Entries categorized as Anxiety

Research Identifies Gene That Changes The Brain’s Response To Stress

On March 11, 2010 / By Chris Fisher / In Anxiety, Neuroscience / No Comments

Stress can literally warp your brain, reshaping some brain structures that help cope with life’s pressures. In the short term, the stress response can be helpful – i.e., fight or flight – but over time it leads to a wear and tear that can cause disease in both the brain and other parts of the body. Digging deeper into what underlies these potentially harmful changes, new research has identified a key protein involved in remodeling the brain under stress. (read the full story)

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Randomized Clinical Trial Shows That Massage Significantly Eases Anxiety, But Is No Better Than Simple Relaxation

On March 10, 2010 / By Chris Fisher / In Anxiety / No Comments

A new randomized trial shows that on average, three months after receiving a series of 10 massage sessions, patients had half the symptoms of anxiety. This improvement resembles that previously reported with psychotherapy, medications, or both. But the trial, published in the journal Depression and Anxiety, also found massage to be no more effective than simple relaxation in a room alone with soft, soothing music. (read the full story)

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Transcendental Meditation Helps Patients With Heart Disease Lower Cardiac Disease Risks By 50 percent

On March 10, 2010 / By Chris Fisher / In Meditation / No Comments

Patients with coronary heart disease who practiced the stress-reducing Transcendental Meditation® technique had nearly 50 percent lower rates of heart attack, stroke, and death compared to non-meditating controls, according to the results of a first-ever study presented during the annual meeting of the American Heart Association in Orlando, Fla., on Nov.16, 2009. (read the full story)

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Critical Brain Chemical Shown To Play A Role In Severe Depression

On March 9, 2010 / By Chris Fisher / In Depression / No Comments

The next advance in treating major depression may relate to a group of brain chemicals that are involved in virtually all our brain activity, according to a study published today in Biological Psychiatry. The study is co-authored by Drs. Andrea J. Levinson and Zafiris J. Daskalakis of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). This study shows that compared to healthy individuals, people who have major depressive disorder have altered functions of the neurotransmitter GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid). (read the full story)

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Researcher Reveals A Possible Early Glimpse Of The Impact Of Autism On Older Siblings

On March 8, 2010 / By Chris Fisher / In Autism / No Comments

A new study suggests a trend toward developing hyperactivity among typically developing elementary-school-aged siblings of autistic preschoolers and supports the notion that mothers of young, autistic children experience more depression and stress than mothers with typically developing children. The study was published in the March issue of the journal Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities. (read the full story)

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At-Risk College Students Reduce High Blood Pressure, Anxiety, And Depression Through Transcendental Meditation

On March 8, 2010 / By Chris Fisher / In Meditation / No Comments

The Transcendental Meditation® technique may be an effective method to reduce blood pressure, anxiety, depression, and anger among at-risk college students, according to a new study to be published in the American Journal of Hypertension, December 2009. “The Transcendental Meditation Program, a widely-used standardized program to reduce stress, showed significant decreases in blood pressure and improved mental health in young adults at risk for hypertension,” said David Haaga, PhD, co-author of the study and professor of psychology at American University in Washington, D.C. (read the full story)

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Do Not Make That Face At Me!

On March 6, 2010 / By Chris Fisher / In News / No Comments

Think back to your last fight with someone you love. How did you feel afterwards? How did you behave? Conflict with a loved one often leaves a person feeling terrible and then behaving badly. So much so that these scenarios have become soap opera clichés. After an argument, one partner may brood, slam the door, and then drive to a local bar to drown their sorrows in alcohol. These dramas rarely have happy endings. Given these stereotypes, how do people control their emotional reactions and prevent emotional storms and their attendant use of intoxicating substances? (read the full story)

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Cancer Patients Find Relief In Integrative Medicine Services

On March 4, 2010 / By Chris Fisher / In Cancer / No Comments

individual therapyThe very instant Penny Kukovec was diagnosed with breast cancer her world permanently changed. Suddenly, it felt as if her life was out of her control. She felt powerless and overwhelmed. There were so many unanswered questions. Why me? What’s next? What about my family? The feelings Kukovec experienced are felt by many cancer patients following their initial diagnosis and as they pursue treatment. In an effort to effectively and compassionately respond to these worries, as well as address common side effects associated with cancer treatment, Northwestern Memorial Hospital and the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University now offer integrative oncology services. (read the full story)

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Good Parenting Triumphs Over Prenatal Stress

On March 3, 2010 / By Chris Fisher / In Parenting / No Comments

A mother’s nurture may provide powerful protection against risks her baby faces in the womb, according to a new article published online today in the journal Biological Psychiatry. The research shows that fetuses exposed to high levels of stress hormone – shown to be a harbinger for babies’ poor cognitive development – can escape this fate if their mothers provide them sensitive care during infancy and toddler-hood. (read the full story)

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Researcher Finds That Others May Know Us Better Than We Know Ourselves

On March 2, 2010 / By Chris Fisher / In Psychotherapy / No Comments

Since at least the days of Socrates, humans have been advised to “know thyself.” And through all the years, many, including many personality and social psychologists, have believed the individual is the best judge of his or her own personality. Now a psychologist at Washington University in St. Louis has shown that we are not the know-it-alls that we think we are. (read the full story)

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Regular Exercise Reduces Anxiety By 20 Percent

On February 28, 2010 / By Chris Fisher / In Anxiety / No Comments

The anxiety that often accompanies a chronic illness can chip away at quality of life and make patients less likely to follow their treatment plan. But regular exercise can significantly reduce symptoms of anxiety, a new University of Georgia study shows. In a study appearing in the Feb. 22 edition of the Archives of Internal Medicine, researchers analyzed the results of 40 randomized clinical trials involving nearly 3,000 patients with a variety of medical conditions. They found that, on average, patients who exercised regularly reported a 20 percent (20%) reduction in anxiety symptoms compared to those who did not exercise. (read the full story)

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Caregivers Of Patients In Intensive Care Units (ICU) Are Collateral Damage Of Critical Illness

On February 24, 2010 / By Chris Fisher / In Depression / No Comments

family enters hospitalIntensive care unit (ICU) patients are not the only ones likely to be severely depressed in the aftermath of hospitalization. Family and friends who care for them often suffer emotional and social hardship, too, according to a prospective study from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine that is the first to monitor patients and caregivers during a one-year period for predictors of depression and lifestyle disruption. (continue reading)

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People With Anxiety Disorder Are Less Able To Regulate Their Response To Negative Emotions

On February 22, 2010 / By Chris Fisher / In Anxiety, Brain Imaging / No Comments

male who looks concernedPeople with generalized anxiety disorder, or GAD, have abnormalities in the way their brain unconsciously controls emotions. That’s the conclusion of a new Stanford University School of Medicine study, and the study authors say the findings could open up new avenues for treatments and change our understanding of how emotion is regulated in everyday life. The work is published online in this month’s American Journal of Psychiatry. (continue reading)

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The 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines

On February 14, 2010 / By Stephen Elliott / In Public Health / No Comments

2008 Physical Activity GuidelinesIn November 2008, The U.S. Department of Health And Human Services (DHHS) issued a landmark recommendation for exercise and health titled The 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. Yet surprisingly, most people this correspondent communicates with do not know of it. The report makes some very strong recommendations regarding the need for exercise. Interested readers can obtain the original 2008 Physical Activities Guidelines ebook, an audio summary of these findings, and other relevant articles using links provided in this review. (continue reading)

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Caltech Neuroscientists Discover Brain Area Responsible For Fear Of Losing Money

On February 14, 2010 / By Chris Fisher / In Neuroscience / No Comments

moneyNeuroscientists at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and their colleagues have tied the human aversion to losing money to a specific structure in the brain – the amygdala. The finding, described in the latest online issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), offers insight into economic behavior, and also into the role of the brain’s amygdalae, two almond-shaped clusters of tissue located in the medial temporal lobes. The amygdala registers rapid emotional reactions and is implicated in depression, anxiety, and autism. (continue reading)

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