Published: January 21, 2012
Image: by parrchristy:Flickr
ou – or more accurately, your brain – has control over how allergic your skin is, suggests new research.
A team of neuroscientists have found that if someone has a lesser sense of ownership over a part of their body, their immune system also responds differently to that body part, treating it as ‘non-self’ rather than ‘self’.
These findings have direct implications for understanding autoimmune disorders such as multiple sclerosis and a range of neurological and psychiatric conditions characterised by a disrupted sense of ownership over one’s body, such as stroke, schizophrenia, autism, epilepsy, neuropathic pain, anorexia nervosa and bulimia. [continue reading…]
Published: January 21, 2012
Approximately 3 percent of the U.S. population suffers from excessive, uncontrollable worry that reduces their health and quality of life. The condition, known as Generalized Anxiety Disorder, is difficult to overcome and is accompanied by a host of physical symptoms, including fatigue, muscle tension, irritability and poor sleep. However, a new University of Georgia study shows that regular exercise can significantly reduce anxiety symptoms in patients with GAD.
In a study published online in the Nov. 22 edition of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, researchers randomly assigned 30 sedentary women, ages 18-37 who were diagnosed with GAD, to either a control group or six weeks of strength or aerobic exercise training. Women in the exercise conditions completed two weekly sessions of either weight lifting or leg cycling exercise. Remission of the disorder, determined by psychologists who were unaware of the treatment each client received, was higher among exercisers and best among those who performed weight lifting exercise. Worry symptoms, the primary problem among individuals with GAD, were significantly reduced among the exercisers, and moderate-to-large improvements in other symptoms, such as irritability, feelings of tension, low energy and pain, were found. [continue reading…]
Published: January 20, 2012
This study demonstrates the maintenance of efficacy of cognitive behavioral group therapy and sertraline for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) after 5 years of follow-up. This was due to the fact that a portion of the patients from both initial groups sought continuation of the original treatment or made a natural ‘crossover’. As OCD is a chronic disorder, probably the continuation of any one of the treatment strategies is mainly responsible for the maintenance of outcomes in the long run.
Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SRI) are the first-choice treatments for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
The aim of the present study was to investigate whether the reduction in severity of OCD symptoms obtained with 12-weekly sessions of CBGT (cognitive behavioral group therapy) or with sertraline (100 mg/day) during the same period, in a randomized clinical trial, would be sustained over a 5-year period, as well as to compare the differences between the 2 treatments in the long term. [continue reading…]
Published: January 19, 2012
istockphoto
ew research from
Uppsala University shows that a specific brain region that contributes to a person’s appetite sensation is more activated in response to food images after one night of sleep loss than after one night of normal sleep. Poor sleep habits can therefore affect people’s risk of becoming overweight in the long run. The findings are published in
The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
Researchers Christian Benedict and Helgi Schiöth, of the Department of Neuroscience at Uppsala University, showed in an earlier article, published in American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, that a single night of total sleep loss in young normal weight men curbed the energy expenditure the next morning. This research also showed that subjects had increased levels of hunger, which indicates that an acute lack of sleep may affect human’s food perception.
In a new study, Christian Benedict, together with Samantha Brooks, Helgi Schiöth and Elna-Marie Larsson from Uppsala University and researchers from other European universities, have now systematically examined which regions in the brain, involved in appetite sensation, are influenced by acute sleep loss. By means of magnetic imaging (fMRI) the researchers studied the brains of 12 normal-weight males while they viewed images of foods. The researchers compared the results after a night with normal sleep with those obtained after one night without sleep.
Christian Benedict explains:
“After a night of total sleep loss, these males showed a high level of activation in an area of the brain that is involved in a desire to eat. Bearing in mind that insufficient sleep is a growing problem in modern society, our results may explain why poor sleep habits can affect people’s risk to gain weight in the long run. It may therefore be important to sleep about eight hours every night to maintain a stable and healthy body weight.”
Source: Uppsala Universitet
