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WORLD OF MEDICINE News From The ILLUSTRATION: GETTY IMAGES YOU CAN’T REVERSE SLEEP DEPRIVATION With help from people who volunteered to stay up overnight, US scientists tested two popular ways of compensating for sleep deprivation: caffeine and napping. Sleeplessness took a toll on people’s ability to stay focused on a task and to follow a complex set of directions. Consuming caffeine equal to two cups of coffee improved focus but not direction-following. Taking a 30- or 60-minute snooze didn’t fully restore their brain function, either. So while loading up on caffeine and taking a quick nap at midday might help you get through the day, neither will have you performing at your best.
 DOSEOFGOODNEWS Although bad news stories can be worth your attention, adding some good news into your media diet could benefit your mental health, concludes a new UK experiment. More than 300 participants began by reading stories about cruelty or violence. Some stopped there, while others were asked to proceed to either light-hearted anecdotes, or stories about acts of kindness. Not surprisingly, the negative reports dampened readers’ moods. The amusing tidbits helped to temper this effect, but it was the stories about kindness that cheered people the most. COMMON VACCINES HELP AVERT ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE Staying up to date with your immunisations reduces your chances of developing Alzheimer’s disease, suggests a US study of people over 65. Specifically, the vaccines for tetanus and diphtheria (adults should get a booster every ten years), shingles (recommended for people over age 65) and pneumococcal disease (recommended for seniors over 70) lowered the relative risk of Alzheimer’s by 30 per cent, 25 per cent and 27 per cent, respectively. readersdigest.com.au 3