Night Shift Work May Increase Risk of Diabetes

Working rotating shifts can affect the body's ability to properly use insulin to break down sugars in the blood and promotes the likelihood for developing type 2 diabetes. Working rotating shifts may promote the likelihood for developing type 2 diabetes. Scientists at Harvard School of Public Health have found that women who work during the hours that most people are sleeping can affect the body's ability to properly use insulin to break down sugars in the blood. The details of the study appear in the journal PloS Medicine. For the 26 percent of Americans who perform shift work during the overnight hours, the grim news adds to concerning findings of previous research that night work interferes with the body’s circadian rhythm, which...

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Some Depressed People Do Worse on Medications

According to a new look at past antidepressant trials, up to a fifth of patients on Cymbalta and similar medications may actually do worse than those given drug-free placebo pills. NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - According to a new look at past antidepressant trials, up to a fifth of patients on Cymbalta and similar medications may actually do worse than those given drug-free placebo pills. Researchers found that patients' symptoms over the first couple months of antidepressant use separated them into "responders," who got progressively better, and "non-responders," who didn't improve with treatment but may still have suffered side effects. However, "It's difficult to say a priori who will be in which group," Ralitza Gueorguieva,...

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Posted in: HEALTH