However, by that point the misinformation was out there and there were many people who it was too late for, already hooked on cigarettes. The following anti-smoking ads are a mixture of the hard hitting, the sad and the thought provoking. Hopefully they’ll have the intended effect.

On the first day, Randy Gardner woke at six A.M. feeling alert and ready to go. By day two he had begun to drag, experiencing a fuzzy-headed lack of focus. When handed series of objects, he struggled to recognize them by touch alone. The third day he became uncharacteristically moody, snapping at his friends. He had trouble repeating common tongue twisters such as Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. By the fourth day, the sand-clawed demons of sleep were scraping at the back of his eyeballs. He suddenly and inexplicably hallucinated that he was Paul Lowe, a large black football player for the San Diego Chargers. Gardner, in reality, was white, seventeen years old, and 130 pounds soaking wet.

Gardner, a San Diego high school student, was the subject of a self-imposed sleep-deprivation experiment. He had resolved to find out what would happen to his mind and body if he stayed awake from December 28, 1963 to January 8, 1964, a total of 264 hours - eleven days. Assisting him were two classmates, Bruce McAllister and Joe Marciano Jr. They kept him awake and tracked his condition by administering a series of tests. They planned to enter the results in the Greater San Diego High School Science Fair. But transforming the ordeal from a science fair stunt into one of the most widely cited sleep-deprivation experiments ever conducted was the arrival of Stanford researcher William C. Dement, who flew down from Palo Alto to be with Randy as soon as he heard what was going on.

Animal Study Ends in DEATH!

No one knew what Randy might experience, as more days passed, or whether he might cause himself permanent brain damage, because only a handful of sleep-deprivation trials had ever been conducted. One of the earliest studies in this field had come to an inauspicious conclusion. In 1984 1894 Russian physician Marie de Manaceine kept four puppies awake almost five days, at which point the puppies died. She reported that the research was “excessively painful,” not only for the puppies but for herself as well. Apparently monitoring sleepy puppies 24/7 is hard work.

However, the few studies conducted on humans offered more hope. In 1896 doctors J. Allen Gilbert and George Patrick kept an assistant professor and two instructors awake in their lab at the University of Iowa for ninety hours. After the second night, the assistant professor hallucinated that “the floor was covered with a greasy-looking, molecular layer of rapidly moving or oscillating particles.” But no long-term side effects were observed. Then, in 1959, two disc jockeys separately staged wake-a-thons to raise money for medical research. Peter Tripp of New York stayed awake for 201 hours while broadcasting from a glass booth in Times Square. Tom Rounds of Honolulu upped the ante by remaining awake 260 hours. Both Tripp and Rounds suffered hallucinations and episodes of paranoia, but after a few good nights’ sleep they seemed fully recovered. It was Rounds’s record Gardner hoped to beat, which is why he set his goal a 264 hours.

The Experiment

Meanwhile, Gardner valiantly pressed onward, struggling to stay awake. Nights were the hardest. If he lay down for a second, he was out like a light. So his high school friends and Dr. Dement kept him active by cruising in the car, taking trips down to the donut shop, blasting music, and playing marathon games of basketball and pinball. Whenever Gardner went to the bathroom, they made him talk through the door to confirm he wasn’t dozing off. The one thing they didn’t do was give him any drugs. Not even caffeine.

As more days passed, Gardner’s speech began to slur, he had trouble focusing his eyes, he frequently grew dizzy, he had trouble remembering what he said from one minute to the next, and he was plagued by more hallucinations. One time he saw a wall dissolve in front of him and become a vision of a forest path.

To make sure he wasn’t causing himself brain damage or otherwise injuring his health, his parents insisted he get regular checkups at the naval hospital in Balboa Park - the family’s health-care provider since his father served in the military. The doctors at the hospital found nothing physically wrong with him, though he did sporadically appear confused
and disoriented.

Finally, at two A.M. on January 8, Gardner broke Rounds’s record. A small crowd of doctors, parents, and classmates gathered to celebrate the event. They cheered wildly, and Gardner, busy taking calls from newsmen, responded with a V-for-victory sign. Four hours later, he was whisked away to the naval hospital where, after receiving a brief neurological checkup, he fell into deep sleep. He woke fourteen hours and forty minutes later, feeling alert and refreshed.

Gardner’s world record didn’t last long. A mere two weeks later, papers reported that Jim Thomas, a student at Fresno State College, managed to stay awake 266.5 hours. The Guinness Book of World Records subsequently recorded that in April 1977 Maureen Weston, of Petersborough, Cambridgeshire, went 449 hours without sleep while participating in a rocking chair marathon. However, Gardner’s feat remained the most well-remembered sleep-deprivation trial. To this day, no on knows the maximum amount of time a human can stay awake.

As of 2007, Gardner remains alive and well, having suffered no long-term ill effects from his experience. Despite sleep deprivation being the source of his fifteen minutes of fame, he insists he’s really not the type to pull an all-nighter and says he’s maintained a sensible sleep schedule since his youthful stunt. He does admit to lying awake some nights, but attributes this to age, not a desire to beat his old record.

Ross J. (1965) “Neurological Findings After Prolonged Sleep Deprivation.” Archives of Neurology 12:399-403.

A deficiency of iron makes you physically tired because not enough oxygen is being carried around the body. It can also make you depressed, which in turn leaves you feeling even more tired, so creating a vicious circle.

If you have vegetable sources of iron, combine them with foods high in vitamin C – which will boost the amount of iron your body absorbs.

Good sources include: lean red meat, eggs, fortified bran breakfast cereals, dried apricots, tinned crab and dark green leafy veg.

Reduce Caffeine

Avoid caffeine-rich drinks such as coffee and cola from five hours before bedtime and steer clear of energy drinks. There is evidence that artificial sweeteners speed up the rate your stomach empties, making you feel hungry.

Drink More Water

Countless studies have linked dehydration to poor concentration levels and fatigue.

Boost Your Vitimin B

THEY help release energy from food. Good sources include whole grains – wheat and oats – fish and seafood, poultry and meats, eggs, dairy products, leafy green vegetables, beans and peas, and citrus fruits.

Protein Packed Lunch

Eat more protein at lunchtime and more carbs in the evening. Protein will keep you mentally alert during the afternoon and the carbs will help you sleep better.

Protein Power

Protein has been proven to improve concentration and energy levels.

Opt for lean meat, chicken, turkey and tofu at lunchtime to help you beat power slumps later on.

Carbs

Carbs are essential energy foods. Low-GI carbs release energy slowly, giving long-lasting effects. Alternatively, high-GI carbs will give you a quick high that is soon followed by a slump.

Fifty per cent of your calories should come from carbs. So a 60kg woman doing an hour a day of light activity should eat 2,000 calories a day – with 1,000 coming from carbs. This is the equivalent of a bowl of muesli, a pint of milk, an apple, a pear, yogurt, baked sweet potato, pitta bread, banana and a glass of orange juice.

Lunchbox basics

WITH the kids back in class for the start of a new school year, what better time to ensure your packed lunch packs a punch. Follow these seven simple steps:

1. Start with starchy basics. Put in wholemeal bread, rolls, pitta breads, bagels, baguettes, muffins, pasta or rice.

2. Add a tasty protein-packed filling such as lean chicken, ham, sliced meats, peanut butter or canned fish.

3. Include a vegetable of some kind either in the sarnie above, or on the side, such as carrot batons.

4. Put in a fruit. For example an apple, pear, satsuma or grapes, or dried fruit such as apricots.

5. Add a dairy-based food such as a low-fat yoghurt, fromage frais, rice pud, custard or homemade milkshake.

6. Now add a treat. The British Dietetic Association says there is nothing wrong with giving kids a little treat. Low-fat crisps, plain popcorn, slice of fruit cake, a biscuit or cereal bar (check the sugar content), a mini fruit scone, fruit bun or fun-sized chocolate bar.

7. Don’t forget a drink. A bottle of water, an individual fruit juice, plain or flavoured milk or sugar-free squash drink are ideal. When the weather turns colder, pop hot drinks and soups into a flask.

Optional Extras

Bread sticks with a pot of humus and carrot sticks. Peeled and chopped kiwi fruit in a pot. A Mini Babybel cheese or a 30g chunk of cheddar. Slice of malt loaf.

Multi-coloured pasta twirls mixed with canned tuna and canned sweetcorn and peppers. Juicy pear. Greek yoghurt pot with honey corner. Mini fruit bun.

Wholemeal muffin with extra-lean ham with sliced cucumber. Celery sticks.

Published in the Sept. 5 issue of the journal Cell Metabolism by researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, the report looks at the role played by a single gene in fat formation.

Greater activity in the “adipose” gene — first discovered in fruit flies 50 years ago — was found to keep fruit flies, worms and mice skinny, regardless of how much they ate.

“It could explain why so many people struggle to lose weight and suggests an entirely new direction for developing medical treatments that address the current epidemic of diabetes and obesity,” said Dr. Jonathan Graff, associate professor of developmental biology and internal medicine at UT Southwestern, the senior author of the study.

The gene was manipulated by turning it on and off at different stages of the animal’s life and in different parts of the body.

In genetically engineered mice, researchers found that increased activity in the gene led to leaner, healther mice, even if they ate more than regular mice. Mice with reduced gene activity were fatter, less healthy and had diabetes.

There may be a drawback to having the “skinny” gene, however. When flies with the gene were placed in famine-like conditions, they did poorly. The gene is beneficial during times of abundance, when, according to Graff, “too much fat in times of plenty has deleterious consequences.”

The most promising result, however, seemed to be that different combinations of the gene’s variants led to a range of body types.

“This is good news for potential obesity treatments, because it’s like a volume control instead of a light switch; it can be turned up or down, not just on or off,” Graff said. “Eventually, of course, the idea is to develop drugs to target this system, but that’s in the years to come.”

While the gene is known to be present in humans, it is not known if the gene works similarly in people.

But Graff remains hopeful, “Maybe if you could affect this gene, even just a little bit, you might have a beneficial effect on fat.”

When the police arrived, David told them he was waiting to meet a friend. Unconvinced, officers decided to search his car. When they opened the trunk they discovered a toolbox shut with a padlock and sealed with duct tape for good measure. The trunk also contained over fifty foil-wrapped cubes of mysterious gray powder, small disks and cylindrical metal objects, lantern mantles, mercury switches, a clock face, ores, fireworks, vacuum tubes, and assorted chemicals and acids.The police were especially alarmed by the toolbox, which David warned them was radioactive and which they feared was an atomic bomb.

David has since been back in the news, as despite being banned he’s back stealing smoke detectors again to fuel his cazy quest to generate home-made nuclear power.

Something that is more worrying however is the impact that his obsession has had on his features.