As the Christmas season starts to ramp up, University of South Australia researchers are reminding people to prioritise a good night’s sleep as new research shows that a troubled sleep may be associated with risk factors for type 2 diabetes.
In the first study of its kind, researchers found that people who reported trouble sleeping were on average more likely to have indicators of poor cardiometabolic health – inflammatory markers, cholesterol and body weight -which can contribute to type 2 diabetes.
Reference:
Trouble sleeping? You could be at risk of type 2 diabetes; The Science of Diabetes Self-Management and Care, DOI: 10.1177/26350106221137896.
Synchronized neural
oscillations in the right brain induce empathic behavior
Empathy is the ability that allows us to perceive and
understand another individual’s emotions, such as joy, sadness, or fear. It is
an essential function for human sociality, and its impairment has been observed
in numerous psychiatric and neurological disorders such as autism,
schizophrenia, and Alzheimer’s disease.
The Center for Cognition and Sociality (CCS) within the
Institute for Basic Science (IBS) in South Korea has discovered the underlying
neural mechanism that allows us to feel empathy. The group’s study on mice
hinted that empathy is induced by the synchronized neural oscillations in the
right hemisphere of the brain, which allows the animals to perceive and share
each other’s fear.
Reference:
Synchronized neural oscillations in the right
brain induce empathic behavior, Neuron; DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2022.11.001.
‘Meth’ heart failure
in socioeconomic groups?
Rates of heart failure associated with the growing illicit
use of the stimulant drug methamphetamine, or meth for short, are rising
worldwide and now affect a wide range of socio-economic and racial groups,
finds a review of the available evidence, published online in the
journal Heart.
Meth heart failure is
also more severe than that experienced by those who don’t use the drug, and
warrants increased public awareness and availability of treatment for meth
addiction to stem the rising tide of those affected. Previously published
research shows that use of the drug, also popularly known as ‘crystal meth’,
‘ice’ and ‘speed’, is associated with serious health problems, including high
blood pressure, heart attack, stroke, and even sudden death.
Reference:
Prevalence of ‘meth’ heart failure now in wide
range of socioeconomic and racial groups; BMJ JOURNAL Heart; DOI: 10.1136/heartjnl-2022-321610