Estimates are that one in eight people in the UK experience a mild low mood during winter, with symptoms including lethargy, craving for sugary foods and sleep problems, but not full depression. In other words, millions of us get the winter blues and 500,000 Brits have Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)

There is sound scientific evidence to support the idea that the season can affect our moods. Most scientists believe that the problem is related to the way the body responds to daylight.

With SAD, one theory is that light entering the eye causes changes in hormone levels in the body. In our bodies light functions to stop the production of the sleep hormone melatonin, making us wake up.  It is thought that SAD sufferers are affected by shorter daylight hours in the winter. They produce higher melatonin, causing lethargy and symptoms of depression.

If winter blues is about lack of daylight, it is no surprise that treatment involves getting more light into your life. If you feel low in winter, get outside as often as you can, especially on bright days sitting by a window can also help.

Two new studies add to the growing body of evidence that taking extra doses of vitamins can do more harm than good.

The findings are the latest in a series of disappointing research results showing that high doses of vitamins are not helpful in warding off disease. “Based on existing evidence, there is little justification for the general and widespread use of dietary supplements.

Everyone needs vitamins, which are essential nutrients that the body can’t produce on its own. But in the past few years, several high-quality studies have failed to show that high doses of vitamins, at least in pill form, help prevent chronic disease or prolong life.

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A prospective single blinded placebo controlled study was conducted. OBJECTIVE: To assess the effectiveness of spinal manipulation therapy (SMT) for the management of chronic nonspecific low back pain (LBP) and to determine the effectiveness of maintenance SMT in long-term reduction of pain and disability levels associated with chronic low back conditions after an initial phase of treatments.

METHODS: Sixty patients, with chronic, nonspecific LBP lasting at least 6 months, were randomized to receive either (1) 12 treatments of sham SMT over a 1-month period, (2) 12 treatments, consisting of SMT over a 1-month period, but no treatments for the subsequent 9 months, or (3) 12 treatments over a 1-month period, along with "maintenance spinal manipulation" every 2 weeks for the following 9 months. To determine any difference among therapies, we measured pain and disability scores, generic health status, and back-specific patient satisfaction at baseline and at 1-, 4-, 7-, and 10-month intervals.

RESULTS: Patients in second and third groups experienced significantly lower pain and disability scores than first group at the end of 1-month period. However, only the third group that was given spinal manipulations (SM) during the follow-up period showed more improvement in pain and disability scores at the 10-month evaluation. In the nonmaintained SMT group, however, the mean pain and disability scores returned back near to their pretreatment level.

CONCLUSION: SMT is effective for the treatment of chronic nonspecific LBP. To obtain long-term benefit, this study suggests maintenance SM after the initial intensive manipulative therapy.

Poor sleep makes older men 80% more likely to develop high blood pressure,” reported the Daily Mirror. It said that a three-year study found that “men who spent less than 4% of their time in a deep slumber – known as slow-wave sleep – had more heart problems than other people”.

This study was of men over 65 years of age without high blood pressure. Researchers measured their sleep pattern over one night and looked at their risk of having high blood pressure up to three years later.

Although this was a well conducted study by Harvard Medical School of 5,994 men aged over 65 years. However, only one measurement was taken, which may not be representative of an average night’s sleep. Overall, this was a well-conducted study that warrants further follow-up to confirm the findings and to understand how sleep may affect blood pressure. Alone, this study does not prove conclusively whether or how sleep patterns affect blood pressure risk. See below on how to get a good nights sleep.

Your mattress should be firm, not too hard or too soft. When you lay on your back you should need to use some pressure to slide your hand into the small of your back. If there is no resistance the bed is too hard, if difficult then it could be too soft. Always sleep on your back or side - never on your front if you can. Pillows should support both your head and neck. One or two pillows is a frequently asked question. Pillows ideally want to keep the head and neck in as neutral a position as possible so one pillow if you sleep on your back and two if on your side.

A quality sprung mattress is a good choice the amount of springs is one of the key factors. The more springs there are the more individual support each area of the body will get. Look at your mattress without sheets on, if there are big hollows that don’t recover when you take your weight off then it may be time to change your mattress.

The survey on the salt content of bread was conducted by the Campaign for Action on Salt and Health (CASH) an action group and registered charity concerned with salt and its effects on health. The group works with the food industry and government to reduce the amount of salt in processed foods.

The key findings were that one in four loaves of bread contained as much salt per slice as a packet of crisps and that bread contributes a fifth of many people’s daily salt intake The highest salt levels were found in bread from high street chain bakeries.

In total, it looked at 294 loaves of bread, including all available packaged loaves of bread and branded products, as well as a sample of supermarkets’ and bakeries’ own-brand standard white and standard wholemeal loaves.

The five packaged breads with the highest salt content per 100g were:

• Cranks seeded farmhouse: 2.03g
• Vogel original mixed grain: 1.38g
• ASDA chosen by you bakers gold white farmhouse (400g loaf): 1.2g
• Marks & Spencer eat well multigrain bloomer made with 30% Grains: 1.15g
• Morrisons thick sunflower & pumpkin loaf (400g loaf): 1.1g

The UK Food Standards Agency has set the maximum recommended daily salt intake for adults at 6 grams per day. So next time you grap a loaf give a thought of which loaf you choose.