New research has shown that by wearing blue-light glasses right before sleeping a person can get a better night’s sleep and also contribute to better workday productivity. This is especially important since people are learning and working from home as well as binge watching TV more than ever before due to the pandemic.

The team discovered that wearing blue-light filtering glasses is an effective way to not only improve sleep but also task performance, work engagement and organizational citizenship behaviors. It also reduced counterproductive work behavior. These glasses create a form of physiologic darkness which leads to improved sleep quality and quantity.

Most of the technology people use such as smartphones, computer screens, and tablets all emit blue light. Past research has shown that these devices through the blue light they emit can disrupt sleep. As we currently navigate school and work, people have become more dependent on these devices.

The new research has helped extend the understanding of the circadian rhythm which is a natural, internal process that regulates our sleep/wake cycle and repeats approximately every 24 hours. Before modern times people were not exposed to blue light after the sunset. Wearing blue light filtering glasses produces a similar effect. To get the best results the glasses should be worn starting about two hours before going to bed and until the lights in the bedroom are turned off. Some people put them on right after it gets dark.

Generally speaking, the effects of wearing blue-light filtering glasses are stronger for night owls as opposed to morning larks. Night owls tend to sleep during later times in the day while larks tend to sleep earlier in the day.

Although most anyone can benefit from reducing their exposure to blue light, night owl employees seem to benefit more as they encounter greater misalignments between their internal clock and the externally controlled work time. The team’s research highlights how and when wearing the blue-light filtering glasses can help employees to live better and work better.

The team’s research discovered that daily engagement of task performance may be related to underlying processes such as the circadian process. The research pushes the chronotype literature to think about the relationship between employees’ performance and the timing of circadian processes.
A good night’s sleep will not only benefit workers, it will also help their employer’s bottom lines.

Through two studies, the team collected data from 63 company managers and 67 call center reps at Brazil based offices for a United States multinational financial firm and measured task performance from clients. The participants were randomly chosen to test blue-light filtered glasses or those that were placebo glasses.

Employees can often be required to work early mornings which can lead to a misalignment between the externally controlled work time and their internal clock. The team found that their analyses showed a general pattern that blue-light filtration can have a cumulative effects on key performance variables at least in the short term.

They note that blue-light exposure should be a concern to organizations. The ubiquity of this phenomenon suggests that blue-light exposure control might be a viable first step to protect the circadian cycles of their employees from disruption.

To view the original scientific study click below

The effects of blue-light filtration on sleep and work outcomes.

Almost two centuries ago the standard “normal” body temperature in humans was established at 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit and has been used as the measure for assessing fevers. However, over time lower body temperatures have been widely reported in healthy adults.

A study conducted in 2017 among 35,000 adults in the U. K. found average body temperatures to be lower at 97.9F and a study in 2019 in the U. S. found normal body temperatures at about 97.5F.

Interestingly, recent studies in both the U. S. and the U. K. have found a similar decrease among the Tsimane which is an indigenous population of forager horticulturists located in the Bolivian Amazon. A team that has been observing this population have observed a rapid decline in body temperature of 0.09 degrees Fahrenheit such that today this population’s body temperatures are about 97.7F.

In less than two decades researchers are seeing the same levels of decline as that which has been observed in the U. S. over about two centuries. The analysis is based on a large sample of 18,000 observations of about 5,500 adults with adjustments for factors that can affect body temperature such as body mass and ambient temperature.

It is clear that something about human physiology has changed. The researchers leading hypothesis is that we have experienced fewer infections over time due to clean water, improved hygiene, medical treatment and vaccinations. In the recent study, they were able to test these ideas directly. They have information on clinical diagnosis and also biomarkers of inflammation and infection at the time each patient was seen.

Although some infections were associated with high body temperatures, adjusting for those did not account for the steep decline in temperatures over time. The same type of thermometer was used for most of the study so the changes were not due to changes in instruments.

No matter how they did the analysis, the declines were still there. Even when they restricted analysis to less than 10% of adults who were diagnosed as completely healthy, they still observed the same decline in body temperatures over time.

A key question became then is why body temperatures have declined in both Americans and the Tsimane population. Data available from the team’s long-term research in Bolivia addressed some of the possibilities. Declines could be due to the rise of modern health care and lower incidences of lingering mild infections compared to the past. However, while health has improved over the past two decades, infections are still widespread in rural areas of Bolivia. This then suggests that reduced infection alone isn’t why the decline in body temperatures.

It may be that people are in general in better condition which means their bodies could be working less to fight infection. Greater access to antibiotics and other medical treatments means that the duration of infections is shorter now than was in the past. The team did find that respiratory infection in the early period of the study led to having a high body temperature than having the same infection more recently.

Another possible explanation is that our bodies don’t have to work as hard to regulate our internal temperature due to air conditioning in the summer and heating in the winter. Although Tsimane body temperatures will change with time of year and patterns of the weather, these people do not use any advanced technology for helping to regulate their body temperature. They do however, have more access to blankets and clothes.

The research team was initially surprised to find no single magic bullet that would explain the decline in body temperature. They believe it is likely due to a combination of factors which all point to improved conditions.

Temperature as a vital sign is an indicator of what is occurring physiologically inside the body. One thing that has been known for a while is that there is not universal body temperature for everyone at all times. Despite the fixation on 98.6F, most clinicians know that normal temperatures have a range and throughout the day, temperatures can vary by as much as 1 degree Fahrenheit from lowest in early morning to its highest in the late afternoon. It will also vary following physical activity, across the menstrual cycle, and tends to decrease with age.

Through linking improvements in the broader epidemiological and socioeconomic landscape to body temperature changes, the study does suggest that information in regards to body temperature may provide clues to a population’s overall health along with other common indicators such as life expectancy. Since body temperature is easy to measure, it can easily be added to routine large-scale surveys that monitor the health of populations.

To view the original scientific study click below

Rapidly declining body temperature in a tropical human population.

New research has identified a mechanism that appears to be able to prevent hair loss. A group of researchers in Helsinki and Cologne Germany have demonstrated that a protein known as Rictor holds a key role in the process.

Hair follicle stem cells promote hair growth and can also prolong their life by switching their metabolic state. Environmental factors such as ultraviolet radiation damage our skin and other tissues daily. The body continuously removes and renews the damaged tissues. Human sheds about 500 million cells daily and a quantity of hairs weighing a total of 1.5 grams.

Dead material is replaced through specialized stem cells that promote tissue growth. The function of tissues is dependent on the health and activity of these stem cells. Impaired activity will result in the aging of the tissues.

The critical role of stem cells and aging has been established, however little is known about the mechanisms that regulate long-term maintenance of these vital cells. The hair follicle which is well understood and has clearly identifiable stem cells is the prefect model system for researchers to study this question.

At the end of a hair follicle’s regenerative cycle and when a new hair is created, stem cells return to their specific location and resume a quiescent state. The most important finding in the research team’s study is that the return to the stem cell state requires a change in the cell’s metabolic state. The cells switch from glutamine based metabolism and cellular respiration to glycolysis. This is a shift triggered through a signal that is induced by the Rictor protein in response to the low oxygen concentration in the tissue. The study demonstrated that the absence of this protein impaired the reversibility of the stem cells. This initiated a slow exhaustion of the stem cells and loss of hair due to aging.

The team created a genetic mouse model for the purpose of studying the Rictor protein. They observed that hair follicle regeneration and cycle were delayed quite significantly in mice who lacked the protein. Older mice suffering from a deficiency of this protein showed a gradual decrease in their stem cell which resulted in hair loss.

Additional research will be conducted to investigate how the pre-clinical findings might be utilized in human stem cell biology and also lead to drug therapies that would protect hair follicles from aging. The mechanisms found in the recent study might possibly be utilized in preventing loss of hair.

The team was most exited about their observation that the application of a glutaminase inhibitor was able to restore function of the stem cells in the Rictor deficient mice. This proved the principle that by modifying metabolic pathways, a powerful way to boost the regenerative capacity of our tissues occurred.

To view the original scientific study click below

Glutamine Metabolism Controls Stem Cell Fate Reversibility and Long-Term Maintenance in the Hair Follicle

Nano-particles can be useful and even valuable in a variety of products, however according to a recent study they can also damage our cells. Researchers are now concerned about the effects of lifelong exposures to this human organism.

Nano-particles are used in a wide variety of manufacturing processes and products. This is due to the fact that the properties of a material can dramatically change when that material comes down in nano form.

These particles are used to transport medicine around the body and to purify wastewater. They are also added to pillows, socks, phone covers, mattresses and refrigerators which supplies these items with an antibacterial surface.

A large amount of research has been conducted on how nano-particles affect the environment and humans. Some studies have shown that nano-particles can damage or disrupt human cells. This has been recently confirmed by the new study that also studied how cells react when they have been exposed to more than one type of nano-particle at the same time.

We are exposed to many different kinds of nano-particles throughout our lifetime. The research team involved with the new study set out to investigate how the combination of different nano-particles can affect us and in addition whether an accumulation throughout a life can harm us.

In the new study, the team looked at nano-platinum and nano-silver. They not only looked at the individual effect but also whether exposure to both types result in a synergy effect in two types of cells in the brain.

Nano-silver was chosen because it is already known to be able to damage cells and nano-platinum because it is considered to be a bio-inert which means it has a minimal interaction with human tissue.

Both nano-particles were tested on two types of cells found in the brain – astrocytes and endothelial cells. Astrocytes are supporter cells found in the central nervous system which helps in supplying the nervous system with nutrients and repair brain damage. Endothelial cells reside on the inside of the blood vessels and transport substances from the bloodstream to the brain.

When the team exposed endothelial cells to nano-platinum nothing happened. When they were exposed to nano-silver their ability to divide resulted in deterioration. When the cells were exposed to both nano-platinum and nano-silver, the resulting effect amplified and large numbers of the cells died. Additionally, their defense mechanisms decreased and they also had difficulty communicating with each other.

Even though nano-platinum by itself did no harm, something drastic happened when they were combined with a different kind of nano-particle. The astrocytes were hardy and only reacted with impaired ability to divide when they were exposed to both nano-platinum and nano-silver.

An earlier study has shown a dramatic synergy effect of nano-silver and cadmium ions which are naturally found all around us on earth. This study showed that 72% of cells in the intestine died when they were exposed to both nano-silver and cadmium ions. When these cells were exposed to just
nano-silver 25% died. When exposed to cadmium ions alone, 12% died.

Unfortunately, little is known about how large concentrations of nano-particles are used in industrial products. It is also not known what size particles are used. Size has also shown an effect on whether they can enter a cell. What we do know is that many people are involuntarily exposed to nano-particles and there can easily be lifelong exposure.

Currently there are no restrictions on adding nano-particles to products. However, in the EU manufacturers must have approval if they want to use nano-particles in products that have antibacterial properties and in Denmark, they must also declare nano-contact on product labels containing them.

To view the original scientific study click below

The Cytotoxicity of Metal Nanoparticles Depends on Their Synergistic Interactions