Medical Bulletin 25/August/2022

Here are the top medical news for the day:

Lack of sleep in teenagers linked to overweight and obesity

Adolescents who sleep less than eight hours a night are more likely to be overweight or obese compared to their peers with sufficient sleep, according to research presented at ESC Congress 2022. Shorter sleepers were also more likely to have a combination of other unhealthy characteristics including excess fat around the middle, elevated blood pressure, and abnormal blood lipid and glucose levels.

This study examined the association between sleep duration and health in 1,229 adolescents in the SI! Program for Secondary Schools trial in Spain. Sleep was measured for seven days with a wearable activity tracker three times in each participant at ages 12, 14 and 16 years.

Ref:

Jesús Martínez Gómez, Insufficient sleep in teenagers is associated with overweight and obesity,EUROPEAN SOCIETY OF CARDIOLOGY

Effect of a 10mins walk on prolonging the life of Octogenarians

One hour of walking per week is associated with greater longevity in people aged 85 years and above, according to research presented at ESC Congress 2022.

This study examined the association between walking and the risks of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality among adults aged 85 years and older. The study included 7,047 adults aged 85 or older who underwent the Korean National Health Screening Program in 2009 to 2014. Participants completed a questionnaire on leisure-time physical activity which asked the length of time spent each week on walking at a slow pace, moderate intensity activity such as cycling and brisk walking, and vigorous intensity activity such as running.

Ref:

Moo-Nyun Jin et al,ESC Congress

Leisure time activities and lower risk of death for older adults

Older adults who participate weekly in many different types of leisure time activities, such as walking for exercise, jogging, swimming laps, or playing tennis, may have a lower risk of death from any cause, as well as death from cardiovascular disease and cancer, according to a new study led by researchers at the National Cancer Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health.

Using data from 272,550 adults between the ages of 59 and 82 who had completed questionnaires about their leisure-time activities as part of the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study, the researchers looked at whether participating in equivalent amounts of seven different exercise and recreational activities was associated with lowered risk of death.

Ref:

Eleanor L. Watts et al: “Associations of leisure time physical activity types and risks of all-cause, cardiovascular, and cancer mortality among older adults” appears August 24 in JAMA Network Open.

Druggable pathway that could be used to help prevent Alzheimer’s dementia

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine found a way to increase clearance of waste products from the brains of mice by ramping up a genetic quirk known as readthrough. This same strategy also may be effective for other neurodegenerative diseases characterized by the buildup of toxic proteins, such as Parkinson’s disease, the researchers said.

The researchers created tools to see whether the long form of aquaporin 4 behaved differently in the brain than the regular form. They found the long form — but not the short one — in the so-called endfeet of astrocytes. Astrocytes are a kind of support cell that help maintain the barrier between the brain and the rest of the body. Their end feet wrap around tiny blood vessels in the brain and help regulate blood flow. Astrocytic endfeet are the perfect place to be if your job is to keep the brain free of unwanted proteins by flushing waste out of the brain and into the bloodstream, where it can be carried away and disposed of.

Ref:

Joseph D. Dougherty et al,Aqp4 stop codon readthrough facilitates amyloid-β clearance from the brain.,Brain,