Menopause is the 3rd phase of womanhood, and overuse of hormones may disrupt it.
Suzanne Somers and other thought-leaders in the medicalization of menopause movement have, whether purposely or not, promoted the idea that menopause is unnatural, an evolutionary oversight born of the overdeveloped human lifespan. The underlying assumption is that after a woman has reproduced, her role in society and to her own DNA has been eliminated. Grandmothers are optional.
Another line of thought proposed by anthropologists who study woman’s role in human culture over a lifespan suggests otherwise. Grandmothers are essential Continue reading →
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Posted in: life extension, menopause.
Thanks to beauty researchers Elaine Hatfield and Nancy Etcoff, there’s no longer any dispute that a man’s height and a woman’s figure will forever chart the course of their life, for better or for worse. Where there is debate is in answering the question Why are looks so important?
Nature Versus Nurture
Some sociologists and psychologists insist that these biases are a result of advertising and our image-saturated world, while other say it’s biology and these preferences exist to hep us select the most genetically fit mates.
A new study released this week adds firepower to this second, biologically based argument. Continue reading →
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Posted in: beauty, depression.
It’s the inflammation, stupid!
Last week, I met a wonderful lady with Alzheimer’s. So sweet, and pleasant, but she was about to move to an assisted living where her diabetes could be monitored during the day, and I could tell she was scared. I mentioned to her daughter that moving to an assisted living facility was going to be scary because–well, just imaging waking up in the dark and not knowing where you left your shoes, where the bathroom is, or if there is anyone else in the room! Then I asked her how she felt about her Alzheimer’s. Continue reading →
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Posted in: dementia.
Tagged: alzheimer's drug · dementia cure · early alzheimer's
A new study by John Guthman, PhD, director of counseling services at Hofstra University, uncovered more severe depression among college students. In 2009, 41% of students counseled at his college were diagnosed with moderate or severe depression, compared to 34% in 1997. Fewer were suicidal, however, perhaps due to improved services or perhaps because being surrounded by other depressed people makes you feel less alone.
Future Shocked?
Dr Guthman opines that the reason more students have more severe depressive symptoms is that more of them are being diagnosed with depression before coming to college. Doesn’t that just put off the real question: Why are more kids depressed? Continue reading →
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Posted in: Nutrition Topics, The Future of Medicine, animal welfare.
Tagged: depression · jamie oliver · nature deficit
Sauteed kale with garlic, butter, and red onions
The July 29, 2010 edition of BMJ Online caught many by surprise, when it reported on a statistical analysis of data from 11 clinical trials in which women took calcium supplements without vitamin D in hopes of preventing fractures. The authors discovered that, not only did the calcium do almost nothing to prevent fractures, there were slightly more heart attacks in the group of women taking calcium supplements.
If you have osteoporosis, you may wonder: What should I be doing for my bones?
Here’s the wrong answer:
People with osteoporosis should be taking medications, not supplements, to treat the disease.” –Dr John Cleland
Continue reading →
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Posted in: bone health, supplements.
Tagged: calcium supplements · fosamax · heart attacks · osteoporosis · osteoporosis treatment without drugs
Premature Osteoporosis Causes Early Onset "Dowager's Hump"
Common epilepsy and mood drug blocks collagen-making bone cells
New discoveries highlight what may be the missing link in the search for better ways to prevent and treat osteoporosis: Collagen. Typically, the focus is on calcium supplementation, or drugs, vitamins, and hormones that affect calcium metabolism. Doctors at Orthopedic Hospital in Shropshire, United Kingdom, discovered that a common mood-stabilizing drug called valproic acid also blocks bone’s ability to make collagen by sixty percent, by blocking the action of bone-building cells called fibroblasts.
Continue reading →
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Posted in: bone health.
Tagged: diet for osteoporosis · nutrition for bone health · osteoporosis treatment without drugs
