An international research project reports that bedroom air quality can affect next-day sleep and performance.
According to a recent study, opening the bedroom window at night can improve the quality of sleep and thinking.
The study of 40 people indicates that fresh air, which works to better ventilate the room, helps to get a good night's sleep. This may explain why people who slept with the window open did better on a test of their mental abilities the next day.
The researchers recruited participants who were willing to monitor their sleep over a two-week period. In the first week, they slept normally, and in the second week they were asked to open the window and bedroom door if they usually closed them, or close them if they were normally open.
Sleep trackers worn by the participants on the wrist showed that when people slept with the window open, they slept longer. They also made significantly fewer errors on a three-minute test of their logical skills that was asked about the relationship between different objects.
"Bedroom air quality can affect your cognitive abilities, such as your ability to focus, understand and interact. Sleeping in a well-ventilated bedroom benefits your cognitive abilities," said Dr. Paul Wargoki, senior author of the study from the Technical University of Denmark.
When the participants slept with the bedroom window open, they reported feeling less sleepy in the morning and evening.
With the window open, 87% of the participants reported sleeping soundly, compared to 70% when the window was closed.
And for those who don't want a stuffy bedroom, but are concerned about security, noise or cold with the window open, Dr Wargoki said: "We are looking at whether other technologies such as air purifiers can ensure clean air in the bedroom just as mechanical ventilation or a window can." open.
The study, conducted between September and December 2020, suggests that simply opening a bedroom door may not improve air quality enough to promote sleep. No effect on sleep duration was seen when people kept their bedroom door open.
"During the night, we humans generate emissions in the bedroom, not in the rest of the house," Wargoki explained in the paper published in the journal Building and Environment. "When we sleep with the door open, the air from elsewhere in the house mixes with the air in the bedroom, diluting the air." of air pollution in the bedroom, but not necessarily clean air coming from other rooms in the house.”
A much larger study is needed to confirm the new study's findings, but the findings come after an earlier small study involving members of the same research team suggested that opening a bedroom window reduces snoring.
A new study warns of the danger surrounding us associated with arrhythmia : Air pollution
A large study finds that a sudden rise in air pollution increases the risk of arrhythmias.
The study, which was based on nearly 200,000 hospital admissions in China, found a significant increase in the risk of arrhythmias in the first few hours after air pollution levels increased.
Arrhythmias can increase the risk of heart disease and sudden cardiac death.
"We found that acute exposure to ambient air pollution was associated with an increased risk of symptomatic arrhythmias. The risk occurred within the first hours after exposure and could last for 24 hours," said Dr. Renjie Chen of Fudan University in Shanghai.
A study last year reported a link between particulate air pollution and irregular heartbeats in healthy adolescents, and confirmed that this translates into significant health risks.
The recent study included 190,115 patients admitted to hospitals in 322 Chinese cities who had sudden cardiac arrhythmias, including atrial fibrillation, atrial flutter, premature beats, and supraventricular tachycardia (or supraventricular tachycardia).
China's air pollution is well above the World Health Organization's guidelines for air quality. The researchers analyzed the concentrations of six air pollutants from monitoring stations closest to the hospitals participating in the study.
Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) had the strongest association with all four types of arrhythmias.
The exact effect of air pollution is not clear, but there is some evidence that it causes oxidative stress and inflammation, which may affect the heart's electrical activity.
"Although the exact mechanisms are not yet fully understood, the association between air pollution and acute onset of arrhythmias that we observed is biologically plausible," the researchers wrote.
Previous studies have found that on polluted days in England, hundreds of people are taken to hospital for emergency care after suffering heart attacks, strokes and asthma attacks. And in 2020, the British Heart Foundation estimated that more than 160,000 people could die in the next decade from strokes and heart attacks linked to air pollution. The health implications extend well beyond heart disease, as research has shown that particulate matter air pollution leads to higher rates of lung cancer, by awakening dormant mutations that lead to the growth of tumors.
The researchers noted that the findings, published in the Canadian Medical Association, highlight the need to protect vulnerable people during severe air pollution and reduce public exposure.
A study reveals a health risk surrounding males in childhood that threatens them with infertility when they reach adulthood : In Madical research
A new study suggests that overweight male children tend to have smaller testicle sizes, which puts them at risk of infertility in adulthood.
Infertility affects both the mental health and the economic and social life of people of childbearing age. Infertility affected 48 million couples in 2010. Although male infertility is often overlooked by experts, researchers believe it is a contributing factor to couple infertility in about half of all cases. However, in most cases, the cause of male infertility remains unclear.
According to a German study published in the European Journal of Endocrinology, which assessed infertility in more than 20,000 male patients referred to a fertility center, about 70% of them were not diagnosed.
A large proportion of childless male patients have no explanation for their infertility. Research also indicates a trend towards decreasing sperm concentration and total sperm count over the past 40 years.
In parallel with the declining sperm count, the worldwide prevalence of childhood obesity has increased from 32 to 42 million. Experts estimate that about 60% of children today will become obese by the age of 35, as various environmental conditions (including exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals) and personal habits (such as a sedentary lifestyle or eating disorders) have changed dramatically over the past few decades. .
The new study found that apart from the chances of developing health conditions such as heart attack, stroke and diabetes, obesity in boys can also increase the risk of infertility in adulthood. The researchers revealed that weight gain during adolescence reduces testicular size, which is expected to eventually impair sperm production in adulthood.
Italian surveys also revealed testicular enlargement in nearly a quarter of young men aged between 18 and 19 years whose future fertility is at risk.
The researchers conducted the study on children and adolescents between the ages of 2 and 18, who were referred to the Pediatric Endocrinology Unit at the University of Catania, in Sicily, to control body weight.
The researchers collected data on testicular size, age, body mass index and insulin resistance in 268 children and adolescents. They found that boys of normal weight had a testicle volume 1.5 times higher than those who were overweight or obese at puberty.
Children and teens in the study who had normal insulin levels had testicular volume 1.5 to 2 times higher than those with hyperinsulinemia, a condition often associated with type 2 diabetes where patients have higher levels of insulin in their blood. Thus, those who were overweight or obese, hyperinsulinemia or insulin resistance showed lower testicular volume than their healthy peers.
Since low testicular volume predicts poor sperm production in adulthood, the researchers here believe losing weight could help patients avoid infertility later in life.
"Although the prevalence of childhood obesity is increasing worldwide, the impact of obesity and associated metabolic disorders on testicular development is not well known," said Rossella Canarella, one of the paper's authors.
And she continued: “In this study, we found that being overweight or obese was associated with a decrease in testicular volume at puberty. In addition, comorbidities associated with obesity, such as hyperinsulinemia and insulin resistance, were found to affect testicular volume before and after puberty. Therefore, we expect that More careful control of body weight in infancy could represent a preventative strategy for preserving testicular function later in life."
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