Health

Doctor Shortage

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Many recent studies point to the fact that in several years from now the United States will be faced with a doctor shortage. This will specifically affect primary care doctors. These are the doctors you see when you are feeling or having something wrong with you in a general sense. They help guide you towards finding a specialist and aiding in preventative measures. The American Medical Association has said it will support through financial incentives medical students who choose to go into primary care. However,  medical students feel the paperwork and charting required of primary care physicians is very tedious and difficult when the system is not built to treat chronically ill patients. President-elect Barack Obama will have a tough time charting through the teritory of making sure there are enough doctors to the people that need this. This will … Read more

Antidepressants Linked with TrkB-mediated Neural Proliferation

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Scientists have unveiled a functional link between production of new neurons and the effectiveness of antidepressants (ADs) in an animal model. The study provides exciting insight into a mechanism that might underlie a poor response to antidepressive medications for anxiety or depression. Depression is a significant public health problem due to both its high prevalence and its devastating impact on individuals and society,” says senior author Dr. Luis F. Parada from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. “Despite much excitement generated by recent advances in the knowledge of brain development and function, the mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of depression, as well as its amelioration by AD treatment, remain poorly understood.” Animal studies have indicated that chronic treatment with ADs leads to production of new neurons in a part of the brain called the hippocampus. Exercise, such as running, which … Read more

Exercise Makes you Less Hungry

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A new study looks at the effects of exercise on reducing one’s appetite. There are several hormones that help regulate appetite, but the in a study attention was payed to ghrelin and peptide YY. Ghrelin is the only hormone known to stimulate appetite whereas, peptide YY suppresses appetite. In the study, eleven male  students did three eight-hour sessions. During one session they ran for 60 minutes on a treadmill, and then rested for seven hours. During another session they did 90 minutes of weight lifting, and then rested for six hours and 30 minutes. During another session, the participants did not exercise at all. The participants filled out surveys indicating how hungry they felt. The researchers measured ghrelin and peptide YY levels at multiple points along the way. It was found that the treadmill activity caused ghrelin levels to drop … Read more

DailyStrength Has been Acquired

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Several months ago I wrote a post about a website called dailystrength.org. If you are looking to learn more about Daily Strength check out my old post. The reason I bring this up is because the site has now been acquired for $3.13M by HSW International. TechCrunch reported on earlier this month. The company that has acquired Daily Strength has presence in China and Brazil. I am not entirely sure what this means for the company. The comments on Tech Crunch are also a bit disturbing.

Stress

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Stress causes cortisol levels to increase within the body, which increases oil production and  causes acne breakouts. Getting more exercise, obtaining proper rest, and caring for skin are three basic steps to counteract these problems. Dermatologists have found when you’re stressed out, your body releases a hormone called cortisol. “When cortisol levels increase, oil production increases and sometimes that will cause acne in patients that have never even had acne before,” Flor Mayoral, M.D., a dermatologist in South Miami, Fla. As if acne wasn’t bad enough, stress can cause your hair to fall out too! “When people are stressed out, your body also responds by taking a time out, and we really do not need hair,” Dr. Mayoral explains. Men and women can develop alopecia — bald spots of hair in the beard or scalp — when they’re under stress. … Read more