Laboratory Equipment

Cutting Back on Sleep Harms Blood Vessels, Breathing

With work and entertainment operating around the clock in our modern society, sleep is often a casualty. A bevy of research has shown a link between sleep deprivation and cardiovascular disease, metabolic disorders and obesity. However, it’s been unclear why sleep loss might lead to these effects. Several studies have tested the effects of total sleep deprivation, but this model isn’t a good fit for the way most people lose sleep, with a few hours here and there. In a new study by Keith Pugh, Shahrad Taheri and George Balanos, all of the Univ. of Birmingham, researchers tested the effects of partial sleep deprivation on blood vessels and breathing control. They found that reducing sleep length over two consecutive nights leads to less healthy vascular function and impaired breathing control.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2013/04/cutting-back-sleep-harms-blood-vessels-breathing

New Imaging Technique Helps Diagnose, Treat COPD

A new approach to lung scanning could improve the diagnosis and treatment of a lung disease that affects approximately 24 million Americans and is the country’s third-highest cause of death.

In a new paper published online in Nature Medicine, a team from the Univ. of Michigan Medical School reports on a technique called parametric response mapping, or PRM. They used PRM to analyze computed tomography, or CT, scans of the lungs of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, known as COPD, who took part in the national COPDGene study funded by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2012/10/new-imaging-technique-helps-diagnose-treat-copd

Newer Cookstoves Emit More Dangerous Particles

The first real-world, head-to-head comparison of “improved cookstoves” (ICs) and traditional mud stoves has found that some ICs may at times emit more of the worrisome “black carbon,” or soot, particles that are linked to serious health and environmental concerns than traditional mud stoves or open-cook fires. The report, which raises concerns about the leading hope as a clean cooking technology in the developing world, appears in ACS’ journal Environmental Science & Technology.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news-Improved-Cookstoves-Can-be-More-Dangerous-than-Mud-Stoves-040412.aspx

Sleep-Disordered Breathing Linked to Behavior in Kids

A study of more than 11,000 children followed for over six years has found that young children with sleep-disordered breathing are prone to developing behavioral difficulties such as hyperactivity and aggressiveness, as well as emotional symptoms and difficulty with peer relationships, according to researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva Univ. Their study, the largest and most comprehensive of its kind, published online today in the journal Pediatrics.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news-Sleep-Disordered-Breathing-Linked-to-Behavior-in-Kids-030512.aspx

Marijuana Does Not Harm Long-Term Lung Function

Using marijuana carries legal risks, but the consequences of occasionally lighting up do not include long-term loss of lung function, according to a new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news-marijuana-does-not-harm-long-term-lunch-function-011312.aspx

Carbon Monoxide Keeps Citydwellers Calm

According to scientists, carbon monoxide (CO), a tasteless, colorless and odorless gas, is not only a danger to the environment but also highly toxic to human beings. Found in the exhaust of vehicles and generators, CO has been dubbed the “silent killer” because excessive inhalation is lethal, poisoning the nervous system and heart. Now, in a surprising twist, Prof. Itzhak Schnell of Tel Aviv Univ.’s Department of Geography and the Human Environment has discovered that low levels of the poisonous gas can have a narcotic effect that helps citydwellers cope with other harmful environmental factors of an urban environment, such as off-the-chart noise levels. This finding indicates that CO, in small doses, is a boon to the well-being of urbanites, better equipping them to deal with environmental stress.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news-carbon-monoxide-keeps-citydwellers-calm-110911.aspx