Short-term sleep restriction results in impaired glucose tolerance. To test whether habitually short sleep duration increases the risk of developing diabetes, we studied a cohort of 70,026 women enrolled in the Nurses Health Study, without diabetes at baseline, and who responded to a question about daily sleep duration in 1986. Subjects were followed until 1996 for the diagnosis of diabetes (1,969 cases). Long and short sleep durations were associated with an increased risk of diabetes diagnosis. The relative risks (RRs) for short (slept ≤5 h per day) and long (slept ≥9 h per day) sleepers were 1.57 (95% CI 1.28–1.92) and 1.47 (1.19–1.80), respectively. After adjustment for BMI and a variety of confounders, the RR was not significantly increased for short sleepers (1.18 [0.96–1.44]) but remained modestly increased for long sleepers (1.29 [1.05–1.59]). We then performed a similar analysis using only symptomatic cases (n = 1,187). Adjusted RRs for symptomatic diabetes were modestly elevated in both short (1.34 [1.04–1.72]) and long (1.35 [1.04–1.75]) sleepers. Our data suggest that the association between a reduced self-reported sleep duration and diabetes diagnosis could be due to confounding by BMI, or sleep restriction may mediate its effects on diabetes through weight gain. Sleep restriction may be an independent risk factor for developing symptomatic diabetes.

Considerable evidence from preclinical studies indicates that plant-derived foods contain anticarcinogens.¹ A comprehensive review of the literature found that a diet high in vegetables and fruit probably decreases breast cancer risk and that a diet high in total fat possibly increases risk.² However, evidence of an association between a diet high in vegetables and fruit and low in total fat and prevention of cancer progression has been mixed in epidemiological studies.^3-17 An interim analysis of data from the Women's Intervention Nutrition Study (WINS), which assessed the effect of a dietary intervention designed to reduce fat intake on relapse-free survival in breast cancer patients,¹⁸ found that the intervention was associated with a marginally statistically significant improvement in relapse-free survival. To our knowledge, no other clinical trials investigating dietary change and breast cancer survival have been reported.

Purpose: Single-variable analyses have associated physical activity, diet, and obesity with survival after breast cancer. This report investigates interactions among these variables. Patients and Methods: A prospective study was performed of 1,490 women diagnosed and treated for early-stage breast cancer between 1991 and 2000. Enrollment was an average of 2 years postdiagnosis. Only seven women were lost to follow-up through December 2005. Results: In univariate analysis, reduced mortality was weakly associated with higher vegetable-fruit consumption, increased physical activity, and a body mass index that was neither low weight nor obese. In a multivariate Cox model, only the combination of consuming five or more daily servings of vegetables-fruits, and accumulating 540+ metabolic equivalent tasks-min/wk (equivalent to walking 30 minutes 6 d/wk), was associated with a significant survival advantage (hazard ratio, 0.56; 95% CI, 0.31 to 0.98). The approximate 50% reduction in risk associated with these healthy lifestyle behaviors was observed in both obese and nonobese women, although fewer obese women were physically active with a healthy dietary pattern (16% v 30%). Among those who adhered to this healthy lifestyle, there was no apparent effect of obesity on survival. The effect was stronger in women who had hormone receptor–positive cancers. Conclusion: A minority of breast cancer survivors follow a healthy lifestyle that includes both recommended intakes of vegetables-fruits and moderate levels of physical activity. The strong protective effect observed suggests a need for additional investigation of the effect of the combined influence of diet and physical activity on breast cancer survival.

Background: The consumption of dairy products may influence the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and total mortality, but conflicting findings ha

Curcumin, derived from the rhizome curcuma longa, is one of the primary ingredients in turmeric and curry powders that are used as spices in Middle Eastern and Asian countries, especially on the Indian subcontinent. More recently, laboratory studies have demonstrated that dietary curcumin exhibits various biological activities and significantly inhibits colon tumorigenesis and tumor size in animals. Curcumin displays both anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, giving it the potential to be considered in the development of cancer preventive strategies and applications in clinical research. Experimental studies have shown the biological activities of the compound, but much more information on pharmacokinetics, bioavailability, and food content are needed. Whether the amount of curcumin in turmeric and curry powders is sufficient to suggest effects on biological activities and cancer risk is unknown. To determine and compare the quantitative amounts of curcumin that are present in several br...

To examine the association between snoring and risk of developing type II diabetes mellitus, the authors analyzed data from the Nurses' Health Study cohort. This analysis included 69,852 US female nurses aged 40–65 years without diagnosed diabetes, cardiovascular disease, or cancer at baseline in 1986. Snoring patterns were ascertained by questionnaire. During 10 years of follow-up, 1,957 women were diagnosed with type II diabetes. In analyses adjusted for age and body mass index, snoring was associated with risk of diabetes (for occasional snoring vs. nonsnoring, relative risk (RR) = 1.48 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.29, 1.70); for regular snoring vs. nonsnoring, RR = 2.25 (95% CI: 1.91, 2.66); p for trend < 0.0001). Further adjustment for other diabetes risk factors and sleeping-related covariates only slightly attenuated the risk (for occasional snoring, RR = 1.41 (95% CI: 1.22, 1.63); for regular snoring, RR = 2.03 (95% CI: 1.71, 2.40); p for trend < 0.0001). Analyses stratified by body mass index, smoking history, or parental history of diabetes showed a consistent association between snoring and diabetes within the categories of these variables. These results suggest that snoring is independently associated with elevated risk of type II diabetes.