EXERCISE can overpower depression
Exercise has a positive effect on depression, a dissertation from Sweden’s Sahlgrenska Academy has revealed. The researcher evaluated exercise as an add-on therapy to antidepressant medication. The study divided 62 individuals with diagnosed clinical depression into three groups, in which two participated in two different types of exercise with a physiotherapist twice a week for 10 weeks, while the third, the control group, did not participate in systematic exercise. “In our follow-up interviews for the study, participants spoke about how they felt alive again and became more active. One woman said: “The workout kickstarts my body and helps me get the strength to crawl out of this cocoon that I am in.” People who participated in exercise aimed at increasing physical fitness improved their mental health compared with the control group. Even participants who were taught about their basal body awareness by the physiotherapist reduced their depressive symptoms, although not as significantly.
Diabetes rate up 123 per cent since 1990
India is witnessing a diabetes epidemic and the disease has emerged as one of the most arduous health challenges. A latest study shows that diabetes rate has increased by around 45 per cent globally and jumped 123 per cent in India between 1990 and 2013. These staggering figures are a part of a global study conducted by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington. The study, based on the analysis of 301 acute and chronic diseases in 188 countries, said the disease which was more prevalent in rich countries is now picking up in developing nations. The emergence of this disease is linked to the economic development of India over the last two decades.
here’s how sleep affects memory
A new study has integrated neuroscience and psychological research to reveal how sleep is more complex than imagined. It shows in animal models that sleep suppresses the activity of certain nerve cells that promote forgetting, insuring that at least some memories will last. Senior author Ron Davis said many scientists have tried to figure out how we learn and how our memories become stabilised, but far less attention has been paid to forgetting, which is a fundamental function for the brain and potentially has profound consequences for the development of memory therapeutics. The study shows that increasing sleep, with either a sleep-promoting drug or by genetic stimulation of the neural sleep circuit, decreases signaling activity by dopamine, while enhancing memory retention. Conversely, increasing arousal stimulates dopamine signaling and accelerates forgetting.