How your boss can influence your health!

 

Now, a new study finds that manager leadership may be the key to employee health programs and goals, suggesting that they be provided with incentives to focus on creating a healthier work environment.

"Instead of focusing on individual wellness outcomes, we propose that it would be more effective if managers were incentivised to create healthier overall work environments with simple, easy to implement actions such as installing a water cooler, providing healthy snacks at meetings, and encouraging work/life balance," said lead author Rebecca Robbins from Cornell University in New York, US.

The initiative requires tapping into the manager`s ability to lead his or her team to wellness and can, as a result, have a big payoff in terms of creating a culture of health at the workplace, and could tip the scales toward healthier employees.

The study surveyed 270 adults with manager roles and found that 68 percent supported the idea of being evaluated by their employee wellness actions.

The study, published in the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, finds that increase in employee wellness and motivation can be achieved by tying just 10 percent of managerial salary increases to health initiatives.

Teenage sleep loss puts boys at diabetes risk

Jordan Gaines, a Penn State neuroscience researcher, noted that how much slow-wave sleep a teenage boy gets may predict whether he is at risk for insulin resistance and other health issues.

Boys who experience a greater decline in slow-wave sleep as adolescents have a significantly higher chance of developing insulin resistance than those who more closely maintained their slow-wave sleep as they got older. These boys are then also at greater risk for developing type 2 diabetes, increased visceral fat and impaired attention.

Slow-wave sleep (SWS) is an important stage of sleep that is involved in memory consolidation and recovery after sleep deprivation, and is also associated with reduced cortisol and inflammation.

On a night following sleep deprivation, people will have significantly more slow-wave sleep to compensate for the loss, said Gaines, adding that people lose slow-wave sleep most rapidly during early adolescence. Given the restorative role of slow-wave sleep, the researchers weren't surprised to find that metabolic and cognitive processes were affected during this developmental period.

Gaines found that in boys, a greater loss of SWS between childhood and adolescence was significantly associated with insulin resistance and this loss was marginally associated with increased belly fat and impaired attention. However, Gaines did not find any associations between SWS and insulin resistance, physical health or brain function in girls.

The study has been presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Compound in broccoli slows cancer cell growth

While sulforaphane has long shown evidence of value in cancer prevention, researchers at Oregon State University (OSU) and the Oregon Health and Science University suggested in a new study that it may play a role in slowing cancer growth as well, Xinhua reported.

The findings were the result of the first clinical studies to look at the effect of sulforaphane on breast tissues of women diagnosed with breast cancer.

Emily Ho, a professor at the OSU College of Public Health and Human Sciences, said: "Our original goal was to determine if sulforaphane supplements would be well tolerated and might alter some of the epigenetic mechanisms involved in cancer."

In a double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial, 54 women with abnormal mammograms were given either a placebo or supplements that provided sulforaphane. The amount of sulforaphane they received would equate to about one cup of broccoli sprouts per day, if eaten as a food.

"We were surprised to see a decrease in markers of cell growth, which means these compounds may help slow cancer cell growth," said Ho. 

"This is very encouraging. Dietary approaches have traditionally been thought to be limited to cancer prevention, but this demonstrated it could help slow the growth of existing tumours. "

Previous studies have found that women with a high intake of cruciferous vegetables, such as broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage or kale, have a decreased risk of breast cancer. In particular, sulforaphane appears to inhibit histone deacetylases, or HDACs, which in turn enhances the expression of tumour suppressor genes that are often silenced in cancer cells.

In the new study published in the journal Cancer Prevention Research, the intake of sulforaphane did reduce HDAC activity, as well as cancer cell growth.

As co-author of the study, Ho said it is possible that sulforaphane may be added to traditional approaches to cancer therapy, whether to prevent cancer, slow its progression, treat it or stop its recurrence.

Researchers said additional studies are needed to evaluate dose responses, work with larger populations, and examine the responses of other relevant molecular targets to either foods or supplements containing sulforaphane.

Pancreatic cancer: Know the warning signs!

Usually, pancreatic cancer doesn't give rise to any signs and symptoms until it's advanced. When the cancer grows, symptoms may include:

• Abdominal pain
• Jaundice (yellowing of your skin and the whites of your eyes)
• Loss of appetite
• Weight loss and weakness
• Indigestion
• Heartburn
• Back pain
• Diabetes
• Depression
• You must see a doctor if you experience unexplained weight loss or other symptoms that you think are abnormal.
  With no effective treatments currently available and the cancers growing quickly, there's an urgent need to develop new drugs to treat the deadly disease.
  In a latest, a team of researchers, including Indian-origin scientists suggests that nimbolide, a natural extract from the leaves of the neem tree, could potentially be used to treat the highly lethal pancreatic cancer.

Exercise as young adult related to heart health decades later

Young adults who exercise may have a lower risk of cardiovascular disease and higher survival odds decades later than their peers who aren’t as active early in life, a U.S. study suggests. Fitness has long been linked to a reduced risk of heart disease in older adults. The new study, however, offers fresh evidence that workout routines started years before cardiovascular problems are generally encountered may help keep them from developing in the first place.

“Each additional minute a person could exercise on a treadmill in early adulthood was associated with substantially lower likelihood of risk of dying or developing cardiovascular diseases over 25 years later,” lead study author Dr. Ravi Shah of Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston said by email.

The study included about 4,900 adults aged 18 to 30 who performed treadmill tests in 1985 and 1986, with roughly half of them repeating the exercise assessments again seven years later. The tests consisted of as many as nine two-minute stages of gradually increasing difficulty. Over the next several decades, the researchers monitored participants for obesity, hardening in the coronary arteries, heart muscle weakness, and incidents related to cardiovascular disease such as heart attacks or strokes. Half the subjects were followed for at least 27 years.

Overall, 273 people died, though just 73 of these fatalities were related to cardiovascular disease, the researchers report in JAMA Internal Medicine. In addition, 193 people survived events such as heart attacks or strokes.

Each extra minute participants lasted during the treadmill test as young adults was linked to a 12 percent lower risk of cardiovascular disease and 15 percent lower odds of death by the end of the study period. Every one-minute increase in treadmill time was also linked to less strain on the heart muscle, but exercise test duration wasn’t tied to changes in hardening of the coronary arteries.

Among the subset of participants who did the second treadmill test seven years after the initial assessment, each one minute reduction in exercise tolerance was linked with a 20 percent increase in cardiovascular events and 21 percent greater odds of death. The increased risks persisted after the researchers accounted for individuals’ age, race, gender, obesity, and other cardiovascular disease risk factors such as smoking, diabetes, elevated blood pressure and high cholesterol.

The fact that even obesity didn’t change the outcome highlights the need to think about exercise as more than merely a tool for weight management, noted study co-author Dr. Venkatesh Murthy of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

“Being fit and maintaining fitness over time are very important to your heart and overall health for everyone – especially starting in early adulthood – and not only for people who are trying to lose or to maintain weight,” Murthy said by email.

It’s possible that some of the association between fitness and heart health may be explained by improved diet, the authors concede. A different measure of cardiorespiratory fitness, known as a peak aerobic capacity test, might also get different results than the treadmill assessments.

Even so, the findings offer a substantive confirmation of the importance of physical activity and cardiorespiratory fitness in the prevention of cardiovascular disease, Dr. David Chiriboga and Dr. Ira Ockene of the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester wrote in an accompanying editorial. Beyond fitness and exercise, patients should also understand the importance of limiting sedentary time, Ockene said by email. Many daily habits that contribute to inactivity – whether it’s channel surfing, using drive-through windows at the bank or the fast food restaurant, or emailing co-workers instead of walking down the hall to talk – all contribute to decreased fitness and increased weight.

“I spend a lot of time talking to folks not just about literal exercise but also about the extraordinary value of day-to-day activity,” Ockene said.

Soon, battery-free pacemakers powered by heart

Washington: Scientists are developing next-generation battery-free implantable pacemakers that may be powered by an unlikely source - the heart itself. 

The advancement is based upon a piezoelectric system that converts vibrational energy - created inside the chest by each heartbeat - into electricity to power the pacemaker.

"Essentially, we're creating technology that will allow pacemakers to be powered by the very heart that they are regulating," said M Amin Karami, assistant professor of mechanical engineering at the University at Buffalo School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, who is leading the research.

The technology may eliminate the medical risks, costs and inconvenience of having a battery replacement every five to 12 years for millions of people worldwide, researchers said.

About the size of a pocket watch, pacemakers are implanted under the skin through an incision in the chest. Wires, also called leads, connect the device to the heart and deliver electrical signals that regulate the heart's activity. The new wireless option does not require leads because it rests inside the heart. This removes a potential point of failure, but the device still relies on a battery that must be replaced as often as the batteries that conventional pacemakers use.

The idea of heart-powered pacemakers came to Karami after doing PhD work on piezoelectric applications for unmanned aerial vehicles and bridges. He wanted to apply that knowledge to the human body. The heart was an obvious choice because of its relative strength and constant motion.

"To see the heart in motion - even an animation - is to be awestruck. It moves significantly. In turn, that movement creates energy that we're just now figuring out how to harvest," said Karami.

Karami initially designed a flat piezoelectric structure for a conventional pacemaker.

A prototype generated enough power to keep the pacemaker running at a range of 7 to 700 beats per minute. With the development of wireless pacemakers, however, he has revamped the design to accommodate the smaller, tube-shaped device.

Karami, who is already talking to device-makers, is building the new prototype and expects to have animal tests done within two years.  

Reason why a low-fat diet will not help you lose weight

Low-fat diets do not lead to greater weight loss in the long term compared to low-carbohydrate or Mediterranean diets of similar intensity, according to a major new study.

"There is no good evidence for recommending low-fat diets," said lead author Deirdre Tobias from Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in US. 

Behind current dietary advice to cut out the fat, which contains more than twice the calories per gram of carbohydrates and protein, the thinking is that simply reducing fat intake will naturally lead to weight loss. But our robust evidence clearly suggests otherwise," said Tobias.

Researchers did a systematic review and meta-analysis of all randomised trials comparing the effectiveness of low-fat diets to other diets, including no diet, at improving long-term weight loss (at least 1 year) in non-pregnant adults up to the end of July 2014. They took into account the intensity of the diets which ranged from just pamphlets or instructions at the beginning of the programme to intensive multi-component programmes including counselling sessions, meetings with dieticians, food diaries, and cooking lessons.

Analysis of 53 studies involving 68,128 adults showed no difference in the average weight loss between reduced-fat diets and higher-fat diets. Indeed, reduced-fat diets only led to greater weight loss when compared with no diet at all, and resulted in less weight loss compared with low-carbohydrate interventions, although differences in weight change were small (weighted mean difference 1.15 kg). Similarly, when just considering trials without a weight loss goal (eg, those assessing lipids or cancer endpoints), participants following a reduced-fat diet lost similar amounts of weight on average compared to those on other diets. "The science does not support low-fat diets as the optimal long-term weight loss strategy," said Tobias. "To effectively address the obesity epidemic, we will need more research to identify better approaches for long-term weight loss and weight maintenance, including the need to look beyond differences in macronutrient composition - the proportion of calories that come from fat, carbohydrate, and protein," said Tobias.

"Long-term adherence is critical for the success of any dietary intervention, and one should also take into account other long-term health effects of their dietary choices," Tobias added.

The study was published in The Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology journal.

Jet lag-like sleep disruptions spur Alzheimer's memory loss

Chemical changes in brain cells caused by disturbances in the body's day-night cycle may be a key underlying cause of the learning and memory loss associated with Alzheimer's disease, according to a new study.

The research on mice, led by University of California, Irvine professor Gregory Brewer, provides the first evidence that circadian rhythm-altering sleep disruptions similar to jet lag promote memory problems and chemical alterations in the brain.

Clinical application of this finding may lead to more emphasis on managing the sleep habits of people at risk for Alzheimer's disease and those with mild cognitive impairment.

People with Alzheimer's often have problems with sleeping or may experience changes in their slumber schedule. Scientists do not completely understand why these disturbances occur.

"The issue is whether poor sleep accelerates the development of Alzheimer's disease or vice versa," said Mr Brewer.

"It's a chicken-or-egg dilemma, but our research points to disruption of sleep as the accelerator of memory loss," said Mr Brewer.

In order to examine the link between learning and memory and circadian disturbances, his team altered normal light-dark patterns with an eight-hour

shortening of the dark period every three days for young mouse models of Alzheimer's disease and normal mice.

The resulting jet lag greatly reduced activity in both sets of mice, and the researchers found that in water maze tests, the AD mouse models had significant learning impairments absent in the AD mouse models not exposed to light-dark variations and in normal mice with jet lag.

In follow-up tissue studies, they saw that jet lag caused a decrease in glutathione levels in the brain cells of all the mice. But these levels were much lower in the AD mouse models and corresponded to poor performance in the water maze tests.

Glutathione is a major antioxidant that helps prevent damage to essential cellular components.

Glutathione deficiencies produce redox changes in brain cells. Redox reactions involve the transfer of electrons, which leads to alterations in the oxidation state of atoms and may affect brain metabolism and inflammation.

Brewer pointed to the accelerated oxidative stress as a vital component in Alzheimer's-related learning and memory loss and noted that potential drug treatments could target these changes in redox reactions.

"This study suggests that clinicians and caregivers should add good sleep habits to regular exercise and a healthy diet to maximise good memory," he said.

The study appears in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease.