According to a study of cognitive function funded by the National Institute on Aging, the brain is vulnerable to free radicals, which cause oxidative damage. Free radicals are like chemical “bullets” that can damage tissue (oxidative damage). The study followed change in mental function in 3000 people over the age of 64 living in Cache […]

Research performed at the University of North Dakota at the Energy and Environmental Research Center, in conjunction with the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences, and several state and federal agencies, indicates found that pesticide exposure caused changes in the nervous systems of experimental rats. The researchers are working to identify

Research appearing in the November 1999 issue of the Annals of Behavioral Medicine demonstrates the value exercise has for reducing stress. The subjects of the study were 135 college students. The study found that those who exercised regularly coped with stress better and had 37% fewer physical symptoms than those who did not exercise regularly.

Exercise may be more beneficial for treating depression. There is research to support this idea. Research appearing in British Journal of Sports Medicine(April 2001;35:114-117) showed the benefit of exercise to depressed patients. It was a small study, involving 12 subjects. Each subject had a depressive episode as defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of

Research published in the May, 2006 issue of Family Practice News () studied 80 adults with mild to moderate depression. The subjects were placed randomly into one of five groups. Two of the groups did very low levels of exercise; one for three days per week and another for five days per week (7 kcal/kg/wk).

According to researchers at the University of Texas Southwest Medical Center, aerobic exercise can have a positive effect on mild to moderate depression. Adults aged 20 to 45 who exercised aerobically for 30 minutes, three to five times each week reduced depressive symptoms by nearly 50%/. This result compares favorably to antidepressant medication or cognitive

TexasA&MUniversity psychologist Mary W. Meagher, who has conducted pain research for 16 years, says that fear and anxiety affect how a person experiences pain. Fear tends to reduce pain, anxiety increases it. She says, “From a clinical perspective, these data suggest that a patient anticipating an unpredictable threatening event will experience enhanced pain,” she says.

German scientists, publishing research in the November, 2006 issue of the online journal, Nature have found that stimulating the brain during sleep improves memory. The subjects were asked to memorize pairs of words before sleep. During sleep, one group of the subjects received slow, oscillating electrical current that mimicked brain waves. The stimulation was low

Some scientists believe that a diet high in antioxidants can help protect your brain from injury or stroke, or help an individual have good memory and cognition into old age. Antioxidants are nutrients that protect against free radicals. Free radicals are like chemical “bullets” that damage tissue. Antioxidants are like chemical “bullet-proof vests”. They include

In Chinese medicine, the herbal combination known as Xinwei Decoction is used to treat patients who have depression in conjunction with dyspepsia. In a study published in the American Journal of Chinese Medicine (2005; 33(2): 249-257), 73 subjects were examined using the FD (functional dyspepsia) scale and the Hamilton Depression Scale at the beginning and