Challenging the long-held notion that the main function of sleep is to give rest to the brain, researchers have found that not getting enough sleep has a significant impact on fat cells, reducing by 30 percent their ability to respond to insulin, a hormone that regulates energy. The new findings, detailed in the Annals of […]
Social and physical environments can have a profound effect on metabolic processes, say the scientists behind rodent experiments that showed how an engaging social environment can burn more fat than a treadmill. Researcher Matthew During, of Ohio State University, explained that when mice are given a more engaging place to live with greater opportunities for […]
The role that inflammation plays in diabetes, heart disease and other disorders is a hot topic in medical research these days. The recent finding that poor oral health contributes to cardiovascular risk underscores the complex interplay of our bodily systems. Now, researchers from the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis (WU) have obtained […]
Body fat doesn’t just, er, make you fat. It also acts as a repository for all sorts of potentially nasty substances; like PCBs and other environmental pollutants. That’s why rapidly shedding those extra pounds isn’t always a good idea, as a whole slew of chemicals can be released back into the body, potentially overwhelming the […]
