is substantial, the researchers explained.

In Canada, for example, almost 33 percent of workers were shift workers in 2008-2009. In all, during that time, 7 percent of heart attacks, 7 percent of all coronary events and almost 2 percent of strokes could be attributed to shift work, the investigators noted.

While this type of study can show an association between two factors, it does not prove a cause-and-effect relationship.

Dr. Gregg Fonarow, a professor of cardiovascular medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, said that "a number of prior studies have suggested that working outside of regular daytime hours may be associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular events and stroke."

This new study finds shift work is associated with a higher risk of coronary events and stroke, he noted. But an increase in all-cause mortality with shift work was not seen.

"While the increase in cardiovascular risk was modest, with as many as 15 million Americans working full-time on evening shift, night shift or other irregular schedules, these findings may have important public health implications," Fonarow said.

"Individuals with these types of work schedules should recognize the potential increase in risk for cardiovascular events and stroke, and take proactive steps to improve their cardiovascular health," he added.

More information

For more on heart disease, visit the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

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Study of Retired NFL Players Finds Evidence of Brain Damage

HealthDay – Fri, Jun 29, 2012 FRIDAY, June 29 (HealthDay News) -- Tests performed on a group of retired NFL players revealed that more than 40 percent suffered from problems such as depression and dementia, adding to a growing pile of evidence that repeated sports-related head traumas can lead to lasting neurological issues.

Analyzing 34 ex-professional football players (average age 62) on benchmarks such as memory, reasoning, problem-solving and behavior, researchers from the Center for Brain Health at the University of Texas at Dallas found that 20 tested normal while the rest suffered from depression, various deficits in memory/thinking or a combination of these issues. Twenty-six of the players also underwent MRI scans.

"We picked up that many guys were depressed but didn't know it," added study author Dr. John Hart, medical science director at the center. "The cognitive impairments . . . were more than what's expected for their ages. A lot had damage to their brain's white matter, so for us it's a real clue or marker to look for."

Hart is scheduled to present the findings Friday at the National Athletic Trainers' Association (NATA) annual meeting in St. Louis. Research presented at scientific meetings should be considered preliminary until it is published in a peer-reviewed medical journal.

An estimated 300,000 sports-related concussions occur in the United States each year, and mounting attention is being paid to the neurological toll of those injuries on former professional athletes. In June, a massive bundle of lawsuits representing more than 2,100 National Football League players was filed against the league, claiming that the NFL hid information linking football-related head injuries to permanent brain damage.

Hart's study involved ex-NFL athletes hailing from the North Texas region. For comparison purposes, the researchers also looked at the brains of 26 people with no signs of mental deficits, selected from the general population and matched for age, education and IQ.

Of the eight former players who were found to have depression -- the finding that most surprised Hart -- most didn't exhibit the mood issues such as sadness that are typically associated with the condition, he said.

Instead, "there was a lack of energy, initiative or sex drive and disrupted sleep, with weight gain or loss," Hart said. "They would ruminate or get anxious about stuff, but they weren't crying. They were shocked or surprised

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Lack of sleep is linked to obesity, new evidence shows

ScienceDaily (Apr. 17, 2012) — Can lack of sleep make you fat? A new paper which reviews the evidence from sleep restriction studies reveals that inadequate sleep is linked to obesity. The research, published in a special issue of the The American Journal of Human Biology, explores how lack of sleep can impact appetite regulation, impair glucose metabolism and increase blood pressure.

See Also:Health & MedicineSleep Disorder ResearchInsomnia ResearchObesityMind & BrainSleep DisordersInsomniaObstructive Sleep ApneaLiving WellReferenceCircadian rhythm sleep disorderSleep deprivationSeparation anxiety disorderRapid eye movement

"Obesity develops when energy intake is greater than expenditure. Diet and physical activity play an important part in this, but an additional factor may be inadequate sleep," said Dr Kristen Knutson, from the University of Chicago. "A review of the evidence shows how short or poor quality sleep is linked to increased risk of obesity by de-regulating appetite, leading to increased energy consumption."

Dr Knutson accumulated evidence from experimental and observational studies of sleep. Observational studies revealed cross-sectional associations between getting fewer than six hours sleep and increased body mass index (BMI) or obesity.

The studies revealed how signals from the brain which control appetite regulation are impacted by experimental sleep restriction. Inadequate sleep impacts secretion of the signal hormones ghrelin, which increases appetite, and leptin, which indicates when the body is satiated. This can lead to increased food intake without the compensating energy expenditure.

"In the United States 18% of adults are estimated to get less than 6 hours of sleep, which equates to 53 million short sleepers who may be at risk of associated obesity," said Knutson. "Poor sleeping patterns are not random and it is important to consider the social, cultural and environmental factors which can cause inadequate sleep so at-risk groups can be identified."

The evidence suggests the association between inadequate sleep and higher BMI is stronger in children and adolescents. It also shows that sleep deficiency in lower socioeconomic groups may result in greater associated obesity risks.

The majority of the studies Dr Knutson examined came from Western countries, which highlights the need for more research to understand sleep's role in disease risk. However other research papers in the special issue focus on obesity in the United Arab Emirates, Samoa, and Brazil.

"These findings show that sleeping poorly can increase a person's risk of developing obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure or heart disease," concluded Knutson. "Future research should determine whether efforts to improve sleep can also help prevent the development of these diseases or improve the lives of patients with these conditions."

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New evidence on effects of green coffee beans in weight loss

ScienceDaily (Mar. 27, 2012) — Scientists have just reported striking new evidence that green, or unroasted, coffee beans can produce a substantial decrease in body weight in a relatively short period of time.

See Also:Health & MedicineDiet and Weight LossObesityFitnessPlants & AnimalsFoodAgriculture and FoodMiceLiving WellReferenceSouth Beach dietZone dietHealth benefits of teaOverweight

In a study presented at the 243rd National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS), the world's largest scientific society, Joe Vinson, Ph.D., and colleagues described how a group of overweight or obese people who consumed a fraction of an ounce of ground green coffee beans each day lost about 10 percent of their body weight.

"Based on our results, taking multiple capsules of green coffee extract a day -- while eating a low-fat, healthful diet and exercising regularly -- appears to be a safe, effective, inexpensive way to lose weight," Vinson said at the ACS meeting, being held in San Diego the week of March 26.  He is with the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania.

The study involved 16 overweight or obese people aged 22-26 years who took capsules of the extract or capsules containing a placebo, an inactive powder, for a total of 22 weeks. The subjects alternated between a low dose and a higher dose of the extract. The low dose consisted of 700 mg of the coffee extract, and the high dose was 1,050 mg. It was a so-called "cross-over" study in which people cycled through the two doses and the placebo, each for six weeks. Such studies have advantages because each person serves as his or her own "control," improving the chances of getting an accurate result.

All of the participants were monitored for their overall diet (calories, food eaten, etc.) and exercise over the study period. "Their calories, carbohydrates, fats and protein intake did not change during the study, nor did their exercise regimen change," Vinson said.

Participants lost an average of 17 pounds during the 22 weeks of the study. It included an average of a 10.5 percent decrease in overall body weight and a 16 percent decrease in body fat. Vinson noted that weight loss might have been significantly faster, except that participants received the placebo and the lower dose of green coffee extract for part of the study period.

Vinson pointed out that previous studies have shown weight loss with green coffee. But this was the first to use higher amounts of the coffee extract and the first to measure the response to various doses. Based on those studies, Vinson believes that green coffee beans' effects likely are due to a substance called chlorogenic acid that is present in unroasted coffee beans. Chlorogenic acid breaks down when coffee beans are roasted (usually at a temperature of 464-482 degrees Fahrenheit). Roasting gives coffee beans their distinctive color, aroma and flavor. Green coffee beans, in contrast, have little aroma and a slightly bitter taste.

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