ScienceDaily (Oct. 29, 2008) — Neuroscientists at The University of Queensland have discovered a new way to explain how emotional events can sometimes lead to disturbing long term memories.
In evolutionary terms, the brain’s ability to remember a fear or trauma response has been crucial to our long term survival.
However, in the modern world, when a [...]
Archive for October, 2008
30 Oct
New Understanding Of How We Remember Traumatic Events
29 Oct
New Brain Link As Cause Of Schizophrenia
ScienceDaily (Oct. 27, 2008) — A lack of specific brain receptors has been linked with schizophrenia in new research by scientists at Newcastle University.
In work published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the team has found that NMDA receptors are essential in modifying brain oscillations – electrical wave patterns – which are [...]
28 Oct
Depression may worsen COPD
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – October 24, 2008 – Among people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, depression and possibly anxiety appear to increase the risk of flare-ups and hospitalizations, according to a new report.
Prior research has linked depression with COPD flare-ups, but the new findings suggest that depression may actually play a causal [...]
28 Oct
End-of-life Preferences Appear To Remain Stable As Health Declines
ScienceDaily (Oct. 27, 2008) — Most individuals’ preferences regarding life-sustaining treatment do not appear to change over a three-year period, regardless of declines in physical and mental health, according to a new report. Individuals who say they want aggressive care and those without advance directives are most likely to change their end-of-life wishes over time.
“Efforts [...]
26 Oct
Genomic Changes Found In Brains Of People Who Commit Suicide
ScienceDaily (Oct. 24, 2008) — Are genes destiny? Alternatively, are we simply the products of our environment? There is a growing sense that neither of these two possibilities fully captures the essence of the risk for psychiatric disorders. New light is being shed on the complex interaction of genetic and environmental factors as the result [...]
26 Oct
High-Dose Hormone Treatment Might Reduce Risk For Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
ScienceDaily (Oct. 25, 2008) — Cortisol helps our bodies cope with stress, but what about its effects on the brain? A new study by Cohen and colleagues, appearing in the October 15th issue of Biological Psychiatry, suggests that the answer to this question is complex. In an animal model of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), high [...]
21 Oct
NO STIGMA – What Would Your Life Be Like?
Written by: Me
What would your life be like or your family’s life be like if there was no stigma attached to mental illness?
Do you believe your life would alter dramatically? What changes do you imagine you would observe the most? What would you desire to say to anyone, anywhere (fantasy world here)?
For me, I would [...]
20 Oct
Do Cell Phones Increase Brain Cancer Risk?
ScienceDaily (Oct. 20, 2008) — Major research initiatives are needed immediately to assess the possibility that using cellular phones may lead to an increased risk of brain tumors, according to an editorial in the November issue of the journal Surgical Neurology.
Recent studies have raised concerns that long-term exposure to electromagnetic fields (ELF) from cell-phone handsets [...]
18 Oct
Aerobic activity may reverse mental decline
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – October 17, 2008 – Regular aerobic exercise can not only stave off the decline in brain function that often comes with age, it can also help turn back the clock on brain aging, two experts in the field report, based on a critical review of published studies.
Age-related deterioration in the [...]
18 Oct
New Look At Mini-strokes
ScienceDaily (Oct. 17, 2008) — Like a burning fire, the brain is in constant need of oxygen, and when a blood vessel is blocked during a stroke, part of the brain becomes starved of oxygen and nutrients. When this happens, neurons in that part of the brain die off, leading to permanent loss of function [...]
16 Oct
Bipolar: Finding yourself more in the basement
Written by: ME
I describe bipolar as a house with three levels. Upstairs is Mania, Main Floor in even moods, and of course the basement where the shackles of Depression are clasped ever so tightly around your ankles. I seem to wind up in the basement much more often than upstairs. I was diagnosed with Bipolar [...]
14 Oct
Depression a predictor of death after heart attack
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Tuesday, October 14, 2008 – In people who have suffered a heart attack, depression and a high heart rate at night, while often coexistent, are independent predictors of death, according to research published in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine.
Dr. Robert M. Carney of Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, [...]
14 Oct
St. John’s Wort Relieves Symptoms Of Major Depression, Study Shows
ScienceDaily (Oct. 13, 2008) — New research provides support for the use of St. John’s wort extracts in treating major depression. A Cochrane Systematic Review backs up previous research that showed the plant extract is effective in treating mild to moderate depressive disorders.
“Overall, we found that the St. John’s wort extracts tested in the trials [...]
9 Oct
What’s Up?
Hi, in case any of you have visited in the past couple of days and continually seen the blog theme background change so often, it’s due to my fonts. Each time I choose a new wordpress theme, when the change-over happens, some fonts are fine and then others are not. Hopefully this one will be [...]
9 Oct
Will #77 Do The Trick? ECT (Electro convulsive therapy)
This was written and happened to ME.
It was decided: Wednesday would be the day. I’ve kept count; it will be #77, another nightmare procedure producing nil results and I’m once again pessimistic. I have to keep going, plodding along, slowly – ever so slowly to somehow reach the top of the mountain. I’ve lost my faith [...]
9 Oct
STIGMA – IN THE WORKPLACE
STIGMA ~~
Considering so many people have such difficulty opening up to people close to them, it’s no wonder that there are real fears about being stigmatized in the workplace. The cost of mental illness in the workplace is enormous: 30 to 40 per cent of disability claims are for mental illness, and the losses amount [...]
7 Oct
Mental Health Intervention Urged For Heart Patients
ScienceDaily (Oct. 6, 2008) — Heart patients are particularly vulnerable to depression and should be screened, and if necessary treated, to improve their recovery and overall health, according to a scientific advisory issued September 29 by the American Heart Association and co-authored by a Yale School of Public Health researcher.
“Depression and heart disease seem to [...]
6 Oct
Smoking Increases Depression In Women
Smoking Increases Depression In Women, Australian Study Reveals
ScienceDaily (Oct. 3, 2008) — A new study reveals that women who smoke are at greater risk of developing major depressive disorder. The study has been published today the British Journal of Psychiatry.
Researchers from the University of Melbourne and Barwon Health assessed a group of 1043 Australian women, [...]
4 Oct
How Much Are You Really Exercising? Obese Women Know Better Than Normal Weight Women
ScienceDaily (Oct. 4, 2008) — People struggling with obesity often underestimate how many calories they are actually consuming, which can hinder weight loss efforts. It should follow that the same person would overestimate the amount of exercise they’re doing, right?
Maybe not, say Temple University researchers. In a study to be presented at The Obesity Society’s [...]
2 Oct
Seeking Help For Depression/Anxiety Has Significant Long-term Benefits
ScienceDaily (Oct. 2, 2008) — According to the Mood Disorder Society of Canada, about 1.3 million Canadians suffer from depression. University of Alberta researcher Ian Colman says most people are not getting the type of treatment they need.
Colman, an assistant professor from the School of Public Health, and his research team decided to perform a [...]
2 Oct
Blood Thinning Drug Linked To Increased Bleeding In Brain
ScienceDaily (Oct. 1, 2008) — A new study shows that people who take the commonly used blood thinning drug warfarin may have larger amounts of bleeding in the brain and increased risk of death if they suffer a hemorrhagic stroke.
The study is published in the September 30, 2008, print issue of Neurology®, the medical journal [...]
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