Posts tagged with 'research'
Recent research: two papers on mindfulness & four on sleep
8th January 2009
Here are two papers on mindfulness and four on sleep. The Kuyken et al paper is important. It compares mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) with continuation antidepressants in the prevention of relapse in recurrent depression. The results are great - "Relapse/recurrence rates over 15-month follow-ups in MBCT were 47%, compared with …
Recent research: three papers on vitamin D, two on weight loss & one on IBS
2nd January 2009
Here's a gutsy, nutritional, low sunlight kind of blog post to suit our post-holiday season. First the gutsy bit. Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) - with its characteristic symptoms of abdominal pain, altered bowel habit, and possibly bloating - is very common, affecting about 15% of the population. Ford et al …
Recent research: prevention & treatment of overweight with changed eating behaviours, energy density & breastfeeding
26th December 2008
Here are six studies on eating and weight. The first, by Maruyama and colleagues, demonstrates a strong association between both "eating until full" and "eating quickly" and the chances of being overweight. The linked BMJ editorial by Denney-Wilson & Campbell discusses these findings further, including suggesting that "Clinicians should encourage …
Recent research: mind-body & body-mind effects for cancer, allergy, dementia, & mental health
18th December 2008
Here are five studies on the loose theme of how the mind affects the body, and the body affects the mind ... and that the distinction between mind and body is pretty arbitrary anyway. Using meta-analysis, Chida & colleagues highlight considerable evidence suggesting that stress-related psychosocial factors have an adverse …
Recent research: six studies on depression – bereavement, pregnancy, bipolar disorder, suicide, & stress in hospital staff
11th December 2008
Five of these six studies are from last month's American Journal of Psychiatry. Kendler et al discuss the many similarities and only occasional differences between bereavement-related and other life event-related depression - an issue explored further in Maj's editorial. Li et al show that depression in pregnancy (exacerbated further by …
Recent research: six studies on couples - attraction, touch, viewpoint, comparison, empathy & sex
4th December 2008
Here are half a dozen recent studies on men & women. Elliot & Niesta found that red, relative to other colours, lead men to view women as "more attractive and sexually desirable". Holt-Lundstad & colleagues randomized couples to a "support enhancement intervention" involving shared gentle massage for 30 minutes three …
Recent research: seven studies on diet, supplements & smoking
27th November 2008
Here are a couple of studies on smoking, a couple on B vitamins, a couple on vitamin D, and an intriguing study on iron. The smoking papers underline the varieties of damage this habit produces. So the Pasco et al study shows that, for women, being a smoker is associated …
Recent research: half a dozen studies on cognitive therapy
20th November 2008
Here are half a dozen recent studies involving cognitive therapy (CBT). The first by Craigie et al explores the use of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) to treat generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). Although, as one would expect, MBCT helped GAD sufferers, it was noteworthy that results "fall well short of outcomes …
Recent research: egosystem & ecosystem
13th November 2008
In the end the love you take is equal to the love you make. Beatles This is essentially the Beatles closing statement. It is the last lyric on the last album they recorded. (Let It Be was the last album they released, but it was recorded earlier). Every now and …
Recent research: fish and n-3 fatty acids
6th November 2008
Fish, fish oils, and n-3 fatty acids are often in the health news. Here are seven recent papers illustrating the breadth of fish oil relevance. The papers look at treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, the potential of flax as a dietary source of n-3 fatty acids, effects on indicators of cardiovascular …