If overweight befriend thin people
People who are trying to shed pounds are more likely to lose weight if they include thinner people in their social lives, according to a study. Ironically, people who want to lose weight are more likely to experience weight discrimination and feel more comfortable with people whose body mass is similar. The findings, published in the journal Obesity, were based on an analysis of 9,335 people aged between 18 to 65 and tracked the participants’ self-reported social networking changes and body mass outcomes for a year. Participants identified the four adults with whom they spent free time most frequently and rated each contact’s body mass relative to their own. “For the study, we relied on how people perceived those in their network rather than actual weight measurements,” said Matthew Andersson, Assistant Professor, Baylor University, Texas. “Frequency of contact played a major role. With less than 100 interactions with an individual during”, he added.
Viral infection more dangerous in morning
Our body clock accelerates the ability of viruses to replicate and spread between cells 10 times faster during the morning than by the end of the day, placing people at a higher risk of catching infection, a study involving an Indian-origin scientist has revealed. Disruptions in body clock lead to increased virus replication and dissemination, indicating that severity of acute infections is influenced by circadian time-keeping. “The time of day of infection can have a major influence on how susceptible we are to the disease, or at least on the viral replication, meaning that infection at the wrong time of day could cause a much more severe acute infection,” said Akhilesh Reddy, Professor at University of Cambridge.
Pain killer without side effects
An international team of researchers have developed an experimental new opioid drug that blocks pain without triggering the dangerous side effects of current prescription painkillers, including addiction risk. In a study published in the journal Nature, the researchers demonstrated that the novel drug candidate blocked pain as effectively as morphine – a common painkiller — in mouse experiments, but did not share the potentially deadly side effects typical of opioid drugs. In particular, the new drug did not interfere with breathing — the main cause of death in overdoses of prescription painkillers as well as street narcotics like heroin — or cause constipation, another common opioid side effect. he new drug also appears to side-step the brain’s dopamine-driven addiction circuitry and did not cause drug-seeking behaviour in mice.