Publisher Health

When it comes to height, our fate is sealed along with our growth plates — cartilage near the ends of bones that hardens as a child develops. Research publishing April 14 in the journal Cell Genomics shows that cells in these plates determine the length and shape of our bones and can hint at our stature. The study identified potential “height genes” and found that genetic changes affecting cartilage cell maturation may strongly influence adult height.
“The study is really understanding the genetics of skeleton,” says senior author Nora Renthal of Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard University. As a pediatric endocrinologist who cares for children with skeletal diseases, she is interested in understanding how bones grow. “Height is a good starting point to understand the relationship between genes, growth plates, and skeletal growth because we can measure the height of every human being.”
To pinpoint height-associated genes, the team screened 600 million mouse cartilage cells to identify genes that, when deleted, can alter cell growth and maturation. These types of cellular changes in the growth plate are known to lead to variations in human height. The search turned up 145 genes mostly linked to skeletal disorders and are crucial for growth plate maturation and bone formation.
The team then compared the discovered genes with data from genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of human height. GWAS allows researchers to survey the entire human genome to identify hotspots where “height genes” are located in our DNA. But these regions can contain multiple genes, making it hard for researchers to track down and study an individual target.
“That’s kind of like looking for your friend’s house, but you only know the zip code,” says Renthal. “It’s difficult.”
The comparison revealed that genes affecting cartilage cells overlap with hotspots from human height GWAS, precisely locating genes in our DNA that likely play a role in determining our stature. Renthal and her team also discovered that many of the GWAS suggested height genes led to early maturation in cartilage cells. These findings suggest that genetic changes affecting cartilage cell maturation may influence height more.
Renthal notes that studies in mouse cells may not fully translate to humans, and GWAS are observational studies that cannot fully illustrate the cause and effects of height. But her study provides a novel method to bridge the two methods and provide new insights into human genetics.
Next, the team plans to use the method to understand hormones’ effect on cartilage cells. They will also look into some of the 145 genes that have no known connection to skeletal growth. The investigation may reveal new genes and pathways that play a role in the bones.
“I see patients with skeletal dysplasia, where there isn’t any treatment because genetics made their bones grow this way,” says Renthal. “It’s my hope that the more we can understand about the biology of the growth plate, the more we would be able to intervene at earlier times in growing skeletons and the life of a kid.”

There is a need for new drugs. For example, many of the antibiotics that we have been using for a long time are becoming less effective. Chemists and pharmaceutical scientists are frantically searching for new active substances, especially those that can penetrate cell membranes, as these are the only ones that patients can take orally in the form of a tablet or syrup. Only these active ingredients pass through the intestinal wall in the small intestine and enter the bloodstream to reach the affected area in the body. For active ingredients that cannot penetrate the cell membrane, physicians have no choice but to inject them directly into the bloodstream.
Large molecules with potential
That is why researchers are trying to understand which molecules can penetrate cell membranes and how exactly they do this. For one important and promising class of substances — cyclic peptides — chemists at ETH Zurich have now decoded additional details of the relevant mechanism. “The more we know about this mechanism and the properties a molecule must have, the earlier and more effectively researchers can take this into account when developing new drugs,” says Sereina Riniker, a professor in the Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences. She led the study, which has now been published in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry.
Cyclic peptides are ring-shaped molecules that are much larger than the small molecules that make up the majority of today’s drugs. In some areas of application, however, chemists and pharmaceutical scientists are coming up against their limits with small molecules, which is why they are turning to larger molecules like the cyclic peptides. This substance class includes many pharmaceutically active natural substances, such as cyclosporine, an immunosuppressant that for decades has been used after organ transplants, and many antibiotics.
Possible only with computer modelling
Using computer modelling and a lot of supercomputer power, Riniker and her colleagues were able to elucidate how cyclic peptides similar to cyclosporine cross a membrane. “Only modelling allows us such detailed, high-resolution insights, as there are no experiments that would let us observe an individual molecule crossing a membrane,” Riniker says.

To understand the mechanism, one must know how cyclic peptides are structured: they consist of a central ring structure to which side chains are attached. The molecules are flexible and can dynamically change their structure to adapt to their environment.
Dance through the cell membrane
Riniker’s simulations reveal in detail how a cyclic peptide penetrates the membrane: First, the molecule anchor itself to the membrane’s surface, before penetrating it perpendicular to the membrane. It then changes its three-dimensional shape while passing through, rotating once about its longitudinal axis before reaching the other side of the membrane, where it exits again.
These changes in shape have to do with the different environments the molecule experiences as it moves through the membrane: The body consists largely of water. Both inside and outside of cells, biochemical molecules are mostly present in aqueous solution. Cell membranes, on the other hand, are made up of fatty acids, so water-repellent conditions prevail within them. “To enable it to cross the membrane, the cyclic peptide changes its three-dimensional shape to briefly become as hydrophobic as possible,” Riniker explains.
Changing molecular side chains
For the present study, the researchers investigated eight different cyclic peptides. These are model peptides with no medicinal effect — scientists at pharmaceutical giant Novartis developed them for basic research, which is why Riniker also collaborated with Novartis researchers for this study.
The new findings can now be used in discovering cyclic peptides as new drug candidates. However, Riniker points out a certain trade-off: there are side chains that provide ideal conditions for cyclic peptides to anchor to the membrane surface, but that make it difficult for the peptides to cross the membrane. This new knowledge helps researchers to give advance thought to which side chains they want to use and where on the molecule they are most helpful. All of this could speed up drug discovery and development by ensuring right from the outset that researchers are investigating potential active ingredients that can eventually be taken as a tablet.

Young babies and newborn mice can naturally heal damage to the bones that form the top of the skull, but this ability is lost in adults. In a new study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, University of Pittsburgh researchers developed a novel approach that promoted bone regeneration in mice without implantation of bone tissue or biomaterials.
The technique uses a device similar to an orthodontic wire used to realign teeth to carefully stretch the skull along its sutures, activating skeletal stem cells that reside in these wiggly seams. In adult mice, the technique repaired damage to the skull that otherwise would not have healed on its own.
“Our approach is inspired by babies because they have an amazing ability to regenerate bone defects in the calvarial bones that make up the top of the skull,” said senior author Giuseppe Intini, D.D.S., Ph.D., associate professor of periodontics and preventive dentistry at the Pitt School of Dental Medicine, member of the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine and an investigator at UPMC Hillman Cancer Center. “By harnessing the body’s own healing capacity with autotherapies, we can stimulate bone to heal itself. We hope to build on this research in the future to develop novel therapies for people.”
Trauma, congenital defects and surgery to treat cancer or other diseases are common causes of damage to the skull. After people reach the age of about 2 years, such injuries don’t heal on their own.
“In babies, the calvarial bones are not completely fused, so the sutures where stem cells reside are still open,” said Intini. “We wondered whether the unfused sutures had something to do with the bone regenerative capacity observed in babies and hypothesized that we could reverse engineer this in adults by mechanically opening the sutures to activate the stem cell niche and boost stem cell numbers.”
In mice — which have very similar skull development to humans — the researchers used a so-called bone distraction device to carefully apply a controlled pulling force to the calvarial bones, strong enough to slightly widen the sutures but not enough to cause a fracture. Using single-cell RNA sequencing and live-imaging microscopy, they found that the number of stem cells in the expanded sutures of these animals quadrupled.

As a result, mice treated with the device regenerated bone to heal a large defect in the skull.
“If you can effectively activate the stem cell niche, you can increase the number of stem cells and sustain regeneration of bone defects,” said Intini. “Remarkably, we showed that the defect can heal even if it’s away from the suture.”
Although the approach was effective in healing skeletally mature 2-month-old mice, the age that roughly translates to young adulthood in humans, it did not work in 10-month-old, or middle-aged, rodents.
“In older mice, the quantity of stem cells in calvarial sutures is very low, so expanding this niche is not as effective in boosting healing capacity,” Intini explained. “Overcoming this challenge is a focus of research to come.”
Current treatments for damage to the skull are usually bone grafts or implantation of biomaterials that act as scaffolds for bone regeneration, but these approaches are not always effective and come with risks, said Intini.
The researchers are investigating how their findings could be used to inform novel therapies in people, not just to heal skull injuries but also fractures in long bones such as the femur. Bone distraction devices are already used to treat certain conditions such as a birth defect called craniosynostosis, in which the calvarial bones fuse too early, so expanding this technique to promote bone regeneration could be a future focus of clinical trials.
Intini and his team are also investigating non-mechanical approaches to activate skeletal stem cells such as medications.
Other authors who contributed to the study were Zahra A. Aldawood, D.M.Sc, of the Harvard School of Dental Medicine and Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University; Luigi Mancinelli, Ph.D., Xuehui Geng, M.D., M.S., Taiana C. Leite, D.D.S., M.S., and Roberta Di Carlo, Ph.D., all of Pitt; Shu-Chi A. Yeh, Ph.D., and Charles P. Lin, Ph.D., both of Massachusetts General Hospital; Jonas Gustafson, of Seattle Children’s Research Institute; Katarzyna Wilk, M.S., Joseph Yozgatian, D.D.S., M.M.Sc., Ph.D., Sasan Garakani, D.D.S., and Seyed Hossein Bassir, D.D.S., D.M.Sc., of the Harvard School of Dental Medicine; and Michael L. Cunningham, M.D., Ph.D., of the Seattle Children’s Research Institute and the University of Washington.
This research was supported by the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (grants #R00DE021069 and #R01DE026155).

Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more.

CNN
 — 

It’s a bird… It’s a plane… It’s a paper airplane!

The world record for the farthest flight by paper airplane has been broken by three aerospace engineers with a paper aircraft that flew a grand total of 289 feet, 9 inches (88 meters), nearly the length of an American football field.

They beat the previous record of 252 feet, 7 inches (77 meters) achieved on April 2022 by a trio in South Korea. Prior to that, the record had not been broken in over a decade.

“It really put things on the map and it’s a really proud moment for family and friends,” said Dillon Ruble, a systems engineer at Boeing and now paper airplane record holder, in a release. “It’s a good tie in to aerospace and thinking along the lines of designing and creating prototypes.”

Ruble worked alongside Garrett Jensen, a strength engineer also with Boeing, and aerospace engineer Nathaniel Erickson. The trio are recent graduates who studied aerospace engineering and mechanical engineering at Missouri University of Science and Technology.

The feat required months of effort, as the team put in nearly 500 hours of studying origami and aerodynamics to create and test multiple prototypes. The engineers put their final design to the test on December 2, 2022, in Crown Point, Indiana, where the record was achieved on Ruble’s third throw.

“We hope this record stands for quite a while — 290 feet (88 meters) is unreal,” Jensen said in the release. “That’s 14 to 15 feet (4.2 to 4.6 meters) over the farthest throw we ever did. It took a lot of planning and a lot of skill to beat the previous record.”

Paper plane physics

The team had decided their best chance at beating the world record would be with an airplane design that focused on speed and minimized drag, so that the plane could fly a far distance in a short amount of time.

Gathering inspiration from various hypersonic aircrafts, vehicles that can fly faster than five times the speed of sound (Mach 5), specifically the NASA X-43A, the team had come up with the winning paper aircraft design — later named “Mach 5.”

“Full-scale and paper airplanes have vast differences in their complexity, but both operate on the same fundamental principles,” said Ruble, via email. “Some of the same design methodologies can be applied to both. One of these methods was our trial-and-error design process. For instance, we would theorize about a fold we could change on our plane, fold it, throw it, and compare the distance to previous iterations to determine if the change was beneficial.”

To find the best technique when it came to throwing the paper airplane, the team ran various simulations and analyzed slow-motion videos of their previous throws.

“We found the optimal angle is about 40 degrees off the ground. Once you’re aiming that high, you throw as hard as possible. That gives us our best distance,” Jensen said in the statement. “It took simulations to figure that out. I didn’t think we could get useful data from a simulation on a paper airplane. Turns out, we could.”

Even down to the paper, which the team had decided that A4 (slightly longer than typical letter sized paper) was the best for manipulating and folding into the winning airplane. With these meticulously thought-out design choices, and careful attention to the numerous rules and guidelines set forth by the Guinness World Record Team, the three were set to break a record.

On its record-breaking distance flight the plane was in the air for roughly six seconds. The Guinness paper plane record for duration of flight is currently 29.2 seconds.

“The design objectives for an air-time record would be vastly different from the low-drag version we built for the longest-distance record,” Ruble said via email. “Increasing the wingspan and decreasing the aspect ratio would be the first steps in producing this type of plane.”

Paper airplane aside, Ruble added that this tedious method of back-and-forth trials served as a testament to the importance of rigorous prototyping in the real world.

From origami enthusiasts to aerospace engineers

Ruble and Jensen began their paper plane engineering careers while in middle school, participating in paper airplane events held at Boeing. Ruble said he enjoyed making the paper come to life and the hard work he had to put in to find ways to improve his designs. Both were also fans of origami as kids.

The record-breaking team hopes their accomplishment will inspire other young and aspiring aerospace engineers to chase their dreams.

For those looking to create their own record-breaking paper plane design, the feat is not impossible, but may take some time (and skill).

“Mach 5 flies best at high relative velocity, but to achieve this condition, the aircraft must be launched in a specific manner,” said Ruble via email. “This technique, in addition to the complexity of the plane, means that only the most experienced paper aircraft enthusiasts would have success with the design.

“However, by starting with publicly available designs, anyone can hone their skills to throw paper airplanes farther and higher than all of their friends,” he added.

In an emergency application, lawyers for the government asked the justices to stay all of a Texas judge’s ruling suspending a commonly used abortion medication.WASHINGTON — The Biden administration filed an emergency application to the Supreme Court on Friday asking the justices to pause parts of an appeals court ruling that limited the availability of a common abortion pill.The application, in the first major abortion case to reach the justices since they eliminated the constitutional right to abortion in June, asked the court to allow the pill, mifepristone, to remain widely available while the government pursues an appeal.The brief was harshly critical of a ruling from a federal judge suspending approval of the drug.”The district court countermanded a scientific judgment F.D.A. has maintained across five administrations; nullified the approval of a drug that has been safely used by millions of Americans over more than two decades; and upset reliance interests in a health care system that depends on the availability of mifepristone as an alternative to surgical abortion for women who choose to lawfully terminate their early pregnancies,” the government’s brief said.On Wednesday night, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, in New Orleans, issued a mixed decision, staying the most sweeping aspects of a decision from Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk that would have wholly overridden the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the pill.But the appeals court, in an unsigned order from a divided three-judge panel, temporarily let stand other aspects of Judge Kacsmaryk’s ruling, including by requiring in-person visits with doctors, rolling back the availability of the pills from the first 10 weeks of pregnancy to seven weeks and barring dispensing them by mail.The panel’s ruling was provisional, and the court put the appeal itself on a fast track.In the emergency application, Solicitor General Elizabeth B. Prelogar, representing the F.D.A., wrote that the plaintiffs lacked standing to challenge a drug they neither take nor prescribe and that they had provided no basis for second-guessing the agency’s scientific judgment.Had Judge Kacsmaryk’s ruling fully come into force, it would have even more severely disrupted the availability of mifepristone, part of the most commonly used method for ending pregnancies in the United States.The case was brought by several doctors and medical groups, including the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, which was incorporated in August in Amarillo, Texas, where the case was filed. Judge Kacsmaryk, a Trump appointee who is a longtime opponent of abortion, is the only federal judge in the Amarillo division in the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of Texas.The appeals court majority wrote that the statute of limitations appeared to bar a challenge to the F.D.A.’s initial approval of the pill in 2000. But it said that later expansions of access to the pill were properly before the judge and that there were authentic safety concerns warranting suspension of regulations making it easier to obtain the pills.The majority added that the plaintiffs appeared to have standing to sue because they might have to treat complications from the use of the pill.Two judges in the majority on the appeals court panel, Kurt D. Engelhardt and Andrew Oldham, are appointees of President Donald J. Trump. The third judge on the appeals court panel who was effectively in dissent, Catharina Haynes, was appointed by President George W. Bush.Ms. Prelogar, representing the agency, responded that the plaintiffs could not show that they had experienced the sort of direct and concrete injury that would give them standing to sue. Rather, she wrote, they relied on implausible speculation.“They neither take nor prescribe mifepristone, and F.D.A.’s approval of the drug does not require them to do or refrain from doing anything,” she wrote. “Yet the Fifth Circuit held that the associations have standing because some of their members might be asked to treat women who are prescribed mifepristone by other providers and who then suffer an exceedingly rare adverse event.”In a second brief, filed by Danco Laboratories, which makes the branded version of mifepristone, called Mifeprex, the company’s lawyers said the appeals court’s ruling had created “regulatory chaos.”“Leaving the Fifth Circuit’s ruling in place will irreparably harm Danco, which will be unable to both conduct its business nationwide and comply with its legal obligations,” the company’s brief said. “The lack of emergency relief from this court will also harm women, the health care system, the pharmaceutical industry, states’ sovereignty interests and the separation of powers.”Judge Kacsmaryk once worked for First Liberty Institute, which says it is the largest legal organization in the nation focused exclusively on defending religious freedom. Democrats voted against confirming him to the bench in 2019 because of his history of opposing L.G.B.T.Q. rights.In his ruling, Judge Kacsmaryk adopted the language of abortion opponents, referring to abortion providers as “abortionists,” to the challenged procedure as “chemical abortion” and to the fetus as an “unborn human” or “unborn child.” Legal scholars said the judge had relied on questionable scientific studies.The case has returned the Supreme Court to an issue it not long ago said it was ceding to elected officials in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that established a constitutional right to abortion. Writing for the majority, Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. wrote that the political branches, rather than the courts, should set abortion policy.The Dobbs decision concerned the Constitution, while Judge Kacsmaryk’s ruling mostly turned on principles of administrative law. But the new case demonstrated that legal disputes over abortion will continue to engage the justices.The stakes are high. More than five million women have used mifepristone to terminate their pregnancies in the United States, and many studies have found it to be safe and effective. The drug is also approved for use in dozens of other countries.In the United States, the protocol typically involves mifepristone in combination with a second drug, misoprostol, that are used in the first 10 weeks of pregnancy. About 60 percent of abortions in that time employ the two drugs rather than surgery.The first drug blocks the effects of progesterone, a hormone without which the lining of the uterus begins to break down. The second one, taken 24 to 48 hours later, induces contractions of the uterus that expel its contents.If access to mifepristone is limited, abortion providers may rely solely on misoprostol, which can be used on its own but is somewhat less effective and more prone to cause side effects.The appeals court’s order is in conflict with ones issued by a federal judge in Washington State in another lawsuit related to mifepristone. That lawsuit, filed against the F.D.A. by Democratic attorneys general from 17 states and the District of Columbia, challenged extra restrictions that the agency imposes on mifepristone and asked the judge to prevent it from limiting access to the drug.Judge Thomas O. Rice of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington, an Obama appointee, did not lift the additional restrictions but ordered the F.D.A. to maintain the status quo. He blocked the agency from curbing the availability of mifepristone in the states that filed the lawsuit.Lawyers for Danco wrote that the dueling orders put it “in an impossible position.”The F.D.A., they wrote, “cannot permit Danco to simultaneously operate two separate distribution networks for two different parts of the country; that simply is not how the federal regulation of pharmaceuticals works.”

Sign up for CNN’s Sleep, But Better newsletter series. Our seven-part guide has helpful hints to achieve better sleep.

CNN
 — 

We leave behind our fears of monsters under the bed as we say goodbye to our childhoods, but one can follow us into adulthood and loom over our heads.

Nightmares are more common in childhood, but anywhere from 50% to 85% of adults report having occasional nightmares.

Almost everyone can experience nightmares.

“Dreams do usually incorporate things that happened during the day, leading some researchers to hypothesize that dreams and rapid eye movement sleep is essential for memory consolidation and cognitive rejuvenation,” said Joshua Tal, a sleep and health psychologist based in Manhattan.

“Nightmares are the mind’s attempts at making sense of these events, by replaying them in images during sleep.”

Nightmares are what the American Academy of Sleep Medicine call “vivid, realistic and disturbing dreams typically involving threats to survival or security, which often evoke emotions of anxiety, fear or terror.”

If someone has frequent nightmares — more than once or twice weekly — that cause distress or impairment at work or among people, he or she might have nightmare disorder. Treatments include medications and behavioral therapies.

Addressing frequent nightmares is important since they have also been linked to insomnia, depression and suicidal behavior. Since nightmares can also cause sleep deprivation, they are linked to heart disease and obesity as well.

Trying out these 10 steps could help you ease your nightmares and improve your sleep and quality of life.

1. Establish a sleep routine

Nightmares occur during rapid eye movement sleep, the phase during which our muscles relax and we dream. Waking up during REM sleep enables recollection of the dream and resulting distress, said Jennifer Martin, a professor of medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, and member of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine’s board of directors.

“One of the most effective ways to treat nightmare problems in adults is actually to get them sleeping more soundly (so) they wake up less often,” Martin said.

A healthy sleep routine begets sound sleep. Develop one by exercising, setting regular sleep and waking times, ensuring your room is dark and cool, avoiding stimulating beverages after midafternoon and engaging in relaxing activities.

2. Cut back on alcohol

Alcoholic beverages can induce restlessness and awakenings throughout the night — potentially helping you remember nightmares, Martin said.

“A lot of people use alcohol as a way to wind down and feel sleepy at the end of the day, but it’s really not the right solution,” she added. Instead, try herbal teas and other beverages conducive to sleep. If drinking was the only part of your relaxation routine, chat with your partner or read instead.

One drink more than three hours before bedtime is OK, Martin said. Just pay attention to whether it causes a post-dinner nap and alertness at bedtime, and eliminate that drink if it does.

3. Don’t eat before bed

Snacking can boost metabolism, which causes your brain to be more active and could lead to nightmares, according to the National Sleep Foundation.

While some people sleep better after eating a light snack, you should stop eating two to three hours before bedtime. If you notice that you have nightmares afterward, try avoiding nighttime snacking or heavier meals before bed.

4. Review your medications

Some medications can prompt nightmares by interrupting REM sleep.

“If people can identify that their nightmares either started or increased when they had a change in their medication, that’s definitely a reason to talk to their doctor” about their medication schedule or alternatives, Martin said.

Melatonin, while a popular sleep aid, influences our circadian rhythm that regulates REM sleep, and can lead to more or fewer nightmares. If you want to take melatonin for better sleep, work with a sleep specialist to ensure you’re taking it at the right time and not compounding the problem, Martin said.

5. Practice stress-relieving activities

Progressive muscle relaxation — tensing muscle groups as you inhale and relaxing them as you exhale — has been effective for reducing nightmares.

“Nightmares activate the sympathetic nervous system, the ‘fight or flight system,’ the body’s natural response to imminent danger,” said Tal via email.

“The body also has an innate relaxation system: the parasympathetic nervous system, aka the ‘rest and digest’ system.” Progressive muscle relaxation and other relaxation activities can help activate that system.

6. Journal your worries

Write down your worries to get them all out ahead of time, lest they rear their disquieting heads at night. Journaling can be helpful for alleviating nightmares and stress in general, Tal said.

7. Don’t watch or read scary content before bed

Since our nighttime observations can appear during sleep, “spend some energy engaging with things that are more emotionally neutral or even positive” before bedtime, Martin suggested.

During the pandemic, our everyday lives are looking pretty scary, too. “Reading the news media and then hopping into bed is more likely to trigger disturbing and upsetting dreams than looking through pictures from your last vacation with your family,” she added.

8. Rewrite the ending

Imagery rehearsal therapy is effective “when the chronic nightmares are showing similar themes and patterns,” Tal said.

Since nightmares can be learned behavior for the brain, this practice involves writing down in detail the narrative elements of the dream. Then rewrite the dream so that it ends positively. Just before falling asleep, set the intention to re-dream by saying aloud, “If or when I have the beginnings of the same bad dream, I will be able to instead have this much better dream with a positive outcome.”

“By practicing a rewrite during the daytime, you increase your chances of having them at night while you’re sleeping instead of your nightmare,” Tal said.

9. Use a white noise machine

Silence is key in a sleep routine, but “for people who either don’t like it to be completely quiet or who are awakened by noises they can’t control during the night,” background noise “is a good strategy,” Martin said.

Try a fan or a white noise machine or app for several consecutive nights to help your brain adapt, she added.

10. Check up on your mental health

If nothing works and you’re still having nightmares, talk with a therapist or sleep specialist.

“Nightmares might be a sign of a larger issue, such as PTSD or a mood disorder,” Tal said. “It is possible to treat the nightmares without treating the underlying disorder, but it may also be helpful to treat both the symptom and the disorder.

“There has been great progress on psychological treatments for nightmares, insomnia, anxiety and mood disorders,” Tal added. “Do not be afraid to ask for help; psychotherapy works and it is often short term and accessible.”

Published2 days agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, Getty ImagesBy Niki Cardwell & Jasmine AnderssonBBC NewsThe government is investigating reports that growing numbers of people are developing life-changing allergies to some gel nail products.Dermatologists say they are treating people for allergic reactions to acrylic and gel nails “most weeks”.Dr Deirdre Buckley of the British Association of Dermatologists urged people to cut down on gel nail use and stick to “old-fashioned” polishes.She is now urging people to stop using DIY home kits to treat their nails. Some people have reported nails loosening or falling off, skin rashes or, in rarer cases, breathing difficulties, she said. On Friday, the government’s Office for Product Safety and Standards confirmed it was investigating and said the first point of contact for anyone developing an allergy after using a polish is their local trading standards department. In a statement it said: “All cosmetics made available in the UK must comply with strict safety laws. This includes a list of ingredients to enable consumers with allergies to identify products that may be unsuitable for them.”Although most gel polish manicures are safe and result in no problems, the British Association of Dermatologists is warning that the methacrylate chemicals – found in gel and acrylic nails – can cause allergic reactions in some people. It often occurs when gels and polishes are applied at home, or by untrained technicians. Dr Buckley – who co-authored a report about the issue in 2018 – told the BBC it was growing into “a very serious and common problem”.”We’re seeing it more and more because more people are buying DIY kits, developing an allergy and then going to a salon, and the allergy gets worse.”She said in “an ideal situation”, people would stop using gel nail polish and go back to old fashioned nail polishes, “which are much less sensitising”. “If people are determined to continue with acrylate nail products, they should get them done professionally,” she added.Gel and acrylic nails allergy warningGel polish treatments have spiked in popularity over recent years because the polish is long-lasting. But unlike other nail polishes, gel varnish needs to be “cured” under a UV light to dry.However, the UV lamps that are purchased to dry the polish do not work with every type of gel.If a lamp is not at least 36 watts or the correct wavelength, the acrylates – a group of chemicals used to bond the gel – do not dry properly, penetrating the nail bed and surrounding skin, causing irritation and allergies. Image source, Getty ImagesThe allergies can leave sufferers unable to have medical treatments like white dental fillings, joint replacement surgery and some diabetes medications.This is because once a person is sensitised, the body will no longer tolerate anything containing acrylates. Dr Buckley said she saw one case where a woman had blistering over her hands and had to have several weeks off work.”Another lady was doing home kits that she purchased herself. People don’t realize they’re going to become sensitized to something which has huge implications that have nothing to do with nails,” she added.Lisa Prince started having problems when she was training to be a nail technician. She developed rashes and swelling all over her face, neck and body. “We were taught nothing about chemical composition of the products we were using. My tutor just told me to wear gloves.” After tests, she was told she was allergic to acrylates. “They told me I was allergic to acrylates and would have to let my dentist know because it would affect that,” she said. “And I would no longer be able to have joint replacements.”She said she was left in shock, saying: “It’s a scary thought. I’ve got really bad legs and hips. I know that some point I’m going to need surgery.”There are many other stories like Lisa’s on social media. Nail technician Suzanne Clayton set up a group on Facebook when some of her clients started reacting to their gel manicures. “I started the group so that nail techs had a place to talk about the problems we were seeing. Three days later, there was 700 people in the group. And I was like, what’s going on? It was just crazy. And it’s just exploded since then. It just keeps growing and growing and growing”. Four years on, the group now has in excess of 37,000 members, with reports of allergies from more than 100 countries. The first gel nail products were created in 2009 by the American firm Gelish. Their CEO Danny Hill says this surge in allergies is concerning. “We try so hard to do all the things right – training, labelling, certification of the chemicals that we use. Our products are EU compliant, and also US compliant. With internet sales, products are from countries that do not comply to those strict regulations, and can cause severe irritation to the skin.” “We’ve sold close to 100-million bottles of gel polish around the world. And yes, there are cases when we do have some breakouts or allergies. But the numbers are very low.” Some nail technicians have also said the reactions are giving some in the industry cause for concern.Formulations of gel polishes do differ; some are more problematic than others. The founder of the Federation of Nail Professionals, Marian Newman, says gel manicures are safe, if you ask the right questions. She has seen “lots” of allergic reactions affecting customers and nail technicians, she said. She is also urging people to ditch their DIY kits.She told BBC News: “People that buy DIY kits and do gel polish nails at home, please don’t. What should be on the labels is that these products should be used by a professional only.”Choose your nail professional wisely by their level of education, training and qualifications. Don’t be shy to ask. They won’t mind. And make sure they’re using a range of products that have been made in the in Europe or in America. As long as you understand what to look for, it is safe.” She added: “One of the most recognized allergens is an ingredient names Hema. To be safer find someone who uses a brand which is Hema-free, and there are plenty of them now. And, if possible, hypoallergenic.”If you have experienced adverse effects to gel nail polish, you can get in touch by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also get in touch in the following ways:WhatsApp: +44 7756 165803Tweet: @BBC_HaveYourSayUpload your pictures/video hereOr fill out the form belowPlease read our terms & conditions and privacy policy

If you are reading this page and can’t see the form you will need to visit the mobile version of the BBC website to submit your question or comment or you can email us at HaveYourSay@bbc.co.uk. Please include your name, age and location with any submission. More on this storyGel and acrylic nails allergy warning9 August 2018

The Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is easily spread through bodily fluids, primarily saliva, such as kissing, shared drinks or using the same eating utensils. Not surprisingly then, EBV is also among the most ubiquitous of viruses: More than 90% of the world’s population has been infected, usually during childhood.
EBV causes infectious mononucleosis and similar ailments, though often there are no symptoms. Most infections are mild and pass, but the virus persists in the body, becoming latent or inactive, sometimes reactivating. Long-term latent infections are associated with several chronic inflammatory conditions and multiple cancers.
In a new paper, published April 12, 2023 in the journal Nature, researchers at University of California San Diego, UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center and Ludwig Cancer Research at UC San Diego, describe for the first time how the virus exploits genomic weaknesses to cause cancer while reducing the body’s ability to suppress it.
These findings show “how a virus can induce cleavage of human chromosome 11, initiating a cascade of genomic instability that can potentially activate a leukemia-causing oncogene and inactivate a major tumor suppressor,” said senior study author Don Cleveland, PhD, Distinguished Professor of Medicine, Neurosciences and Cellular and Molecular Medicine at UC San Diego School of Medicine.
“It’s the first demonstration of how cleavage of a ‘fragile DNA’ site can be selectively induced.”
Throughout every person’s genome or full set of genes are fragile sites, specific chromosomal regions more likely to produce mutations, breaks or gaps when replicating. Some are rare, some are common; all are associated with disorders and disease, sometimes heritable conditions, sometimes not, such as many cancers.
In the new study, Cleveland and colleagues focus on EBNA1, a viral protein that persists in cells infected with EBV. EBNA1 was previously known to bind at a specific genomic sequence in the EBV genome at the origin of replication. The researchers found that EBNA1 also binds a cluster of EBV-like sequences at a fragile site on human chromosome 11 where increasing abundance of the protein triggers chromosomal breakage.
Other prior research has shown that EBNA1 inhibits p53, a gene that plays a key role in controlling cell division and cell death. It also suppresses tumor formation when normal. Mutations of p53, on the other hand, are linked to cancer cell growth.
When the scientists examined whole-genome sequencing data for 2,439 cancers across 38 tumor types from the Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes project, they found that cancer tumors with detectable EBV revealed higher levels of chromosome 11 abnormalities, including 100% of the head and neck cancer cases.
“For a ubiquitous virus that is harmless for the majority of the human population, identifying at-risk individuals susceptible to the development of latent infection-associated diseases is still an ongoing effort,” said the study’s first author Julia Li, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow in Cleveland’s lab.
“This discovery suggests that susceptibility to EBNA1-induced fragmentation of chromosome 11 depends on the control of EBNA1 levels produced in latent infection, as well as the genetic variability in the number of EBV-like sequences present on chromosome 11 in each individual. Going forward, this knowledge paves the way for screening risk factors for the development of EBV-associated diseases. Moreover, blocking EBNA1 from binding at this cluster of sequences on chromosome 11 can be exploited to prevent the development of EBV-associated diseases.”

A preclinical study using stem cells to produce progenitor photoreceptor cells — light-detecting cells found in the eye — and then transplanting these into experimental models of damaged retinas has resulted in significant vision recovery. This finding, by scientists at Duke-NUS Medical School, the Singapore Eye Research Institute and the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, marks a first step towards potentially restoring vision in eye diseases characterised by photoreceptor loss.
“Our laboratory has developed a novel method that enables the production of photoreceptor progenitor cells resembling those in human embryos,” said Assistant Professor Tay Hwee Goon, first author of the study from Duke-NUS’ Centre for Vision Research. “Transplantation of these cells into experimental models has yielded partial restoration of the retinal function.”
The degeneration of photoreceptors in the eye is a significant cause of declining vision that can eventually lead to blindness and for which there is currently no effective treatment. Photoreceptor degeneration occurs in a variety of inherited retinal diseases, such as retinitis pigmentosa — a rare eye disease that breaks down cells in the retina over time and eventually causes vision loss — and age-related macular degeneration, a leading cause of vision impairment worldwide.
Asst Prof Tay and her team developed a procedure to grow human embryonic stem cells in the presence of purified laminin proteins that are involved in normal development of human retinas. In the presence of the laminins, stem cells could be directed to differentiate into photoreceptor progenitor cells responsible for converting light into signals that are sent to the brain.
When these cells were transplanted into damaged retinas, the preclinical models showed significant recovery of vision. A diagnostic test called electroretinogram also identified significant recovery in the retinas via electrical activity in the retina in response to a light stimulus. The transplanted cells established connections with surrounding retinal cells and nerves in the inner retina. They also survived and functioned for many weeks after transplantation.
Moving forward, the team hopes to refine their method to make it simpler and achieve more consistent results than earlier attempts to explore stem cell therapy for photoreceptor cell replacement.
“It is exciting to find these results, which suggest a promising route towards using stem cells to treat those forms of visual deterioration and blindness caused by the loss of photoreceptors,” said Dr Helder Andre, Head of Molecular and Cellular Research from Karolinska Institute’s Department of Clinical Neuroscience and a senior author of the study.
Associate Professor Enrico Petretto, Director of the Centre for Computational Biology at Duke-NUS and the study’s bioinformatics analysis lead, added: “Our method may also be useful for understanding the molecular and cellular pathways that drive the progression of macular degeneration, perhaps leading to the development of other therapeutic approaches.”
The next challenge for the researchers is to explore the efficacy of their method in models of photoreceptor degeneration that more closely match the human condition.
“If we get promising results in our future studies, we hope to move to clinical trials in patients,” said Professor Karl Tryggvason, from Duke-NUS’ Cardiovascular and Metabolic Disorders Programme, and the corresponding author of the study. “That would be an important step towards for being able to reverse damage of the retina and restore vision.”
The protocol underlying the procedure developed by Asst Prof Tay has since been licensed to Swedish biotech start-up Alder Therapeutics.

Published22 minutes agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, Getty ImagesBy Alys DaviesBBC NewsFlorida’s House of Representatives has approved a ban on most abortions after six weeks, paving the way for drastic changes in access to the procedure across the state.The bill must be signed by Republican state Governor Ron DeSantis, who has indicated his support, before it becomes law.Opponents argue six weeks is before many women know they are pregnant.Florida currently prohibits abortion after 15 weeks.The state has been a safe haven for those seeking abortion in the country’s south-east since Roe v Wade – which gave women in the US the constitutional right to abortion – was overturned last year. The state’s current 15-week limit on abortion is one of the most lenient in the south-east, with many travelling from other states to Florida to have the procedure.The six-week ban makes exceptions for abortions in cases of rape or incest, as long as the woman can provide documentation such as a police report or a restraining order.Florida’s Republican-led House approved the ban on Thursday, with 70 voting for and 40 voting against. It had been passed in the state Senate on 3 April.”A woman’s right to choose, I’ve heard people talk about that,” Republican lawmaker Kiyan Michael said during the debate, as quoted by CNN. “Well, that right to choose begins before you have sex.””Women’s health and their personal right to choose is being stolen,” Democratic lawmaker Felicia Simone Robinson argued, in comments cited by the Associated Press news agency.The fate of the proposed six-week ban could be affected by an ongoing legal challenge to the existing 15-week ban.National debate over abortion in the US has been raging since a federal judge suspended the original approval of a widely used abortion drug, mifepristone, last week.That suspension was later blocked by an appellate court, and the Biden administration has said it will ask the Supreme Court to restore full access to the drug.This video can not be playedTo play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.More on this storyControversial Florida abortion ban blocked by court30 June 2022US will take abortion pill case to Supreme Court5 hours agoTop US court ends constitutional right to abortion24 June 2022Texas judge considers banning abortion pill in US15 March