Health & WellnessS


Roses

Flashback Affairs of the Lips: Why We Kiss

Researchers are revealing hidden complexities behind the simple act of kissing, which relays powerful messages to your brain, body and partner

kissing
©2000-2005 Getty Images, Inc.
A famous Kiss: Times Square, 14 August 1945 - VJ Day

When passion takes a grip, a kiss locks two humans together in an exchange of scents, tastes, textures, secrets and emotions. We kiss furtively, lasciviously, gently, shyly, hungrily and exuberantly. We kiss in broad daylight and in the dead of night. We give ceremonial kisses, affectionate kisses, Hollywood air kisses, kisses of death and, at least in fairytales, pecks that revive princesses.

Heart - Black

Flashback Genes of the Psyche

Researchers have picked out genes that influence various personality traits, including:

Novelty seeking. In 1996 psychologist Richard Ebstein of Herzog Hospital in Jerusalem and his colleagues identified a peculiarity in the genetic blueprint for a receptor that responds to the neurotransmitter dopamine that is more common among people who score high on a test of novelty seeking. Such people tend to be relatively impulsive, exploratory, fickle, excitable, quick-tempered and extravagant.

People

Flashback UCLA Study On Friendship Among Women

A landmark UCLA study suggests friendships between women are special. They shape who we are and who we are yet to be. They soothe our tumultuous inner world, fill the emotional gaps in our marriage, and help us remember who we really are. By the way, they may do even more.

Cow

Propaganda Alert! 'Vegan diet may ease arthritis'

Rheumatoid arthritis patients may be able to improve their symptoms by switching to a vegan and gluten-free diet, a study in Sweden has found.

The researchers' findings were based on a small study group of only 30 patients with the disease and they are not yet sure why the diet change appeared to work. However the research team, which demonstrated changes to the immune system that may underlie the beneficial effect, believe it has identified an area that would repay further study. "I think it is a quite unexpected and interesting finding," said Prof Johan Frostegård at the Karolinska Institutet rheumatology unit in Stockholm, who led the study. "The effects on the immune system are quite new."

Rheumatoid arthritis - a different condition from osteoarthritis - affects around 350,000 people in the UK. It is more common in women than men and can afflict people of any age. It is caused by the immune system attacking the lining of the patient's joints, causing them to become inflamed and painful. Over time the damage can restrict movement. At present there is no cure, although the disease can be slowed down if diagnosed early.

Alarm Clock

Branding Pregnancy as Mental Illness: Immediate Consumer Action Needed to Stop Mothers Act

The Mothers Act is pending legislation that will indoctrinate hundreds of thousands of mothers into taking dangerous psych drugs. It is a great example of how the Big Pharma lobby controls Congress to the detriment of health, as well as needlessly and dramatically inflating the costs of our health care system for everyone. Like any piece of legislation it purports to address a troubling issue - in this case the mood distress of mothers following birth known as postpartum depression. It is true that 10% - 15% of women need some assistance in dealing with this topic - but the majority of them sure don't need it from Big Pharma. That is the Big Lie.

Heart

Drug-coated stents widely used for unapproved conditions

Doctors have been widely prescribing drug-coated heart stents for uses not approved by the FDA, according to two studies recently published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Info

The Best Home Remedies May Be Sitting in Your Spice Cabinet

Scientists are finding that spices can ease inflammation, kill bacteria and viruses, and even cause cancer cells to self-destruct.

Wine

Wine labels with animals: Why they work

Traditional brand research argues that logos should be highly relevant to the product they represent in order to be successful. However, marketers have recently begun using unusual visual identifiers that have little, if anything, to do with the product. For example, market research firm ACNielsen reports that nearly one in five of the table-wine brands introduced in the last three years features an animal on the label. A forthcoming study in the April 2008 issue of the Journal of Consumer Research reveals why this tactic is works.

"To our knowledge, this is the first experimental demonstration of the beneficial effects of unique visual identifiers that are not meaningfully related to the nature of the product," write Aparna A. Labroo (University of Chicago), Ravi Dhar (Yale University), and Norbert Schwarz (University of Michigan).

Bulb

Does touch affect flavor? Study finds that how a container feels can affect taste

Does coffee in a flimsy cup taste worse than coffee in a more substantial cup? Firms such as McDonalds and Starbucks spend millions of dollars every year on disposable packaging, but a new study from the April issue of the Journal of Consumer Research suggests that trying to skimp in this area might not be worth it - and may negatively impact consumers' perceptions of taste and quality.

In a series of four experiments, Aradhna Krishna (University of Michigan) and Maureen Morrin (Rutgers University) find that many people do indeed judge a drink by its container. Specifically, the firmness of a cup seems to have an impact on consumer evaluations of the beverage contained inside.

Monkey Wrench

Ukraine: Brain surgeon operates with DIY drill

An eminent British neuro-surgeon has been performing complex brain operations using a £30 do-it-yourself cordless power drill at a clinic in Ukraine.

Henry Marsh, a senior consultant at St George's hospital in Tooting, south London, has used the Bosch 9.6 volt battery-operated hand tool to open up the skulls of his patients to remove life-threatening tumours. Occasionally the battery has gone flat halfway through.