Music not only soothes the savage beast; it heals the critically ill. A study in Critical Care Medicine evaluated the mechanisms of music-induced relaxation in critically ill patients. The researchers measured blood pressure and heart rate, brain electrical activity, serum levels of stress hormones and... Read more →

I spend my days poring over medical research reports and databases, looking for high-quality evidence to build compelling arguments. And, when it comes to mind-body treatment modalities, I can’t find it. I’m not sure I want what it will take to get it, either. I find small studies that lack... Read more →

We are shaking things up with this round of Brain Blogging in our thirty-second edition. This time, we are stripping off the fat and giving you exactly what you want: short excerpts that highlight each article with a clear link to the blog. If you were left out in this round, just leave a comment with... Read more →

Parents have always worried about their kids. But it used to be that worrying increased when kids reached puberty. It’s then that parents hesitantly hand over the car keys; let their daughter go out on a group date; sit by the door at midnight until they heard the familiar sound of their child... Read more →

The February 1st edition of the New England Journal of Medicine reports that suffering a concussion in Iraq after a bomb attack was strongly associated with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Read more →  Read More →

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) affects 10 to 15 percent of the U.S. population, predominately women, and can produce severe abdominal pain, bloating, and changes in bowel habits. No physical abnormalities can be identified on examination, and patients are often left with suboptimal symptomatic treatments... Read more →

Women deal with so many stressors in life and that is not to say men do not. It is just that women seem to take on more as wives, mothers and daughters. This is an addition to career stress which adds to an already full life. Stress is a normal response that we feel when we are overwhelmed and overworked.... Read more →

Just when I was complaining that the hypothetical stress-cancer link is still controversial, a new study takes a new approach to look at this question. Researchers at the University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Yahatanishi-ku, Kitakyushu, Japan, looked at a variety of psychosocial stressors... Read more →

The human genome is on everyone’s mind with recent advances by Craig Venter’s team. Let’s look at how reducing mental and other stress may be especially important for a genetic group of which you just might be a member. Research into cancer has shown that oxidative stress affects DNA,... Read more →

A researcher at the University of Buffalo’s Institute of Addictions won a five year, $1.7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to investigate the role of “endocannabinoids” (the brain’s own marijuana) in combating stress and anxiety, an integral part of modern... Read more →

Can the mind cure the mind, working on itself? Well, although the entire self-help psychology industry survives on an assumption that it does — with various techniques, young and old, aimed at self-therapy, scientific research on the subject is still in its early stage. Mindfulness meditation,... Read more →