Search the Community

Not enough sleep? Beware of dementia People in their middle years who do not get enough sleep could find themselves suffering from Alzheimer's in their late 50s or 60s.PHOTO: ISTOCKPHOTO PUBLISHED8 HOURS AGO Adequate shut-eye is needed to clear 'junk' in brain linked to Alzheimer's, says sleep expert Salma Khalik Senior Health Correspondent People in their 30s and 40s who are not getting enough sleep could find themselves with dementia by their 60s, sleep expert Michael Chee has warned. He issued the warning as growing evidence has shown that adequate sleep is necessary to clear the accumulation of "junk" in the brain, which is linked to Alzheimer's disease, the most common form of dementia that can result in extreme forgetfulness. Professor Chee, director of the Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience at Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School, said that a paper published in 2013 showed that sleep helps clear metabolite - the junk that develops when the brain processes the energy it needs - in adult brains. Growing evidence has shown that adequate sleep is necessary to clear the accumulation of "junk" in the brain, which is linked to Alzheimer's disease, the most common form of dementia that can result in extreme forgetfulness. While doctors are not sure if it is the protein beta amyloid - the metabolite junk which Prof Chee spoke of - that causes Alzheimer's, they do know that there is a huge amount of these proteins in the brains of people with Alzheimer's. Prof Chee said that as people get older, their ability to clear this junk from their brain is diminished. Sleep is important in helping to clear away these proteins, he noted, adding that the rate of clearance is about six times during sleep, compared with when one is awake. "If you are sleep-deprived, the rate of clearance of beta amyloids is reduced, so you have more junk floating around in the brain." It is like having a blocked sewage system in the brain, Prof Chee said. As the sewage piles up, there comes a time when there is so much that it does damage to the brain. Related Story World Sleep Day: 6 things to know about sleep Pharmaceutical companies have invested billions of dollars trying to produce medicine that can clear beta amyloids from the brain, but have yet to succeed, he said. It takes years of accumulation for damage to be done, typically 10 to 20 years, he said. That is why people in their middle years who do not get enough sleep could find themselves suffering from Alzheimer's, becoming forgetful by the time they are in their late 50s or 60s. In general, Prof Chee said, people need at least 61/2 to seven hours of sleep a night, with peak performance generally associated with seven hours of sleep. Busy people often think they can get by with four to five hours of sleep a night and that it is all right as they can still manage their daily activities, he said. People who use their brains a lot, he said, "are able to compensate better and they hide it to a point where they cannot hide it any more, then they go bang and get it very bad". "By the time you're diagnosed with Alzheimer's, it's too late." But Prof Chee admitted that more studies are needed, as it is still not known if sleeping longer on weekends, for example, can help clear the backlog of beta amyloids and, if so, to what extent. Similarly, is just having seven hours of sleep a night enough, or must it be a deep sleep? Nevertheless, Prof Chee said, it is irrefutable that having enough sleep is critical for good health. Aside from dementia, insufficient sleep is also known to raise the risk of diabetes, some cancers, heart attacks and stroke. "If you take care of your sleep, you can improve many aspects of your health," Prof Chee said.

primary school children need 9-10 hours sleep, secondary probably 8 hrs, but nowadays many students are sleeping after 12 midnight. Is your child getting enough sleep?

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/mobile/singapore/agencies-slam-natas-for/1493872.html The Outbound Travel Fair press conference. (Photo: TODAY) A A+ SINGAPORE: Dozens of travel agencies on Tuesday (Nov 25) lashed out at the National Association of Travel Agents Singapore (NATAS) for its lack of transparency over the usage of proceeds from its mega travel fairs and, among other things, its refusal to open the books, at a press conference attended by representatives of 24 tour agencies. The agencies also charged that the association was exploiting its members by not reducing rental rates for the NATAS fair an agency would need to pay between S$100,000 and S$200,000 to participate in the fair despite declining sales over the years that they attributed partly to the lacklustre publicity for the twice-yearly event. Responding to the charges, a NATAS spokesman said that although the cost of renting exhibition halls has steadily risen over the past three years, the association which has been holding its travel fairs at Singapore Expo has not passed on the increases to the exhibitors. He said NATAS has been in discussion with members and exhibitors about their grievances. But we have to accept that NATAS may be unable to satisfy all its members given the diversity of our membership ... Everyone may have a different opinion on how the fair ought to be run, he said, adding that NATAS members include travel agents, tourism organisations, cruise lines and accommodation providers. Last week, TODAY broke the news that the Big Four travel agencies Chan Brothers Travel, CTC Travel, Dynasty Travel and SA Tours were pulling out of the NATAS fair on Mar 27 to 29 and holding a rival fair at Marina Bay Sands (MBS) on the same dates, and were in talks with other agencies to make the switch. BETTER DEALS FOR CONSUMERS At the press conference held at MBS, it was announced that 24 outbound travel agencies in total including Nam Ho Travel, Farmosa Holidays, MISA Travel, Apple Holidays and New Shan Travel will be crossing over to the new fair, tentatively called the Outbound Travel Fair. In contrast to the NATAS fair which charges a S$4 entrance fee, admission to the rival trade show is free. The agencies which will continue to be NATAS members have formed a working committee to organise the rival fair, which will occupy a floor area that is 70 per cent the size of the NATAS fair next year. Booth rental will be up to 30 per cent cheaper. Excess revenue will be channelled to advertising and promotions or refunded to exhibitors. Cost savings will also be passed onto consumers, who will get better deals, the agencies said. They said their dissatisfaction began in 2010. Despite raising the issues repeatedly, NATAS turned a deaf ear. They also submitted a petition last month, but the requests were not met, which was the last straw, they said. The agencies had petitioned for reduced booth rentals, lowering of admission fees, disallowing overseas operators brought in by tourism boards to conduct sales, greater transparency and having representation on the NATAS fair organising committee. The most recent NATAS fair in August saw about 10 per cent fewer visitors, compared with the fair held in August last year. Sales for several participating agencies this year had also fallen by around 10 to 20 per cent, the agencies said. They added that with customers increasingly making bookings via the Internet, holding a fair that charges an admission fee would further deter prospective customers. NATAS RESPONDS Former NATAS group chief executive Robert Khoo, who stepped down last year, dismissed the agencies claims. Customers are (getting fewer) simply because ... everybody is doing their own fair. So they have already stolen a big chunk of the business before the NATAS fair even starts, he said. Mr Khoo said the admission fee raised from S$3 in 2010 was in place for crowd control. Members had fully supported (the) rationale when NATAS explained it to them many years ago, he said. He added that the income earned from the fair is ploughed back into events for members, who can attend them for free. These include NATAS annual dinner and dance, football and golf tournaments, and seminars. The NATAS spokesman said attendance at its fairs may have reached a saturation point in recent years. It is unrealistic to expect growth year-on-year when consumers buying patterns have changed drastically, he said. On the impact of the pullout, the spokesman said NATAS has a membership base of more than 340 travel agents. It will revamp its fairs and try to draw in new exhibitors. In light of the developments, NATAS will meet its members on Thursday. Still, the agencies boycotting the NATAS fair said they will return to the fold if the association addresses their grievances. Mr Anthony Chan, group managing director of Chan Brothers Travel, said: We are all very busy ... we dont want to spend effort organising travel fairs.

An automated multi-storey car park at the Club Street. The struggle for parking amid a growing carpark crunch in Singapore's congested CBD means that a sizeable portion of the estimated 200,000 professionals based there choose not to drive to work. Although he owns a car, Mr Seah Chee Koon, 35, prefers to take the train from his Jurong East home to his office in the Central Business District (CBD). "I don't see the need to drive to work. It is too expensive," said Mr Seah, who works in the banking industry. He spends about 45 minutes commuting each way. The struggle for parking amid a growing carpark crunch in Singapore's congested CBD means that a sizeable portion of the estimated 200,000 professionals based there choose not to drive to work. The parking situation is likely to get worse. Going by a transport masterplan released last week, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) expects the CBD parking supply to "gradually decrease over time as older buildings make way for newer buildings". Source: http://www.straitstimes.com/breaking-news/singapore/story/cbd-parking-high-fees-and-lack-season-carpark-spaces-drive-away-many-m

20-30 years ago, tertiary students tend to choose engineering as their main course of study. it was prestigious to be "Engineer". 20 years later, it seems students prefer banking, finance, sociology and arts subjects. as a result, this might lead to singapore importing more foreign talents because there might not be enough qualified engineers or technical experts in singapore due to student's preference for arts subject these days. practically speaking, I could earn $5000 as a finance grad, work from 8-5 in a cosy office, staring at charts; while engineering grad may have to sit in office for 14-16 hours a day and earn less than a finance grad, not forgetting the stress an engineer goes through. what do you think?

蔡澜 a Singaporean but hardly live in singapore..... Interesting interview with this famous writer cum movie producer, and a food critic when he was back in Singapore recently, comment about local food....

I'm sure you guys realise that the contestants of our local beauty pageants from FHM to Miss Singapore world, miss Singapore Universe, Miss Singapore Tourism, Miss Chinatown, etcc etc, Singtel Grid Girls etc. etc. are made up of the same pool of contestants (mostly from FHM, i wonder why) It's just so silly. These girls simply hop from one contest to another. They even compete against the same people in different pageants... Vanity Extreme? or just trying to make a quick buck? or getting "

This is actually a fairly common complain. GF or wife not happy her man is not ambitious enough because he is happy with his 3/4/5/6k monthly pay. Is this a legit complaint? Do discuss to some extent, I can emphatize with the women's point of view. They are looking for "security" so having a motivated, high earning partner can be seen as a tangible evidence of "security". But is there a point where "not ambitious enough" becomes "good enough"?

Shortage of talent is a standard excuse that can be used to justify a whole range of stuff from importing FTs to justifying sky high pay to why you should only X for the MIW. Is this fact or myth? Please discuss. I think we have no more and no less talents than any other country. Just that over here, ball carrying is a high weightage criteria to be officially classified as "talent".

Any bros experience head aches from lack of sleep?

Hey guys, this is so funny I just had to share it. 'Mum cancels his World of Warcraft account' Check out the vid at 1 min 10 secs and tell me what he's doing...cause personally, I don't get it. Was it a physical representation of what his Mum did to him by deleting his account or what? =oP

This few days muah abit grouchy dunno why... but here's an issue I face EVERYDAY. Recently there were some new bus lane being drawn in Bukit Timah area. It created massive traffic jams. While I understand that bus lane will make public transport smoother and benefits people who rely on public transports to commute. The problem is... a lot of us obey this law and quietly queue and crawl home... while some rogue drivers simply make these bus lane their expressway!!! And it pains to see people get away with it! The same goes for yellow boxes, people are using yellow boxes as a "sure eat" bao chia queue cutting device! And also River Valley road where all your chicken rice and whatever are located... people are still parking there to da bao... at the expense of other road users... The lack of enforcement in these areas frustrates me everyday.

Will lack of season parking at office deter you from driving? Due to a reduction in parking lots to my company by the landlord, my company has removed my season parking due to my underutilization. (They changed to a ballot system too.) I'm not pleased, of course, but I have to accept the reality -- that not everyone can get a parking lot. Some notes on my office carpark: 1. season parking is free 2. you can't buy season parking from the landlord even if you want to 3. daily rate is max $12 ($1 per hour until 5 pm, $2 per entry after that) Would you still drive to work? More than ERP, I believe the lack of parking space and the high cost of parking are the reasons that will persuade people not to drive.

http://www.hays.com.au/Common/Pages/job/jo...=153501&n=0&j=1 Saw this advertisement in the local news. Are there great shortage of teachers in Singapore? Comes with relatively good perks

ASIAONE / HEALTH / NEWS / STORY Ben Hirschler Tue, Sep 25, 2007 Reuters Lack of sleep may be deadly LONDON (Reuters) - People who do not get enough sleep are more than twice as likely to die of heart disease, according to a large British study released on Monday. Although the reasons are unclear, researchers said lack of sleep appeared to be linked to increased blood pressure, which is known to raise the risk of heart attacks and stroke. A 17-year analysis of 10,000 government workers showed those who cut their sleeping from seven hours a night to five or less faced a 1.7-fold increased risk in mortality from all causes and more than double the risk of cardiovascular death. The findings highlight a danger in busy modern lifestyles, Francesco Cappuccio, professor of cardiovascular medicine at the University of Warwick's medical school, told the annual conference of the British Sleep Society in Cambridge. "A third of the population of the UK and over 40 percent in the U.S. regularly sleep less than five hours a night, so it is not a trivial problem," he said in a telephone interview. "The current pressures in society to cut out sleep, in order to squeeze in more, may not be a good idea -- particularly if you go below five hours." Previous research has highlighted the potential health risks of shift work and disrupted sleep. But the study by Cappuccio and colleagues, which was supported by British government and U.S. funding, is the first to link duration of sleep and mortality rates. The study looked at sleep patterns of participants aged 35-55 years at two points in their lives -- 1985-88 and 1992-93 -- and then tracked their mortality rates until 2004. The results were adjusted to take account of other possible risk factors such as initial age, sex, smoking and alcohol consumption, body mass index, blood pressure and cholesterol. The correlation with cardiovascular risk in those who slept less in the 1990s than in the 1980s was clear but, curiously, there was also a higher mortality rate in people who increased their sleeping to more than nine hours. In this case, however, there was no cardiovascular link and Cappuccio said it was possible that longer sleeping could be related to other health problems such as depression or cancer-related fatigue. "In terms of prevention, our findings indicate that consistently sleeping around seven hours per night is optimal for health," he said.

Octy owners ... just a little something to share... Ever since I got my car, I've been frustrated at the lack of cupholders for the car... The one at the back between the 2 front seats is practically useless, my Elegance doesn't come with the flip up cupholder like some of the newer ones on the Ambiente.... The so called grooves in the glove compartment is absolute rubbish.... Ordered the center console from Xinzhong to get the flip up cupholder. It was $150 bucks down the drain as the part that arrived after 3 months was exactly the same as mine, without the flip up cupholder I finally chanced upon this item and promptly bought it off ebay [inline IMG_4056.jpg] Yes!!! There's hope for me at last... This original VW part fits right into the original armrest without any problems and this is the final result [inline 19012006396.jpg] [inline 19012006397.jpg] I know that some of you guys are looking for armrests for your Octys as well, if you're looking at a cupholder at the same time, well, my advice for you is to go for the original VW armrest so as to be able to get this cool cupholder as well Many original Armrests can be bought off cheaply off ebay, alternatively, I'm sure you can order it off Xinzhong as well... As for the cupholder, [/url]www.ecstuning.com[/url] has recently stocked up on it... or you can try Xinzhong or ebay as well I hope this information is useful to the rest of the Skoda guys in here Not sure if this applies to Fabia and Superb owners as well... hopefully so

Hi ALL, My children likes to read in the car and when it gets dark, it gets very difficult. Any solution to light up the rear passenger areas?

Hi, anyone know where can I buy this CAR-LACK 68 products in singapore? thanks.