Daily Mail - 27.08.2019

Page 42 Daily Mail, Tuesday, August 27, 2019

EvEryday things can ‘rob’

our body of important

nutrients. This week: Stress

steals B vitamins and

magnesium

STRESS triggers

the fight-or-

flight response

which inhibits

digestion —

meaning nutri-

ents won’t be

absorbed as

they should.

‘For example,

some symp-

toms of irritable bowel syn-

drome (IBS) — a common

symptom of stress — can lead

to magnesium deficiency

resulting in fatigue and nau-

sea,’ says dietitian Jo Travers.

‘Stress can lead to diarrhoea,

which in turn can lead to mal-

absorption of nutrients

because of the lowered transit

time of food through the gut.’

It’s a vicious circle because

when it’s stressed the body

needs more nutrients, yet is

deprived of them. In particular

it needs B vitamins, essential

for brain function and there-

fore mental health. It also

needs magnesium, which helps

block the stress hormone.

CLEAN your toothbrush to get rid

of bacteria. Swiss researchers

found putting it in the

microwave for one minute was

best, reports the British Dental

Journal. Professor Damien

Walmsley of the British Dental

Association said: ‘Research

indicates it is effective. Make

sure there is no metal attached.’

How the warm weather

affects your health. This

week: Sun allergy

‘AROUND 10 to 15 per cent of

people can experience a prob-

lem called polymorphic light

eruption (PLE), which leads to

pink or red itchy bumps on

sun-exposed skin,’ says Dr

Susan Mayou, a consultant der-

matologist at the

Cadogan Clinic in

London.

It can take just

30 minutes of

sunlight to

trigger PLE in

some people,

and it can persist

for several days.

What causes it isn’t known, and

it doesn’t happen every time

someone is exposed to the sun.

Applying sunscreen 15 to 30

minutes before going out can

help prevent attacks and

calamine lotion can calm

itching. PLE is often confused

with prickly heat — another

itchy condition, caused by

sweat. Speak to your GP for a

correct diagnosis.

UNDER THE

WEATHER

DO THIS...

NUTRIENT

STEALERS

Picture: GETTY

Hi-tech dementia hope

Walnuts for gut problems

By ROGER DOBSON

Chin implant to help

stop problem snoring

a nEw study suggests a link

between obstructive sleep apnoea

(oSa) and the risk of oesophageal

cancer. doctors from west

virginia University in the

U.S. found patients with sleep

apnoea were more than three

times more likely to have Barrett’s

oesophagus — where cells in the

gullet become damaged by

stomach acid reflux. In some

cases these cells become

cancerous. work should be done to

gauge if patients with severe oSa

need to be screened for Barrett’s

oesophagus say the researchers in

the Journal of Gastroenterology

and Hepatology.



improvements in symptoms of
obstructive sleep apnoea, or OSA.
Here, soft tissue around the air-
way, including the tongue, relax
and collapse repeatedly during
sleep which interrupts normal
breathing causing pauses in breath-
ing, known as apnoeas. This can
block airflow for ten seconds or

more which can interrupt sleep and

cause daytime tiredness. In the

longer term, it has been linked to

an increased risk of high blood

pressure, stroke or heart attack.

The condition leads to loud snor-

ing as the collapsed tissues obstruct

the normal flow of air.

Up to two million people in the

UK have obstructive sleep apnoea.

It is linked to obesity and losing

excess weight can help as it takes

pressure off the soft tissues. Cer-

tain medications can also raise the

risk of sleep apnoea.

One of the most effective treat-

ments is continuous positive airway

pressure, where a mask is worn

A

devICe that provides a workout
for the muscles around the
tongue may be a new way to
tackle snoring.
The device, implanted in the skin of the
chin during a 15-minute procedure, contains a
stimulator that sends out impulses to activate
nerves and muscles to stop the tongue and airway
collapsing during sleep — a key cause of snoring.
The U-shaped device, about the size of a thumb
nail, straddles two nerves in the chin and is acti-
vated each night by placing a sticky patch that
contains a chip which wirelessly prompts the
stimulator to start working.
It has been approved for use in the UK following
a recent trial which found that it brought major

during sleep which delivers a

continuous supply of low pres-

sure compressed air to keep

the airway open and the

tongue in place.

However, as many as a third

of patients abandon it as they

have problems wearing the

device and find it too noisy to

sleep with.

T

He new system, devel-

oped by Belgium-based

Nyxoah, consists of

three parts; an

implanted stimulation device,

an activation chip and patch.

The device is implanted into

the skin under the chin using a

local anaesthetic. Once in

place the stimulator is invisi-

ble and not felt by the patient.

The device has electrodes on

both sides of the ‘U’ which are

sited over each of the two

branches of the hypoglossal

nerve, which run through the

chin and control the muscles

around the tongue.

Patients are given small

adhesive patches resembling

regular plasters to stick on the

skin each night over the

implanted device.

As well as a tiny chip the

patch contains a battery to

power it enough to activate

the implanted stimulator.

The patch is removed each

morning and put onto the

charger. The implant can stay

in place indefinitely.

The system delivers signals

to the hypoglossal nerve

through the night which act

on the muscles around the

tongue to make them contract

and stop them from collapsing

during sleep.

It has now been approved

for use in the UK and the rest

of europe following a trial at

seven centres in France

and Australia.

The manufacturer says the

results will be published this

year, and major improvements

were seen in symptoms.

A new trial, involving 110

patients, is under way at the

Medical Sleep Center, Man-

nheim in Germany.

Commenting on the device,

Jaydip Ray, a professor of otol-

ogy and neurotology at the

University of Sheffield, said:

‘This is very exciting for OSA

— being minimally invasive

and unobtrusive along with

wearing comfort and long

battery life, makes it all the

more attractive.

‘Long-term results from the

new trials would be

interesting.’

WALNUTS may protect

against ulcerative colitis,

according to U.S. research.

When mice with the

condition, in which the gut is

chronically inflamed, were

given walnuts for two weeks,

they suffered much less dam-

age to their colons during

flare-ups than mice not given

the nuts. Their gut walls also

seemed to heal more quickly.

Writing in the journal Nutri-

ents, the team from Texas

A&M University say they are

not suggesting that people

with ulcerative colitis feast on

walnuts.

Instead, determining which

compounds in the nuts are

providing protection could

lead to new treatments.

MOBILE phone frequencies

could help to battle

Alzheimer’s disease.

Drawing on previous stud-

ies by American researchers,

scientists at Nazarbayev

University and the National

Laboratory Astana in Kaza-

khstan have found that

exposing human and rat cells

to an electromagnetic field

frequency of 918 MHz (a

common frequency used in

mobile phone signals) for 60

minutes reduces oxidative

stress (cell damage caused by

the build-up of toxic protein

fragments in the brain

characteristic of Alzheim-

er’s). The researchers say

this is a step forward in

using radiation to treat

dementia patients.