Sleeping well may prevent prostate cancer in men, a new study has claimed.

Men with higher levels of melatonin, a hormone involved in the sleep-wake cycle, had a 75 percent reduced risk for developing advanced prostate cancer compared with men who had lower levels of melatonin, researchers found.

Melatonin is produced exclusively at night in the dark and is an important output of the circadian rhythm.

"Sleep loss and other factors can influence the amount of melatonin secretion or block it altogether, and health problems associated with low melatonin, disrupted sleep, and/or disruption of the circadian rhythm are broad, including a potential risk factor for cancer," said Sarah C Markt, doctoral candidate in the Department of Epidemiology at Harvard School of Public Health in Boston.

"We found that men who had higher levels of melatonin had a 75 percent reduced risk for developing advanced prostate cancer compared with men who had lower levels of melatonin," Markt said.

"Our results require replication, but support the public health implication of the importance of maintaining a stable light-dark and sleep-wake cycle.

"Because melatonin levels are potentially modifiable, further studies of melatonin and prostate cancer risk and progression are warranted," added Markt.

To investigate the association between urine levels of the main breakdown product of melatonin, 6-sulfatoxymelatonin, and risk of prostate cancer, Markt and colleagues conducted a case-cohort study of 928 Icelandic men from the AGES-Reykjavik cohort between 2002 and 2009.

They collected first morning void urine samples at recruitment, and asked the participants to answer a questionnaire about sleep patterns.

The researchers found that one in seven men reported problems falling asleep, one in five men reported problems staying asleep, and almost one in three reported taking sleeping medications.

The median value of 6-sulfatoxymelatonin in the study participants was 17.14 nanogrammes per millilitre of urine.

Men who reported taking medications for sleep, problems falling asleep, and problems staying asleep had significantly lower 6-sulfatoxymelatonin levels compared with men without sleep problems, according to Markt.

Of the study participants, 111 men were diagnosed with prostate cancer, including 24 with advanced disease.

The researchers found that men whose 6-sulfatoxymelatonin levels were higher than the median value had a 75 per cent decreased risk for advanced prostate cancer.

A 31 per cent decreased risk for prostate cancer overall was observed as well, but this finding was not statistically significant.

The study was presented at a meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research.

Cereals, toasts and sweet delights may seem unavoidable during breakfast time, but it is advisable to consume healthier food to begin your day with, says an expert.

According to Ilona Wesle, a nutritionist and co-founder of MyDetoxDiet.com, wheat must be avoided in the morning as it converts quickly to sugar and then fat, and that even without the added sugar in cereals and jams, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

Here are a few tasty ideas which will satiate your tummy as well as taste buds:

Bircher muesli: Take rolled oats with sliced apple and pear (or whatever fruit, nuts and raisins take your fancy). Then soak it all in some agave syrup or apple juice overnight in a bowl. Eat with soya yoghurt the next morning. Delicious as a snack any time of day, and full of good fibre and protein.

Eggs: You can choose to get some proper protein with a boiled egg and toasted rye bread soldiers; scrambled eggs with a bit of spinach and cayenne pepper; or a poached egg on smoked salmon. It makes for great brain food for the day ahead, and it is easy to make.

Yoghurt: Just get your hands on a simple probiotic yogurt with nuts and berries. Try it with goji berries and flaxseed. Soak the flaxseeds in water overnight - the combination with probiotic yogurt is great for soothing tummy troubles. This can also make a healthy pudding that you can have after lunch.

Green juice: Grab a cold pressed green juice before heading out of home. Oxygenating and full of chlorophyll, pressed juices retain the goodness of their ingredients by savouring the nectar straight from the pulp. Pressing - rather than chopping or blending - doesn't degrade the fruit or vegetable and avoids over heating it and zapping away minerals. Try courgette, broccoli, lemon, apple and fennel for a zesty morning kick.

A new review of a decade's worth of U.S. cancer statistics finds that women who got breast-conserving surgery and radiation to treat early-stage cancer were less likely to die from breast cancer during the next 10 years than those who had their breasts removed.

Researchers found that 94 percent of women who had lumpectomy and radiation between 1998 and 2008 had not died of breast cancer after 10 years, compared to about 90 percent of the women who had mastectomy, with or without radiation.

"We can see what's happening in modern-day practice," Dr. Shailesh Agarwal said. "Patients who are undergoing breast conservation therapy - versus patients who are undergoing mastectomy - are having better survival."

Agarwal, an associate professor of plastic and reconstructive surgery at the University of Utah School of Medicine in Salt Lake City, is the study's lead author.

His team's report, published in the journal JAMA Surgery, is not the first to point out that women who have lumpectomy and radiation for breast cancer appear to live longer than others.

But research looking into whether women who have breast-conserving therapy have a higher risk of their cancer returning or spreading has yielded mixed results.

In January 2013, a study published in the journal Cancer found that Californian women who had lumpectomy were also more likely to survive longer than those who had their breasts removed.

But older randomized controlled trials, considered the "gold standard" of medical research, have found that survival is about equal between women who undergo lumpectomy with radiation and those who have their breasts removed.

For the new study, the researchers used data on more than 130,000 U.S. women between the ages of 18 and 80 years old who were treated for early-stage breast cancer. That meant the tumor size was less than 4 centimeters and three or fewer lymph nodes showed signs of cancer cells having spread.

Overall, about 70 percent of the women underwent lumpectomy with radiation, about 27 percent had mastectomy and about 3 percent had mastectomy with radiation.

After five years, about 97 percent of women who had lumpectomy with radiation had not died of breast cancer. That compared to about 94 percent of women who had mastectomy and about 90 percent of women who had mastectomy and radiation.

After 10 years, about 94 percent of women who had lumpectomy with radiation had not died of breast cancer. That compared to about 90 percent of women who had mastectomy and about 83 percent of women who had mastectomy and radiation.

The researchers acknowledge in their report that they can't explain why people who have breast conservation therapy are less likely to die of breast cancer, compared to those who have their breasts removed.

It could be, they write, that there are differences in the other therapies they received, such as chemotherapy, or the aggressiveness of a woman's tumor, that were not reflected in the data.

There could also be differences between the women who chose one therapy over another, including unrelated health problems, lifestyle, family history and other variables.

When researchers compared women with similarly-sized tumors and similar lymph node involvement, for example, race appeared to play a role in survival, with African American women nearly twice as likely to die from the cancer.

Women who had mastectomy and radiation were also typically younger with more advanced breast cancer, which may partially explain why they were most likely to die of breast cancer over 10 years, Agarwal and his colleagues write.

But when women with similar tumors and other variables were compared, overall, the women who had lumpectomy with radiation still had a lower chance of dying than those who had mastectomy.

Dr. Shelley Hwang, who led the 2013 study, said the new study validates her team's findings.

"I think it's really going to help women make decisions about which one to choose and show women that lumpectomy is not a less and worse treatment," she said.

Hwang was not involved in the new study but is chief of breast surgery at Duke University Hospital in Durham, North Carolina.

She emphasized that the findings only apply to people who have early-stage breast cancer without other complications.

"This is not for the special cases of women who have a (genetic) mutation or that sort of thing," Hwang said.

Agarwal said that it's also important for women to have frank discussions with their doctors about treatments.

"Despite this being a large database study and a large number of patients, breast cancer treatment is highly individualized," he said.

"I think the main thing is to have good discussion with your breast surgeon and even the multi-disciplinary (treatment) team so that you have the best chance of getting the optimal treatment."

A new study suggests that disease outbreaks tied to swimming happen even in the winter, and that occurs often after people go in hot tubs or spas.

Between 2009 and 2010, there were 81 outbreaks and 1,326 cases of illness in the United States linked to recreational water exposure (in pools, lakes, hot tubs, etc.), according to information reported from 28 states and Puerto Rico.

Eighteen of these outbreaks (22 percent) were linked with hot tubs or spas, and about 40 percent of the outbreaks occurred in February or March, according to the report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Many of the winter outbreaks occurred in hotels.

One of the most common illnesses linked with hot tub/spa outbreaks is infection with the bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Healthy people can develop Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections, including ear infections or skin rashes, after exposure to hot tubs that have not been properly chlorinated, according to the CDC.

Called "hot-tub rash," the infection often appears in the shape of the bathing suit a person is wearing, because the suit holds the contaminated water, Michele Hlavsa, an epidemiologist at the CDC's Waterborne Disease Prevention Branch, said.

Because of the high temperature in hot tubs, it can be hard to keep the level of disinfectant as high as it needs to be, Hlavsa told Live Science.

The report is published in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Blurred vision, scratching and burning sensation and irritation in the eye - these are not minor irritants in your daily routine but might be the pointers to a condition called the dry-eye syndrome which plagues many people during an extreme winter.

According to doctors, even though a person's entire body might be covered up as a protection against the chilly winter winds, there is one part that is always exposed: the eyes.

The surface of the eye is covered with a thin layer of liquid known as the tear film, which is essential for its health. A dry-eye condition caused by cold winds evaporates the tears, which could partially affect vision and cause constant eye pain.

"Occurrence of dry-eye syndrome is very common during the winter season because of the cold, dry outdoor air and dry indoor heat," Sanjay Dhawan, director of ophthalmology at Fortis Hospital, said.

Dhawan said when there is insufficient lubrication in the eye, the conjunctiva (the white part of the eye) becomes much less moist than normal.

He said this causes severe pain, discomfort and inflammation of the conjunctiva and cornea of the eye, due to inadequate tear secretion.

It is a common problem faced by both men and women above 50.

"Sometimes it becomes severe as this abnormality may result in disruption of the ocular (eye) surface, causing difficulty in vision," Dhawan said.

The other symptoms of the eye problem include a persistent watery discharge and irritation if one is using contact lenses.

"If menopause occurs at an early age, then the chances of developing dry-eye syndrome during the winter gets increased even among middle-aged women," Dhawan said, adding that at an initial stage, it may seem like a minor irritation but can become potentially serious.

According to Kinshuk Biswas, opthalmologist at Gurgaon's Columbia Asia Hospital, the condition could also be a result of constant use of a computer.

"Dry-eye syndrome is caused by the low humidity factor during winter which leads to evaporation of the lubricant in the eyes. Another contributing factor for this condition is the use of a computer and continuously looking at the screen for long," Biswas said.

To prevent this condition, one should use eye drops (as prescribed by a doctor) three-four times a day.

One could also close the eyes for half-a-minute while sitting in front of the computer screen to bring moisture back to the eyes, Biswas said.

Listing out the preventive steps, Dhawan said patients should wear sunglasses to protect the eyes from the cold wind, while artificial tears - also known as tear substitutes - should be applied at least four times a day.

If the condition aggravates, use lubricating ointment at bedtime and run a humidifier to put moisture back into the air.

Also, lay a warm, damp washcloth across your eyelids for a couple of minutes, drink extra fluids and use a hot- or cold-air humidifier, Dhawan said.

According to the American Association of Ophthalmology, approximately 3.2 million women and 1.7 million men over the age of 50 suffer from chronic dry eyes.