Generally, environmental events of a challenging sort as well as the body’s response to such events. Of particular interest has been the relationship between stress and the body’s adaptation to it on the one hand and the body’s susceptibility to disease on the other. Both outcomes involve behavioral and brain changes as well as psychosomatic events, that is, changes in body function arising from the ability of the brain to control such function through neural output as well as hormones.
US Government survey shows 38 percent of adults and 12 percent of children use complementary and alternative medicine – Approximately 38 percent of adults in the United States aged 18 years and over and nearly 12 percent of U.S. children aged 17 years and under use some form of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), according to a new nationwide government survey.
Uncertainty can be more stressful than clear negative feedback, revealed by researchers. – We are faced with uncertainty every day. Will our investments pay off? Will we get the promotions we are hoping for? When faced with the unknown, most people experience some degree of anxiety and discomfort.
Impact of buggies on parent-infant interaction investigated in new research. – A groundbreaking study being presented on 22nd November at the British Psychological Society Scotland’s Annual Conference suggests the orientation of a baby’s buggy impacts on mother-baby interaction, infant stress levels and ultimately child development.
Psychological interventions associated with breast cancer survival; Psychological intervention improves survival for breast cancer patients. – A new study finds that breast cancer patients who participate in intervention sessions focusing on improving mood, coping effectively, and altering health behaviors live longer than patients who do not receive such psychological support.
Stress may activate immune cells in the skin, resulting in inflammatory skin disease. – Current research suggests that stress may activate immune cells in your skin, resulting in inflammatory skin disease. The related report by Joachim et al., “Stress-induced Neurogenic Inflammation in Murine Skin Skews Dendritic Cells towards Maturation and Migration: Key role of ICAM-1/LFA-1 interactions,” appears in the November issue of The American Journal of Pathology.
21st century could be the “age of paranoia”, according to a leading psychiatrist. Dr Daniel Freeman. – Paranoia is on the increase and could go unchecked unless we take urgent action, claims a leading scientist. Dr Daniel Freeman, a Wellcome Trust fellow, warns that changes in how we live and work could mean that we are entering an “age of paranoia.”
University of Wisconsin-Madison Research team discovers brain pathway responsible for obesity. – University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers, for the first time, have found a messaging system in the brain that directly affects food intake and body weight.
Employees who take long spells of sick leave more than once in three years are at a higher risk of death than their colleagues who take no such absence, particularly if their absence is due to circulatory or psychiatric problems or for surgery. – Major diagnoses for medically certified absences were associated with increased mortality, with the exception of musculoskeletal disease. Data on sickness absence diagnoses may provide useful information to identify groups with increased health risk and a need for targeted interventions.
Possible cause of antisocial behavior identified. Reduced stress hormone cortisol cause antisocial behavior – A link between reduced levels of the ‘stress hormone’ cortisol and antisocial behaviour in male adolescents has been discovered by a research team at the University of Cambridge.
Study highlights an audio-guided relaxation CD with background sounds of ocean waves and a calming voice may lower blood pressure in elderly people. – An audio relaxation program lowered blood pressure more than a Mozart sonata in a group of elderly people with high blood pressure, researchers reported at the American Heart Association’s 62nd Annual Fall Conference of the Council for High Blood Pressure Research.
Gastric bypass results in substantial weight loss in most patients. Diabetes and larger pouch size are independently associated with poor weight loss after GBP. – Individuals with diabetes and those whose stomach pouches are larger appear less likely to successfully lose weight after gastric bypass surgery, according to a report in the September issue of Archives of Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Erasing drug-associated memories to treat drug addiction is a new approach that has great potential. – Erasing drug-associated memories may prevent recovering drug abusers from relapsing, researchers at the University of Cambridge have discovered.
