NewsMakers
Young adults at highest risk of weight gain
People aged 18 to 24 were four times more likely to become overweight or develop obesity over the next 10 years than those aged 65 to 74. Young adults classed as overweight or obese were also more likely to move to a higher BMI category (from the overweight category to obesity or from non-severe obesity to severe obesity) than those classed as overweight or with obesity in any other age group.

Young adults aged 18 to 24 are at the highest risk of becoming overweight or developing obesity in the next decade of their life compared to adults in any other age group, and obesity prevention policies should target this group, according to a new study led by researchers at UCL (University College London), the University of Cambridge, and Berlin Institute of Health at Charité –Universitätsmedizin Berlin (BIH).
The study, published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, found that being a young adult is a more important risk factor for weight gain than sex, ethnicity, geographic region, or socioeconomic area characteristics. The risk of gaining weight is not only highest in the youngest adult age group, but it steadily decreases with age.
The researchers looked at anonymised primary care health records from more than 2 million adults (with more than 9 million measurements of BMI and weight) in England between 1998 and 2016 to investigate the risk of weight changes at different ages and among different groups.
They found that people aged 18 to 24 were four times more likely to become overweight or develop obesity over the next 10 years than those aged 65 to 74. Young adults classed as overweight or obese were also more likely to move to a higher BMI category (from the overweight category to obesity or from non-severe obesity to severe obesity) than those classed as overweight or with obesity in any other age group.
The authors provide the public (for the first time) an online tool to calculate their risk of weight change over the next 1, 5, and 10 years based on an individual’s current weight and height, age, sex, ethnicity and socioeconomic area characteristics.
Lead author Dr Michail Katsoulis (UCL Institute of Health Informatics) said: “Our results show clearly that age is the most important sociodemographic factor for BMI change. Young people aged 18 to 24 have the highest risk of BMI gain, compared to older people. We also found that among individuals with obesity, those aged between 35 and 54 had the highest risk of not losing weight compared to other adults.”
Co-senior author Dr Claudia Langenberg (MRC Epidemiology Unit, University of Cambridge, and Berlin Institute of Health) said: “Young people go through big life changes. They may start work, go to university or leave home for the first time – the habits they form in these years may stick through adulthood. If we are serious about preventing obesity, then we should develop interventions that can be targeted and are relevant for young adults.”
In the study, the risks of moving to a higher BMI category over 10 years were 4-6 times higher in the youngest (18–24 years) than the oldest (65–74 years) age group. People aged 18-24 were 4.2 times more likely than people aged 65-74 to transition from normal weight to overweight/obesity, were 4.6 times more likely to transition from the overweight category to obesity and 5.9 times more likely to move from non-severe obesity to severe obesity. The link between sociodemographic factors such as deprivation and ethnicity and these transitions was less pronounced.
For example, the risk of transitioning from overweight to obesity over 10 years for white men with a BMI of 26 (weight 87kg, height 1.82m) varies substantially according to age: the risks are 40%, 25%, 22%, 18%, 13% and 10% for individuals aged 18-24, 25-34 35-44, 45-54, 55-64 and 65-74 years respectively. The researchers were surprised to see only a small additional effect of social deprivation on risks of weight gain. In the example above, the risk of the youngest men living in the most deprived areas was 44% compared to 40% in average areas).
The study used data from 400 primary care centres. Participants were aged 18 to 74 and had had their weight and BMI measured at their general practice on more than one occasion between 1998 and 2016. Researchers looked at changes in BMI after one year, five years and 10 years, calculating the likelihood of moving between weight categories (underweight, normal weight, overweight, obese) at different ages and in different groups.
Professor Hemingway said: “Health systems, like the NHS, need to identify new ways to prevent obesity and its consequences. This study demonstrates that NHS data collected over time in primary care holds an important key to unlocking new insights for public health action.”
NewsMakers
5 Tips to upgrade your sleep
Sleep contributes to better brain function, memory, concentration and lower stress. According to the National Institutes of Health, most adults need 7-9 hours of sleep every night to achieve maximum health benefits.

Good sleep isn’t just about waking up feeling rested and ready for the day. Quality sleep, and plenty of it, is important for your overall health. While you sleep, your body naturally recharges itself, which puts you at lower risk for cardiovascular problems and chronic conditions like diabetes, as well as improving your immune system.
Sleep also contributes to better brain function, memory, concentration and lower stress. According to the National Institutes of Health, most adults need 7-9 hours of sleep every night to achieve maximum health benefits.
If you’re falling short of the recommended amount of sleep, you may be able to make some adjustments that help you reap the health benefits of better rest. Learn what you can do to improve your sleep with these tips from the experts in safer, healthier sleep at Naturepedic.
Reduce Light Exposure
Your body’s natural circadian rhythms are closely aligned with light and dark. When your body senses light, it sends signals to your brain that it’s time to be awake. Light also suppresses your body’s production of melatonin, a hormone linked to sleep. Cutting back on bright lights and avoiding devices at least an hour before bed can tell your body it’s time to wind down, and sleeping in a dark room promotes better rest.
Invest in the Right Mattress
Your mattress plays a major role in your comfort through the night, so making sure it fits your needs is an important step toward getting better rest. Take control of your comfort with a quality mattress such as Naturepedic’s EOS (Ergonomic Organic Sleep) mattress, which is handcrafted and made without polyurethane foam, formaldehyde, flame retardants or fiberglass. The breathable layers of certified organic cotton, wool and GOTS-approved latex ensure better temperature regulation while naturally contouring the body. An added feature is the ability to customize each side of the bed by opening the zippers and adjusting the layered components for the perfect comfort combination.
Find the Right Sheets
Sheets that are too stiff, scratchy or otherwise unpleasant make it nearly impossible to settle in for a good night’s rest. Higher thread counts tend to be softer, higher quality sheets. However, you may need to experiment to find which material suits you best.
Set a Comfortable Temperature
When you’re too hot or cold, your mind tends to focus on those sensations rather than allowing you to slip into a slumber. Set your thermostat at a comfortable temperature, adding fans or adjusting the layers of bedding as necessary to achieve the perfect level of cozy comfort.
Use a Sound Machine
If you’re a light sleeper, noise can wreak havoc on your rest. Many people find sound machines offer two key benefits: They provide a soothing sound, such as rain or ocean waves, that allows you to relax and ease into slumber and constant background noise, so additional sounds are less disruptive.
Find more solutions for achieving better sleep at Naturepedic.com.
NewsMakers
What you should know about IBD
Two common conditions are irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). They’re often confused for one another, but these are actually two different GI disorders.

It may not be something you like to talk about, but if you have gastrointestinal (GI) problems, your symptoms may be far more common than you think. According to data from the American Gastroenterological Association, 60-70 million people living in the United States have gut health concerns.
Two common conditions are irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). They’re often confused for one another, but these are actually two different GI disorders.
IBS is a syndrome; it is defined by a group of symptoms, does not cause inflammation and rarely requires hospitalization or surgery. IBD, on the other hand, is an umbrella term used to describe disorders that cause chronic inflammation of your GI tract.
The disease is more common than you may realize; a study led by the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation found nearly 1 in 100 people living in the U.S. have IBD. The two most common forms of IBD are Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.
Understanding IBD Symptoms
Because it poses serious health risks and can cause permanent damage to your intestines, it’s important to be aware of what IBD is and recognize the symptoms. Your primary care doctor or gastroenterologist can help if you have concerns about these symptoms:
- Intense, crampy pain that doesn’t go away in a day or two or has been present on and off for weeks or longer
- A notable change in bowel movement frequency, whether more or less often
- Frequent diarrhea over several weeks, or loose stools multiple times a day
- Frequent constipation, or constipation alternating with diarrhea
- Urgency on a regular basis or inability to hold back the bowel movement before reaching the bathroom
- Blood with bowel movements
- Mucus in your stool regularly or paired with pain or other symptoms
- Always feeling as though you aren’t fully emptying your bowels
Other symptoms that may have a variety of causes but need extra attention especially if you notice them along with any of the symptoms above include pain outside of the gut, fatigue, loss of appetite and weight loss. In addition, children with IBD may have delays in growth and the onset of puberty.
Diagnosing IBD
No single test can confirm a Crohn’s or ulcerative colitis diagnosis. Your medical history and information obtained from diagnostic testing can exclude other potential causes of your symptoms, since gastrointestinal symptoms are common and can have a variety of causes.
Your first tests will likely include blood and stool laboratory tests. Further testing could include imaging studies of your gastrointestinal tract or a look inside your GI tract through an endoscope.
Identifying Treatment Options
Once an IBD diagnosis is confirmed, you can partner with your doctor to manage your disease. Treatment plans are highly personalized, as what works for one person may not for another. Medication and managing your diet and nutrition are two common treatment recommendations. In some cases, surgery can help improve your quality of life.
Clinical trials may also be an option for treating your IBD. Through clinical trials, researchers find new ways to improve treatments and quality of life. In fact, clinical trials represent the final stages of a long and careful research process to make new and improved treatment options for patients available.
However, an important part of clinical trials for IBD is patient participation. Without the enrollment of patients in clinical trials, new treatment options for IBD can be delayed or never become available.
Equally important to this process is having a diverse representation of patients that considers race, age or other categories. This helps researchers develop treatments that meet the needs of a vast IBD patient community.
If you’re interested in participating in a clinical trial, ask your doctor to help you find a trial that is right for you, and visit crohnscolitisfoundation.org to learn more about IBD and treatment options, including clinical trials.
NewsMakers
Unlocking the science of sleep: How rest enhances language learning
Getting eight hours of sleep every night helps the brain to store and learn a new language.

Sleep is critical for all sorts of reasons, but a team of international scientists has discovered a new incentive for getting eight hours of sleep every night: it helps the brain to store and learn a new language.
A study led by the University of South Australia (UniSA) and published in the Journal of Neuroscience has revealed that the coordination of two electrical events in the sleeping brain significantly improves our ability to remember new words and complex grammatical rules.
In an experiment with 35 native English-speaking adults, researchers tracked the brain activity of participants learning a miniature language called Mini Pinyin that is based on Mandarin but with similar grammatical rules to English.
Half of the participants learned Mini Pinyin in the morning and then returned in the evening to have their memory tested. The other half learned Mini Pinyin in the evening and then slept in the laboratory overnight while their brain activity was recorded. Researchers tested their progress in the morning.
Those who slept performed significantly better compared to those who remained awake.
Lead researcher Dr Zachariah Cross, who did his PhD at UniSA but is now based at Northwestern University in Chicago, says sleep-based improvements were linked to the coupling of slow oscillations and sleep spindles – brainwave patterns that synchronise during NREM sleep.
“This coupling likely reflects the transfer of learned information from the hippocampus to the cortex, enhancing long-term memory storage,” Dr Cross says.
“Post-sleep neural activity showed unique patterns of theta oscillations associated with cognitive control and memory consolidation, suggesting a strong link between sleep-induced brainwave co-ordination and learning outcomes.”
UniSA researcher Dr Scott Coussens says the study underscores the importance of sleep in learning complex linguistic rules.
“By demonstrating how specific neural processes during sleep support memory consolidation, we provide a new perspective on how sleep disruption impacts language learning,” Dr Coussens says. “Sleep is not just restful; it’s an active, transformative state for the brain.”
The findings could also potentially inform treatments for individuals with language-related impairments, including autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and aphasia, who experience greater sleep disturbances than other adults.
Research on both animals and humans shows that slow oscillations improve neural plasticity – the brain’s ability to change and adapt in response to experiences and injury.
“From this perspective, slow oscillations could be increased via methods such as transcranial magnetic stimulation to accelerate aphasia-based speech and language therapy,” Dr Cross says.
In future, the researchers plan to explore how sleep and wake dynamics influence the learning of other complex cognitive tasks.
“Understanding how the brain works during sleep has implications beyond language learning. It could revolutionize how we approach education, rehabilitation, and cognitive training.”
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