On our Lab Notes page CalorieLab’s editors select and rank the day’s essential health news items in real time. Readers can suggest, vote and comment on items. Below are brief summaries of yesterday’s (February 2, 2010) Lab Notes items. To see today’s items, visit Lab Notes.
1. Older, Healthy Adults May Need Less Sleep
New clinical research indicates that older adults need less sleep and wake up feeling less fatigued than younger adults.
2. Obesity May Contribute to Delayed Puberty in Boys
Boys with a higher body mass index reach puberty at a later age, according to a new study. The inverse is true for girls.
3. Pepper Pill Proves Promising in Weight Loss
General Nutrition Centers and University of Oklahoma Health and Exercise Science Department teamed up to test the weight loss potential of a new pepper pill.
4. Americans Love Health Claims
Research from Nielsen says that American consumers are big fans of food products that make health claims. Products that make claims about their Omega-3 content have been the biggest winners in the past year, with sales up 42 percent.
5. Genes May Be Responsible for Ability to Navigate
New research indicates that the common ability to navigate the world and orient oneself in space may be genetic. People without this ability suffer from a rare genetic disorder that occurs in one in 7500 live births.
6. Lancet Retracts Autism Study
The medical journal the Lancent retracted 1998 study that said there was a link between the measles, mumps, rubella vaccination and autism in children.
7. World’s Fattest Man Loses Big
Paul Mason, a resident of England and the world’s fattest man, has undergone gastric bypass surgery to help him lose weight.
8. Is Vitamin D a Big Help or Hype?
Vitamin D has recently been touted as an aid to preventing cancer, diabetes and heart disease, among other ailments, but a link between the vitamin and lower disease risks hasn’t been proven.
(By CalorieLab editors)
From the RSS feed of CalorieLab News (REF3076322B7)