Author: Helen Okechukwu

Most of us don’t think twice about how we sleep — but your favorite sleep position could be doing serious, long-term damage. From heart strain to increased dementia risk, experts warn that the way you sleep might be quietly sabotaging your health.

Despite its importance and essentiality to human, sleep posture remains an under-researched area. Most studies focus on aches and pains, but the risks go far deeper.

“What you do in the day generally triggers the pain and discomfort that is felt when you sleep in certain positions,” says Dr. Kat Lederle, sleep scientist and author of Sleep Sense. “One of the most common contributing factors to this is a sedentary lifestyle, so it is important to move regularly during the day.”

The Risks of Sleeping on Your Side

Sleeping sideways is the most common position, but it carries specific risks, although pregnant women and those with acid reflux or GERD are advised to sleep on their left side. Sammy Margo, chartered physiotherapist and author of The Good Sleep Guide disclosed that “the stomach is lower than your oesophagus. “

However, people with heart conditions are better off lying on their right side. Studies show that left-side sleeping shifts the heart’s position due to gravity, affecting its electrical activity.

“Tissues and structures between the lungs hold the heart in place when you sleep on your right side,” says Margo.

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Side sleeping may also affect brain health. During sleep, the brain’s glymphatic system flushes out toxins more effectively when lying on the right side. “That is potentially of interest to people at risk of dementia or Alzheimer’s or any kind of neurodegenerative disease,” says Lederle.

Physical strain is another concern. “Women with hourglass figures sleeping on a soft mattress will sink into a banana shape and that will cause a strain on the spine and hips,” Margo warns. Men, too, can develop shoulder pain from side sleeping as muscles weaken with age.

When one sleep by the side, it can also accelerate skin aging and breast sagging. Skin pressed against bedding causes wrinkles, and gravity stretches breast tissue over time.

A 2022 study from Beijing Forestry University and Chenzhou Vocational Technical College concluded that while side sleepers without disorders sleep better than back sleepers, frequent turning during sleep reduces sleep quality.

Another 2021 study linked twisted sleep postures (like one leg thrown over the other) to tissue microdamage and muscle spasms. Participants with morning pain often spent the night twisted at the hips.

To reduce these risks, Margo recommends using “a thick pillow to align the head and neck with your spine and placing a pillow between your knees to support your hips and lower back.”

The Dangers of Back Sleeping

Back sleeping is often ideal for spine alignment — but it can worsen sleep apnoea, a serious condition where the airway collapses, causing breathing interruptions. “This has implications for wider health and often goes hand in hand with obesity,” says Lederle. Poor sleep quality from apnoea increases the risk of diabetes, heart disease, and other health issues.

One way to manage sleep apnoea is by sleeping in an elevated position.

However, for those without breathing problems, back sleeping is beneficial. “The optimal position for spine alignment is lying on your back with a pillow under the knees to soften the back,” says Margo. It can also help reduce wrinkles over time.

Why Stomach Sleeping Is the Worst

While stomach sleeping can reduce snoring, it often leads to neck and back pain. “Twisting your neck to the side puts strain on your neck, and stomach sleeping can also arch your spine,” warns Margo. It also increases the risk of facial wrinkles due to direct pressure.

Front sleepers are advised to use a thin pillow or no pillow at all and place a pillow under their pelvis for better spinal support.

How to Change Your Sleep Position

Changing your sleep position takes time. Margo recommends training gradually: “Lie on your favoured side for five minutes the first night and then roll onto your back. Increase the time slowly each night until your body adapts.”

Small adjustments today could mean better sleep — and better health — for years to come.

Nigeria’s First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu, has unveiled plans to distribute 10,000 health kits, including scrubs, to aid nurses and midwives across the South-West region as part of her Renewed Hope Initiative (RHI).

Tinubu’s wife, Oluremi, on Thursday announced this during her visit to Akure, the state capital of Ondo State.

While addressing the Ondo State Council of Obas, Mrs. Tinubu sought their collaboration to end key health problems such as genital mutilation, Hepatitis B, among other health issues affecting Nigerian women.

She urged the royal fathers to support her advocacy in circulating the initiatives across their localities to end mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS, syphilis, tuberculosis, among others.

“Ending female genital mutilation is also one of our key priorities. It is a harmful and outdated tradition built on myths,” she said. “It does not stop promiscuity, as some believe. Instead, it destroys the lives of young girls.”

Flagging off the South-West phase of the project, she said the new menstrual hygiene campaign, tagged “Flow with Confidence,” targets the distribution of 10,000 sanitary pads to young girls in each state, focusing on rural areas.

Mrs. Tinubu revealed that the Young Farmers’ Club and Women’s Gardening Initiative secured a N400 billion intervention fund from the Ministry of Agriculture.

As part of the effort, each state’s first lady received N68.9 million to support women farmers.

She also mentioned a scholarship programme, offering both local and international education opportunities, including placements in Belarus.

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In addition, the Alternative High School for Girls, already active in Osun State and soon launching in Ondo, provides education and childcare support for teenage mothers.

Ondo State Governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, commended the distribution of 10,000 professional kits to nurses and midwives across the South-West.

He noted that the initiative would boost morale, improve maternal and child health, and contribute to the state’s development goals.

Governor Aiyedatiwa praised the First Lady’s commitment to empowering women, saying it would strengthen economic growth and sustainable development.

Speaking on behalf of the Council of Obas, the Deji of Akure, Oba Aladetoyinbo Aladelusi, applauded Mrs. Tinubu’s programmes and pledged the traditional rulers’ continued prayers for the success of President Tinubu’s administration.

He expressed confidence that Nigerians would support the president for a second term.

To curb the effect of fake drugs among patients, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has issued a public alert over the circulation of counterfeit Artemether/Lumefantrine tablets branded as Aflotin 20/120 in Nigerian markets.

The agency issued a warning that the fake drug poses a serious threat to public health and could result in treatment failure, prolonged illness or death.

In a statement released on its website recently, NAFDAC disclosed that the counterfeit product was identified and reported by Ajanta Pharma Limited, the main manufacturer based in Mumbai, India.

According to the agency, the batch in question — Batch No: PA2128L — was originally manufactured in December 2018 for Combisunate 20/120 (Artemether 20mg/Lumefantrine 120mg tablets) with an expiry date of November 2020.

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However, counterfeiters have manipulated the batch details and are now marketing the fake drug as Aflotin 20/120mg in a different packaging format.

Ajanta Pharma confirmed that the overprinting style of the counterfeit product does not match its standard production methods, leading to the conclusion that Aflotin 20/120mg with Batch No: PA2128L circulating in Nigeria is falsified.

NAFDAC emphasized that counterfeit medicines endanger lives because they fail to meet safety, quality, and efficacy standards.

The agency has directed all its zonal directors and state coordinators to intensify surveillance and remove any counterfeit Aflotin 20/120mg products from circulation.

Distributors, healthcare professionals, retailers, and caregivers have also been advised to exercise extreme caution and ensure that all medicines are sourced from authorized and licensed suppliers.

NAFDAC urged members of the public to report any suspicious drug products and reiterated its commitment to safeguarding public health through strict regulatory enforcement.

Women who experience early menopause—before the age of 40—face a significantly higher risk of cognitive decline compared to those who undergo menopause later in life, according to a new study led by a team of researchers.

The study, published on Tuesday in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association, was conducted by researchers from Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine and the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science.

It aims to help clinicians better understand patients’ risks of developing dementia.

The researchers launched the study to investigate the underlying factors contributing to the global rise in dementia cases among women.

Using data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, the team analyzed 4,726 women and 4,286 men, assessing cognitive functions such as orientation, memory recall, and verbal fluency.

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After adjusting for modifiable dementia risk factors—such as depression, which is more prevalent among women who experience early menopause—the study found that those who entered menopause before age 40 demonstrated significantly poorer cognitive performance two years later, compared to those who began menopause at age 50 or older.

Interestingly, women who experienced menopause at 50 or later outperformed men in cognitive assessments. The study also found no association between hormone replacement therapy and improved brain function.

The findings suggest that early menopause may be an independent risk factor for cognitive impairment, emphasizing the need for more research into how fluctuations in female hormone levels impact brain health.

“Understanding this relationship in-depth could potentially help us design treatments that delay the onset of dementia in at-risk patients,” says Nakanishi.

A recent study has suggested that a widely used diabetes drug, taken by millions of people, may reduce the aggressiveness of acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), a type of blood cancer.

Researchers from the University of Cambridge discovered that metformin, an inexpensive and commonly prescribed treatment for type 2 diabetes, may help prevent AML, based on studies conducted on mice.

The study highlighted that individuals who take metformin often share a common genetic mutation linked to AML. The research team focused on a genetic change in a gene called DNMT3A, which is responsible for about one in six cases of AML.

Metformin may help impede the growth of cancer cells in people with a faulty DNMT3A gene. In lab tests on mice and human tissue, the drug was shown to slow the growth of abnormal blood cells.

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Additionally, by examining the health records of over 400,000 individuals, the researchers found that those taking metformin were less likely to show mutations in the DNMT3A gene.

Around 3,100 people are diagnosed with AML each year. Sadly, only about one in five patients survive longer than five years after diagnosis. Although genetic testing can identify those at higher risk, there is currently no approved method to prevent the disease from developing.

Researchers now hope that metformin could be used as a preventive measure for individuals at high risk of AML.

Professor George Vassiliou, one of the study’s authors, explained that blood cancers like AML are more difficult to treat than solid tumors (such as breast or prostate cancer) because they don’t form lumps that can be surgically removed. This makes early identification and preventive treatment critical.

Dr. Rubina Ahmed from Blood Cancer UK noted that repurposing existing drugs like metformin is promising, as they are already proven to be safe and widely available.

Tanya Hollands from Cancer Research UK described the results as exciting but emphasized the need for further testing. She said proper clinical trials involving real patients are essential to confirm metformin’s effectiveness in preventing AML.

Researchers are now planning to conduct clinical trials on individuals with DNMT3A gene mutations.

AML symptoms can be difficult to detect, as they often resemble general signs of illness. According to the NHS, symptoms of AML may include pale or washed-out skin, fatigue, breathlessness, unexplained weight loss, frequent infections, night sweats, bleeding gums or nosebleeds, and easy bruising. Other symptoms can include flat red or purple spots on the skin, fever, bone and joint pain, abdominal discomfort, and swollen lymph nodes in the neck, armpits, or groin.

Currently, the primary treatment for AML is chemotherapy.

According to NHS data, about 3.6 million people were prescribed antidiabetic drugs like metformin between 2023 and 2024. Metformin remains affordable, costing around 35p per tablet. It is available in two forms: regular tablets taken multiple times daily, and slow-release tablets taken less frequently.

Besides controlling high blood sugar, metformin helps the body use insulin more effectively—an ability that may now be key to fighting cancer too.

Health Canada has officially approved NanoSpeed Diagnostics’ Test4D Serum, a rapid point-of-care test designed to detect vitamin D levels from blood serum, marking a significant milestone for the Alberta-based biotech company.

It was made known on Tuesday following its announcement of obtaining approval.

The approval follows last year’s ISO 13485 Medical Device Single Audit Program (MDSAP) certification of NanoSpeed’s manufacturing facility in Alberta — a crucial step in meeting regulatory standards and securing domestic clearance.

Test4D Serum uses NanoSpeed’s proprietary technology to assess 25-hydroxycholecalciferol (25-OH vitamin D), offering both qualitative and quantitative results.

It was originally launched in 2013 as the world’s first point-of-care test for vitamin D deficiency and has since been used widely outside Canada, including in Europe, where it received CE Mark certification in 2014.

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“We are so pleased to achieve this significant milestone in Canada” said Dr. Seema Gupta, CEO of NanoSpeed. “As a company based in Alberta that has sold millions of our test globally, we are so happy to finally obtain approval to sell our test at home to patients and healthcare practitioners who increasingly recognize the importance that Vitamin D sufficiency plays in our everyday health.”

Vitamin D deficiency remains a widespread public health concern in Canada, with estimates indicating that around 60% of adults have suboptimal levels of 25-OH vitamin D.

This condition has been associated with numerous health issues, including poor bone health, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, certain types of cancer, linked to increased risk of depression, anxiety, and fatigue.

Traditionally, vitamin D levels are assessed through laboratory testing — a method that has grown in demand and cost over the last decade, putting added pressure on publicly funded healthcare systems.

POCT devices, such as Test4D Serum, offer the advantages of faster diagnosis, reduced laboratory errors, and lower healthcare expenditures, making them an attractive option for both practitioners and patients.

With Health Canada’s green light, NanoSpeed is now poised to distribute the test across the country, empowering healthcare providers to quickly identify vitamin D deficiency and initiate timely treatment interventions.

About 3 million children are said to receive the polio immunization vaccine during the campaign period scheduled to take place between April 26 and 29.

According to Katsina State Primary Healthcare Development Agency (SPHCA) Executive Secretary, Dr. Shamsudeen Yahaya, this was revealed in Katsina while speaking with newsmen, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), government officials along with other partners in an interview.

To commemorate World Immunisation Day, he said the exercise aims to create awareness and save children from preventable death, while urging parents to engage.

Also he also encouraged media to propagate the gospel to sensitize parent about the importance of children being vaccinated.

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Also, approximately 3,700 independent monitors will spearhead the exercise to enable a wide range of service.

Yahaya stated that about 1,336 primary healthcare facilities, including 158 revitalized facilities, have been provided with ambulances across the state.

The Officer-in-Charge (OIC) and the Nutrition Manager, UNICEF Kano Field Office, Dr. Karanveer Singh, highlighted the importance of immunization and the effect of the deadly disease on children.

“Once a child is infected with the virus, he or she is permanently paralysed,” Singh noted.

Singh, while reiterating the commitment of the health organization in collaborating with the state government, urged stakeholders, including parents, to intensify efforts for children to get immunized, especially children below age 5.