Health A-Z

10 Nondrug Remedies for Depression

Lifting depression without an Rx

Depression affects nearly 16 million Americans annually, and a large portion of those people take antidepressant drugs.

While antidepressants have been shown to help those with moderate to severe depression, they are usually less effective for those with mild depression.

If you don’t respond to antidepressants (or even if you do), you may want to explore nondrug remedies to lift your depression.

Exercise
Exercise can relieve depression, possibly by altering the mood-regulating brain chemicals norepinephrine and serotonin.

It may also release the endorphins responsible for the “runner’s high” that some experience.

P. Murali Doraiswamy, MD, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Duke University School of Medicine, in Durham, N.C., recommends exercising three to five times a week for 20 to 30 minutes. Aerobic exercise, such as brisk walking on a treadmill, is best, but “any degree of exercise is better than none,” he says.

Light therapy
During the short, dark days of winter, some people are prone to a type of depression called seasonal affective disorder.

One way to ease symptoms may be light therapy, in which you sit near a brightly lit box that mimics outdoor light. The therapy generally starts with daily sessions of about 15 minutes and increases to up to two hours daily. The timing depends upon the severity of symptoms and the intensity of the light, which a doctor can determine. Although the therapy doesn’t cure depression, it can ease symptoms, sometimes after only a couple days.

Mood diary
Therapy that teaches people about positive thinking can relieve depression, research suggests.

Dr. Doraiswamy recommends keeping a mood diary. “This is a tool used to train someone to keep track of positive things that are happening in their lives and not let single negative events wear them down,” he says.

A mood diary keeps negative events in perspective and serves as a reminder that good days do happen.

Dr. Doraiswamy recommends not writing in a diary daily if it feels like too much work; once-a-week entries are easier to stick with.

Acupuncture
As with many alternative therapies, there isn’t a heap of data that proves acupuncture relieves depression. But a handful of research suggests it might.

One small University of Arizona study of 33 women with depression found that 64% of participants went into remission after acupuncture, compared to 27% in the no-treatment group.

In a second study in the Journal of Affective Disorders, 70 patients with a major depressive disorder who were already taking an antidepressant seemed to show more improvement if they had acupuncture, compared to those who did not.

Support groups
Support groups used to be standard in psychiatric settings, Dr. Doraiswamy says. But, he adds, they aren’t used as frequently today, although they are an excellent way to help treat mild forms of depression.

These groups provide education on depression, a community of support, and the opportunity to learn from people dealing with similar issues.

As an alternative for those not interested in talking about depression, Dr. Doraiswamy recommends just finding a group that shares your interests, whether it’s a book club or yoga

Cognitive behavioral therapy
Dr. Doraiswamy calls cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) “sophisticated education” for people with depression.

It is based on the fact that thoughts trigger feelings. Being aware of your thoughts and learning to change destructive patterns could alter the way your brain works and your reaction to situations.

CBT is considered short-term therapy, often lasting for 10 to 20 sessions. It has been shown to be as effective as medication in treating mild to moderate depression.

Fish oil
This supplement contains omega-3 fatty acids, which are found in fish, including salmon, albacore tuna, and herring.

Studies on fish oil are inconclusive, but it is thought that being deficient in this fatty acid at certain times (like during the postpartum period) can cause mood swings and depression.

In areas where consumption of foods with omega-3 is high, people tend to have lower rates of depression.

Meditation
Promising research suggests that meditation may play a role in preventing depression relapse. The research focused on mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, which combines traditional meditation with cognitive behavioral approaches.

In two studies, people were treated with antidepressants until their symptoms subsided. Then one group continued taking the medication while another went on a regimen of meditation therapy.

Relapse rates for people using meditation were the same as those taking antidepressants (about 30%), and lower than those on a placebo (about 70%) in one study.

The second study found that 47% of the meditation group relapsed, compared to 60% of the people on antidepressants alone.

Yoga
Striking a pose may alleviate stress and symptoms of depression. Studies have shown that in both people with emotional distress and major depression, practicing yoga reduces stress, hostility, anxiety, and depression, and improves energy, sleep quality, and well-being.

Although there aren’t too many studies on the topic, yoga may prove to be a simple, low-risk tool for improving depression.

Source: Health

 

Sales of diet sodas are going flat

After surging in popularity for decades, diet sodas are beginning to lose their fizz.

Concerns over chemicals they contain as well as doubts that they actually aid in weight loss are giving drinkers a new taste for water.

At the Mid City Gym in Manhattan, Ben Roman is closing in on his fourth mile on the treadmill. And he’s ready for a drink, but not the kind he used to crave.

“I don’t drink soda at all now. More water now,” Roman says.

“I advise people should really start drinking water, and if possible, good-quality water, filtered water.”

More than ever before, plain old H2O is muscling in on the $61 billion-a-year soda industry.

Over the past year, sales of non-diet sodas have declined 2.2 percent, while diet sodas have declined 6.8 percent.

“There has been a negative attitude about artificial sweeteners in this country that has been growing over the years. It’s not all of a sudden,” says Harry Balzer, who analyzes eating trends for the NPD Group, a global market research company.

To stop the sliding sales, the beverage industry is looking at replacing artificial sweeteners such as aspartame and saccharine with those derived naturally from the stevia plant.

“Twenty years ago, it was all about avoiding harmful substances, avoiding calories, avoiding sugar, avoiding fat, avoiding cholesterol,” Balzer says. “This generation looks at health as, ‘What can you add to my diet? Where is the whole grains, where are the antioxidants, where is the dietary fiber?’ ”

Natural foods in general have increased in popularity. Ten years ago, diet and non-diet soft drinks were the second most popular food item. Today, they’ve fallen to fourth place, behind sandwiches, fruit and vegetables.

Back at the gym, Andre Giulino drinks a toast to that trend every day. His company is about to launch a new bottle design – for water.

Source: abc news

cancer fighting nanorobot may be able to target tumors

Could nanorobots be the next big cancer-fighting tool? Researchers from Chonnam National University in Gwangju, South Korea have created so-called “Bacteriobot,” a genetically-modified non-toxic salmonella bacteria that delivers cancer treatments that target tumors.

The bacteria is attracted to chemicals released by cancer cells. The Bacteriobot then goes directly to the tumors and releases the medication stored inside, attacking the problem areas. Traditional cancer treatments often wreak havoc on healthy tissues and other internal organs, so any treatment that can target just the tumors while sparing other tissue is highly sought after.

“First of all, the main feature of Bacteriobot is that the robot has a sensing function to diagnose the cancer, and it’s attacking the cancer itself as it uses the bacteria’s brain while moving toward the tumor region with its flagella,” Park Jong-Oh, director of robot research initiative at Chonnam National University, told Reuters.

Nanorobots in medicine isn’t an entirely new approach. CNET reported that Duke researchers were able to create a nanorobot called a “DNA nanocage” that could hold and release a biomolecule as well.

Source: inagist

Girl falls asleep 30 times a day after receiving flu vaccine

It was supposed to be a simple vaccine against swine flu, but since she had it, Chloe Glasson’s life has been like a bad dream.

Just four months after being given the Pandemrix injection, the 15-year-old schoolgirl developed the sleeping disorder narcolepsy.

Now, without warning, she falls asleep up to 30 times a day wherever she is.
Naturally, this has made her life at school challenging, as she often drops off in class. But it is also potentially dangerous.

Chloe recently went missing for two hours after going into a ‘dream-like autopilot’ state while making a short journey to her grandmother’s house. She eventually found her own way home safely, but not before her terrified family had contacted police, amid fears of what might have happened to her.

Now she is hoping a pioneering treatment will help her to establish a more normal sleeping pattern.

She is to receive the specialist drug sodium oxybate – at a cost of £13,000 a year – at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh.
Chloe said: ‘I am putting a lot of faith in the treatment.

‘While the tablets won’t cure me, they may offer the chance of a more normal life.’

Vaccinated with Pandemrix in November 2009 during a flu pandemic, she is one of at least 100 people estimated to have developed narcolepsy afterwards.
Studies have found a ten-fold increase in the risk of developing the disorder after the jab.

Chloe’s mother Rebecca, from Dysart, Fife, said: ‘Her life has been devastated after we followed government advice to have her immunised against the threat of swine flu.

‘She has gone from being a bright, outgoing girl to one who cannot go out on her own. She doesn’t doze for more than a couple of hours at a time, but she can have disturbing dreams.

‘We desperately hope this new treatment will help.’
The Government revealed in September that it would pay damages to some of those who developed problems after being given the Pandemrix vaccine before August 31, 2010.

Chloe’s family hope she will receive the maximum compensation of £120,000.
The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency dropped the vaccine from its flu campaign in 2011.

Matt O’Neill, of the charity Narcolepsy UK, said: ‘We believe that more than 100 people have developed narcolepsy because of the swine flu vaccine.’ He added that families affected would meet to discuss the issue at the charity’s conference in Birmingham this month.

GlaxoSmithKline, which makes Pandemrix, said: ‘Patient safety is our number one priority and we are researching how narcolepsy is triggered and how this vaccine might have interacted with other risk factors in affected individuals. We hope ongoing research efforts will enable us to provide more answers.’

Narcolepsy is typically caused by the loss of neurons that produce a hormone that keeps people awake.

Source: Daily mail

5 healthy late-night snacks

Let’s get real: It’s not always possible to avoid eating after dark. Some situations (a late work shift, a delayed flight) call for legit midnight meals — and hey, other times you’re just still hungry.

When you are, you should eat, says Angela Lemond, R.D.N., of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. The trick is to munch on fare that won’t spike your blood sugar, incite cravings, or pack on pounds. Any of these light-but-filling combos should tide you over till morning.

1 medium banana + 1 tablespoon almond butter

1 medium apple + 1 ounce low-fat cheese

1/4 cup black beans + 1 small corn tortilla

1 cup blueberries + 6 to 8 ounces plain, non-fat yogurt

1 cup carrot sticks + 3 tablespoons hummus

Source: airing news

Seasonal flu widespread in the United States, CDC says

Nearly half of the United States is reporting widespread influenza activity, most of it attributed to the H1N1 virus that caused a worldwide pandemic in 2009, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Friday.

Thousands of people die every year from flu, which peaks in the United States between October and March. The flu is spreading quickly this season, with 25 states already reporting cases, the CDC said.

“We are seeing a big uptick in disease in the past couple of weeks. The virus is all around the United States right now,” said Dr. Joe Bresee, chief of Epidemiology and Prevention in the CDC’s Influenza Division.

In 2009-2010, the H1N1 virus, also known as swine flu, spread from Central Mexico to 74 other countries, killing an estimated 284,000 people, according to the CDC.

While younger people were more susceptible to H1N1 in 2009, Bresee said it is too early to tell whether the same will be true this year.

This season’s virus has killed six children in the United States, according to CDC data. The agency does not track adult deaths, but dozens have been reported around the country.

“There is still a lot of season to come. If folks haven’t been vaccinated, we recommend they do it now,” Bresee said.

Texas has been one of the harder hits states, where at least 25 people have died this season from the flu, local health officials said.

The Texas Department of State Health Services issued an “influenza health alert” on December 20, advising clinicians to consider antiviral treatment, even if an initial rapid-flu test comes back negative. Texas health officials also encouraged people to get a flu vaccination.

“The flu is considered widespread in Texas,” Carrie Williams, a spokeswoman for the state’s health department, said.

Source: news.nom

E-cigarette vapor contains nicotine, not other toxins

People standing near someone using an e-cigarette will be exposed to nicotine, but not to other chemicals found in tobacco cigarette smoke, according to a new study.
E-cigarettes, or electronic cigarettes, create a nicotine-rich vapor that can be inhaled, or ‘vaped.’

Researchers and regulators have questioned whether e-cigarettes are a smoking cessation aid or may lure more young people toward smoking, as well as what effects they have on health.

“There is ongoing public debate whether e-cigarettes should be allowed or prohibited in public spaces,” study co-author Maciej Goniewicz told Reuters Health in an email.

Goniewicz is a cancer researcher in the Department of Health Behavior at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, New York.

“E-cigarettes contain variable amounts of nicotine and some traces of toxicants. But very little is known to what extent non-users can be exposed to nicotine and other chemicals in situations when they are present in the same room with users of e-cigarettes,” Goniewicz said.

He and his colleagues conducted two studies of secondhand exposure to e-cigarette vapors in a laboratory. Their results were published in Nicotine and Tobacco Research.

In the first study, the researchers used an electronic smoking machine to generate vapor in an enclosed space. They measured the amount of nicotine as well as carbon monoxide and other potentially harmful gases and particles in the chamber.

The second study included five men who regularly smoked both tobacco cigarettes and e-cigarettes. Each man entered a room and smoked his usual brand of e-cigarette for two five-minute intervals over an hour while the researchers measured air quality. The room was cleaned and ventilated and the experiment was repeated with tobacco cigarettes.

The researchers measured nicotine levels of 2.5 micrograms per cubic meter of air in the first study. Nicotine levels from e-cigarettes in the second study were slightly higher at about 3.3 micrograms per cubic meter. But tobacco cigarette smoking resulted in nicotine levels ten times higher at almost 32 micrograms per cubic meter.

“The exposure to nicotine is lower when compared to exposure from tobacco smoke. And we also know that nicotine is relatively safer when compared to other dangerous toxicants in tobacco smoke,” Goniewicz said.

E-cigarettes also produced some particulate matter, but regular cigarettes produced about seven times more. E-cigarettes didn’t change the amount of carbon monoxide or other gases in the air.

“What we found is that non-users of e-cigarettes might be exposed to nicotine but not to many toxicants when they are in close proximity to e-cigarette users,” said Goniewicz.

“It is currently very hard to predict what would be the health impact of such exposure,” he added.

He said more research is needed to find out how the current findings correspond to “real-life” situations, when many people might be using e-cigarettes in a room with restricted ventilation.

Source: Ahram online

Indo-American leads possible treatment for diabetes

In a significant discovery, a team of researchers led by an Indian-American has found that a single gene dysfunction in mice results in developing fasting hypoglycemia, one of the major symptoms of Type 2 diabetes.

The discovery by researchers, led by Prof. Bellur S Prabhakar, focused on a gene MADD for the study and may enable a new potential treatment for diabetes patients.
If MADD is not functioning properly, insulin is not released into the bloodstream to regulate blood sugar levels, said Prabhakar, professor and head of microbiology and immunology at University of Illinois at Chicago.

In previous work, Prabhakar isolated several genes from human beta cells, including MADD, which is also involved in certain cancers. Small genetic variations found among thousands of human subjects revealed that a mutation in MADD was strongly associated with Type 2 diabetes in Europeans and Han Chinese.

People with this mutation had high blood glucose and problems of insulin secretion – the “hallmarks of type 2 diabetes”, Prabhakar said.

But it was unclear how the mutation was causing the symptoms, or whether it caused them on its own or in concert with other genes associated with Type 2 diabetes.

To study the role of MADD in diabetes, Prabhakar and his colleagues developed a mouse model in which the MADD gene was deleted from the insulin-producing beta cells. All such mice had elevated blood glucose levels, which the researchers found was due to insufficient release of insulin.

“We didn’t see any insulin resistance in their cells, but it was clear that the beta cells were not functioning properly,” Prabhakar said.

Examination of the beta cells revealed that they were packed with insulin. “The cells were producing plenty of insulin, they just weren’t secreting it,” he said.

Prabhakar said that the work shows that Type 2 diabetes can be directly caused by the loss of a properly functioning MADD gene alone.

“Without the gene, insulin can’t leave the beta cells, and Blood sugar levels are chronically high,” he said.

In the future, the researchers plan to look into effects of a drug that allows for the secretion of insulin in MADD-deficient beta cells.

“If this drug works to reverse the deficits associated with a defective MADD gene in the beta cells of our model mice, it may have potential for treating people with this mutation who have an insulin-secretion defect and/or type 2 diabetes,” he said.

Type 2 diabetes affects roughly 8 per cent of Americans and over 366 million people worldwide. It can cause serious complications, including cardiovascular disease, kidney failure, loss of limbs and blindness.

Source: The Sen Times

Fibre rich diet may ward off asthma

A new study has revealed that eating a diet rich in fibre can protect against allergic asthma by triggering changes in the immune system.

Benjamin Marsland from the University Hospital of Lausanne in Switzerland and colleagues found that levels of dietary fibre, found in fruit and vegetables, can influence the balance of microbes in the gut in ways that make the airways more or less prone to the inflammation seen in allergic airway diseases, New Scientist reported.

The researchers, who looked at how the immune and inflammatory responses of mice varied with the fibre in their diet, found that when the mice were exposed to an extract of house dust mites, those fed with less fibre had double the number of a specific type of immune cell associated with asthmatic inflammation in their airways, than those on a standard diet.

It was found that mice given additional fibre supplements on top of a standard diet showed a reduction in these immune cells, but only if the supplement was easily fermentable in the gut.

The study was published in Journal Nature Medicine.

Source:  Zee news

USDA allows more meat, grains in school lunches

The Agriculture Department says it’s making permanent rules that allow schools to serve larger portions of lean meat and whole grains in school lunches and other meals.

Guidelines restricting portion size were originally intended to combat childhood obesity, but many parents complained their kids weren’t getting enough to eat. School administrators say that rules establishing maximums on grains and meats are too limiting and make it difficult to plan daily meals.

The department eliminated limits and on meats and grains on a temporary basis more than a year ago. On Thursday officials made the rule change permanent.

The change was announced by Kevin Concannon, an undersecretary for food, nutrition and consumer services.

He says the department has delivered on its promise to give school nutritionists more flexibility in meal planning.

Source: USA Today