Want a good night’s sleep? Go camping

Anew report from the University of Colorado, Boulder, looking at a small group of campers has found that a weekend trip was enough to make a difference in the rise and fall of the hormone melatonin, which regulates our biological clock. And a week spent outside in winter — thanks to the exposure to nine hours of sunlight daily, rather than the artificial stuff — shifted sleep times earlier and reset the body’s circadian clock.

“Living in our modern environments can significantly delay our circadian timing, and late circadian timing is associated with many health consequences,” said Kenneth P. Wright, a sleep researcher and author of the new study published in the journal Cell.

Wright’s previous research in 2013 suggested a week of summer camping was enough to shift sleepers to be more in sync with the rise and fall of the sun. In the first part of the 2017 followup study, Wright and his colleagues wanted to know if less time spent outdoors would have a similar effect. They compared nine campers, who spent two summer days and nights outdoors in Colorado, against five people who stayed indoors for a weekend. They were exposed to a fourfold increase in natural light. Saliva swabs of the campers revealed their melatonin levels rose 1.4 hours sooner each evening.

The second approach asked a different question — would there be a seasonal difference between a week spent outdoors in the winter versus the summer?

Winter campers, as you would expect, were exposed to fewer total hours of sunlight than summer campers. But the light winter campers received was 13 times stronger than if they had spent a winter week indoors; the scientists attribute this difference to the fact that, during winter, a larger proportion of our light is artificial. The campers fell asleep about 2.5 hours earlier, and slept for longer periods of time.

Coffee may guard against inflammation in older people: Study According to scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine, drinking coffee may help protect older people — age 60 and beyond — against inflammation, which is what ultimately causes many age-related diseases, such as diabetes, hypertension, joint problems, Alzheimer’s and many types of cancer.

Better yet, the Stanford docs say the more caffeine older people drank, the more protection they received against chronic inflammation.

The study, which showed a correlation between caffeine consumption and older people with low levels of inflammation, was published this month in the journal Nature Medicine. These findings may go a long way in explaining why java enthusiasts tend to live longer than those who don’t partake.

Gaming may help keep an aging brain sharp At the age of 70 and beyond, simple activities including web-surfing, playing bridge and socializing may help stave off mental decline, according to a study released last week.

It didn’t look at costly, computer-based games that purport to keep the brain sharp. Instead, it found a benefit from activities many seniors have access to: computer use; making crafts; playing games including chess or bridge; and going to movies or other types of socializing.

Those activities appeared to help prevent mild cognitive impairment. That condition involves problems with memory, thinking and attention that don’t interfere much with daily life but which increase risks for developing Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia.

Results appear in the journal JAMA Neurology. Trump at odds with U.S. populace on vaccines: Survey The criticism of vaccines voiced by U.S. President Donald Trump and some other public figures is at odds with the attitudes of most Americans, who overwhelmingly support requiring public schoolchildren to be vaccinated for measles, mumps and rubella, according to a Pew Research Center survey released last week.

Overall, 82 per cent of Americans support requiring students in public schools to be vaccinated for those three diseases. In addition, the survey found, their perceptions of the benefits of that combination vaccine are strongly positive, with about 88 per cent saying the benefits outweigh any risks. About 73 per cent of Americans see high preventive health benefits, and 66 per cent say there is a low risk of side effects.