It seems like everything that I’ve written about lately has a common thread: melatonin. When I started weaving together all those melatonin threads, a big picture was revealed. You could say it is a… tapestry Read more…
The biggest overall action you can take for your health, in my opinion, is to optimize your circadian rhythm. Yes, that is a big statement when there are so many other things you can do Read more…
Depression and bipolar disorder are often thought of as being caused by a lack of neurotransmitters. Many of us first learned about neurotransmitters by watching TV commercials for SSRI’s like the ones for Zoloft. New Read more…
When it comes to chronic diseases, the Big 3 are heart disease, cancer, and type 2 diabetes. Heart disease is the number one killer in the US, with cancer a close second. Diabetes numbers are increasing Read more…
Digging into the science and research connecting genetic variants with health for the past four years, I have found a common thread that connected a lot of chronic conditions that affect so many people today. Read more…
I thought about titling this article ‘going to the dark side’ but decided that bathroom humor should be left behind…. (get it, behind :-) Enough of the puns and onto the important science stuff that you Read more…
Shift work and ‘social jetlag’ are linked to an increased risk for several chronic diseases. Shift work is usually defined in studies as working a late or early shift more than two times per week, Read more…
This one simple change can help you lose weight and prevents diabetes! Ok, enough with the smarmy copywriting hooks… I’m going to depart from my usual format of talking about a specific genetic variant and Read more…
Everyone at some point knows the pain of a sleepless night. For some, though, this is an all too frequent occurrence.
A few quick facts:
- 10% of adults (and 22% of the elderly) have insomnia disorder[ref]
- Heritability estimates from twin studies show that insomnia is around 50% genetic; genes lending susceptibility along with environmental factors. [ref] Another study broke this down further, finding that most genetic influence is on the type of insomnia where people have a hard time staying asleep, rather than difficulty falling asleep. [ref]
- 80-90% of people with major depression experience insomnia of some sort, with about half of them experiencing severe insomnia. [ref]
- Insomnia can be either a problem with initially falling asleep or with waking up in the early morning hours and not being able to fall back to sleep.
Is there an "Insomnia Gene"? well, no... (more…)
This is a bit of a departure from my usual article. It is a paper that I recently wrote for a class that I’m taking for my Master’s in biology. Thought I would share it Read more…