Health & Wellness
© CNN.com
Psycho girlfriends. Toxic boyfriends. The pathological relationship. We've all heard about it or experienced it for ourselves. Even if we're not familiar with its various names or the psychological explanations behind it, we're not surprised when we hear that a friend or family member is in a physically or emotionally abusive relationship. Whether it's a girl insulted and humiliated by her boyfriend, or a man whose wife leaves him, takes his money, their kids, and his reputation after a painful divorce, these pathological relationships still seem to be a natural part of our daily experience. The pain and hopeless cycles of these relationships remind us that pathology in relationships is all too common.
Luckily there is a growing body of research on these all-too-familiar dynamics, and therapists trained in dealing with them. Sandra Brown's
How To Spot a Dangerous Man and
Women Who Love Psychopaths; Martha Stout's
The Myth of Sanity and
The Sociopath Next Door; and Robin Stern's
The Gaslight Effect. These and other essential materials bring an important body of knowledge to those who need it most. Because without such knowledge, we are like Goldilocks entering a dark and unknown forest, blind to the dangers of charming yet cunning predators.
Looking to improve your romantic odds? Get your date a cup of steaming coffee.
That's the implication of a new study from researchers who wanted to see if there was any connection between physical and emotional heat. To their surprise, they found that people who held a cup of hot coffee for 10 to 25 seconds warmed up to a stranger. Holding a cup of iced coffee had the opposite effect.
If you want to make a good impression, advised University of Colorado psychologist and study author Lawrence Williams, a cup of fresh coffee "may bias the situation in your favor."
Maria Luisa Tucker
AlterNetWed, 29 Oct 2008 09:19 UTC
A blue state/red state map of Democrats versus Republicans is strikingly similar to a blue/red map that was done based on regional personality traits.
If your office is a mess, you're known as a chatty Cathy, and you consider yourself hard to scare, then chances are, you will be voting for Obama in six days. But your neighbor, an optimistic clean freak who prides himself on the fact that he has woken up at 5 a.m. every day for the last 10 years, is a likely McCainiac.
Patrick Worsnip
ReutersTue, 21 Oct 2008 18:30 UTC
International efforts have pushed back the spread of bird flu this year, but the risk of a global influenza pandemic killing millions is as great as ever, the United Nations and World Bank reported on Tuesday.
Most countries now have plans to combat a pandemic, but many of the plans are defective, said the report, issued ahead of a bird flu conference due to be attended by ministers from some 60 countries in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, from October 24-26.
The report, fourth in a series since a bird flu scare swept the globe three years ago, followed a new World Bank estimate that a severe flu pandemic could cost $3 trillion and result in a drop of nearly 5 percent in world gross domestic product.
Recent studies hint that exposure to the toxic chemicals, such as methylmercury can cause harm at levels previously considered safe. A new analysis of the epidemiological evidence in the International Journal of Environment and Health, suggests that we should take a precautionary approach to this and similar compounds to protect unborn children from irreversible brain damage.
Philippe Grandjean of the Department of Environmental Health at Harvard School of Public Health, in Boston, and the University of Southern Denmark in Odense, explains that the causes of suboptimal and abnormal mental development are mostly unknown. However, severe exposure to pollutants during the development of the growing fetus can cause problems that become apparent as brain functions develop - and ultimately decline - in later life. Critically, much smaller doses of chemicals, such as the neurotoxic compound methylmercury, can harm the developing brain to a much greater extent than the adult brain.
Rare infection slowly making its way down Washington-Oregon coast
Sugar present in red meat and dairy found to be a risk factor for E. coli infection
some harmful strains of E. coli might rely on something sweet to do harm.
At Carnegie Mellon University, it's standing room only for this autism conference.
Organizers expected just 120, but 400 to 500 people showed up, including professors, students and parents.
A University of Calgary scientist confirms that it is how our immune system responds, not the rhinovirus itself, that causes cold symptoms. Of more than 100 different viruses that can cause the common cold, human rhinoviruses are the major cause.
The research, published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, is the first study to comprehensively review gene changes in rhinovirus. "The study's findings are a major step toward more targeted cold prevention and treatment strategies while also serving as a valuable roadmap for the broader respiratory science community," says David Proud, PhD, a professor in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics at the Faculty of Medicine, and lead author of the study.
Proud adds that while colds are usually considered to be minor infections of the nose and throat, they can have much more serious health repercussions. "Rhinovirus is the major cause of the common cold, but it is also an important pathogen in more serious conditions, such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)," Proud says.
© AP
New York - Turning your clock back on Sunday may be good for your heart. Swedish researchers looked at 20 years of records and discovered that the number of heart attacks dipped on the Monday after clocks were set back an hour, possibly because people got an extra hour of sleep.
But moving clocks forward in the spring appeared to have the opposite effect. There were more heart attacks during the week after the start of daylight saving time, particularly on the first three days of the week.
"Sleep - through a variety of mechanisms - affects our cardiovascular health," said Dr. Lori Mosca, director of preventive cardiology at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, who was not involved in the research. The findings show that "
sleep not only impacts how we feel, but it may also affect whether we develop heart disease or not."
