A Potential Cure for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
Deep cerebral stimulation with microelectrodes in very tiny, specific target areas of the brain produce a dramatic improvement in many of those who suffer from obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), results of a recent clinical trial show.
OCD can devastate people's lives by consuming them with an obsession for cleanliness, order and symmetry. OCD sufferers are also often paralyzed by doubts and irrational fears. To control their anxiety, they engage in rituals of tidying, washing or verification, sometimes for several hours a day. The problem can last for years. This behavior shouldn't be confused with obsessive, perfectionist and meticulous personality traits, which are entirely normal.
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Study Finds Ginkgo Biloba Ineffective
The herb ginkgo biloba's reputation as a fountain of mental acuity has been tarnished by a recent six-year study, which showed it has no effect on the onset or progression of dementia or Alzheimer's disease.
The research, which was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, was performed on 3,069 people between the ages of 75 and 96. Of those, 1,545 took a red pill containing 120 milligrams twice a day of the ginkgo extract EGb 761, the same used in Ginkgold products sold by Nature's Way. The other 1,524 participants took a red pill containing only placebos. Neither group knew what they were taking. All the pills were came from Schwabe Pharmaceuticals, a large German maker of supplements.
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Women in Red Attract Men More
In a study that has powerful implications for dating, the fashion industry, product design and marketing, the color red was shown to distinctly boost men's attraction to the opposite sex.
"It's fascinating to find that something as ubiquitous as color can be having an effect on our behavior without our awareness," said Andrew Elliot, a professor of psychology at the University of Rochester in upstate New York.
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Five Healthful Brain Exercises
Doctors repeatedly counsel that we should be greatly concerned about maintaining muscle mass and building aerobic (heart and lung) health as we age.
But just as important, many say, is to work on the health of our brains. As Americans live longer and longer in this, the 21st century, the threat of contracting Alzheimer's disease or some other form of dementia is growing. This threat can be reduced, medical observers say, by practicing the following five exercises.
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Virtual Reality Room to Treat Psychological Disorders
A $6 million virtual reality "immersive room" that's been constructed in a cyberpsychology lab in Canada will be used to treat patients with everything from air-travel phobias to gambling addictions to eating disorders and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
The innovative, high-tech psychotherapeutic tool is presided over by Stéphane Bouchard, who holds the Canada Research Chair in Clinical Cyberpsychology and is co-founder of the cyberpsychology lab at the Université du Québec en Outaouais in Gatineau, Quebec. Bouchard's virtual reality room is the only one of the 10 in the world devoted exclusively to clinical psychology.
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Research Suggests Ways to Slow Alzheimer's
A new study released at the International Conference on Prevention of Dementia on June 11th suggests that treating other health factors - like diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol can help slow the onset and severity of dementia caused by Alzheimer's disease.
This research further links heart and brain health. Cardiovascular problems like heart attacks or stroke may also increase the onset of dementia. Taking positive actions, like treating high blood pressure, exercising, and changing diet can all help reduce dementia.
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Alcohol Can Slow the Onset of Dementia
One drink per day may reduce the onset of dementia in elderly people.
Having one drink per day may impede the progress of cognitive impairment for seniors. A study at the University of Bari, Italy, involving 1,445 people between the ages of 65 through 85, suggests that those who routinely drank one alcoholic beverage per day developed dementia and Alzheimer's disease at a slower rate than those who didn't. Of those in the drinking group, only 121 had developed mild cognitive impairment which included mild memory or mental problems.
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Ovarian and Dementia Risk
Many women have to face a very difficult decision to electively remove their ovaries because of an inherited ovarian cancer risk.
But now the findings of new research are making that decision a bit more difficult.
Mayo Clinic researchers have found that surgically removing a woman’s ovaries raises her risk of developing dementia or cognitive impairment later on.
Women who had removal of one or both ovaries were compared with women who had no surgery.
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EXERCISE AND ALZHEIMERS
It gets harder and harder to exercise as we get older. But, there are plenty of health benefits including one major one you might not have realized before.
There’s more and more information now that keeping our cardiovascular system clean and healthy does more than just protect our heart; it can prevent the onset of mental decline in our golden years.
And this study shows in particular, exercise can have a powerful effect in preventing dementia.
Senior exerciser Mimi Dubin says, “I’m 75 years old and I don’t think I’d be so full of energy without this class.”
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DEMENTIA RISKS IN YOUNG
Most folks are aware that high cholesterol and high blood pressure puts one at risk for a heart attack. But did you know that twenty or thirty years down the road it also could mean the development of dementia, like one sees with Alzheimer’s disease?
The fact is any organ is susceptible to the effects of cardiovascular disease, and that includes the brain. Now, a new study shows that there is a significant risk of dementia if cardiovascular risk factors are not addressed.
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