Author Archive for Jennifer Gibson, PharmD
BioPsychoSocial Health | By September 01, 2008 | By Jennifer Gibson, PharmD | 5 Comments
Laughter is the Best - and Possibly Oldest - Medicine
We have all heard the old adage before: laughter is the best medicine. But, it might just be among the oldest medicine. In a report published by the University of Wolverhampton, and commissioned by the British television channel Dave, the world’s oldest joke can be traced back to 1900 BC. Not surprisingly, the list of the world’s top 10 oldest jokes includes the ever-popular bathroom humor and much sexual innuendo.
Empirical medical research confirms that people who smile and laugh are generally happy, and people who do not, are not. The benefits of humor and laughter as complementary medicine, as well as just a healthy life practice, are unequivocal. Read more →
- New Treatment for Alzheimer’s Disease?
- Can Drug Therapy Prevent Parkinson’s Disease?
- Go For The Gold, It May Prolong Your Life
- Is Seeing Into the Future More Than an Optical Illusion?
- The Mental Health of our Military
- Culturally Competent Care - Are Health Care Providers Doing Enough?
- Public Health Needs a Shot in the Arm
- Anti-Epileptic Drugs and the Risk of Suicide
- Which Came First - Depression or Diabetes?
- Dying To Be A Good Mom - Eating Disorders In Pregnancy
- Treating Psychiatric Disorders - Something Smells Fishy
In July 2008, results from several clinical trials of novel Alzheimer’s Disease treatments were presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference on Alzheimer’s Disease (ICAD 2008) in Chicago. Among these results was an 84-week phase II trial of TauRx’s Rember. Almost immediately,... Read more →
A recent issue of the journal Neurology published two separate case-controlled studies that showed a decreased risk for Parkinson’s disease associated with both cholesterol-lowering medication and blood pressure-lowering medication. A common class of cholesterol-lowering medications, HMG-CoA reductase... Read more →
With the Olympics in full swing, I cannot help but marvel at the strength, power, skill, and commitment of the athletes. Many of these men and women seemed destined for sports from an early age, while others trained hard to beat the odds and become world-class athletes. Most of us watching the games... Read more →
Most humans do not have the power to predict the future, but we can see it. At least we can see one-tenth of a second of it. The May-June issue of the journal Cognitive Science published a review by Mark Changizi of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, claiming that the human visual system has evolved to... Read more →
War is hard. It is hard on the economies of the countries involved; it is hard on the leaders of governments; it is hard on the families of those left behind for deployment; it is especially hard on the soldiers. It is no secret that, for generations of wars and military conflicts, soldiers have experienced... Read more →
America is arguably one of the most diverse nations in the world. While such diversity can provide opportunities for unique social and cultural interactions, it can also present opportunities for poor medical care. Many studies show that ethnic and cultural minorities do not receive the same level of... Read more →
Arguably, one of the greatest public health advances in the last century has been the advent of safe and effective vaccines for deadly diseases. Today, several vaccine-preventable diseases have all but disappeared from our lives, thanks to all 50 states mandating vaccination for school children and making... Read more →
The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has evaluated the risk of suicide associated with antiepileptic drugs. The FDA examined 11 antiepileptic drugs, among nearly 28,000 patients, and found that patients taking an antiepileptic drug have an increased risk for suicidal behavior or ideation,... Read more →
A recent study in JAMA reported that patients treated for type 2 diabetes are at risk for developing depression. The study also reported that patients with depression are at risk for developing type 2 diabetes. The study confirmed what other studies have reported, and clinicians have seen in practice,... Read more →
Most people know the “typical” eating disorder patient: adolescent girl, over-achiever, perfectionist. This is an accurate description, since most patients with diagnosed eating disorders and patterns of disordered eating are females between the ages of 10 and 20. Currently, it is estimated... Read more →
Could the treatment of psychiatric and mood disorders be as simple as eating more fish? Fish oil contains, specifically docosahexanoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), which are known to have positive cardiovascular outcomes. Fish oil intake, through diet or supplementation, has noteworthy... Read more →
Sunday, September 7, 2008
- The Anti-Psychiatry Movement
- Vaccines - A Two-Edged Sword
- Should Doctors Have Guns?
- Extremist Muslim Doctors Do More Than Heal
- Woman Comparable to Men in Domestic Violence: Stereotypes and their Consequences
- The Bipolar Trend
- The Implications of Implanted Chips
- Anti-Smoking Campaign Doesn't Mess Around
- The Science of Brain Freeze
- The Biopsychosocial Model of Health & Illness
- Unhinging from Theory: Autism and Opinions
- God And Religion: Is It All In Our Heads?
- Encephalon, Thirty-Third Edition
- Is War A Psychosis?
- Meditation for Troubled Minds: Can the Mind Heal the Mind?
- Mind-Body: We Want Evidence, Don't We?
- Usually It's Cheaper to Pay Than to Go To Court
- Acknowledging Vaccination Concerns
- Integrating Schizophrenia Management
- Rabies Virus Helps Deliver Drugs into the Brain
- Are You Vegetarian? How Do You Get Enough Protein?
- A Baby’s Smile - Mom’s Natural High
- When “Alternative” Isn’t Anymore - The Ketogenic Diet in Epilepsy
- Life in a Bubble - The Dangers of Triclosan
- The Dark Side of Antibiotics
- Stroke’s Little Known Complication - Pain
- Laughter is the Best - and Possibly Oldest - Medicine
- Epilepsy - Social and Cognitive Considerations
- New Treatment for Alzheimer’s Disease?
- When the Doctor is the Patient
- The Gift of Life - Part 2
- Drugs and Pharmacology, Tenth Edition
- Are Drug Reps Really Necessary?
- Can Drug Therapy Prevent Parkinson’s Disease?
- Medicine and the Law - Part 6: Third Party Liability
- Go For The Gold, It May Prolong Your Life
- When It Comes to Health, Adults Shortchange Kids
- Is Seeing Into the Future More Than an Optical Illusion?
- Malignant Medicine
- Putting an End to Medicare Fraud
- Animal protein is harmful to health and vegetarians get more than enough plant p...
- My son has Tuberous Sclerosis, his seizures are well controlled under heavy medi...
- I guess the problem is certainty. To control for all the factors and show that ...
- Irrational & inappropriate use of antibiotics is hugely adding up to drug re...
- It's great to see all those niche blogs out there. Congrats for joining 9rules!...
- Is there really no better translation possible?
“Something which has never occu...
- What an excellent post! Thank you!...
- Laughter Therapy is mentioned in the Bible (Proverbs 17:22) but more recently do...
- i am not sure about this but there is a virus that can "cure",in any form or wha...
- no matter how many times we change nations, government, weapons, peace strategie...
- but still, a little chuckle here and a little laugh there makes everyone feel be...
- is it the same as when you dive into a pool on a winter evening and some water e...
- Are there any trials happening in around the London area?...
- ARE ANY TEST SITES NEAR CENTRAL FLORIDA? TAMPA BAY AREA IN PARTICULAR. IF SO, F...
- Cool opinions,but some doctors are careless.They are just concerned about their ...
- I can't stop the N=1 studies on myself with free Lyrica samples....
- This is really great information. I just recently signed up to be on the regist...
- Thank you! My son recently had a bone marrow transplant and I stand in awe of a...
- Thanks for including my IC Disease site in the blog carnival! I posted a link b...
- Hey thanks for the addition to the carnival - much appreciated!!
Barry B...

