Lost of 1 night sleep increases type 2 diabetes risk

The Endocrine Society's  Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM) will be publishing a new study that measured the effects of short sleep duration.  

They note that missing just one night of sleep can induce insulin resistance.  In short, this increases the chance of type 2 diabetes.  According to the lead author, Dr. Esther Donga, MD of the Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands, the shortened sleep in the past decade also correlated with an increase of type 2 diabetes.  

"Our findings show a short night of sleep has more profound effects on metabolic regulation than previously appreciated," said Donga.  There have been previous studies that show decline in glucose tolerance but this is the first study to examine a single night of partial sleep and its effect on insulin sensitivity.

The clinic study examined nine healthy subjects and measured their insulin sensitivity after a healthy night of sleep (8 hours) and then a night of four hours of sleep.

Aloe vera clinical study conclusion: it helps heal burns

There's a lot of hogwash about the mythical properties of aloe vera throughout the world. Yet this old medical herb (and vegetable) does have certain properties that are unique. It does prevent fungus infection (tinea) and have some antibacterial properties.

But the real question is -- does it really help heal your skin? According to the most recent publication about the subject in the journal Burns, it does. The meta analysis entitled "The efficacy of aloe vera used for burn wound healing: a systematic review" was written by Maenthaisong R, Chaiyakunapruk N, Niruntraporn S, and Kongkaew C.

Based on the meta-analysis using duration of wound healing as an outcome measure, aloe vera group was quicker to heal, roughly 8.79 days shorter. The evidence supports that aloe vera could be used as a complementary intervention in wound healing for first to second degree burns.

Four studies with a total of 371 patients were included in this review.

New Randomized Clinical Study: Vitamin D Reduces Birth Defects

A new study is fighting an old myth that vitamin D can cause birth defects. In a randomized controlled trial, they assigned 494 pregnant women already at 12 to 16 weeks to 400, 2,000, or 4,000 IU of vitamin D per day until delivery.

They then conducted logistic regression analysis to see the influence of vitamin D in terms of gestational diabetes, infections, preterm labor and birth, and preeclampsia. What they found was not only earth shattering in relatino to the myth, they found that those who took the highest doses had half the risk of co-morbidities than the control group.

The study was presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies yearly meeting in Vancouver, Canada. Lead researcher: Carol L. Wagner, MD, of the Medical University of South Carolina, in Charleston.