Fear of anxiety linked to depression in above-average worriers

University Park, Pa. -- Anxiety sensitivity, or the fear of feeling anxious, may put people who are already above-average worriers at risk for depression, according to Penn State researchers. Understanding how sensitivity to anxiety is a risk factor for depression may make anxiety sensitivity a potential target for treating depression in the future.

"Anxiety sensitivity has been called a fear of fear," said Andres Viana, graduate student in psychology. "Those with anxiety sensitivity are afraid of their anxiety because their interpretation is that something catastrophic is going to happen when their anxious sensations arise."

Statistical analyses of questionnaire responses showed that anxiety sensitivity, after controlling for worry and generalized anxiety symptoms in above-average worriers, significantly predicted depression symptoms. In addition, two of the four dimensions that make up anxiety sensitivity - the "fear of cognitive dyscontrol" and the "fear of publically observable anxiety symptoms" specifically predicted depression symptoms. The third and fourth dimensions, the fear of cardiovascular symptoms and the fear of respiratory symptoms, were not significant predictors.

"We were interested in examining the relationship between anxiety sensitivity as a whole and depression," said Viana. "In addition, we looked at the different dimensions of anxiety sensitivity to see which correlated with depression symptoms. One of the novel aspects of our study was to look at anxiety sensitivity in a sample of moderate to high worriers."

Viana, working with Brian Rabian, associate clinical professor and director of the psychological clinic, Penn State, published their findings in the December issue of the Journal of Anxiety Disorders.

To examine the link between anxiety sensitivity and depression the researchers recruited 94 participants -- 72 females and 22 males -- with an average age of 19. All participants were above-average, or moderate to high worriers, on two questionnaires for worry and generalized anxiety disorder, the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Questionnaire and the Penn State Worry Questionnaire, respectively.

Viana and Rabian assessed anxiety sensitivity for each participant with a revised version of the anxiety sensitivity index, a 36-item questionnaire that determines the fear of anxious sensations. By rating questions like, "when my thoughts seem to speed up, I worry I might be going crazy," on a scale ranging from one to five, researchers were able to determine if participants were sensitive to anxiety and which of the four dimensions they were most fearful of.

"With anxiety sensitivity we are really talking about an individual's interpretation of anxiety symptoms, so the only way to get at that is by asking the person what they think in the form of a self-report questionnaire," said Viana.

Researchers also asked participants to complete the Beck Depression Inventory, a 21-item questionnaire which assesses depression. Participants then rated on a scale of zero to three the degree to which they experience symptoms of sadness, hopefulness or guilt.

"What we found was that the fear of the cognitive sensations typical of anxiety, like the inability to concentrate, was related to depression," said Viana. "And we also found that the link exists in people who are afraid of symptoms that could potentially have social implications or symptoms of anxiety that may be subject to negative evaluation."

Because anxiety sensitivity has been linked to depression in several studies, anxiety sensitivity may be a target for clinicians. Current depression therapies tend to focus solely on depressive symptoms, not anxiety sensitivity. Viana thinks future therapy may incorporate working with people to alter their perception of anxious sensations by helping them interpret their experiences in a positive and less fearful way.

Viana acknowledges the limitations to using questionnaires in his study. He thinks future research should identify individuals with anxiety sensitivity and track them over time to see if depression develops.

A Pennsylvania Psychological Foundation Education Award funded this work.

http://live.psu.edu/story/43236

Daily alcohol use causes changes in sexual behavior in adult male flies

University Park, Pa. -- A team of researchers at Penn State has used an insect model to reveal, for the first time, a physiological basis for the effect of alcohol on male sexual behavior, including increased sexual arousal and decreased sexual inhibition.

The research, which was published Jan. 2 in the scientific journal PLoS ONE, resulted in four novel findings with broad importance for further addiction research. It is the first study to characterize the effects of chronic alcohol exposure in fruit flies.

"Physiological evidence supporting various theories about the effect of alcoholic drinks has been lacking, so our now having a suitable animal model makes it possible to conduct much-needed laboratory research on this issue," explained research team leader Kyung-An Han, associate professor of biology and a neuroscientist at Penn State. Information from this research can serve as a baseline for similar studies in other animals, including humans.

In contrast to previous studies in other labs, which subjected fruit flies to short-term doses of ethanol -- the intoxicating ingredient in alcoholic drinks -- Han's team administered to fruit flies a daily dose of ethanol to more closely mimic the drinking habits of alcoholics and chronic alcohol abusers. The team investigated several factors that influence the physiological effects of ethanol, including genetic and cellular components, age and prior experience.

Among the team's discoveries is that male fruit flies, which typically court females, also actively court males when they are given a daily dose of ethanol. "We identified three molecules that are crucial for "ethanol-induced courtship disinhibition," Han said. In one of the team's experiments, Han and her students generated transgenic flies whose brain activities regulated by the neurotransmitter dopamine could be turned off temporarily by changing the temperature to 32 degrees C. "Without a temperature change, the transgenic males showed conspicuous intermale courtship under the influence of ethanol; however, they exhibited negligible intermale courtship when we changed the temperature to block the transmission of dopamine neurons in the brain," Han said. "This result suggests that dopamine is a key mediator of ethanol-induced intermale courtship."

A second discovery is that repeated exposure to ethanol causes male flies to engage in more intermale courtship, a phenomenon known as "behavioral sensitization." "If a behavior like alcohol consumption becomes more pleasurable the more often you do it, you are more likely to keep doing it," Han explained. Because the researchers suspect that behavioral sensitization results from adaptive changes in the brain's cells and molecules induced by chronic alcohol consumption, they plan to use behavioral sensitization as a model for further physiological studies of alcohol-associated behavior and addiction.

"This part of our study demonstrates that sexual behavior is not determined only during an organism's development, but it also can be influenced by a post-developmental environmental factor; in this case, recurring exposure to ethanol," Han said. "These findings represent the first demonstration of enduring behavioral changes induced by recurring ethanol exposure in a fly model."

A third achievement of the team's research is its demonstration that daily ethanol exposure induces chronic tolerance to the sedative effect of ethanol in flies, as it does in other animals. Han and her students also made a fourth discovery -- that ethanol-induced intermale courtship is affected by aging. "As flies get older, their cognitive capacities decline, making them more susceptible to the negative effect of ethanol on cognition," Han reports. The research revealed that, under the influence of ethanol, middle-aged and old male flies (2 to 4 weeks old) have a higher propensity for uninhibited intermale courtship compared to fully mature male flies (4 days old).

"As a result of our research with the fruit fly, we are now just beginning to discover the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying neural changes in the brain that result from the chronic use of alcohol and that result in alcohol addiction and other behavior changes in our fly model," Han said.

Taken together, the studies described by Han's team provide novel insights into the physiological effects of chronic ethanol exposure on sexual behavior and adaptive physiological changes within the brain, plus a foundation for future research on the effect of alcohol consumption on sexual behavior in mammals and other species.

The research was supported by the grants from National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation. In addition to Han, other members of the research team include Hyun-Gwan Lee, a doctoral student in Penn State's Integrative Biosciences Graduate Program; Young-Cho Kim, who in August 2007 earned his doctorate in neuroscience at Penn State; and Jennifer Dunning, an undergraduate student majoring in biology. Penn State undergraduate students Matthew Austin, Ian McInnis, Michael Park and Jessica White also contributed to various aspects of this research.

Ref: live.psu.edu

Thoughtful words help fighting couples stay fit

University Park, Pa -- Couples who bring thoughtful words to a fight release lower amounts of stress-related proteins, suggesting that rational communication between partners can ease the impact of marital conflict on the immune system.

"Previous research has shown that couples who are hostile to each other show health impairments and are at greater risk of disease," said Jennifer Graham, Penn State assistant professor of biobehavioral health. "We wanted to know if couples who use thoughtfulness and reasoning in the midst of a fight incur potential health benefits."

Individuals in a stressful situation -- as in a troubled relationship -- typically have elevated levels of chemicals known as cytokines. These proteins are produced by cells in the immune system and help the body mount an immune response during infection. However, abnormally high levels of these proteins are linked to illnesses such as cardiovascular disease, type-2 diabetes, arthritis and some cancers.

"Typically, if you bring people to a lab and put them under stress, either by engaging them in a conflict or giving them a public speaking task, you can see an increase in proinflammatory cytokines such as Interleukin-6 (Il-6) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha)," Graham said.

Using data collected by Janice K. Kiecolt-Glaser, distinguished professor, S. Robert Davis Chair of Medicine and professor of psychiatry and psychology; and Ronald Glaser, director of the Institute for Behavioral Medicine Research, Kathryn & Gilbert Mitchell Chair in Medicine and professor of molecular virology, immunology and medical genetics, both of Ohio State University College of Medicine, the researchers looked at levels of Il-6 and TNF-alpha in 42 married heterosexual couples both before and after marital discussion tasks.

"We specifically looked at words that are linked with cognitive processing in other research and which have been predictive of health in studies where people express emotion about stressful events," explained Graham. "These are words like 'think,' 'because,' 'reason' (and) 'why' that suggest people are either making sense of the conflict or at least thinking about it in a deep way."

For the study, the 42 couples made two separate overnight visits over two weeks.

"We found that, controlling for depressed mood, individuals who showed more evidence of cognitive discussion during their fights showed smaller increases in both Il-6 and TNF-alpha cytokines over a 24-hour period," said Graham, whose findings appear in the current issue of Health Psychology.

During their first visit, couples had a neutral, fairly supportive discussion with their spouse. But during the second visit, couples focused on the topic of greatest contention between them.

"An interviewer figured out ahead of time what made the man and woman most upset in terms of their relationship, and we gave each person a turn to talk about that issue," said Graham.

Researchers measured the levels of cytokines before and after the two visits and used linguistic software to determine the percentage of certain types of words from a transcript of the conversation.

The researchers' results suggest that people who used more cognitive words during the fight showed a smaller increase in the Il-6 and TNF-alpha. Cognitive words used during the neutral discussion had no effect on the cytokines.

When they averaged the couples' cognitive words during the fight, they found a low average translated into a steeper increase in the husbands' Il-6 over time. There were no effects on the TNF-alpha. However, neither couple's nor spouse's cognitive word use predicted changes in wives' Il-6, or TNF-alpha levels for either wives or husbands.

Graham speculates that women may be more adept at communication and perhaps their cognitive word use had a bigger impact on their husbands. Wives also were more likely than husbands to use cognitive words.

Other researchers in the study include Timothy J. Loving, assistant professor, University of Texas at Austin; Jeffrey R. Stowell, assistant professor, Eastern Illinois University; and William B. Malarkey, professor of internal medicine, Ohio State University College of Medicine.

The National Institutes of Health funded this work.
http://live.psu.edu/story/42910

Rise and Shine Shouldn’t Mean Cigarette Time: Increased Nicotine Levels Detected in Those Who Light-up Earlier

• Time to first cigarette after waking is a valid measure of nicotine dependence.
• Results suggest a possible association for increased risk for lung cancer.
• Cessation efforts should consider behavioral aspects of nicotine dependence.



PHILADELPHIA - People who smoke their first cigarette within minutes after waking up have much higher levels of cotinine, a by-product of nicotine when processed by the body, than those who wait to smoke, regardless of the number of cigarettes smoked.

"Since cotinine levels appear to reflect the risk of lung cancer, our results suggest that smokers who smoke immediately after waking may be especially at risk for lung cancer," said researcher Joshua E. Muscat, Ph.D., M.P.H., professor of public health sciences at Penn State College of Medicine. "These people may require a more intensive intervention than other smokers to help them quit smoking on a sustained or permanent basis."

Results of this study are published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, as part of a special tobacco focus in the December issue.

Nicotine levels in the blood can be measured biochemically by the concentration of the metabolite cotinine. Muscat, along with John P. Richie, Jr., Ph.D., professor of public health sciences and pharmacology at Penn State College of Medicine, and colleagues conducted a community-based study in Westchester County, N.Y., to examine whether a behavioral aspect of nicotine dependence (the amount of time to the first cigarette after waking up) affects the physiological uptake of nicotine. This in turn may affect one's success in quitting smoking and have multiple health effects, such as lung cancer.

The study included 252 healthy black and white people who were daily cigarette smokers. Researchers examined a number of behavioral factors that are thought to measure the urge to smoke, and results showed a clear trend between lighting-up earlier and higher cotinine levels.

Cotinine levels varied from 16 ng/mL to 1180 ng/mL - a 74-fold difference, according to the study. Participants who waited 30 minutes or more were categorized into the "low" dependant phenotype; those who smoked within the first 30 minutes of waking were considered "high." Number of cigarettes smoked per day and its association with cotinine levels varied as well.

"Not all smokers are the same and approaches to smoking reduction may need to account for individual smoking behaviors such as the intensity and frequency of puffing, cravings and physiological symptoms," said Muscat. "It is unclear why smokers who take their first puff immediately after waking have higher cotinine levels, but this may reflect a more intense pattern of smoking. We need to find out why this is."

The researchers are currently conducting follow-up studies to investigate levels of additional nicotine metabolites that will further confirm this association and help determine the impact of time to first cigarette as a novel risk factor for lung cancer.

Find this article on www.aacr.org

People Hear With Skin as Well as Their Ears

We hear with our ears, right? Yes, but scientists have known for years that we also hear with our eyes. In a landmark study published in 1976, researchers found that people integrated both auditory cues and visual ones, like mouth and face movements, when they heard speech.

That study, and many that followed, raised this fundamental question about speech perception: If humans can integrate different sensory cues, do they do so through experience (through seeing countless speaking faces over time), or has evolution hard-wired them to do it?

A new study that looks at a different set of sensory cues adds to a growing body of evidence that suggests such integration is innate. In a paper in Nature, Bryan Gick and Donald Derrick of the University of British Columbia report that people can hear with their skin.

The researchers had subjects listen to spoken syllables while hooked up to a device that would simultaneously blow a tiny puff of air onto the skin of their hand or neck. The syllables included “pa” and “ta,” which produce a brief puff from the mouth when spoken, and “da” and “ba,” which do not produce puffs. They found that when listeners heard “da” or “ba” while a puff of air was blown onto their skin, they perceived the sound as “ta” or “pa.”

Dr. Gick said the findings were similar to those from the 1976 study, in which visual cues trumped auditory ones — subjects listened to one syllable but perceived another because they were watching video of mouth movements corresponding to the second syllable. In his study, he said, cues from sensory receptors on the skin trumped the ears as well. “Our skin is doing the hearing for us,” he said.

Dr. Gick noted that it would normally be rare that someone actually sensed a puff of air produced by another, although people might occasionally sense their own puffs. Either way, he said, the stimulus is very subtle, “which suggests it is very powerful.”

“What’s so persuasive about this particular effect,” he added, “is that people are picking up on this information that they don’t know they are using.” That supports the idea that integrating different sensory cues is innate.

Dr. Gick said the finding also suggested that other sensory cues might be at work in speech perception — that, as he put it, “we are these fantastic perception machines that take in all the information available to us and integrate it seamlessly.”

Correction: An earlier version of this article misstated which two of the syllables used in an experiment by researchers produce a brief puff from the mouth when spoken. They are “pa” and “ta,” not “ba” and “pa.”

Ref: nytimes.com

Knowing What’s Worth Paying for in Vitamins

WHEN I stock up on ibuprofen (my painkiller of choice), I typically buy a 500-count bottle of a store brand like Kirkland or Rite Aid. After all, ibuprofen is ibuprofen. Each pill costs me about 3 cents — or only one-third the cost of 9-cent Advil.

Yet, when it comes to vitamins — which I take only when I feel run down — I turn to name brands like Centrum or Nature Made. My thinking has been: Why mess around with quality when it comes to the essential ABCs?

But now that I’ve done some research, I might soon change my vitamin-buying ways. Read on to find out why.

Americans love vitamins. About half of adults take a daily multivitamin, according to industry data. And according to some theories, the economic downturn has inspired them to fortify themselves by swallowing more.

Sales over the last decade had been growing by about 4 percent annually. But this year, as more people are taking their health into their own hands, perhaps hoping to stave off doctor bills, vitamin sales are expected to grow by 8 percent to a total of $9.2 billion, according to Nutrition Business Journal, a market researcher and publisher.

About 42 percent of shoppers purchase their vitamins at natural and specialty retail outlets, like GNC and Whole Foods, according to the journal, while only 23 percent take the discount approach and buy their bottles at supermarkets and club stores. The other 35 percent buy through mail order or from a health care provider.

Of course, it’s controversial whether we should be taking vitamins at all. Recent studies have indicated that taking a multivitamin won’t protect you from heart disease or cancer. And experts maintain that if you eat well, you don’t need vitamin supplements.

“The evidence shows that a healthy diet and exercise are the best way to ward off disease; a vitamin cannot replace those benefits,” says Eric Rimm, associate professor of epidemiology and nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health.

But what if you don’t eat well or are chronically stressed out? Then, Professor Rimm says, there may be some benefit from taking a multivitamin. “Certain subgroups, including women of child-bearing age attempting to get pregnant, may need specific supplements, like folic acid and omega-3,” he added.

As for the matter of cost: If you take only a daily multivitamin mainly as a medical insurance policy, it certainly won’t hurt your health — as long as you do not already eat a lot of fortified food. And it could help. But it will require spending some money. And if you take a multivitamin and a few individual vitamins and minerals, it’s even more worth your while to make sure you’re not paying more than you need to.

Here’s how to get the most vitamin for the least money.

USE ONLY WHAT YOU NEED Popping too many vitamin pills is not only a waste of money but can be bad for your health. Talk to your doctor about what added vitamins or minerals you might require; you can ask for a blood test to learn what you might be lacking.

For example, if you don’t get enough vitamin D — many people who live in the northern states or who wear sunscreen everyday are low on this crucial vitamin — then buy just a D supplement. Standard multivitamins will probably not have the levels of D you require (many doctors suggest taking 1,000 to 2,000 international units a day).

If your doctor recommends a specific supplement, like omega-3, ask in what form you should be taking it.

FIND A REPUTABLE SOURCE Vitamins and minerals are commodity items, and every manufacturer has access to the same ingredients. For that reason, researchers and scientists say paying more for a name brand won’t necessarily buy you better vitamins.

“When we measure levels of vitamins in the blood, we find the levels are the same whether the person was taking a generic brand or a name brand,” says Dr. Rimm, who has been studying the effects of vitamins for 20 years.

That said, don’t be too cheap. Purchase your vitamins from well-known retailers that do a brisk business and restock frequently, whether that’s Costco or Drugstore.com. Vitamins lose their potency over time and must be stored at, or below, room temperature. If bottles are sitting on a shelf in warm room or in direct sunlight, they may degrade even before their expiration date.

PRICE MAY NOT MEAN QUALITY While the Food and Drug Administration regulates vitamins as part of the nutritional supplement industry, it does not test them before they are put on the shelves. The F.D.A. places the responsibility on the manufacturer to ensure that its dietary supplement products are safe before they are marketed. All of which means that no matter what the price, quality is not assured.

ConsumerLab.com, a company based in White Plains that tests hundreds of vitamins each year, finds that 30 percent of multivitamins have a quality problem: the pills might have more or less of a stated ingredient, or they might not dissolve properly.

“We haven’t found any brand with a broad product line that makes every product well,” says Dr. Tod Cooperman, president of the company.

Taking exception to such assertions is the vitamin industry’s trade group, the Council for Responsible Nutrition. In response to questions, the council released a statement from Andrew Shao, a vice president for scientific and regulatory affairs.

Mr. Shao said that the F.D.A. allowed for “a reasonable amount of variation” — which he characterized as up to 15 percent more of an ingredient than the label might indicate. Mr. Shao said that manufacturers frequently add slightly more of an ingredient to ensure that the amount is at least at the level claimed on the label as the product nears the end of its shelf life.

In any case, ConsumerLab.com says it has found a few patterns that consumers may find helpful. Products sold by vitamin chains tend to be more reliable than drugstore brands, and Wal-Mart and Costco’s vitamin lines are usually worth considering. In a recent test of multivitamins, ConsumerLab.com found that Equate-Mature Multivitamin 50+ sold by Wal-Mart was just as good as the name brand Centrum Silver, but at less than a nickel a day is half the price.

Puritan’s Pride, a catalog and online retailer, also has very good prices, and Dr. Cooperman says that its products are generally good.

Curious consumers can subscribe to ConsumerLab.com for $30 a year and learn how other supplement brands fare in the lab’s tests.

CERTIFICATION SYMBOLS One quality check you can make, although it is not a perfect screening, is to see whether a product is certified by one of several nonprofit organizations that check supplements for purity and quality.

The two most commonly used groups are the United States Pharmacopeia (www.usp.org) and NSF International (www.nsf.org), according to Mr. Shao. Manufacturers voluntarily submit a product for review and, if it passes, the product can bear an approval seal, such as USP or NSF. Because the process is voluntary, Mr. Shao points out, the absence of the seal does not necessarily mean the product is of poor quality.

But at least the seal should mean you know what you’re getting. And with vitamins, anything beyond that simple assurance may not be worth paying for.

Forget aspirin, now you can have a nice cup of tea instead

Health-giving: Tea defends against cancers and lowers cholesterol

It is the traditional British solution for soothing away worries. But now it seems a nice cup of tea may have health benefits beyond stress relief.

Researchers from Newcastle University found that a certain type of mint tea, Brazilian Hyptis crenata, could be as effective as aspirin in relieving pain.

Brazilian healers have been using the tea as medicine for centuries but this is the first scientific proof of its healing properties - albeit only in lab animals.

Traditional tea also has proven medicinal properties.

Its leaves, picked from the Camellia sinensis plant to produce black, green, or oolong tea, have a high concentration of flavonoids, which protect against heart disease, and polyphenols, which protect against cancer.

The antioxidant properties help build defences against skin cancer and other cancers, and lower cholesterol. Decaffeinated teas are marginally less effective owing to the processing to remove caffeine.

Green tea has strong antiinflammatory properties: some studies have discovered that it can relieve arthritis pain.

Japanese researchers have found oolong tea may help prevent tooth decay and relieve itching.

Simon Gibbons, professor of phytochemistry at the University of London School of Pharmacy, says: 'You need to drink three cups a day to get the benefits. Let the tea steep for at least five minutes to allow the hot water to extract the plant material.'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1233483/Forget-aspirin-nice-cup-tea-instead.html#

Low birth weight babies 'are more likely to reach puberty at an early age'

Experts have gathered more evidence on the link between low birth weight and youngsters reaching puberty at an early age.

Those who gain weight rapidly in their first two years of life are also more likely to reach puberty early, they said.

The latest study, from scientists at the Research Institute of Child Nutrition in Dortmund, Germany, followed 215 boys and girls from infancy to the age of 13.

They found those weighing between 2.5kg and 3kg at birth started their puberty growth spurt around seven months earlier than babies who were heavier.

Meanwhile, those who gained weight quickly in the first two years of life started their growth spurt four months earlier than those who had put on weight at a normal rate.

Enlarge

New research: Midwife weighing newborn baby after birth

Youngsters who had a combination of low birth weight and rapid weight gain were also at risk.

The experts also confirmed that girls who gained weight quickly as a baby tend to start their periods early.

The link between birth weight, weight gain and puberty held true regardless of whether a child became overweight.

The study was funded by the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) and was published in this month's American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Experts from the WCRF said going into puberty at an early age is linked to an increased risk of some cancers, including breast cancer and testicular cancer.

It has also been linked to other hormonal changes that could play a role in cancer's development.

Lead researcher, Professor Anja Kroke, said: 'More studies are now needed to identify the physiological mechanisms by which a low birth weight and rapid early weight gain affect the timing of the pubertal growth spurt.

'In addition, by gaining a better understanding of why early puberty increases cancer risk, we can improve our understanding of the causes of cancer, and therefore raises the possibility of preventing future cancer cases.'

Dr Panagiota Mitrou, science programme manager for the WCRF, said: 'This study has identified early life factors that increase a child's chances of starting puberty early, which shows that what happens to us even in the womb can influence risk factors for diseases much later in life.

'More research is needed before we can better understand the relevance of these findings for public health.

'Only then can start looking at whether we need to take steps to prevent low birth weight or monitor weight gain in infancy.

'Until more research is done, the best advice for parents is to give their children a healthy start in life by encouraging them to get into the habit of eating a healthy plant-based diet, be physically active and maintain a healthy weight.

'We estimate that doing these three things could prevent about a third of the most common cancers in the UK.'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1233425/Low-birth-weight-babies-likely-reach-puberty-early-age.html?printingPage=true

Why Bad Sex Is Shortening Your Life

This has to qualify as one of the more exciting stories of the year: Turns out, sexual pleasure is so damn healthy, someone oughta be bottling it as a cure-all. Too good to be true? Come along on our orgasm fact-finding mission.
This has to qualify as one of the more exciting stories of the year: Turns out, sexual pleasure is so damn healthy, someone oughta be bottling it as a cure-all. Too good to be true? Come along on Cosmo's orgasm fact-finding mission.

Talk about getting your knickers in a twist. When earlier this year a brochure from the British National Health Service announced, “An orgasm a day keeps the doctor away,” it created an immediate brouhaha, with educators and health experts calling it deplorable and warning that it would encourage "risky" behavior and STDs.

Okay, maybe the Health Service did go a bit too far when they created a page from a fictional high-school girl’s weekly planner with handwritten reminders to “masturbate!” and “bring condoms to the date on Saturday!” But it turns out, they have a very strong point. “There are a number of health benefits to be gained from having sex or an orgasm — or many orgasms — daily,” says Yvonne K. Fulbright, PhD, author of Pleasuring: The Secrets of Sexual Satisfaction. The stress-relief goodies are obvious, along with better sleep and some PMS pain relief. But that’s just the small stuff.

In Peak Condition

Experts agree that there’s growing evidence of wide-ranging health benefits of orgasms, starting with the biggie: longevity. Research shows that men who have two or more orgasms a week live longer than do guys who have fewer than that. And while female orgasms haven’t yet been studied separately, another study shows that women who report enjoying intercourse live longer than do women who reported less pleasure in sex.

One reason for the longevity bonus could be that orgasms have positive effects on various organs and body systems. For instance, says Beverly Whipple, PhD, coauthor of The Orgasm Answer Guide, “Studies are showing that as sexual activity goes up, the risk of breast cancer goes down.” This could be due to the surge of hormones like oxytocin that comes with arousal and orgasm, the research suggests.

There is also evidence that frequent orgasms may protect against heart attacks and keep our brains healthy. “Functional MRI images show that women’s brains utilize much more oxygen during orgasm than usual, similar to the effects of exercise,” says Barry Komisaruk, PhD, coauthor of The Science of Orgasm. “In other words, the brain is being nourished,” which helps keep your mind sharp.

Meanwhile, you’re also blocking pain. Studies have shown that orgasms can work as natural analgesics to help alleviate menstrual cramps, migraines, and other aches. “Instead of ‘Not tonight. I have a headache,’” says Whipple, “maybe it should be, ‘Yes, tonight. I have a headache.’”

It’s possible that the hormone rush during climax may also function as a natural sedative, Whipple adds. A study of more than 1,800 American women who reported masturbating found that a whopping 32 percent said they did so to help them drop off to sleep.

And — maybe partly because of all that stress relief and beauty sleep — orgasms are good for your looks as well. In a study of 3,500 people, those who were rated to look 7 to 12 years younger than they they nearly always achieve orgasm alone, while less than half say that holds true during sex with a partner.

Satisfaction Guaranteed

But if you plan to have a daily orgasm the way you plan to have your yogurt and granola in the morning, won’t that make sex a tad unspontaneous? Au contraire, says Fulbright. “Daily is an ideal. You may not always have the time or the energy, but why not aim high?” Take it out of a to-do list mental category, she advises, and think of it as a personal investment. And use the frequency as an incentive to experiment. “Explore the differences in response and the potential different kinds of orgasms you can have,” she says.

Including the solo kind, which offers the same boons as boyfriend-induced Os, according to Whipple. You don’t need to be in a relationship with another person for regular orgasms to be a huge health plus, she says, adding, “You can be in a relationship with yourself and get the same benefits.”

Not only does all this stimulation kind of bathe you in a sexy glow — if you’re having that much sex, it’s going to be on your mind more, and that shows on your face and in your movements — but it also becomes this fabulous self-fulfilling prophecy. Because you’re thinking about it more, your hormone levels are elevated...so you have more sex...which makes you think about sex more often. Even if you don’t end up living longer, you’ll have a helluva lot more fun.

Find this article at: http://www.cosmopolitan.com/sex-love/tips-moves/orgasm-news

Alcohol a Motivator for Exercise?

Study: Drinkers Appear to Get More Exercise Than Non-Drinkers, but Longer Workouts Don’t Outweigh Health Woes of Heavy Drinking

By Bill Hendrick
WebMD Health News

Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD

Sept. 1, 2009 — People who drink alcoholic beverages on a regular basis may be more likely than teetotalers to exercise — and the more they drink, the more likely they are to work out, a new study shows.

“A possible motivation is that people who consume alcohol recognize that it contains a fair number of calories, so they exercise to counteract caloric intake,” study author Michael T. French, PhD, of the University of Miami, tells WebMD. “Those who drink without misusing it may be interested in balancing their life.”

French and fellow researchers analyzed data from the 2005 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, a yearly phone survey of 230,000 Americans, and found a “strong statistical association” between alcohol use and moderate to vigorous exercise.

The study, published in the September-October issue of the American Journal of Health Promotion, reports that:

• Compared with abstainers, light drinkers exercised 5.7 more minutes per week, moderate drinkers 10.1 more minutes, and heavy drinkers 19.9 more minutes.
• Women drinking alcohol exercised 7.2 more minutes per week than abstainers, and men 5.5 more minutes.
• Drinking for both men and women was associated with about a 10% increase in the probability of engaging in vigorous exercise.

Abstainers were people who had not drunk alcohol in the 30 days prior to being surveyed. Drinkers were classified as light, moderate, or heavy drinkers based on the number of alcoholic drinks they had had in the last 30 days:

Light drinkers

• Women: 1-14 drinks
• Men: 1-29 drinks

Moderate drinkers

• Women: 15-45 drinks
• Men: 30-75 drinks

Heavy drinkers

• Women: 46 or more drinks
• Men: 76 or more drinks

“The message here is not to use alcohol to improve your exercise” regimen, French says, adding that health problems associated with heavy drinking outweigh benefits of more exercise. However, he says the study suggests that “responsible” drinking may be beneficial.

Molecular Proof: Exercise Keeps You Young

ntense Activity Keeps Telomeres Long

By Salynn Boyles
WebMD Health News

Reviewed by Elizabeth Klodas, MD, FACC

Dec. 1, 2009 — People who exercise regularly tend to stay healthier as they age, and now new research may explain why at a cellular level.

Compared to people who did not exercise, elite runners in the study had cells that looked much younger under a microscope.

Specifically, investigators measured the length of telomeres — the DNA on either end of thread-like chromosomes.

Just as the plastic tips on the ends of shoelaces keep the laces from fraying, telomeres protect the chromosomes that carry genes during cell division.

Each time a cell divides, telomeres get shorter. When telomeres get too short, cells can no longer divide and they die.

Researchers now believe telomere shortening is critical to aging, making people more vulnerable to diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.

“Telomeres can be thought of as a biological clock,” lead researcher Ulrich Laufs, MD, of Homburg, Germany’s Saarland University tells WebMD. “If they are shorter than a critical length, the process of programmed cell death starts.”

Exercise and Telomeres

The new research involved animal and human studies designed to determine how exercise impacts telomere length.

In the animal studies, mice that ran on a running wheel for as little as three weeks showed evidence of increased production of telomere-stabilizing proteins, which protected against cell death.

In the human studies, middle-aged professional athletes who ran about 50 miles a week and had done so for many years had longer telomeres than healthy, age-matched non-athletes who did not exercise regularly.

Not surprisingly, the athletes also had slower resting heart rates, lower blood pressures, and less body fat.

The study appears in the Dec. 15 issue of the American Heart Association journalCirculation.

“This is the first time it has been shown at the molecular level that exercising has an antiaging effect on the cardiovascular system,” Laufs says.

American Heart Association spokesman Barry Franklin, PhD, calls the new research “phenomenal.”

“In many respects, I think this is a blockbuster study that complements research intwins published last year,” he tells WebMD.

Exercise May Trump Genes

That study suggested exercise might trump genes when it comes to keeping people young.

Researchers found that telomere length was related to activity level. People who engaged in the most exercise had telomeres of similar length to inactive people up to 10 years younger.

When one twin was largely sedentary and the other was active, the active twin tended to have longer telomeres.

The most active people in the twin study engaged in just a few hours of moderate to vigorous activity a week, suggesting that it is not necessary to run 50 miles a week to achieve the antiaging benefits of exercise.

“In my own lab, I have seen a 3-month conditioning program raise oxygen capacity significantly,” Franklin says.

He is director of cardiac rehabilitation and the exercise laboratories at the William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oaks, Mich.

“In both studies, active people had cells that were measurably younger than inactive people,” he says. “This striking finding may explain how exercise helps prevent heart attacks, diabetes and other degenerative diseases.”

Foods to Help You Feel Better

6 ways to add mood-boosting foods to your diet.

By Elaine Magee, MPH, RD
WebMD Feature

Reviewed by Brunilda Nazario, MD

Are you feeling down in the dumps? Are you irritated at how often you’ve been irritable?

Perhaps it’s time to look at the foods and drinks you consume to see if they are trashing your mood. Nutrition experts say that the foods you eat can help you feel better — or feel worse — in the short-term and the long-term.

• Meal-to-meal and day-to-day, keeping your blood sugars steady and your gastrointestinal (GI) tract running smoothly will help you feel good and energetic. If your blood sugars are on a roller-coaster ride — hitting highs and lows from too much sugar and refined flour – you are more likely to feel out of sorts. This is also true if your gastrointestinal system is distressed due to intense hunger from a fad diet or constipation because you aren’t getting enough fiber and water.
• Week-to-week and month-to-month, keeping your body healthy and disease-free makes good moods more likely. For example, key nutrients you get in certain foods can influence the levels of feel-good hormones such as serotonin. Other nutrients can help prevent inflammation so blood circulates well to all of your organs.

“Eating a heart healthy diet — high in fiber and low in saturated fat — is a great place to start to boost your mood. There isn’t any question about it, says Diane M. Becker MPH, ScD, director of the Center for Health Promotion at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

Conversely, “a high-fat, high-glycemic load meal can make you physically feel dysfunction in your body. People who eat this type of meal tend to feel bad and sleepy afterwards,” she says.

6 Tips for Foods and Beverages That Help You Feel Good

1. Seek out foods rich in vitamin B12 and folic acid (folate).

What’s special about chili made with kidney beans and lean beef? Or a light chicken Caesar salad made with skinless chicken breast and romaine lettuce? Or grilled salmon with a side of broccoli?

All these dishes feature one food that is rich in folic acid (folate) and another that is rich in vitamin B12. These two vitamins appear to help prevent disorders of the central nervous system, mood disorders, and dementias, says Edward Reynolds, MD, at the Institute of Epileptology, King’s College, London.

The link between higher food intakes of folate and a lower prevalence of depressive symptoms crosses cultures, too. A recent study confirmed this association in Japanese men.

Folic acid is usually found in beans and greens. Vitamin B12 is found in meats, fish, poultry, and dairy.

Other dishes that feature B-12 and folic acid-rich foods include:

• A burrito or enchilada made with black beans plus beef, chicken, or pork
• A spinach salad topped with crab or salmon
• An egg white or egg substitute omelet filled with sauteed spinach and reduced-fat chees

2. Enjoy fruits and vegetables in a big way.

Fruits and vegetables are packed with key nutrients and antioxidant phytochemicals, which directly contribute to your health and health-related quality of life.

In a one study, eating two more servings of fruits and vegetables a day was associated with an 11% higher likelihood of good functional health. People who ate the highest amount of fruits and vegetables felt better about their health.

3. Eat selenium-rich foods every day.

Selenium is a mineral that acts like an antioxidant in the body. What do antioxidants have to do with feeling better and minimizing bad moods? Research suggests that the presence of oxidative stress in the brain is associated with some cases of mild to moderate depression in the elderly population.

One study evaluated the depression scores of elderly people whose daily diet was either supplemented with 200 micrograms of selenium a day or a placebo. Although more research is needed to confirm the findings, the group taking selenium had higher amounts of selenium circulating in their blood and significant decreases in their depression symptoms.

Try to get at least the recommended daily allowance for selenium: 55 micrograms a day for men and women.

Whole grains are an excellent source of selenium. By eating several servings a day of whole grains such as oatmeal, whole-grain bread, and brown rice, you can easily get 70 micrograms of selenium. Other foods rich in selenium include:

• Beans and legumes
• Lean meat (lean pork or beef, skinless chicken or turkey)
• Low-fat dairy foods
• Nuts and seeds (especially Brazil nuts)
• Seafood (oysters, clams, crab, sardines, and fish)

4. Eat fish several times a week.

Several recent studies have suggested that men and women have a lower risk of having symptoms of depression if they eat a lot of fish, particularly fatty fish like salmon, which is high in omega-3 fatty acids.

Omega-3s from fish seem to have positive effects on clinically defined mood swings such as postpartum depression, says Jay Whelan, PhD, head of the department of nutrition at the University of Tennessee.

Good sources of omega-3 fatty acids include:

• Herring
• Rainbow trout
• Salmon
• Sardines
• Tuna
• 
  

5. Get a daily dose of vitamin D.

Does a little time in the sun seem to make you feel better? The sun’s rays allow our bodies to synthesize and regulate vitamin D.

Four recent studies showed an association between low serum levels of vitamin D and higher incidences of four mood disorders: PMS, seasonal affective disorder, nonspecified mood disorder, and major depressive disorder.

Researcher Pamela K. Murphy, PhD, at the Medical University of South Carolina says people can help manage their moods by getting at least 1,000 to 2,000 IU of vitamin D a day.

That’s significantly more than the RDA for vitamin D, which is 200 IU for adults under 50, 400 IU for ages 51 to 70, and 600 IU for people over 70.

Very few foods naturally contain vitamin D. So she recommends we get vitamin D from a variety of sources: short periods of sun exposure, vitamin D supplements, and foods.

Vitamin D can be found in:

• Fatty fish such as salmon, tuna, and mackerel
• Beef liver
• Cheese
• Egg yolks

But our primary source of dietary vitamin D is fortified foods, such as breakfast cereals, breads, juices, and milk.

6. Treat Yourself to 1 oz of Chocolate

“Small amounts of dark chocolate can be a physical upper,” says Becker at Johns Hopkins. “Dark chocolate has an effect on the levels of brain endorphins,” those feel-good chemicals that our bodies produce. Not only that, but dark chocolate also seems to have a heart-healthy anti-clogging effect in our blood vessels.

In one study from the Netherlands, Dutch men who ate 1/3 of a chocolate bar each day had lower levels of blood pressure and lower rates of heart disease. The chocolate also boosted their general sense of well-being.

How Foods and Beverages May Make You Feel Bad

Just as some foods can help you feel better, others can make you feel down. Here are ways to reduce the harmful effects of three foods that can drag you down.

1. Reduce foods high in saturated fat.

Saturated fat is well known for its role in promoting heart disease and some types of cancer. Now researchers suspect saturated fat also play a role in depression.

The link was found in a study called the Coronary Health Improvement Project, which followed 348 people between the 24 and 81. A decrease in saturated fat over a six-week period was associated with a decrease in depression.

2. Limit alcohol carefully.

That “feel-good” drink, alcohol, is actually a depressant. In small doses, alcohol can produce a temporary feeling of euphoria. But the truth is that alcohol is a chemical depressant to the human brain and affects all nerve cells.

Depending on the amount of alcohol consumed, people can go quickly from feeling relaxed to experiencing exaggerated emotions and impaired coordination.

It’s no coincidence that depressive disorders often co-occur with substance abuse, and one of the main forms of substance abuse in this country is alcohol.

3. Don’t go crazy with caffeine.

Caffeine can increase irritability a couple of ways.

• If the caffeine you consume later in the day disrupts your nighttime sleeping, you are likely to be cranky and exhausted until you get a good night’s rest.
• Caffeine can also bring on a burst or two of energy, often ending with a spiral into fatigue.

Some people are more sensitive than others to the troublesome effects of caffeine. If you are sensitive to caffeine, decrease the amount of coffee, tea, and sodas you drink to see if this helps uplift your mood and energy level, particularly in the latter part of the day.