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Mental Illness Breakthrough: Fish Oil Prevents Psychotic Disorders

S. L. Baker
NaturalNews
Thu, 18 Feb 2010 00:00 UTC
NaturalNews has already reported on the amazing array of health advantages linked to a diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids, a "healthy" fat found in certain foods such as salmon and walnuts. For example, researchers have documented that omega-3s can help prevent heart arrhythmias and treat depression. These fatty aacids also appear to have an antiaging effect on cells. Get ready to add another remarkable benefit to the list of omega-3 benefits: now scientists have found fish oil supplements containing omega-3s may stop people at high risk for severe mental illness from becoming psychotic.

Psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia are devastating forms of mental problems in which people lose contact with reality and can end up, in worst case scenarios, hurting themselves and others. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), a psychosis is usually characterized by delusions and seeing or hearing things that aren't there (hallucinations). The treatment is primarily heavy duty, side effect riddled psychiatric drugs and/or institutionalization.

But what if people a high risk for this mental illness could be prevented from having a psychotic disorder in the first place? That may be possible, thanks to omega-3 fatty acids.
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Blueberries Improve Memory, Slow Aging and Much More

Luella May
NaturalNews
Thu, 18 Feb 2010 00:00 UTC
Blueberries are one of the richest sources of antioxidants, the natural substances that fight damage caused by free radicals. In addition to helping prevent memory loss, these versatile and delicious berries have been shown to be effective in fighting chronic degenerative diseases, including cardiovascular disease, cancer, high blood pressure, diabetes, muscular degeneration, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.

The flavonoids contained in blueberries are thought to be responsible for these effects. Although it is not clear as to how flavonoids affect the brain, it has been shown that they are absorbed in the blood stream, crossing the blood/brain barrier. This enables them to influence regions involving memory and motor function. The researchers explained that it is thought to enhance neural connections, thereby improving cellular communication and stimulating neural regeneration.

Blueberries have been shown to be instrumental in protecting the brain from free radicals, radiation, inflammation, and excitotoxicity. Additionally, blueberries may reverse decline in cognitive and motor function. In addition to its anti-aging properties, blueberries are also high in Vitamin C and Vitamin E.
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Does Insomnia Shrink Your Brain?

Cristen Conger
Discovery News
Tue, 16 Feb 2010 07:00 UTC
Image
© Getty ImagesLosing sleep could lower gray matter density in areas of the brain responsible for making decisions.
Chronic lack of sleep could end up costing you more than the price of that extra cup of coffee you need to stay awake.

Chronic insomniacs losing out on sleep may also be missing brain matter.

For the first time, brain imaging has linked chronic insomnia to lower gray matter density in areas that regulate the brain's ability to make decisions and to rest. The research could lead to new treatment plans for people who struggle with sleeplessness.

"The findings predict that chronic insomnia sufferers may have compromised capacities to evaluate the affective value of stimuli," said Ellemarijie Altena, lead author of the study from the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience. "This could have consequences for other cognitive processes, notably decision-making."
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Tinnitus Does Not Appear to Be a Highly Inherited Condition, Study Suggests


Science Daily
Tue, 16 Feb 2010 00:00 UTC
Tinnitus, or ringing in the ears, does not appear to be a highly inherited condition (i.e., does not pass frequently from parents to offspring), according to a report in the February issue of Archives of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery.

"Tinnitus, or the perception of sound without an external acoustic stimulus, is a common but poorly understood symptom," the authors write as background information in the article. "Although the list of factors associated with tinnitus is long, the causes of tinnitus onset and tinnitus maintenance are far from fully understood, and attempts to develop evidence-based therapies have been thwarted by a poor understanding of the pathophysiology of the condition." Tinnitus has recently been reported to cluster in families, but little is known about the importance of genetic effects in susceptibility to the condition.

Ellen Kvestad, M.D., Ph.D., of the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, and Akershus University Hospital, Akershus, Norway, and colleagues analyzed data collected from 12,940 spouses, 27,607 parents and offspring and 11,498 siblings. All participants completed a questionnaire about tinnitus and underwent a hearing examination. A subgroup of 16,186 individuals with some hearing loss and 17,785 controls were sent a second questionnaire requesting more details about tinnitus, to which a total of 28,066 responded.
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Walking Linked to Eased Osteoarthritis, Study Suggests


ScienceDaily
Mon, 15 Feb 2010 00:00 UTC
"Progressive walking" combined with glucosamine sulphate supplementation has been shown to improve the symptoms of osteoarthritis. Researchers writing in BioMed Central's open-access journal Arthritis Research and Therapy found that patients who walked at least two bouts of 1500 steps each on three days of the week reported significantly less arthritis pain, and significantly improved physical function.

Dr Kristiann Heesch worked with a team of researchers from The University of Queensland, Australia, to carry out the trial in 36 osteoarthritis patients (aged 42-73 years). All patients received the dietary supplement for six weeks, after which they continued to take the supplement during a 12-week progressive walking program. The program, called Stepping Out, includes a walking guide; a pedometer; weekly log sheets and a weekly planner, all intended to help patients adopt the exercise regime.

Seventeen patients were randomly assigned to walk five days per week, while the remaining 19 were instructed to walk three days a week.
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Sleep Problems and Sleepiness Increase the Risk of Motor Vehicle Accidents in Adolescents


ScienceDaily
Mon, 15 Feb 2010 06:00 UTC
A study in the Feb. 15 issue of the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine shows that sleepiness at the wheel and poor sleep quality significantly increase the risk of motor vehicle accidents in adolescents.

Results indicate that adolescent drivers were twice as likely to have had a crash if they experienced sleepiness while driving (adjusted odds ratio = 2.1) or reported having bad sleep (OR = 1.9). Eighty of the 339 students had already crashed at least once, and 15 percent of them considered sleepiness to have been the main cause of the crash. Fifty-six percent of students who had at least one previous crash reported driving while sleepy, compared with 35 percent of subjects who had not been in a crash.

Lead author Fabio Cirignotta, M.D., professor of neurology at the University of Bologna in Italy, said that the only effective countermeasure to drowsiness is to stop driving immediately, pull over to a safe place and nap for 10 to15 minutes.
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Increase Magnesium Levels for Optimum Brain Functioning

Paul Fassa
NaturalNews
Tue, 16 Feb 2010 01:00 UTC
Magnesium is a vital mineral for our overall health, and now a Chinese study has discovered that higher magnesium levels dramatically improve brain health. Guosong Liu, Director of the Center for Learning and Memory at Tsinghua University in Beijing stated, "[E]levating brain magnesium content via increasing magnesium intake might be a useful new strategy to enhance cognitive abilities."

The Effect On The Brain

Byron Richards,CCN and author of Fight for Your Health, explains that the Chinese study showed magnesium's effect on the brain cell's synaptic plasticity: "... a key feature of nerve architecture that enables your brain to tolerate stress, recover from trauma, and make actual changes. Synaptic plasticity is based on having well-nourished and properly energized brain cells - compared to inflamed brain cells that have become damaged and 'stuck in their ways'."

Due to topsoil depletion from improper farming practices, most of the population is magnesium deficient. As we get older, less magnesium is present in our cells. Yet it takes around twice the amount of magnesium recommended for body health to enhance and preserve the brain's optimum cognitive and memory functions.
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Magnesium: The Lamp of Life

Mark Sircus
NaturalNews
Tue, 18 Nov 2008 00:00 UTC
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© Ingredient Reference Library
Inside chlorophyll is the lamp of life and that lamp is magnesium. The capture of light energy from the sun is magnesium dependent. Magnesium is bound as the central atom of the porphyrin ring of the green plant pigment chlorophyll. Magnesium is the element that causes plants to be able to convert light into energy and chlorophyll is identical to hemoglobin except the magnesium atom at the center has been taken out and iron put in. The whole basis of life and the food chain is seen in the sunlight-chlorophyll-magnesium chain. Since animals and humans obtain their food supply by eating plants, magnesium can be said to be the source of life for it is at the heart of chlorophyll and the process of photosynthesis.

A huge step forward for early life was the development of chlorophyll, a molecule that captures light energy from the sun in a process called photosynthesis. Chlorophyll systems convert energy from visible light into small energy-rich molecules easy for cells to use. The harnessing of the energy of visible light led to a vast expansion of early life-forms. Fossilized layers, three and half billion years old, have been found with evidence of blue-green algae that lived on top of tidal rocks.

Magnesium is needed by plants to form chlorophyll which is the substance that makes plants green. Without magnesium sitting inside the heart of chlorophyll, plants would not be able to take nutrition from the sun because the process of photosynthesis would not go on. When magnesium is deficient things begin to die. In reality one cannot take a breath, move a muscle, or think a thought without enough magnesium in our cells. Because magnesium is contained in chlorophyll it is considered an essential plant mineral salt.
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Magnesium: The Anti-Inflammatory Mineral

Byron Richards
Wellness Resource
Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:00 UTC
A new study of 3,713 postmenopausal women shows that magnesium is a powerful anti-inflammatory nutrient. Each 100 mg of magnesium per day was associated with a significant reduction in various inflammatory markers.

Magnesium is the most lacking mineral in the human diet. This is due primarily to Big Agribusiness farming practices that have stripped our soils of vital minerals needed for human health. It is complicated by processed diets lacking in magnesium-containing fresh fruits and vegetables. When you consider that inflammation is behind almost all health problems the consequence of eating a magnesium deficient diet becomes obvious.

The study showed that inflammatory markers such as CRP (C-reactive protein), TNFa (tumor necrosis factor alpha), and IL6 (interleukin 6) were all reduced when magnesium intake was higher. These are common inflammatory markers that are often elevated with the diseases of aging.
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Synaptic plasticity: The key to your brain's future

Byron Richards
Wellness Resource
Sat, 27 Jun 2009 06:00 UTC
How does your brain bounce back from intense stress? When is your subconscious brain going to start believing you should actually be that weight you desire? Any why is it you just can't seem to break that bad habit? The answer may lie in how flexible or "plastic" your brain structures are.

A new study shows that synaptic plasticity is a key feature of nerve architecture that enables your brain to tolerate stress, recover from trauma, and make actual changes.

Synaptic plasticity is based on having well-nourished and properly energized brain cells - compared to inflamed brain cells that have become damaged and "stuck in their ways."
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