The health and wellness benefits that massage offers are more abundant than once thought. Emerging research points to a growing list of advantages that range far wider than simple anxiety, tension, and pain relief.
One of the most interesting benefits uncovered is a possible link to improved immunity. Studies have shown that those who receive regular massage have lower cortisol levels in their saliva. Cortisol is the "stress" hormone, and it is linked to a lower immune function.
Cortisol actually kills off the cells that are necessary for healthy immunity. Lowering this hormone in the body not only can lead to greater immune response to foreign invaders, but it also leads to lower stress and anxiety levels. Lowering cortisol levels has also been linked to a greater ease in losing weight and keeping it at a healthy level.
Health & Wellness
The world could one day be an economically equal place, if the lower-income population have anything to do with it. In an interesting yet disheartening series of socioeconomic experiments, led by a team of UC Berkeley researchers, the findings are that those on the lower-income levels are more likely to give and be charitable than their higher paid counterparts.
In one experiment in particular, led by doctoral student, Paul Piff and his researchers, participants completed a questionnaire reporting their socioeconomic status and a few days later were provided with $10 to share anonymously. The findings concluded the more generous of the income brackets were on the lower-income scale. A recent national survey reiterates the results, revealing lower-income people give more of their hard-earned money to charity than the wealthy.
At a time when the richest one percent of Americans own more than the bottom 90 percent combined, Piff and his colleagues' findings are more than a little timely. "Our data suggests that an ironic and self-perpetuating dynamic may in part explain this trend," the study researchers write, to be published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. "Whereas lower-class individuals may give more of their resources away, upper-class individuals may tend to preserve and hold onto their wealth. This differential pattern of giving versus saving among upper--and lower-- class people could serve to exacerbate economic inequality in society."
In one experiment in particular, led by doctoral student, Paul Piff and his researchers, participants completed a questionnaire reporting their socioeconomic status and a few days later were provided with $10 to share anonymously. The findings concluded the more generous of the income brackets were on the lower-income scale. A recent national survey reiterates the results, revealing lower-income people give more of their hard-earned money to charity than the wealthy.
At a time when the richest one percent of Americans own more than the bottom 90 percent combined, Piff and his colleagues' findings are more than a little timely. "Our data suggests that an ironic and self-perpetuating dynamic may in part explain this trend," the study researchers write, to be published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. "Whereas lower-class individuals may give more of their resources away, upper-class individuals may tend to preserve and hold onto their wealth. This differential pattern of giving versus saving among upper--and lower-- class people could serve to exacerbate economic inequality in society."
Retired Optometrist Dominic Devlin, editor of online laser eye resource Laser-Eye-Surgery-Review, has urged patients to be aware of the risks associated with laser eye surgery amidst a growing trend towards laser correction, which can often leave patients with pain in and around the eyes and even impaired or loss of vision in extreme cases.
A retired Optometrist has today issued a public warning to those considering laser eye surgery, warning of the often understated risks associated with the procedure.
Dominic Devlin has urged those thinking about undergoing surgery to consider the wide range of potential complications and problems that can arise from laser eye surgery, including vision impairments such as ghosting, where objects are seen in multiple, clouding, blurring and irritation of the eye.
The contributing editor of Laser-Eye-Surgery-Review, a resource site dedicated to providing free information on the eye, common sight problems and the ins and outs of laser eye surgery, Dominic suggested that the rising trend in laser eye surgery operations posed a threat to the eyesight of those unwary of the risks involved, and believes more should be done to educate the public about the potential dangers of the treatment.
A retired Optometrist has today issued a public warning to those considering laser eye surgery, warning of the often understated risks associated with the procedure.
Dominic Devlin has urged those thinking about undergoing surgery to consider the wide range of potential complications and problems that can arise from laser eye surgery, including vision impairments such as ghosting, where objects are seen in multiple, clouding, blurring and irritation of the eye.
The contributing editor of Laser-Eye-Surgery-Review, a resource site dedicated to providing free information on the eye, common sight problems and the ins and outs of laser eye surgery, Dominic suggested that the rising trend in laser eye surgery operations posed a threat to the eyesight of those unwary of the risks involved, and believes more should be done to educate the public about the potential dangers of the treatment.
I've often talked about how great medical physics is. The MRI scanner, for example, contains some fantastic physics - interaction of atomic nuclei with magnetic fields (which you need quantum mechanics to explain properly) - and is supported by clever mathematics too. And the PET scanner uses anti-matter (specifically anti-electrons from beta plus decay) to help map out your insides. But this technology, and its support staff, doesn't come cheap.
I was fascinated by Gareth Morgan's article in the NZ Herald on Tuesday, about the cost of healthcare. Why is it that healthcare costs seem to go up and up, even faster than my rates bills. Part of the answer I think is technology. There is a whole lot more that can be done for a sick person now, than twenty, fifty or two hundred years ago. And the view that people "deserve the best treatment possible" means that it is seen as reasonable to pay these costs. If you want to earn big money with a physics degree there are two choices: First is to go into banking and insurance and work the derivatives markets (this one has got a little risky in the last couple of years), second is to train as a medical physicist. It's hard to see that there will be an oversupply of them in the next few years.
I was fascinated by Gareth Morgan's article in the NZ Herald on Tuesday, about the cost of healthcare. Why is it that healthcare costs seem to go up and up, even faster than my rates bills. Part of the answer I think is technology. There is a whole lot more that can be done for a sick person now, than twenty, fifty or two hundred years ago. And the view that people "deserve the best treatment possible" means that it is seen as reasonable to pay these costs. If you want to earn big money with a physics degree there are two choices: First is to go into banking and insurance and work the derivatives markets (this one has got a little risky in the last couple of years), second is to train as a medical physicist. It's hard to see that there will be an oversupply of them in the next few years.
© Spencer Jones/Getty Images
But if you are a parent, would you want your children's food and beverage choices determined by manufacturers whose primary goal is to make money by getting them hooked on products of questionable nutritional value? The issue is of particular importance now that rates of childhood obesity are soaring throughout the country, influenced in no small way by commercial interests.
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Prolactin and oxytocin prove to be present in male parents as well.
Prolactin and oxytocin prove to be present in male parents as well.
Prof. Ruth Feldman, a psychologist and brain scientist at the Gonda Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center at Bar-Ilan University, and adjunct professor at the Child Study Center at Yale University School of Medicine, recently published a series of studies describing the hormonal activity in new fathers that enhances the feeling of fatherhood and their connection to the newborn infants.
Most research until now has sought to scientifically measure the bond of love between mothers and the newborn.
In contrast, in the study led by Prof. Feldman, as part of the doctoral thesis of Ilanit Gordon, and published this month in the journal Hormones and Behavior, researchers studied the levels of oxytocin and prolactin produced in fathers when interacting with their infants.
© Raul Touzon/National Geographic News
A teenage boy naps on Marco Island, Florida's Tigertail beach
A teenage boy naps on Marco Island, Florida's Tigertail beach
Dreaming may improve memory, boost creativity, and help you better plan for the future, new research suggests.
In a recent study, people who took naps featuring REM sleep - in which dreams are most vivid - performed better on creativity-oriented word problems. That is, the REM, or rapid eye movement, sleep helped people combine ideas in new ways, according to psychiatrist Sara Mednick, who led the study.
Part of the experiment's morning round involved a word-analogy test, similar to some SAT problems. For example, given "chips: salty::candy:_____" the answer would have been "sweet."
At midday, after the first round, the subjects were given a 90-minute rest period, during which they were monitored.
© Stephen Alvarez/National Geographic News
Certain brain waves act as noise blockers during sleep. Above, a woman sleeps in an airport
Certain brain waves act as noise blockers during sleep. Above, a woman sleeps in an airport
Sleep like a log? You can thank your spindles, rapid-fire brain waves that act as blockades against noise during sleep, a new study says.
For the research, study co-author Jeffrey Ellenbogen of Harvard Medical School recruited 12 self-described sound sleepers to spend three nights in his "comfy" lab.
The first night, the sleepers were treated to quiet conditions. But during the next two nights, scientists bombarded the subjects with several types of sounds - including jet engine roars and toilet flushes - after the people had fallen asleep.
Brain wave readings revealed that the more spindles a person had, the more likely he or she could stay asleep through the barrage of noises, Ellenbogen said.
When Canadian agricultural leaders asked Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack last week after a scandal about unlabeled clone products in Europe if "cloned cows or their offspring have made it into the North American food supply," he said, "I can't say today that I can answer your question in an affirmative or negative way. I don't know."
And when AlterNet asked the USDA this week if cloned products are already in the food supply, a spokesman said the department was "not aware of an instance where product from an animal clone has entered the food supply" thanks to a "voluntary moratorium" - but that offspring of clones, at the heart of the Europe scandal," are not clones and are therefore not included" in the voluntary moratorium.
Sounds like Europe is not the only place eating milk and meat from unlabeled clone offspring. In fact, the BBC, UK newspapers and even a US grocer all report that US consumers are digging into clone food, whether or not they know it.
Comment: To learn more about the ongoing issue of cloned meat and milk entering the food supply read the following:
How Would You Fancy Cloned Beef?
U.S. Unsure if Cloned Meat has been Sold in North America
'Cloned Beef' On Store Shelves Causes Stir In Britain
Illegal Cloned Cow's Milk On Sale In UK
European Union Votes for Labels on Nano, Cloned and GM food