Prediabetic night owls prone to weight gain

People with prediabetes who are more active and alert in the evening may have higher body mass index (BMI), says a new study. The findings, published in the journal, Frontiers in Endocrinology, also suggested that higher BMI among people with evening preference is related to lack of sufficient sleep. They should have more regular bedtime and aim to get more sleep, which may help reduce BMI and the potential development of diabetes in this high-risk group, says an expert. Prediabetes is a condition where blood sugar levels are higher than normal but not yet high enough to be Type-2 diabetes. Without diet modifications and exercise, prediabetics have a very high risk of developing Type-2 diabetes. For the study, the team involved 2,133 participants with prediabetes. Participants who scored high in “morningness” answered questions indicating that they preferred to wake up earlier, have activities earlier, and felt more alert earlier in the day as compared to those who scored high on “eveningness”. The average age of the participants was 64, and average sleep duration was about seven hours per night. Those older than 60 with more evening preference had higher BMIs and this effect was partly due to having insufficient sleep but not social jet lag. Evening preference was directly associated with higher BMI in this group.

Social media addiction bad for bones, joints

Use of social media across the globe has grown exponentially. Almost a quarter of the world’s population is now on Facebook, Whatsapp, Instagram and Twitter. There is a newly coined term called ‘Whatsappitis’, meaning that an incessant use of the thumb to text and operate cellular phones can damage your thumb muscle, causing tenosynovitis. Another problems that can stem from incessant use of smartphones is carpal tunnel syndrome, where one can face problems or pain in hands or wrists due to typing too much. Typing can also cause strain in finger tendons. Excessive addiction to social media and the use of smartphones along with it can be bad for bones and joints. Tilting the head forward for prolonged times forces the neck muscles, ligaments and tendons to strain. This distinct posture has been labelled as ‘text neck’. Orthopaedics are noticing signs of premature degeneration of the spine in people who are very young because of this, say an expert. Prolonged use of smartphones can increase neck and upper back pain as well. Text neck, which was not heard of a decade ago, is a strain injury that is the result of hunching over smartphones while texting. Adolescents and teens suffer from problems related to muscle pain in the shoulders and neck, sometimes in the lower back as well more than older adults. —Agencies