Health & WellnessS


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Over 60s Suffer More Illnesses Caused by Bad Diet and Lack of Exercise

Fiona Macrae
Daily Mail
Sat, 14 Nov 2009 09:12 UTC
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© AlamyToday's 60-year-olds may face more health problems than previous generations despite a lifetime of free healthcare
They were the first to enjoy free health care, and had the time of their lives in the Swinging Sixties.

But the post-war 'baby boomers' are now paying the price.

Today's 60-year-olds are the first modern generation to be less healthy than their immediate predecessors.

Despite improvements in medicine and standards of living, they are more likely to be blighted by problems from aching knees and creaking hips to diabetes, asthma and strokes.

Even simple tasks such as getting in and out of bed or climbing ten steps without a rest prove a challenge.
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Undetected autism in women manifests as anorexia nervosa


The Medical News
Wed, 15 Jun 2005 04:01 UTC
According to a leading expert, severe cases of anorexia may be the result of undetected autism in women.

Professor Christopher Gillberg, of the University of Strathclyde, says that autism, characterised by defects in communication and social interaction, also makes many anorexic patients unresponsive to traditional treatments and may be responsible for anorexia's low recovery rates.

Professor Gillberg believes that although autism is thought to be predominately a male problem, affecting up to four times more boys than girls, the disorder has been overlooked in women because their autistic traits present themselves differently.

For example an obsession with counting calories may be an outward sign of autism.
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American Medical Association Calls for Scientific Review of Marijuana's Prohibitive Status


The National Organization for the Marijuana Laws
Thu, 12 Nov 2009 10:00 UTC
The American Medical Association (AMA) this week called for a scientific review of cannabis' federal status as a Schedule I prohibited substance.

On Tuesday, the AMA's House of Delegates resolved, "[The] AMA urges that marijuana's status as a federal Schedule I controlled substance be reviewed with the goal of facilitating the conduct of clinical research and development of cannabinoid-based medicines."

The AMA's resolution amends the organization's previously held position that "marijuana be retained in Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act" of the United States.

Under federal law, all Schedule I classified substances are defined as possessing "no currently accepted use in treatment in the United States." Congress classified marijuana, and all of the plants naturally occurring compounds (known as cannabinoids) as a Schedule I substance upon passage of the Controlled Substances Act in 1970.
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Flashback You're as Old as You Eat...Our Guide to Foods that Fight Off Age

Anastasia Stephens
Daily Mail
Sun, 18 Oct 2009 01:30 UTC
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© RexVital tips: A few additions to your diet could help fend off the wear and tear of the passing years.
Keeping in peak condition in old age can be boosted by nutrition, which scientists are proving is a powerful weapon in fighting off diseases. As new research shows that olive oil could play a vital role in protecting against dementia, we look at the key foods that have shown to be an ally against aging.

MEMORY: OLIVE OIL

Using olive oil as much as possible could preserve your memory and your heart. Oleocanthal, a compound in olive oil, has been found to slow down changes in the brain that lead to Alzheimer's. Researchers believe it will become a key ingredient in medicines designed to combat the disease.

Alzheimer's disease is thought to occur when a protein called ADDL attacks brain cells. Scientists at the University of Philadelphia discovered that oleocanthal in olive oil changes ADDL in a way that makes it harmless.

Oleocanthal, a key component of the Mediterranean diet, is already known to be an anti-inflammatory and is thought to protect against heart disease by raising levels of 'good' HDL cholesterol while lowering levels of damaging LDL cholesterol.

TIP: Oleocanthal gives olive oil its peppery taste and is highest in virgin oils. Replace regular cooking oil with good-quality olive oil. Use an olive oil-based spread rather than butter or margarine.
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Low-Carb Diets Mean Increased Grumpiness

Brian Williams
news.com.au
Fri, 13 Nov 2009 19:26 UTC
A study has found that although people lose weight on trendy low-carbohydrate diets, they also tend to become worse-tempered than those on low-fat diets.

Low-fat diets work equally well but improve the dieters' frame of mind.

CSIRO researchers placed 106 overweight people on diets for 12 months, randomly splitting the group between low-fat and low-carb, The Courier-Mail reports.

Researcher Grant Brinkworth and colleagues found a low-calorie, low-fat diet more beneficial to dieters' moods than low-carb with the same number of calories.

Dr Brinkworth said changes in body weight, mood, well-being and cognitive functioning - thinking, learning and memory skills - were assessed periodically during and after the diets.

"Potential explanations include the social difficulty of adhering to a low-carbohydrate plan, which is counter to the typical western diet full of pasta and bread; the prescribed, structured nature of the diet; or effects of protein and fat intake on brain levels of serotonin, a neurotransmitter related to psychological functioning," Dr Brinkworth said.
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Government to push for mothers to breastfeed newborns

Renee Viellaris
Courier Mail Australia
Fri, 13 Nov 2009 19:23 UTC
Mothers will be urged to ditch the baby bottle under a controversial and potentially divisive five-year plan to boost breast milk feeding rates.

The government-backed pro-breast-milk message will argue that babies fed on breast milk for longer may reduce risks of obesity and chronic disease.

State and federal health ministers today will endorse the plan and consider establishing a national breast milk bank.

The move will be among a raft of measures designed to monitor and persuade Australians to consider how their lifestyles affect public spending.

It will be the latest in a series of government attempts to influence mothers' choices on feeding.
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Red Flag

Flashback Immigrants from India, Pakistan Face U.S. Prostate, Breast Cancer Risks


Medical News Today
Fri, 29 Aug 2008 19:19 UTC
A team of researchers at West Virginia University has shown that U.S. immigrants from India and Pakistan take on the habits of their adopted country, increasing their risks of prostate cancer among male immigrants and breast cancer among females.

"Breast cancer and prostate cancer develop due to many reasons, but environmental factors and lifestyle play a major role in these cancers," said Jame Abraham, M.D., medical director for WVU's Mary Babb Randolph Cancer Center and leader of the research team. "When men and women from India and Pakistan migrate to the United States, their disease profiles change, mirroring the American risk."
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Excerpts from Robert Whitaker's "Anatomy of an Epidemic: Psychiatric Drugs and the Astonishing Rise of Mental Illness in America"

Gary G. Kohls, MD
The Peoples Voice
Fri, 30 Oct 2009 19:06 UTC
The percentage of Americans disabled by mental illness has increased fivefold since 1955, when Thorazine - remembered today as psychiatry's first "wonder" drug - was introduced into the market.

There are now nearly 6 million Americans disabled by mental illness, and this number increases by more than 400 people each day. A review of the scientific literature reveals that it is our drug-based paradigm of care that is fueling this epidemic. The drugs increase the likelihood that a person will become chronically ill, and induce new and more severe psychiatric symptoms in a significant percentage of patients.

E. Fuller Torrey, in his 2001 book The Invisible Plague, concluded that insanity had risen to the level of an epidemic. This epidemic has unfolded in lockstep with the ever-increasing use of psychiatric drugs.

The number of disabled mentally ill has increased nearly six-fold since Thorazine was introduced.

The number of disabled mentally ill has also increased dramatically since 1987, the year Prozac was introduced.
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The Science Behind 'Stop Me If I've Told You This'

Jeanna Bryner
LiveScience
Thu, 12 Nov 2009 08:45 UTC
We've all said the equivalent of, "Stop me if I've told you this before," but now scientists have figured out why we can be so unsure what tales we've told to whom.

Turns out, our brains are better at recalling the source of information than whom we give information to, and the more self-focused a person is, the worse he is at so-called destination memory.

Scientists have classified memory as short-term and long-term, but this is arguably one of the first times anyone has looked at incoming and outgoing information and how it's stored in our noggins. While remembering both types is likely important in everyday lives, this new research suggests we're not as good at some aspects of the outgoing garble.

And that could get us into trouble, say the researchers. For instance, managers need to remember to whom they told certain information or delegated responsibilities in order to monitor progress. Even liars, or perhaps particularly liars, need to keep track of what they've told people so they don't get caught telling incompatible stories.

The finding will be published in a forthcoming issue of the journal Psychological Science.
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Signature of consciousness captured in brain scans

Anil Ananthaswamy
New Scientist
Thu, 12 Nov 2009 19:00 UTC
A telltale signature of consciousness has been detected that takes us a step closer to disentangling the brain activity underlying conscious and unconscious brain processes.

It turns out that there is a similar pattern of neural activity each time we become conscious of the same picture, but not if we process information from the image unconsciously. These contrasting patterns of activity can now be detected via brain scans, and could one day help determine if patients with brain damage are conscious. They might even be used to probe consciousness in animals.

"It's very exciting work," says neuroscientist Raphaël Gaillard of the University of Cambridge, who was not involved in the work. "The use of a reproducibility measure to disentangle conscious and non-conscious processes is genuinely new." Gaillard has previously shown that coordinated activity across the entire brain is one of the signatures of consciousness .
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