Sleep, an easy way to improve your health

Getting enough sleep on a regular basis seems to be one of many steps you can take to help stay healthy.

In a recent study the researchers checked the blood of the participants for an important inflammatory factor called NF-kappaB which has shown to be linked to diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer (Irwin M, et al, 2008).

After a night of normal sleep the measurements of NF-kappaB in the participants was compared to samples taken after a night where they had stayed up very late.

After the late night the inflammatory factor in the women, but not in men, had increased significantly. A night of normal sleep restored the levels to normal again.

Most of us realize that too little sleep on a regular basis is not healthy, but that it is as harmful as this research documented is probably surprising.

References:

Irwin MR, et al. Sleep loss activates cellular inflammatory signaling. Biol Psychiatry. 2008 Sep 15;64(6):538-40.

Is your brain getting smaller?

Your brain may be getting smaller according to a recent study published in the journal, "Neurology" (Vogiatzoglu A, et al, 2008). The good news is that you can prevent it by taking Vitamin B 12.

The study cited here involved volunteers between the ages of 61 and 87 years who were free of cognitive impairments when the study began. It was found that greater brain volume loss was associated with lower levels of vitamin B12. These individuals were not even vitamin B12 deficient according to the blood tests, but they had a lower level of vitamin B12 than the subjects with less brain volume loss.

If you want to prevent brain atrophy and likely cognitive impairment (memory loss) be sure to take not only vitamin B, but a high quality b-complex since all the b-vitamins are important for a variety of reasons.



References:

1. Vogiatzoglou A., et al. Vitamin B12 status and rate of birth volume loss in community-dwelling elderly. Neurology.2008 Sep 9;71(11):826-32