The "Morning Person" Gene

German scientists have potentially discovered a genetic reason why some people are morning people whereas others are night-owls.

The gene called ABCC9 dubbed "morning person" gene was identified by analyzing 4251 individuals who reported their sleeping pattern.

The ABCC9 variant type and number of copies significantly affected the number of hours of sleep. To confirm this finding, scientists modified the ABCC9 gene in the fruit fly and obtained similar results.

The gene codes for a protein that senses the energy metabolism of a cell, but how this relates to sleep is unclear. The gene is also associated with other conditions including heart disease and diabetes which probably helps explain why quality of sleep seems to be associated with these disease processes.

In the past, it was thought that poor sleep "caused" cardiovascular problems, but just maybe, sleep problems and heart problems are caused by a common genetic trigger rather than one causing the other.

Reference:
A K(ATP) channel gene effect on sleep duration: from genome-wide association studies to function in Drosophila. Mol Psychiatry. 2011 Nov 22. doi: 10.1038/mp.2011.142. [Epub ahead of print]

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"Mouthwatering" Foods May Be a Misnomer?

In the spirit of Thanskgiving where thoughts of food predominate, British researchers have determined that humans are NOT able to produce more saliva by merely thinking of foods whether hungry or not.

This includes looking at pictures of sumptuous foods.

What researchers did determine is that SMELLING foods increased salivary production significantly. Tasting and chewing was even more influential in salivary production.

So at least for humans, unless the food is smelled, tasted, or chewed, mouthwatering just does not happen.

Of note, salivary production was determined by placing cotton pledgets inside the cheeks (saliva produced by the parotid glands) and a suction device under the tongue (saliva produced by the submandibular glands) on healthy volunteers.

Read MSNBC report here.

Reference:
IS THE MOUTHWATERING SENSATION A TRUE SALIVARY REFLEX? Journal of Texture Studies Special Issue: Food Oral Processing - Physics, Physiology, and Psychology University of Leeds, U.K. Volume 42, Issue 3, pages 212–216, June 2011

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Cuddly Robot That Cures Snoring!

The robot which is shaped like a polar bear essentially listens for snoring while monitoring oxygen levels of the snorer. The individual sleeps on this robotic bear. When oxygen levels drop coupled with snoring heard through its microphone, the robot lifts its paw and tickles the forehead which induces the snoring individual to shift position resulting in snore cessation all without actually waking the individual. Watch video below.

Of course, there's no studies I'm aware of that actually determines whether this works or not, but the concept is sound.

The robot was developed in Japan in Tokyo's Waseda University and was unveiled during the International Robot Show, but not yet commercially available.

The name of the robotic bear is "Jukusui-Kun".

Read more about this here.

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Website Commenting System Changed to DISQUS

We have used Google Friend Connect as the main way for people to comment on individual webpages on our practice website since 2009. Unfortunately, Google recently announced that they are planning to shut down Google Friend Connect on March 1, 2012.

As such, we have taken the proactive step in replacing the Google commenting system throughout our website and replaced it with DISQUS which offers even more power and flexibility.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused to our regular visitors.

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With A Deviated Septum, Why Does Nasal Obstruction Come and Go?

A deviated septum is a well known factor causing nasal obstruction in people. However, many patients with a deviated septum will also state that there are times when they can breath just fine from their nose. As such, can a deviated septum truly be the cause of their nasal obstructive symptoms? Shouldn't the obstruction be constant?

The blunt answer is ABSOLUTELY nasal obstruction can be intermittent OR constant with a deviated septum!!! It's more a question of degree.

To begin with, a deviated septum is when the wall that separates the right and left nasal cavities is bent one way (green arrow) instead of being perfectly straight.

If there is no mucosal swelling, a person with a deviated septum is able to breath from both sides just fine. However, if there is the slightest bit of mucosal swelling from turbinate hypertrophy, allergies, upper respiratory infection, or any other environmental irritation, the side that is more narrow will obstruct much more readily with less swelling given there is just "less room" for swelling to occur before obstruction occurs.

Below is the same exact nose and septum as above, but with mucosal swelling present.

As you can see, with the same exact amount of swelling present, the deviated septum significantly influences how much space is present for air to pass through compared with a straight septum.

As such, even though a deviated septum may not technically be obstructive, given there is less room for any swelling to be accomodated, a patient will complain of nasal congestion and obstruction much more readily compared to someone with a straight septum due to the slightest changes in mucosal swelling.

How is a deviated septum fixed? Click here to read more.

Of course, one can try and control the mucosal swelling to avoid any surgical intervention, typically with steroid or anti-histamine nasal sprays. The downside is that such medications need to be used daily to prevent swelling from occurring in the first place.

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New Video on "Where" Snoring Comes From and Treatment

Our office has produced a new video describing "where" snoring comes from determined by a simple procedure known as sedated or sleep endoscopy.

At its most basic definition, snoring is noise produced from a vibrating mucosal surface in the upper airway.

Though snoring can be defined simply, the tough question is WHERE are these vibrating mucosal surfaces? Because unless one can define WHERE the snoring is coming from, successful treatment can't be pursued definitively.

An office exam performed while a patient is awake is suboptimal as the patient is awake... and not snoring. As such, it is an educated guess where the snoring problem is stemming from.

To this end, there are three main levels where snoring can be produced and the best way to localize a snore is to perform the exam while the patient is asleep (induced by anesthesia) and snoring!

1) Nose
2) Mouth
3) Throat
4) All of the above

Watch the video to see how each of these areas can contribute to a person's snore as well as treatment options.

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Can What Makes a Lion Roar Help Human With a Weak Voice?

Researchers in Iowa have discovered what makes a lion or tiger roar so effectively. Apparently, there is a layer of fat within large feline vocal cords that makes the vocal cords especially prone to vibrate easily with minimal exhalation effort.

What import does this have to humans?

Well, there are patients who have a very weak voice due to vocal cord atrophy as well as vocal cord paralysis. Standard interventions include voice therapy as well as surgical procedures using an implant or injectable material in order to "bulk" up the vocal cord.

In fact... one such injectable material that has been used to inject into vocal cords is fat, typically taken from the belly of the patient!

Two points to keep in mind however...

Just like in lions and tigers, it DOES improve the vocal strength and volume to a patient who previously had a weak voice, may now have a much stronger voice after the procedure.

However, the second point is that by making the vocal cord "bulkier" you are making it thicker which can decrease the vocal pitch... just like a violin string where the thicker the string, the lower the pitch.

On another related note... human infants have fat within their vocal cords... that may be why something so small with tiny lungs can produce such a terrific loud cry!

Read a story in the NYT regarding this research here.

Reference:
Adapted to Roar: Functional Morphology of Tiger and Lion Vocal Folds. PLoS ONE 6(11): e27029. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0027029

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