A world expert in sleep disorders will warn obese people of the potential dangers of getting behind the wheel because of a condition that disrupts breathing during the night.

Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) occurs when soft tissue in the back of the airway collapses and blocks it, causing interruption in breathing lasting 10 seconds or more.

Being overweight is a major risk factor of the condition.

British medic, Dr Bertrand De Silva, will suggest to delegates at an obesity conference in London the problem can double the risk of road accidents.

Dr De Silva, who is medical director of American Sleep Medicine in California, will say: "Far from being regarded as a minor condition with irritating snoring, research has now identified Obstructive Sleep Apnoea as a fatal disease.

"This means that the condition and its consequences are now recognised as yet another co-morbidity of obesity along with type two diabetes, heart disease and some cancers.

"We predict that only 15% of suffering patients have been diagnosed, so despite the dangers, the majority are oblivious that they even suffer from the condition.

"It is known that OSA, which causes daytime sleepiness, doubles the risk of road accidents."

Dr De Silva, who will give his speech to the National Obesity Forum's seventh annual conference tomorrow, will inform the audience that the condition has been the subject of numerous new US research studies.

"Healthcare professionals and patients need to be mindful that OSA deserves its new-found place in the limelight as we also know that it increases the risk of heart conditions by 30%, dramatically increases hypertension, affects 58% of diabetic patients (90% if obese), impacts glucose intolerance and insulin resistance and is the second leading cause of erectile dysfunction," he will say.

October is observed as World Breast Cancer Month, and the Indian Cancer Society has organised a mela on October 9 and 10 to spread awareness about this killer disease.

Among other things, members of Ugam: Victors of Childhood Survivors, an organisation formed in memory of poet-painterShobhit Kaushal, will host a fashion and dance show.

"The fashion show, which will feature Indian outfits, will also showcase various types of turbans. This is a symbolic gesture, a way for us to tell cancer patients, who lose a lot of hair during chemotherapy, to not be embarrassed about their situation," says Ekta Rawat, coordinator of Ugam and a cancer survivor herself. She adds that they will also have products like candles, bookmarks, greeting cards made by members of Ugam and such on sale.

Urmila Jain, head of the ladies committee of the Indian Cancer Society, says: "We will have craftsmen from all over the country coming to display their wares, which range from miniature paintings to artworks made by the Gond tribals to silver jewellery." She adds there will be interactive sessions and programmes around checking the spread of cancer.

"Members of Ugam, St Jude's India Childcare and Tankid, will provide information about medical expenses for treating cancer and have discussions about rehabilitation," says Jain.
Pervin Varma's choir will also perform, while NGOs such as Sujaya Foundation, the Helen Keller Institute, Aseema and Welfare of Stray Dogs will also participate in the mela. The collections from the mela will go towards cancer rehabilitation.

The October Mela will take place on October 9 and 10 at the YMCA, Colaba from 10.30am to 6.30pm.Contact: 98200 27254

Researchers have found that they can make people move in slow motion by boosting one type of brain wave. The findings offer some of the first proof that brain waves can have a direct influence on behavior, according to the researchers, who report their findings online on October 1 in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication.

"At last we have some direct experimental proof that brain waves influence behavior in humans, in this case how fast a movement is performed," said Peter Brown of University College London. "The implication is that it is not just how active brain cells are that is important, but also how they couple their activity into patterns like beta activity."

There are many types of brain waves, distinguished by their frequency and location, Brown explained. In the new study, the researchers injected a small electrical current into the brain through the scalps of fourteen people while the participants manipulated the position of a spot on a computer screen as quickly as they could with a joystick.

The electrical current used increased normal beta activity, a wave that earlier studies linked to sustained muscle activities, such as holding a book. Beta activity drops before people make a move.

Unlike most previous work, which used constant brain stimulation, the new study employed an oscillating current, more like that underlying normal brain activity. As a result, people's fastest times on the computer task were 10 percent slower.

Brown said the researchers were surprised that the electrical currents used in the study - which were very small and imperceptible to the participants - could have such a measurable effect.

The current findings provide the first interventional evidence of a causal link between increased beta synchrony and the slowing of voluntary movement in otherwise healthy individuals, the researchers report, noting that earlier studies have shown altered brain waves to influence memory.

In addition to the new insight into normal brain function, the results might have implications for treating conditions characterized by either uncontrolled or slowed movements.

"If we know what patterns of brain activity slow voluntary movement, then we can try and boost these patterns in conditions like chorea and dystonia, where there is excessive and uncontrolled movement," Brown said. "Conversely, we can try and suppress beta activity in conditions like Parkinson's disease typified by slow movement."

Taking vitamin D supplements, at a dose of 700-1,000 international units per day, may make falling 19% less likely for people aged 65 and older.

That news comes from a research review published online in BMJ, formerly called the British Medical Journal.

The review is based on eight studies of people aged 65 and older who took vitamin D supplements or placebos. Doses of vitamin D differed among the studies. Participants lived in nursing homes or in their own homes.

The reduction in fall risk was only seen in people who took at least 700 international units (IU) per day of vitamin D. Taking smaller doses didn't appear to help.

The reviewers -- who included Heike Bischoff-Ferrari, MD, MPH, director of the Centre on Aging and Mobility at Switzerland's University Hospital Zurich -- also noticed that the reduction in fall risk was only seen in people who achieved a vitamin D blood level of at least 60 nanomoles per liter.

Vitamin D affects muscle strength, and stronger muscles could mean less likelihood of falling, note Bischoff-Ferrari and colleagues.

The reviewers aren't ruling out the possibility that higher doses of vitamin D supplementation might be even more effective at preventing falls. But the studies they reviewed didn't include doses higher than 1,000 IU per day.

Taking too much vitamin D can cause nausea, constipation, confusion, abnormal heart rhythm, and kidney stones.

In the U.S., the Institute of Medicine (IOM) considers 200 IU of vitamin D to be an "adequate" daily intake for people up to 50 years old, an intake of 400 IU for people aged 51-70, and an intake of 600 IU for people aged 71 and older. The IOM also considers the tolerable upper limit for vitamin D intake to be 2,000 IU per day (1,000 IU per day in the first year of life).

However, many experts argue that the adequate daily intake for vitamin D should be higher. The IOM is reviewing its vitamin D recommendations and is expected to announce the results of that review next year.