Just hearing Mom’s voice over the phone may have the same soothing effect as getting a hug in person, according to new research to be published tomorrow in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
Mental Health
How hand-washing helps ease your mind
The simple act of hand-washing has been shown to help clear a guilty conscience and even make you more forgiving of the moral missteps of others. It’s known as the Macbeth principle of morality: we make a fundamental, psychological association between physical purity and moral purity, which lets us literally wash away our sins (and …
Study: quick weight loss may yield lasting results
Get-slim-quick strategies are often evaluated similarly to get-rich-quick schemes — as unlikely to yield any long-term results. Yet a new study published today in the International Journal of Behavioral Medicine suggests that, for obese patients in the initial stages of weight loss, shedding pounds speedily may actually be key to
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Lack of sleep linked to obesity risk for adolescent boys
Findings presented yesterday at a meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies in Vancouver suggest that, for some teens, getting too little sleep may increase the risk for obesity. What’s more, the research implies that this correlation is more prevalent in boys than girls: compared to peers who got more rest, teen boys who got too
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Spouses of dementia patients at higher risk themselves
Compared with other aging married individuals whose husbands or wives do not suffer from dementia, those whose spouses are diagnosed with the condition are six times more likely to develop dementia themselves, according to new research published today in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. Researchers suggest that the stress
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NIH says science is lacking for Alzheimer’s prevention
A new report fro the National Institutes of Health suggests that, currently, there is not enough rigorous scientific evidence to suggest any surefire ways of preventing Alzheimer’s disease. While small studies have suggested that everything from crossword puzzles to routine exercise can help stave off cognitive decline, the national
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People who are depressed tend to eat more chocolate
The relationship between well being and chocolate may be extensively addressed in conventional wisdom and pop culture but little scientific research has actually examined whether the food so intuitively linked to mood has any more concrete correlation. To remedy that, a team of researchers from the University of California at Davis and
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Can antidepressants have heart benefits?
While the overall benefits of antidepressants for certain patients continue to be debated, new research being presented this week at a meeting of the American Physiological Society in Anaheim, California indicates that …
Devising better ways to care for caregivers
Caring for a spouse, parent or other family member who is battling severe mental or physical illness is a labor of love, but one that has its own emotional toll. Previous research has shown that untrained, primary caregivers who are looking after family face an increased possibility of several physical and psychological health
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Large scale study launched to investigate cell phone risks
Though a handful of studies on the risks of cell phone radiation have prompted some lawmakers to propose legislation that would outfit mobile devices with warning labels (like packs of cigarettes), and some companies are already marketing radiation diverting phone covers, in the scientific community there remains little consensus over
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Can dreams be a study tool?
Dreaming about tomorrow’s big presentation, or how you’ll tackle certain questions on an exam later this week may seem like a sign that your anxiety over the pending challenge has seeped its way into your subconscious—yet, according to new research published in the journal Cell Biology dreaming about something you’ve learned may
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For ADHD, rewards function similarly to drugs
A study from researchers at Nottingham University published in the journal Biological Psychiatry and highlighted by the BBC suggests that children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) may benefit from immediate rewards in similar ways that they do from medications such as Ritalin. In the study, researchers set out to
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Marketing with candor: adult incontinence products, tampons
Kimberly-Clark, the company that manufactures Kotex brand pads and tampons as well as Poise and Depend adult incontinence products, has decided to take a more straightforward approach in hawking its wares. Last month Whoopi Goldberg appeared in a TV ad for Poise during the Oscars portraying several famous historical women with the same
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