Friends Help Us To Negate Negativity

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PST

'Stand by me' is a common refrain when it comes to friendship but new research from Concordia University proves that the concept goes beyond pop music: keeping friends close has real physiological and psychological benefits...

Survivors Of Hurricane Katrina Struggle With Mental Health Years Later, Study Says

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 01:00:00 PST

Survivors of Hurricane Katrina have struggled with poor mental health for years after the storm, according to a new study of low-income mothers in the New Orleans area. The study's lead author, Christina Paxson of Princeton University, said that the results were a departure from other surveys both in the design and the results...

Shedding Light On How The Brain Adapts To Stress

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 01:00:00 PST

Scientists now have a better understanding of the way that stress impacts the brain. New research, published by Cell Press in the January 26 issue of the journal Neuron, reveals pioneering evidence for a new mechanism of stress adaptation and may eventually lead to a better understanding of why prolonged and repeated exposure to stress can lead to anxiety disorders and depression...

Moderate Exercise Minimizes Supervisors' Abusive Behaviors Towards Their Subordinates

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 02:00:00 PST

If your boss is giving you a hard time - lying, making fun of you in public and generally putting you down, he or she may benefit from some exercise, according to a new study by James Burton from Northern Illinois University in the US and his team...

Narcissistic Men May Pay With Their Health

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 08:00:00 PST

Men with an inflated view of their importance, who are incapable of putting themselves in other people's shoes and who see themselves as "special" and superior to others, some of the traits of a narcissistic personality, may pay for this with their health...

When Kicking The Habit, The Poorest Smokers Face The Toughest Odds

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PST

Quitting smoking is never easy. However, when you're poor and uneducated, kicking the habit for good is doubly hard, according to a new study by a tobacco dependence researcher at The City College of New York (CCNY)...

Connection Between Birth Weights And Armed Conflict

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 01:00:00 PST

A new study shows pregnant women exposed to armed conflict have a higher risk of giving birth to underweight babies, a result that could change the way aid is delivered to developing countries. "From a development side we need to ask, `Who is the population we should be focusing on?'" said Hani Mansour, Ph.D...

Stress And Weight Gain - A Vicious Circle

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PST

Stress can make you fat - and being obese can create stress. A new hypothesis seeks to explain how. Diet and lack of exercise are not sufficient to explain the worldwide rise in obesity. Stress is one of many other factors which could contribute, according to human biologist Brynjar Foss from the University of Stavanger...

The Power Of The Subconscious In Human Fear

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PST

The human subconscious has a bigger impact than previously thought on how we respond to danger, according to research led by the University of Exeter. Just ublished, the study shows that our primitive response to fear can contradict our conscious assessment of danger. The findings have implications for how anxiety disorders, such as phobias, are treated...

Unpleasant Emotional Memories Preserved And Enhanced By Sleep

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PST

A recent study by sleep researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst is the first to suggest that a person's emotional response after witnessing an unsettling picture or traumatic event is greatly reduced if the person stays awake afterward, and that sleep strongly "protects" the negative emotional response...

The Upside Of "Gossip": Maintaining Social Order

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 13:00:00 PST

Gossip is often considered an undesirable, unattractive feature of society, amounting to idle chatter that undermines trust and damages reputations, but now a new study suggests it has an upside, it helps maintain social order by keeping bad behavior in check, and preventing exploitation. And it also lowers stress...

2 Genes Affect Anxiety, Behavior In Mice With Too Much MeCP2

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PST

The anxiety and behavioral issues associated with excess MeCP2 protein result from overexpression of two genes (Crh [corticotropin-releasing hormone] and Oprm 1 [mu-opioid receptor MOR 1]), which may point the way to treating these problems in patients with too much of the protein, said Baylor College of Medicine scientists in a report that appears online in the journal Nature Genetics...

WTC Responders' PTSD Linked To Respiratory Illness

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 04:00:00 PST

More than a decade after 9/11, the "FirstView" section online in Psychological Medicine published results of a study in which the association between two signature health problems amongst WTC first responders was examined, namely respiratory illness and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The study was led by Benjamin J. Luft, M.D., an Edmund D...

Blogging May Help Teens Dealing With Social Distress

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PST

Blogging may have psychological benefits for teens suffering from social anxiety, improving their self-esteem and helping them relate better to their friends, according to new research published by the American Psychological Association...

WTC Attack Responders - PTSD Linked To Respiratory Disease

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 09:00:00 PST

Results of an investigation analyzing the association between the two signature health problems - post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and respiratory illness - among recovery workers who responded first at the World Trade Center (WTC), have been revealed after more than a decade following the terrorist attacks on the WTC. The study was led by Benjamin J. Luft, M.D., the Edmund D...

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Benefits Breast Cancer Survivors

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PST

Women recently diagnosed with breast cancer have higher survival rates than those diagnosed in previous decades, according to the American Cancer Society. However, survivors continue to face health challenges after their treatments end. Previous research reports as many as 50 percent of breast cancer survivors are depressed...

TAU Study Finds Anxiety-Ridden Individuals Are Less Sensitive To Their Environments

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 00:00:00 PST

Anxious people have long been classified as "hypersensitive" - they're thought to be more fearful and feel threatened more easily than their counterparts. But new research from Tel Aviv University shows that the anxious may not be hypersensitive at all - in fact, they may not be sensitive enough...

Different Methods Can Reduce Hospital Fear In Children

Thu, 22 Dec 2011 00:00:00 PST

Undergoing surgery can be a terrifying experience for a child. But stress and fear, and the use of pain relief after the procedure, can be reduced with simple means: drawings, continuity and dialogue. This has been shown by research at the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden...

Acupuncture Reduces Protein Linked To Stress In First Of Its Kind Animal Study

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 00:00:00 PST

Acupuncture significantly reduces levels of a protein in rats linked to chronic stress, researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) have found. They say their animal study may help explain the sense of well-being that many people receive from this ancient Chinese therapy...

Manchester United Fan's Addisonian Crisis Spotted While Doctors Watched Match

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 05:00:00 PST

The Christmas issue of bmj.com describes how doctors in Manchester identified a rare condition in a football fan after they heard about her unusual symptoms whilst watching her team Manchester United play...

During Pregnancy, Majority Of B.C. Women Take Prescription Drugs

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 00:00:00 PST

Almost two-thirds of women in British Columbia filled at least one prescription at some point in their pregnancy, including drugs with potential risks, according to a new study by University of British Columbia researchers. The study, published online in the journal Clinical Therapeutics, is the first of its kind in Canada...

Gay Married Men Enjoy Better Health Than Single Gay Men

Sun, 18 Dec 2011 12:00:00 PST

Men in same-sex marriages enjoy better health, have fewer doctor visits and lower health care costs compared to other gay or bisexual men, researchers from the Mailman School of Public Health wrote in the American Journal of Public Health...

A Novel Mechanism Regulating Stress Is Identified

Wed, 14 Dec 2011 02:00:00 PST

Neuroscience researchers from Tufts have demonstrated, for the first time, that the physiological response to stress depends on neurosteroids acting on specific receptors in the brain, and they have been able to block that response in mice. This breakthrough suggests that these critical receptors may be drug therapy targets for control of the stress-response pathway...

Horticulture Improves Heart Rate, Stress Levels Of Mentally Challenged Adults

Wed, 14 Dec 2011 01:00:00 PST

Participation in horticultural activities can improve confidence and social skills, cultivate a positive attitude, and rejuvenate the mind and body...

Preventing A Traumatism From Establishing Itself And Becoming Pathological

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 00:00:00 PST

The study, initiated by the Swiss researchers and published in Nature, constitutes ground-breaking work in exploring emotions in the brain. Anxiety disorders constitute a complex family of pathologies affecting about 10% of adults. Patients suffering from such disorders fear certain situations or objects to exaggerated extents totally out of proportion to the real danger they present...