A Center For Change-Affiliated Psychotherapists

06/17/2023

You are not alone if you feel blah when taking an anti depressant ie. not depressed but able to experience joy.

There is a need to develop valid and reliable measures to assess emotional blunting related to antidepressants, said Dr. Mujeeb U. Shad.

01/09/2023

Singles, you think covid is scary, check this out before you have unprotected s*x.

A bacterium called Mycoplasma genitalium, or Mgen, can cause inflammation, miscarriage, and even infertility

12/13/2019

Another case of robbing from the poor to pay for the Rich (2% tax deduction)

The Trump administration is proposing changes to Social Security that could terminate disability payments to hundreds of thousands of Americans, particularly older people and children. The new rule would change aspects of disability reviews -- the methods by which the Social Security Administration....

01/25/2019

The relationship between substance abuse and cognitive functioning in high school students is discussed in this study

Internal Medicine Article: A population-based analysis of the relationship between substance use and adolescent cognitive development

11/25/2017

Support for the idea that mental health is promoted by aerobic exercise:
Aerobic exercise: 'A maintenance program for the brain'

Healthline/Medical News Today

Aerobic exercise is a type of workout that increases the heartbeat and stimulates it to pump more oxygen through the body, yet it doesn't immediately produce shortness of breath. Some examples of aerobic exercise include running, cycling, and swimming.

Among the many health benefits that aerobics brings, some notable ones are weight loss,improved cardiovascular health, and reduced anxiety.

A recent study covered by Medical News Today emphasized how low-intensity exercise can prevent depression.

And now, researchers from the National Institute of Complementary Medicine (NICM) at Western Sydney University in Australia—in collaboration with colleagues from the Division of Psychology and Mental Health at the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom—are looking at the possible benefits that aerobic exercise might hold for the brain.

Naturally, brain size decreases by around 5% every 10 years after age 40. This effect of brain aging is also sometimes tied with cognitive decline.

Lead author Joseph Firth, an NICM postdoctoral research fellow, says that when we exercise, our brains produce a chemical that could help to prevent cognitive decline.

"When you exercise, you produce a chemical called brain-derived neurotrophic factor, which may help to prevent age-related decline by reducing the deterioration of the brain," he explains.

The researchers' findings were recently published in the journal NeuroImage.

Aerobics boosts size of left hippocampus

Existing studies using the animal model have suggested that physical exercise has the potential to greatly benefit the brain by stimulating the growth of nervous tissue and slowing down or preventing cognitive decline.

The same had been hypothesized in the case of humans, but the evidence so far has been fairly limited.

In the new study, the scientists reviewed 14 different clinical trials with a pooled data source of 737 brain scans taken before and after involvement in aerobic exercise programs, as well as during a control setting.

All the participants were between 24 and 76 years old—aged 66, on average—and they included cognitively healthy adults alongside individuals with mild cognitive impairment, depression, and schizophrenia.

Firth and colleagues were interested in investigating how aerobic exercise might impact the brain. Some workout programs that the participants were involved in included walking, stationary cycling, and treadmill exercise.

The programs lasted between 3 and 24 months, and they consisted of two to five exercise sessions per week.

It was found that aerobic exercise did not impact the overall volume of the hippocampus—that is, a region of the brain that plays a key role in the formation and consolidation of memory—but it did increase the size of the left part of this brain region.

Research has indicated that the left side of the hippocampus, specifically, is involved in memory function and verbal learning.

Firth explains that what this suggests is that aerobic exercise can decelerate age-related cognitive decline promoted by the decrease in size of the left hippocampus.

"Our data showed that, rather than actually increasing the size of the hippocampus per se, the main 'brain benefits' are due to aerobic exercise slowing down the deterioration in brain size. In other words, exercise can be seen as a maintenance program for the brain."

These results, Firth suggests, may have important implications in terms of preventing the onset of neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease. Still, additional research is needed in order to explore the possibilities offered by this avenue.

"The link between cardiorespiratory fitness with both structural and performance increases," the researchers conclude, "indicates this as a suitable target for aerobic training programs to improve brain health."

—Maria Cohut

05/05/2017

Associated Press Release

House Republicans planned a vote Thursday on a revised bill rolling back much of former President Barack Obama's health care law. The legislation would rework subsidies for private insurance, limit federal spending on Medicaid for low–income people and cut taxes on upper–income individuals used to finance Obama's overhaul.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that the Republican bill will result in 24 million fewer people having health insurance by 2026, compared to Obama's 2010 statute.

Here are key elements of the bill:

__Ends tax penalties Obama's law imposes on individuals who don't purchase health insurance and larger employers who don't offer coverage to workers.

__Halts extra payments Washington sends states to expand Medicaid to additional poorer Americans, and forbids states that haven't already expanded Medicaid to do so. Changes Medicaid from an open–ended program that covers beneficiaries' costs to one that gives states fixed amounts of money annually.

__Erases Obama's subsidies for people buying individual policies, based mostly on consumers' incomes and premium costs. Replaces them with tax credits that grow with age that must be used to defray premiums. The credits are refundable, which means they even go to people with little or no tax liability. Credits may not be used to buy policies that provide abortion coverage.

__Repeals Obama's taxes on people with higher incomes and on insurance companies, prescription drug makers, some medical devices, expensive employer–provided insurance plans and tanning salons. Obama's law uses the revenue to help pay for its expanded coverage.

__Requires insurers to apply 30% surcharges to customers who've let coverage lapse for more than 63 days in the past year. This would include people with pre–existing medical conditions.

__Lets states get federal waivers allowing insurers to charge older customers higher premiums than younger ones by as much as they'd like. Obama's law limits the difference to a 3–1 ratio.

__States can get waivers exempting insurers from providing consumers with required coverage of specified health services, including hospital and outpatient care, pregnancy and mental health treatment.

__States can get waivers from Obama's prohibition against insurers charging higher premiums to people with pre–existing health problems, but only if the person has had a gap in insurance coverage. States could get those waivers if they have mechanisms like high–risk pools that are supposed to help cover people with serious, expensive–to–treat diseases. Critics say these pools are often under–funded and ineffective.

11/16/2016

Early ma*****na use associated with abnormal brain function, study reveals

Western University News, 10/07/2016

In a new study, scientists in London, Ontario have discovered that early ma*****na use may result in abnormal brain function and lower IQ. Previous studies have suggested that frequent ma*****na users, especially those who begin at a young age, are at a higher risk for cognitive dysfunction and psychiatric illness, including depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Dr. Elizabeth Osuch, a Scientist at Lawson Health Research Institute and the Dr. Joseph Rea Chair in Mood Disorders at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry at Western University, is a Canadian leader in studying both mood and anxiety disorders and the effects of ma*****na.

Dr. Osuch and her team recruited youth in four groups: those with depression who were not ma*****na users; those with depression who were frequent ma*****na users; frequent ma*****na users without depression; and healthy individuals who were not ma*****na users. In addition, participants were later divided into youth who started using ma*****na before the age of 17 and those who began using it later or not at all. Participants underwent psychiatric, cognitive and IQ testing as well as brain scanning. The study found no evidence that ma*****na use improved depressive symptoms; there was no difference in psychiatric symptoms between those with depression who used ma*****na and those with depression who did not use ma*****na. In addition, results showed differences in brain function among the four groups in areas of the brain that relate to reward–processing and motor control. The use of ma*****na did not correct the brain function deficits of depression, and in some regions made them worse. Of additional interest, those participants who used ma*****na from a young age had highly abnormal brain function in areas related to visuo–spatial processing, memory, self–referential activity and reward processing. The study found that early ma*****na use was also associated with lower IQ scores. The study, “Depression, ma*****na use and early–onset ma*****na use conferred unique effects on neural connectivity and cognition”, was published in the journal Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica.

This study supports my contention that while ma*****na may not be damaging to adults, it can be a serious problem for adolescents causing intellectual and motivational prloblems.

07/26/2016

Are you concerned that your children have noticed the problems between you and your spouse and might be trying to play you against each other? Let’s talk about how we can work on this important issue in couples counseling.

07/21/2016

Unfortunately, children are often able to learn at an early age when their parents aren’t quite on the same page with things. Finding common ground in counseling can help ensure that you’re a unified front when your children are around.

07/19/2016

Some substance abuse counseling programs offer the opportunity to work with or become a peer coach. Peer coaches or peer mentors are people who have confronted their own substance abuse issues and who are willing to listen, discuss, and provide support to others.

07/14/2016

A couples counselor can help you and your partner to modify dysfunctional behavior. Effective couples counselors work to change the way that you actually behave with each other, and help you try to improve your interactions.

07/12/2016

Through counseling, you will be able to develop increased confidence while exploring opportunities in your life for change. Your counselor will also help you better manage anxiety and stress, and improve personal skills that will help you to function more effectively.