Researchers reveal the surprising ways to manage insomnia
Researchers conducted a comprehensive analysis of 22 trials involving 1,348 patients to assess the efficacy of various physical activities on sleep quality.
The study found that yoga significantly increased sleep duration and reduced wakefulness after falling asleep, while walking or jogging lessened insomnia severity.
Tai Chi was shown to improve overall sleep quality, with researchers noting these exercises' benefits include low cost, minimal side effects, and high accessibility.
The findings underscore the therapeutic potential of exercise for insomnia, making these activities well-suited for integration into healthcare programmes.
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Daily Mail
12 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Shortest day in history set for tomorrow
Scientists have announced that tomorrow could be the shortest day of your life, breaking a mark that was just set two weeks ago. That's because Earth's rotation has continued to pick up speed, and is expected to spin even faster than it did on July 9 , when everyone on the plant experienced a day that was 1.3 milliseconds shorter than normal. New data has revealed that the Earth appeared to have spun even faster a day later on July 10 , making the day 1.36 milliseconds shorter than usual. A millisecond equals one thousandth of a second, which is so impossibly difficult to measure that takes an atomic clock to track the numbers, measuring what's called 'Length of Day,' or LOD. LOD marks the time it takes Earth to rotate once, down to the millisecond. Normally, that process takes exactly 86,400 seconds, or 24 hours, to complete. However, Earth's rotation has been speeding up in recent years. While the cause is still a mystery, new research from NASA has suggested it may be connected to the moon's gravitational pull. The major uptick in speed this summer has led to the possibility that scientists will have to add a negative leap second to the calendar by 2029, meaning one second will be taken away from our clocks to keep them in sync. While the tiny change may seem insignificant, researchers have found that the shorter day can affect everything from satellite systems and GPS accuracy to how we measure time itself. Earth's rotation is affected by a number of different factors, both on the planet and out in space. Some of the potential reasons include changes in the atmosphere, the melting of glaciers worldwide shifting water volume, a change in motion inside the Earth's metal core, and a weakening magnetic field. NASA researchers have also suggested that this year's acceleration is actually a result of Earth hitting the moon's 'orbital sweet spot,' causing the planet to receive a tiny speed boost. Before this recent acceleration in Earth's spin, the planet was actually slowing down, due to the moon's gravitational pull, which has been stretching our days into the 24-hour cycle we now live by in modern times. Geoscientist Stephen Meyers, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, found that as the moon moves further away , its changing gravitational impact on Earth would slowly make days incrementally longer. However, scientists recently observed variations in the planet's rotation, causing the planet to speed up in 2020, 2022, and 2024. On July 9 and now again on July 22, the moon will be at its furthest point from Earth's equator, which alters its gravitational pull on our planet's axis. In simpler terms, the moon has been spinning the Earth like a top, holding on to the planet at the midpoint, which is usually closer to the moon than the north or south poles. On July 22, and again on August 5, the moon's gravity will exert more of a pull on the Earth's poles, essentially spinning our planet at its top, which naturally makes it rotate faster. The fastest day recorded so far was just over one year ago on July 5, 2024, when Earth spun 1.66 milliseconds faster than the standard 24 hours. Although scientists have been recording Earth's rotation since the 1970s, they only started noticing record-breaking changes on a regular basis in 2020. That year, July 19 came in 1.47 milliseconds short. On July 9, 2021, there was another 1.47 millisecond drop. In 2022, Earth recorded its shortest day on June 30, shaving off 1.59 milliseconds from the usual 24 hours. In 2023, the planet's rotation slowed again, and no new records were set. In 2024, however, the speed picked up. Several days broke the previous records, making it the year with the most consistently shorter days on record. These estimates are based on past observations and computer models, and include systematic corrections and smoothing to account for natural fluctuations. Right now, the world has kept time using Coordinated Universal Time, or UTC. Sometimes we've added a leap second to stay in sync with Earth's slow shifts. Due to these ongoing spikes in our rotation, however, the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service (IERS) has already announced that no leap second will be added in 2025.
Telegraph
an hour ago
- Telegraph
Why England can learn from Scotland after first measles death in a decade
The NHS in England could learn important lessons from Scotland after a measles death in Liverpool last week, experts say. Comparative data shows that vaccine uptake in Scotland is considerably higher than in England, with nearly 90 per cent of children fully protected against measles by age five. The difference, say experts, is most likely to be explained by the fact that access to GPs and other primary health care facilities is much better north of the border 'Everybody talks about [vaccine] hesitancy, but the main thing that's stopping uptake is access,' Dr Helen Bradford, Professor of Children's Health at University College London, told The Telegraph. 'That includes knowing what vaccine is due and when, being able to make an appointment, and actually getting to that appointment – all of which can be really difficult for some families.' News of the death of a child in Liverpool of measles comes as Britain's vaccination rates have fallen to the lowest of any G7 country, including the US. The problem appears to be being driven by the performance of the NHS in England. At least 89.2 per cent of Scottish children are fully vaccinated with the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine by age five, compared to just 83.9 per cent in England. At the same time, Scotland has much better access to primary care – with 76 GP's per 100,000 people, compared to just 58 per 100,000 in England. 'General practice [in England] has continually had resources withdrawn, but at the same time delivers most of the childhood vaccinations,' said Dr David Elliman, an honorary senior associate professor and medical doctor at UCL. Access, he added, was the most important issue. 'In a GP practice, most parents are happy to have their children immunised. Some may have questions, but as long as they receive clear and satisfactory answers, they're usually comfortable proceeding,' he added. During the pandemic – a time where nearly all health systems saw a noticeable decrease in routine vaccinations – Scotland's coverage of routine childhood jabs actually increased. Researchers at the University of Edinburgh found a 14.3 per cent increase in children receiving the second dose of the MMR vaccine on time during the first lockdown in Scotland compared with vaccination levels in 2019. England saw a net fall in the same period of 1.93 per cent. The researchers linked the boost to flexible working for parents – which meant they could attend vaccination appointments – and better access to mobile vaccination centres. In 2018, the Scottish Government took the decision to transfer the responsibility for delivering vaccinations from GP practices to regional health boards as part of a plan to boost uptake. While most vaccines are still administered by GPs, the shift gave health boards the flexibility to tailor services for harder-to-reach communities. Unlike in England – where families often struggle with rigid booking systems, the so-called '8am scramble' for same day appointments, and limited availability – Scotland offers vaccinations in several different settings like schools, A&E departments, and at home visits. 'We need to get away from being too rigid in what sort of settings we give the vaccine in. Traditionally it's either been a community clinic or general practice but we ought to be doing it more in the places that parents go to, and particularly children who are at high risk,' said Dr Elliman. 'That means more immunisations in hospital settings and in neighbourhoods,' he added. Scotland's better vaccination rates appear to be positively influencing outcomes. So far this year, England has recorded 529 measles cases, while Scotland has had just 27. In 2024, those numbers were even more dramatic: 2,911 cases were recorded in England, compared to just 24 in Scotland. While population size partly explains the disparity – England's population is more than eleven times larger than Scotland's – it doesn't account for an almost 120-fold difference in infection rates, say experts. Only last week, the health secretary Wes Streeting acknowledged the need for better access to primary health care in England. Under the government's new NHS 10-year plan, he committed to rolling out 'neighbourhood health services' to try and 'end the 8am scramble and make it easier to see your GP,' referencing the country's maddening and archaic GP booking system. The document also includes a plan to boost vaccine uptake by allowing nurses and midwives that carry out home visits to administer vaccines in England. Yet it is unclear when the new measures will come into force: England currently faces a 5,000 shortfall in the number of health visitors needed to provide the mandated four at-home visits required for every child in the country under school age. Scotland outcompetes England in this area, too. About 90 per cent of Scottish children receive at least their first four scheduled reviews, compared to just short of 65 per cent in parts of England, including London. 'These are the public health nurses that have contact with all young families with young children, often the first port of call, the first place that parents will ask questions about immunisation. The numbers [in England] have gone down dramatically, which for those people who have got questions means there isn't always somebody obvious to ask,' said Dr Bradford.
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
New genetic test could predict if you'll get condition suffered by 100million Americans decades before it develops
Genetic testing may predict your odds of becoming obese years - possibly even decades - before the condition strikes, researchers have revealed. A group of 600 researchers worldwide compiled genetic data from 5million people, the largest and most diverse dataset to date. They used that data to create a polygenic risk score, a person's genetic predisposition for a specific disease. In this case, it determined the odds of having a higher body mass index (BMI) in adulthood. The team found the score could be used to predict a person's risk of becoming obese as an adult - even for people as young as five years old. This could be instrumental for early intervention and preventing obesity - and its coexisting conditions. Ruth Loos, study co-author and professor at the University of Copenhagen's Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research, said: 'Childhood is the best time to intervene.' The score also was found to be up to twice as effective as those used in doctors offices based on factors like high blood pressure, heart disease, diet and exercise. Additionally, researchers found people with high polygenic risk scores were also more likely to regain weight after losing it through diet and exercise compared to those with lower scores. Loos added: 'Obesity is not only about genetics, so genetics alone can never accurately predict obesity. 'For the general obesity that we see all over the world, we need other factors such as lifestyle that need to be part of the predictions.' The findings come as more than 40 percent of Americans adults - 100million - are now obese, meaning they have a BMI of at least 30. Rates among young people in particular have surged the most, with quadruple the amount of teens being obese worldwide compared to the 1990s. The study, published Monday in the journal Nature Medicine, used genetic data from 5.1million people worldwide collected from 200 studies and 23andMe. The majority (71 percent) were of European ancestry, while 14 percent were of Hispanic ethnicity, eight percent were predominantly East Asian, five percent were African or African American and 1.5 percent were South Asian. Overall, the researchers found polygenic risk scores accounted for about 18 percent of a person with European ancestry's risk for having a high BMI as an adult compared to 8.5 percent on average for scores used by physicians. The remaining percentage is made up of lifestyle related factors like diet and exercise. However, this rate varied depending on ethnicity. For East Asian Americans, the score explained 16 percent of the risk for high BMI, though it was just 2.2 percent for people from rural Uganda and five percent for African ancestry overall. Because most participants were European, the team said further research is needed to look at other groups, particularly those of African descent. Based on the polygenic risk score calculated in the study, more than 80 percent of a person's risk for obesity can be explained by factors other than genetics, including where people live, foods they have access to and how much they exercise. Dr Roy Kim, a pediatric endocrinologist at Cleveland Clinic Children's who was not involved with the research, told NBC News: 'Behavioral things are really important. Their environment, their access to healthy food, exercise opportunities, even their knowledge about healthy foods all affect a person's obesity risk.' In children, BMI increased at a faster rate in those with a higher genetic predisposition than those with a lower risk, which was most evident at just two and a half years old. Additionally, individuals with higher polygenic risk scores lost more weight in the first year of lifestyle interventions like diet and exercise than a control group. However, people with high scores who lost at least three percent of their baseline weight in the first year had a higher risk of regaining it in the years that followed compared to a control group. Dr Joel Hirschhorn, study author and professor of pediatrics and genetics at Boston Children's Hospital, told The New York Times: 'There is definitely predictive value in genetics.' He added that with the new study 'we are now a lot closer to being able to use genetics in a potentially meaningful predictive way.'
