Swedish News:

Swedish study finds relationship between melatonin and type 2 diabetes. More crime against first-responders. Many firsts at Eurovision Song Contest in Stockholm. 

  • There’s been an increase in crimes against paramedics, fire fighters and police. Here, police storm a bank in central Stockholm after a suspected robbery attempt Yahoo! News photo via AP/Fredrik Persson
  • Melatonin affects type 2 diabetes
    A study from Lund University in Sweden, published May 12, 2016 in Cell Metabolism, shows that the sleep hormone melatonin impairs insulin secretion. Up to 30 percent of the population may have a pancreas that's sensitive to the effects of melatonin, a naturally occurring hormone that helps maintain circadian rhythm. The amount of melatonin varies throughout the course of the day and is affected by light. People with this increased sensitivity carry a slightly altered melatonin receptor gene that is a known risk factor for type 2 diabetes.
    The study, which included 23 healthy people who carry the gene variant in question and 22 non-carriers in the same age group with the same body mass index (BMI), could explain “why the risk of type 2 diabetes is greater among, for instance, overnight workers or people with sleeping disorders,” says Professor Hindrik Mulder, whose lab studies the pancreas. “A third of all people carry this specific gene variant. Our results show that the effect of melatonin is stronger in them. We believe this explains their increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes,” says Mulder. The researchers hope their studies will help inform future approaches to personalized medicine.

  • More crime against first-responders
    There's been an increase in crimes against paramedics, fire fighters and police. A longtime target for attacks, emergency service workers in Sweden have experienced more frequent and increasingly harmful crimes against them. Swedish police have been attacked in 14 so-called "no-go zones" with knives and hand grenades; they are bracing for more violence this summer. Certain neighborhoods, many known for high migrant populations, have been designated as unsafe for emergency crews to respond to fires or medical emergencies without an armed police escort.

  • Many firsts at Eurovision Song Contest in Stockholm
    It was a close contest, and the whole world was watching this year. Televised around the world for the first time ever, the block-buster song contest was won by Jamala from Ukraine. Twenty-six finalists battled it out in Stockholm, this year’s host city of the annual event. Scores were decided by national juries as well as viewers, a new process that was designed to feel more democratic. Jamala won with her song, “1944,” inspired by her great-grandmother's story of persecution, which resonates even today. In fact, political leaders in Moscow and Crimea protested against the song, but the jury approved the lyrics nonetheless. U.S. pop star Justin Timberlake was Eurovision’s first-ever guest entertainer during the Grand Finale, adding to the hype that was expected to be the most-watched in the show's history since the event was first staged in 1956.