Recent Blog Articles
Tick season is expanding: Protect yourself against Lyme disease
What? Another medical form to fill out?
How do trees and green spaces enhance our health?
A muscle-building obsession in boys: What to know and do
Harvard Health Ad Watch: New drug, old song, clever tagline
Concussion in children: What to know and do
What color is your tongue? What's healthy, what's not?
Your amazing parathyroid glands
When — and how — should you be screened for colon cancer?
Co-regulation: Helping children and teens navigate big emotions
Mind & Mood Archive
Articles
Can memory woes foretell a stroke?
Well-educated people who report memory problems may face a higher risk of stroke.
Minor memory slips—such as losing your keys or forgetting an acquaintance's name—are common as we age. However, people who express concern about their memory may have a heightened risk of stroke, particularly if they're highly educated, according to a study in the January 2015 Stroke.
Mindfulness and your dog
Mindfulness has garnered tremendous interest over the past decade. Research suggests that mindfulness — the ability to live each moment as it unfolds and accept it without judgment — can help reduce stress and enhance health.
Perhaps one of the greatest psychological benefits of interacting with a dog is the opportunity it provides to be more mindful — to purposely focus your attention on the present moment.
Relaxation techniques: Breath control helps quell errant stress response
The term "fight or flight" is also known as the stress response. It's what the body does as it prepares to confront or avoid danger. When appropriately invoked, the stress response helps us rise to many challenges. But trouble starts when this response is constantly provoked by less momentous, day-to-day events, such as money woes, traffic jams, job worries, or relationship problems.
Health problems are one result. A prime example is high blood pressure, a major risk factor for heart disease. The stress response also suppresses the immune system, increasing susceptibility to colds and other illnesses. Moreover, the buildup of stress can contribute to anxiety and depression. We can't avoid all sources of stress in our lives, nor would we want to. But we can develop healthier ways of responding to them. One way is to invoke the relaxation response, through a technique first developed in the 1970s at Harvard Medical School by cardiologist Dr. Herbert Benson. The relaxation response is a state of profound rest that can be elicited in many ways, including meditation, yoga, and progressive muscle relaxation.
The 4 best ways to maintain your brain
Images: Thinkstock Aerobic exercise is the best documented brain builder. |
The most conclusive evidence shows that combining activities that benefit body and soul also reduces the risk of dementia.
Ask the doctor: What can I do for antidepressant "discontinuation symptoms"?
Image: Thinkstock |
Q. I took a low dose of the antidepressant desipramine for more than two years for chronic pain. Once I started physical therapy, my pain improved so much that I quickly tapered off the medication. I have been off of it for a month now, but am still experiencing "discontinuation symptoms." I can't sleep well and feel a little dizzy. What can I do for this?
A. It can be liberating to realize that you no longer need to take a medication. However, sometimes you can't just throw your pills away. There are many medications (both psychoactive and otherwise) that require you to taper off slowly when it's time to stop them. Stopping such a medication too quickly will cause what are called rebound side effects. Desipramine (Norpramin) is a tricyclic antidepressant, one of the drug categories that require a slow taper.
Best ways to manage stress
Image: Thinkstock |
Goal setting and relaxation techniques reduce stress and ease the physical and emotional burden
it can take.
For a healthy brain, take all the prevention steps you can
Image: Thinkstock " Live an enriched life, and your mind will |
Diet and exercise are only part of it. Add heart health and staying mentally and socially active to keep your mind and memory sharp.
Foot massage: The pause that refreshes and is good for you!
Regular massage improves circulation, stimulates muscles, reduces tension, often eases pain
Your feet work hard for you every day. Especially at this busy time of year for many people — shopping, get-togethers with family, friends, co-workers, school events — there is no shortage of time spent on one's feet.
Just like your neck, back, and shoulders, your feet can also benefit from a regular rubdown. Foot massage improves circulation, stimulates muscles, reduces tension, and often eases pain. It also gives you a chance to check out your feet so you can get a jump on treating blisters, bunions, corns, and toenail problems.
From irritated to enraged: Anger's toxic effect on the heart
The effect is small and short-lived, but anger can trigger a heart attack, stroke, or risky heart rhythm.
Have you ever been so angry that it "made your blood boil"? In fact, anger can trigger physiological changes that affect your blood, temporarily elevating your risk of a heart attack or related problem. Research shows that in the two hours after an angry outburst, a person has a slightly higher risk of having chest pain (angina), a heart attack, a stroke, or a risky heart rhythm.
Recent Blog Articles
Tick season is expanding: Protect yourself against Lyme disease
What? Another medical form to fill out?
How do trees and green spaces enhance our health?
A muscle-building obsession in boys: What to know and do
Harvard Health Ad Watch: New drug, old song, clever tagline
Concussion in children: What to know and do
What color is your tongue? What's healthy, what's not?
Your amazing parathyroid glands
When — and how — should you be screened for colon cancer?
Co-regulation: Helping children and teens navigate big emotions
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