https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/966140
News Release 28-Sep-2022
Scripps Research scientists pinpoint an unusual culprit in cancer: a family of genes that respond to temperature changes in the body
Peer-Reviewed Publication
Scripps Research Institute
Disruptions in circadian rhythm—the ways that our bodies change in response to the 24-hour light and dark cycle—have been linked to many different diseases, including cancer. The connection between the two has been poorly understood, even though shift workers and others with irregular schedules experience these disruptions regularly. But a new discovery from Scripps Research is helping answer what may be behind this correlation.
Published in Science Advances on September 28, 2022, the findings highlight that chronic circadian disruption significantly increased lung cancer growth in animal models. By identifying the genes implicated, the researchers are illuminating the mysterious link between our sleeping patterns and disease, which could help inform everything from developing more targeted cancer treatments to better monitoring high-risk groups.
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The findings aligned with what the researchers initially thought: mice that were exposed to the irregular, shifting light patterns had an increased tumor burden of 68%.
But when they used RNA sequencing to determine the different genes involved in the cancer growth, they were surprised that a collection in the heat shock factor 1 (HSF1) family of proteins was the main culprit.
“This is not the mechanism we were expecting to find here. HSF1 has been shown to increase rates of tumor formation in several different models of cancer, but it has never been linked to circadian disruption before,” Lamia says.
HSF1 genes are responsible for making sure proteins are still made correctly even when a cell is under extreme stress—in this case, when it experiences changes in temperature. The team suspects that HSF1 activity is increased in response to circadian disruption because changes in our sleep cycles disturb the daily rhythms of our bodies’ temperature.
“Normally, our body temperature changes by one or two degrees while we’re sleeping. If shift workers don’t experience that normal drop, it could interfere with how the HSF1 pathway normally operates—and ultimately lead to more dysregulation in the body,” Lamia adds. She believes cancer cells may exploit the HSF1 pathway to their own benefit and create mutant, misfolded proteins, but says more research is needed in this area.
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https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/942359
News Release 7-Feb-2022
Peer-Reviewed Publication
University of Chicago Medical Center
In a randomized clinical trial with 80 adults, published February 7 in JAMA Internal Medicine, Tasali and her colleagues at UChicago and the University of Wisconsin–Madison found that young, overweight adults who habitually slept fewer than 6.5 hours a night were able to increase their sleep duration by an average of 1.2 hours per night after a personalized sleep hygiene counseling session. The sleep intervention was intended to extend time in bed duration to 8.5 hours — and the increased sleep duration compared to controls also reduced participants’ overall caloric intake by an average of 270 kcal (calories) per day.
“Over the years, we and others have shown that sleep restriction has an effect on appetite regulation that leads to increased food intake, and thus puts you at risk for weight gain over time,” said Tasali. “More recently, the question that everyone was asking was, ‘Well, if this is what happens with sleep loss, can we extend sleep and reverse some of these adverse outcomes?”
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https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/937745
News Release 13-Dec-2021
Peer-Reviewed Publication
Flinders University
People who suffer from both insomnia and obstructive sleep apnoea are more likely to suffer from heart problems and are almost 50% more likely to die than those without either condition, say Flinders University researchers, who advise people being tested for one of the disorders be tested for the other.
“Insomnia and obstructive sleep apnoea are the two most common sleep disorders, affecting 10 to 30% of the population, but people can often suffer from both at the same time,” says Dr Bastien Lechat from Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute: Sleep Health.
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https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/936028
News Release 3-Dec-2021
Peer-Reviewed Publication
Brigham and Women's Hospital
What are the effects of eating during the nighttime instead of the daytime? New research, focused on a simulation of night shift work, may hold implications for people eating at atypical times — like those experiencing jet lag, circadian rhythm sleep disorders, or who tend to sleep late during the weekends. A study by investigators from Brigham and Women’s Hospital indicates eating during the nighttime can lead to glucose intolerance, while limiting meals to the daytime can help regulate bloodstream glucose levels. Nighttime eating appeared to cause a misalignment between the body’s central and peripheral circadian “clocks” — natural timekeepers that regulate physical, mental and behavioral changes over a 24-hour cycle. The researchers’ results are published in Science Advances.
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I wonder if this applies to people who choose to work night shifts because they are naturally night owls?
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/936479
News Release 3-Dec-2021
Peer-Reviewed Publication
NIH/National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute
A small clinical trial supported by the National Institutes of Health has found that eating during the nighttime—like many shift workers do—can increase glucose levels, while eating only during the daytime might prevent the higher glucose levels now linked with a nocturnal work life. The findings, the study authors said, could lead to novel behavioral interventions aimed at improving the health of shift workers – grocery stockers, hotel workers, truck drivers, first responders, and others – who past studies show may be at an increased risk for diabetes, heart disease, and obesity.
The new study, which the researchers noted is the first to demonstrate the beneficial effect of this type of meal timing intervention in humans, appears online in the journal Science Advances. It was funded primarily by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), part of NIH.
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https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/933468
News Release 2-Nov-2021
Daytime tiredness and sleep deprivation put students at risk of depression and high stress
Peer-Reviewed Publication
Taylor & Francis Group
More than two thirds (65.5%) of students are experiencing poor sleep quality and this is linked to mental health problems, new research published in the peer-reviewed journal Annals of Human Biology suggests.
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https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/928988
News Release 20-Sep-2021
Peer-Reviewed Publication
Ohio State University
Missing out on the recommended seven or more hours of sleep per night could lead to more opportunities to make poorer snacking choices than those made by people who meet shut-eye guidelines, a new study suggests.
The analysis of data on almost 20,000 American adults showed a link between not meeting sleep recommendations and eating more snack-related carbohydrates, added sugar, fats and caffeine.
It turns out that the favored non-meal food categories – salty snacks and sweets and non-alcoholic drinks – are the same among adults regardless of sleep habits, but those getting less sleep tend to eat more snack calories in a day overall.
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https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/926675
News Release 1-Sep-2021
Peer-Reviewed Publication
PLOS
After 7 days of recovery from a 10-day period of deficient sleep, participants in a small study had recovered their pre-sleep deprivation reaction speed, but had not fully recovered on any other measures of function. Jeremi Ochab of the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland, and colleagues present these findings in the open-access journal PLOS ONE on September 1, 2021.
Sleep deficiency is well known to negatively impact human functioning. For example, it is associated with deficits in attention and memory, as well as increased risk of car accidents, heart problems, and other medical issues.
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https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-06/mu-ebo060121.php
News Release 1-Jun-2021
Sleep styles may hold the key to designing better work schedules
McGill University
Getting enough sleep can be a real challenge for shift workers affecting their overall health. But what role does being an early bird or night owl play in getting good rest? Researchers from McGill University find a link between chronotype and amount of sleep shift workers can get with their irregular schedules.
"Some people seem to be hardwired to sleep early, while others tend to sleep late. This preference, called chronotype, is modulated by our circadian system - each person's unique internal timekeeper," says lead author Diane B. Boivin, a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at McGill University.
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"Our results suggest that the effect of chronotype on sleep duration and
napping behavior depends on the shift type. On average early risers
sleep 1.1 hours longer on morning shifts, while night owls sleep two
hours longer on evening shifts," says co-author Laura Kervezee, a former
Postdoctoral Fellow at The Douglas Research Centre affiliated with
McGill University.
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https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-05/msu-sdc052621.php
News Release 26-May-2021
Michigan State University
Rough night of sleep? Relying on caffeine to get you through the day isn't always the answer, says a new study from Michigan State University.
Researchers from MSU's Sleep and Learning Lab, led by psychology associate professor Kimberly Fenn, assessed how effective caffeine was in counteracting the negative effects of sleep deprivation on cognition. As it turns out, caffeine can only get you so far.
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"Caffeine may improve the ability to stay awake and attend to a task, but it doesn't do much to prevent the sort of procedural errors that can cause things like medical mistakes and car accidents."
Insufficient sleep is pervasive in the United States, a problem that has intensified during the pandemic, Fenn said. Consistently lacking adequate sleep not only affects cognition and alters mood, but can eventually take a toll on immunity.
"Caffeine increases energy, reduces sleepiness and can even improve mood, but it absolutely does not replace a full night of sleep, Fenn said. "Although people may feel as if they can combat sleep deprivation with caffeine, their performance on higher-level tasks will likely still be impaired. This is one of the reasons why sleep deprivation can be so dangerous."
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https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-05/fu-swf052721.php
News Release 27-May-2021
Flinders University
Men aged 65 and over should monitor their sleep patterns and seek medical advice after a warning from Flinders University experts that disrupted slumber can be linked to cognitive dysfunction.
In a new article published in the Journal of Sleep Research, the Adelaide Institute for Sleep Health research group studied a group of 477 middle-aged and older men's attention and processing speed in relation to their sleep.
The participants from the Florey Adelaide Male Ageing Study undertook cognitive testing and a successful sleep study.
"Less deep sleep and more light sleep is related to slower responses on cognitive function tests," says lead author Jesse Parker.
"While obstructive sleep apnoea itself is not directly related to cognitive function in all men studied, we did note that in men aged 65 and older, more light sleep was related to worse attention and processing speed."
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https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-05/ijl-tyy052721.php
News Release 27-May-2021
Impact Journals LLC
A groundbreaking clinical trial shows we can reduce biological age (as measured by the Horvath 2013 DNAmAge clock) by more than three years in only eight weeks with diet and lifestyle through balancing DNA methylation.
A first-of-its-kind, peer-reviewed study provides scientific evidence that lifestyle and diet changes can deliver immediate and rapid reduction of our biological age. Since aging is the primary driver of chronic disease, this reduction has the power to help us live better, longer.
The study, released on April 12, utilized a randomized controlled clinical trial conducted among 43 healthy adult males between the ages of 50-72. The 8-week treatment program included diet, sleep, exercise and relaxation guidance, and supplemental probiotics and phytonutrients, resulting in a statistically significant reduction of biological age--over three years younger, compared to controls.
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From my own experience, I would say that it is the deviation from a person's own natural sleep rhythms that is the problem. I am a night owl, and when I was working a normal schedule, I tended to fall asleep while driving on the way to work in the morning, but had no trouble staying awake on the way home after working late.
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-05/uom-sdw051321.php
News Release 13-May-2021
University of Missouri-Columbia
People who work nontraditional work hours, such as 11 p.m.-7 a.m., or the "graveyard" shift, are more likely than people with traditional daytime work schedules to develop a chronic medical condition -- shift work sleep disorder -- that disrupts their sleep. According to researchers at the University of Missouri, people who develop this condition are also three times more likely to be involved in a vehicle accident.
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As the demand for 24/7 business operations has increased in recent years to meet customer needs during all hours of the day and across multiple time zones, the traditional work day -- once defined as 9 a.m.-5 p.m. -- has shifted for many people to include evening and night shifts, causing sleeping difficulties and leading to shift work sleep disorder. Edara said he was surprised to see shift work sleep disorder increase the risk of a traffic crash by nearly 300%, as compared to both sleep apnea and insomnia, which both increased the risk of a crash by approximately 30%.
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https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-04/tnam-agn042021.php
News Release 21-Apr-2021
New study suggests that poor sleep quality, not duration, can lead to female sexual dysfunction
The North American Menopause Society (NAMS)
CLEVELAND, Ohio (April 21, 2021)--The importance of getting a good night's sleep cannot be overstated. Lack of sleep can lead to a number of health problems and affect a woman's overall quality of life. A new study suggests that insufficient quality sleep also may lead to problems in the bedroom in the form of female sexual dysfunction. Study results are published online today in Menopause, the journal of The North American Menopause Society (NAMS).
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https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-04/uow-scn042021.php
News Release 21-Apr-2021
Shift-work and irregular work schedules can cause several health-related issues and affect our defence against infection, according to new research from the University of Waterloo.
University of Waterloo
Shift-work and irregular work schedules can cause several health-related issues and affect our defence against infection, according to new research from the University of Waterloo.
These health-related issues occur because the body's natural clock, called the circadian clock, can be disrupted by inconsistent changes in the sleep-wake schedule and feeding patterns often caused by shift work. To study this, researchers at Waterloo developed a mathematical model to look at how a disruption in the circadian clock affects the immune system in fighting off illness.
"Because our immune system is affected by the circadian clock, our ability to mount an immune response changes during the day," said Anita Layton, professor of Applied Mathematics, Computer Science, Pharmacy and Biology at Waterloo. "How likely are you to fight off an infection that occurs in the morning than midday? The answer depends on whether you are a man or a woman, and whether you are among quarter of the modern-day labour force that has an irregular work schedule."
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The results of these computer simulations conclude that the immune response varies with the time of infection. Model simulation suggests that the time before we go to bed is the "worst" time to get an infection. That is the period of the day when our body is least prepared to produce the pro- and anti-inflammatory mediators needed during an infection. Just as importantly, an individual's sex impacts the severity of the infection.
"Shift work likely affects men and women differently," said Stéphanie Abo, a PhD candidate in Waterloo's Department of Applied Mathematics. "Compared to females, the immune system in males is more prone to overactivation, which can increase their chances of sepsis following an ill-timed infection."
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-04/ags-dlt042121.php
News Release 21-Apr-2021
Journal of the American Geriatrics Society research summary
American Geriatrics Society
A new study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society has found that listening to music can help older adults sleep better.
Researchers from the National Cheng Kung University Hospital in Taiwan combined the results of past studies to understand the effect that listening to music can have on the quality of older adults' sleep. Their work suggests that:
- Older adults (ages 60 and up) living at home sleep better when they listen to music for 30 minutes to one hour at bedtime.
- Calm music improves older adults' sleep quality better than rhythmic music does.
- Older adults should listen to music for more than four weeks to see the most benefit from listening to music.
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https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-04/oupu-lss040821.php
News Release 15-Apr-2021
Oxford University Press USA
A new study in SLEEP, published by Oxford University Press, demonstrates the significant benefits of later school start times for middle and high school students' sleep schedules.
Sleep is essential to a student's overall health, social development, and academic achievement, yet lack of sleep is common among children and adolescents. Biological changes to sleep cycles during puberty make falling asleep early difficult for adolescents. This, coupled with early school start times, means that students often end up with insufficient sleep.
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https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-03/ohs-ssr031221.php
News Release 12-Mar-2021
Technique developed at OHSU measures brain's waste-clearance system through MRIs
Oregon Health & Science University
Sound sleep plays a critical role in healing traumatic brain injury, a new study of military veterans suggests.
The study, published in the Journal of Neurotrauma, used a new technique involving magnetic resonance imaging developed at Oregon Health & Science University. Researchers used MRI to evaluate the enlargement of perivascular spaces that surround blood vessels in the brain. Enlargement of these spaces occurs in aging and is associated with the development of dementia.
Among veterans in the study, those who slept poorly had more evidence of these enlarged spaces and more post-concussive symptoms.
"This has huge implications for the armed forces as well as civilians," said lead author Juan Piantino, M.D., MCR, assistant professor of pediatrics (neurology) in the OHSU School of Medicine and Doernbecher Children's Hospital. "This study suggests sleep may play an important role in clearing waste from the brain after traumatic brain injury - and if you don't sleep very well, you might not clean your brain as efficiently."
Piantino, a physician-scientist with OHSU's Papé Family Pediatric Research Institute, studies the effects of poor sleep on recovery after traumatic brain injuries.
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https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-03/wsu-roi030521.php
News Release 8-Mar-2021
Washington State University
New clues as to why night shift workers are at increased risk of developing certain types of cancer are presented in a new study conducted at Washington State University Health Sciences Spokane.
Published online in the Journal of Pineal Research, the study involved a controlled laboratory experiment that used healthy volunteers who were on simulated night shift or day shift schedules. Findings from the study suggest that night shifts disrupt natural 24-hour rhythms in the activity of certain cancer-related genes, making night shift workers more vulnerable to damage to their DNA while at the same time causing the body's DNA repair mechanisms to be mistimed to deal with that damage.
Though more research still needs to be done, these discoveries could someday be used to help prevent and treat cancer in night shift workers.
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