Today BBC News published an interesting article on work done by Mathew White from the European Centre for Environment and Human Health at the University of Exeter. He recently conducted a study looking into the benefits of green spaces on health and well-being. The findings of a previous study showed that people living in greener urban…
There is now evidence that mindfulness meditation can alter gene expression. Research carried out jointly by the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Institute of Biomedical Research of Barcelona, Spain revealed that participating in a day of mindfulness meditation activities reduces levels of pro-inflammatory genes. Perhaps meditation could be used to treat chronic inflammatory conditions.
It’s now well-known that having high levels of salt in one’s diet can lead to high blood pressure and associated cardiovascular disease. What is not commonly known, is that effervescent (fizzy), dispersible and soluble medicines have a high sodium content. In a study published in the British Medical Journal, Dr George from the University of…
A team at Loyola University Medical Center lead by Roman Natoli has discovered how alcohol can slow the healing of fractures. The study was conducted on mice and showed that alcohol: inhibits bone formation leading to bones that are less mineralised and weaker impairs normal cellular function by causing oxidative stress lowers levels of proteins that recruit…
Ever wondered whether MBT shoes really work? Well, a study was commissioned by companies that manufacture rocker sole shoes. The research was carried out by a team of physiotherapists from King’s College London. 115 people with chronic low back pain (CLBP) were randomly split into 2 groups; one was asked to wear rocker shoes for…
Encarna Aguayo and colleagues from the Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena in Spain have published a study in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry that supports the use of watermelon juice to relieve post-exercise muscle soreness. They attribute the effect to the amino acid L-citrulline.
Steven Cole et al. from UCLA have recently shown that having a deep sense of purpose and meaning in life can lead to positive genetic changes such as lowering the levels of inflammatory gene expression and strengthening the expression of antiviral and antibody genes. Theoretically, this could mean that those with a strong sense of…
A lot of us know from experience that exercise is a great stress buster. Elizabeth Gould (Professor of Psychology at Princeton) and her associates have clarified the process. Their research was published in the March issue of the Journal of Neuroscience. Their experiments were performed on mice. The mice were divided into 2 groups: Sedentary…
A few days ago Medical News Today reported on how wearing a wristband could affect nausea. Nausea is one of the most debilitating symptoms experienced by people who get migraine. Dr. Zoltan Medgyessy of the Berolina Clinic in Lohne, Germany studied 41 patients who experienced an average of 33.1 migraine days during the previous three months. Their average…
It has been known for ages that meditation can decrease anxiety but until now the brain regions involved in the process have remained a mystery. Fadel Zeidan from the Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center has recently shed some light on the process. They selected 15 healthy volunteers with no history of meditation or anxiety disorders….