Acupuncture back pain success determined by psychological factors

According to new research, people being treated for lower back pain with acupuncture are likely to gain less benefit from the treatment if they have low expectations of how effective it is.

The study, published in The Journal of Clinical Pain, also suggests that patients who are positive about their back pain and feel in control of their symptoms go on to experience less back-related disability while receivingacupuncture.”The analysis showed that psychological factors were consistently associated with back-related disability,” says study author Dr. Felicity Bishop. “People who started out with very low expectations of acupuncture – who thought it probably would not help them – were more likely to report less benefit as treatment went on.”

Read the rest of the article at http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/289476.php.

Spouse ‘more likely to increase exercise levels if other spouse does’

Past studies have suggested married individuals are more likely to eat a healthy diet if their spouse does. Now, a new study claims the same can be said for exercise.Led by researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, MD, the study reveals that if one spouse increases their physical activity, the other spouse is much more likely follow in their footsteps.The team recently presented its findings at the American Heart Association’s EPI/Lifestyle 2015 Scientific Sessions in Baltimore, MD.The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, set by the US Department of Health and Human Services, recommend that adults engage in at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity each week.

Read the rest of the article at http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/290454.php.

Beliefs about nicotine ‘may override its effects on the brain’

Nicotine replacement therapy and prescription medications such as varenicline are often used as smoking cessation aids. But a new study suggests there may be another way to quit the habit: by manipulating the brain’s reward system through beliefs.Published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the study revealed that participants who were told their cigarettes contained no nicotine showed less activity in areas of the brain that drive addiction – the reward-learning pathways, suggesting that an individual’s beliefs about nicotine may influence a person’s addiction to it.Smoking is the leading preventable cause of death in the US. While it is other toxic agents in tobacco that are responsible for the damaging health effects of smoking, it is nicotine that causes tobacco addiction.

Read the rest of the article at  http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/290095.php.

Distraction techniques may reduce pain, anxiety during conscious surgery

For some surgical procedures – such as the removal of varicose veins – the patient remains awake. Though safe, the patient can experience some pain and anxiety. But in a new study, researchers from the University of Surrey in the UK say simple methods of distraction could help ease such experiences.To reach their findings, published in the European Journal of Pain, Prof. Jane Ogden and colleagues enrolled 398 patients who were due to undergo varicose veinsurgery.For this type of surgery, patients typically remain awake, receiving only a local anesthetic.The researchers note that previously, patients have reported unfamiliar feelings, sounds and smells during the procedure. Some have also reported feeling a burning sensation, while others have said listening to conversations about the procedure between the surgeon and nurse makes them feel uneasy. Patients have also reported feeling anxious during the surgery.

Read the rest of the article at   http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/288755.php.

Is perfectionism the problem behind chronic fatigue?

In the current issue of P&P a report outlines the role of perfectionism in chronic fatigue and in other medical disturbances such as irritable bowel syndrome and fibromyalgia. Biopsychosocial models of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) posit that personality and stress have predisposing and perpetuating roles in the persistent and unexplained fatigue that characterizes this functional somatic syndrome. Studies indicate that many CFS patients are characterized by an achievement-oriented and perfectionist personality, and that such tendencies coupled with self-criticism drive these individuals to work beyond the point of exhaustion in a way that may initiate or perpetuate chronic fatigue. Although research indicates that CFS patients use maladaptive coping strategies more than healthy controls, it is unknown whether this is true relative to other chronic illness groups.

This study examined perfectionism dimensions and maladaptive coping styles in CFS patients compared with healthy controls and two other chronic illness groups. Participants were drawn from a larger sample of community-dwelling adults from the USA or Canada (n = 980) who completed an anonymous online survey on personality and health after providing informed consent. Authors selected individuals who indicated on a medical checklist that included 13 different chronic health conditions that they had been diagnosed by a medical professional with CFS, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), or fibromyalgia (FM)/arthritis for 3 subsamples. The remaining participants were screened for the presence of other chronic diseases, leaving a final healthy sample of 564 subjects, which was divided into 6 random samples of comparable size to the illness groups, one of which was randomly chosen as the healthy control group.

Maladaptive perfectionism was significantly correlated with self-blame coping in both the CFS group and the healthy controls. The correlation between maladaptive perfectionism and behavioral disengagement coping was also significant for both group. However, these correlations did not differ significantly. Standards perfectionism was not significantly correlated with self-blame coping in the CFS group, but was negatively correlated in the healthy controls. The correlations with behavioral disengagement coping were negative in the CFS group and controls, but not significantly different. In the IBS group, maladaptive perfectionism was significantly correlated with each of the 4 maladaptive coping styles, whereas standards perfectionism negatively correlated with denial and behavioral disengagement. In the FM/arthritis group, maladaptive perfectionism was significantly correlated with all but substance use coping while standards perfectionism was not significantly correlated with any of the coping strategies.

Overall, these findings suggests that maladaptive perfectionism promotes self-critical thoughts that fuel a tendency to cope with stress by becoming consumed with self-blame rather than taking constructive action, a tendency that may be pronounced in the context of CFS, and that contributes to the prolonged chronic stress and subsequent allostatic crash posited by previous studies. Furthermore, they provide evidence that cognitive behavioral interventions that target perfectionism may help enhance the coping capacities of people with CFS.

Adapted by MNT from original media release

Picture courtesy of www.huffingtonpost.com.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/287529.php

 

Link discovered between tooth loss and slowing mind and body

The memory and walking speeds of adults who have lost all of their teeth decline more rapidly than in those who still have some of their own teeth, finds new UCL research.

The study, published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, looked at 3,166 adults aged 60 or over from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) and compared their performance in tests of memory and walking speed. The results showed that the people with none of their own teeth performed approximately 10% worse in both memory and walking speed tests than the people with teeth.

The association between total tooth loss and memory was explained after the results were fully adjusted for a wide range of factors, such as sociodemographic characteristics, existing health problems, physical health, health behaviours, such as smoking and drinking, depression, relevant biomarkers, and particularly socioeconomic status. However, after adjusting for all possible factors, people without teeth still walked slightly slower than those with teeth.

These links between older adults in England losing all natural teeth and having poorer memory and worse physical function 10 years later were more evident in adults aged 60 to 74 years than in those aged 75 and older.

“Tooth loss could be used as an early marker of mental and physical decline in older age, particularly among 60-74 year-olds,” says lead author Dr Georgios Tsakos (UCL Epidemiology & Public Health). “We find that common causes of tooth loss and mental and physical decline are often linked to socioeconomic status, highlighting the importance of broader social determinants such as education and wealth to improve the oral and general health of the poorest members of society.

“Regardless of what is behind the link between tooth loss and decline in function, recognising excessive tooth loss presents an opportunity for early identification of adults at higher risk of faster mental and physical decline later in their life. There are many factors likely to influence this decline, such as lifestyle and psychosocial factors, which are amenable to change.”

Adapted by MNT from original media release

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/287280.php

 

 

 

Could a hug a day keep infection at bay?

When feeling down, a hug from a friend or a loved one can really lift those spirits. But a new study finds hugging may do more than make us feel better emotionally; it could help protect against viruses, such as the common cold.

Lead author Sheldon Cohen and colleagues, of the Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA, found that frequent hugging – alongside good social support – may lower stress-induced susceptibility to infection, preventing or reducing the risk of illness.

The study – published in the journal Psychological Science – stemmed from the idea that hugging provides social support, as it represents having a close relationship with another person.

Cohen explains that past research has shown that people engaged in continuous conflict with others are less able to fight off cold viruses, while those who have social support appear to be protected from the psychological effects of stress, such as anxiety anddepression.

“We tested whether perceptions of social support are equally effective in protecting us from stress-induced susceptibility to infection and also whether receiving hugs might partially account for those feelings of support and themselves protect a person against infection,” he adds.

Hugs linked to lower risk of infection from cold virus

To reach their findings, the team asked 404 healthy adults to complete a questionnaire designed to determine their perceived social support. In addition, the participants engaged in 14 consecutive evening telephone interviews with the researchers, in which they discussed their conflicts with others and hugs they had received.

Next, subjects were deliberately exposed to a common cold virus and placed in quarantine while the researchers assessed any signs of infection and illness.

The researchers found that participants who reported having greater social support while experiencing conflicts were less likely to be infected by the cold virus, and hugs were found to be responsible for around a third of this protective effect.

What is more, participants who did become infected with the cold virus and who reported having greater social support and more frequent hugs displayed less severe symptoms than those who reported lower social support and fewer hugs, regardless of whether they experienced conflicts or not.

Cohen says these findings suggest that receiving a hug from a trusted person may trigger a sense of social support, and hugging more frequently could reduce the damaging effects of stress. Explaining the potential reasons behind this, he says:

“The apparent protective effect of hugs may be attributable to the physical contact itself or to hugging being a behavioral indicator of support and intimacy. Either way, those who receive more hugs are somewhat more protected from infection.”

Unlike hugging, kissing does not appear to have protective effects against infection. Last month, Medical News Todayreported on a study that found just one kiss for 10 seconds transfers around 80 million bacteria.

Written by Honor Whiteman

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/287242.php

 

 

Worry less, be happier – just by going to bed earlier

When you go to bed, and how long you sleep at a time, might actually make it difficult for you to stop worrying. So say Jacob Nota and Meredith Coles of Binghamton University in the US, who found that people who sleep for shorter periods of time and go to bed very late at night are often overwhelmed with more negative thoughts than those who keep more regular sleeping hours. The findings appear in Springer’s journal Cognitive Therapy and Research.

People are said to have repetitive negative thinking when they have bothersome pessimistic thoughts that seem to repeat in their minds. They feel as though they have little control over these contemplations. They also tend to worry excessively about the future, delve too much into the past, and experience annoying intrusive thoughts. Such thoughts are often typical of people suffering from generalized anxiety disorder, major depressive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, and social anxiety disorder. These individuals also tend to have sleep problems.

Previous studies have linked sleep problems with such repetitive negative thoughts, especially in cases where someone does not get enough shut eye. Nota and Coles set out to replicate these studies, and to further see if there’s any link between having such repetitive thoughts and the actual time when someone goes to bed.

They asked 100 young adults at Binghamton University to complete a battery of questionnaires and two computerized tasks. In the process, it was measured how much the students worry, ruminate or obsess about something – three measures by which repetitive negative thinking is gauged. The students were also asked whether they were more habitual morning or evening types, preferring to hold regular hours or to have a sleep-wake schedule that is more skewed towards later in the day,

The researchers found that people who sleep for shorter periods of time and go to bed later often experience more repetitive negative thoughts than others. This was also true for those students who described themselves as evening types.

“Making sure that sleep is obtained during the right time of day may be an inexpensive and easily disseminable intervention for individuals who are bothered by intrusive thoughts,” remarks Nota.

The findings also suggest that sleep disruption may be linked to the development of repetitive negative thinking. Nota and Coles therefore believe that it might benefit people who are at risk of developing a disorder characterized by such intrusive thoughts to focus on getting enough sleep.

“If further findings support the relation between sleep timing and repetitive negative thinking, this could one day lead to a new avenue for treatment of individuals with internalizing disorders,” adds Coles. “Studying the relation between reductions in sleep duration and psychopathology has already demonstrated that focusing on sleep in the clinic also leads to reductions in symptoms of psychopathology.”

Adapted by MNT from original media release

When you go to bed, and how long you sleep at a time, might actually make it difficult for you to stop worrying. So say Jacob Nota and Meredith Coles of Binghamton University in the US, who found that people who sleep for shorter periods of time and go to bed very late at night are often overwhelmed with more negative thoughts than those who keep more regular sleeping hours. The findings appear in Springer’s journal Cognitive Therapy and Research.

People are said to have repetitive negative thinking when they have bothersome pessimistic thoughts that seem to repeat in their minds. They feel as though they have little control over these contemplations. They also tend to worry excessively about the future, delve too much into the past, and experience annoying intrusive thoughts. Such thoughts are often typical of people suffering from generalized anxiety disorder, major depressive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, and social anxiety disorder. These individuals also tend to have sleep problems.

Previous studies have linked sleep problems with such repetitive negative thoughts, especially in cases where someone does not get enough shut eye. Nota and Coles set out to replicate these studies, and to further see if there’s any link between having such repetitive thoughts and the actual time when someone goes to bed.

They asked 100 young adults at Binghamton University to complete a battery of questionnaires and two computerized tasks. In the process, it was measured how much the students worry, ruminate or obsess about something – three measures by which repetitive negative thinking is gauged. The students were also asked whether they were more habitual morning or evening types, preferring to hold regular hours or to have a sleep-wake schedule that is more skewed towards later in the day,

The researchers found that people who sleep for shorter periods of time and go to bed later often experience more repetitive negative thoughts than others. This was also true for those students who described themselves as evening types.

“Making sure that sleep is obtained during the right time of day may be an inexpensive and easily disseminable intervention for individuals who are bothered by intrusive thoughts,” remarks Nota.

The findings also suggest that sleep disruption may be linked to the development of repetitive negative thinking. Nota and Coles therefore believe that it might benefit people who are at risk of developing a disorder characterized by such intrusive thoughts to focus on getting enough sleep.

“If further findings support the relation between sleep timing and repetitive negative thinking, this could one day lead to a new avenue for treatment of individuals with internalizing disorders,” adds Coles. “Studying the relation between reductions in sleep duration and psychopathology has already demonstrated that focusing on sleep in the clinic also leads to reductions in symptoms of psychopathology.”

Adapted by MNT from original media release

 

The power of reward in learning and memory

A new study provides an illustration of the power that reward has over learning and memory. In an experiment reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, mere sips of apple juice overcame a well-documented phenomenon in psychology known as “retrieval-induced forgetting” — RIF.

Say you’ve been presented some simple facts from two different categories: “FISH” and “ANIMALS.” Here’s what RIF does for you: If you practice some of the facts from the FISH category, later on you’ll be worse at remembering the fish facts you didn’t practice than you will be at remembering the ANIMAL category facts you didn’t practice. Neuroscientists and psychologists believe RIF prevents us from becoming confused between information we’ve made an effort to learn and closely related information we didn’t strive to learn.

In the new study, Brown University brain scientists performed an experiment with 91 volunteers to see what effect reward had on RIF. They presented volunteers with some FISH and ANIMAL facts (e.g., FISH-Salmon, ANIMAL-dog), and asked them to practice a select few of the fish facts (e.g., fill in FISH-Sal_ _ _). In a third phase a little later they asked the volunteers to identify the fish and animal facts they saw from a list that also included ones they did not see.

Some volunteers did these tasks with no reward, but others were able to earn sips of apple juice if they did the practice round correctly (e.g., they correctly filled in the FISH-Sal_ _ _). Would being rewarded erase RIF and improve recall of the unpracticed facts in the category where some facts had been practiced?

Indeed it did. People who got rewards during practice were much better at recalling the unpracticed fish category facts than people who did not get rewards. Moreover, for the rewarded group, their recall of unpracticed fish facts was just as good as their recall of unpracticed animal facts. Reward abolished RIF, undermining its helpful filtering effect.

“Reward overall enhanced memorized items and abolished the suppression of the retrieval of non-learned items,” said senior author Takeo Watanabe, The Fred M. Seed Professor of Cognitive, Linguistic and Psychological Sciences at Brown University. “Attention enhances relevant signals and suppresses irrelevant signals, whereas reward seems to activate anything, whether it is relevant or irrelevant.”

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/285610.php

Picture courtesy of www.psypost.org

 

 

Can depression and guilt in preschool years change the brain?

New study published in JAMA Psychiatry suggests that children who were diagnosed with depression between the ages of 3-6 have a smaller brain region involved in emotion than those who were not depressed.

 

The researchers – led by Andrew Belden, assistant professor of child psychiatry at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, MO – say their findings could help predict the risk of future depression, giving them an “anatomical marker” to use for those at high risk.

The area of the brain they focused on is the right anterior insula; each side of the brain has an insula, a key brain area involved in emotion, perception, self-awareness and cognitive function.

To conduct their study, the team followed 306 children for 3 years as they aged from 3-6, as part of the Preschool Depression Study. They assessed the children for depression and guilt each year.

In addition, all children had MRI brain scans every 18 months from the ages of 7-13.

In total, 47 were diagnosed with depression during their preschool years, and 82 were confirmed to not be depressed. Of those with depression, 55% showed signs of pathological guilt, while 20% of the non-depressed children had “excessive guilt.”

The researchers explain that pathological guilt can be a symptom of clinical depression and other psychiatric disorders, such as anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder and bipolar disorder.

“A child with pathological guilt can walk into a room and see a broken lamp, for example,” Belden says, “and even if the child didn’t break it, he or she will start apologizing. Even after being told he or she is not at fault, the child will continue to apologize and feel bad.”

But he adds that the important question is whether depressed children are more prone to guilt or whether children prone to guilt are more likely to be depressed.

Kids with smaller right insula more likely to be depressed when older

Results of the long-term study revealed that children with a smaller right insula were more likely to experience repeated bouts of clinical depression as they got older.

The team also found that this same brain structure is smaller in children diagnosed with pathological guilt during the ages of 3-6, which provides evidence that too much guilt is a symptom of depression – related to the size of the insula.

“That’s not a complete surprise,” says Belden, “because for many years now, excessive guilt has consistently been a predictor of depression and a major outcome related to being depressed.”

Belden adds:

“Arguably, our findings would suggest that guilt early in life predicts insula shrinkage. I think the story is beginning to emerge that depression may predict changes in the brain, and these brain changes predict risk for recurrence.”

So what does this mean for preschoolers with depression? The researchers note that though some children experience depression and recover, never experiencing another episode, other children experience chronic depression. As such, Belden says it is important to identify those at risk for the latter trajectory of depression.

Study is ongoing

Other studies have shown that the insula is also smaller in depressed adults, compared with their non-depressed peers.

And a previous study from the Washington University School of Medicine team showed that preschool children with depression were 2.5 times more likely to be clinically depressed in elementary and middle school, compared with their non-depressed peers in preschool.

In order to assess longer-term results, the researchers plan to continue their study for 5 more years, when the study subjects will travel through adolescence – a high-risk period in terms of depression.

Belden also has hopes to follow them into adulthood. “On the immediate horizon is a look at the effects of some things that become more common during adolescent years as kids hit a high-risk time for substance and alcohol abuse and other problems that co-exist with clinical depression,” he says.

For now, however, their latest study is the first to examine changes in the anterior insula as a potential biomarker for the trajectory of childhood major depressive disorder, results of which could help psychiatrists better understand the course of depression throughout an individual’s life.

Medical News Today recently reported on a study that suggested stressed girls with a family history of depression may age faster than those without a family history of the illness.

Written by Marie Ellis

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/285359.php