The researchers also varied the time between the initial reminder

The team is calling for more measures to reduce christian louboutin the impact of shift working following the results of its study.

Researchers controlled the lives of 21 people, including meal and bedtimes.

The results, published in Science Translational Medicine, showed changes to normal sleep meant the body struggled to control sugar levels.

Some participants even developed early symptoms of diabetes within weeks.

Shift work has been associated with a host of health problems.

Doctors at Brigham and Women's Hospital, in the US, were trying to study its effects in a controlled environment.
Lower insulin levels

The 21 health-trial participants started with 10 hours' sleep at night. This was followed by three weeks of disruption to their sleep and body clocks.

The 21 health-trial participants started with 10 hours' sleep at night. This was followed by three weeks of disruption to their sleep and body clocks.
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The evidence is clear that getting enough sleep is important for health, and that sleep should be at night for best effect”

Dr Orfeu Buxton Brigham and Women's Hospital

The length of the day was extended to 28 hours, Christian Louboutin Sandals creating an effect similar to a full-time flyer constantly getting jet lag.

Participants were allowed only 6.5 hours' sleep in the new 28-hour day, equivalent to 5.6 hours in a normal day. They also lived in dim light to prevent normal light resetting the body clock.

During this part of the study, sugar levels in the blood were "significantly increased" immediately after a meal and during "fasting" parts of the day.

The researchers showed that lower levels of insulin - the hormone that normally controls blood sugar - were produced.

Three of the participants had sugar levels which stayed so high after their meals they were classified as "pre-diabetic".

They also highlighted a risk of putting on weight as the body slowed down.

"The 8% drop in resting metabolic rate that we measured in our participants... translates into a 12.5-pound increase in weight over a single year," they wrote.

Lead researcher Dr Orfeu Buxton said: "We think these results support the findings from studies showing that, in people with a pre-diabetic condition, shift workers who stay awake at night are much more likely to progress to full-on diabetes than day workers.

"Since night workers often have a hard time Christian Louboutin Marpop Red Patent Leather Wedges sleeping during the day, they can face both circadian [body clock] disruption working at night and insufficient sleep during the day.

"The evidence is clear that getting enough sleep is important for health, and that sleep should be at night for best effect."

The research group called for more efforts to reduce the health impact of shift working.
Artificial world

Dr Matthew Hobbs, head of research at Diabetes UK, said: "This is an interesting study which shows that under extreme conditions involving sleep deprivation and 'tricking' the body clock, participants produced less insulin and therefore had higher blood glucose levels then when they were able to sleep normally and live according to normal daily rhythms."

He cautioned that the laboratory conditions were not the same as working nights.

"Clearly, this does not equate to the normal experience of shift workers who are able, for example, to use bright lights when not sleeping.

"The study also involved only 21 people. For these reasons, it is not possible to conclude that the findings would translate to real conditions in the wider public."

Tweaking memories related to drug abuse may keep addicts from relapsing, a new study published Friday in Science journal reported.

A group of Chinese scientists found that memories that connect drug-related "cues" such as needles or cigarettes to the pleasurable effects of drugs play a large role in Dooney Bourke Handbag former drug users' relapses, BBC News reported.

Lin Lu of the National Institute of Drug Dependence at Peking University in Beijing and his team combined traditional memory "extinction" procedures with a process called memory reconsolidation, Medical Daily reported.

More from GlobalPost: Study suggests some brains are wired for addiction

The scientists worked with 66 former heroin addicts, 22 of which had not taken the drug for an average of 11 years. Half the group was initially shown a short video of drug use to "open" their memory window, followed by "extinction sessions" where they interacted with more cues of heroin use, including handling fake heroin, Science News reported.

The other half of the group were initially shown a video of the countryside, which would not open the window, and then the drug-related visuals, BBC reported.

The researchers also varied the time between the initial reminder and the "extinction" sessions: Some people waited just 10 minutes, and others waited six hours.

During tests done one, 30, and 180 days later, the researchers found that levels of drug cravings were lower in those who had their memory window "opened" by a visual trigger and then experienced the drug-related cues 10 minutes later. Those participants also showed less of a blood android homme pressure rise in response to seeing drug paraphernalia compared with people who hadn’t received the reminder, Science News reported. Furthermore, those who waited six hours before undergoing the extinction didn’t get the same effect.

More northerly colonies are thought to be particularly at risk

Using high-resolution images taken using christian louboutin satellites, researchers analysed 44 colonies of emperor penguins around the coastline of Antarctica.

They found the total emperor penguin population could be put at 595,000, roughly double previous estimates of 270,000 to 350,000.

The discovery has been welcomed amid concerns that changes to levels of ice on the world's coldest continent could pose a threat to the species.

Peter Fretwell, who led the Christian Louboutin Pumps researchers at the British Antarctic Survey, said: “We are delighted to be able to locate and identify such a large number of emperor penguins. This is the first comprehensive census of a species taken from space.

"It gives us a bit more confidence not only that there are lots of emperor penguins out there but that we can actually keep track of them as well."

The technique used by the scientists allowed them to spot the black and white birds amongst the ice, rock and guano that litter the Antarctic landscape.

Emperor penguins breed in some of the most inhospitable and inaccessible conditions in the world, where temperatures can reach as low as -50C, making them difficult to study.

The satellite images, however, allowed the researchers to conduct the first detailed survey of the species. The study, which is published in the journal PLoS ONE, even identified seven colonies that had never been seen before.

A special technique known as pan-sharpening to increase the resolution of the satellite images allowed the researchers to differentiate between birds, shadows and penguin excrement, or guano.

The study marks the first time that researchers have counted the entire population of any species by satellite in a single season.

Dr Fretwell believes the same technique could also be use to tot Christian Louboutin Metallic Cork Platform Wedges Gold up numbers of other wild animals that stand out clearly against their natural habitat, such as flamingos or reindeer.

Counting other types of penguins from space, however, may not be so easy. While emperors are large and contrast sharply against the white snow and ice on which they stand, other species are smaller and tend to breed on dark-coloured rock.

Michelle LaRue, from the University of Minnesota, said: “The implications of this study are far-reaching: we now have a cost-effective way to apply our methods to other poorly-understood species in the Antarctic, to strengthen ongoing field research, and to provide accurate information for international conservation efforts."

Conservation groups fear emperor penguins will be badly affected by climate change in the Antarctic as the colonies rely upon sea ice. Some research has suggested volumes of sea ice has been decreasing due to global warming.

More northerly colonies are thought to be particularly at risk. The new technique should allow scientists to monitor the impacts on the penguins in real time.

Dr Phil Trathan, a biologist at the British DG Handbag Antarctic Survey, said: “Current research suggests that emperor penguin colonies will be seriously affected by climate change.

"An accurate continent-wide census that can be easily repeated on a regular basis will help us monitor more accurately the impacts of future change on this iconic species.

"The effects of warming around Antarctica are regional and uneven. In the future we anticipate that the more southerly colonies should remain, making these important gucci shoes sites for further research and protection.”