An interesting thought on Pain Relief

"Love is the drug....." --I can't remember the next part of that song.

New research using MRI scanners indicates that love (or in this case looking at a picture of one you love) can reduce the amount of pain a person feels.

Researchers put study volunteers into an MRI and induced pain (a hot probe to the palm) -- while the participant was in pain, they were shown a picture of an acquaintance or a picture of their beloved or given a distracting cognitive task (naming sports that don't use balls).

Researchers found that looking at a picture of a beloved reduced the participants moderate pain by 40 percent and reduced severe pain 10-15 percent.  The distracting task reduced pain by similar level but used mostly cogitative pathways of the brain where as the picture of the loved one lit up the pleasure centers of the brain indicating dopamine release (similar to the pain relieving effects of a runner's high).

Cool, huh?  For more information on this study, click here!

Significant Health Problem Alert

 "Obesity is among the most significant public health problems of the 21st century...." says a report coming out in JAMA October 27.

It is also almost completely in our power to change.  We will never have everyone the size of Barbie -- Thank goodness for that!  But we could all weigh less tomorrow than we do today by making just a few changes....today....to how we eat.  If we do that today then get up and do that again tomorrow (and so on), we will knock out "one of the most significant public health problem" -- no muss, no fuss, no telethon.

BMI

The other day, I was out in the community delivering a Wellness presentation to a group of professionals.  One of the subjects of the talk was BMI (or Body Mass Index), what it is a measurement of, and what ways can the data it gives accurately be used.

I got into a little bit of trouble from this particular group and I am not entirely sure why.  It might be because they were getting conflicting reports about what the measurement really says about them -- and maybe I added to the problem by adding another wrinkle.

Here is an extension of what research is saying about BMI.  I agree with some of the cited researchers when they say sometimes, the stress of being labeled overweight is worse for you than the motivational benefit that the label provides.

If you feel you have a good grasp on BMI already -- I encourage you to click here and scroll to the bottom of the page under the heading Limitations and Shortcomings. 

Read the article -- and then let me know what you think!

Cultivating Luck

This is a prime example of why I love this blog.  The article I just read was posted in the NY Times and is all about how luck can be cultivated.  Lucky charms, lucky underwear -- they work.  They inspire us to try harder and longer.  And isn't that what luck is all about???

Fear of Getting Fat captured on MRI

Here is an interesting observation:

Researchers looking for better diagnostic tools for eating disorders screened women to see who was at risk for body image issues.  Once screened, the women were put in an MRI and shown pictures of women of different body size. 

The researchers were surprised to see that when a picture of an overweight female stranger was put in front of the test subject, the part of the brain active when body image issues are present lit up --even in women who seemingly had no real body image issues.  --Sure, the response was not as large as those with known body image issues -- but it lit up no the less.  (and to a much, much greater degree than did the male test subjects under the same conditions).

It just goes to show something we have known for a while -- even the most secure women are susceptible to body image issues -- it's just the culture we live in.

For more information on this study, click here.

Average soda consumption

I did some math this weekend for a friend of mine -- I thought it was interesting and worth sharing:

The average American consume 50 gallons of soda per year.  That's .96 gallons per week.  That's just over 6 - 20oz bottles per week.  (that doesn't seem so bad right?)

Well...if you figure there is 40.5 grams of sugar in a can (12 oz) of Coke.  Then a 20 oz bottle has 67.5 grams.  That's 4.7 tablespoons per bottle --  1.75 cups of sugar per week just from the soda you're drinking.  No wonder we have diabetes issues in the US!!

Life is about balance

I just read an interesting article on folate and Vitamin B12.  Each one has benefits -- appropriate folate is associated with fewer neural tube defects in newborns, and better cognitive functioning in older adults.

B12 helps regulate normal body functioning and assists in red blood cell formation.  Life gets tricky when things get out of balance:

"After adjusting for other factors, the researchers found significant links between low B12 and increased risk of anemia (170%) and cognitive impairment (150%). Among the subjects with low vitamin B12 status, high levels of folate were associated with both anemia (210%) and cognitive impairment (160%). Those findings suggest a possible harmful effect from excess folic acid when paired with B12 deficiency.



For subjects with normal B12 levels, however, folic acid seemed to have a beneficial effect on cognitive impairment. High folate levels in this group were associated with a 60% lower risk of cognitive impairment. No significant association was seen for other conditions."

For more information on the importance of folate/Vitamin B12 balance, click here!