In the News: One Week of Sleep Deprivation Disrupts DNA Expression

A Third of Americans at Risk

A new study shows how lack of sleep wreaks havoc on the gene mechanisms that control metabolism, stress, and immunity. Over one-third of Americans are sleep-deprived.

by Ashik Siddique

Are you getting enough rest? You probably know that poor sleep is bad for you, but a new study shows exactly how your body suffers from a lack of sleep.

A new study shows how just one week of insufficient sleep alters the normal functions of over 700 genes, causing a wide range of serious negative effects on your health.

Previous studies have linked a long-term sleep deprivation with obesity, heart disease, cognitive impairment, and other negative health outcomes, but the molecular mechanisms that lead to such declines were not fully clear until now. 

In one of the first studies of the effects of sleep deprivation on the human "transcriptome," or the set of messenger molecules for the human genome, British researchers have showed that over time, insufficient sleep directly alters gene expression responsible for processes like immune responses, stress, and metabolism, which have a wide range of negative downstream effects.

The study, conducted by scientists at Surrey University in England, was published online in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Feb. 25, 2013.

The researchers examined gene expression in 26 healthy volunteers who were deprived of sleep.

The participants in the sleep restriction condition were allowed only about 6 hours of sleep a night for seven consecutive nights, while the control group was allowed 10 hours of sleep.

At the end of the week, both groups were kept awake for a 40-hour period during which blood RNA samples were collected, then allowed 12 hours of constant sleep to recover.

Both groups were observed in a sleep center, with their sleep quality recorded throughout with standard polysomnography measures. A battery of tests was used during their waking hours to assess their cognitive performance and how they felt about their sleep quality each day.

In addition, researchers assayed levels of the hormone melatonin, which regulates biological rhythm and sleep cycles.

RNA analysis of the blood samples revealed that 711 genes were up- or down-regulated by insufficient sleep, meaning that their normal activity either decreased or intensified.

Every gene, or unit of DNA, is responsible for the creation of a protein involved in some bodily process. RNA is the "messenger chemical" that leads from DNA (the unchanging genetic code) to protein creation. If gene expression is turned up or down from its normal levels, it can cause a domino effect that leads to dramatic changes in the human body.

The genes altered by sleep deprivation in this study were involved in regulating sleep homeostasis, stress response, and metabolism.

Many of the malfunctioning genes were involved in maintaining the circadian rhythm, or "biological clock" -- that is, the timing of biological processes that are supposed to happen at specific times during a 24-hour cycle.

Others were responsible for overall gene regulation, meaning that chronic sleep loss can cause even more negative changes than the ones directly identified in this study.

Sleep deprivation also caused participants to perform more poorly on tests of cognition, memory and attention.

The findings have strong indications for most people living in the industrialized world.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 30 percent of civilian adults in the United States -- over 40 million workers -- report getting only 6 hours of sleep or less per night.

This means that millions of Americans are susceptible to the long-term changes in metabolism, stress response, and immunity that can put them at risk for disease.

While the ideal length of a good night's sleep varies widely among individuals, studies indicate that most people need somewhere between 7 and 9 hours per night.

Read more at http://www.medicaldaily.com/articles/14142/20130226/one-week-sleep-deprivation-disrupts-gene-expression.htm#7mf4YwcidjPAyJVr.99

In the News: Seven Obesity Mthys Shattered

CBC News, Jan 30, 2013

Many widely held beliefs about weight loss don't stand up to scientific scrutiny, say doctors who want to set the public health record straight on myths like the calorie-burning benefits of sex or the value of eating breakfast.

In Wednesday's online issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, U.S. doctors tackle seven obesity-related myths commonly found in the media and material from government agencies as well as six presumptions thought to be true despite a lack of convincing evidence.

The myths were:

1. Small sustained changes in energy intake or expenditure will produce large, long-term weight changes.

2. Setting realistic goals in obesity treatment is important, because otherwise patients will become frustrated and lose less weight.

3. Large, rapid weight loss is associated with poorer long-term weight outcomes than is slow, gradual weight loss.

4. Assessing the stage of change of diet readiness is important in helping patients who seek weight-loss treatment.

5. Physical-education classes in their current format play an important role in preventing or reducing childhood obesity.

6. Breastfeeding is protective against obesity.

7. A bout of sexual activity burns 100 to 300 calories for each person involved.

The myths were based on sources such as national health guidelines and studies from the 1960s of very-low-calorie diets. In his paper, David Allison of the University of Alabama at Birmingham and his co-authors discuss more recent experimental studies that debunk each myth.

"I always say to my patients, the first victory is to stop gaining weight," Tom Ransom, a Halifax endocrinologist and obesity specialist said of the goal-setting myth. "The second is to lose some weight, and the third victory is to tolerate the plateau, because it will happen."

Randomized control trials do not support that snacking contributes to weight gain but the type and size of snacks matter. Ransom told CBC News the paper is a great topic of discussion on what works and doesn't.

Stefanie Senior, a registered dietitian in Toronto, agreed the paper offers important information for health professionals and the general public who she said may tend to believe something once they hear it without researching contradictory advice.

On the streets of downtown Toronto, one woman said burning calories during sex "depends who's doing all the work."

Senior rejected the calorie-burning benefits of jumping in the sack.

"At the end of the day, it only burns less than 50 calories," she told CBC News.

The researchers also tackled six presumptions including the purported benefits of regularly eating breakfast, eating fruits and vegetables, snacking and yo-yo dieting, also called weight cycling.

Breakfast no guarantee

"If you're snacking on carrot sticks or Doritos, there's a big difference," Ransom said of snacking. Whether people add calories from snacks without reducing those consumed in meals matters, too.

The same line of thinking applies to eating breakfast. If someone eats a well-balanced meal in the morning and tapers their food over the day, it tends to help with managing hunger and appetite but it's not a guarantee that they'll consume less, Senior said.

Both experts stressed what works for weight loss varies between individuals. A host of factors like other medical conditions, sleep and medications all need to be considered when assessing and planning weight loss.

Diana Petramala of Toronto said she tried fad diets that just decreased her energy.
"It's all dedication," she said of how she lost about 30 pounds over three years through "clean eating" and staying active.

The study was funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health. Several authors have received grants payments from multinational food and pharmaceutical companies.

"It raises questions about what the purpose of this paper is" and whether it's aimed at promoting drugs, meal replacement products and bariatric surgery as solutions, said Marion Nestle, a New York University professor of nutrition and food studies.

"The big issues in weight loss are how you change the food environment in order for people to make healthy choices," such as limits on soda sizes and marketing junk food to children, she said.

Mindfulness at 3:00 AM: Cultivate Compassion

So there I was at 3:00AM last night -- suddenly fully awake and quite angry about my dreadful weight gain, and the failure to lose any significant weight despite all attempts over at least a year. I was frustrated and ruminating about that @##$$ Zyprexa -- not a proper mood for quickly dropping back into restorative sleep and facing the next workday.

I briefly considered taking a "hypnotic" drug (otherwise known as a sleeping pill), but then I decided instead to practice converting the turbulent waves of anger into a serene surface of compassion a la Zen mindfulness.

Instead of continuing to feel outraged about my present state, I redirected my thoughts towards a transforming learning experience -- to feel more outward understanding and compassion for all those other overweight folks who are suffering and unkindly discriminated against.

It took and time some practice, but I was able to accomplish compassion, dissipate the ruminations, and doze off. So that's my new mission -- to convert any obsessive feelings of anger into compassion whenever I can.

Here's an article from the web for those that also may want to cultivate compassion.

Compassion: An Antidote to Anger?

by Elisha Goldstein, Ph.D.

Mindfulness teacher and author Thich Nhat Hanh writes:

The nectar of compassion is so wonderful. If you are committed to keeping it alive, then you are protected. What the other person says will not touch off the anger and irritation in you, because compassion is the real antidote for anger.

There’s often misinterpretation between the words anger and aggression. Anger by itself is not an issue. It is important to be able to notice when we are getting angry, frustrated, irritated, or annoyed because it is often a signal that something is amiss. With that awareness we have the ability to choose what we want to do with it. It is the behavior of aggression and hostility that put people on the defense and cause problems.

When we cultivate compassion, we begin to soften the reactivity of aggression and hostility that often stems from anger.

What is compassion?

Compassion is a quality of awareness that combines identifying with another’s feelings (i.e., empathy) while understanding the position the other is in.

Inherent in the definition of mindfulness is non-judgment and another quality of it is “kind attention.” So as we cultivate a practice of nonjudgmentally placing kind attention on our own experience, we naturally begin to elicit feelings of self-compassion which then begins to flow outwards to others.

To cultivate compassion for another, try this: Allow yourself to imagine the sorrows and pains that the other person holds. During this life they have certainly had disappointments, failures, losses and wounds so deep they may not feel safe to share. Imagine them as your own child, feeling frightened and in pain, and how you may want to comfort them.

Sometimes, through practice, we come to understand that compassion may very well be the greatest antidote to the reactivity that can stem from anger and a pathway toward constructive-anger.

Obesogen

From Wiki:
Obesogens are foreign chemical compounds that disrupt normal development and balance of lipid metabolism, which in some cases, can lead to obesity. Obesogens may be functionally defined as chemicals that inappropriately alter lipid homeostasis and fat storage, change metabolic setpoints, disrupt energy balance or modify the regulation of appetite and satiety to promote fat accumulation and obesity.


For more information:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obesogen