Mindfully Healing

Why sleep deprivation feels like being drunk without drinking anything. Sleep deprivation disrupts communication between brain cells, new research finds. These disruptions can lead to temporary lapses in memory and even hallucinations. This helps to explain why sleep deprivation leaves people feeling so spaced out. Professor Itzhak Fried, who led the study, said: “We discovered that starving the body of sleep also robs neurons of the ability to function properly. This paves the way for cognitive lapses in how we perceive and react to the world around us.” The study

Women reported lower mood, self-control and energy. The most common form of the contraceptive pill lowers women’s wellbeing, new research finds. Women who took a combination of ethinylestradiol and levonorgestrel — a common combination — reported lower mood, self-control and energy. This was in comparison to a control group given a placebo. Dr Niklas Zethraeus, the study’s first author, said: “Despite the fact that an estimated 100 million women around the world use contraceptive pills we know surprisingly little today about the pill’s effect on women’s health. The scientific base