Can long naps lead to diabetesIJ
People who slept more than an hour each day were 45 per cent more likely to develop type 2 diabetes, a debilitating condition associated with overweight and a sedentary lifestyle, the study found. Individuals with diabetes are unable to naturally regulate their blood sugar levels. Without treatment, the disease can lead to blindness, nerve damage, kidney failure, heart disease and premature death. The meta-analysis by Yamada Tomahide of the University of Tokyo, covered more than 300,000 people of Asian and European origin from around the world. For naps of less than 40 minutes, the link with diabetes disappeared, they noted. Other experts noted that the statistical correlation revealed nothing about cause-and-effect. The study has yet to be published in a peer-reviewed science journal. “It can falsely appear that their illness followed increased napping, rather than the other way around,” said Benjamin Cairns, a researcher at the Cancer Epidemiology Unit of the University of Oxford.
Scientists create 3D lung-in-a-dish
A team of researchers has created 3D lung “organoids” — laboratory-grown lung-like tissue — to study diseases, including idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. The 3D dimensional drug has been created by coating tiny gel beads with lung-derived stem cells and allowing them to self-assemble into the shape of air sacs found in human lungs. “While we haven’t built a fully functional lung, we have been able to take lung cells and place them in the correct geometrical spacing and pattern to mimic a human lung,” said Brigitte Gomperts, Associate Professor, at the University of California, at lA. Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is a chronic lung disease characterised by scarring of the lungs.
your walking style reveals a lot
The way people walk can give clues to how aggressive they are, according to a new study which found that the exaggerated movement of both the upper and lower body indicates aggression. Researchers from University of Portsmouth in the UK assessed the personalities of 29 participants before using motion capture technology to record them walking on a treadmill at their natural speed. “When walking, the body naturally rotates a little. As an individual steps forward with their left foot, the left side of the pelvis will move forward with the leg, the left shoulder will move back and the right shoulder forward to maintain balance,” said lead researcher liam Satchell. “An aggressive walk is one where this rotation is exaggerated,” he added. The researchers asked participants to complete a questionnaire, which measured their levels of aggression. They also used a personality test.