Kids who get gifts of scratch lottery tickets gamble earlier in life

(Medical Xpress)—Youngsters who receive instant lottery tickets as a gift tend to begin gambling earlier in life—a possible risk factor for more severe gambling disorders later, Yale School of Medicine researchers report Sept. 19 in the journalAdolescent Health.

Children or adolescents who received gifts of scratch lottery tickets as children tend to have more permissive attitudes about gambling than those who did not receive tickets as gifts, according to a survey of some 2,000 Connecticut high school students.

Researchers also reported a stronger association between age of gambling onset and the severity of problem gambling severity among those who received lottery tickets. Other factors—such as depression and alcohol and drug use—were related to the severity of problem gambling whether or not students had received lottery ticket gifts. The study could not determine whether early gifts of lottery tickets influenced later problem gambling because it did not follow students over time. However, the survey supports recent research that shows the early experience of gambling is associated with future problems such as difficulties stopping gambling despite experiencing major life difficulties related to gambling.

"Our research suggests that family members and friends should consider the possible negative impact of giving children or adolescents lottery tickets as gifts," said Marc Potenza, professor of psychiatry, child study, and neurobiology, and senior author of the research.

Potenza notes that the Connecticut Lottery also has cautioned against the purchase of lottery tickets for youth.

Provided by Yale University

"Kids who get gifts of scratch lottery tickets gamble earlier in life." September 24th, 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-kids-gifts-lottery-tickets-gamble.html

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Robert Karl Stonjek

Feeling guilty versus feeling angry—who can tell the difference?

When you rear-end the car in front of you at a stoplight, you may feel a mix of different emotions such as anger, anxiety, and guilt. The person whose car you rear-ended may feel angered and frustrated by your carelessness, but it's unlikely that he'll feel much guilt.

The ability to identify and distinguish between negative emotions helps us address the problem that led to those emotions in the first place. But while some people can tell the difference between feeling angry and guilty, others may not be able to separate the two. Distinguishing between anger and frustration is even harder.

In a study forthcoming in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, psychological scientist Emre Demiralp of the University of Michigan and his colleagues hypothesized that clinically depressed people would be less able to discriminate between different types of negative emotions compared to healthy individuals. Clinically depressed people often experience feelings of sadness, anger, fear, or frustration that interfere with everyday life.

"It is difficult to improve your life without knowing whether you are sad or angry about some aspect of it," says Demiralp. "For example, imagine not having a gauge independently indicating the gasoline level of your car. It would be challenging to know when to stop for gas. We wanted to investigate whether people with clinical depression had emotional gauges that were informative and whether they experienced emotions with the same level of specificity and differentiation as healthy people."

The researchers recruited 106 people between the ages of 18 and 40 to participate in their study. Half of the participants were diagnosed with clinical depression and half were not. Over the course of seven to eight days, they carried a Palm Pilot, which prompted them to record emotions at 56 random times during the day. To report their emotions, they marked the degree to which they felt seven negative emotions (sad, anxious, angry, frustrated, ashamed, disgusted, and guilty) and four positive emotions (happy, excited, alert, and active) on a scale from one to four.

Demiralp and his colleagues looked at participants' tendency to give multiple emotions (e.g., disgusted and frustrated) similar rankings at a given point in time. According to their methodology, the more two emotions were reported together the less the person differentiated between these emotions.

The researchers found that clinically depressed people had less differentiated negative emotions than those who were healthy, supporting their hypothesis. Notably, they did not find the same difference between groups for positive emotions—people with and without diagnosed clinical depression were equally able to differentiate between positive emotions. It is possible that people who are clinically depressed differentiate more between positive emotions as a coping mechanism.

Demiralp and his colleagues argue that the procedure used in the study to record emotions may be particularly useful in studying the emotional experience of clinically depressed people, paving the way for more treatment and therapy options in the future.

"Our results suggest that being specific about your negative emotions might be good for you", says Demiralp. "It might be best to avoid thinking that you are feeling generally bad or unpleasant. Be specific. Is it anger, shame, guilt or some other emotion? This can help you circumvent it and improve your life. It is one of our overarching goals to investigate approaches for facilitating this kind of emotional intelligence at a large scale in the population."

Provided by Association for Psychological Science

"Feeling guilty versus feeling angry—who can tell the difference?." September 24th, 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-guilty-angrywho-difference.html

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Robert Karl Stonjek

Prostate cancer diagnosis and surgery can lead to anxiety, depression and reduced quality of life

Men who undergo surgical removal of prostate cancer can experience significant levels of anxiety one year after surgery, and higher levels of anxiety appear to be linked to poor sexual satisfaction and depression, say researchers at Mayo Clinic's campus in Florida. Their recent study, published in the online edition of Psycho-Oncology, suggests that men who experience high levels of "cancer-specific anxiety" following surgery for prostate cancer could likely benefit from counseling designed to address their worries and improve their quality of life.

"The 10-year survival for a man undergoing surgery to remove localized prostate cancer is greater than 95 percent. Given that the majority of men who undergo prostatectomy for prostate cancer will not die from their disease, we are concerned about what life will be like for these patients decades after diagnosis and treatment," says the study's senior investigator, Alexander Parker, Ph.D., an associate professor of epidemiology and urology.

While prostate cancer can be a life threatening disease, most men diagnosed with prostate cancer do not die from it. According to the American Cancer Society, more than 2.5 million men in the United States who have been diagnosed with prostate cancer are still alive.

"The odds of surviving for long periods of time following surgery for prostate cancer are very high," says surgeon and co-author Gregory Broderick, M.D., a professor of urology. "That means a lot of men are living as prostate cancer survivors and we at Mayo Clinic are committed to understanding factors that affect their quality of life, not just their quantity of life."

Dr. Broderick presented these results at the joint meeting of the Sexual Medicine Society of North America and the International Society for Sexual Medicine this summer in Chicago.

Data from studies in patients with other cancer types have shown that anxiety can significantly affect an individual's quality of life. "Our study is the first to specifically show that those men with higher cancer-specific anxiety one year after surgery for prostate cancer are more likely to report lower levels of satisfaction with their sex life and higher levels of depressive symptoms," Dr. Parker says. In their study, the Mayo Clinic researchers examined findings on 365 men who, one year after undergoing surgery for prostate cancer, completed a questionnaire designed to measure anxiety levels about the fact they have been diagnosed and treated for prostate cancer. The men also completed additional questionnaires to measure levels of erectile function, sexual satisfaction and depression.

The results showed that those men who reported high anxiety levels are more likely to report low sexual satisfaction and a high rate of depression symptoms. "What is interesting from the sexual health standpoint is we observed that anxiety was not linked to poor erectile function per se but was linked to low levels of sexual satisfaction," Dr. Parker says. "If our results can be confirmed by other investigators, it would suggest that anxiety is not affecting some men's ability to perform sexually but perhaps more their ability to enjoy their sex life."

While Dr. Parker and his colleagues observed that anxiety was generally higher in those men who had the more aggressive forms of prostate cancer based on their pathology reports after surgery, a number of men with nonaggressive cancer also reported very high levels of anxiety. "Among this specific subgroup of men with prostate cancer who have less aggressive disease we are talking about survival rates of nearly 100 percent, yet they think about cancer every day. This presents a great opportunity for identifying these men and offering intervention aimed at modifying this anxious behavior," Dr. Parker says.

Mayo Clinic already offers cancer patients access to behavior-based counseling led by trained psycho-oncologists. Dr. Parker says the results of this new study underscore the opportunity to test new ways of addressing this need in men with prostate cancer.

"Anxiety about a cancer diagnosis can lead to increased depressive symptoms and an inability to enjoy life's activities, including sexual relations," says Dr. Parker. "We are building on these results by designing trials to test whether counseling can help these patients."

More information: onlinelibrary.wile… on.3138/full

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"Prostate cancer diagnosis and surgery can lead to anxiety, depression and reduced quality of life." September 24th, 2012.http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-prostate-cancer-diagnosis-surgery-anxiety.html

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Heritability of avoidant and dependent personality disorder traits

(Medical Xpress)—A new twin study from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health shows that the heritability of avoidant and dependent personality disorder traits might be higher than previously reported. People with avoidant personality disorder are often anxious in the company of others, while people with dependent personality disorder feel more secure.

Results from previous studies indicate that genetic factors explain about one third of the individual differences in these personality disorder traits, while the remaining variation is best explained by environmental influences. These studies used single-occasion interviews only.

In contrast, the current study used two different measures of assessment at two different time-points in order to measure personality disorders traits, and is therefore considered more methodologically sound. In 1998, 8,045 young adult twins answered a questionnaire that included questions about personality disorder traits. Some years later, 2794 of these twins took part in a structured diagnostic interview. Both identical (monozygotic) and fraternal (dizygotic) twins participated.

Identical twins share 100% of the genetic material, while fraternal twins share on average 50%—meaning that they are genetically similar to other siblings. By comparing how similar the two types of twin pairs are on a particular trait, researchers can determine how much of the variation between individuals can be explained by genes and environment, respectively.

Higher heritability when controlling for random effects

The researchers found that two thirds of the variation in avoidant and dependent personality disorder traits could be explained by genes, and that the most important environmental influences were those unique to each twin. Such environmental influences can be any that contribute to the twins in a pair being different, e.g. the influence of different friends, teachers, activities, or various life events.

"It is important to emphasize that the term heritability does not refer to individuals per se. Heritability is a statistic that relates to the population as a whole, and is expressed as a proportion of how much the total variation in a trait, such as personality disorders, is influenced by genes", says PhD student and first author of the study Line C. Gjerde.

"The strength of this study is that we have measured personality disorder traits with both a questionnaire and, at a later time-point, an interview. This provides a better estimate of heritability than studies that measure personality disorder once and with one instrument only. The method applied in the current study allows us to capture the core of these personality disorder traits and not random effects, or effects specific to a certain time point or method of assessment", Gjerde explains.

Implications for clinicians

The key finding that genes are so influential in the development of personality disorders emphasizes the importance of obtaining a thorough family history from patients with symptoms of such disorders. However, this does not mean that personality disorders are not treatable. Gjerde emphasizes that the strong genetic influence found in the study does not imply any form of determinism:

"If a person has a family history of personality disorders, this does not necessarily mean that he or she will develop a personality disorder. Whether or not a genetic vulnerability leads to the expression of a certain trait or disorder depends on a complex interplay of both genetic and environmental factors." 
The study was carried out in collaboration with the Virginia Institute for

Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics at the Virginia Commonwealth University.

More information: L.C. Gjerde, N. Czajkowski, E. Røysamb, R.E. Ørstavik, G.P. Knudsen, K. Østby, S. Torgersen, J. Myers, K.S. Kendler and T. Reichborn-Kjennerud (2012) The heritability of avoidant and dependent personality disorder assessed by personal interview and questionnaire. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, pp.1-10. DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-0447.2012.01862.x

Provided by Norwegian Institute of Public Health

"Heritability of avoidant and dependent personality disorder traits." September 24th, 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-heritability-personality-disorder-traits.html

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No scientific basis to idea that homosexuality causes psychological harm, researchers emphsize

Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/laszlo-photo/149047693/

(Medical Xpress)—Academic staff in the Research School of Psychology at The Australian National University have strongly rejected the view reported in the media today that homosexuality carries with it psychological or biological harm.

School Director Professor Don Byrne said there is no scientific evidence at all to support this proposition.

"Modern psychology has moved well beyond the ideas of the past that homosexuality represents deviance, psychological abnormality or mental illness," he said.

"As a society we have accepted for some time now that homosexuality constitutes a completely legitimate, normal and accepted sexual preference.

"People with gay, lesbian or trans-gender orientations make the same important contributions to our society as those who are heterosexual, and they have done so throughout history.

"There is no evidence that sexual orientation confers any degree of psychological or biological abnormality whatsoever."

Professor Byrne said he and his highly qualified and internationally recognised colleagues at the University were not taking a religious or moral view on the question of homosexuality - rather they were seeking to correct the misrepresentation of current psychological science.

"There is now some evidence to suggest an elevated rate of psychological distress among people with a homosexual preference," he said

"But from a psychological perspective, isolated instances of distress are most likely explained by the alienation, vilification and rejection which have so unfortunately and wrongly attended homosexuality in the past."

Provided by Australian National University

"No scientific basis to idea that homosexuality causes psychological harm, researchers emphsize." September 24th, 2012.http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-scientific-basis-idea-homosexuality-psychological.html

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Dark matter DNA active in brain during day-night cycle

(Medical Xpress)—Long stretches of DNA once considered inert dark matter appear to be uniquely active in a part of the brain known to control the body's 24-hour cycle, according to researchers at the National Institutes of Health.

Working with material from rat brains, the researchers found some expanses of DNA contained the information that generate biologically active molecules. The levels of these molecules rose and fell, in synchrony with 24-hour cycles of light and darkness. Activity of some of the molecules peaked at night and diminished during the day, while the remainder peaked during the day and diminished during the night.

The material came from the brain structure known as the pineal gland. Located in the center of the human brain, the pineal gland helps regulate the body's responses to day and night cycles, the researchers explained. In the evenings and at night, the pineal gland increases production of melatonin, a hormone that synchronizes the body's rhythms with the cycle of light and dark. In many species, the pineal gland also plays a role in seasonally associated behaviors, such as hibernation and mating, as well as in sexual maturation.

The biologically active material arising from the pineal gland DNA is called long noncoding RNA (lncRNA). The lncRNA is distinct from the better-known messenger RNA (mRNA), which serves as a kind of template to translate the information contained in DNA for the manufacturing of proteins. The lncRNAs appear instead to be involved in activating, blocking or altering the activity of genes or influencing the function of the proteins, or acting as scaffolds for the organization of complexes of proteins. The researchers' use of next-generation sequencing methods detected the lncRNA activity in addition to the mRNA they originally targeted, which helped them in making their discovery.

"These lncRNAs come from areas of the genome that we thought were quiet," said senior author David Klein, Ph.D., head of the Section on Neuroendocrinology at the NIH's Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), in much of the research was conducted. "But current research in the field makes it unequivocally clear that the information-carrying capacity of the genome is a lot greater than we realized previously."

The study was a collaboration between Dr. Klein and NIH colleagues at the NICHD; the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI); the NIH Intramural Sequencing Center, administered by NHGRI and the Center for Information Technology. In addition, researchers from King's College London; the University of Copenhagen, in Denmark; the Genomatix Software company, in Munich contributed to the study.

Their findings appear online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

To conduct their analysis, the researchers examined RNA from the pineal glands of rats exposed to cycles of 14 hours of light and 10 hours of darkness. The researchers identified 112 lncRNAs with 24 hour cycles. For nearly 60 percent of these lncRNAs, the rats' DNA produced twice as many lncRNA molecules at night as during the day. In addition, nearly 90 percent of the lncRNAs were produced in significantly greater quantities in the pineal gland than in other tissues of the body, most of which did not have detectable levels of these lncRNAs.

The researchers also disrupted the rats' regular day–night light cycle by turning on a light during a typical dark period. Within 30 minutes of the light going on, most of the lncRNAs decreased by half.

The role of the pineal gland lncRNAs is unclear; however, they have circadian patterns of activity. Dr. Klein previously documentedhundreds of genes in the pineal gland with consistent day-night cycles of activity.

"The lncRNAs show such strong activity, they obviously have something to tell us about the biology of daily body rhythms," Dr. Klein said. "We are only beginning to understand how the pineal gland helps maintain the body's 24 hour rhythms."

More information: For more information, visit the Institute's website at www.nichd.nih.gov/ .

Provided by National Institutes of Health

"Dark matter DNA active in brain during day-night cycle." September 24th, 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-dark-dna-brain-day-night.html

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Many problems one solution....... Sadhana

 

Bhairo Sadhana Putra praapti Sadhana Vashikaran Sadhana Ucchatan Sadhana Sarva kaarya Siddhi Karma dosh nivaran Sadhana Laxmi Aakarshan Sadhana
Laxmi Aakarshan saadhna
This is a very special Saadhna.Specially in the sense that Laxmi the Goddess of wealth is attracted towards you. This is yet another way to vast amounts of wealth. One the goddess of wealth is pleased with your saadhna, the doors of wealth open to you .Not only wealth, prosperity all good fortune follow. The saadhak has to just follow the step by step procedures that come along with the Laxmi Aakarshan saadhna saamagri package and a bit of dedicated patience; you will change your life forever. Just imagine the once you have mastered the process of attracting the Goddess of wealth.Whatever follows is all Wealth, and success in whatever you do.

(kaamda ekadashi) laxmi aakarshan divas

Saadhna samagri 
1 mahalaxmi photo 
2 kanakdhaara mahalaxmi yantra 
3 dakshina varti sankh 
4 kamal gatta mala 
5 haldi kum kum 

Saadhna procedure . Kanakdhara Mahalaxmi yantra dakshina varti sankh is to washed with water milk and water, and from morning 6 am till 12 afternoon bathe and keep the articles in front of you, and then worship with red flowers and sankalp ("o mother you with your full glory enter and live in my house ") three malas of Ganpati mantra is to be uttered with kamal gatta mala 3 malas .then the mool mantra // OM REEM MAHALAXMAI NAMAHA// is to be uttered 5 malas for 7 days.
Then after 7 days haldi kumkum is to be used to do a tilak on you and your family. The dakshinavarti sank is to be filled with water and the mantra is to be said one more time and the water is to be drunk by all .this makes Laxmiji to stay in your home ,you can use the water from dakshiavarti shank for any person you want to help.
Sarva karaya sadhana: Sarva kaarya Siddhi Sadhana this is a very powerful saadhna for eliminating obstacles in life. This provides you protection, from your obstacles and failures and safeguards your business against the competititors. This not only protects you from all negative influences of malefic planetary configurations, but also provides long lasting security against all obstacles. hats more this saadhna once performed, will provide the saadhak (practioner) with, immunity and a protective shield (kavatch).Once done this protects you life long .It is a very simple saadhna,you just have to follow the procedures provided along with it .There is a step by step procedure any one can follow and do it for self protection and elimination mation of all obstacles of your life. Thereby providing you peace and prosperity forever,in your life and all your kaaryas. As it is Sarva kaarya siddhi saadhna.
Saadhna muhurat time 24 April (Hanumaan Jayanti )good for Sarvakaarya Siddhi Saadhna

Saadhna Samagri 
1 siddha navgrah mala
2 siddh laghu nariyal
3 siddha sarvakaarya sidhi yantra
4 red cloth 
5 red dhoti 
6 haldi kumkum 
7 Sarva kaarya Siddhi kavatch

Saadhna procedure .Evening time before 12 midnight .Bathe and wear the red dhoti .Keep in front of you the yantra and on top put the kavatch on top. light a Ghee lamp, and utter the sankalp with closed eyes ,("my all kaaryas will be fulfilled")
After this meditating on malaxmiji ,complete uttering the mantra 6 malas for 5 days .
the mantra is 


the haldi and kumkum is to be put on laghu nariyal ,and keeping it in one hand ,with the other hand utter the mantra 1 mala one more time.the yantra is to be kept in your purse or bag or keep it in your shop or your pooja sthal.the laghu nariyal is to be with wishing "i want to fulfil my wishes 'and visarjit it it running water .The kavatch is to be worn by you.Day by day all your kaaryas will be successful.

Vashikaran sadhana
Vashsikarana Yantra
vashikarana mantra
vashikarana Pendent
Saadhna
This saadhna makes you a magnetic personality, be it by your knowledge, behaviour, talk, aura level, personality wise...so that you change or evolve into a magnetic human being .This can be used between husband and wife, lovers, employer and employee etc This magnetic personality can be unlocked within you, so that you can, use it to your benefit at work ,at home or infact anywhere This is specifically to be used directely focussed on one person also..Be the life of any conversation,debate,meeting ,live a fulfilled life.Now no need to feel left out ,stressed ,dejected .Change your view of life forever...say whatever you wanted to .Do not be depressed .
Rejuvinate yourself ,feel fres,get new ideas ,new view to your life.Happiness is within you waiting to be unlocked.
Saadhna Muhurat 
any Monday and Thursdays ,including the main muhurat.which we will keep informing.
Saadhna saamagri
1 siddh aakarshan yantra
2 sidh mala
3 aakarshan gutika 
4 haldi kumkum 
5 3 kaudis 
Saadhna procedure 
At midnight ,after having a bath ,sit on an aasan .put aakarshan yantra ,gutika and 3 kaudis in front.
and if you have picture of the person who you want to do it to. red flowers are to be placed on yantra ,gutika and picture.and 3 kaudis .
utter //OM GAN GANPATAI NAMAHA// 3 TIMES
Sankalp 
What ever you wish to do wish in your mind.
the clap 3 times 
then mool mantra (the main mantra)
// OM REEM DEVDUTT MAM SARVAKARYAI KURU KURU NAMAHA//
(SAY THE PERSONS NAME INSTEAD OF DEVDUTT)
THIS MANTRA IS TO BE RECITED 5 x108 TIMES FOR 7 DAYS 
(during this procedure if you feel some kind of spiritual disturbance do not discontinue the mantra uttarance )
If you feel very afraid 
Utter this mantra 
// OM HLIM KLEEM MUM RAKSHA KURU KURU NAMAHA // 
108 TIMES AND CONTINUE WITH THE PROCEDURE.
After 7 days the gutika is to be kept with you and throw the kaudis one each day for three days in running water.keep the gutika with you everytime, your aura level will increase and you will have a magnetic personality.

சில நோய்களுக்கான மூலிகை மருந்துகள்

உடல் நலம் சரியில்லை என்றால் நிறைய பேர் உடனே மருத்துவரிடம் தான் செல்ல வேண்டும் என்று நினைப்பார்கள். ஆனால் ஒருசிலர் நமது பாரம்பரிய மருந்துகளை பின்பற்றுவார்கள். ஏனெனில் நமது பாரம்பரிய வீட்டு மருந்துகளின் அருமை அவர்களுக்கு நன்கு தெரிந்திருப்பதே ஆகும். ஆனால் சிலருக்கு அதன் அருமை, அதனைப் பற்றிய ஒரு நன்மைகள் சரியாக தெரியவில்லை. மேலும் நிறைய மக்கள் கெமிக்கல் உள்ள மருந்துகளை பயன்படுத்துதைவிட, மூலிகை மருத்துவமான ஆயுர்வேதத்தை தான் பின்பற்றுகிறார்கள். கறிவேப்பிலை: உணவுகள் அனைத்திலும் பொதுவாக பயன்படுத்தும் ஒரு பொருள் தான் கறிவேப்பிலை. அத்தகைய கறிவேப்பிலை ஒரு சூப்பரான மருத்துவகுணம் கொண்டது. அதிலும் நீரிழிவிற்கு நல்லது. ஆகவே நீரிழிவால் பாதிக்கப்பட்டவர்கள் தொடர்ந்து மூன்று மாதம் தினமும் 8-10 இலைகளை சாப்பிட்டு வந்தால், இரத்தத்தில் உள்ள சர்க்கரையின் அளவு குறைந்துவிடும். அதுமட்டுமல்லாமல், உடல் எடையையும் குறைத்துவிடும். இலவங்கப்பட்டை: இது பெரும்பாலும் பிரியாணிக்கு பயன்படுத்துவார்கள். இத்தகைய இலவங்கப்பட்டையை தினமுத் சாப்பிட்டு வந்தால், நீரிழிவு குறைந்துவிடும். மேலும் சில காரத்திற்கு பயன்படுத்தும் உணவுப் பொருட்களான இலைகள், மஞ்சள் மற்றும கிராம்பு போன்றவையும் நீரிழிவை சரிசெய்யும். நெல்லிக்காய்: நெல்லிக்காய் சாப்பிட்டால், கூந்தல் நன்கு வளரும் என்று அனைவருக்கும் தெரிந்தது. அத்தகைய நெல்லிக்காய் ஒரு சிறந்த மூலிகைப்பொருள். இதனால் இரத்ததில் உள்ள சர்க்கரையின் அளவு குறையும். அதற்கு இந்த நெல்லிக்காயை அப்படியே சாப்பிடலாம் அல்லது பாகற்காய் ஜூஸ் உடன் கலந்தும் சாப்பிடலாம். மேலும் இந்த நெல்லிக்காயை தொடர்ந்து 2-3 மாதத்திற்கு சாப்பிட்டால், நல்ல பலன் கிடைக்கும். துளசி: உடலில் அதிக குளிர்ச்சியின் காரணமாக வரும் சளி மற்றும் இருமல் போன்றவற்றிற்கு துளசி இலைகளை பச்சையாகவோ, ஜூஸ் அல்லது துளசி டீ-யாகவோ செய்து சாப்பிட்டால், நல்லது. இஞ்சி: சளி மற்றும் இருமலுக்கு இஞ்சி மற்றொரு சிறந்த மூலிகைப் பொருள். ஆகவே சளி அல்லது இருமல் ஏற்படும் போது ஒரு துண்டு இஞ்சியை தேனுடன் தொட்டு சாப்பிடலாம். இல்லையெனில் அதனை இஞ்சி டீ போட்டும் குடிக்கலாம். ஏலக்காய்: உணவுகளில் நறுமணத்திற்கு சேர்க்கும் ஏலக்காயும், சளி மற்றும் இருமலுக்கு சிறந்தது. ஆகவே இதனை டீ செய்து குடித்தால், இருமலால் தொண்டையில் ஏற்படும் அரிப்பு நீங்கும். எலுமிச்சை: வெதுவெதுப்பான நீரில் ஒரு டீஸ்பூன் எலுமிச்சை சாறு மற்றும் ஒரு டீஸ்பூன் தேன் விட்டு கலந்து குடித்தால், சளி மற்றும் இருமல் சரியாகும். இதனை ஒரு நாளைக்கு எத்தனை முறை வேண்டுமானாலும் குடிக்கலாம். மூலிகைகளை பயன்படுத்தும் விதம் மூலிகைகளை பல விதங்களில் மருந்தாக பயன்படுத்தலாம்; டீ, கஷாயம், சாராயக்கரைசல் (tincture), பத்து (poultice) போன்ற வடிவில் உபயோகிக்கலாம். ‘மூலிகை டீ’ தயாரிக்க மூலிகை மீது கொதிக்கும் தண்ணீரை ஊற்ற வேண்டும், ஆனால் மூலிகையை தண்ணீரில் போட்டு கொதிக்க வைக்கக் கூடாது என்று நிபுணர்கள் எச்சரிக்கிறார்கள். கஷாயம், மூலிகை வேர்களையும் பட்டைகளையும் தண்ணீரில் கொதிக்க வைத்து தயாரிக்கப்படுகிறது; மருத்துவ குணமுள்ள பொருட்களின் சாறை இறக்குவதற்கு அவை இவ்வாறு கொதிக்க வைக்கப்படுகின்றன. சாராயக்கரைசல்கள் எப்படி தயாரிக்கப்படுகின்றன? அவை “சுத்தமான அல்லது நீர்கலந்த மது, பிராந்தி, வோட்கா போன்றவற்றைக் கொண்டு தயாரிக்கப்படும் மூலிகை சாறுகள்” என ஒரு புத்தகம் சொல்கிறது. பத்துகளோ பல விதங்களில் தயாரிக்கப்படலாம். பொதுவாக அவை நோய்ப்பட்ட அல்லது வலியுள்ள உடல் உறுப்புகளின்மீது தடவப்படுகின்றன. அநேக வைட்டமின்களையும் மருந்துகளையும் போலல்லாமல், பெரும்பாலான மூலிகைகள் உணவுப்பொருட்களாகவே கருதப்படுகின்றன; அவை பெரும்பாலும் வெறும் வயிற்றில் உட்கொள்ளப்படுகின்றன. மாத்திரை வடிவில்கூட அவை உட்கொள்ளப்படலாம்; அதிக சௌகரியமாகவும் சுவை தெரியாமலும் விழுங்கிவிட மாத்திரைகள் வசதியானவை. மூலிகை மருந்துகளை பயன்படுத்த நீங்கள் முடிவு செய்தால், மருத்துவரின் உதவியை நாடுவது நல்லது. காலங்காலமாக, ஜலதோஷம், அஜீரணம், மலச்சிக்கல், தூக்கமின்மை, குமட்டல் போன்றவற்றிற்கு மூலிகைகளே பரிந்துரைக்கப்படுகின்றன. இருந்தாலும், அதைவிட பெரிய கோளாறுகளுக்கும் அவை சிலசமயங்களில் உபயோகிக்கப்படுகின்றன; அதுவும் குணப்படுத்தும் மருந்தாக மட்டுமல்ல, தடுப்புமருந்தாகவும்கூட பயன்படுத்தப்படுகின்றன. உதாரணத்திற்கு, ஜெர்மனியிலும் ஆஸ்திரியாவிலும், சா பால்மெட்டோ (Serenoa repens) என்ற மூலிகை, புற்றுநோயல்லாத விந்துச்சுரப்பி வீக்கத்திற்கு (benign prostatic hyperplasia) ஆரம்ப சிகிச்சையளிக்க பயன்படுத்தப்படுகிறது. சில நாடுகளில் இந்த வியாதி 50 முதல் 60 சதவீத ஆண்களுக்கு வருகிறது. இருந்தாலும் அந்த வீக்கத்தின் காரணத்தை மருத்துவர் கண்டுபிடிப்பது முக்கியம்; அப்போதுதான் புற்றுநோயைப் போல் இதற்கு தீவிர சிகிச்சை தேவையா இல்லையா என்பதை தீர்மானிக்க முடியும். சில எச்சரிக்கைகள் ஒரு மூலிகை தீங்கற்றதென பரவலாக கருதப்பட்டாலும் எச்சரிக்கையாயிருப்பது அவசியம். “இயற்கை மருந்து” என்ற லேபிளைப் பார்த்தவுடனேயே பயப்பட தேவையில்லை என ஒருபோதும் நினைக்காதீர்கள். மூலிகைகள் சம்பந்தமாக ஒரு என்ஸைக்ளோப்பீடியா இவ்வாறு குறிப்பிடுகிறது: “சில மூலிகைகள் மிக ஆபத்தானவை என்பதே கசப்பான உண்மை. [வருத்தகரமாக] சிலர் எவ்வித மூலிகைக்கும், அது ஆபத்தானதோ இல்லையோ, தகுந்த கவனம் செலுத்துவதில்லை.” மூலிகைகளில் உள்ள ரசாயனப் பொருட்கள் இதயத்துடிப்பை, இரத்த அழுத்தத்தை, க்ளூகோஸ் அளவை மாற்றலாம். ஆகவே இதயக் கோளாறு, உயர் இரத்த அழுத்தம், அல்லது சர்க்கரை நோய் போன்ற கோளாறுகள் உள்ளவர்கள் அதிக ஜாக்கிரதையாக இருக்க வேண்டும். என்றாலும் பொதுவாக, மூலிகைகளின் பக்க பாதிப்புகள் அலர்ஜியைப் போலத்தான் இருக்கின்றன. அதாவது, தலைவலி, தலைச்சுற்றல், குமட்டல், தோல் தடிப்பு போன்ற பாதிப்புகள்தான் ஏற்படுகின்றன. மூலிகைகள் ஃப்ளூ காய்ச்சலை அல்லது மற்ற அறிகுறிகளை உண்டாக்குவதன் மூலம் “குணப்படுத்தும் சீரழிவை” தூண்டுவதாகக்கூட சொல்லப்படுகிறது. அதாவது மூலிகைகளை சாப்பிடும் ஒருவரின் உடல்நிலை முதலில் மிகவும் மோசமாகும், பிறகுதான் தேறும். மூலிகை வேலை செய்ய ஆரம்பிக்கும் சமயத்தில் உடலிலிருந்து நச்சுப் பொருட்கள் வெளியேற்றப்படுவதால் அவ்வாறு நடப்பதாக சொல்லப்படுகிறது. அவ்வப்போது, குறிப்பிட்ட சில மூலிகைகளால் சிலர் உயிரையே இழந்திருக்கிறார்கள்; ஆகவே உஷாராக இருப்பதும், விஷயமறிந்தவர்களின் உதவியைப் பெறுவதும் எவ்வளவு முக்கியம் என்பது புரிகிறது. உதாரணத்திற்கு, உடல் எடையைக் குறைப்பதற்காக பொதுவாக உட்கொள்ளப்படும் எஃபிடிரா என்ற மூலிகை, இரத்த அழுத்தத்தை அதிகரிக்கலாம். ஐக்கிய மாகாணங்களில் அறிக்கை செய்யப்பட்டிருக்கும் 100-⁠க்கும் அதிகமான சாவுக்குக் காரணம் எஃபிடிரா என்று சொல்லப்படுகிறது; இருந்தாலும் சான் பிரான்ஸிஸ்கோவைச் சேர்ந்த நோயியல் மருத்துவரான ஸ்டீவன் கார்ச் இவ்வாறு குறிப்பிடுகிறார்: “எனக்குத் தெரிந்தவரை [எஃபிடிராவை சாப்பிட்டதால்] இறந்தவர்களுக்கு கடும் இதயத்தமனி நோய் இருந்தது அல்லது அவர்கள் எஃபிடிராவை அளவுக்கதிகமாக சாப்பிட்டுவிட்டார்கள்.” மூலிகை மருந்துகள் பற்றிய ஒரு புத்தக ஆசிரியரான டாக்டர் லோகன் சேம்பர்லின் இவ்வாறு சொல்கிறார்: “சமீப வருடங்களில், மூலிகைகளால் தீய பாதிப்புகள் ஏற்பட்டதாக காட்டும் ஒவ்வொரு அறிக்கையை எடுத்துக்கொண்டாலும், ஆலோசனைகளை பின்பற்றாததால் வந்த வினையே அது என்பது தெளிவாகிறது. . . . நம்பத்தகுந்த மருந்துபொருட்களின் லேபிளில் கொடுக்கப்பட்டுள்ள அளவுகள் பாதுகாப்பானவை, மிதமானவைகூட. ஆகவே, பயிற்சி பெற்ற மூலிகை நிபுணரின் ஆலோசனையின் பேரில் மட்டுமே அதன் அளவை கூட்டிக் குறைக்கலாம்.” மூலிகை நிபுணரான லின்டா பேஜ் இந்த எச்சரிக்கையை தருகிறார்: “உடல்நிலை மிக மோசமாக இருந்தால்கூட, மிதமாகத்தான் மருந்துகளை சாப்பிட வேண்டும், அளவுக்கதிகமாக அல்ல. சிறந்த பலனைப் பெறுவதற்கு உங்களுக்கு தேவை அதிக நேரமும் மிதமான சிகிச்சையும்தான். ஆரோக்கியத்தை மீண்டும் பெற காலம் எடுக்கும்.” சில மூலிகைகள், அளவுக்கு மீறி உட்கொள்ளப்பட்டால் உடனே எதிர்விளைவை உண்டாக்குகின்றன; இவ்வாறு அதன் அளவு அதிகமாகிவிடாதபடி பாதுகாக்கும் இயல்பை இயற்கையாகவே பெற்றிருக்கின்றன என்று மூலிகையியல் புத்தகம் ஒன்று கூறுகிறது. உதாரணத்திற்கு, உடலை ரிலாக்ஸ் செய்ய பயன்படுத்தப்படும் ஒரு மூலிகை, அளவுக்கு அதிகமாக உட்கொள்ளப்படும்போது வாந்தியை உண்டுபண்ணுகிறது. இருந்தாலும், இந்த குணம் எல்லா மூலிகைகளுக்குமே இல்லை; ஆகவே உரிய அளவு மட்டுமே சாப்பிட வேண்டியது எப்போதும் அவசியம். இருந்தாலும், ஒரு மூலிகை திறம்பட வேலை செய்வதற்கு போதுமான அளவை தகுந்த வடிவில் சாப்பிடுவது அவசியம் என அநேகர் நினைக்கிறார்கள். சிலசமயங்களில் இவ்வாறு செய்வதற்கு ஒரே வழி சாரத்தை பிரித்தெடுப்பதாகும். ஞாபகசக்தியையும் இரத்த ஓட்டத்தையும் அதிகரிப்பதற்காக வெகு காலமாக பயன்படுத்தப்பட்டு வந்திருக்கும் ஜின்க்கோ பிலோபா என்ற மூலிகையைப் பொறுத்தவரை இதுதான் செய்யப்படுகிறது. ஏனென்றால், ஒருமுறை சாப்பிடுவதற்கு தேவையான அளவைத் தயாரிக்கவே பவுண்டு கணக்கில் இலைகள் தேவை; அப்போதுதான் மருந்து திறம்பட வேலை செய்யும். ஆபத்தான கலவை மூலிகைகள் மற்ற மருந்து மாத்திரைகளோடு சேர்த்து சாப்பிடப்படும்போது பல வித பாதிப்புகளை ஏற்படுத்தலாம். உதாரணத்திற்கு, அவை மற்ற மருந்துகளின் வீரியத்தை அதிகரிக்கவோ குறைக்கவோ செய்யலாம், அம்மருந்துகளை சீக்கிரமாகவே உடலிலிருந்து வெளியேற்றலாம், அல்லது பக்க பாதிப்புகள் ஏற்படும் வாய்ப்பை அதிகரிக்கச் செய்யலாம். ஜெர்மனியில் லேசான அல்லது மிதமான மனச்சோர்வுக்கு பரிந்துரைக்கப்படும் வெட்டைப்பாக்கு (St. John’s wort), மற்ற மருந்துகளை உடலிலிருந்து இரு மடங்கு அதிக வேகமாக வெளியேற்றுகிறது; இவ்வாறு அவற்றின் வீரியத்தை குறைக்கிறது. ஆகவே கருத்தடை மாத்திரைகள் உட்பட வேறெந்த மருந்து மாத்திரைகளை நீங்கள் சாப்பிட்டுக் கொண்டிருந்தாலும், அவற்றோடு சேர்த்து மூலிகை மருந்துகளை சாப்பிடுவதற்கு முன்பு உங்கள் டாக்டரிடம் ஆலோசனை கேளுங்கள்.

UK: Why 3,000 middle-aged men die by suicide each year?

A new report, published today, provides an in-depth examination into why men from disadvantaged backgrounds in their 30s, 40s and 50s are at higher risk of suicide than the rest of society. Men from low socio-economic backgrounds living in deprived areas are ten times more likely to die by suicide than men from high socio-economic backgrounds living in the most affluent areas.

The report, commissioned by Samaritans, the helpline charity, explores the reasons for suicide beyond mental health issues in this group of men and calls for suicide to be addressed as a health and social inequality. Co-authored by health economics expert NUI Galway's Brendan Kennelly, the research, Men and Suicide: Why it's a social issue, reveals that in the UK and Ireland: 

• Men compare themselves against a 'gold standard' which prizes power, control and invincibility. When they believe they aren't meeting this standard they feel a sense of shame, which can lead them to have suicidal thoughts.
• Men in mid-life are now part of the 'buffer' generation, not sure whether to be like their older, more traditional, strong, silent, austere fathers or like their younger, more progressive, individualistic sons.
• The changing nature of the labour market over the last 60 years has affected working class men. With the decline of traditional male industries, they have lost not only their jobs but also a source of masculine pride and identity.
• Men in mid-life remain overwhelming dependent on a female partner for emotional support. But today men are less likely to have one life-long partner and more likely to live alone, without the social or emotional skills to fall back on.

According to Suzanne Costello, Director of Samaritans in Ireland: "It has been recently recognised that men in mid-life can no longer be ignored as a group at high risk of suicide. However, this report shows that it is men from low socio-economic backgrounds who desperately need help.

"Men are often criticised for being reluctant to talk about their problems and for not seeking help. With this in mind, we need to acknowledge that men are different to women and design services to meet their needs, so they can be more effective.

"The role of mental health problems in suicide is well-established and must not be ignored. But we also need to look at the economic and social inequalities that contribute to people wanting to take their own lives. Policy-makers and practitioners need to take forward our recommendations from the report as a matter of urgency."

Samaritans is calling on the Government, statutory services health, and relevant NGOs to recognise the heightened risk of suicide among disadvantaged men in mid-life, treating suicide as a health and social inequality. There are six recommendations: 

• Take on the challenge of tackling the gender and socio-economic inequalities in suicide risk.
• Suicide prevention policy and practice must take account of men's beliefs, concerns and context – in particular their views of what it is to 'be a man'.
• Recognise that for men in mid-life, loneliness is a very significant cause of their high risk of suicide, and help men to strengthen their social relationships.
• There must be explicit links between alcohol reduction and suicide prevention strategies; both must address the relationships between alcohol consumption, masculinity, deprivation and suicide.
• Support GPs to recognise signs of distress in men, and make sure that those from disadvantaged backgrounds have access to a range of support, not just medication alone.
• Provide leadership and accountability at local level, so there is action to prevent suicide.

Provided by National University of Ireland, Galway

"UK: Why 3,000 middle-aged men die by suicide each year?." September 21st, 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-uk-middle-aged-men-die-suicide.html

Vision cells, not brain, to blame for colour blindness

The real culprits of colour blindness are vision cells rather than unusual wiring in the eye and brain, recent research has shown.

The discovery brings scientists a step closer to restoring full colour vision for people who are colour blind – a condition that affects close to two million Australians, says Professor Paul Martin from The Vision Centre and The University of Sydney.

It may also help pave the way for an answer to one of the most common causes of blindness – age-related macular degeneration (AMD), which accounts for half of the legal blindness cases in Australia.

"There are millions of cones in our eyes – vision cells that pick up bright light and allow us to see colour," Prof. Martin says. "They are nicknamed red, green and blue cones because they are sensitive to different wavelengths of light.

"We now know that in the macular region of the eye, each cone has its own 'private line' into the optic nerve and the brain. Just as a painter can mix from three tubes of paint to produce a wide and vivid palette, our brain uses the 'private lines' from the three cone types to create thousands of colour sensations.

Scientists previously thought that full colour vision depends on specialised nerve wiring in the eye and brain, but animal studies show that the wiring is identical for monkeys whether they have normal or abnormal colour vision, Prof. Martin says.

"This tells us that there's nothing wrong in the brain – it's only working with the signals that it receives on the 'private lines'," he says. "So the only difference in normal and abnormal colour vision is caused by the first stage of sight, which points to faulty cones. Either they have failed to develop, or else they are picking up abnormal wavelengths.

"Now that we know faulty wiring isn't the cause, we can concentrate on fixing the cones, which are controlled by genes – and thus prone to mutation or mistakes during cell replication. There are already promising results from gene therapy as a way to restore full colour vision in colour blind monkeys."

"While we have still have some way to go, the benefits of this gene therapy – if successful – can potentially extend beyond providing complete colour vision," he says.

"If we can get these genes to work in human eyes, it means that the same approach might be possible for other visual problems – including blinding diseases such as macular degeneration."

"In macular degeneration, energy supplies to the macula can't keep up with demand. So the 'private line' system must be very energy-intensive. Gene therapy could be used to turn down the cones' energy demand, or to increase energy supply from supporting cells to cone cells," Prof. Martin says.

"Together with clinical researchers at the Save Sight Institute, we are now working hard to find out exactly how many 'private lines' there are in humans. That can point us to where energy demand is highest and we can target gene therapy to the right place.

"So animal research on 'private lines' for colour vision has given new clues for understanding one of the most important visual diseases – macular degeneration – in humans."

Provided by University of Sydney

"Vision cells, not brain, to blame for colour blindness." September 21st, 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-vision-cells-brain-blame-colour.html