Sleeping well is vital for physical, mental and emotional health. But there has been a gradual reduction in the average amount of sleep people take, with research showing that at any one time, one person in five feels unusually tired and one in ten has prolonged fatigue. "Sleep is nature's way of providing us with rest, recovery and energy. There is nothing else that does the same thing," says Professor Colin Espie, director of Glasgow University's sleep centre. "But too many of us treat sleep like a commodity. We disrespect it – even treat it as a nuisance that gets in the way of waking hours." Others are victims of sleep conditions such as insomnia. Having a good night's sleep has never been more important. Hea...
RESEARCH on a natural cell chemical could pave the way to a "vitamin" pill that prevents or even reverses diabetes, scientists predict.The compound, nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN), plays a vital role in the way cells use energy.Scientists in the US were able to normalise blood sugar levels in diabetic mice by injecting them with the chemical.At the same time the jabs lowered raised levels of cholesterol and triglyceride blood fats.The researchers are now working on a way of administering NMN to mice in drinking water.In future they hope to develop a "nutriceutical" pill that can be taken like a vitamin to combat Type 2 diabetes."Once we can get a grade of NMN that humans can take, we would really like to launch a ...
The humble lemon is probably the most useful food to have in the house: powerful disinfectant, immune booster, grill-pan degreaser, throat gargle and even facial skin toner! It also adds loads of flavour and vitamins to almost any dish.Cases of scurvy -- an extreme deficiency of vitamin C with one of the most visible symptoms being bleeding gums and loss of teeth -- are on the rise.In England, there has been a 50pc increase in the last 10 years of children being admitted to hospital with it. As lemons are incredibly rich in vitamin C, they are the perfect preventative.Alongside vitamin C, lemons are rich in citrus flavonoids which are phtyochemicals (biologically active plant compounds) that can assist the healing of wounds and ...
Theresa Bromley had been having headaches for a couple of days but as she suffered from migraine on and off, she didn't think anything of it. Then one morning, she got up early for work and walked into her bathroom to have a shower. A few seconds later, she fell to the ground and her three children ran to her assistance. The next thing that 40-year-old Theresa remembers is waking up in hospital.Her sister Sinead explains what happened to her on that day last December."Theresa's doctor reckoned that she had a stroke overnight," she says. "She was able to get up that morning but she felt sick. It was a very severe stroke and her right-hand side was paralysed and her speech was affected."The kids found Theresa in the bathroom and t...
CHILDREN whose parents are thin are likely to be very slim themselves due to "skinny genes", new research suggests. Youngsters whose parents are at the lower end of the healthy weight range are three times more likely to be regarded as thin (weighing less than a healthy weight range) than those whose parents are overweight. The study recorded the height and weight of parents and up to two children from 7,000 families over a five-year period. Analysis of body mass index (BMI) found that when both parents were at the lower half of the ideal BMI range, the chance of the child being thin was 16.2pc, compared with 7.8pc when both parents were in the upper half. These children had a BMI of 18.5 or under (regarded as "thin"),...
Health experts have warned that diabetes is reaching national crisis level after new research showed one third of families in Ireland have a relative suffering from the disease. The Diabetes Federation of Ireland said there are an estimated 30,000 people living with undetected diabetes. Professor Seamus Sreenan, consultant endocrinologist and medical director of Diabetes Federation of Ireland, warned that on average there is a 12-year delay in people being diagnosed. "We have been saying it for years, but these figures really bring the message home - diabetes is everywhere in Ireland," he said. "It's in urban and rural communities, in rich areas and less well-off areas. We're facing a national crisis." ...
People who suffer long-term pain are desperate for any remedy and often turn to alternative and complementary treatments.The best experts in Europe looked at some alternative treatments for pain at the recent EFIC Pain Congress in Hamburg.They warned that there was contradictory evidence for many of these methods but new evidence was presented for the effectiveness of acupuncture, acupressure and aromatherapy.Acupuncture works against acute pain, such as pain suffered after surgery.They also looked at the use of acupressure in chronic neck pain. Acupuncture points can be activated not only by needles, but also by finger pressure (acupressure).The treatment of points in a painful area has an additional positive influence on the a...