Timing from first meal to last meal was not associated with weight loss in a six-year study: Eating less overall and fewer large meals may be a more effective weight management strategy than restricting meals to a narrow time window, such as intermittent fasting, according to a study that analyzed the electronic health records of about 550 adults who were followed for six years. The time interval from first to last meal was not associated with weight change during the six-year study ..read more

A simple nasal spray significantly reduced snoring and breathing difficulties in children and halved the number needing to have their tonsils removed, according to a new study ..read more

Using a predictive genomics approach called variant-to-gene mapping, Texas A&M biologist Alex Keene and colleagues prove the gene Pig-Q is associated with sleep regulation in humans, flies and zebrafish ..read more

A drug in development for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) has shown promising results, after researchers tested the treatment in people for the first time. Designed to prevent the narrowing or collapse of the upper airways during sleep, a key factor in OSA, the treatment could prove to be a potential alternative for certain people with OSA to continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machines, which can only be tolerated by about half of all OSA sufferers ..read more

People sleep less in mid-adulthood than they do in early and late adulthood, finds a new study ..read more

Scientists measured the light transmittance of the eyelids when the eyes are closed, and found that perceived closed-eye brightness is significantly stronger than previously reported. The influence of color was also observed, with red light perceived as brighter and blue light perceived as darker. Additionally, there were significant differences between experimental participants; for some, their perception of brightness barely differed between open- and closed-eye conditions ..read more

Researchers have identified a signaling pathway that regulates sleep. By studying genetic mutations in mice, they were able to show that an enzyme called histone deacetylase 4 (HDAC4), which is known to suppress gene expression, plays a key role in regulating the amount and depth of sleep. Further experiments revealed that this regulatory signaling in the excitatory neurons of the cortex and hypothalamus regulates sleep quantity and quality, respectively ..read more

A study measuring the sleep patterns of students found that students fell asleep later in the evening and woke up later in the morning during winter. Students also received less natural light exposure during the winter, when daylight hours on the campus are limited and the skies are notoriously overcast. The researchers believe this lack of daytime light exposure triggered the delayed winter bedtimes by 'pushing back' (or delaying) their natural circadian cycle. Getting outside in the morning, even on cloudy days, is the best way to prevent this circadian delay, they say ..read more

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is almost always accompanied by fatigue, a massive tiredness that is described by the vast majority of patients as the most distressing symptom. In a recent scientific study, a research group identified light therapy as a promising non-drug treatment option: patients included in the study showed a measurable improvement after just 14 days of use ..read more

As the Christmas season starts to ramp up, researchers are reminding people to prioritize a good night's sleep as new research shows that a troubled sleep may be associated with risk factors for type 2 diabetes ..read more