The placebo effect can be traced in part to physical changes that take place in the spine when a fake drug is taken, according to a study conducted by researchers from the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf in Germany, and published in the journal Science.
The placebo effect refers to a phenomenon in which a person's symptoms diminish after taking a biologically inactive treatment that they believe to be a real drug. It is a well-documented effect that is particularly strong for conditions originating in the central nervous system, such as pain and depression.
"These results provide direct evidence for spinal inhibition as one mechanism of placebo analgesia and highlight that psychological factors can act on the earliest stages of pain processing in the central nervous system," the researchers wrote.
Researchers told 15 healthy men that their arms were being treated with two separate creams - one of them an anesthetic, the other a placebo. They then applied painful heat to the treated sections of the participants arms while taking a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scan of their spinal cords.
Health & Wellness
The dramatic video titled Smoking Teeth = Poison Gas has had a tremendous impact on both the public and professional audiences.
The full version plays 40 minutes with interviews of experts in the fields of mercury toxicology, environmental medicine, politics and dentistry.
The full version plays 40 minutes with interviews of experts in the fields of mercury toxicology, environmental medicine, politics and dentistry.
The CDC issued a report today March 17, 2010 saying that an estimated 1.7 million traumatic brain injuries resulting in deaths, hospitalizations and emergency department visits occur in the United States each year.
The report based on data collected between 2002 and 2006 finds each year there are 52,000 deaths and 275 hospitalizations related to traumatic brain injuries and 1.4 million or 80 percent of the total cases of TBI were treated and released from an emergency department. The deaths related to the traumatic brain injury (TBI) accounts for the total deaths from injury.
Falls are found to be the leading cause for the traumatic brain injury accounting for 35.2 percent of the total, which most likely occurs in children from birth to 4 years and for adults aged 75 years and older.
The report based on data collected between 2002 and 2006 finds each year there are 52,000 deaths and 275 hospitalizations related to traumatic brain injuries and 1.4 million or 80 percent of the total cases of TBI were treated and released from an emergency department. The deaths related to the traumatic brain injury (TBI) accounts for the total deaths from injury.
Falls are found to be the leading cause for the traumatic brain injury accounting for 35.2 percent of the total, which most likely occurs in children from birth to 4 years and for adults aged 75 years and older.
The role of selenium in diabetes has been controversial, with some studies suggesting that it raises diabetes risk and others finding that it is protective. Now, research published in BioMed Central's open access journal Nutrition and Metabolism, has shown that, for men, high plasma selenium concentrations are associated with a lower occurrence of dysglycemia.
Tasnime Akbaraly, from the University of Montpellier, worked with a team of researchers to follow 1162 healthy French men and women for nine years, monitoring plasma selenium concentrations and incidence of dysglycemia.
She said, "Our results showed that for French elderly males, having plasma selenium concentrations in the top tertile of the population distribution (1.19-1.97 μmol/L) was significantly associated with a lower risk of developing dysglycemia over the following nine years."
Tasnime Akbaraly, from the University of Montpellier, worked with a team of researchers to follow 1162 healthy French men and women for nine years, monitoring plasma selenium concentrations and incidence of dysglycemia.
She said, "Our results showed that for French elderly males, having plasma selenium concentrations in the top tertile of the population distribution (1.19-1.97 μmol/L) was significantly associated with a lower risk of developing dysglycemia over the following nine years."
Stress during pregnancy may raise the risk of asthma in offspring, according to researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston. The researchers investigated differences in immune function markers in cord blood between infants born to mothers in high stress environments and those born to mothers with lower stress and found marked differences in patterns that may be associated with asthma risk later in life.
"This is the first study in humans to show that increased stress experienced during pregnancy in these urban, largely minority women, is associated with different patterns of cord blood cytokine production to various environmental stimuli, relative to babies born to lower-stressed mothers," said Rosalind Wright, M.D., M.P.H., associate physician at Brigham and Women's Hospital.
The findings have been published online ahead of print publication in the American Thoracic Society's American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
"This is the first study in humans to show that increased stress experienced during pregnancy in these urban, largely minority women, is associated with different patterns of cord blood cytokine production to various environmental stimuli, relative to babies born to lower-stressed mothers," said Rosalind Wright, M.D., M.P.H., associate physician at Brigham and Women's Hospital.
The findings have been published online ahead of print publication in the American Thoracic Society's American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
You have probably enjoyed the soothing, therapeutic benefits of infrared heat without even knowing it. How is that, you ask? Well, if you have ever stepped outside on a sun soaked, warm day, then you have experienced some of nature's best infrared heat therapy.
The sun is a source of this type of heat, and it's the reason that you seem to instantly relax when your skin is touched by it.
Why is that? Well, radiant, infrared heat actually heats the object (the object being you) directly, rather than warming just the air around you like conventional heat does. So those warm, enveloping sensations you are experiencing from sunlight and it's resulting heat is actually radiant, or infrared heat.
The sun is a source of this type of heat, and it's the reason that you seem to instantly relax when your skin is touched by it.
Why is that? Well, radiant, infrared heat actually heats the object (the object being you) directly, rather than warming just the air around you like conventional heat does. So those warm, enveloping sensations you are experiencing from sunlight and it's resulting heat is actually radiant, or infrared heat.
Common nosebleeds can be an unpleasant and even alarming surprise.
Though they are usually not a reason to be overly concerned they usually can be abated quickly and easily at home. Most often bleeding from the nose comes from trauma caused by injury to the nose, picking the nose and even violent sneezing.
The next time you or someone in your family has a nosebleed try one of these simple tricks that anyone can do at home:
Though they are usually not a reason to be overly concerned they usually can be abated quickly and easily at home. Most often bleeding from the nose comes from trauma caused by injury to the nose, picking the nose and even violent sneezing.
The next time you or someone in your family has a nosebleed try one of these simple tricks that anyone can do at home:
As the unreported war between the Consumers for Health Choice and the corporate supporters of the EU Food Directive continues to rage, Big Pharma and their PR department - otherwise known as the mainstream media - continue in their attempt to tilt public opinion away from natural health choices. Recent headlines in the Daily Mail and the Metro reported that 'vitamins and health supplements become useless in a week' in a ridiculous (and inaccurate) take on a recent study.
The reports, which followed the release of an article in Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry, describe a process called deliquescence, which sees some compounds dissolve into the air under certain levels of heat and humidity. "Opening and closing a package will change the atmosphere in it. If you open and close a package in a bathroom, you add a little bit of humidity and moisture each time," said lead researcher Dr Mauer. She added that the changes were not dangerous, but reduced the effectiveness of the product. "You're just giving them candy at that point."
As has previously been the case, the media took the conclusions of the study and stretched it for all it was worth.
The reports, which followed the release of an article in Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry, describe a process called deliquescence, which sees some compounds dissolve into the air under certain levels of heat and humidity. "Opening and closing a package will change the atmosphere in it. If you open and close a package in a bathroom, you add a little bit of humidity and moisture each time," said lead researcher Dr Mauer. She added that the changes were not dangerous, but reduced the effectiveness of the product. "You're just giving them candy at that point."
As has previously been the case, the media took the conclusions of the study and stretched it for all it was worth.
"Pregnancy brain" is a condition whereby expectant mothers experience short term memory loss and forgetfulness that often persists into the postpartum and breastfeeding period. Given widespread fatty acid deficiency in the Standard American Diet (SAD), along with the fact that the brain is built on fat, it is incumbent upon us to consider adequate and optimal fats in the prevention and treatment of "pregnancy brain". It also stands to reason that pregnancy brain, if left unchecked, may be the first and most benign symptom of a deficiency, which could later prove to have much greater consequence.
According to Michael A. Schimdt, PhD (NASA researcher), "To achieve adequate levels for brain development, the baby essentially robs the mother of these fatty acids by taking them from the placental blood."
If not attended to, EFA status in the mother will continue to decline throughout the breastfeeding period, with repercussions to both her breastfeeding baby and subsequent children. Essential fatty acid deficiency has been shown to play a key role in many growth and developmental difficulties such as: learning, behavioral, nervous and immune related disorders.
According to Michael A. Schimdt, PhD (NASA researcher), "To achieve adequate levels for brain development, the baby essentially robs the mother of these fatty acids by taking them from the placental blood."
If not attended to, EFA status in the mother will continue to decline throughout the breastfeeding period, with repercussions to both her breastfeeding baby and subsequent children. Essential fatty acid deficiency has been shown to play a key role in many growth and developmental difficulties such as: learning, behavioral, nervous and immune related disorders.
A British baby is fighting for his life after being given a massive overdose of a tuberculosis vaccine. It is reported that he received 0.5mg of the BCG injection, 10 times the standard 0.05mg dose, at a hospital in the UK just days after his birth. The incident marks another case of iatrogenic disease and highlights how well-meaning vaccination can result in quite serious consequences.
"Their baby is receiving treatment for TB, which has its own side-effects, but they are hopeful that the treatment will be successful with no long-term damage to their baby's health. It is important that we get answers about how and why this has happened." said David Body, a lawyer acting on behalf of the parents. He also revealed his doubts about the treatment given to other innocent children. "It is unclear how many people have been affected but we have received reports that others may also have been given the same overdose. This case raises important questions about basic systems in hospitals to ensure the safe administration of drugs, including vaccines."
Whilst it remains to be seen how many other families are suffering similar tragedies, the news reinforces the concerns of many about the safety of injecting newborn infants with such a wide array of infectious agents and, at the very least, demonstrates that these vaccinations are not as benign as many supporters would imply.
"Their baby is receiving treatment for TB, which has its own side-effects, but they are hopeful that the treatment will be successful with no long-term damage to their baby's health. It is important that we get answers about how and why this has happened." said David Body, a lawyer acting on behalf of the parents. He also revealed his doubts about the treatment given to other innocent children. "It is unclear how many people have been affected but we have received reports that others may also have been given the same overdose. This case raises important questions about basic systems in hospitals to ensure the safe administration of drugs, including vaccines."
Whilst it remains to be seen how many other families are suffering similar tragedies, the news reinforces the concerns of many about the safety of injecting newborn infants with such a wide array of infectious agents and, at the very least, demonstrates that these vaccinations are not as benign as many supporters would imply.
Comment: The case against mercury fillings is clear. Check these other articles:
US issues health warning over mercury fillings
FDA, ADA Conspiracy to Poison Children with Toxic Mercury Fillings Exposed in Groundbreaking Lawsuit
and yet the FDA (totally bought and paid for by Big Pharma) insists that
FDA Declares Mercury Amalgam Fillings Safe for All