Healthwise    June 2009     

Healthwise is a regular column written especially for laterlife.com members and visitors. Welcome to healthwise 111.

For previous articles in the healthwise series visit 'more healthwise'

 NEWS AND VIEWS

1. Cure for jet lag

A new study is giving hope to people who suffer badly from jet lag.

Researchers from the University of Washington say they have studied how the phenomenon of air travel across time zones confuses the body’s internal clock. They round that jet lag disrupts the body’s two main sleep patterns in different ways. While neuron cells in the brain, which govern deep sleep, can reset themselves in a fairly short time, the body’s rapid eye movement period of sleep can take up to a week to adjust.

With the results from this study, they are now looking at developing drugs that will target the specific parts of the brain which are knocked off balance by travelling long distances.

2. Stem cell implants for diabetes (Type 1)

A research project carried out at the Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago has brought hope that stem cell transplants can free patients with Type 1 diabetes from daily insulin injections.

The research showed that more than 80 per cent of sufferers of the disease were able to stop insulin injections for an averge of two and a half years after treatment with their own stem cells.

3. New test for prostate cancers

Distinguishing aggressive tumours from cancers that will not cause significant problems has been a key challenge in prostate cancer. Currently men with non-aggressive cancers are often subjected to invasive tests and treatments, which can include loss of sex drive and impotence, when the cancer would not have threatened their life.

Now researchers have found that fatty capsules or exosomes, which come from the tumour, contain information about the genetics of the cancer. According to recent research reported in the British Journal of Cancer Research, these tiny bubbles of fat, which are passed in the urine, could hold the key to deciding if rapid and invasive treatment is required.

More work is still being done, but with prostate cancer being the most common cancer in British men, anything that helps distinguish aggressive tumours from the so called “pussycat” cancers which will not cause significant problems, will be a huge step forward.

4.Keep laughing

Laughter can help cut the risk of heart attack.

Researchers at Loma Linda University in America say that laughter really can be the best form of medicine because it increases the level of good cholesterol in the blood. This helps to protect against heart disease.

The research was fairly extensive and included a study of 20 patients with diabetes, high blood pressure and cholesterol. They were asked to watch their favourite comedy programmes for at least half an hour a day for a year. At the end of the study the group experienced a 26 per cent rise in their good cholesterol. Harmful proteins, which increase the risk of heart disease, fell by 66 per cent.

More work is now being undertaken.

If in any doubt about any of the information covered in healthwise articles and it's relevance for you, consult your GP.

IN THE PREVIOUS EDITION

Getting rid of those wrinkles

A scientific study says it has clinical proof that face creams with certain new ingredients really do work to reduce wrinkles

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It does it for Rats

It may not be all bad news for fatty foods.

Dreaming about the future

A Professorial Fellow at Roehampton University in London has come up with a new theory about dreams.

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