Religion and its promotion of empathy get undue credit for our unselfish acts. Instead, it's our less-than-virtuous psychological perception that a moral authority is watching us that promotes altruism, a new review essay suggests.
The essay is based on two psychologists' re-examination of dozens of studies that have dealt with the relationship between religious participation and so-called prosocial behavior, a term that includes charity, cooperation, volunteerism, honesty, trust and various forms of personal sacrifice. The Biblical parable of the Good Samaritan is a classic example.
Health & Wellness
In the belly of an industrial district south of Lyon, France, just past a sulfurous oil refinery and a synthetic vanilla plant, sits a run-down, eight-story factory that makes aspirin, the first pharmaceutical blockbuster. The Lyon factory is the last of its kind. No other major facility in Europe or the United States makes generic aspirin anymore. The market has been taken over by low-cost Chinese producers. Even Bayer, the German company that created aspirin in the 1890s and has fought for more than a century to distinguish its product as the most trustworthy one, now has backup supplies from China.
A growing body of research data suggests that consuming foods rich in polyphenols from grapes, including red wine, helps reduce the risk of heart disease, according to a review article in the November issue of Nutrition Research.
"Consumption of grape and grape extracts and/or grape products such as red wine may be beneficial in preventing the development of chronic degenerative diseases such as cardiovascular disease," write Wayne R. Leifert, Ph.D., and Mahinda Y. Abeywardena, Ph.D., of Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation in Adelaide, Australia.
"Consumption of grape and grape extracts and/or grape products such as red wine may be beneficial in preventing the development of chronic degenerative diseases such as cardiovascular disease," write Wayne R. Leifert, Ph.D., and Mahinda Y. Abeywardena, Ph.D., of Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation in Adelaide, Australia.
A new study reveals an important and newly discovered pathway used by disease-causing bacteria to evade the host immune system and survive and grow within the very cells meant to destroy them. This discovery may lead to new treatments and vaccines for tuberculosis (TB) and certain other chronic bacterial and parasitic infections.
The research is the work of the laboratories headed by Peter Murray, Ph.D., at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., and Thomas Wynn, Ph.D., of the Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases at NIAID.
Clearing the body of disease-causing bacteria is the job of specialized white blood cells called macrophages. The word "macrophage" means "big eater" in Latin and that is just what these cells are--they gobble up cell debris, infected cells and disease-causing bacteria found in the body. To help them digest and destroy what they eat, macrophages make compounds that in most cases kill pathogens. One of these chemicals is the free radical nitric oxide (NO).
The research is the work of the laboratories headed by Peter Murray, Ph.D., at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., and Thomas Wynn, Ph.D., of the Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases at NIAID.
Clearing the body of disease-causing bacteria is the job of specialized white blood cells called macrophages. The word "macrophage" means "big eater" in Latin and that is just what these cells are--they gobble up cell debris, infected cells and disease-causing bacteria found in the body. To help them digest and destroy what they eat, macrophages make compounds that in most cases kill pathogens. One of these chemicals is the free radical nitric oxide (NO).
The rate of new cases of diabetes soared by about 90 percent in the United States in the past decade, fueled by growing obesity and sedentary lifestyles, U.S. health officials said on Thursday. Diabetes experts said the findings show there is no end in sight to the diabetes epidemic.
Newly diagnosed cases of diabetes rose to 9.1 per 1,000 people annually between 2005 to 2007, up from 4.8 per 1,000 from 1995 to 1997, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
The most common form of diabetes, type 2 diabetes, is closely linked to obesity and has become increasingly common in recent decades as more people become obese. An estimated 90 percent to 95 percent of the new cases are type 2 diabetes as opposed to type 1 diabetes, also called juvenile diabetes.
The report, based on data from 33 states, also detailed regional variations, showing -- as other studies also have -- that the problem is most acute in the southern United States.
Newly diagnosed cases of diabetes rose to 9.1 per 1,000 people annually between 2005 to 2007, up from 4.8 per 1,000 from 1995 to 1997, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
The most common form of diabetes, type 2 diabetes, is closely linked to obesity and has become increasingly common in recent decades as more people become obese. An estimated 90 percent to 95 percent of the new cases are type 2 diabetes as opposed to type 1 diabetes, also called juvenile diabetes.
The report, based on data from 33 states, also detailed regional variations, showing -- as other studies also have -- that the problem is most acute in the southern United States.
Beijing - First it was baby milk formula. Then, dairy-based products from yogurt to chocolate.
Now chicken eggs have been contaminated with melamine, and an admission by state-run media that the industrial chemical is regularly added to animal feed in China is fueling fears the problem could be more widespread, affecting fish, meat and who knows what else.
Peter Dingle, a toxicity expert at Murdoch University in Perth, Australia, said, however, that aside from the tainted baby formula that killed at least four Chinese infants and left 54,000 children hospitalized just over a month ago, it is unlikely humans will get sick from melamine.
The amount of the chemical in a few servings of bacon, for instance, would simply be too low, he said.
Now chicken eggs have been contaminated with melamine, and an admission by state-run media that the industrial chemical is regularly added to animal feed in China is fueling fears the problem could be more widespread, affecting fish, meat and who knows what else.
Peter Dingle, a toxicity expert at Murdoch University in Perth, Australia, said, however, that aside from the tainted baby formula that killed at least four Chinese infants and left 54,000 children hospitalized just over a month ago, it is unlikely humans will get sick from melamine.
The amount of the chemical in a few servings of bacon, for instance, would simply be too low, he said.
A major puzzle for neurobiologists is how the brain can modify one microscopic connection, or synapse, at a time in a brain cell and not affect the thousands of other connections nearby. Plasticity, the ability of the brain to precisely rearrange the connections between its nerve cells, is the framework for learning and forming memories.
Systemic fungal infections (fungemias) have emerged as important causes of morbidity and mortality in immunocompromised patients (e.g., AIDS, cancer chemotherapy, organ or bone marrow transplantation).
In addition, hospital-related infections in patients not previously considered at risk (e.g. patients in an intensive care unit) have become a cause of major health concern.
Comment: For more information about Candida albicans, its effects on the human health - and methods of treatment, please read the following threads on our discussion forum.
Candida - The Silent Epidemic
Anti-Candida, Inflammation, Heavy Metals Detox and Diet
The Magnesium Miracle
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Luckily there is a growing body of research on these all-too-familiar dynamics, and therapists trained in dealing with them. Sandra Brown's How To Spot a Dangerous Man and Women Who Love Psychopaths; Martha Stout's The Myth of Sanity and The Sociopath Next Door; and Robin Stern's The Gaslight Effect. These and other essential materials bring an important body of knowledge to those who need it most. Because without such knowledge, we are like Goldilocks entering a dark and unknown forest, blind to the dangers of charming yet cunning predators.
Looking to improve your romantic odds? Get your date a cup of steaming coffee.
That's the implication of a new study from researchers who wanted to see if there was any connection between physical and emotional heat. To their surprise, they found that people who held a cup of hot coffee for 10 to 25 seconds warmed up to a stranger. Holding a cup of iced coffee had the opposite effect.
If you want to make a good impression, advised University of Colorado psychologist and study author Lawrence Williams, a cup of fresh coffee "may bias the situation in your favor."
That's the implication of a new study from researchers who wanted to see if there was any connection between physical and emotional heat. To their surprise, they found that people who held a cup of hot coffee for 10 to 25 seconds warmed up to a stranger. Holding a cup of iced coffee had the opposite effect.
If you want to make a good impression, advised University of Colorado psychologist and study author Lawrence Williams, a cup of fresh coffee "may bias the situation in your favor."
Comment: Dr. Lobaczweski identified this evolutionary feature as a "normal instinctive substratum" which is operative in approximately 95% of humanity. It is the result of millions of years of living in mutually dependent groups. However there is another smaller group for which such behaviour is anything but natural. They learn to mimic the altruism of those with normal personality structures, but will subvert them when given the opportunity. These are the "sociopaths next door". Ponerology is the guide to understanding them.