New Delhi: Finding it hard to manage blood sugar levels? Take heart, limiting your food consumption to a 10-hour window daily may keep your diabetes in check, according to a study.

Following the 10-hour eating window, a type of intermittent fasting, can also help you manage metabolic syndrome — a group of medical conditions that can lead to heart disease, diabetes, and stroke.

Risk factors attributing to the syndrome include elevated blood sugar, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol — key factors for poor heart health.

Researchers led by the University of California San Diego and Salk Institute in the US said the findings may help people looking to address their metabolic syndrome and reduce their risk for Type 2 diabetes.

In the trial, published online in the Annals of Internal Medicine, 108 adult patients with metabolic syndrome were randomised into either a time-restricted eating group or a control group.

Both groups continued to receive standard-of-care treatments and underwent nutritional counselling on the Mediterranean diet.

In the time-restricted eating group, each person had to reduce their eating window to 10 hours per day, which began at least one hour after waking up and ended at least three hours before going to sleep.

After three months, patients who had completed the time-restricted eating regimen showed significant improvements in key indicators of heart health.

Satchidananda Panda, a professor at the Salk Institute explained that the time of day plays an important role in human bodies’ processing of sugars and fats.

When people limit their eating window, they “re-engage the body’s natural wisdom and harness its daily circadian rhythms to restore metabolism and improve health”.

The routine also helped people lose body weight, maintain proper body mass index (BMI), and manage abdominal trunk fat — a type of fat closely linked to metabolic disease, the researchers said. Importantly, participants did not experience significant loss of lean muscle mass, which is often a concern with weight loss.

CNN
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Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin has been discharged from a Buffalo medical center, his club said Wednesday, after more than a week of hospitalization due to a cardiac arrest he suffered during a “Monday Night Football” game this month.

The 24-year-old Bills safety had been showing signs of accelerated improvement in the days leading up to his release from Buffalo General Medical Center in New York, hospital officials had said.

“We have completed a series of tests and evaluations, and in consultation with the team physicians, we are confident that Damar can be safely discharged to continue his rehabilitation at home and with the Bills,” a physician leading Hamlin’s care in Buffalo, Dr. Jamie Nadler, said in a statement the Bills released Wednesday on Twitter.

Hamlin initially was hospitalized in Cincinnati when his heart suddenly stopped after a tackle during a game against the host Cincinnati Bengals on January 2, but was transferred to the Buffalo facility Monday after doctors determined his critical condition had improved enough for the move.

Doctors at the Buffalo hospital were trying to determine why Hamlin suffered the cardiac arrest, Kaleida Health, the group of hospitals that includes the Buffalo medical center, said before his discharge. That included whether pre-existing conditions played a role in the event, which shocked many around the country and prompted a huge outpouring of support for the second-year NFL player.

On Tuesday, Hamlin went through “a comprehensive medical evaluation as well as a series of cardiac, neurological and vascular testing,” the Bills said on Twitter.

No cause of Hamlin’s cardiac arrest has been publicly announced.

“Special thank-you to Buffalo General it’s been nothing but love since arrival! Keep me in y’all prayers please!” Hamlin tweeted Tuesday.

It will be up to Hamlin to decide when he will be around the team again while recovering, Bills coach Sean McDermott said Wednesday.

“Grateful first and foremost that he is home with his parents and his brother, which is great,” McDermott told reporters Wednesday, as the Bills prepared to host the Miami Dolphins for a playoff game Sunday. No timetable for Hamlin’s return to professional football has been announced.

“We’ll leave (when he’ll be around the team) up to him. His health is first and foremost in our mind as far as his situation goes and when he feels ready, we will welcome him back,” McDermott said.

While in critical condition in Cincinnati, Hamlin was sedated and on a ventilator for days. On Friday morning the breathing tube was removed, and Hamlin began walking with some help by that afternoon, his doctors said Monday.

The health care team focused on stabilizing Hamlin and upgraded his condition Monday because his organ systems were stable and he no longer needed intensive nursing or respiratory therapy, doctors said.

“He’s certainly on what we consider a very normal to even accelerated trajectory from the life-threatening event that he underwent,” Dr. Timothy Pritts, chief of surgery at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, said earlier this week. “He’s making great progress.”

Normal recovery from a cardiac arrest can be measured in weeks to months, Pritts said Monday. Hamlin had been beating that timeline at each stage and is neurologically intact.

When Hamlin collapsed seconds after an open-field tackle against a Bengals wide receiver, medical personnel rushed onto the field and administered CPR quickly – which helped save his life.

Hamlin’s heart had stopped, and medical responders revived it twice before putting him into an ambulance and taking him to the hospital. The immediate actions of medical personnel were vital to “not just saving his life, but his neurological function,” said Pritts.

The horrifying scene of Hamlin suddenly falling on his back after standing up following the tackle unsettled his teammates, the other players and millions of watching fans.

The game was initially postponed and later cancelled by the NFL – a decision several former football players said was a sign of a shift in prioritizing players’ mental and physical health.

Now, the Bills organization is encouraging people to learn the critical, life-saving skill of administering CPR.

The team has pledged support for resources including CPR certifications, automated external defibrillator units and guidance for developing cardiac emergency response plans within the Buffalo community, according to the statement. “We encourage all our fans to continue showing your support and take the next step by obtaining CPR certification,” the Bills said.