Higher coffee consumption associated with lower risk of early death
August 27, 2017
Science Daily/European Society of Cardiology
Higher coffee consumption is associated with a lower risk of early death, according to new research. The observational study in nearly 20 000 participants suggests that coffee can be part of a healthy diet in healthy people.
"Coffee is one of the most widely consumed beverages around the world," said Dr Adela Navarro, a cardiologist at Hospital de Navarra, Pamplona, Spain. "Previous studies have suggested that drinking coffee might be inversely associated with all-cause mortality but this has not been investigated in a Mediterranean country."
The purpose of this study was to examine the association between coffee consumption and the risk of mortality in a middle-aged Mediterranean cohort. The study was conducted within the framework of the Seguimiento Universidad de Navarra (SUN) Project, a long-term prospective cohort study in more than 22 500 Spanish university graduates which started in 1999.
This analysis included 19,896 participants of the SUN Project, whose average age at enrollment was 37.7 years old. On entering the study, participants completed a previously validated semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire to collect information on coffee consumption, lifestyle and sociodemographic characteristics, anthropometric measurements, and previous health conditions.
Patients were followed-up for an average of ten years. Information on mortality was obtained from study participants and their families, postal authorities, and the National Death Index. Cox regression models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for incident mortality according to baseline total coffee consumption adjusted for potential confounders.
During the ten year period, 337 participants died. The researchers found that participants who consumed at least four cups of coffee per day had a 64% lower risk of all-cause mortality than those who never or almost never consumed coffee (adjusted HR, 0.36; 95% CI, 0.19-0.70). There was a 22% lower risk of all-cause mortality for each two additional cups of coffee per day (adjusted HR, 0.78; 95% CI, 0.66-0.92).
The researchers examined whether sex, age or adherence to the Mediterranean diet had any influence on the association between baseline coffee consumption and mortality. They observed a significant interaction between coffee consumption and age (p for interaction=0.0016). In those who were at least 45 years old, drinking two additional cups of coffee per day was associated with a 30% lower risk of mortality during follow-up (adjusted HR, 0.70; 95% CI, 0.58-0.85). The association was not significant among younger participants.
Dr Navarro said: "In the SUN project we found an inverse association between drinking coffee and the risk of all-cause mortality, particularly in people aged 45 years and above. This may be due to a stronger protective association among older participants."
She concluded: "Our findings suggest that drinking four cups of coffee each day can be part of a healthy diet in healthy people."
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/08/170827101750.htm
Blue light emitted by screens damages our sleep
August 22, 2017
Science Daily/University of Haifa
The short-wavelength blue light, emitted by the screens we watch, damages the duration, and even more so, the quality of our sleep. The study also found that watching screens that emit red light does not cause damage, and sleep after exposure to it was similar to normal sleep.
Previous studies have already shown that watching screens before going to sleep damages our sleep. It has also been found that exposure to blue light with wave lengths of 450-500 nanometers suppresses the production of melatonin, a hormone secreted at night that is connected with normal body cycles and sleep. The new study, published in the journal Chronobiology International, was undertaken by researchers Prof. Abraham Haim, head of the Israeli center for interdisciplinary research in chronobiology at the University of Haifa; doctorate student Amit Shai Green of the Center for Interdisciplinary Chronobiological Research at the University of Haifa and the Sleep and Fatigue Center at Assuta Medical Center; Dr. Merav Cohen-Zion of the School of Behavioral Sciences at the Academic College of Tel Aviv-Yafo; and Prof. Yaron Dagan of the Research Institute for Applied Chronobiology at Tel Hai Academic College. The researchers sought to examine whether there is any difference in sleep patterns following exposure to blue screen light as compared to red light prior to sleep, and furthermore, to find which is more disruptive: wavelength or intensity?
The study participants were 19 healthy subjects aged 20-29 who were not aware of the purpose of the study. In the first part of the trial, the participants wore an actigraph for one week (an actigraph is a device that provides an objective measurement of the time when an individual falls asleep and wakes up). They also completed a sleep diary and a questionnaire about their sleeping habits and quality of sleep. In the second part of the trial, which took place at Assuta's Sleep Laboratory, the participants were exposed to computer screens from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. -- the hours when the pineal gland begins to produce and excrete melatonin. The participants were exposed to four types of light: high-intensity blue light, low-intensity blue light, high-intensity red light, and low-intensity red light. Following exposure to light, they were connected to instruments that measure brain waves and can determine the stages of sleep a person undergoes during the course of the night, including awakenings not noticed by the participants themselves. In the morning, the participants completed various questionnaires relating to their feelings.
On average, exposure to blue light reduced the duration of sleep by approximately 16 minutes. In addition, exposure to blue light significantly reduced the production of melatonin, whereas exposure to red light showed a very similar level of melatonin production to the normal situation. The researchers explain that the impaired production of melatonin reflects substantial disruption of the natural mechanisms and the body's biological clock. Thus, for example, it was found that exposure to blue light prevents the body from activating the natural mechanism that reduces body temperature. "Naturally, when the body moves into sleep it begins to reduce its temperature, reaching the lowest point at around 4:00 a.m. When the body returns to its normal temperature, we wake up," Prof. Haim explains. "After exposure to red light, the body continued to behave naturally, but exposure to blue light led the body to maintain its normal temperature throughout the night -- further evidence of damage to our natural biological clock."
The most significant finding in terms of the disruption of sleep was that exposure to blue light drastically disrupts the continuity of sleep. Whereas after exposure to red light (at both intensities) people woke up an average of 4.5 times (unnoticed awakenings), following exposure to weak blue light 6.7 awakenings were recorded, rising to as many as 7.6 awakenings following exposure to strong blue light. Accordingly, it is hardly surprising that the participants reported in the questionnaires that the felt more tired and in a worse mood after exposure to blue light.
"Exposure to screens during the day in general, and at night in particular, is an integral part of our technologically advanced world and will only become more intense in the future. However, our study shows that it is not the screens themselves that damage our biological clock, and therefore our sleep, but the short-wave blue light that they emit. Fortunately various applications are available that filter the problematic blue light on the spectrum and replace it with weak red light, thereby reducing the damage to the suppression of melatonin," concludes Prof. Haim.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/08/170822103434.htm
Artificial light from digital devices lessens sleep quality
Melatonin skyrockets when blue light is blocked
July 28, 2017
Science Daily/University of Houston
Blue light emitted from digital devices could contribute to the high prevalence of reported sleep dysfunction, suggests new research.
There's no doubt we love our digital devices at all hours, including after the sun goes down. Who hasn't snuggled up with a smart phone, tablet or watched their flat screen TV from the comfort of bed? A new study by researchers at the University of Houston College of Optometry, published in Ophthalmic & Physiological Optics, found that blue light emitted from those devices could contribute to the high prevalence of reported sleep dysfunction.
Study participants, ages 17-42, wore short wavelength-blocking glasses three hours before bedtime for two weeks, while still performing their nightly digital routine. Results showed about a 58 percent increase in their nighttime melatonin levels, the chemical that signals your body that it's time to sleep. Those levels are even higher than increases from over-the-counter melatonin supplements, according to Dr. Lisa Ostrin, the UH College of Optometry assistant professor who lead the study.
"The most important takeaway is that blue light at night time really does decrease sleep quality. Sleep is very important for the regeneration of many functions in our body," Ostrin said.
Wearing activity and sleep monitors 24 hours a day, the 22 study participants also reported sleeping better, falling asleep faster, and even increased their sleep duration by 24 minutes a night, according to Ostrin.
The largest source of blue light is sunlight, but it's also found in most LED-based devices. Blue light boosts alertness and regulates our internal body clock, or circadian rhythm, that tells our bodies when to sleep. This artificial light activates photoreceptors called intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs), which suppresses melatonin.
Ostrin recommends limiting screen time, applying screen filters, wearing computer glasses that block blue light, or use anti-reflective lenses to offset the effects of artificial light at nighttime. Some devices even include night mode settings that limit blue light exposure.
"By using blue blocking glasses we are decreasing input to the photoreceptors, so we can improve sleep and still continue to use our devices. That's nice, because we can still be productive at night," Ostrin said.
According to the most recent findings from the National Sleep Foundation's Sleep Health Index®, while three quarters of Americans are satisfied with their sleep over the past week, more than four in ten Americans reported that their daily activities were significantly impacted by poor or insufficient sleep at least once during the past seven days.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/07/170728121414.htm
Death rate for depressed heart patients double than for non-depressed heart patients
July 28, 2017
Science Daily/Intermountain Medical Center
People who are diagnosed with coronary artery disease and then develop depression face a risk of death that's twice as high as heart patients without depression, according to a major new study.
The increased risk of death from any cause holds true whether the depression immediately follows the heart disease diagnosis or occurs even years later, according to Heidi May, PhD, a cardiovascular epidemiologist at Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute and the study's lead author.
She said the findings point out the importance of screening for and treating depression even years after someone is diagnosed with heart disease.
The research, one of a number of studies to explore the connection between heart disease and development of depression by researchers at Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute, will be published on July 28 in the European Heart Journal -- Quality of Care & Clinical Outcomes.
Researchers found that post-coronary artery disease depression was the single biggest predictor of death, and remained so even after researchers controlled for the other factors.
"No matter how long or how short it was, patients were found to have twice the risk of dying compared to those who didn't have a follow-up diagnosis of depression," Dr. May said. "Depression was the strongest risk factor for dying, compared to any other risk factors we evaluated. That included age, heart failure, diabetes, high blood pressure, kidney failure, or having a heart attack or stroke."
That association didn't change for patients who were previously diagnosed with depression before their heart disease diagnosis or for patients whose angiograms were performed for various reasons, which included stable angina, unstable angina, or heart attack.
Dr. May and the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute research team studied 24,138 patients who underwent angiographies, which determined they had coronary artery disease. To detect subsequent depression, the researchers looked at standardized diagnostic codes called International Classification of Diseases codes, or ICD codes.
Patients with depression were also placed into subcategories based on how long after their heart disease diagnosis the depression was identified.
Dr. May said most studies have looked at depression at a single point in time, such as within 30 days of a heart event or at the time of heart disease diagnosis. Just a handful of studies have looked over the course of a year, let alone years, such as this study, which followed patients for an average of 10 years after their coronary artery disease diagnosis to see if they were ever diagnosed with depression.
In all, 15 percent, or 2,646 patients, were diagnosed with depression at some point during follow-up. Of those, 27 percent were diagnosed within a year of their heart event, 24 percent between one and three years after, nearly 15 percent between three and five years after, and nearly 37 percent at least five years after a baseline heart disease event.
This study reinforces previous research investigating the link between depression, heart disease, and increased risks of death. It's already been shown that people with coronary artery disease don't live as long as their peers who don't have heart disease. And while life expectancy has increased with better therapies, surgeries, and more aggressive treatment of identified risk factors, depression has come under increasing scrutiny as a risk factor that could make a difference, if properly treated.
"We've completed several depression-related studies and been looking at this connection for many years," said Dr. May. "The data just keeps building on itself, showing that if you have heart disease and depression and it's not appropriately treated in a timely fashion, it's not a good thing for your long-term well-being."
Research has shown that the relationship is bi-directional: Depression may result in worse outcomes for people with heart disease, while the presence of heart disease may increase the likelihood that someone will develop depression.
Those with depression were significantly younger and more often female, diabetic, previously diagnosed with depression, and less likely to have presented with a heart attack compared to those who didn't have depression.
The study didn't explain the reason for the elevated risk of death, although Dr. May said one possibility is that depression impacts how closely patients follow their treatment plans.
"We know people with depression tend to be less compliant with medication on average and probably in general aren't following healthier diets or exercise regimens," she said. "They tend to do a poorer job of doing things that are prescribed than people without depression. That certainly doesn't mean you're depressed so you're going to be less compliant, but in general, they tend to follow those behaviors."
She also noted that physiological changes occur within the body when patients are diagnosed with depression, which might help explain the link.
The researchers emphasize the importance of continual screening of depression for all heart disease patients. "Patients who have depression need to be treated for it to improve not only their long-term risks but their quality of life," Dr. May said.
"I hope the takeaway is this: it doesn't matter how long it's been since the patient was diagnosed with coronary artery disease. Continued screening for depression needs to occur, said Dr. May. "After one year, it doesn't mean they're out of the woods. It should be ongoing, just like we keep measuring things like LDL cholesterol."
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/07/170728092552.htm
Omega-3 fatty acids fight inflammation via cannabinoids
July 18, 2017
Science Daily/University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Chemical compounds called cannabinoids are found in marijuana and also are produced naturally in the body from omega-3 fatty acids. A well-known cannabinoid in marijuana, tetrahydrocannabinol, is responsible for some of its euphoric effects, but it also has anti-inflammatory benefits. A new study in animal tissue reveals the cascade of chemical reactions that convert omega-3 fatty acids into cannabinoids that have anti-inflammatory benefits - but without the psychotropic high.
Foods such as meat, eggs, fish and nuts contain omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, which the body converts into endocannabinoids -- cannabinoids that the body produces naturally, said Aditi Das, a University of Illinois professor of comparative biosciences and biochemistry, who led the study. Cannabinoids in marijuana and endocannabinoids produced in the body can support the body's immune system and therefore are attractive targets for the development of anti-inflammatory therapeutics, she said.
In 1964, the Israeli chemist Raphael Mechoulam was the first to discover and isolate THC from marijuana. To test whether he had found the compound that produces euphoria, he dosed cake slices with 10 milligrams of pure THC and gave them to willing friends at a party. Their reactions, from nonstop laughter, to lethargy, to talkativeness, confirmed that THC was a psychotropic cannabinoid.
It wasn't until 1992 that researchers discovered endocannabinoids produced naturally in the body. Since then, several other endocannabinoids have been identified, but not all have known functions.
Cannabinoids bind to two types of cannabinoid receptors in the body -- one that is found predominantly in the nervous system and one in the immune system, Das said.
"Some cannabinoids, such as THC in marijuana or endocannabinoids can bind to these receptors and elicit anti-inflammatory and anti-pain action," she said.
"Our team discovered an enzymatic pathway that converts omega-3-derived endocannabinoids into more potent anti-inflammatory molecules that predominantly bind to the receptors found in the immune system," Das said. "This finding demonstrates how omega-3 fatty acids can produce some of the same medicinal qualities as marijuana, but without a psychotropic effect."
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/07/170718142909.htm
You're not yourself when you're sleepy
July 17, 2017
Science Daily/Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
More than a third of Americans don’t get enough sleep, and growing evidence suggests it’s not only taking a toll on their physical health through heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and/or other conditions, but hurting their mental health as well.
According to a recent study led by Postdoctoral FellowIvan Vargas, PhD, in the journal Cognitive Therapy and Research, those who are sleep deprived lose some of their ability to be positive-minded people. That may not sound serious, but medical experts say an inability to think positively is a serious symptom of depression that could be dangerous if left unaddressed. An estimated 16.1 million adults experienced a major depressive episode in 2014.
"In general, we have a tendency to notice positive stimuli in our environment," said Vargas. "We tend to focus on positive things more than anything else, but now we're seeing that sleep deprivation may reverse that bias."
In their study, Vargas and his team took 40 healthy adults, and randomized them to either 28 consecutive hours awake, or a full eight hours of sleep. All participants participated in a computer test measuring their accuracy and response time at identifying happy, sad and neutral faces to assess how they pay attention to positive or negative information.
The team found that those who were acutely sleep deprived were less likely to focus on the happy faces. They didn't necessarily focus more on the negative, but were less likely to focus on the positive. The study may have implications for those experiencing depression and/or anxiety.
There are many symptoms of depression -- including feeling sad and no longer being able to enjoy things you typically would, but poor sleep is associated with a particularly serious sign of the condition.
"Depression is typically characterized as the tendency to think and feel more negatively or sad, but more than that, depression is associated with feeling less positive, less able to feel happy," Vargas says, "Similarly, if you don't get enough sleep, it reduces your ability to attend to positive things, which over time may confer risk for depression."
Interestingly enough, in the present study, those with a history of insomnia symptoms were less sensitive to the effects of the sleep loss. The authors believe this might be because those with a history of insomnia symptoms have more experience being in sleep-deprived conditions and have developed coping methods to modulate the effect of sleep loss.
Vargas and colleagues recently presented a related study at SLEEP 2017, the 31st Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies LLC, on the association of insomnia and suicide, finding that people who suffer from insomnia are three times more likely to report thoughts of suicide and death during the past 30 days than those without the condition.
The study comes amid a growing body of knowledge associating sleep disorders and depression. For example, ongoing research presented this year at SLEEP 2017 from a multi-center NIH-sponsored "Treatment of Insomnia and Depression" study (abstract 0335 here) suggests that cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) may help achieve depression remission in those suffering from both depression and insomnia who sleep at least 7 hours each night. (A clinical practice guideline published in 2016 in Annals of Internal Medicine recommends CBT-I (not sleep medications) as the initial treatment for chronic insomnia.
Additionally, a new study in the journal Child Development furthers our understanding of the connection between late night cell phone use, mental health, and disrupted sleep, finding that using a cell phone at night can increase depression in teenagers and lower their self-esteem.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/07/170717120048.htm
Controlled temperature change inside ear can prevent migraines
July 6, 2017
Science Daily/University of Kent
The application of gentle cooling and warming currents inside the ear canal can provide relief for migraine sufferers, new research has shown.
Volunteers in the study who had a history of migraines experienced a significant reduction in the number of migraines they normally experienced in a month after using a technique known as caloric vestibular stimulation (CVS).
CVS activates the balance organs which are believed to alter activity in the area of the brain, known as the brainstem, associated with the onset of migraine headaches.
Dr David Wilkinson, of the University's School of Psychology, helped lead the randomised, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial. It was carried out across the US and UK, involving 81 volunteers with a history of between four and 14 migraine attacks per month.
The volunteers self-administered caloric vestibular stimulation daily for 20 minutes over a period of three months. The thermal currents were delivered by aluminium earpieces seated within padded headphones, powered and controlled by a small, hand-held device.
The findings demonstrated that the treatment reduced both the number of migraine days per month (the active treatment group experienced a reduction of 3.6 days compared to 0.9 days in the placebo group) as well as headache pain and the consequent need for migraine abortive prescription medications.
Dr Wilkinson said the results indicated that vestibular stimulation 'may address the existing need for new preventative therapies for episodic migraine'.
The findings were presented at the American Headache Society's annual meeting in June, where Professor Peter Goadsby, Chair of its Science Committee, said that 'many patients want non-drug options, so developing a non-drug therapy such as this may provide that.'
A second, expanded study will begin this summer, involving another collaboration between the University of Kent and US medical device company Scion Neurostim, who produced the CVS delivery device and will again fund the study, as well as local GP
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/07/170706113144.htm
The secret connection between anxiety, sleep
July 1, 2017
Science Daily/University of Tsukuba
You may have experienced sleepless nights when you were anxious, stressed or too excited. Such emotions are well-known to affect wakefulness and can even cause insomnia, though the underlying mechanisms in our brain have still been unclear. Scientists have spotted neurons that play crucial roles in connecting emotions and sleep, shedding light on the future discovery of drug targets for anxiety disorder and/or sleep disorders.
Encountering predators, adapting to a novel environment or expecting a reward ― these stressful or emotionally-salient situations require animals to shift their behavior to a vigilant state, altering their physiological conditions through modulation of autonomic and endocrine functions.
The bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) is a part of the extended amygdala, which is generally considered as a key player in stress response, fear and anxiety. Through projections to various brain regions including relay nuclei of the autonomic nervous system, hypothalamic regions and the central nucleus of the amygdala, the BNST controls endocrine and autonomic reactions in response to emotionally-salient stimuli, along with behavioral expression of anxiety and fear.
A group of researchers led by Takeshi Sakurai, Vice Director of the International Institute for Integrative Sleep Medicine (WPI-IIIS), University of Tsukuba, found that acute optogenetic excitation of GABAergic neurons in BNST during non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep in mice resulted in immediate transition to a wakefulness state without the function of orexins, highly important neuropeptides for maintaining wakefulness. Notably, stimulation of the same neurons during REM sleep did not show any effects on sleep/wakefulness states.
Prolonged excitation of GABAergic neurons in BNST by a chemogenetic method evoked a longer-lasting, sustained wakefulness state, and it was abolished by administering a dual orexin receptor blocker (antagonist) DORA 22 in advance, meaning that orexins are involved in this phenomenon.
"Our study revealed a role of the BNST GABAergic system in sleep/wakefulness control, especially in shifting animals' behavioral states from NREM sleep to wakefulness. It also provides an important insight into the pathophysiology of insomnia and the role of orexin in arousal regulation, which will hopefully lead to the first step to develop remedies for sleep disorders," Sakurai says.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/07/170701081720.htm
Patients with insomnia have altered activity in specific brain regions
Science Daily/University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC)
Specific brain regions, including those involved in awareness of self and tendency to ruminate, show altered activity in patients with insomnia when compared to good sleepers, according to a new study.
In what is the largest study of its kind on insomnia, a research group led by Daniel Buysse M.D., professor of psychiatry and clinical and translational science, and the UPMC Professor of Sleep Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, identified ...
Jet lag treatment? Blast of thin air can reset circadian clocks
October 20, 2016
Science Daily/Cell Press
We might not think of our circadian clock until we are jetlagged, but scientists continue to puzzle over what drives our biological timepiece. Now, a study has found that variations in surrounding oxygen levels can reset circadian clocks of mice. If confirmed in humans, the research could help inform how airlines moderate cabin air pressure.
Presently, light, food, and temperature are the best known cues that can influence circadian rhythms. But lead author Gad Asher, a senior scientist at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, and his colleagues, including postdoctoral fellows Yaarit Adamovich and Benjamin Ladeuix, wondered if oxygen might also cue circadian rhythms since oxygen absorption in animals varies alongside meals and changing temperatures.
In the paper, the researchers show that changing the concentration of oxygen in cells by just 3%, twice a day, will synchronize mouse cells to a circadian rhythm. They suspected HIF1α was the link between oxygen and the circadian clock because HIF1α plays both a role in oxygen homeostasis in cells. They found that cells with low HIF1α levels won't synchronize in response to oxygen variations.
"It was extremely exciting to see that even small changes in oxygen levels were sufficient to efficiently reset the circadian clock," says Asher. "The study actually raises a lot of important questions; although we show that clock reset by oxygen is dependent on HIF1α, we did not yet fully identify how HIF1α integrates within the core clock circuitry."
The researchers further explored oxygen's effect on circadian rhythms with jetlag experiments. Just like humans, mice are prone to jetlag after a sudden shift in daylight hours. Mice were first left to eat, sleep and run on their wheels in air-controlled environments. Altering oxygen levels alone did not change their circadian rhythms but once mice experienced a 6-hour jump ahead in daylight hours, varying oxygen levels could help them adapt their eating, sleeping and running habits to the new time faster. They also saw that a small drop in oxygen levels 12 hours before the 6-hour daylight shift, or 2 hours afterwards, put the mice back on their circadian schedules faster and this too was dependent on HIF1α levels.
Presently, commercial airliners pressurize cabins to the same air density of a city 6,000-8,000 feet above sea level. This low-pressure saves wear and tear on the airplane, but enough passengers suffer from airsickness in response to this drop in oxygen levels that some airlines are considering ways to increase the pressure on flights. In fact, Boeing designed its new 787 Dreamliner so that it can be pressurized to the equivalent of lower altitudes for this reason. But in light of these findings, the researchers noted passengers may feel better with higher pressurized cabins during flights, but may also lose a potential advantage of recovering from jetlag. And in light of the effects of lower oxygen levels, the researchers now want to see what higher oxygen levels may do to the circadian clock.
"We are very looking forward to seeing the outcome of these experiments -- it will be interesting both from basic science and also from a practical standpoint," said Asher. "I believe passengers might be more enthusiastic to inhale oxygen-enriched air to alleviate jetlag in contrast to low oxygen."
Understanding how oxygen influences the circadian clock goes beyond jetlag. Cardiovascular disease, COPD, shift work sleep disorder, and other common health problems can result in tissues with low oxygen levels. "We show that oxygen works in mammals, specifically rodents, but it will be interesting to test whether oxygen can reset the clock of bacteria, plants, flies and additional organisms," says Asher.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/10/161020142746.htm