Sleep is one of the richest topics in science today: why we need it, why it can be hard to get, and how that affects everything from our athletic performance to our income. Daniel Kripke, co-director of research at the Scripps Clinic Sleep Center in La Jolla, Calif., has looked at the most important question of all. In 2002, he compared death rates among more than 1 million American adults who, as part of a study on cancer prevention, reported their average nightly amount of sleep. To many, his results were surprising, but they’ve since been corroborated by similar studies in Europe and East Asia. Kripke explains.

Q: How much sleep is ideal?

A: Studies show that people who sleep between 6.5 hr. and 7.5 hr. a night, as they report, live the longest. And people who sleep 8 hr. or more, or less than 6.5 hr., they don’t live quite as long. There is just as much risk associated with sleeping too long as with sleeping too short. The big surprise is that long sleep seems to start at 8 hr. Sleeping 8.5 hr. might really be a little worse than sleeping 5 hr.

read more_ http: / / www .time.com /time health /article/0,8599,1812420,00.html?imw=Y

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One in five employees have witnessed a colleague suffer a heart attack at work, according to research from St John Ambulance to coincide with First Aid Awareness week, this week (11-15 April).
According to the organisation 30,000 people experience a cardiac arrest outside a hospital environment each year, yet only one-third received CPR from a bystander.

In this situation, every minute without defibrillation equates to a 7-10% reduction in the chance of a positive outcome. Almost two-thirds of employees feel that businesses should provide this equipment.

Automated external defibrillators (AEDs), which shock the heart back into rhythm, can increase chances of survival up to 75%. These are available to businesses and two-thirds (67%) of employees believe that if their workplace knew that AEDs were simple to use and that anyone can lawfully use one without training, they would be far more likely to get one.

Richard Evens, commercial training director at St John Ambulance, said: “Every year, thousands of people die of cardiac arrest when first aid could give them the chance to live. Our research shows that currently 72% of businesses don’t have access to an AED, despite 66% of employees believing that employers should reasonably be expected to keep one.” St John Ambulance strongly recommends employees attend training on the use of AEDs so that their first experience with the machine is not in a life and death situation and 95%* of employees agree that training would make them feel more comfortable using an AED on a cardiac arrest victim.

Evens added: “The latest guidance on CPR states that anyone can use an AED without training. The machines are now so simple to use that access is the most important thing. It means that anyone, trained or untrained, can be the difference between a life lost and a life saved in an emergency.” St John Ambulance proposes that businesses have at least one purchased or leased defibrillator that is accessible to staff.

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Have you ever seen a person got slim body only because remains standing for half an hour daily. Yes this can be possible with a special posture. This exercise is also a part of yoga and stretching exercise. In this exercise you have to only stand straight with both of your hands up and to stretch your body upwards as you are trying to touch anything up to you which you are not able to touch.

If you are quite healthy and want this exercise to gain power than you should give more stretch to your body and you are fattier and not interested to give your body more pain than you only just stand in the above posture than see the action of the exercise. When you feel that exercise is not applying the appropriate pressure on your body than work a little more hard with it. Stand on your feet-forefingers and by joining both hands stretch the body.

The other benefit of this exercise is that it will make your body in straight line. It makes your hips and stomach slight inside like to look smarter. In young age in which you can increase your height it also works on that too.

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The exact cause of poor eyesight varies, but age, diseases, injuries, infections and certain medical conditions such as macular degeneration, diabetes and cataracts can affect your eyesight and cause blurriness, blind spots and decreased vision. A variety of vitamins can improve your eyesight and keep your eyes healthy and strong.

Vitamin A
Vitamin A is a fat-soluble vitamin that can strengthen your immune system and protect your eyes from viral and bacterial infections. Vitamin A can protect the linings of your eyes, improve eyesight in low light, reduce retina and cornea scarring, prevent permanent retina damage after eye injury and lower your risk of blindness. The recommended daily allowance for vitamin A is 5,000 international units, or IU, for adults. Foods rich in vitamin A include liver, milk, carrots, pumpkin, kale, tomatoes, spinach and sweet potatoes.

Vitamin B-2
Vitamin B-2, also known as riboflavin, is a water-soluble vitamin that can protect your eyes’ natural lenses from damage, aid in red blood cell production and cellular metabolism, repair damaged tissues, prevent age-related vision loss, eliminate cloudy vision and decrease your risk of developing cataracts. The recommended daily allowance for vitamin B-2 is 1.7 mg for men and 1.3 mg for women. Foods rich in vitamin B-2 include beef tenderloin, venison, lettuce, asparagus, collard greens, broccoli, eggs, yogurt and milk.

Vitamin C
Vitamin C is a water-soluble antioxidant that can boost immune system function and protect your eyes from damaging free radicals. Vitamin C can aid in blood vessel formation, help form connective tissues in the cornea, decrease pressure in your eyes, improve visual acuity, and lower your risk of developing cataracts and macular degeneration, an eye disease that destroys central vision. The recommended daily allowance for vitamin C is 1,000 mg for adults. Foods rich in vitamin C include red peppers, tomatoes, broccoli, kale, cranberries, pineapples, grapefruits, strawberries, spinach, oranges and kiwi.

Vitamin E
Vitamin E is a fat soluble vitamin that can improve immune system function, decrease inflammation in your eyes, improve visual clarity, increase blood flow to your eyes and prevent eye conditions such as macular degeneration, cataracts and blindness. The recommended daily allowance for vitamin E is 15 mg for adults. Foods rich in vitamin E include peanuts, almonds, hazelnuts, mangoes, tomatoes, broccoli, kiwi and corn oil.

Read more: http:// www .livestrong.com/article/368698-which-vitamins-promote-good-eyesight/#ixzz1KL6jeQql

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A new study has suggested that sustained training in mindfulness meditation may impact distinct domains of human decision-making, enabling them to make decisions rationally .

Ulrich Kirk, research assistant professor with the Human Neuroimaging Laboratory, Read Montague, professor of physics at Virginia Tech and Jonathan Downar, assistant professor with the Neuropsychiatry Clinic and the Centre for Addition and Mental Health at the University of Toronto conducted the study.

Their research showed that Buddhist meditators use different areas of the brain than other people when confronted with unfair choices, enabling them to make decisions rationally rather than emotionally.

The meditators had trained their brains to function differently and make better choices in certain situations.

Using computational and neuroimaging techniques, Montague studies the neurobiology of human social cognition and decision-making.

He and his students recruited 26 Buddhist meditators and 40 control subjects for comparison and looked at their brain processes using functional MRI (fMRI) while the subjects played the “ultimatum game,” in which the first player propose how to divide a sum of money and the second can accept or reject the proposal.

The researchers hypothesized that “successful regulation of negative emotional reactions would lead to increased acceptance rates of unfair offers” by the meditators. The behavioral results confirmed the hypothesis.

But the neuroimaging results showed that Buddhist meditators engaged different parts of the brain than expected.

“In meditators, the anterior insula showed no significant activation for unfair offers, and there was no significant relationship between anterior insula activity and offer rejection. Hence, meditators were able to uncouple the negative emotional response to an unfair offer, presumably by attending to internal bodily states (interoception) reflected by activity in the posterior insula,” explained the authors.

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