Testing It Up

A study conducted at clinics in Britain, and published in The Lancet, revealed that patients suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome may derive a lot of benefit from undergoing psychotherapy, and gradually increasing exercise, according to a feature on The New York Times.

The results of the study, however, may not sit well with some patients and may only add fuel to an ongoing debate regarding the causes of the condition, and the methods through which it can be treated. The feature said that recent high-profile studies have linked chronic fatigue syndrome to viruses related to mouse leukemia viruses. Patients are then seeking to get access to antiretroviral drugs, a treatment that is very expensive and may continue indefinitely. In addition, health insurers are unwilling to spend for untested treatment options.

This latest study, which was financed by the British government, yielded results that may be more favorable to those who believe that the condition is mainly psychological, or related to stress.

The study tested cognitive behavioral therapy as a supplementary treatment option for chronic fatigue syndrome. This type of psychotherapy aims to change the psychological factors that are “assumed to be responsible for perpetuation of the participant’s symptoms and disability.”

It was observed that participating patients in the study, who were randomly assigned to receive cognitive behavioral therapy or exercise therapy in conjunction with specialized medical care, exhibited reduced levels of fatigue and more improvement in physical functioning, when compared against those who received medical care only. Those patients who received psychotherapy also fared better over those who received medical care and training on how to recognize the onset of fatigue,     in order to make the necessary adjustments to their activities.

New York Health Screening

The results of a study published in the online edition of the American Journal of Epidemiology showed that the time people spend sitting down can be associated to increased mortality risk, according to a feature on msnbc.com.

This risk, according to the study, seems to be unaffected by the amount of physical activity done by the individual – which means that the effect of the length of time one spends sitting down will be the same even if one hits the gym regularly.

The term “sitting down” was qualified to mean as time spent sitting outside of work, though the amount of couch time within work (in number of hours) was not defined in the feature.

Researchers from the American Cancer Society (ACS) conducted an analysis of survey responses of more than 123,000 men and women who were enrolled in the 1992 Cancer Prevention II study of the ACS. The test population consisted of individuals who had no history of heart attack, cancer, stroke or emphysema.

The study looked into the amount of time that the participants spent sitting down as well as the level of physical activity that they were engaged in, and related this with mortality. The period considered by the study covered 13 years, from 1993 until 2006.

Researcher Alpa Patel shared: “Prolonged time spent sitting, independent of physical activity, has been shown to have important metabolic consequences, and may influence things like triglycerides, high density lipoprotein, cholesterol, fasting plasma glucose, resting blood pressure, and leptin, which are biomarkers of obesity and cardiovascular and other chronic diseases.”

Hormonal imbalance is becoming more and more common in younger women. Doctors are still unsure as to how to deal with it and misdiagnosis can lead to various problems with a woman’s overall health, such as heart ailments, infertility and cancer.

There are many possible causes of hormonal imbalance. One such cause is stress, where the body produces too much cortisol and other hormones are secreted to cancel it out. Another cause is an imbalanced diet. Improper exercise also leads to hormonal imbalance, as too much or too little can impede with the production of hormones. Taking hormonal supplements such as birth control pills also puts the body’s hormone balance out of whack.

Certain diseases like cancer and PCOS also create hormonal imbalance in a woman’s body. Some forms of cancer affecting females feed on the body’s hormones. PCOS causes the body to secrete too much androgen. Lastly, environmental toxins can also lead to hormonal imbalance.

For full version of this article, please visit “7 Most Common Causes of Hormonal Imbalance“.

Have you ever experienced a “runner’s high”? As it turns out the title might be all that inaccurate. Humans must run a certain distance to achieve this feeling of euphoria, having to increase and maintain the amount of running they must do to reach it over and over. When the process is stopped the runner is likely to experience the symptoms and signs of depression. This process led researchers to study the process likening it to the behavior and symptoms of addiction to illegal substances.

During research rats were given a wheel on which to run for 9 days, over the course of those days they increased the amount of time they spent on the wheel. Researchers then began to offer only one portion of food to the rats (they had previously had unlimited access) for only an hour a day. The rats reacted to this by running more. This reaction matches symptoms of anorexia athletic, a condition that also occurs in humans.  Noting the addictions symptoms in the rats the researchers then treated then with naloxone, a drug typically used to treat drug addiction in humans and which causes withdrawal symptoms. The rats that used the wheel most had the highest occurrence of these withdrawal symptoms seeming to show that it was indeed addictive. While this proved that exercise could be addictive it’s not seen as a negative thing. In fact it led to another theory, that exercise could be used as an effective form of rehab.

If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, the idea of getting sick with the swine flu virus can indeed be worrisome for you. However, you and your baby will not get sick with the virus if you exercise some caution.

To prevent your getting the disease, you should avoid touching public surfaces and then touching your nose, mouth and eyes afterwards. You should also wash your hands frequently with soap and warm water, or an alcohol-based hand sanitizer. You should also avoid crowded places as much as possible.

When you do get sick, you should see your doctor immediately to get a prescription for safe antiviral medicine. In addition, you should stay at home, have a lot of rest and drink a lot of liquids. You should not stop breastfeeding because your baby will need the antibodies you will be able to provide. Just wash your hands before you handle your baby and wear a facemask.

For full version of this article, please visit “10 Tips for Swine Flu Protection to Pregnant and Breastfeeding Women“.

Is it possible for your pet dog or cat to get sick of the swine flu? That is a question that bothers many homeowners because pets are less discriminating than their owners regarding what they touch. They can attack anything out of mere curiosity without knowing that it is contaminated.

However, pet owners should not worry because the swine flu virus has yet to cross the genetic barriers that prevent dogs and cats from becoming infected. The swine flu virus can only make dogs and cats sick if it has enough genetic material from canine flu virus or the feline flu virus.

Still, it does not hurt to exercise caution so that you or a member of your family does not get sick. You can do this by washing your hands right after handling your pet. Also, if you see signs that your pet is sick, you should take your pet immediately to your vet.

For full version of this article, please visit “Can My Pets Get Sick of Swine Flu?“.