Health & WellnessS


Health

The Autoimmune Epidemic: Bodies Gone Haywire in a World out of Balance

Donna Jackson Nakazawa
Touchstone/Simon & Schuster
Wed, 19 Mar 2008 18:24 UTC
Excerpted from The Autoimmune Epidemic: Bodies Gone Haywire in a World Out of Balance--and the Cutting-Edge Science that Promises Hope (Touchstone/Simon & Schuster).

An interview with the author follows.
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Smiley

Flashback Older People Are Happy: Life Begins At 40 And 50 And 60


ScienceDaily
Mon, 18 Feb 2008 17:00 UTC
Growing old is a happier experience than many of us imagine - that's according to the findings of a study conducted at Queen's University, Belfast, on behalf of the Changing Ageing Partnership (CAP).
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Eye 1

When predator is a woman, are rules relaxed?

Cristina Rouvalis
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Sun, 16 Mar 2008 08:45 UTC
Jason Eickmeyer was a 15-year-old sophomore at Hammonton High School in New Jersey the night he said he had sex with his gym teacher. From that moment on, he counted the days until he would be old enough to marry her.

Male classmates who heard the rumors would nudge him on the shoulder, he said, and give him a knowing smile. "I got respect," he said.

Two years later, after the police came to his house and took his statement against teacher Traci Tapp, Mr. Eickmeyer was shunned and mocked. He became a Jay Leno punch line.
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Magic Wand

The regulation of negative emotions: Impact on brain activity

Philippe R. Goldin, Kateri McRae, Wiveka Ramel and James J. Gross.
EurekAlert
Tue, 18 Mar 2008 07:00 UTC
Philadelphia - Emotions play an important role in the lives of humans, and influence our behavior, thoughts, decisions, and interactions. The ability to regulate emotions is essential to both mental and physical well-being. "Conversely, difficulties with emotion regulation have been postulated as a core mechanism underlying mood and anxiety disorders," according to the authors of a new study published in Biological Psychiatry on March 15th. Thus, these researchers set out to further expand our understanding of the differential effects of emotion regulation strategies on the human brain.
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Syringe

Flashback Girl's Flu Death Happened Within Hours -- And Dr. Mercola's comments


Mercola.com
Fri, 29 Feb 2008 01:27 UTC
When 12-year-old Jasmine Levy woke up feeling unwell, her mother gave her Tylenol and sent her back to bed. A few hours later, she was dead.

Jasmine was the first child in Minnesota to die of the flu this season; six children died of flu last year. Jasmine had asthma and had reportedly developed a staph infection as a complication of the flu, officials said.
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Snowman

His Cheating Brain

Mary Carmichael
Newsweek
Wed, 12 Mar 2008 10:55 UTC
Why do powerful men risk everything for sex? It has to do with brain chemistry, evolution and, yes, testosterone.

Comment: Though it can't be said with certainty why Eliot Spitzer did what he did, and while there are many professional opinions given on the psychological appeal of prostitutes, it is interesting to note that the above mentioned characteristics are those usually attributed to psychopaths. Additionally, the mention of "lower levels of monoamine oxidase A" in the people described, is an indication of antisocial behavior.

One thing, however, is crystal clear - positions of power attract a certain 'type' of individual and these individuals end up influencing every aspect of our society - one needs to simply look around at the current decaying state of society to see the result of that influence.

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Roses

Flashback Affairs of the Lips: Why We Kiss

Chip Walter
Scientific American Mind
Thu, 31 Jan 2008 15:55 UTC
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.
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Heart - Black

Flashback Genes of the Psyche

T. C.
Scientific American Mind, 15552284, 2008, Vol. 19, Issue 1
Fri, 01 Feb 2008 15:13 UTC
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.
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People

Flashback UCLA Study On Friendship Among Women

Gale Berkowitz
anapsid.org
Thu, 19 Apr 2007 08:00 UTC
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.
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Cow

Propaganda Alert! 'Vegan diet may ease arthritis'

James Randerson
The Guardian
Tue, 18 Mar 2008 07:56 UTC
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.
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