Health & WellnessS


Pills

Israel tests Ecstasy on war trauma victims: report

An Israeli medical team has started tests using the drug Ecstasy as a treatment for conflict-linked post-traumatic disorders, the Maariv daily reported on Friday.

Bulb

Brain Pattern Predicts Mistakes

Researchers in Norway and the UK found that by monitoring brain patterns they could predict when people were likely to make mistakes in carrying out tasks.

The discovery could one day help people at work, for example those who have monotonous or repetitive jobs, to anticipate when they are more susceptible to making mistakes. Perhaps a device that monitors their brain pattern could alert them, the researchers said. Some tasks like passport control, where attention to detail is important but the repetitive and monotonous nature of the work can cause loss of focus, could benefit from such a device, they said.

Cow

What are GMOs good for, again?

Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) came to dominate U.S. grain agriculture over the last 12 with very little real public debate. Sure, people like me have complained loudly, and groups like Center for Food Safety have mounted forceful lobbying and public education efforts.

Comment: For more information about who benefits from GMOs read Seeds of Destruction by F. William Engdahl.


Pills

Risk of depression dims hopes for anti-addiction pills

Chicago - Two years ago, scientists had high hopes for new pills that would help people quit smoking, lose weight and maybe kick other tough addictions like alcohol and cocaine.

Eye 1

FDA takes closer look at Lasik complaints

Washington - Lost in the hoopla of ads promising that laser vision surgery lets you toss your glasses is a stark reality: Not everyone's a good candidate and an unlucky few do suffer life-changing side effects - lost vision, dry eye, night-vision problems.

Evil Rays

Flashback Narcissistic Society: Untying the 'Ribbon Culture'

A brilliant new book explores what the relentless rise of awareness-raising ribbons - kitsch fashion items that express the wearer's fear of disease or empathy with victims - reveals about our morbid, narcissistic society.

Pumpkin

GM foods in Australia let loose on consumers without labeling

Australia's SBS "Insight" program hosted by Jenny Brockie, a multi-award winning journalist and documentary maker with more than 20 years experience in quality broadcasting, today looked at GM Foods in Australia. Monsanto and supermarkets declined to appear.

Health

First mumps epidemic in Netherlands in 20 years

A mumps epidemic has broken out in the Netherlands, which was the first time in 20 years, Dutch media reported Monday.

The epidemic concentrated in the stretch of land between Zeeland in the southwest and the Veluwe heathlands in central Netherlands, the so-called "Bible belt" where many orthodox Protestants live.

Many people in the area refuse to have their children vaccinated against mumps and other diseases on religious grounds.

Bulb

Vitamin D in brain function

In a definitive critical review, scientists at Children's Hospital & Research Center Oakland ask whether there is convincing biological or behavioral evidence linking vitamin D deficiency to brain dysfunction. Joyce C. McCann, Ph.D., assistant staff scientist and Bruce N. Ames, Ph.D., senior scientist at Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute (CHORI) conclude that there is ample biological evidence to suggest an important role for vitamin D in brain development and function, and that supplementation for groups chronically low in vitamin D is warranted. Their conclusions will be published on April 22, 2008 in the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) Journal.

"This critical analysis of vitamin D function and the brain is a model of careful thinking about nutrition and behavior", says Gerald Weissmann, MD, Editor-in-Chief of the FASEB Journal "One wishes that all studies of nutritional supplements or requirements were this thoughtful. Drs. McCann and Ames deftly show that while vitamin D has an important role in the development and function of the brain, its exact effects on behavior remain unclear. Pointing to the need for further study, the authors argue for vitamin D supplementation in groups at risk."

Bulb

How stereotypes can lead to success

Stereotypes can boost as well as hinder our chances of success, according to psychologists from the University of Exeter and St Andrews University. Writing in the new edition of Scientific American Mind (out in the UK 22 April 2008), they argue that the power of stereotypes to affect our performance should not be underestimated.

Drawing on a large body of research, the authors argue that success or failure at work, at school or in sport cannot always be attributed solely to ability or incompetence. Studies suggesting that gender or race can play a part in performance have proved controversial. The researchers argue that the roots of such handicaps lie partly in the preconceptions that other people hold about these groups. For example, a woman who has been led to believe that women generally do worse than men at mathematics, will perform less well in a maths test as a result. Following a similar logic, in the sporting domain, one reason why the England football team performs badly in penalty shoot-outs (winning only 1 of 7 in major tournaments) is that performance is impeded by knowledge of stereotypes associated with a history of failure.