THURSDAY, Nov. 12 (HealthDay News) — Feeling stressed? A dose of dark chocolate could cheer you right up by lowering your stress hormone levels, a new study suggests.
Swiss researchers, who report their findings in the online issue of the Journal of Proteome Research, tracked volunteers who said they were highly stressed.
”The study provides strong evidence [...]
Archive for the ‘stress’ Category
15 Nov
Chocolate Soothes the Stressed-Out Soul
1 Nov
What Exactly Is A ‘NERVOUS BREAKDOWN?"
What is a nervous breakdown? What causes people to have them?
Mayo Clinic psychiatrist Daniel Hall-Flavin, M.D., answers:
The term “nervous breakdown” is used by the public to characterize a wide range of mental illnesses. Nervous breakdown is not a medical term and doesn’t indicate a specific mental illness. Generally, the term describes a person who is [...]
17 Oct
Depression and Children
Know the Facts:
~~ As many as one in every 33 children may have depression.
~~ Once a young person has experienced a major depression, he or she is at risk of developing another depression within the next 5 years.
~~ Children under stress, who experience loss, or who have attention, learning or conduct disorders are at a [...]
11 Oct
Stressful childhood may mean earlier death
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – October 9, 2009 – Having a stressful childhood may slash decades off a person’s life, researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report.
Among people who reported experiencing at least six of eight different bad childhood experiences-from frequent verbal abuse to living with a mentally ill person-average age [...]
13 May
Job conditions tied to pregnancy outcomes
By Amy Norton
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – May 13, 2009 – Pregnant women who work physically demanding jobs, long work weeks or irregular hours may be at increased risk of delivering prematurely or having an underweight baby, a new study suggests.
Researchers found that among more than 1,100 pregnant women they followed, those who said their [...]
26 Apr
Herbal Remedy: Teens & Cannabis
Herbal Remedy: Teens Often Use Cannabis For Relief, Not Recreation, Study Finds
ScienceDaily (Apr. 24, 2009) — When legal therapies let them down, some teens turn to cannabis. A new study, published in BioMed Central’s open access journal Substance Abuse, Treatment, Prevention and Policy suggests that around a third of teens who smoke cannabis on a [...]
15 Apr
Asperger syndrome linked to cortisol response
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – April 15, 2009 – Upon awakening, there is normally a surge in cortisol, a steroid hormone produced by the adrenal gland and released in response to stress. Now, UK researchers report that this response is absent in adolescent boys with Asperger syndrome, which may explain some of the symptoms of [...]
12 Mar
Economic woes take toll on workers’ mental health
By Ellen Wulfhorst
NEW YORK (Reuters) – March 12, 2009 – One in five U.S. workers say the recession is causing them mental health problems, as they battle anxiety and fear over the potential loss of their jobs, new research shows.
Among 1,068 employed adults surveyed, 215 said the economic situation has had a negative impact on [...]
9 Mar
Iraqis don’t seek help for mental disorders: study
BAGHDAD (AFP) – March 07, 2009 – Years of war and bloodshed have left many Iraqis suffering from mental disorders but stigmas attached to such illnesses prevent most from seeking treatment, a survey published on Saturday said.
Sponsored by Iraq’s ministry of health and the World Health Organisation (WHO), the survey found that 16.5 percent of [...]
8 Jan
Depression & Poverty
Depression may underlie “transmission” of poverty
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Jan. 07, 2008 – Children from poor families are more likely than their peers to be depressed as teenagers, with effects that can ultimately make it harder to climb out from poverty, a new study suggests.
The study, which followed nearly 500 Iowa families for a [...]
17 Dec
Stress and hair loss: Are they related?
Mayo Clinic psychiatrist Daniel Hall-Flavin, M.D., answers:
Stress and hair loss can be related.
The most common type of stress-induced hair loss is telogen effluvium. In this condition, emotional or physical stress — related to a death in the family, pregnancy, severe weight loss or surgery, for example — pushes large numbers of growing hairs into a resting [...]
26 Nov
In Sickness And Health: Caring For Ailing Spouse May Prolong Your Life
ScienceDaily (Nov. 25, 2008) — Older people who spent at least 14 hours a week taking care of a disabled spouse lived longer than others. That is the unexpected finding of a University of Michigan study forthcoming in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.
The study supports earlier research showing that in [...]
5 Nov
Stressed Older Drivers Are Three Times More Likely To Brake Than Calm Drivers
ScienceDaily (Nov. 5, 2008) — Life can be stressful, whether you’re an individual watching the stock market crash or a commuter stuck in traffic. A new study, forthcoming in the journal Psychological Science, examines how stress affects decision-making and finds that older adults alter their behavior more than young adults when under stress — particularly [...]
24 Aug
Major life changes may lead to chronic headache
By Joene Hendry
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – August 22, 2008 – Major life changes may play a role in as many as a quarter of chronic daily headache cases that arise among otherwise healthy adult men and women, study findings suggest.
“Major life events may precipitate or co-occur with the development of chronic daily headaches,” Dr. [...]
23 Aug
Acute Maternal Stress During Pregnancy Linked To Development Of Schizophrenia
(ScienceDaily) – Aug. 21, 2008 — Pregnant women who endure the psychological stress of being in a war zone are more likely to give birth to a child who develops schizophrenia. New research supports a growing body of literature that attributes maternal exposure to severe stress during the early months of pregnancy to an increased [...]
24 Jul
JOB BURNOUT: Know the signs and symptoms
Discover if you’re at risk of burnout, and what you can do when your job begins to affect your health and happiness.
It’s time to head back to work after your brief vacation. You have a demanding job and carry a great deal of responsibility on your shoulders. Even though your time off was relaxing, you [...]
23 Jul
ULCERS AND STRESS: IS THERE A CONNECTION?
Mayo Clinic psychiatrist Daniel Hall-Flavin M.D. answers:
Stress and spicy foods were once thought to be the main causes of peptic ulcers, open sores that develop on the inside lining of the stomach, upper small intestine or esophagus. But researchers now say that most peptic ulcers are caused by the bacterium Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori). Medications [...]
22 Jul
EARLY MISCARRIAGE: IS STRESS A FACTOR?
Mayo Clinic obstetrician and gynecologist Dr. Roger Harms M.D. answers:
Although stress has long been suspected as a possible cause of early miscarriage, there’s no good evidence that this is true.
One small study published in 2006 reported a higher incidence of miscarriages in women with elevated levels of the stress hormone cortisol than in women [...]
28 Jun
SEROTONIN LINK TO IMPULSIVITY, DECISION-MAKING: CONFIRMED
(ScienceDaily) – June 11, 2008 — New research by scientists at the University of Cambridge suggests that the neurotransmitter serotonin, which acts as a chemical messenger between nerve cells, plays a critical role in regulating emotions such as aggression during social decision-making.
Serotonin has long been associated with social behaviour, but its precise involvement in impulsive [...]
25 Jun
MEN ARE MORE LIKELY THAN WOMEN TO CRAVE ALCOHOL WHEN THEY FEEL NEGATIVE EMOTIONS
(ScienceDaily) – Women and men tend to have different types of stress-related psychological disorders. Women have greater rates of depression and some types of anxiety disorders than men, while men have greater rates of alcohol-use disorders than women. A new study of emotional and alcohol-craving responses to stress has found that when men become upset, [...]
16 Jun
9/11 WORKERS FACE CHRONIC MENTAL IMPAIRMENT
Stress levels comparable to those seen in returning Afghanistan war veterans, study says
By Robert Preidt
THURSDAY, May 22 (HealthDay News) — Workers and volunteers involved in recovery efforts at the World Trade Center following the 9/11 terrorist attacks have much higher levels of psychological distress than the general population, new research shows.
The study analyzed mental [...]
24 May
FIBROMYALGIA AFFECTS WOMEN MORE OFTEN THAN MEN
ScienceDaily – April 26, 2008 – Are you exhausted? Do you have pain all over but can’t figure out what’s wrong? If so, you may be suffering from fibromyalgia, a chronic condition that causes exhaustion, sleep disturbances and diffuse pain in your muscles, tendons, and ligaments.
Fibromyalgia patients experience a range of symptoms of varying intensities [...]
23 Nov
Brain Imaging Shows How Men and Women Cope Differently Under Stress
ScienceDaily (Nov. 19, 2007) — According to a study that appears in the current issue of SCAN (Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience), researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine discuss how men and women differ in their neural responses to psychological stress.
“We found that different parts of the brain activate with different spatial [...]
20 Nov
Do Life Events Trigger Mental Disorders?
Do Life Events Trigger Mental Disorders?
ScienceDaily (Nov. 17, 2007) — A new epidemiological study performed in Italy addresses an old question in a recent issue of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics.
Although life events have been consistently reported as precipitating factors for most psychiatric disorders, there is no comprehensive investigation of the relationship between severe life events and [...]
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