The Tale of the Telomeres If you ever get depressed, you will age much faster. Or at least that’s what some recent articles proclaim. The latest – a study from Amsterdam of 2400 people and their genes – looked at their telomeres, the “buffers” of DNA sequences at the end of chromosomes which prevent them […]
Treating Depression Effectively – Getting People To Sleep (11/25/13)
Treatment of Depression Is Often Ineffective The key to successful treatment of depression may be treating the insomnia that accompanies it. What New Research is Changing Attitudes? Rachel Manber at Stanford studied cognitive behavioral treatments for insomniac, depressed people. When their insomnia was fixed following CBT, depression treatment success doubled. Get them to sleep and they stopped being depressed. […]
Make It (Money) While You Fake It (11/11/13)
Herbal or Verbal? We’ve said it before but it’s more true than we knew – herbal medicines often don’t contain what they claim. New research looking at “DNA barcoding” found widespread fraud in herbal medicines. How Do We Know? Researchers at the University of Guelph in Ontario did a blind DNA test on 44 herbal […]
Losing Nature (10/31/13)
At the Grocery The process is magical. Perfect red-cheeked apples line up in stylish rows beneath transparent domes.. Next to them lie delightfully bright yellow mangos. Each perfect form is unique, demonstrating their shy markings of orange, brick red and lavender whose beauty declares their nutritious freshness. You inspect each through the transparent plastic, looking […]
Psychotherapy While You Sleep (9/30/13)
Thinking While You Sleep Can’t we get people to learn stuff while they sleep? It’s been a dream (pardon the pun) of physicians, psychologists, industrialists and teachers for many many years. Why should eight hours – one third of life – be spent in such a “wasteful” manner? Now, media hype-hopes are rekindled anew with […]