Background: Poor glycemic control is associated with chronic life-threatening complications. Several studies have revealed that sleep status is associated with glycemic control. Aim: to examine the association between sleep duration, quality and glycemic control among adults with diabetes. Methods: Data on 2500 participants aged 18–60 years were collected from the Qatar Biobank (QBB). Sleep duration and quality were assessed by a self-completed health and lifestyle questionnaire, and glycemic control was assessed using HbA1c. Logistic regression was used to assess the association between sleep duration, napping, snoring and poor glycemic control. Results: After adjusting for age and gender, sleep duration was not associated with poor glycemic control. Lack of association persisted after controlling for smoking, physical activity, education, BMI, fruit and vegetable intake, insulin and medication use. However, sleeping for long hours at night (≥8 h) had a trend in increasing the risk of poor glycemic control (OR = 1.28; 95% CI: 0.94–1.74). Napping was positively associated with poor glycemic control. After adjusting for age and gender, patients who reported “sometimes, frequently, or always” napping had more than 30% increased risk of poor control as compared to patients who reported “never/rarely” napping. Snoring was not associated with poor glycemic control among the study sample when adjusted for age and gender (p = 0.61). Other factors were found to be associated with a better glycemic control such as female, high educational and high physical activity level. Conclusions: our results suggest that napping may be an independent risk factor for a poor glycemic control in diabetes; further investigations are required.

Spirulina (Arthrospira platensis) is reported to play a role in improving nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and intestinal microbiota (IM). To study spirulina’s effects in the improvement of NAFLD characteristics, IM, and pancreatic–renal lesions induced by a fructose-enriched diet, 40 Wistar healthy male rats, weighing 200–250 g, were randomly divided into four groups of 10, and each rat per group was assigned a diet of equal quantities (20 g/day) for 18 weeks. The first control group (CT) was fed a standardized diet, the second group received a 40% fructose-enriched diet (HFr), and the third (HFr-S5) and fourth groups (HFr-S10) were assigned the same diet composition as the second group but enriched with 5% and 10% spirulina, respectively. At week 18, the HFr-S10 group maintained its level of serum triglycerides and had the lowest liver fat between the groups. At the phylae and family level, and for the same period, the HFr-S10 group had the lowest increase in the Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio and the Ruminococcaceae and the highest fecal alpha diversity compared to all other groups (p < 0.05). These findings suggest that at a 10% concentration, spirulina could be used in nutritional intervention to improve IM, fatty liver, metabolic, and inflammatory parameters associated with NAFLD.

Research has demonstrated that the intake of specific foods and nutrients is linked to the risk of pancreatic cancer, but the role of meat and dairy consumption in pancreatic carcinogenesis remains controversial. The main objective of this study is to investigate the association between the intake of dairy products and meats and the risk of pancreatic cancer. A case–control study was conducted between March 2015 and August 2018 at four main hospitals in Jordan; one of the hospitals was an oncology center. Participants in the study included 101 histologically confirmed pancreatic cancer patients, which were frequency-matched with 314 controls. The required information for this study was gathered through questionnaires based on face-to-face interviews. An Arabic food-frequency questionnaire that has been validated was used to collect data on the intake of different food items from dairy and meat groups. Multinomial logistic regression was employed to determine odds ratios (ORs) and their corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs), considering potential confounders. The consumption of different levels and frequencies of yogurt, white cheese, processed cheese, red meats, and chicken was observed to increase the risk of pancreatic cancer. The adjusted OR indicated that the risk of pancreatic cancer was positively related to a daily intake of yogurt (OR: 2.88 [95%CI: 1.40 – 5.91; p = 0.001]), cooked lamb meat (OR: 2.50 [95%CI: 1.30 – 4.84; p = 0.002]), and cooked veal meat (OR: 1.72 [95%CI: 1.11 – 3.77; p = 0.011]). Furthermore, daily and weekly consumption of white cheese, processed cheese, and cooked chicken may be associated with an increased risk of pancreatic cancer. According to the study’s findings, the consumption of yogurt, white cheese, processed cheese, red meat, and chicken was linked to a higher risk of developing pancreatic cancer.