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Scientists say they finally have settled one of medicine's biggest debates, after a huge study found that anti-depressants work. A study, published in the Lancet , which analysed data from 522 trials involving 116,477 people, found 21 common anti-depressants were all more effective at reducing symptoms of acute depression than dummy pills. This is big news. Many people, myself included, have been convinced that in many cases those pills are only placebo. I am very happy to have been wrong on this one, because major depressive disorder is one of the most common, burdensome, and costly psychiatric disorders worldwide in adults According to lead researcher Dr Andrea Cipriani, from the University of Oxford, the most commonly prescribed anti-depressants work for moderate to severe depression. And that is very good news for many patients. “ End Your Depression ” is a complete source of information that will guide you through the different types and causes of depression and give

The New York Times had an article yesterday, " How Our Beliefs Can Shape Our Waistline ", about how our beliefs about how much we exercise may substantially influence our health and eventually longevity. The article was based on a study made by researchers at Stanford University, published in Health Psychology, basically hints that upending our thinking about exercise might help us whittle away pounds, whether we work out more or not. This is something I've been thinking a lot about lately. More and more people are starting to believe in manifestation and things like that, and many of them claim to get really great results. I think there might be something in it, after all the old Voodoo-rites was greatly based on peoples belief too, according to scientists. However, I am trying out a program called " Trajectory Manifestation ". I have no clue whatsoever if it will work for me or not, but that much I cab already tell you; It feels great!

Many are the studies showing different health benefits of red wine. Alex Therrien over at BBC use a nice headline today: " Red wine compound 'could help tooth decay and gum disease fight '". How lovely and wonderful isn't this nectar of gods, it cures everything from diabetes to bad teeth depending on what researchers you believe. Well, this time, according to a study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry , scientists looked into whether wine polyphenols might also be good for oral health. And sure enough  it is. And jumping over all the cellular and microbiota talk, you can head over to the original article if you want to glance at those, they the findings said could ultimately lead to new dental treatments. I admit I rather have a glass of red wine than a visit at the dentist. These polyphenols, however, are also found in coffee, green- black- and red tea, lemon juice, blueberries... Well, in a lot of different stuff. Don't

Most of us have, every now and then, a feeling that the doctors don't always do what is best for us, that they more think about their wallets than our health. Well, in some cases that even might be true, but generally speaking I tend to believe they are hard working sincere men and women. Then I stumble over an article like this, " 10 biggest health scams exposed ", written by Jessica Coffey . There are some really disturbing claims presented in it - almost sound conspiratorial at some places - but the whole thing is too long to refer in this short text. I quote a few short lines from it, you can read the whole article HERE . "In the past 30 years, the number of vaccines parents are supposed to give their children has tripled (and, not coincidentally, so have disease rates). And to make matters worse, there are more vaccines being rolled out every year. One of them is so dangerous we haven't had to wait 10 or 20 years to see the devastating side effects.

There is a huge amount of advertising about "healthy" oils out there, we see them on the internet, in commercials on TV and ads in the papers. Practically everywhere. Many of them, however, are not good for you at all. And this is a fact that almost tend to be totally overlooked. Jake Carney , among many other things founder of "Alternative Daily", has written a nice page about Coconut oil - yes, that is one of the really healthy ones - but he also have listed four of these really bad oils on the same page HERE : 1 - Canola - Animals and insects avoid it in nature, here's why you should too... 2 - Cottonseed Oil - An industrial plant saturated with pesticides... 3 - Safflower - Studies show an increase of Omega-6 also increases the rate of death by heart disease, reason enough to avoid this oil... 4 - Soybean - The GMO, hormone disrupting nightmare "health" food they keep telling you is safe... In the article, found HERE , he tell you m

Well, there is hope for humanity. Hollywood has it wrong. Aliens are not ugly killing machines that are out to destroy the human race,  at least we humans don't think so. Humans would actually react positively to news of alien life -- intelligent or microbial. This is a conclusion that Arizona State University Assistant Professor of Psychology Michael Varnum has come to. What he actually said, at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in held on Feb 16 in Austin, Texas, was ""If we came face to face with life outside of Earth, we would actually be pretty upbeat about it". This according to an article in Science Daily . I like news like this one, gives me more hope for all of humanity. In unpublished results presented at the conference, Varnum analyzed recent media coverage of the possibility that the interstellar Oumuamua asteroid might actually be a spaceship. Here too, he found evidence of more positive than negativ

A couple of days back a good friend of mine suddenly passed away, and I still don't have a clue why. That got me, naturally, trying to find some answers to at least some of the many questions that swirl  in my head. I found a newly, dating only a couple of weeks back, published research article in the journal PLOS ONE , claiming that a 10% increase in suicides -- nearly 2,000 additional deaths -- was recorded in the United States in the four months after actor and comedian Robin Williams took his own life in 2014. That was almost mind-blowing to read. The "celebrity-suicide effect" -- in which copycat suicides follow that of someone famous -- has been documented in previous research, so it is a well known fact. But the amount of that kind of copycats is significantly high, way too high. I can't say that this research helped me understanding why my friend is gone, but at least it got me thinking about something else for a while. And I know I am not alone in this

So I was browsing the net, doing nothing special, the way we way too often do, when I stumbled over something called "Life hacks". There seem to be a gazillion of places out there, giving useful and sometimes not so useful but funny, with these life hacks. Here a few examples concerning weight loss: * Drinking green tea before bed will allow your body to burn calories while sleeping. Green tea also increases your metabolism. * The best water to boost weight loss: 2 L water, 1 medium cucumber, 1 lemon and 10-12 mint leaves. Steep overnight in the fridge. Drink every day. A great detox, and clear skin. Both of those are very good for you, that is sure. I've a lot of articles about the benefits of Red Tea lately. Apparently the red tea comes from a bush in Africa, called Rooibos (a Hibiscus, I believe) and it seem to be better than the green one in activating your metabolism, helping your body detox and much more. Some say it cures headaches, insomnia, asthma, eczema

As most of us already know ultra-processed foods are not known for their health qualities. Still it is so hard to resist a doughnut to your cup of java and a piece of candy every so often. Researchers have discovered that people who eat more ultra-processed foods have a higher risk of cancer. Such foods are the ones with unrecognizable and unpronounceable words on the list of ingredients -- anything from the candy that turns your tongue blue to healthier-sounding canned soups packed with artificial flavors, additives or emulsifiers. There is a good article about this in the Jama Network if you want to read more about the study. The scientists found that a 10% increase in the proportion of ultra-processed foods in the diet was associated with a significant increase of greater than 10% in risks for overall cancer and breast cancer. But none of this come as news, folks, we all know all of this deep down inside already. Next time you feel the urge to get a snack, you might glance i

We have all been told that each year when Valentine's Day approaches, our thoughts should turn to love, relationships and coupling. Well, not everyone is so lucky to have anyone close to love. During this day our society is basically divided into two groups - As some anticipate the holiday that others dread, the spotlight is split between these two groups: Those in relationships, and those who're not. CNN had a nice, and pretty cute in a strange way, article called " Sex and finances are better for married people. Don't worry, singles — you win sleep ". Basically Amy Roberts , the author, compare these two groups - the ups and downs for both of them. It was pretty fun reading, so head over there and have a look. One thing often forgotten during Valentine is the not so fun fact of all those unhappy marriages out there. The ones that are falling apart. The world-renowned breakup and divorce coach Brad Browning has written a good book about these kinds of proble

Well, this is not really big news anymore - we hear these results from different studies every now and then - but I always like to point out that we are what we eat. So here are some new results from a bunch of Cambridge scientists - the study was conducted at the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute. The result, based on animal research (mice with an aggressive form of breast cancer) and published in the journal Nature , showed breast tumours struggled without the dietary nutrient asparagine. It is found in the foodies' favourite asparagus, as well as poultry, seafood and many other foods. Asparagine is an amino acid - a building block of protein - and takes its name from asparagus and in the future, scientists hope to take advantage of cancer's "culinary addictions" to improve treatment. Getting cancer is never fun, definitively nothing to joke around with. One person that learned this the hard way is Nalie Augustin. Get her book "Chemo Secrets - tips a

Yes, one minute you die from it the next is it healthy. We all know how this goes, it all depend on who do the study, and why, it seem. However, a new study made by European Society of Cardiology and involving close to 20,000 individuals, and published late last year, people who consumed at least four cups of coffee daily had a 64% lower risk of early death compared to those never or rarely consumed coffee. Coffee has also been shown to reduce the risk of many diseases, including type 2 diabetes, liver disease, colorectal cancer, Alzheimer's and skin cancer, too. Coffee is loaded with antioxidants, many are naturally occurring antioxidants found in the coffee bean, while others are created during the roasting process. It's these compounds that science links with positive effects in reducing the risk of several diseases. So, there we go. Think it's time for a good cup of Java!

I know it is a bit "late in the game" for a reference to the new year, but hey; I am a slow starter. So here we go:  Start the year right by focusing on yourself. Reserve time for reviving a favorite hobby or learning a new one. Hobbies unleash your creativity and relieve your stress. Your hobby might even bring you extra cash if you're really good at it. You can check out online resources for money-making ideas or home-based businesses. Not that many of those are stress relieving, believe me I know, but it might give you something else to think about than the thing that REALLY gives you the stress. One thing that really can stress people up is money. Set this month for a budget review. If you've been living from payday to payday, start saving now. Put aside a small amount a day and save them each month. Better yet, apply a banking service that automatically transfers money from your salary account to your savings account. Scott Sonnon’s revolutionary new work

As we all now, a healthy lifestyle involves eating a balanced diet, exercising regularly and managing stress effectively. You need to spend time with your family and friends and live a good social life to be at the top of the world. Making healthy choices every day can affect more than your physical appearance - it can also increase both the length and quality of your life by boosting your immunity to disease and keeping you emotionally healthy. In this blog I will try to give you some ideas of how to achieve all of that.