stressful Archives - Amazing Health Advances

Scientists Find INTRICATE Connection Between Breast Cancer and Depression

AHA Publisher — Wed, 03 Nov 2021 07:00:00 +0000

Stephanie Woods via NaturalHealth365 – It is estimated that 1 in 8 women in the United States will develop breast cancer at some point in her lifetime. That’s about 13% of the population. A cancer diagnosis can leave you feeling scared, overwhelmed, and stressed but researchers are now drawing a link between breast cancer and depression while making an unsettling discovery. A review and analysis of several studies, published in August 2020 in Molecular Psychiatry found depression affects breast cancer in several ways: Recurrence of cancer – 24% increase All-cause mortality – 30% increase Breast cancer-specific mortality – 2% increase Pay Attention: These Symptoms Could Indicate a More Serious Problem Than Sadness Sadness is a normal emotion in its appropriate context. Everyone gets sad now and then and that sadness may last a few minutes, a few hours, or a few days. We, humans, are emotional creatures and sadness is just a part of our emotional palette. But when those feelings drag on for a week or more and interfere with your daily life, it is becoming a problem. Depression is very common and just about everyone experiences symptoms of depression from time to time. The symptoms can be subtle, but when you can tick just four or five boxes on this list, you are likely dealing with depression. Sadness that drags on Difficulty finding the good in things Difficulty finding anything good in your life Change in appetite – increase or decrease Change in weight – increase or decrease Loss of pleasure or interest in activities you once enjoyed Fatigue “Heavy” feeling like it’s too much effort to get up, move, etc. Hopelessness Sleep difficulties Lack of motivation Feelings of worthlessness Thoughts of suicide or death Thoughts that the world would be better without you in it Unable to get up to go to work, take care of kids, etc. Feelings of helplessness Brain fog or difficulty sorting your thoughts Breathing, blinking your eyes, everything feels like work Lack of concentration Irritability or lack of patience Feelings of being dull or that the world is dull, colorless Ruminating on your situation, events, the past, etc. Gastrointestinal issues such as nausea Feelings of emptiness If these feelings and symptoms persist, especially past about ten days or two weeks, or if your feelings continue to intensify, you are likely experiencing serious depression. What Is at the Root of Your Depression? Many people cite an imbalance in certain chemicals in the brain as the cause of depression. However, while brain chemicals do play a part, there are other factors that impact your mood and mental health as well: Medications you take (including opiates for pain, and certain hormonal therapy medications) Poor dietary and /or an inability to sleep well Cancer treatments like chemotherapy Your brain’s mood regulation is faulty Stressful life events You have a genetic vulnerability Medical conditions or issues A diagnosis of breast cancer is an extremely stressful life event. The condition itself can cause or exacerbate depression, as can cancer medications. When you put that all together, it’s no surprise that a person with breast cancer may experience depression. But knowing the impact that depression has on your prognosis, it is important to take steps to manage your depression, so you have the strength to fight. Here Are 5 Ways to Manage Depression While Managing Breast Cancer If you feel that you are depressed, talk to an integrative physician. Together you can discuss your symptoms and feelings, then sort it out to determine if you are indeed depressed or if you are experiencing severe fatigue from the chemo and medications. It is important to keep digging until you find out what is causing your depression. It could be a hormonal issue, your meds, the entire situation, fear, grief, or any combination. Finding the source though will allow you to treat the root of the problem instead of just putting a band-aid on it. You may need to change medications and your doctor may prescribe you antidepressant medication or suggest working with a health coach. No doubt, managing cancer is tough enough. But, managing cancer and depression is too much. Try these tips to manage depression while you manage cancer. Keep healthy habits. Eat a healthy diet, get some exercise, get enough sleep, stay hydrated, all these things help keep you balanced and healthy, inside and out. Get social. While your first impulse may be to isolate yourself, resist that urge! Spend time with family and friends and surround yourself with the people who love you. Set realistic goals. Break large chores into several smaller ones. Don’t try to do it all in a day. You don’t have to do it all, and you shouldn’t, so don’t try. Keep a gratitude journal. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy, just a small notebook that you use to write down the things you are thankful for. You can write about people or things you are thankful for, paste pictures in there, or add mementos, jokes, comics, anything that makes you smile. Talk to someone. Talk to a health coach, therapist, pastor, friend, someone who will let you vent and help you work through all the feelings that you are dealing with. Depression doesn’t have to be part of your cancer journey. If you are experiencing feelings of depression or sadness that won’t go away, don’t wait to see what happens. Talk to your doctor and begin taking steps to manage it. Remember, you don’t have to accept depression as just a part of cancer, fight back. You can find your joy again. Sources for this article include: BreastCancer.org Nature.com NIH.gov BMJ.com Health.Harvard.edu BreastCancer.org FredHutch.org To read the original articles click here.

The post Scientists Find INTRICATE Connection Between Breast Cancer and Depression appeared first on Amazing Health Advances.

Stressed? 11 Surprising Tools to Combat Daily Stress

AHA Publisher — Thu, 07 Oct 2021 07:00:48 +0000

Dr. Don Colbert – “Stressed” seems to be the baseline state for many modern adults. It’s no wonder. Lives have become more stressful in the last couple years. Seemingly normal everyday decisions and life, from healthcare to kids’ schooling to taking care of aging parents weigh heavy. It is vital that we proactively combat daily stress throughout each day. Why? Stress isn’t just an uncomfortable feeling. It’s actually a progression of reactions in your body that can have devastating health consequences both directly and indirectly. Directly, chronic elevated cortisol (the “stress hormone”) wreaks havoc on body systems. Indirectly, stress can lead us to long lasting feelings of depression, unhealthy eating, isolation, reduced motivation and more. How Stress Affects Your Health High levels of mental stress can be devastating to your brain, your health, your relationships, and your immune system. Chronically elevated cortisol levels can affect all our body’s systems. Cortisol is a hormone that’s released by the adrenal glands when the body faces stress. In modern times, this stress is often more mental than physical and usually has no outlet. For many, it’s chronic. It builds. And, it does damage. High blood cortisol levels are correlated with weight gain and impaired loss, altered blood pressure, negative impacts on mood, sleep and energy, an increased incidence of blood sugar and heart health issues, and potentially lower brain volume and memory challenges (1). What can you do? Try our 10 Effective Tools to Combat Daily Stress! 11 Surprising Tools to Combat Daily Stress 1. ADD NATURE’S BEST STRESS RELIEF EACH DAY Did you know there’s an all-natural oil that is effective against stress? Hemp oil, specifically nano-particle oils like those in Dr. Colbert’s Nano-Science Hemp Oil, promotes health across the body’s systems. It is a broad-spectrum hemp oil that is organically grown, vegan, and GMO-free. In terms of health, it have been shown to: Support healthy, stable moods (2) Promote stress relief and normalized cortisol levels Support comfortable, healthy joints (3) Encourage healthy sleep habits (4) Promote healthy skin with fewer irregularities and blemishes (5) Support healthy brain and nervous system functions (6) Encourage healthy cardiovascular functions and normalized inflammatory actions (7) Why it’s surprising: Hemp oil is more effective than most plant compounds at combating stress! 2. CALMLY BREATHE IN AND OUT Did you know you can combat stress with your lungs? It’s true. You can calm your heart, your brain, and your body by breathing calmly. Try this: While pressing your tongue strongly against the roof of your mouth, breathe in slowly. Then, allow your tongue to completely relax and lower, even allowing your mouth to hang open if you want, and slowly breathe out. Do this for an entire minute. Why it’s surprising: Breathing is one of the most simple human function. Controlling it can help you control your stress. 3. EXERCISE, OUTDOORS IF POSSIBLE When you exercise, you release your body’s own ability to combat stress. In fact, studies suggest that exercise can improve anxiety symptoms or stressed moods especially in those who have a history of dealing with chronic stress (15). It’s interesting. Exercise can actually increase stress hormones acutely. However, these hormones quickly decrease back to healthy levels and long-term stress outcomes improve (8). What’s more, moods improve when you get outside. If you don’t know where to start, start walking. Here are 10 Amazing Benefits of Walking! Why it’s surprising: We all know exercise is good for you. You can double your stress reduction by getting outside while exercising! 4. LAUGH ANY CHANCE YOU GET, ESPECIALLY WITH FRIENDS & LOVED ONES If life doesn’t seem pleasant, fun, or funny at the moment, you’ll have to go out of your way to proactively laugh. It may seem silly. But, if you prioritize laughter, you will reduce stress. Start by reading your favorite funny author, spending time with a great friend, listening or watching a favorite comedian or show, or hanging out with children. Amazingly, laughter is considered a scientific, effective, non-invasive therapy for improved mental health and mood. In fact, it’s been found that laughter alters dopamine and serotonin activity, and causes an increase in endorphins. These chemicals decrease discomfort, cortisol (9), and depressed moods (10). Why it’s surprising: Laughter is such a gift in the human experience. Indulge in it for a free stress-buster. 5. STAY HYDRATED WITH A STRESS-BUSTING TEA Did you know that dehydration can increase cortisol? Dehydration is linked to increased saliva and blood cortisol. Amazingly, multiple studies have found that dehydrated athletes have more circulating cortisol than hydrated ones (11). Of course, water is a great choice for hydration. But, you can take it a step further and drink cortisol-reducing black and/or green tea. Tea is a health-promoting drink that you can use as a tool to combat stress daily. In studies, tea consumers reported a higher “sense of relaxation,” lower blood platelet activation, better heart health indicators, brain health, oral health, and a fiery metabolism (14). Take it one step further and flavor your tea with Organic Fermented Green Supremefood®. Why it’s surprising:Many think tea itself is dehydrating. It’s only a very gentle diuretic and can be used for stress-busting hydration. 6. GET INTO THE KETO ZONE® TO EAT HEALTHY FOODS THROUGHOUT THE DAY You can also combat daily stress by improving your diet. A haphazard diet, a high-sugar diet, or an ultra-processed diet can be detrimental to your health and stress levels. Here’s how to improve your diet : Ditch the low-calorie, high-carb diets. Often, dieters following these strategies are left feeling hungry. Hunger promotes feelings of overwhelm and stress. Increase foods that promote satiety and satisfaction like healthy fats. Remove processed sugars and carbohydrates from your diet as much as possible. Sugars lead to energy crashes and increased feelings of stress. How? The best way to get started is to get the book: Dr. Colbert’s Keto Zone Diet Book. You will find how to cut carbs and get into ketosis. Then, continue to follow our posts, recipes, Facebook groups, and more to keep going. You can also join our FREE 21-Day Keto Zone Challenge! Why it’s surprising: Many people eat without thinking it affects their mental health. What you eat matters when it comes to stress. 7. PRAY WITH GRATITUDE No matter the conflicts you’re facing, the practice of daily gratitude and prayer can change everything. In fact, practicing gratitude has been proven to support decreased cortisol and stress levels. Moreover, prayer is a wonderful gift for spiritual health. Prayer is thought to increase the secretion of neurotransmitters, such as dopamine. These compounds decrease cortisol while promoting relaxation, focus, and motivation. Of course, for believers, prayer and gratitude to God goes beyond mental health. Our spiritual health is the foundation of everything else! Why it’s surprising: Gratitude and prayer are available to you all day, every day. You can choose them and thereby choose to reduce your stress. 8. CLEAR THE CALENDAR Some stress is self-induced. Sometimes, we say “yes” to too many activities. Sometimes, we are required to live within a busy schedule. As much as it’s dependent on you, clear your schedule to combat daily stress. It’s okay to spend time at home with little to do. It’s okay to allow kids to play without a “formal class or structure.” Give yourself a break. Why it’s surprising: While we often feel like stress is heaped onto us, many times we simply over-schedule ourselves and our families. It’s okay to do less. Slow and simple lives have a lot of health benefits. 9. USE POSITIVE LANGUAGE AND THOUGHTS TO SOOTHE STRESS Your words can shape your world. In fact, you have a lot of power to combat daily stress with your language. In fact, even when patients are recovering from chronic illness, optimistic language and optimism have been shown to improve outcomes (12). How? Use the word “challenges” rather than “problems.” Talk about difficult or new situations as opportunities to grow and learn. Acknowledge stressful situations and discuss helpful actions such as prayer, talking, and habits to address them. Avoid using absolute terms like “always” and “never,” and acknowledge difficult seasons with hopefulness. Talk to yourself with love and care, just as you would to a friend. Capture and replace negative self-talk with positive. What’s more, optimism is thought by some to be a fountain of youth! That’s some great news. Something that won’t cost you a dime can help you reduce stress while increasing youthfulness! Why it’s surprising: You can change your entire day by changing the way you talk to yourself and think. Start “capturing” the negative and flipping it to the positive. 10. PUT DOWN THE PHONE AND THE REMOTE Sure, we all need to “tune in” to know what is happening in the world. However, increasingly, we’re tuning in too much. We are now inundated with news nonstop. We see struggles from every corner of the world, sometimes truthfully and sometimes grossly exaggerated. What’s this doing to our stress levels? Recent studies suggest more media consumption means more feelings of stress, depression, and anxiety (15). Instead of tuning into a device for countless hours, get your news in small doses from a trusted source. Then, proactively put it down and tune into your physical world and the people present in your life. Why is this surprising? For many, stress actually increases media consumption, which can then exacerbate stress. It takes proactive action to stop this negative cycle. 11. PRIORITIZE SLEEP No matter the situation, you can combat daily stress and improve mental health with adequate sleep. In fact, adults should all aim to get 7-9 hours of good quality sleep each night. While adequate sleep is not always easy or even feasible, it’s a crucial health habit. The alternative, lack of sleep, can impair melatonin levels and cortisol, increase the risk of metabolic issues and weight gain, and generally deteriorate well-being. What’s more, an overload of stress can be the cause of poor sleep (13), making the sleep-stress cycle a potential threat to health. Aim for more sleep and less stress this week! Why it’s surprising: Sleep is not a waste of time. In fact, it may be the most important activity when it comes to mental health. Bottom Line Life is not easy, and it feels like it’s getting tougher in many ways. Decide today that your health is priceless to you. Combat daily stress with our tools. Every other part of your life will benefit from less cortisol. Take action today! To read the original article click here.

The post Stressed? 11 Surprising Tools to Combat Daily Stress appeared first on Amazing Health Advances.

Keep Your Friends Close and Your Cortisol Levels Low for Life

AHA Publisher — Thu, 08 Jul 2021 07:00:47 +0000

Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology via EurekAlert – Directing a meeting, dialing up an old acquaintance, dictating the perfect tuna salad sandwich across a drive-through window. For business and for pleasure, human beings are in constant communication. Our proclivity for socialization is lifelong, equally prominent in the lives of adolescents and adults. A recent study determined key differences in the ways that various age groups communicate, as well as one conversational component that stands the test of time: friendship. Specifically, bonds between individuals who identify as female. Led by former Beckman Institute postdoctoral researchers Michelle Rodrigues and Si On Yoon, an interdisciplinary team evaluated how interlocutors’ age and familiarity with one another impacts a conversation, reviewing the interaction’s overall effectiveness and stress responses generated as a result. The study, titled “What are friends for? The impact of friendship on communicative efficiency and cortisol response during collaborative problem solving among younger and older women,” was published in the Journal of Women and Aging in May 2021. Two hypotheses form the foundation of this female-focused study. First, the tend-and-befriend hypothesis, which challenges the traditionally masculine “fight-or-flight” dichotomy. “Women have evolved an alternative mechanism in response to stress,” said Rodrigues, who is currently an assistant professor in the Department of Social and Cultural Sciences at Marquette University. “In order to deal with stress, women can befriend female peers.” The team also tested the socio-emotional selectivity hypothesis, which postulates a social “pruning” as humans advance in age and pursue more intimate, higher-quality circles of friends. The introduction of age as a variable is novel in the field and stems from an interdisciplinary Beckman collaboration. “I was working with several different groups in several different disciplines, coming from the perspective of studying friendship but having previously done research on adolescent girls, but not older women,” Rodrigues said. She combined forces with then-Beckman-postdoc Si On Yoon, who was studying the cognitive mechanisms of natural conversation across the lifespan, including healthy younger and older adults. “My research program was focused on language measures in social interactions, and I was glad to work with Dr. Rodrigues to develop an integrative approach including both language processing and physiological measures to study social interactions,” said Yoon, who is currently an assistant professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at the University of Iowa. The interdisciplinary team merged both theories into a single query: Across women’s lifespans, how are the tendencies to “tend and befriend” as well as socially select reflected in their communication? They tested a pool of 32 women: 16 “older adults” aged 62-79, and 16 “younger adults” aged 18-25. Each participant was either paired with a friend (a “familiar” conversation partner) or a stranger (“unfamiliar”). The partnerships underwent a series of conversational challenges, wherein the participant instructed her partner to arrange a set of tangrams in an order that only the former could see. The catch? Each shape was abstract, their appearances purposefully difficult to describe. “You could look at one [tangram] and say, ‘This looks like a dog.’ Or, you could say, ‘This looks like a triangle, with a stop sign, and a bicycle wheel,'” Rodrigues said. This exercise helped quantify each conversation’s efficiency: partners who achieved the desired tangram arrangement in fewer words were considered more efficient, and pairs who needed more words to complete the task were considered less efficient. The researchers found that while the younger adult pairs communicated more efficiently with familiar partners than their older counterparts, they communicated less efficiently with unfamiliar partners; alternatively, the older adults demonstrated conversational dexterity, quickly articulating the abstract tangrams to friends and strangers alike. “A referential communication task like this requires that you see where the other person is coming from. It seems like the younger adults are a little more hesitant in trying to do that, whereas the older adults have an easier time doing that with strangers,” Rodrigues said. This was not predicted based on the socio-emotional selectivity hypothesis, which anticipated a correlation between age and social isolation. “Even though older adults choose to spend more time with people who matter to them, it’s clear that they have the social skills to interact with unfamiliar people if and when they choose to,” Rodrigues said. Rodrigues’ team also measured salivary cortisol to quantify and compare participants’ stress levels throughout the testing process. “When you experience something stressful, if you have a stress response system that’s working as it should, the result is an elevated amount of cortisol, our primary stress hormone, which then tells our bodies to release glucose into our bloodstreams,” she said. “That’s reflected in our saliva about 15 to 20 minutes after we experience it. If we see a rise in salivary cortisol from an individual’s baseline levels, that indicates that they are more stressed than they were at the time of the earlier measurements.” Across both age groups, those working with familiar partners had consistently lower cortisol levels than those working with unfamiliar partners. “A lot of the research on the tend-and-befriend hypothesis has only focused on young women, so it’s great to have these results that pull that out to the end of life. We can see that friendship has that same effect throughout the lifespan. Familiar partners and friendship buffer stress, and that’s preserved with age,” Rodrigues said. To read the original article click here.

The post Keep Your Friends Close and Your Cortisol Levels Low for Life appeared first on Amazing Health Advances.

Feeling Burnt Out? These 7 Mental-Health Techs Can Help

AHA Publisher — Tue, 02 Feb 2021 08:00:51 +0000

Abigail Klein Leichman via Israel21c – Anxiety, depression, burnout, loneliness –2020 was the most stressful year in many people’s lives, according to an international study from Oracle and Workplace Intelligence. The study revealed that 78 percent of the global workforce aged 22 to 74 feels higher levels of daily stress and anxiety than ever before. Eighty-five percent reported their mental state is harming their sleep, physical health, happiness at home, and relationships with family and friends. So far, not surprising. But the study also found that 82% of 12,347 employees, managers, HR leaders, and C-level executives from across 11 countries would prefer to try an artificially intelligent technological solution for their mental-health issues before turning to a human for help. It’s fair to say that their answers reflect a growing trend in the broader population as everyone has gotten comfortable with video conferencing and other tech tools. And that means these Israeli technologies and apps to improve mental health are coming to market at exactly the right time. Some can be effective on their own or as a first line of defense, while others aid professional clinicians in bringing relief to their patients. CalmiGo Dendro Technologies claims that using its CalmiGo device for a few minutes each day can reduce symptoms of anxiety and stress, change the stress response and shorten episodes of distress. The $180 device has three components: a personalized breathing regulator using lights and vibrations; multisensory stimulation for grounding and focus; and a relaxing aromatherapy scent based on lavender. The device is geared for all ages. It was tried on students with test anxiety at private university IDC-Herzliya and is being evaluated for cancer patients at Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center. The US Department of Veterans Affairs subsidizes the cost of CalmiGo for veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety. CalmiGo’s cofounder, Adi Wallach, partnered with physician and serial entrepreneur Dr. Orna Levin to develop the device due to her own struggles with anxiety attacks. MindReset British “mental coach” Matt Hudson helps clients de-stress and overcome various mental health conditions. Due to congenital hearing problems, he can pick up tiny nonverbal signs of physiological stress, such as eye movements, and then helps clients vanquish those subconscious stress triggers. Hoping to make his technique available widely, Hudson contacted Jerusalem-based Umoove, an innovator of mobile eye-tracking technology. Together, they developed and launched the MindReset stress-busting app for iOS and Android. The two-minute voice-led sessions pinpoint subconscious stress triggers while the phone’s camera observes eye movements and processes the images securely on the phone. A visual element interrupts the brain’s reaction to the trigger, resulting in immediate reduction of stress levels that can be measured by monitoring devices such as Garmin watches. A test carried out on Garmin wearers found that 90% had a measurable decrease in daily average stress levels during the first week of using MindReset for a few minutes a day. “You don’t need to dive into your trauma or negative experiences or even to know exactly what they are on a conscious level,” says Yitzi Kempinski, founder-CEO of Umoove and CTO of MindReset. “And the amazing thing is that this app can make a significant improvement very quickly.” Kempinski tells ISRAEL21c that ongoing studies show initial promising results for MindReset’s impact on stress, work burnout and depression, as well as “Long Covid” (long-term mental and physical effects of Covid-19). The company will soon launch a new version with specially designed programs for people dealing with chronic stress, chronic fatigue, depression and more. “Anxiety and chronic stress are growing rapidly worldwide, especially lately with the Covid-19 pandemic and all that comes with it,” said Hudson. “There are many meditation apps out there, but most people don’t have time or patience to meditate effectively. So, a solution that is both effective but only takes moments is just what is needed.” Predictix Clinical depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide. Yet it’s estimated that half of the people treated for depression go through trial and error to find a medication providing complete relief. Israeli mental health startup Taliaz recently received CE (European Union) approval for Predictix Digital, an artificial intelligence (AI) tool providing instant digital prescribing recommendations during a patient’s face-to-face or virtual visit. Predictix Digital analyses each patient’s clinical and demographic data, then translates these thousands of data combinations into a recommendation report that ranks antidepressants by their predicted efficacy and anticipated side effects. Wisdo The Wisdo app provides access to a social network where users can connect over mutual experiences with more than 100 concerns such as “coping with depression,” “heartbreak” and “loneliness.” Cofounder and CEO Boaz Gaon got the idea for the app when seeking emotional support during his father’s eight-year battle with cancer. Its tagline is “Learn from people who’ve been there.” Wisdo was Google Play’s #1 app for social impact and personal growth in 2019 and is a five-time App Store “App of the Day.” MoodKnight by 4Girls MoodKnight analyzes social-media posts in Hebrew or English, using artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning and natural language processing, to detect and classify mental-health distress such as loneliness, anxiety, violence victimization and suicidal thoughts. Instances are detected and ranked by severity — low, medium (professional help needed) or high (emergency) – and sends an alert to the client. For now, MoodKnight is working with Israel’s Ministry of Health and Ministry of Welfare and Social Services. Potential clients include mental-health divisions of hospitals and HMOs that want to track patients for risk assessment, as well as helplines, e-therapy and telemedicine providers, parenting applications and social-media platforms themselves. “Our technology is trained to look at people ages 12 to 30 because these are the people sharing their distress online,” says head of business development Amir Gefen, whose PhD in education focused on adolescent cyberbullying. “We are raising funds and looking to acquire commercial clients for this technology,” Gefen tells ISRAEL21c. “We could collaborate with other mental health and wellness applications,” Gefen adds. “Our technology will help them fit their app to the needs of the users. Right now, these apps are based on self-reporting. We can go beyond that by analyzing a text written by the person.” GGTUDE GGtude offers a variety of free iOS and Android apps that guide users through cognitive behavioral therapy techniques for changing negative thought habits. The apps aim to improve emotional wellbeing in the areas of self-esteem; OCD, anxiety and depression; and self-care. Two to three daily exercises per topic are available for free. Sessions last three minutes each. A paid premium membership entitles the user to more than 500 daily exercises. GGtude has published seven research studies on its mobile mental health platforms. Its personalized content delivery engine is at the core of BrainsWay’s newly launched wellness app for depression. BRAINSWAY BrainsWay’s main product is a non-invasive deep transcranial magnetic stimulation (Deep TMS) platform technology. Itis FDA approved for treating major depressive disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder and smoking addiction. Clinical trials are underway for various psychiatric, neurological, and addiction disorders. The BrainsWay coil technology inside a flexible helmet is designed to maximize electrical stimulation of deep brain regions. The product to treat major depression – for patients who tried antidepressant medications with no improvement — is also in clinical trials at various stages for the treatment of bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and schizophrenia. To read the original article click here. For more articles from Israel21c click here.

The post Feeling Burnt Out? These 7 Mental-Health Techs Can Help appeared first on Amazing Health Advances.

How Trauma Causes Inflammation & How to Begin Healing

AHA Publisher — Mon, 16 Nov 2020 08:00:00 +0000

Dr. Caroline Leaf – In Western thought, we see mental and physical health as two separate things, but this is not the case. Our thoughts and emotions, choice, life events, trauma and so on affect both our mental AND physical wellbeing. In this podcast (episode #225) and blog, I speak with leading functional medicine practitioner Dr. Will Cole about this mind-body connection, ways to reduce stress-induced inflammation, what adaptogens we should be taking to strengthen the mind and body, the best supplements for brain health, how to recognize and heal orthorexia, and more! When it comes to the mind-body connection, how we handle stress is incredibly important. Stressful life events and situations amplify our fight or flight state, which impacts the body’s adaptation to stress (through the HPA axis) and can negatively affect our health if not dealt with. In fact, although the stress hormone cortisol is designed to help regulate inflammation, if we are constantly stressed out, the flight or fight state upsets our natural cortisol cycles. This, in turn, can have many health repercussions because it throws the body into a state of disordered inflammation. Our body essentially starts working against us instead of for us! One example of this is adrenal fatigue. Adrenal fatigue does not just have to do with our adrenal glands; it is a brain-based issue, and it is related to our stress response and the HPA axis. It is related to how stressed we are, and for how long. If we want to start combating the negative effects of toxic stress on the body, we need to look at our lifestyle choices, including what we eat. As Dr. Cole notes in his book, The Inflammation Spectrum, every food we eat either fuels inflammation or fights it. This means that our ability to handle stress and deal with trauma will be affected by our diet. Food is medicine, yes, but this also means you should find out what your body loves—what is medicine for you? There is no cookie-cutter approach for everyone. Processed and refined sugar, for example, is an inflammatory food for everyone, but we will react to sugar in different ways and at different levels. There is an inflammation spectrum—everyone’s body is different. Just because it is your experience, doesn’t mean it is someone else’s experience. One thing that everyone can benefit from is adding adaptogens to their diet. As Dr. Cole describes in both Ketotarian and The Inflammation Spectrum, adaptogens are plant and earth medicines that are found all over the world. They have been used in traditional medicine to help bring balance to the body and promote healing and longevity. Science is only now starting to study adaptogens and showing how many of these plants (like holy basil and rhodiola) can bring back homeostasis in the brain and body by balancing the HPA axis and reducing toxic stress-induced inflammation. They are accessible, easy to use and are a great complement to any wellbeing regimen, as Dr. Cole noted in a recent guest blog on our site. They also help with memory formation and can improve our ability to handle anxiety. Adaptogens like chaga and lion’s mane mushrooms, for example, can boost brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which helps grow new neurons and improve neuroplasticity (the ability of the brain to change, adapt and grow). They essentially make us more resilient physically, which helps us deal with our issues mentally! Certain supplements can also help boost our diet and ability to handle stress: 1. Methylated B vitamins, which are needed for a healthy brain, hormone levels, immune system and so on. How much you need will depend on your unique health needs and biology, so see your health professional before taking any B vitamin supplements. In fact, methylation helps support good genetic function in the brain and body. How? As we now know, our genetics are not our destiny. They are light switches that are being constantly regulated by the choices we make every day and the environment we live in. Methylation is one way to make sure these light switches function as they should by switching on more good genes and switching off more bad genes. 2. Vitamin D3 and K2 is very important for the brain and immune system. D3 acts like a hormone and helps regulate many biological functions. K2 is also important and helps regulate inflammation and keep the body running well. Many people can’t get K1 from the plant foods they eat because their gut microbiome is comprised, so adding K2 to the diet through foods like organ meats, ghee, certain fermented foods and supplements can be helpful. 3. Curcumin, which helps balance inflammation levels. This gives turmeric its rich, yellow color. 4. Omega fish oil. You can get shorter train omegas from nuts and seeds, but the conversion is not always great. Fish or Krill oil supplements and wild-caught fish contain longer chain omegas, which are more bioavailable. 5. Probiotics, which help balance the microbiome and make sure the gut-brain connection functions as it should. Prebiotics, which are fibers in plant food that help feed the healthy bacteria in your gut, are also important. All these supplements are available on Dr. Cole’s website. Remember, when it comes to supplements and health products, you often get what you pay for. Mass-produced, cheaper health products generally do not always work or give you all the health benefits you expect. Some may even cause more harm than good, so always try find reputable companies that sell tested and good-quality products. And make sure to consult your health professional before taking any supplements, as everyone’s physical needs are different. We also need to remember that we cannot supplement our way out of a poor diet or toxic mindset. What we eat affects how we think, and what we think affects how we eat and our overall health, as I discuss in my book Think and Eat Yourself Smart. Mind management and self-regulating our thinking is essential when it comes to our health! We can go several weeks without eating, but we cannot go a few seconds without thinking. How we think about food is also important when dealing with disordered eating patterns like orthorexia. As Dr. Cole describes in his guest blog for our site, orthorexia is related to healthy eating—someone with orthorexia is hyper-focused and obsessed with healthy eating. Some of the warning signs (in context) are: A fear of food and how the body reacts to food Constantly judging others for eating a certain way Feeling isolated and avoiding going out to eat with friends If you or someone you know is battling with orthorexia, remember that you cannot stress and obsess your way into wellness. Just start where you are and at your specific capacity. Start low and slow, and don’t feel like you must solve all your problems over night. Try make incremental changes over time. The more you feel healthy, the more you will be healthy and make good lifestyle changes to sustain your sense of wellbeing. It is also important to remover that any wellness practice can be abused if your mind is not in a good place. So, always examine your intentions. Why are you doing this? What is your goal? How is it affecting you? Is this practice benefiting, or harming, your mental health?

The post How Trauma Causes Inflammation & How to Begin Healing appeared first on Amazing Health Advances.