A recent study says that leafy vegetables such as lettuce, spinach and kale and nitrate-rich vegetables are associated with lowering the risk of primary open-angle glaucoma by 20 to 30 percent.

Glaucoma is a condition which can affect sight, usually due to build up of pressure within the eye because fluid cannot drain away.

This new study found people who ate a nitrate-rich diet had lower levels of primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG), a rare condition which involves chronic or acute sudden painful build-up of pressure in the eye.

The researchers followed up participants biennially in the prospective cohorts of the Nurses' Health Study (63,893 women; 1984-2012) and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study (41,094 men; 1986-2012). Eligible participants were 40 years or older, were free of POAG, and reported eye examinations. Information on diet was updated with questionnaires.

During follow-up, 1,483 incident cases of POAG were identified. Participants were divided into quintiles (one of five groups) of dietary nitrate intake (quintile 5, approximately 240 mg/d; quintile 1, approximately 80 mg/d). The researchers found that greater intake of dietary nitrate and green leafy vegetables was associated with a 20 percent to 30 percent lower POAG risk; the association was particularly strong (40 percent-50 percent lower risk) for POAG with early paracentral visual field loss (a subtype of POAG linked to dysfunction in blood flow autoregulation).

The study has been published in JAMA Ophthalmology.

A recent US study has found that teenagers who continue to text on their phones after turning off the lights for bedtime have poorer sleep and poorer grades than those who text with the lights on.

The new study, by Rutgers University, is the first of its kind to find an association specifically between nighttime texting and the sleep quality and school performance of American teens.

Led by Xue Ming, professor of neuroscience and neurology at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, the team surveyed students at three diferent New Jersey area high schools.

A total of 1,537 surveys were completed and analyzed by the team to look at the length of text messages sent by respondents, whether messages were sent before or after the lights were turned off and the participants' school grades.

Results showed that students who stopped texting when the lights went out, or who texted for less than 30 minutes after the lights went out, slept for longer, felt less sleepy during the day, and performed better academically than those who continued to text for longer than 30 minutes.

When comparing boys to girls however, the study found that although girls text more and felt sleepier during the day than boys, they still outperformed then in school studies, which Ming believes is due to girls texting primarily before and not after turning off the light.

Ming explained that the negative effect on sleep once the lights go out is due to the effects of the "blue light" emitted from smartphones and tablets being intensified in the dark. This blue light delays the release of melatonin, the hormone that makes you feel sleepy and which is normally released around 9pm, meaning instead of going to bed and dropping off, you stay awake for longer. This blue light can also affect the release of melatonin even if it is emitted from the phone when eyelids are closed.

The delay in melatonin release could also be a factor in poorer school performance. "If a person keeps getting text messages with alerts and light emission, that also can disrupt his circadian rhythm", explained Ming, "Rapid Eye Movement sleep is the period during sleep most important to learning, memory consolidation and social adjustment in adolescents. When falling asleep is delayed but rising time is not, REM sleep will be cut short, which can affect learning and memory."

Ming suggested that not only should schools recognize the importance of sleep for teens and find a way to incorporate education on sleep into the school curriculum, but also noted that a later school start time could be beneficial.

The results of the study were published in the Journal of Child Neurology.

Aged Garlic Extract can stop heart disease from progressing and in some cases, even reverse artery plaque accumulation, according to a new study.

The research, conducted at LA BioMed, found a reduction in the amount of low-attenuation plaque, or "soft plaque," in the arteries of patients with metabolic syndrome who took Aged Garlic Extract. Metabolic syndrome is characterized by obesity, hypertension and other cardiac risk factors.

This study is another demonstration of the benefits of this supplement in reducing the accumulation of soft plaque and preventing the formation of new plaque in the arteries, which can cause heart disease, said lead researcher Matthew J. Budoff.

Budoff noted that they have completed four randomized studies and they have led them to conclude that Aged Garlic Extract can help slow the progression of atherosclerosis and reverse the early stages of heart disease.

The study is scheduled for publication in the Journal of Nutrition.

A new research has found that people, who experience anxiety and inhibition, have more activity in the right side of their brain which makes them to walk in a leftward trajectory.

Lead researcher Dr. Mario Weick at the University of Kent has for the first time linked the activation of the brain's two hemispheres with lateral shifts in people's walking trajectories.

In a study aimed at establishing why individuals display a tendency to allocate attention unequally across space, people were blindfolded and asked to walk in a straight line across a room towards a previously seen target.

The researchers found evidence that blindfolded individuals who displayed inhibition or anxiety were prone to walk to the left, indicating greater activation in the right hemisphere of the brain.

The research indicated that the brain's two hemispheres are associated with different motivational systems. These relate on the right side to inhibition and on the left to approach.

The findings may have implications for the treatment of unilateral neglect, which is a condition caused by a lack of awareness of one side of space. In particular, individuals suffering from right-sided neglect may benefit from interventions to reduce anxiety.

The study is published in the journal Cognition.

Flavonoid-rich foods are associated with a reduced risk of erectile dysfunction, says a new study.

Eating foods rich in certain flavonoids trims down the risk of erectile dysfunction in men, especially in those under 70, reveals a collaborative study from the University of East Anglia (UEA) in UK and Harvard University in the US.

A combination of consuming flavonoid-rich foods with exercise can reduce the risk by 21 percent, the researchers said.

"This is the first study to look at the association between flavonoids and erectile dysfunction, which affects up to half of all middle-aged and older men," said Aedin Cassidy, a professor from UEA.

The research shows that of all the different flavonoids, anthocyanins (found in blueberries, cherries, blackberries, radishes and blackcurrants), flavanones and flavones (found in citrus fruits) were found to offer the greatest benefits.

"The top sources of anthocyanins, flavones and flavanones consumed in the US are strawberries, blueberries, red wine, apples, pears and citrus products," Cassidy said.

Eating a flavonoid-rich diet is as good for erectile function as briskly walking for up to five hours a week, the findings, published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, showed.

More than 50,000 middle-aged men were included in this large population based study.

Dating back to 1986, they were asked about their ability to have and maintain an erection sufficient for intercourse.