Unlikely, non-invasive treatment could significantly improve sleep
A small trial in India found that participants who practised shankh blowing for six months reported better sleep, 34 per cent less daytime sleepiness, and fewer breathing interruptions during the night.
Researchers suggest the technique strengthens upper airway muscles, which are often implicated in OSA, potentially offering an alternative to uncomfortable continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machines.
Obstructive sleep apnoea affects an estimated eight million people in the UK, causing symptoms like loud snoring and frequent awakenings due to throat muscle relaxation.
Further larger-scale trials are planned to validate these findings, compare shankh blowing with standard treatments, and assess its long-term effectiveness for a wider population.
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The Sun
18 minutes ago
- The Sun
Cooling eye masks shoppers say ‘reduce dark circles and puffiness' slashed from £20 to £10 on Amazon
*If you click on a link in this article we will earn affiliate revenue EYE SAY Cooling eye masks shoppers say 'reduce dark circles and puffiness' slashed from £20 to £10 on Amazon AMAZON shoppers have been racing to buy a set of cooling under eye masks reduced by 50% on Amazon. The 24 pairs of cooling masks with over 5,000 five-star reviews usually cost £19.95, but they've been slashed to £9.95 in a limited-time deal. Advertisement The viral Grace & Stella eye masks are 50% off on Amazon Grace & Stella Energising Eye Masks, £9.95 (was £19.95) The Grace & Stella Under Eye Masks have been going viral online, as beauty fans have been raving that they instantly "reduce dark circles and puffiness". Formulated with hyaluronic acid and glycerin, the beauty buy works to hydrate the skin, with a cooling effect that soothes the under eyes (and is perfect for the current heatwave!). The energising and illuminating masks are both discounted on Amazon, but it's the luxe-looking gold masks that have been flooding my TikTok For You page. Advertisement Grace & Stella's website recommends applying under the eyes on make-up-free skin and leaving for 15-20 minutes (or for however long they stay cool). When removing, the brand advises beauty fans to pat in any remaining product to the skin, stating that there's no need to rinse. Eye masks are a popular choice when it comes to anti-ageing products, along with serums and moisturisers. You can also read our full roundup of the best anti-ageing serums, along with our tried-and-tested article on the best moisturisers for mature skin. Advertisement The trending eye masks have racked up thousands of glowing reviews, with over 5,000 five-star ratings on Amazon. One shopper wrote: "I absolutely loved these under eye masks, they feel super cooling and soothing the moment you apply them, and after just a few uses, I noticed my under eyes looked less puffy and more hydrated. The eye masks have racked up an impressive 5,000 five-star reviews on Amazon They're gentle on the skin, vegan and cruelty-free (which I really appreciate), so I highly recommend if you're looking to reduce dark circles and puffiness!" Advertisement Another added: "These under-eye patches have truly transformed my skincare routine. I put them on for 15 minutes when I wake up, and I noticed a significant reduction in puffiness and dark circles after just a few uses. Each patch stays in place perfectly, allowing me to go about my tasks while they work their magic, and my under-eyes feel refreshed, hydrated, and visibly brighter. These have quickly become an essential part of my self-care, and I can't imagine going without them now!" Advertisement While I'm yet to try the Grace & Stella Eye Masks for myself, I'm always on the lookout for skincare products that will help to minimise my puffy under-eyes. My LED mask has been the most effective beauty tech tool for soothing puffiness, and you can read by full review of the Shark CryoGlow LED mask. Amazon's limited-time deals have been lasting for as little as a day, so it's possible that the Grace & Stella Eye Masks will increase in price very soon.
Sky News
30 minutes ago
- Sky News
What does the data tell us about road traffic accidents?
Under "tougher" plans to tackle road deaths and injuries in England and Wales, the government has announced measures to make over-70s take compulsory eye tests every three years or lose their licence. But are they really needed? Drivers over the age of 70 already self-report their medical fitness to drive every three years, and British roads are safer now than they've ever been. In 2023, the latest year for which the Department for Transport has published data, the casualty rate on British roads fell to 398 per billion vehicle miles. It's the first time that figure has been under 400, and has halved since just 2006. In 1960, the casualty rate was 10 times higher than it is now. The total number of people killed on the UK's roads also reached a record low in 2023, other than the COVID-affected years of 2020 and 2021. There were 1,624 people killed in total, just under half of which were in cars. This figure has plateaued somewhat since 2010, however, after rapid improvements between 2006 and 2010. There was a similar plateau between 1994 and 2006 before the last significant piece of road safety legislation was introduced. The 2006 Road Safety Act introduced higher fines and more points for the most severe speeding offences, as well as greatly expanding the use of speed awareness courses. It was also the first year people could get points on their licence for using their phone. In the four years that followed, there was a 40% decrease in deaths among road users. In the 13 years since then, it's fallen just 12%. There had been a slight rise in deaths among older drivers for a few years between 2014 and 2019, but that has started to fall again now. There are now fewer deaths among over-70s compared with either the under-30s, people aged 30-49, or those between 50 and 69. In 2019, there were a similar number of deaths among people of each of these age cohorts. Academic studies have previously found that older people are also more likely to develop symptoms of depression, be admitted to care facilities, and even have a higher mortality rate, once they stop driving. The academics found that those links remained even after adjusting for other factors like baseline health and cognitive ability. Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, said: "It is certainly good for our eye health as we age to have a regular eye test - every two years the NHS advises - but this doesn't automatically mean that a compulsory eye test at age 70 is appropriate. People can develop eye problems at any age so why confine such an approach only to those aged 70 and not to younger drivers too? "From the data we have seen, there is no reason to suppose that eye problems lie behind a significant proportion of accidents. While there may be a case for introducing a regular mandatory eye test for drivers of all ages, it is not clear that this would have a big impact on the numbers of serious accidents involving older drivers." Are younger drivers a danger to themselves? Edmund King, president of the Automobile Association, said that the government's strategy is "much overdue", while pointing to the figures showing that the number of road deaths have plateaued since 2010. He said that making vision checks compulsory for older drivers was a "practical step that can make a real difference", but added that failing to introduce a six-month limit on new drivers transporting passengers of a similar age is "a major oversight". A limit like this has been active in parts of Australia since 2007. Research by road safety charity Brake says that, in the UK, around one in five drivers crash within a year of passing their test. The Department for Transport data also shows that younger people are also significantly more likely to die as passengers compared to people in other age groups. There has also been a suggestion that younger drivers are more likely to die as a result of not wearing seatbelts. More than a third of 17-29-year-olds who die on the roads didn't have their seatbelts on. But the same is true of 30-59 year olds. There is a significant difference between men and women however - 31% of men who died did so without wearing a seatbelt, compared with just 11% of women. That also means that 89% of women who died on the roads did so despite wearing a seatbelt, perhaps adding to evidence that suggests that seatbelts offer better protection to adult men. Drink driving Since 2014, Scotland has had a lower drink drive limit than the rest of the UK. The government's new proposals would reduce the drink-drive limit in England and Wales to the same level as in Scotland - 50mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood, instead of the current level of 80mg of alcohol. For an average-sized man, that means they would be over the limit after one pint of beer, instead of after two. In diverging from the other nations in the UK, the new standards in Scotland aligned with most of Europe. It seems to have had some impact. The number of collisions involving drink drivers has fallen by more than 40% in Scotland since it was introduced, compared with 20% in England over the same time period, and 38% in Wales. The improvement is less pronounced when it comes to the most serious drink-driving road accidents, though. They are down just 7% since 2014. Where are the safest, and most dangerous, places to drive? The Isle of Wight has the highest current fatality rate, after accounting for how much driving people do. There were 18 deaths per billion vehicle miles on the island in 2023. Next was Blackpool, with 16. The central London boroughs of Westminster, Kensington and Chelsea, and Lambeth were the only other local authorities with a rate higher than 10. At the other end of the scale, Stockport (Greater Manchester), Thurrock (Essex) and Nottingham each had fewer than one death per billion vehicle miles. When it comes to accidents that included not just deaths but also serious injuries, London has the worst record. Drivers in Westminster were most likely to end up in a serious collision, but the nine most dangerous local authorities in Great Britain were all London boroughs. Bradford completed the bottom 10. Bath and North East Somerset was the safest area, although three Welsh areas - Bridgend, Neath Port Talbot and Cardiff - joined South Gloucestershire in the top five. Scottish drivers were among the most likely to avoid being in crashes altogether. Eight of the 10 local authorities with the lowest overall collision rate were north of the border, although Rutland in the East Midlands had the lowest overall rate. The top 20 areas with the most collisions per mile driven were all in London. How does driving in the UK compare with other countries? The UK is one of the safest places to drive in Europe. Only Norway and Sweden had a lower rate of road deaths per head of population in 2023 than the UK's 25 deaths per million people. The figures in places like Italy, Greece and Portugal were more than twice as high. There aren't any directly comparable figures for 2023 for the US, but in 2022 their death rate from driving was five times as high as the UK, and 50% higher than the worst performing European country - Bulgaria. The Data and Forensics team is a multi-skilled unit dedicated to providing transparent journalism from Sky News. We gather, analyse and visualise data to tell data-driven stories. We combine traditional reporting skills with advanced analysis of satellite images, social media and other open source information. Through multimedia storytelling we aim to better explain the world while also showing how our journalism is done.
Telegraph
an hour ago
- Telegraph
How to treat the three key types of depression, according to a neuroscientist
The ICD-10, a diagnostic manual used in Britain and elsewhere, lists nine symptoms of depression, and 'you only need five to receive a diagnosis', says Prof Roiser. Some symptoms, such as sleep disturbance, can manifest as either an increase or a decrease. 'This means there are potentially hundreds of different combinations of symptoms in people with depression.' Crucially, 'there is no particular reason to believe that those symptoms share the same cause', Prof Roiser argues. The serotonin theory of depression, which suggests this complex condition is caused by a chemical imbalance, is 'a very outdated idea from the 1960s, and even then it was understood to be a massive oversimplification', he says. Instead, it appears there are several different 'dimensions in brain function', changes in which may lead to different symptoms. The three key types of depression A new study from Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis, published in June, identified three main types of depression experienced in the general population and explored how they manifest in patients' brains and daily lives. Though the study was conducted in the US, it used data from the UK Biobank, which tracks the health of half a million British volunteers over their lifetimes. Low mood without low motivation, low motivation without low mood and a combination of both are all common. 1. Low mood (without low motivation) People who primarily struggle with low mood might experience: A persistent feeling of sadness, tearfulness, numbness or emptiness lasting at least two weeks. Becoming easily frustrated, irritated, or angry over things that never used to bother them (a symptom of anxiety, which often co-occurs with low mood). Excessive or inappropriate feelings of guilt or shame over things they didn't do or weren't responsible for. A consistent and extreme negative view of themselves and their abilities, or feelings of worthlessness. 2. Low motivation (without low mood) People who primarily struggle with low motivation might experience: Persistent tiredness despite sleeping well. Cognitive impairment (brain fog), which can appear as difficulty concentrating or making decisions. Trouble completing everyday tasks like work, housework or admin. A sharp decrease in sex drive. A loss of interest in other people, as well as activities and hobbies they once enjoyed. 3. Low mood and low motivation People who struggle with a mix of low mood and low motivation may experience a combination of these symptoms. The study's participants differed not only in their symptoms but also 'in their neurobiology', says Dr Janine Bijsterbosch, the lead scientist, in a press release. In other words, different symptoms correlated with different changes in the brain. At the same time, however, people with similar symptom profiles sometimes showed different underlying brain patterns. This is part of why most neuroscientists 'have lost faith in the idea that there is a single explanation for depression at the level of the brain', says Prof Roiser. 'It is a condition defined by its symptoms, so there is an inherent circularity there.' Despite its complexity, these findings align with Prof Roiser's own decades of experience studying depression as a neuroscientist. He explains there appears to be 'a set of different brain circuits that underlie motivation, linked to symptoms like loss of energy as well as brain fog.' Meanwhile 'another circuit in the brain deals with negative emotions'. Both can 'interact with and affect each other', but the fact that there are some general trends in people with different clusters of symptoms 'mean that we might soon be able to target them with different types of intervention.' It's also difficult to determine whether these brain changes are a cause or a consequence of depression. Scientists currently estimate that the heritability of depression is between 40 and 50 per cent, suggesting a strong genetic component, alongside life experiences that can increase vulnerability to the condition. There is one new theory that may underlie depression in all its forms. 'A substantial number of people with depression also seem to have high levels of inflammation in their bodies, which could drive changes in the brain', says Prof Roiser. This might explain why both exercise and antidepressants, some of which have anti-inflammatory effects, can be effective in treating the various symptoms of depression. 'It's currently just a hypothesis. There are several rigorous studies currently underway to investigate the role of inflammation in depression, and in five years we may have some answers.' The best treatments for different kinds of depression This is why Prof Roiser's work on brain imaging is so crucial. 'An MRI scan of neurobiology may have the potential to predict clinical outcomes that depression symptom screening alone cannot capture', says Dr Yvette Sheline, who also contributed to the Washington University study. While doctors may not yet fully understand what depression is or why it occurs, brain scans could help tailor treatments to the unique symptoms of different types of depression. A number of treatments for depression are currently available on the NHS, while others are being explored by researchers as potential therapies. There is limited evidence, however, to indicate which treatments work best for specific types of depression. 'The important thing is not to lose hope', says Prof Roiser. 'There are a number of different treatments that are effective for depression, so if one proves not to work well for you, you should certainly go back to your doctor and ask about different options.' Different treatments are likely to work for different people, due to the different brain circuits driving their depression. Best for low mood without low motivation Antidepressants Antidepressants, such as SSRIs, appear to work best for 'negative affect', in other words, low mood and anxiety, says Prof Roiser. Although their effects on brain chemistry are well understood, 'we don't know exactly how they work in terms of brain circuits. One important idea is that they change the emotional response to the negative thought patterns that characterise depression. We do know that SSRIs are especially effective at blunting the experience of negative emotions.'
