Menopause neither increases nor creates any difficulty in sleeping amongst women, says a University of Pennsylvania study.

According to the researchers, women in their late thirties and forties who have trouble sleeping are more than three times more likely to suffer sleep problems during menopause than women who have an easier time getting shut-eye.

Only 25 percent of women who had reported no earlier sleep problems developed moderate or severe insomnia or other sleep disturbances during a 16-year period around menopause. What's more, the researchers say that these sleep woes did not appear to be caused by menopause itself, which may quell common fears about symptoms associated with this phase of life. The study is among the first to document long-term sleep patterns in women in the years before, during and after menopause.

Lead author, Ellen W. Freeman, said that a small subgroup of women with only mild sleep disturbance prior to menopause also experienced worsening sleep disturbance during the transition, but their results show that for the majority of women, menopause does not further exacerbate existing sleep problems or cause new ones.

The study assessed annually the sleep patterns of 255 women participating in the Penn Ovarian Aging Study who reached natural menopause during a 16-year period (1996-2012). At enrollment, all women were aged 35 to 48 years and premenopausal, with 28 percent reporting moderate-to-severe sleep disturbances, which is similar to the prevalence of insomnia symptoms among adults, and 56 percent reporting no sleep disturbances at all. Over the 16 year period, 82 percent of the sample experienced moderate-to-severe issues with sleep, while only 7 percent had no poor sleep.

The study also found that hot flashes are strongly associated with poor sleep as expected, but a large proportion of poor sleep in menopausal women occurred without hot flashes. The finding, Freeman says, indicates that sleep difficulties in the transition to menopause in generally healthy women should not automatically be imputed to ovarian decline.

Freeman added that clinicians should be alert to the strong possibility that poor sleep in women approaching menopause is not simply caused by menopause or hot flashes.

Possible reasons for poor sleep instead may include health problems, anxiety, and stress, Freeman said.

The study is published in the journal Menopause.

Now, foodies might be in for a treat as one might be able to gorge on juicy steaks made of plants.

A new research has shed light on meat-like foods produced by plants suggesting that many people crave requires a lot of animals raised on huge, unsustainable amounts of plant protein.

The research conducted by American Chemical Society is trying to focus that plant protein should be consumed by humans itself instead of giving so much of it to animals as feed.

Melody M. Bomgardner, a senior editor at C and EN, notes that they need protein, which their bodies break down into essential amino acids, to maintain good health.

Low-carb diets and research showing the benefits of protein have boosted the trendiness of this macronutrient and as a result, on average Americans consume more protein than they need and raising livestock, the major source of dietary protein in the U.S., puts a tremendous strain on water resources and arable land.

Americans are increasingly turning to plants for protein out of concern that red meat can lead to heart disease and obesity. Food manufacturers are paying attention. They have quickly responded with a growing range of protein-packed soy, pea and algae products but to win over more steak lovers, scientists are still working toward the ultimate goal: plant protein that looks, feels and tastes like meat.

The study is published in journal Chemical and Engineering News (C and EN).

Now you can test the possibility of developing dementia with a prick of a needle.

As opposed to cardiovascular diseases, where the level of cholesterol in our blood indicates the risk of cardiac arrest, there are no such trustworthy markers in our blood in terms of diagnosing the risk of dementia setting in. However, Scientists at Rigshopitalet, Herlev Hospital and the University of Copenhagen have now identified a new biomarker, measurable in a simple blood test, which will help predict the onset of dementia.

Assistant clinical and research professor Ruth Frikke-Schmidt, said that the blood test would help provide a more precise risk evaluation of a citizen's risk of developing dementia later in life.

The blood test would enable an earlier and more focused prevention effort, thus prolonging the onset of the illness and raising the individual's quality of life, she added. Researchers hope that with time, this new blood test will be applicable in clinical practice.

In the study, researchers show that a low level of the biomarker, the so-called apolipoprotein E, in our blood, increases the risk of developing dementia in the future. This was revealed in comprehensive studies of the general public, the Herlev-Oesterbro Study and the Oesterbro Study, involving 76,000 people.

The study is published in th internationally acclaimed journal, the Annals of Neurology.

If you are planning to take supplements based on green tea extracts as a measure to lose weight, think again. Researchers have warned that the supplements could result in harmful side effects including liver toxicity.

Drinking green tea, instead of taking the supplements, could help you enjoy the benefits associated with the beverage while avoiding the risk of liver toxicity, they pointed out.

Also, drinking green tea in the weeks before taking supplements likely reduces risk of side effects, the findings showed.

"Drinking green tea rather than taking supplements will allow you to realise the benefits and avoid the risk of liver toxicity," explained Josh Lambert, associate professor of food science at College of Agricultural Sciences, Pennsylvania State University.

Tea is rich in catechins, polyphenols that are natural antioxidants. A number of animal studies have shown the preventive effects of green tea polyphenols against obesity.

For the new study, the researchers gave mice high doses of the green tea polyphenol epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG).

The dosage was equivalent to the amount of the polyphenol found in some dietary supplements taken by humans.

Dietary pretreatment with the green tea polyphenol protects mice from liver toxicity caused by subsequent high oral doses of the same compound, the findings showed.

"We believe this study indicates that those who are chronic green tea consumers would be less sensitive to potential liver toxicity from green-tea-based dietary supplements," Lambert noted.

He, however, added that the beneficial effects that people have reported as being associated with green tea are the result of dietary consumption rather than the use of supplements.

The study appeared in the journal Food and Chemical Toxicology.

If you want to keep your lungs healthy and disease free, consume diet rich in whole grains, polyunsaturated fats and nuts, and low in red and processed meat, refined grains and sugary drinks, claims a study.

Eating a diet rich is associated with a lower risk of chronic lung disease (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or COPD), such as emphysema and bronchitis, which block the airways and restrict oxygen flow around the body. It is currently ranked the third leading cause of death worldwide.

A team of researchers based in France and the USA, set out to investigate the association between the Alternate Healthy Eating Index 2010 (AHEI-2010) - a measure of diet quality based on current scientific knowledge - and the risk of COPD.

They analyzed data for more than 120,000 US men and women taking part in the Nurses' Health Study from 1984 to 2000 and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study from 1986 to 1998.

The AHEI-2010 diet score is based on 11 components, with a higher score reflecting high intakes of vegetables, whole grains, polyunsaturated fats, nuts, and long chain omega-3 fats - moderate intake of alcohol - and low intakes of red and processed meats, refined grains, and sugar sweetened drinks.

Over the study period, 723 cases of newly diagnosed COPD occurred in women and 167 in men.

After adjusting for 12 factors such as age, physical activity, body mass index, smoking and ethnicity, the risk of newly diagnosed COPD was one third lower in participants who ate the healthiest AHEI-2010 diet compared with those who ate the least healthy diet. The findings were similar in ex-smokers and current smokers - and in both women and men.

By contrast, the AHEI-2010 diet score was completely unrelated to incident asthma.

Authors said that, it was a novel finding that supports the importance of diet in the pathogenesis of COPD. Although efforts to prevent COPD should continue to focus on smoking cessation, these prospective findings support the importance of a healthy diet in multi-interventional programs to prevent COPD.

The study is published in The BMJ.