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Do you have trouble sleeping?  Wake up a lot during the night?  Even worse, have you been diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA)? If you have, better get on the scale.  A new study has found that it's critical for people with OSA and other forms of sleep disturbance keep a healthy weight. According to newswise.com, weight loss is critical to reduce cardiovascular risk factors in those with sleep apnea. Obesity and OSA tend to co-exist and are associated with a variety of cardiovascular risk factors, including inflammation, insulin resistance, abnormal cholesterol, and high blood pressure. While effective therapies are available for OSA, researchers are still unclear about what interventions are most effective in reducing the burden of risk factors for cardiovascular disease associated with OSA in obese patients. New research from a multidisciplinary team at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania now reveals that the single...

My husband was overjoyed.  Turns out coffee can help beat type 2 diabetes. He, who drinks about eight to 10 cups a day, swears by it.  Since he exchanged it for Coke (he drinks iced coffee), he's lost about 20 pounds.  And, bless him, somehow he has no problem sleeping, even if he drinks it late at night. According to newswise.com, " People (in the study) who increased the amount of coffee they drank each day by more than one cup over a four-year period had a 11% lower risk for type 2 diabetes than those who made no changes to their coffee consumption." In addition, the study found that those who decreased their coffee consumption by more than a cup per day increased their type 2 diabetes risk by 17%. Scientists are also finding it may prevent certain kinds of cancers , too. "Our findings confirm those of previous studies that showed that higher coffee consumption was associated with lower type 2 diabetes risk,” said Shilpa Bhupathiraju, lead author and re...

OK, so too much definitely causes heart disease, and may even result in cancer, especially of the colon and rectum. webmd.com reports that a survey of more than a half-million Americans found that those who ate the most red meat and processed meat for 10 years died sooner than those who didn't. "The association between consumption of red and processed meats and cancer, particularly colorectal cancer, is very consistent,” Marji McCullough, PhD, a nutritional epidemiologist with the American Cancer Society, told webmd.com. But now they're finding that red mea t is implicated in diabetes, too.   The more red meat you eat, the higher your chances of developing type 2 diabetes, a new study has found. Even upping your consumption of red meat by as little as a half a serving a day (about 1.5 ounces) increased  people's risk of developing type 2 diabetes over a four-year period by 48%, "compared with people who did not change their red-meat intake," according ...

Loneliness stinks.  But did you know it's as bad as obesity, high blood pressure, lack of exercise or smoking when it comes to illness and early death, Jane Brody reports today in The New York Times. Brody quotes a doctor who has studied this,  John T. Cacioppo , an award-winning psychologist at the University of Chicago, who says loneliness is so detrimental and harmful because it "undermines people’s ability to self-regulate."  In one study done in Chicago, people who scored high on a test to determine loneliness ate far more fatty foods than people whose score was lower. In another study, people made to feel disconnected from others ate many more cookies than those who felt more connected.  Cacioppo told Brody that lonely people will do whatever they can to make themselves feel better -- eat, smoke, drink, (in my case) shop, even have indiscriminate sex -- all to get rid of that clammy, awful feeling. Loneliness can also hurt us by increasing stress hormone...

The stroke belt.  That's what many call southeastern states like Mississippi (the fattest state in the nation) and Alabama, even Georgia.  And it's because more people who grew up or live in that area are prone to strokes. Experts say the risk exists even if you move away, according to a story by Mary MacVean of the LA Times.  A new study curiously places the highest risk on people who lived in the south from ages 13 to 18 -- 17% higher.  "Researchers speculated that adolescence is a time when many people set in place certain important habits – smoking, dietary choices – that affect stroke risk," MacVean reports. But others say factors like air pollution, environmental tobacco smoke, metals, and pesticides may also increase the risk of stroke. Here's another scary fact.  Love your Coke?  Plan on diabetes.  That's what a new study is reporting.  As little as one sugary soda a day can increase your chances of getting this disease by almost 2...

Very scary.  Scientists are now finding that those with Type 2 diabetes are more likely to be diagnosed with cancer than those without.  One study found that one in five diabetes patients developed a cancer. It may be because those who are overweight are prone to diabetes and weight has also been proven a factor in cancer. But it may be deeper than that.  Some think it may have something to do with insulin levels. http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/04/diabetes-increases-risk-of-cancer-death-2/