Health & WellnessS


Bulb

Several ways of reducing the risk of dementia and cognitive decline

Dr. Joseph Mercola
Mercola.com
Thu, 07 Dec 2017 00:00 UTC
cognition
Could computer-based cognitive training reduce your risk for dementia? According to recent research, it might. The study, said to be the first-ever randomized controlled trial to demonstrate an intervention effective at reducing dementia risk, found a specially developed brain exercise program lowered the risk by 29 percent over the course of 10 years.1,2,3,4,5

The research was led by Dr. Michael Merzenich, professor emeritus at the University of California, who has pioneered research in brain plasticity for more than 30 years. I've included my previous interview with him, in which he discusses these principles, for your convenience. With regard to this latest study, The Guardian writes:6
"The training was designed to speed up people's visual information processing, for example by having them spot a car on a screen, and a truck on the periphery of their vision, at the same time. Those who are claimed to have benefited trained for an hour, twice a week, for five weeks, and some went on to have booster sessions at the end of the first and third years."
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Brain

Secrets of Sleep: Why do we need it & how much is enough?

Jerome Groopman
New York Magazine
Thu, 07 Dec 2017 23:59 UTC
sleep
When I trained to be a doctor, some four decades ago, everyone neglected sleep. "On call" duty for hospital interns began at 6 a.m. and lasted twenty-four hours; I often kept on working until early evening the next day, after which I would stumble back to my apartment and fall asleep in my clothes. The ethic was not to complain. You were being toughened up-"iron man" was the term we all used-to deal with the demands of doctoring, which did not respect the clock. But that wasn't the only way in which sleep was disregarded. In medical school, the subject had been covered in only the most cursory way. In a class on the brain, an instructor mentioned a neural pathway, the reticular activating system, that was associated with wakefulness. In passing, he also told us about narcolepsy, a rare condition that could cause people to sink into slumber at any moment and that had other fascinating features, such as vivid hallucinations and abrupt loss of muscle control. That was it. Ordinary sleep, it seemed, was not a subject that medicine concerned itself with.

Today, interns still work difficult hours, but the medical world's opinions on sleep have changed. There's a field of sleep science dedicated to the biology of repose. Sleep medicine has become a specialty, with fellowship training programs and clinics devoted to caring for those suffering from sleep disorders. And these disorders are not rare. Some forty-seven million adults, according to the National Sleep Foundation, do not get a restorative night's sleep. In the workplace, sleep deprivation results in injuries and decreased productivity, which is thought to cost the U.S. eighteen billion dollars each year. As many as 1.2 million car crashes-twenty per cent of the annual total-can be attributed to tired drivers, so it could be said that lack of sleep causes thousands of deaths and injuries every year.

Comment: Further reading: The Health & Wellness Show: Sleep, Light and Circadian Rhythms

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Smoking

Not for everyone: Mysterious, rare illness linked to smoking cannabis causes severe screaming and vomiting

Janissa Delzo
Newsweek
Fri, 01 Dec 2017 18:40 UTC
cannabis marijuana
© JOSH EDELSON/AFP/GETTY IMAGESJustin Calvino displays marijuana grown on one of his properties in Mendocino County, California on April 19, 2017. Marijuana growers, forced to run their businesses with cash, must navigate legal and political gray areas as regulations and laws continue to change.
For many marijuana users, the drug delivers a soothing, therapeutic effect. But for a small number of people, smoking results in a unpleasant aftermath of serious vomiting and stomach pain.

The mysterious illness-called cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome (CHS)-was discovered in 2004, NPR reports. However, it didn't receive much attention until recently, when doctors began to identify more cases of the syndrome.

"It's something we're seeing more commonly in areas where marijuana use is becoming more frequent," Dr. Kennon Heard, a professor of emergency medicine and medical toxicology and pharmacology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, told WBUR.

"Essentially, patients who use marijuana very frequently for long periods of time-usually at least six months, probably most of them have been using for several years-develop sort of intractable abdominal pain and vomiting that sort of comes and goes over the course of days to weeks," Heard explained to WBUR.

Comment: The Health & Wellness Show: The Highs and Lows of Cannabis as Medicine

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Heart - Black

Pollution wipes out the benefits of exercise, calling for stricter air quality limits

Sarah Knapton
The Telegraph
Tue, 05 Dec 2017 11:30 UTC
Exercise and pollution
Pollution wipes out the benefits of walking, a new study suggests. Researchers from Imperial College London found that the toxic air in built-up city centers prevents the positive effects on the lungs and heart which are usually gained from exercise.

Although the experiment was carried out in the over 60s, the scientists say the effects could apply to other groups, and have called for stricter air quality limits, and greater access to green spaces.

To determine the impact of pollution on exercise, researchers asked 119 people to take a two-hour stroll through London's Hyde Park and also Oxford Street, a busy shopping area.

Levels of black carbon, nitrogen dioxide and fine particulate matter in Hyde Park are typically well within healthy boundaries but air in Oxford Street regularly breaches dangerous pollution levels, as defined by the World Health Organisation.

Comment: See also:

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Pills

Why private, capitalistic health care leads to deteriorating health in the US and why the publicly funded EU system is doing the opposite

James Petras
The Unz Review
Mon, 27 Nov 2017 19:09 UTC
pills
Introduction

The US political and economic elites have always bragged that capitalism is far superior to socialism in terms of providing people's personal welfare. They claim that citizens live longer, healthier and happier lives under capitalism.

The debate between the supporters of the US Affordable Care Act or 'Obamacare' and its most vehement opponents under President Trump is not part of any larger system debate since both 'sides' base their vision and plans for medical care on private, for-profit corporate insurance schemes. This source of funding would 'harness market forces' to deliver quality medical care...in a marketplace of 'free competition', in which every American, even the most fragile, cancer-ridden patient, would be an engaged stakeholder, weighing a huge menu of free choices...

The real comparison of how these economic systems provide basic health care should be based on showing which provides the best population outcomes, personal satisfaction and community security across national boundaries. National health systems top the chaotic private system in these parameters.

On the other hand, the US tops all European countries in terms of the percentage of workers and family members who avoid necessary trips to the doctor because they fear financial ruin from the inflated costs of their private health care. In other words, majorities of people, dependent on private for-profit insurance schemes to provide health care, cannot afford to visit a medical facility, doctor or clinic even to treat a significant illness. The type of economic system funding health services determines the likelihood of a patient actually going to seek and receive important medical care that will preserve life, one's ability to work and enjoy some level of satisfaction.

This essay will include a brief discussion of the social and political conditions, which gave rise to the socialized, and clearly more effective, health care system. And we will touch on the consequences the two health systems in terms of people's life expectancy and quality of life.
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Health

Researchers put diabetics on starvation diet and watch their disease reverse

Alice Park
Time
Tue, 05 Dec 2017 01:11 UTC
scale
© Molly Cranna
Type 2 diabetes is a chronic condition that affects 422 million people worldwide. For decades, doctors have treated it with medications designed to keep blood sugar levels down.

But in a paper published in the Lancet, researchers in the UK describe a landmark study in which people with diabetes went into remission-just by losing weight.

Nearly half of people in the study who were given a six-month diet plan and lost an average of 30 pounds went into remission and no longer had diabetes. None took any medications during that time to control their disease and relied on weight loss alone.

Type 2 diabetes is caused by the body's in ability to break down sugars from the diet. Normally, cells in the pancreas work to release insulin, a hormone that can process sugar and either send it to cells that need it for energy or store it as fat for future energy needs. Cells in the liver are responsible for clearing insulin from the circulation. But excess fat in the pancreas and liver can start to shut down these insulin-producing cells, leading to spikes in blood sugar levels. Diabetes medications can bring sugar levels down but do not address the compromised insulin machinery.

Comment: It's quite likely that being on such a low calorie diet re-sensitized the cells to the effects of insulin and weight loss was just a side effect of this process. At any rate, the study has some value in that it highlights the fact that diet can reverse diabetes, something that researchers and individuals have noted for years. However, embarking on a near-starvation liquid diet is not necessary when a carbohydrate restricted diet can yield the same results.

Idiotically Dangerous Diet "Reverses Diabetes" but So Does Moderate Carb Restriction Without Calorie Restriction

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Rose

Time for an intervention? Is government addicted to banning natural substances?

Nate Baker
Foundation for Economic Education
Wed, 06 Dec 2017 13:06 UTC
The government has a substance problem and it's time for an intervention.

kratom
Federal Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb recently released a statement expressing concerns over the dangerous public health effects of the herb commonly known as kratom, the dried and ground leaves of the Mitragyna speciosa tree native to parts of Southeastern Asia. The herb is currently legal and sold as a dietary supplement and is usually consumed in powder form mixed in beverages or ingested via capsule.

Comment: Perhaps the govenment doesn't like competition?

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Donut

Sugar: Linked to brain shrinkage, Alzheimer's and other types of dementia


Psy Blog
Wed, 06 Dec 2017 09:38 UTC
Sugar lips
The shrinkage is linked to developing Alzheimer's disease or another type of dementia.

Excess sugar in the diet could lead to brain shrinkage, a study suggests.

A smaller brain is also linked to problems in old age, such as dementia.

All of the 249 people in the study had blood sugar levels in the normal range.

However, those with higher blood sugar levels were more likely to have less brain volume in key areas in the hippocampus (memory) and amygdala (emotion and cognition).
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Microscope 2

Researchers discover how to turn off "hunger alarm system", leading to hopes for obesity sufferers


RT
Tue, 05 Dec 2017 21:55 UTC
overweight soccer player
© Daniel Becerril / ReutersA player is pictured during his "Futbol de Peso" (Soccer of Weight ) league soccer match
A team of researchers from the University of Pennsylvania has demonstrated how to turn off a so-called hunger alarm system that becomes active when you're hungry, leading to hopes for obesity sufferers worldwide.

Being hungry can have an adverse effect on everyone, some become irritable, others downright crazy. The mere sight or smell of food can alleviate hunger cravings for a time and researchers have shown why this is the case.

Contained within the brain are neurons responsible for the drive to eat. These neurons, known as AgRP neurons, remain active until they receive a signal from the stomach telling the brain that food has been ingested.

"When these neurons are firing, they're basically telling you, 'You'd better go get food; you're starving,"Penn State biology professor, J. Nicholas Betley, said. "They're a sensitive alarm system. And what this study conclusively demonstrated is that nutrients are the primary regulators of this alarm system."
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Life Preserver

More good news for ketogenic diet in epilepsy

Pauline Anderson
Medscape
Mon, 04 Dec 2017 19:25 UTC
foods ketogenic diet
The ketogenic diet (KD) appears to be just as effective as corpus callosotomy (CC) and vagal nerve stimulation (VNS) in reducing seizures and improving behavior and quality of life in children with drug-resistant epilepsy, new research shows.


Comment: And without the "lobotomy" nor the mechanical implantation of a vagal pacemaker in the body.


In patients not responding to antiepileptic drugs (AEDs), "clinicians tend to just keep pouring on more medicines" instead of considering palliative techniques, study investigator Dave F. Clarke, MD, director, Clinical Epilepsy, Texas Children's Hospital, and Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, told Medscape Medical News.

"We suggest that once a patient is deemed pharmaco-resistant, so having failed two to three medicines, then you should start thinking outside the box."


Comment: The other option is to do something about it before resorting to multiple drugs.


The findings, along with results of other research on the KD, were presented here at the American Epilepsy Society (AES) 71st Annual Meeting 2017.

Comment: See also:

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