Yearly Archive for 2009
Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice?
If we are what we eat, then we might expect children who eat a lot of candy to be sweet and lovable. Quite the opposite, according to recent research. Authors of a study published in a recent issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry claim that children who eat a lot of confectionery treats are more likely to be violent adults.The British researchers followed more than 17,000 British children born in 1970 for almost 4 decades. More than two-thirds (69%) of the children arrested for violent behavior by age 34 ate candy daily at age 10.
A New Look at Medical Errors in Residency Training
It’s a phenomenon that medical educators have long suspected but haven’t been able to prove: a rise in medical errors when newly-hatched physicians begin their residency training programs in July. This suspected occurrence has been studied several times, but until recently, no conclusive evidence existed that it actually was true. For the first time, a study based in Australia has been able to demonstrate that this really does happen, but perhaps not for the reasons you’d suspect.
Cancer – To Screen or Not to Screen?
I once treated a patient who was in her 90s. She was less than 5 feet tall and had never weighed more than 90 pounds. But, she was tough as nails and had lived a great life. I came to advocate for her when the internist at the skilled nursing facility in which she lived insisted that she have a mammogram. She had already been diagnosed with breast cancer in her 70s, but was healthier than anyone else her age now. She knew that even if she did receive another diagnosis of breast cancer at this stage in her life, it would probably not be treated and it almost certainly would not shorten her life. She refused the mammogram, much to the dismay of the healthcare providers that treated her like a checklist of tests and screenings and medications. She lived to be well over 100 years old, without her mammogram.
The Evolution of Depression
Millions of people around the world suffer from depression, the most common mental disorder of all. Since depression appears to be largely genetic, several long-standing questions continue to bedevil researchers. Have the genes for clinical unipolar depression undergone selective evolution--or is depression a random product of mutation, evolutionary drift, or other non-selective forces?The symptoms of depression are found in every culture and time period, from the ancient Greeks to modern New Yorkers, from the !Kung of southern Africa to ranchers in the American West. Why is depression so much more common than any other major mental illness? Clearly, it is a malfunction, a maladaptation -- or is it?
Popular Posts
- The Love Drug
- Women After Sex
- Fatty Acids and Suicide Risk
- Mind Games - Science's Attempts at Thought Control
- Risks of Personalized Medicine
- Mental Health Disorders Prevalent Among Youth Worldwide
- Is Giftedness Nothing More than Good Genes?
- The Many Emerging Roles of Astrocytes
- Behind the Masks - The Mysteries of Dissociative Identity Disorder
- The NeuroSocial Network
Future Posts
- The Brain’s Buying Power
Latest Posts
- Aging Intelligently
- A Nicotine Patch a Day Keeps the Cognitive Impairment Away
- The Many Emerging Roles of Astrocytes
- Diabetes Impairs Cognition
- Media Violence Leads to Real Violence
- Intelligence – Are You Holding Back Your Brain?
- Childhood Aggression Predicts Health Care Use Later in Life
- The Brain’s Border Patrol – Blood Brain Barrier
- Risks of Personalized Medicine
- BED-head and Obesity – Food for Thought
Comments
- Sandi Sarabia: Definitely, what a splendid we
- : This article had great info on
- peter: I also see things the same way
- Scapadas Amorosas: Lets patent it, package, marke
- Emily Haines, MSc, PhD student: Thanks for your comments, Matt
- Emily Haines, MSc, PhD student: Thanks for your comments and s
- Alex: While we have our eyes glued t
- Richard Kensinger, MSW: Carla,You are absolutely c
- Soraya L. Valles: I'm interested in astrocytes.
- Raymond Tallis: Dear Kitty, I have come to you
- Steven: After smoking for 17 years dai
- Matt: I'm just interested in hearing
