Tuesday, 10 November 2009

Depression Linked to Osteoporosis

Depression Linked to Osteoporosis: "

Depression Linked to Osteoporosis A new, comprehensive research study has found a strong connection between depression and a loss of bone mass, leading to osteoporosis and fractures.


In a research study consisting of thousands of subjects, Hebrew University of Jerusalem researchers, Prof. Raz Yirmiya, and Prof. Itai Bab, learned that the relationship between depression and bone loss is particularly strong among young women.


According to background information, osteoporosis is the most widespread degenerative disease in the developed world, afflicting 1 in 3 women and 1 in 5 men over 50. Individuals experience decrease in bone density, which often leads to bone fractures. In many cases, these fractures cause severe disability and even death.


Despite the accumulating evidence for a connection between depression and decreased bone density, official authorities, such as the US National Institutes of Health and the World Health Organization, have not yet acknowledged depression as a risk factor for osteoporosis, due to the lack of studies in large samples.


To remedy this situation, the Hebrew University researchers assembled the data from all studies on the subject conducted to date, and analyzed them using a special statistical approach called meta-analysis.


The results were recently reported in the journal Biological Psychiatry. In the article the Hebrew University scientists assessed data from 23 research projects conducted in eight countries, comparing bone density among 2,327 people suffering from depression against 21,141 non-depressed individuals.


The results, say the researchers, show clearly that depressed individuals have a substantially lower bone density than non-depressed people and that depression is associated with a markedly elevated activity of cells that break down bone (osteoclasts).


Yirmiya and Bab found that the association between depression and bone loss was stronger in women than men, especially young women before the end of their monthly period.


This connection was especially strong in women with clinical depression diagnosed by a psychiatrist, but not in community studies, in which women subjectively identified themselves as being depressed using self-rating questionnaires.


Based on the present findings, Profs. Yirmiya and Bab propose that “all individuals psychiatrically diagnosed with major depression are at risk for developing osteoporosis, with depressed young women showing the highest risk.


“These patients should be periodically evaluated for progression of bone loss and signs of osteoporosis, allowing the use of anti-osteoporotic prophylactic and therapeutic treatments.”


Source: Hebrew University of Jerusalem

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How Scents Evoke Memories

How Scents Evoke Memories: "

How Scents Evoke MemoriesHave you ever noticed that some smells bring back strong memories? Now, researchers using functional brain imaging techniques have uncovered the scientific basis of memory aromas.


Weizmann Institute scientists posited that the key might not necessarily lie in childhood, but rather in the first time a smell is encountered in the context of a particular object or event.


In other words, the initial association of a smell with an experience will somehow leave a unique and lasting impression in the brain.


To test this idea, the scientists devised an experiment: First, in a special smell laboratory, subjects viewed images of 60 visual objects, each presented simultaneously with either a pleasant or an unpleasant odor generated in a machine called an olfactometer.


Next, the subjects were put in an fMRI scanner to measure their brain activity as they reviewed the images they’d seen and attempted to remember which odor was associated with each. Then, the whole test was repeated – images, odors and fMRI – with the same images, but different odors accompanying each.


Finally, the subjects came back one week later, to be scanned in the fMRI again. They viewed the objects one more time and were asked to recall the odors they associated with them.


The scientists found that after one week, even if the subject recalled both odors equally, the first association revealed a distinctive pattern of brain activity. The effect was seen whether the smell was pleasant or unpleasant.


This unique representation showed up in the hippocampus, a brain structure involved in memory, and in the amygdala, a brain structure involved in emotion. The pattern was so profound, it enabled the scientists to predict which associations would be remembered just by looking at the brain activity within these regions following the initial exposure.


The scientists could look at the fMRI data on the first day of the experiment and predict which associations would come up a week later. To see if other sensory experiences might share this tendency, the scientists repeated the entire experiment using sounds rather than smells; they found that sounds did not arouse a similar distinctive first-time pattern of activity. In other words, these results were specific to the sense of smell.


“For some reason, the first association with smell gets etched into memory,” says Professor Noam Sobel, “and this phenomenon allowed us to predict what would be remembered one week later based on brain activity alone.”


Graduate student Yaara Yeshurun comments: “As far as we know, this phenomenon is unique to smell. Childhood olfactory memories may be special not because childhood is special, but simply because those years may be the first time we associate something with an odor.”


The study is published in the latest issue of Current Biology.


Source: Weizmann Institute of Science

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The Rules of Cancer

The Rules of Cancer: "After a cancer diagnosis, following a few basic rules will help you navigate the health care system."

READ THIS AT THE LINK TO GET THE FULL STORY IT IS QUITE REVEALING ? G

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Monday, 5 October 2009

2009 Sumatra earthquakes - The Big Picture - Boston.com

2009 Sumatra earthquakes - The Big Picture - Boston.com: "

About 5:00 pm on September 30th, a magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck just offshore of the town of Padang in Sumatra, Indonesia. The quake toppled buildings and started many landslides, smashing homes and swallowing up entire villages. The following day, As rescue workers arrived and residents tried their best to dig out and help the survivors, another unrelated quake with a magnitude of 6.6 struck...

0 comments Source: www.boston.com

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The Giraffe says that the more we destroy the Eco-system the more the Eco-system will get its own back and earthquakes will be come more widespread and increase in magnitude, remember the days when it was 3.5 and now we see 6.6 and higher will man ever learn ?

" The Roving Giraffe News Report " provided through Ace News Service

Tuesday, 29 September 2009

Senate Finance Committee to Vote on Public Option, Health Care Reform Fight Heats Up - ABC News

Senate Finance Committee to Vote on Public Option, Health Care Reform Fight Heats Up - ABC News

The Roving Giraffe - says that it appears that Obama has his work cut-out to get this through the senate, unless he can persuade the people wanting to keep the money from private healthcare rolling in, that people matter more than profit. G {Ian} " SHARE THIS AND SUPPORT THE BILL "

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