Year: 2015

A new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has found that most U.S. teenagers start school too early, which prevents them from getting the sleep they need to be able to properly concentrate and stay healthy. "Getting enough sleep is important for students' health, safety, and academic performance," lead author Anne Wheaton said. "Early school start times, however, are preventing many adolescents from getting the sleep they need." Adolescents are biologically programmed to stay asleep longer than adults, according to research from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). They may also suffer from sleep problems, further preventing them from getting the rest they need to do well. For example, obstructive sleep apnea can cause sufferers to stop breathing while th...

According to surveys, approximately 40% of couples about to tie the knot report that their choice of wedding venue should reflect their personality. Apparently, couples haven't been feeling particularly spontaneous lately. A recent article in the Washington Post reports that Las Vegas weddings have seen a major plummet in the last 10 years, from 128,000 in 2004 to just 81,000 in 2014. Las Vegas, the Nevada city famous for its gambling, its endless buffets, and its popular tagline "what happens here, stays here," was once one of the top destinations for couples to tie the knot. The craze can be attributed to the late great Elvis Presley. In 1967, the King of Rock and Roll wed Priscilla Beaulieu at the Aladdin Hotel. The whole affair took no longer than eight minutes; it was so low-key t...

Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is the most common treatment for sleep apnea, a sleep disorder plaguing over 18 million Americans. It is also frequently misused, with only 50% of patients properly securing CPAP masks and utilizing CPAP machines. While mastering these tools may be a time- and money-saving venture, it's hardly the only option out there. In fact, a new therapy, called upper airway stimulation (UAS) therapy, may supplement (or, in some cases, entirely eliminate the need for) CPAP machines. "Implanted during an outpatient procedure, the device acts as a nerve stimulator, moving the tongue each time the patient takes a breath, shifting the palate forward and opening the upper airway," WTOP.com writes. "Patients have experienced an overall reduction of sleep apnea sev...

Adults experiencing severe attention deficit problems, emotional instability, and mild cognitive impairment issues likely had a traumatic brain injury (TBI) as a child, a new report has found. As Reuters reported, medical professionals have long known that children suffering from TBIs are more likely to have attention deficit problems as adults. A new study found that these minor lapses of attention are also related to cognitive problems and prolonged attention impairment issues, and these problems could take a long time to develop. The study, recently published in the academic journal , was conducted by a team of researchers from Marsh Konigs of VU University Amsterdam in The Netherlands. The researchers looked at 113 children, ages six to 13, who had suffered a TBI (with severity rangi...

A neuroscientist from the University of Oxford says that lack of sleep is just as bad as smoking. Professor Russell Foster blames lack of sleep for a number of health problems, and he compares the brain activity of early risers to that of inebriated people. Foster is the director of the Sleep and Circadian Neuroscience Institute, which has called for more people to get to bed early. Not only does lack of sleep do damage to the brain, he says, but working at night can cause premature aging and is linked to an increased risk of developing cancer, heart disease, and Type II diabetes. Claims like that are backed up by French research out of the University of Toulouse, which showed that workers who had been on the night shift for 10 years aged by an extra six-and-a-half years compared with ...

Most people have heard about the mess that beloved comedian Bill Cosby has found himself in within the past year or so. But a new development has Cosby and his lawyer lashing out not only at the court system, but at the media as well. A court reporter released a deposition from a 2005 case involving one of his accusers, and Cosby says that the contents of the deposition are being misinterpreted thanks to recent events. Cosby and his lawyer, Patrick O’Connor, have since filed a lawsuit, saying that the deposition shouldn’t have been released, and that it skews the rest of his cases. The deposition is about a woman who said that Cosby drugged her and later sexually assaulted her. Also in the deposition, Cosby does admit that he was sexually involved with no fewer than five women outside of...