http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Social jetlag -- a syndrome related to the mismatch between the body's internal clock and the realities of our daily schedules -- does more than make us sleepy. It is also contributing to the growing tide of obesity, according to a large-scale epidemiological study reported online on May 10 in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-social-jetlag-real-health-hazard.html Medical research Thu, 10 May 2012 12:00:04 EST news255869118 A study by researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) reinforces the finding that too little sleep or sleep patterns that are inconsistent with our body's "internal biological clock" may lead to increased risk of diabetes and obesity. This finding has been seen in short-term lab studies and when observing human subjects via epidemiological studies. However, unlike epidemiological studies, this new study provides support by examining humans in a controlled lab environment over a prolonged period, and altering the timing of sleep, mimicking shift work or recurrent jet lag. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-disrupted-internal-clock-higher-diabetes.html Health Wed, 11 Apr 2012 14:00:01 EST news253366537 The discovery of a major gear in the biological clock that tells the body when to sleep and metabolize food may lead to new drugs to treat sleep problems and metabolic disorders, including diabetes. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-scientists-redraw-blueprint-body-biological.html Medical research Fri, 06 Apr 2012 09:29:57 EST news252923381 Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have synthesized a pair of small molecules that dramatically alter the core biological clock in animal models, highlighting the compounds' potential effectiveness in treating a remarkable range of disorders—including obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol, and serious sleep disorders. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-scientists-compounds-biological-clock-weight.html Medical research Thu, 29 Mar 2012 13:34:24 EST news252246774 A study published in Nature Genetics today has found new evidence for a link between the body clock hormone melatonin and type 2 diabetes. The study found that people who carry rare genetic mutations in the receptor for melatonin have a much higher risk of type 2 diabetes. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-genetic-links-body-clock-receptor.html Diabetes Sun, 29 Jan 2012 13:00:15 EST news247034442 New research at Oregon State University provides evidence for the first time that disruption of circadian rhythms – the biological "clocks" found in many animals – can clearly cause accelerated neurodegeneration, loss of motor function and premature death. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-disruption-biological-clocks-neurodegeneration-early.html Neuroscience Tue, 10 Jan 2012 12:50:03 EST news245420720 Scientists have discovered a missing link between the body's biological clock and sugar metabolism system, a finding that may help avoid the serious side effects of drugs used for treating asthma, allergies and arthritis. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-discovery-safer-treatments-asthma-allergies.html Arthritis & Rheumatism Mon, 19 Dec 2011 16:39:38 EST news243535124 Ever wondered why you wake up in the morning -- even when the alarm clock isn't making jarring noises? Wonder no more. Researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have identified a new component of the biological clock, a gene responsible for starting the clock from its restful state every morning. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-alarm-clock-gene-wake-up-function.html Genetics Thu, 29 Sep 2011 16:47:18 EST news236533629 Researchers have shown they can reverse the aging process for human adult stem cells, which are responsible for helping old or damaged tissues regenerate. The findings could lead to medical treatments that may repair a host of ailments that occur because of tissue damage as people age. A research group led by the Buck Institute for Research on Aging and the Georgia Institute of Technology conducted the study in cell culture, which appears in the September 1, 2011 edition of the journal Cell Cycle. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-scientists-clock-adult-stem-cells.html Medical research Tue, 20 Sep 2011 15:46:00 EST news235752345 Exposure to the light of white LED bulbs, it turns out, suppresses melatonin 5 times more than exposure to the light of High Pressure Sodium bulbs that give off an orange-yellow light. "Just as there are regulations and standards for 'classic' pollutants, there should also be regulations and rules for the pollution stemming from artificial light at night," says Prof. Abraham Haim of the University of Haifa. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-white-suppresses-body-production-melatonin.html Health Mon, 12 Sep 2011 09:39:21 EST news235039005