Light perks up shift workers

New research suggests exposure to blue light could be just the ticket for shift workers who need to stay alert during the wee hours. Subjects who sat in front of a lamp emitting blue light for more than six hours at night had better reaction times and felt less sleepy than those exposed to green light, scientists report.

The findings show that "different colors of light can be used to change your alertness level, but blue light is better," said lead researcher Steven Lockley, a neuroscientist at Brigham & Women's Hospital in Boston.

Scientists have found that there are light receptors in the eye that have nothing to do with vision; they work even in blind people. These receptors let us know when it's daytime and nighttime so our body clocks can adjust.

As reported in the February issue of Sleep, subjects exposed to blue light, which has shorter wavelengths, said they were less sleepy and did better on reaction-time tests than those who sat in front of green lights. Brain scans also suggested that they were more alert.

Blue light appears to do a better job of fooling the mind into thinking that it's daylight, Lockley said.

Jump-starting a nicotine patch

Wearing a nicotine patch two weeks before trying to quit smoking can double the chances of success, researchers report. Although the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and many doctors advise against wearing a nicotine patch while smoking, these researchers found no adverse effects among the smokers in their trial.

"Beginning nicotine patch treatment two weeks before the target quit-smoking date doubled quit rates compared to starting treatment on the quit date," said lead researcher Jed E. Rose, director of the Duke University Center for Nicotine and Smoking Cessation, and co-inventor of the nicotine patch.

"Cigarettes are less rewarding and less satisfying when there is already a level of nicotine in the system provided by the patch," Rose theorized.

In its study, the Duke team tracked the progress of 96 smokers trying to quit. Half of the patients wore the patch two weeks before quitting. The others wore a phony patch.

The study was funded by a grant from the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse.

One expert suggested, though, that because this method has not been approved by the FDA, it cannot be recommended by companies that make the patch.

Chemo for older women

Chemotherapy traditionally has not been recommended for older women after breast cancer surgery for fear that they couldn't tolerate it.

And there is good reason for that in cases of women who have other physical complications. Recent studies, though, have begun to suggest that chemotherapy should be considered for older women if they are otherwise healthy.

One study, led by Dr. Hyman Muss, a professor of medicine at the University of Vermont and Vermont Cancer Center in Burlington, concluded that age alone should not be a reason to rule out chemotherapy in older women who are in good general health.

About half of all new breast cancers in the United States are diagnosed in women 65 years or older. Yet these are the very women who are frequently not offered this type of therapy.