Health & WellnessS


Control Panel

Canadian lab a world leader in using technology to treat mental illness

Jessica Murphy
The Canadian Press
Mon, 13 Apr 2009 02:06 UTC
A Quebec university has made virtual therapy a reality by using computer wizardry to treat phobias, depression and addiction while forging Canada's reputation as a world leader in the emerging field of cyberpsychology.

The Universite du Quebec en Outaouais lab first began using virtual reality to study and treat simple phobias. A decade into the venture, its researchers are now targeting pathological gambling, eating disorders, schizophrenia, agoraphobia, sex offender treatment and, soon, post-traumatic stress disorder in Canadian soldiers returning from Afghanistan.

They're collaborating with therapists, clinics and hospitals across Canada and internationally and they say their lab boasts the only fully immersive virtual reality vault dedicated solely to clinical psychology.

"This is a truly unique network," said Martin Drapeau, a clinical psychologist with Montreal's McGill University, whose psychotherapy research group is partnered with the lab.

"There's nothing like this in the world. Stephane Bouchard is one of the leaders in this area."
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Heart

Science unlocks secrets of our deepest love

Jonathan Leake
Times Online
Sun, 12 Apr 2009 21:48 UTC
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© cassiopaea.org
The secrets of unconditional love, one of the most mysterious emotions, are being uncovered by scientists tracing the unique brain activity it creates.

They have found that the emotion, experienced as a desire to care for another person without any thought of reward, emerges from a complex interplay between seven separate areas of the brain.

Such brain activity has only limited overlap with the cerebral impulses seen in romantic or sexual love, suggesting it should be seen as an entirely separate emotion.
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Red Flag

Fear Factor: New bird flu cases suggest the danger of pandemic is rising

Geoffrey Lean
The Independent
Sun, 12 Apr 2009 21:28 UTC
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© Unknown
First the good news: bird flu is becoming less deadly. Now the bad: scientists fear that this is the very thing that could make the virus more able to cause a pandemic that would kill hundreds of millions of people.

This paradox - emerging from Egypt, the most recent epicentre of the disease - threatens to increase the disease's ability to spread from person to person by helping it achieve the crucial mutation in the virus which could turn it into the greatest plague to hit Britain since the Black Death. Last year the Government identified the bird-flu virus, codenamed H5N1, as the biggest threat facing the country - with the potential to kill up to 750,000 Britons.

Comment: The key message in the article lies in one word in the title: 'suggest.' The actual news is that this strain of "bird flu" doesn't kill. But note how this was twisted to imply that it's bad news!

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Blackbox

Praying to God is like talking to a friend

Andy Coghlan
New Scientist
Sun, 12 Apr 2009 18:01 UTC
Is prayer just another kind of friendly conversation? Yes, says Uffe Schjødt, who used MRI to scan the brains of 20 devout Christians. "It's like talking to another human. We found no evidence of anything mystical."

Schjødt, of the University of Aarhus, Denmark, and colleagues, asked volunteers to carry out two tasks involving both religious and "secular" activities. In the first task, they silently recited the Lord's Prayer, then a nursery rhyme. Identical brain areas, typically associated with rehearsal and repetition, were activated.

In the second, they improvised personal prayers before making requests to Santa Claus. Improvised prayers triggered patterns that match those seen when people communicate with each other, and activated circuitry that is linked with the theory of mind - an awareness that other individuals have their own independent motivations and intentions (Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, DOI: link).
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Magnify

Road Hazard: Study Addresses Pollution from Traffic

Bina Venkataraman
Boston.com
Sun, 12 Apr 2009 08:12 UTC
Tufts researchers study health risks highways may pose in neighborhoods

Residents of Somerville's Nunnery Grounds neighborhood have long tolerated concrete vistas of Interstate 93 and Mystic Avenue, honking cars, and black grime on their windowsills. Now, they are increasingly worried about an invisible highway nuisance: the tiniest pieces of pollution emitted by passing traffic.

Community members in Somerville, as well as Boston's Chinatown, have joined with Tufts University researchers to determine whether microscopic "ultrafine particles" spewed by combustion engines are harming the health of people who live close to highways. In a study that is the first of its kind in the state and among the first in the nation, the scientists will measure these tiny pollutants in various locations and collect and map heart disease data from residents.
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Chart Pie

Study Challenges Link Between Panic Attacks, PTSD


Forbes.com
Sun, 12 Apr 2009 08:08 UTC
Findings suggest many factors contribute to stress disorder, not just fear during trauma

People who suffer a panic attack during or immediately after a traumatic event aren't at increased risk of developing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a new study says.

Factors such as a prior history of depression, a person's emotional support network and self-esteem are stronger indicators of a person's likelihood of developing PTSD, said U.S. researchers.
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People

America's uninsured haven't shown collective power

Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar
Associated Press
Sun, 12 Apr 2009 08:03 UTC
If the uninsured were a political lobbying group, they'd have more members than AARP. The National Mall couldn't hold them if they decided to march on Washington.

But going without health insurance is still seen as a personal issue, a misfortune for many and a choice for some. People who lose coverage often struggle alone instead of turning their frustration into political action.

Illegal immigrants rallied in Washington during past immigration debates, but the uninsured linger in the background as Congress struggles with a health care overhaul that seems to have the best odds in years of passing.

That isolation could have profound repercussions.
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Magnify

Doctor Possibly Exposed Hundreds to TB

Diana Alvear
ABC News
Sun, 12 Apr 2009 07:59 UTC
Babies, Children May Be Among Those Exposed; No Other Confirmed Cases Yet

Barely days old, hundreds of babies in Chicago may already have been exposed to tuberculosis.

"We are investigating a situation in which a physician may have unknowingly exposed patients and hospital co-workers," Dr. Terry Mason of the Chicago Public Health Department said Friday.

"The one thing that makes this investigation stand out is its size and its scope," Mason added.
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Briefcase

Researchers find job promotion is bad for mental health and stops you visiting the doctor


University of Warwick
Thu, 09 Apr 2009 04:54 UTC
New research by economics and psychology researchers at the University of Warwick has found that promotion on average produces 10% more mental strain and gives up to 20% less time to visit the doctors.

In a research paper entitled Do People Become Healthier after Being Promoted Chris Boyce and Professor Andrew Oswald of the University of Warwick questioned why people with higher job status seem to have better health. A long-held assumption by researchers is that an improvement to a person's job status, through a promotion, will directly result in better health due to an increased sense of life control and self-worth.

The researchers tested this. They drew upon the British Household Panel Survey data set, collected annually between 1991 and 2005, with information on approximately 1000 individual promotions. They found no evidence of improved physical health after promotion - nor that self-assessed feelings of health declined.
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Family

Breast Milk Could Save Premature Babies


Columbia Broadcasting Service
Sat, 11 Apr 2009 18:42 UTC
University of California, San Diego--Doctors Say Breast Milk Can Mean Difference Between Life And Death For Premature Babies.

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© CBS News Only 45 percent of preemies go home on breast milk as compared to 74 percent of full-term babies.
CBS News
Kathie Robinson is thrilled that her daughter Naomi, born 2-1/2 months early, is well enough to be home. But her family isn't complete - yet.

"Here we are, we're still going through the journey," Kathie told CBS News contributing medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

It's been a difficult journey for Naomi's twin brother, Caldwell. He's had three operations and remains in a neo natal intensive care unit. Kathie and her husband Whit believe that giving him breast milk, even through a feeding tube, is helping him recover.

"You can't be there all the time so it was my way to be able to be there for them all the time," Kathy said. "I'm providing for them."

Kathie is part of a new program at The University of California San Diego Medical Center that encourages mothers of premature babies, even babies who can't swallow, to commit to breastfeeding rather than formula. It's not easy.

"It's hard for them," said Dr. Lisa Stellwagen. "They're sick, they're tired, they're often afraid their baby isn't going to survive."
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