ClockNews #2

Sleeping less may be related to weight gain
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2005-01/nu-slm011005.php

"In recent years, a new and unexpected 'obesity villain' has
emerged, first from laboratory studies and now, as reported by Vorona et al in
this issue of the Archives, in population-based studies: insufficient sleep.
However, while there is a growing awareness among some sleep, metabolic,
cardiovascular, and diabetes researchers that insufficient sleep could be
leading to a cascade of disorders, few in the general medicine profession or in
the lay public have yet made the connection."
As younger and older Americans
alike struggle with an inability to get enough sleep and to control weight, the
authors stress the need to investigate whether intervention in sleep disorders
could help reduce obesity's negative effects on metabolism and health. In
commenting on a second article appearing in the same issue of the Archives, Bass
and Turek note that even school age American children are not obtaining enough
sleep and that sleep loss during the formative years of life could be putting
our youth on a trajectory toward obesity and the metabolic syndrome.

This is not my area of expertise, but I believe I heard that sleep deprivation affects levels of leptin - hormone involved in hunger and fat-deposition. I bet there will be some good research coming out soon on this hot topic. Promise of killing two birds with one stone, both insomnia and obesity, is hard to resist.


Night workers find late shifts can be bad for their health
http://www.app.com/app/story/0,21625,1168299,00.html


...and a new book:


Molecular Biology of Circadian Rhythms
http://www.rednova.com/news/display/?id=117511

Molecular Biology of Circadian Rhythms. Amita Sehgal,
editor. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Liss, 2004, 296 pp, $89.95, hardcover. ISBN 0-
471-41824-2.
This book makes a major contribution for those trying to
understand the biological task of accurate and flexible circadian time
keeping.