Perils of not enough sleep
Researchers already know that not getting enough sleep is bad for you. It can increase your risk of high blood pressure, diabetes and gaining weight. Now it appears that it can also increase hardening of your arteries.
Dr. Diane Lauderdale of the University of Chicago Medical Center and her colleagues studied 495 people in their 30s and 40s, fitting them with sophisticated sensors to determine how much sleep they got over a three-night period at the beginning of the study and five years later. They also used electron-beam CT scans at the beginning and end of the study to measure the thickness of the walls of the coronary arteries that deliver blood to the heart.
Over the five years the subjects were monitored, about 12% of those in the study suffered a thickening in the walls of their coronary arteries, an early warning of heart disease, the team reported in the Journal of the American Medical Assn. Among those who slept fewer than five hours per night, however, 27% had artery thickening. For those who slept five to seven hours, only 11% developed thickening. And among those who slept more than seven hours a night, only 6% had thickening.
The size of the effect “came as a surprise,” Lauderdale said. “It is also something of a mystery” because researchers have no good idea of the biological mechanism. It is possible there is some yet-to-be-identified factor that decreases sleep duration and increases artery hardening. Or the reduced sleep may mean that average blood pressure levels are higher. Finally, stress or a stress hormone like cortisol, which has been tied to decreased sleep and increased hardening, may play a role.
Lauderdale conceded that the study was relatively small and said she would like to see it replicated. But considering what is already known about the effects of sleep deprivation, this work simply provides one more reason to try to get a good night’s sleep.
-- Thomas H. Maugh II
From: Booster Shots: Oddities, musings and some news from the world of health
For more, go to: latimes.com/boostershots
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L.A. UNLEASHED
Africa’s oldest chimp dead at 66
Gregoire, Congo legend and oldest known living chimpanzee, died peacefully in his bed (a pile of eucalyptus leaves) at Jane Goodall’s Tchimpounga Chimpanzee Rehabilitation Center on Dec. 17. He was 66.
Gregoire was the poster child and ambassador for Goodall’s efforts to protect chimpanzees and end the illegal commercial bush-meat trade.
After surviving more than 40 years in a barren cage, Gregoire spent his last 11 years in peace at a sanctuary for orphaned chimpanzees. When Goodall met Gregoire in 1990, he was barely recognizable:
“I gazed at this strange being, alone in his bleak cement-floored cage. His pale, almost hairless skin was stretched tightly over his emaciated body so that every bone could be seen. His eyes were dull as he reached out with a thin, bony hand for a proffered morsel of food. Was this really a chimpanzee? . . . Above his cage was a sign that read ‘Shimpanse 1944.’ ”
Thanks to Goodall intervening on Gregoire’s behalf, his twilight years were filled with plenty of food and play.
At night he shared his nest with his favorite female, Clara, in a dormitory room that also housed La Vielle and Stephanie.
During the day he enjoyed playing games of chase with caretakers and being tickled.
-- Graham McCann
From: L.A. Unleashed: All Things Animal in Southern California and Beyond
For more, go to: latimes.com/unleashed
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BABYLON & BEYOND
Saudis enjoy rare trip to movies
For decades, Saudis have been deprived of the simple diversion of going to the movies. But this month, thousands of men, women and children in the conservative kingdom rushed to see a film in a movie theater for the first time in more than 30 years.
The Saudi comedy “Mennahi” was screened for nine days beginning Dec. 9 in conference halls in the cities of Jeddah and Taif.
The film was such a success that organizers said they had to show it eight times a day to absorb the eager crowds.
It is still not clear whether Saudis will have another chance to go out to the movies in their own country. The morality police, which imposed the ban on movie theaters in the 1970s, has not yet declared if it will allow the revival.
The head of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, Sheikh Ibrahim Gaith, said that religious authorities were “not against having cinema if it shows the good and does not violate Islamic law,” according to local media.
Gaith, who is the second most prominent cleric in the kingdom, said, however, that cinema was an “absolute evil.”
Saudi Arabia follows one of the strictest interpretations of Islam. The morality police in that oil-rich nation have wide powers to enforce bans on alcohol and drug consumption and also can jail men and women for mixing in public, failing to perform their prayers or not abiding by the strict dress codes.
It is unclear why Saudi Arabia suddenly decided to lift the ban on movie theaters, at least temporarily. But behind the movie that was screened was the gigantic Rotana entertainment group, controlled by one of the most influential Saudi tycoons, Prince Waleed bin Talal.
Saudis typically watch movies on DVD at home.
-- Raed Rafei in Beirut
From: Babylon & Beyond: Observations from Iraq, Iran, Israel, the Arab World and Beyond
For more, go to: latimes.com/babylon
