As the months grow colder and darker, many people find themselves somewhat sadder and even depressed.

Bright light is sometimes used to help treat the symptoms of seasonal affective disorder, or SAD. Researchers are now testing light therapy to see if it also can help treat depression that's part of bipolar disorder.

It's unclear how lack of light might cause the winter blues, although some suggest that the dark days affect the production of serotonin in the skin.

The idea with light therapy for depression is to replace the sunshine lost with a daily dose of bright white artificial light. (Antidepressants, psychotherapy and Vitamin D help, too, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.) The light box is actually more like a screen, the size of an average desktop computer. Some people call it a "happy box."

For the most part, people don't like to get hot.

The massive indoor climate control systems and pleasantly chilled water fountains found in most gyms speak to this fact. There are some exceptions - Bikram yoga, for example - but they're few and far between.

But here's the surprise: increasing your core temperature for short bursts is not only healthful, it can also dramatically improve performance.

This is true whether it's done in conjunction with your existing workout or as an entirely separate activity. I'm going to explain how heat acclimation through sauna use (and likely any other non-aerobic activity that increases core body temperature) can promote physiological adaptations that result in increased endurance, easier acquisition of muscle mass, and a general increased capacity for stress tolerance. I will refer to this concept of deliberately acclimating yourself to heat, independent of working out, as "hyperthermic conditioning."

I'm also going to explain the positive effects of heat acclimation on the brain, including the growth of new brain cells, improvement in focus, learning and memory, and ameliorating depression and anxiety. In addition, you'll learn how modulation of core temperature might even be largely responsible for "runner's high" via an interaction between the dynorphin/beta-endorphin opioid systems.

Researchers using functional MRI (fMRI) have found that neurofeedback training has the potential to reduce the severity of tinnitus or even eliminate it, according to a study presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).

Tinnitus is the perception of noise, often ringing, in the ear. The condition is very common, affecting approximately one in five people. As sufferers start to focus on it more, they become more frustrated and anxious, which in turn makes the noise seem worse. The primary auditory cortex, the part of the brain where auditory input is processed, has been implicated in tinnitus-related distress.

For the study, researchers looked at a novel potential way to treat tinnitus by having people use neurofeedback training to turn their focus away from the sounds in their ears. Neurofeedback is a way of training the brain by allowing an individual to view some type of external indicator of brain activity and attempt to exert control over it.

A 70-year-old patient who presented with cancer-like symptoms turns out to have been harbouring something even weirder: a fungal infection that may have been in his body for 30 years before making itself known.

It turns out what he had was a disease called histoplasmosis - a condition caused by inhalation of the spores of a fungus called Histoplasma capsulatum.

He presented to the hospital complaining of "altered mental status" for four days, according to the case report - he seemed otherwise normal, but a bit confused. A CT scan, followed by an MRI, showed a lesion on his brain, and his doctors feared the worst: metastatic malignancy.

When they conducted further MRI scans, they also found masses in both his adrenal glands. But they did not suspect histoplasmosis. Partially because histoplasmosis, as it is inhaled, mainly presents in the lungs.

Mainly, however, because the patient lived in Arizona, and had not left the state for many years. Histoplasmosis, also known as cave disease, is fairly common in areas such as the Mississippi and Ohio river valleys, but not Arizona.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a movement disorder that generally impairs speech and motor skills and is characterized by tremors and muscular rigidity. There is still a lot to learn about the symptoms and effects of Parkinson's disease, but recently, a new study concluded with interesting results.

How Is Parkinson's Disease Contracted?

There are many forms of Parkinson's disease that appear to be idiopathic, meaning doctors aren't sure of the causes. Some cases are linked to drug toxicity, medical disorders, or head trauma. The latest observation that medical scientists are exploring is a possible link between pesticides and Parkinson's Disease.

According to new research ^[1] into the causes of Parkinson's Disease, two specific insecticide classes were cited as significantly associated: organochlorines and organophosphorus compounds. While the research isn't exhaustive or definitive, the results compiled thus far are enough to warrant closer examination by the medical community.

Gut Microbiome

New research published over the last five years is revealing more about the trillions of bacterial companions that reside in our guts, and the important symbiotic health functions they provide each of us as their hosts. Amazingly, the human gut microbiota is composed of about 100 trillion cells (10 times more than the number of cells that make up the entire human body). Each individual harbors about 160 species (out of 1000 to 1500 found in the intestine), with some of these species found in the core microbiome of the majority of humans. However, relative profile and composition of our gut microbiome is heavily influenced by geographical location, diet and lifestyle factors such as physical activity. Prebiotics (non-digestible food ingredients, such as fiber) and probiotics (live microorganisms that can provide health benefits when administered orally) are also commonly used to change the composition of the gut microbiota.

Previous research has demonstrated that the gut microbiome can influence many other bodily systems and functions beyond simply gut health and digestive function. These microorganisms play an important role in mediating our immune systems, inflammation, defense against unwanted pathogens, metabolism of fat, protein and carbohydrates, and even our central nervous system with links to mental performance, depression and anxiety. It is usually shifts in general populations of gut bacteria or changes in the gut "ecosystem" (rather than a single bacterium) that creates dysfunction or disease.

• Dozens of scientific studies suggest that eating fat isn't linked to weight gain.
• Aaron Carroll, a pediatrician and professor of pediatrics, says it's perfectly OK to eat butter, cream, nuts, and avocados.
• Instead of eating low-fat products, Carroll encourages people to eat less sugar, which studies have linked to weight gain and obesity.

"There is one thing we know about fats," Aaron Carroll, a professor of pediatrics at the Indiana University School of Medicine, writes in his new book, "The Bad Food Bible: How and Why to Eat Sinfully."

"Fat consumption does not cause weight gain. To the contrary, it might actually help us shed a few pounds."

That means that foods like buttery avocados, rich salmon, and savory nuts should have a place in your diet. If you banned them as part of the low-fat dieting craze of the 1990s, it's time to bring them back.

The evidence lies in studies that have compared people on low-fat, high-carb diets with people on low-carb, high-fat diets. Time and time again, the research reveals that people who restrict their intake of fatty foods do not lose weight or gain other health benefits. In contrast, people who eat diets high in fat but low in refined carbohydrates like white bread and white rice tend to lose weight and see other health benefits as well.

To doctors and dietitians, these findings suggest that the real villain when it comes to weight gain isn't fat but rather added sugar and refined carbohydrates that get quickly broken down into sugar.

With vast numbers of people taking addictive and hazardous prescription painkillers, more investment needs to be made into natural, cannabis-derived alternatives like CBD.

Anyone who has suffered from chronic pain will know that the effect on your life can be extremely corrosive.

Next time you see someone walking down the street looking miserable, consider this: maybe back pain kept them awake all night, and now that same pain has formed a pincer-movement with the tiredness, making it extremely difficult not to look like a grumpy sod.

Lots of people are in pain, and there are many potential remedies, both under and over the counter, inside and outside of the law.

Let us consider two: opiates and cannabis.

A JAMA study has found that the flu vaccine, taken by 60% of people over 65-years-old, may be killing a significant number of senior citizens.

Sharyl Attkisson, a former investigative journalist for CBS, says the study shows there is no improvement in mortality rates among senior citizens who get flu shots, and may actually contribute to increased ill-health and death.

Inquisitr.com reports: The study "got little attention," she says, "because the science came down on the wrong side." Whereas the researchers had set out to prove that the push for massive flu vaccination would save the world, the researchers were "astonished" to find that the data did not support their presupposition at all. The data actually shows that deaths increased, not decreased, among seniors following vaccination.

Johns Hopkins scientist, Peter Doshi, Ph.D., issued a report in the prestigious British Medical Journal, according to NewsLI, asserting that the CDC policy of routinely recommending the flu vaccine is being based on "low quality studies that do not substantiate claims." He says there is no evidence that the vaccine reduces deaths among senior citizens. Interestingly, Doshi cites an Australian study which found significant risks for children as well, stating that "one in every 110 children under the age of five had convulsions following vaccinations in 2009 for H1N1 influenza."

During the drug trials for the Fluzone flu vaccine, 23 seniors out of 3,833 died after receiving the shot, according to the drug's package insert, reported by Health Impact News. Another 226 experienced "serious adverse effects." The manufacturer denies any connection between the deaths and the flu vaccine.

Contrary to conventional wisdom, brain regeneration is possible. One promising therapy that promotes neurogenesis and is effective in pre-clinical studies of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's is near infrared light therapy, and it may improve other mental illnesses and neurodegenerative disorders including dementia, stroke, ALS, and traumatic brain injury as well.

Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease are the most common neurodegenerative disorders. The former is a type of dementia that occurs secondary to the accumulation of abnormal protein deposits in the brain, including β-amyloid plaques and intraneuronal neurofibrillary tangles made of tau protein ⁽¹⁾. Upon neuroimaging studies, gross cerebral cortical atrophy is found, meaning that the part of the brain responsible for executive functions such as learning, memory, language, decision-making, and problem-solving progressively degenerates ^(1). In addition, gliosis, or brain inflammation, is a hallmark characteristic of Alzheimer's ⁽¹⁾.

One hypothesis that is championed proposes that Alzheimer's occurs due to self-propagating, prion-like protein assemblies, which interfere with the function of nerve cells ⁽²⁾. An alternate theory is that these so-called proteinopathies occur secondary to a microvascular hemorrhage or brain bleed ⁽³⁾. The brain bleed is believed to be the result of age-induced degradation of cerebral capillaries, which creates neuron-killing protein plaques and tangles ⁽³⁾.