Washington, Oct 21 (ANI): Scientists from University of Rochester Medical Centre have revealed that respiratory rhythms can help predict chronic insomnia and sleep disruptions.

In the study conducted over women with metastatic breast cancer, the researchers found that breathing, heart rates and cortisol levels can help predict insomnia.

Lead author Oxana Palesh, Ph.D., research assistant professor at Rochester's James P. Wilmot Cancer Centre said that identifying the body's parasympathetic nervous system, a branch of the autonomic nervous system that controls breathing and heart rates and the body's response to stress, act as a contributor to poor sleep, which is a persistent problem for women with breast cancer.

"We were able to identify the role that the parasympathetic nervous system plays in insomnia. It's reasonable to suggest that simple breathing exercises may help more than we realize with insomnia," said Palesh.

She suggested that regulating deep diaphragmatic breathing through yoga, meditation and other techniques might help in preventing insomnia and sleep disruptions in cancer patients.

During the study, out of 99 women with metastatic breast cancer or recurrent disease over 45, 39 took antidepressants and 19 used medications to treat their insomnia.

The scientists measured participants' heart rate during a stress task and found that lowered heart rate variability was associated with efficiency of their sleep.

They found that most women spent about eight hours in bed at night, but had on average 15 wake episodes in the night with each episode lasting about 5 minutes, for a total of 71 minutes

Insomnia can reduce quality of life for people facing the disease.

The research showed that more than a third of the women with metastatic breast cancer, circadian rhythms are disrupted and cortisol peak multiple times or rise during the end of the day.

The study is published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine. (ANI)

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Washington, October 21 (ANI): A therapy that involves light-activated medication and exposure to a light source seems to be effective in producing changes at the molecular level in ageing skin, says a report.

The changes brought about photodynamic therapy are consistent with increased collagen production and improved appearance of the skin, according to the report in the Archives of Dermatology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

"The deleterious effects of exposure of the skin to UV irradiation are well established. Alternatively, several visible and infrared lasers and light sources have been reported to produce various positive changes in the clinical and histologic (microscopic) appearance of the skin. In recent years, the concept of employing a photosensitizing compound to enhance the effects of some light-based therapies has been espoused," the authors write as background information in the article.

Dr. Jeffrey S. Orringer and colleagues at the University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, studied the effects of photodynamic therapy in 25 adults age 54 to 83 with sun-damaged skin on their forearms.

Before treatment, the degree of skin damage was rated and a biopsy (tissue sample) was taken from the forearm.

A solution containing a topical medication called 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA) was applied to the treatment site, and left on for three hours. The skin was later washed with cleanser and treated with a pulsed-dye laser.

The subjects returned for re-examination and to provide additional biopsy samples four to five times during the six months following treatment.

The researchers observed that, after photodynamic therapy, tissue samples demonstrated a five-fold increase in levels of Ki67, a protein thought to play a fundamental role in the growth and development of new skin cells.

The skin's outer layer called epidermis increased in thickness 1.4-fold.

The levels of enzymes and other compounds associated with the production of collagen, the main structural protein in the skin, also were increased.

"Photodynamic therapy with the specific treatment regimen employed produces statistically significant quantitative cutaneous molecular changes (e.g., production of types I and III collagen) that are associated with improved appearance of the skin," the authors write.

Comparing their latest findings with those of previous studies, regarding the effectiveness of pulsed-dye laser therapy alone, the researchers came to the conclusion that using a photosensitive compound such as 5-ALA could enhance changes in the skin.

"Although our molecular measurements cannot yet precisely predict clinical outcomes for a single given patient, taken together they are very much in keeping with the bulk of the clinical literature and thus lend substantial support to the conclusions reached by other researchers who have published purely clinically oriented work in this field," the authors write.

"We believe that the quantitative amount of dermal repair and regeneration induced by a specific therapeutic intervention very likely underlies the degree of clinical rejuvenation produced. Thus, it is our hope that, with further development, our working molecular model may one day be used to predict the clinical value of new technologies in aesthetic dermatology," they add. (ANI)

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Washington, Oct 21 (ANI): People who engage in pompous displays of collective pride in a football game or political rally might be trying to hide their insecurity and a low social status, says a new study.

Psychologists from University of California, Davis have revealed that group pride might actually be a sign of group insecurity than strength.

The research team led by Cynthia Pickett, associate professor of psychology at UC Davis found that groups that boast, gloat and denigrate outsiders tend to be of low social status or vulnerable to threats from other groups.

In contrast, those that express pride by humbly focusing on members' efforts and hard work tend to have high social standing.

Robins and Tracy, a former UC Davis doctoral student, were the first social scientists to observe that in individuals, the emotion of pride has a distinct nonverbal expression that is unlike body language used to express other positive emotions such as happiness and excitement.

Those findings, first reported in a 2004 article in Psychological Science, were cited during the Beijing Olympics earlier this year by observers commenting on the body language of Michael Phelps and other triumphant athletes.

The research will be presented Thursday at the annual meeting of the Society for Experimental Social Psychology in Sacramento. (ANI)

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Washington, Oct 21 (ANI): A treatment with a topical product that increases the skin's sensitivity to light, followed by laser therapy, can improve the appearance of sun-damaged skin, according to a new study.

Researchers at the University of Michigan Health System Department of Dermatology have also suggested that skin with the worst sun damage may respond particularly well to this treatment. For the study, participants whose skin was sun-damaged - or photodamaged - were treated with a topical photosensitizer called 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA) and then with a pulsed dye laser.

Called photodynamic therapy, the treatment increased collagen levels in the skin and also produced other skin changes that are known to improve its appearance.

"This is new scientific evidence that photodynamic therapy may in fact be a useful tool to improve the appearance of the skin. This type of therapy has been performed in clinical practice for the past few years, but we've never had detailed molecular evidence for why it may work," said lead author Jeffrey S. Orringer, M.D., associate professor of dermatology at the U-M Health System.

The study was conducted on 24 adults, ages 54 to 83, all of whom had significant photodamage on the forearm skin. They received a three-hour application of 5-ALA followed by pulsed dye laser therapy.

The scientists analysed biopsies taken before and at several times after the treatments, and recorded the molecular changes in the participants' skin at various stages.

They observed many molecular changes, and noticed that levels of the proteins procollagen I and procollagen III increased after treatment. Also, there was an evident increase in other protein levels molecular markers.

Orringer said that the study represents the latest example of U-M's human appearance research program's unraveling of the mechanisms by which popular treatments improve the appearance of the skin.

While photodynamic therapy has been used as a treatment for precancerous lesions called actinic keratoses and for some types of skin cancer, little scientific research has been conducted about its use in appearance-oriented dermatology.

The study appeared in the latest issue of the Archives of Dermatology. (ANI)

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