1. A feeling of sadness
In case this feeling continues more than three days, you need to find out why you feel so. If you don’t have family problems, if you haven’t lost a friend or family member, if you and your family are in good health, then this sadness probably signals depression.

2. Too much sleeping or insomnia
Stressful life and work may make you sleepy but you should overcome this in a few days when you get rest. If you continue sleeping too much and don’t want to go out of bed until noon, you should consider the problem seriously. Insomnia, on the other hand, sometimes occurs after too much sleeping. You may get restless but unable to sleep.

3. Appetite changes
These changes may include either loss or gain of appetite. Of course, you can lose appetite because of other reasons, but rapid weight loss should bother you. Eating too much may also signal depression because in most cases it is uncontrolled and people eat not to provide themselves with nutrients but to find some comfort.

4. Sudden crying
Crying without serious reasons is something you shouldn’t ignore. Very simple problems and situations may bring the tears and you may just start crying during a nice conversation with a friend.

5. Suicidal thoughts
This is a serious sign and if you experience such thought, you need immediate help.

In a baby abstraction appear Monday, they begin bodies with the nerve-damaging autoimmune ache did worse on a cardinal of cerebral tests if they were abundant marijuana smokers.

“In assorted sclerosis, you already accept a accumulation of patients who are cognitively impaired,” said Dr. Anthony Feinstein, who led the new work. “When you add marijuana to the mix, you ability aggravate those problems.”

Still, the abstraction doesn’t prove that marijuana fuels brainy decline, Feinstein said. And alike if it does, some bodies ability accept to alive with that trade-off.

Many bodies with abiding diseases say the actionable biologic helps abate their symptoms, and a few studies accept hinted that cannabis extracts ability allay pain, spasticity and added problems in assorted sclerosis (MS).

The ache gnaws abroad at the blubbery sheath about assumption cells, which can account astringent affection like eyes loss, numbness, tremors, beef acerbity and brainy changes.

According to the National MS Society, some 400,000 Americans accept MS. Of those, about one in six smoke marijuana, Feinstein said, yet about no analysis has looked on how it affects their minds.

Neurobic exercises are one good way to improve neural pathways. Specialists believe that some cognitive exercises can improve the brain function. The most popular neurobic exercises include brushing your teeth with the opposite hand and wearing your watch on the opposite wrist.

Having enough sleep is very beneficial for the brain because it needs a rest after a long day of functioning. So, sleep well and enough in order to provide your brain with the energy and rest it needs in order to work properly.

Certain chemical substance can affect the way your brain works. These substances are known as neurotoxins and can be found in some food additives. You need to reduce them in order to keep your brain healthy. So, avoid processed foods and add fresh vegetables and fruits to your diet.

Exercises are also very good for the brain as it needs oxygen to function in a proper way. Regular exercises, including walks, running and stretching will provide the brain with the necessary oxygen and will improve blood circulation.

Puzzles, crosswords, sudoku and Math task improve the brain function and efficiency, while certain foods provide the brain with essential nutrition. These foods include squash, broccoli, potatoes, berries, soybean and apricots.

Ginkgo biloba

Should you take ginkgo to slow down the effects of age on the brain? “The answer appears to be ‘no,’” says the lead author of the study, Steven T. DeKosky, MD, the vice president and dean of the School of Medicine at the University of Virginia.

In the new study, the largest of its kind to date, Dr. DeKosky and his colleagues followed more than 3,000 people between the ages of 72 and 96 for an average of six years. Half of the participants took two 120-milligram capsules of ginkgo a day during the study period, and the other half took a placebo.

The people who took ginkgo showed no differences in attention, memory, and other cognitive measures compared to those who took the placebo, according to the study, which was published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Dr. DeKosky also led the 2008 study that looked at the effects of ginkgo on dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Both studies are part of the larger Ginkgo Evaluation of Memory (GEM) study, which is funded by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine and the National Institute on Aging.

Ginkgo biloba is among the most popular dietary supplements for brain health. In 2007, Americans spent $107 million on ginkgo, which has been used for more than 1,600 years to promote mental acuity, says Dr. DeKosky. (Ginkgo has also been used to treat a range of maladies including asthma and ringing in the ears.)

When ginkgo first became popular in the 1980s and 1990s, researchers and consumers alike were optimistic about the effects of ginkgo on cognition, but its reputation has suffered in recent years, says Joshua Steinerman, MD, assistant professor of neurology at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, N.Y.

“Early studies seemed to show that there might be some cognitive improvement, but those were typically smaller studies and not as well designed,” says Dr. Steinerman, who did not participate in the current study. “More recent studies, including the GEM study, are large and well controlled, and have showed no consistent positive effect on slowing the rate of cognitive decline.”

Even so, Dr. DeKosky says he and his colleagues were surprised to find that ginkgo failed to produce any benefit, given how long the herb has been used and how many people swear by it. “We figured that if [ginkgo] was still in use and still endorsed by people—even if it’s only your grandmother—it probably does have some basis to it,” he says.

To be continued…

A drug stays in the distance and its purpose might be cause to undergo most of the decent and sensible queries. However scientists have revealed that proteins could be detached through the brain’s phobia centre to wipe away reminiscences.

When a disturbing occasion take place it produce a fearful memory that can stay there a life span and have frightened a debilitating significance on a person’s continuation, according to professor and chairman of neuroscience at Hopkins’ school of medicine in Baltimore, Maryland Richard Huganir.

His discovery on the molecular procedure hoisted up the likelihood of influencing such procedures along with drugs to supplement behavioral analysis for such circumstances as post- disturbing strain chaos. The examination has haggard anxiety from a few concerned in rational health care.

The executive director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness of Maryland, Kate Farinholt, a mental health hold up group, express that most of the people undergoing through a shocking occasion may gain through rub out a reminiscence.

source:  http://www.topnews.in/getting-rid-sore-memory-not-good-thought-2293806

Heart helper

Chocotini, anyone? A study in the Journal of Nutrition found that people who ate dark chocolate had less of a protein that indicates inflammation, which can lead to a heart attack. Plus, alcohol boosts HDL (good) cholesterol.

Chocolate martini recipe from The Peninsula Chicago:

• 1 oz vanilla vodka, such as Stoli
• 1 1/2 ounces dark chocolate liqueur, such as Godiva
• 1 1/2 ounces plain soy or skim milk
• 1/2 ounce chocolate syrup

Combine all ingredients in a shaker and shake vigorously. Pour mixture into a martini glass, and serve.

Mood booster

There’s a good reason we crave chocolate when we’re down. Its tryptophan ups mood-lifting serotonin in the brain, says Leah Sherman, a naturopathic physician in Portland, Oregon. One study found that even the taste, texture, and smell make us happy.

Skin soother

For a spa treat, try this bath from Lauren Cox’s Eco Beauty: Combine 2 cups chocolate milk, 2 tablespoons mild liquid soap, and 1 tablespoon honey; pour mixture into the bathtub. The chocolate milk’s lactic acid and antioxidants smooth and soften your skin.

Cravings buster

University of Copenhagen researchers found that subjects felt fuller and craved fewer sweet, salty, and fatty foods when they snacked on chocolate (yes!). Be sure to choose dark chocolate: Its low glycemic index steadies blood sugar levels, cutting cravings.

source:   http://www.health.com/health/gallery/thumbnails/0,,20306869,00.html

It’s calm

Harmony, peace, tranquility. Isn’t that what we all want when we step through our front door? Decorating with soothing colors (blues, grays, and greens) can help lower blood pressure and set the scene for a more relaxed life, says Jayne Pelosi, a healthy-home-makeover expert at Renaissance Interior Design in Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

And now it’s easier than ever to paint safely, thanks to a growing crop of paints made with low- or no-VOCs (volatile organic compounds that are released into the air as the paint dries; they may cause such health issues as eye and respiratory problems).

It’s cool

Literally. Keeping your house at around 66 degrees is best for sleeping, studies show, and it’s a good range for staying energized during the day as well. “A too-hot house is depressing,” Pelosi says.

“All you want to do is hibernate and take a nap.” During the cool months, she suggests, warm up the house with organic throws and textural surfaces that keep feet warm. Once warmer weather hits, turn on the ceiling fans to keep air circulating, which can help you feel cooler.

It’s a clean

By some estimates, we track in 85 percent of the dirt in our homes—which usually contains lead and other contaminants—on our shoes. The easy fix: place doormats outside and inside your front door, then wipe your feet and take off your shoes as soon as you come inside. Research shows that this simple move can cut lead-dust contamination in your home by 60 percent. And as you clean, keep your indoor air healthy by choosing nontoxic cleansers, such as Method’s line  and the new green Martha Stewart Clean products. Not adding to your indoor air pollution is important: our inside air is up to 90 percent more polluted than what’s outside, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

It’s full of plants

Houseplants help cleanse air, too (assuming you’re not allergic). The money plant—Epipremnum aureum—is one of the best for cleaning air in the bedroom; it filters formaldehyde and VOCs released by mattresses and other furnishings. For other clean-air plants. And open windows (again, unless doing so will aggravate your allergies) for 15 to 30 minutes a day.

It’s collected

Clutter hikes stress, collects dirt and dust, puts a damper on exercise (if you can’t find your shoes, how can you take that walk?), and may even make you eat more. In fact, researchers at the University of Chicago found that living with clutter makes you tired, and that fatigue can up the appetite-stimulating hormone cortisol so much that you can eat an extra 200 to 1,000 calories a day.

Happily, a little streamlining around the house can lower your stress level and raise your chances of losing weight. To get started: be philanthropic. Pelosi encourages her clients to donate two items for every new thing they bring into their homes. “But remember, de-cluttering is like exercise,” she says. “You can’t just do it once; you have to make a habit of giving away or putting away something every week.”

It’s green

First Lady Michelle Obama did us all a health favor when she planted the White House vegetable garden, says Matt Hickman, a Home blogger at Mother Nature Network (MNN.com), and health experts agree. Growing some of your own food—or even just looking at something green and growing—can reduce stress, blood pressure, and numerous disease risks. You don’t have to be a total gardening junkie to reap the benefits. No matter the scale—a backyard plot, a few containers of organic tomatoes, a pot of rosemary on your kitchen window­sill—having living, green elements in or near your home makes you feel more connected to the Earth. And growing that pepper right outside your door makes you more likely to eat it and other fresh stuff. Talk about eating local!

It’s personal

A home that reflects you automatically makes you feel comfortable in your own skin, says architect Sarah Susanka, author of The Not So Big House series and the new More Not So Big Solutions for Your Home. “Comfort and happiness isn’t a size, it’s a feeling, and you can create that feeling with your home’s design and decoration,” she says. So, does your home reflect you and the way you live?

source:   http://www.health.com/health/gallery/thumbnails/0,,20353218,00.html

New moms usually blame sluggishness or insomnia on the demands of parenthood, says Laura Corio, MD, an OB-GYN in private practice in New York City and attending physician at Mt. Sinai Medical Center. But the true culprit may be postpartum thyroiditis, which 5 to 10 percent of women develop in the year following delivery.

Typically, it starts with mild hyperthyroidism (overactive thyroid), which can rev you up and set off insomnia. After a couple of months, the condition may swing to hypothyroidism, in which a lack of thyroid hormone slows your body’s functions, leaving you feeling constantly tired. If you’re too jumpy to sleep or have extreme fatigue postpartum, see your doctor.

Your 20s and 30s: Say goodbye to sadness

Feeling blue can pack a double whammy when it comes to sleep: Not only can depression cause sleep problems such as insomnia, but some antidepressant medications may have sleep-related side effects.

Donna Arand, PhD, clinical director of the Kettering Sleep Disorders Center in Dayton, Ohio, and an American Academy of Sleep Medicine spokeswoman, recommends a two-fold treatment for insomnia with depression: cognitive behavioral therapy, a therapeutic approach which can be used specifically to target insomnia and bad sleep habits, plus talk therapy aimed at alleviating depression, adding or adjusting medication as appropriate. (The antidepressant trazodone may help with both insomnia and depression.)

Yours 40s: Notice when you go at night

If you’re waking up to pee a lot more lately, don’t assume it’s a sign of aging—you might actually have a urinary tract infection (UTI). “Decreasing estrogen levels in the mid-40s leads to a thinning of the lining of the vagina and bladder, which makes perimenopausal women more prone to infection,” says Dr. Corio, author of The Change Before The Change. Corio adds that women in their early 40s are often very sexually active, which can also lead to more UTIs. Talk to your doc if you notice a change in your bathroom habits.

Yours 40s: Deepen zzz’s with exercise

Deep, restorative sleep (called delta or slow-wave sleep) decreases in your late 40s, making nighttime awakenings more frequent. Working out more may help. Your muscles and tissues are repaired during slow-wave sleep, Arand explains. When you give your body more repair work to do thanks to increased physical exertion, it responds by stepping up the amount of slow-wave sleep you’ll get.

The type of exercise that’s best for triggering slow-wave sleep isn’t clear, but aim for 30 minutes of moderate aerobic activity on most days, suggests Wilfred R. Pigeon, PhD, director of the Sleep and Neurophysiology Research Lab at the University of Rochester Medical Center.

Your 50s+: Mind your meds

Prescription drugs you may be taking for high blood pressure and cholesterol could affect your pillow time. Diuretics (used to treat hypertension) can necessitate nighttime visits to the bathroom, says Annabelle Volgman, MD, a cardiologist and the medical director of the Heart Center for Women at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.

If your doc says it’s OK, try taking your pills in the morning instead of the evening. And statins for cholesterol-control can deplete your body’s muscles of co-enzyme Q10, a natural protein required for normal functioning of muscle cells; the resulting muscle aches might make falling asleep a challenge. If that sounds like you, Dr. Volgman suggests asking your doctor if you might benefit from taking a co-Q10 supplement.

Your 50s+: Saw less wood

Chronic snoring is a major sign of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), a disorder in which breathing briefly stops periodically while you sleep, interrupting and worsening the quality of your snooze time.

OSA can have some heavy consequences, such as worsening or increasing the risk of developing diabetes, hypertension, or stroke. “The risk of developing sleep apnea increases after menopause when progesterone levels drop,” Arand says—possibly because progesterone may help the muscles of the upper airway stay open. Being overweight is also a big risk factor for OSA (and weight gain is a common occurrence during menopause); in some cases, slimming down can actually cure the disorder.

source:   http://www.health.com/health/gallery/thumbnails/0,,20432140,00.html

If you want to put some

Here are some of the food ingredients (and my own favorite recipes) that have been major players in aphrodisiac history and lore, and also have modern-day science to back up their claims.

Avocados

The Aztecs referred to avocados as, ahem, testicles, because of their physical shape. But the scientific reason why avocados make sense as an aphrodisiac is that they are rich in unsaturated fats and low in saturated fat, making them good for your heart and your arteries. Anything that keeps the heart beating strong helps keep blood flowing to all the right places; in fact, men with underlying heart disease are twice as likely to suffer from erectile dysfunction (ED).

Almonds

Topping my list of feisty foods, almonds have long been purported to increase passion, act as a sexual stimulant, and aid with fertility. Like asparagus (another one of my favorite sexy foods), almonds are nutrient-dense and rich in several trace minerals that are important for sexual health and reproduction, such as zinc, selenium, and vitamin E.  “Zinc helps enhance libido and sexual desire,” says Dr. Berman. “We don’t really understand the mechanisms behind it, but we know it works.”

Strawberries

The color red is known to help stoke the fire: A 2008 study found that men find women sexier if they’re wearing red, as opposed to cool colors such as blue or green. Strawberries are also an excellent source of folic acid, a B vitamin that helps ward off birth defects in women and, according to a University of California, Berkley study, may be tied to high sperm counts in men. This Valentine’s Day, try making dark-chocolate-dipped strawberries. And while we’re on the subject, there’s a reason we give chocolate on Valentine’s Day: It’s full of libido-boosting methylxanthines.

Seafood

Despite their slippery and slimy texture, oysters may be the most well-known aphrodisiac. They’re also one of the best sources of libido-boosting zinc. But other types of seafood can also act as aphrodisiacs. Oily fish—like wild salmon and herring—contain omega-3 fatty acids, which are essential for a healthy heart.

Arugula

Arugula has been heralded as an arousal aid since the first century. Today, research reveals that the trace minerals and antioxidants packed into dark, leafy greens are essential for our sexual health because they help block absorption of some of the environmental contaminants thought to negatively impact our libido.

Figs

These funny-shaped fruits have a long history of being a fertility booster, and they make an excellent aphrodisiac because they are packed with both soluble and insoluble fiber, which is important for heart health. Plus, high-fiber foods help fill you up, not out, so it’s easier to achieve that sexy bottom line—or belly.

Citrus

Any member of this tropical fruit family is super-rich in antioxidants, vitamin C, and folic acid—all of which are essential for men’s reproductive health. Enjoy a romantic salad that incorporates citrus, like pink grapefruit or mandarin oranges, or use a dressing made with lemon and lime.

source:  http://www.health.com/health/gallery/thumbnails/0,,20307213,00.html