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There’s no doubt about it, the average American diet is atrocious. Give us the 44 ounce softdrinks, Big Macs, ice cream, and snack cakes, and we’ll take that every time over a healthy diet of fruit and vegetables. Obesity is referred to as an “epidemic” in America. I agree with all of that.[1] Here’s where I get off of the bus:
Maybe your mother didn’t cry, “Mangia!” when you ate dinner, like mine did. Still, you’re likely to whisper it to yourself. That’s because you possess a simple survival impulse: Eat until sated. Our neanderthink legacy is to store as much energy as possible, since calories were scarce and uncertain for most of human evolutionary history and our metabolism was set to guard against the possibility of starvation tomorrow. The problem is that eating more doesn’t sate us; we merely recalibrate how much we think we need.
Our evolved mind-set on food hinders us in several ways. Our instincts tell us to keep eating well beyond when we are sated. Worse, the foods we crave—calorie-dense fats and sugars—were once rare and valued as a bulwark against starvation; now they’re plentiful and harmful in excess. We don’t crave plants, precisely because they were more abundant in our past. And if we do manage to temporarily gain a handle on the gustatory Disneyland in which we live, our dietary rigor plummets once we’ve lost weight.(1)
So, the notion is that our Neanderthink makes us do it. For the sake of argument, let’s say I concede this point for a moment. What is the recommendation?
We’re good at rationalizations to avoid governing our food intake. We tell ourselves, “I can get away with eating this delicious morsel,” or “It’s too hard to deny myself this scrumptious ice cream.” By yielding to such urges, we ratchet upward the amount of sugar and fat we crave, because we are tampering with a hormonal system finely attuned to the lack of such concentrated energy. On the savannah, the sweetest confection was wild fruit.
Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma, famously summed up what you need to know to consume healthfully: “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” The method by which we might hew to this Paleolithic regimen can also be summed up in seven words: “Dieting gets easier if you don’t cheat.”
So the question is, how do the recommendations actually follow from the just so story? They don’t. It’s just, “Don’t eat too much, and eat mostly plants. Oh yeah, don’t cheat.” But this goes back to the premise of my original post, and that is that the Darwinian Psychology narrative is thought to add scientific authority to whatever is being discussed. Forget the fact that the conclusion does not follow from the premise in the article. That is irrelevant to why these folks invoke a Darwinian just so story. They think it adds credibility. For me, they just prevented the story from being printed out and handed to my patients, which could have been beneficial.
The same periodical also published an article entitled, How to Be a Good Storyteller not long before.(2)
Perhaps they find these articles unrelated, but I found them to be very related:
Stories also entertain, educate, and instill moral values—sometimes all at once. We can all tell narratives, whether in the classroom, the boardroom, or the living room, but it takes practice to become a fine raconteur.
It seems the folks over at Psychology Today have been getting their practice.
—References—
(1) Neanderthink: An Outsize Appetite, Courtesy of Evolution, Nando Pelusi Ph.D., (11/17/08), Psychology Today
(2) How to Spin a Good Story, Brian Andrew, (10/20/08), Psychology Today
—Footnotes—
[1] I have a simple experiment which I use to teach my patients about their diet. This one has to do with sugar, and more specifically folks who are addicted to soft drinks. Go two weeks without any soft drinks (it actually doesn’t matter if it’s a diet soft drink or regular), and then go out and buy the biggest soft drink you can. Then it will be clear to you what it does to your mind and body. This is something that has worked in each case. In fact, the research shows that drinking just one diet soft drink daily increases the risk of being overweight to an extent that is greater than regular soft drinks, although not by much. One diet soft drink daily increases your chances by approximately 42% whereas one sugar filled drink increases your chances by 38%. It goes up with each additional drink per day.
I am going to write an ongoing series on Darwinian Psychology (aka Evolutionary Psychology). Unfortunately, my chosen field (psychology) has probably generated more “just so”(1,2) stories than has biology. Paleontologist and Darwinist, Stephen J. Gould, wrote about “Darwinian Fundamentalism”,(3) and specifically singled out Darwinian Psychology for criticism. He also noted the similarity between Darwinism and fundamentalism:
But since the modern ultras [Ultra Darwinists] push their line with an almost theological fervor, and since the views of founding fathers do matter in religion, though supposedly not in science, Darwin’s own fierce opposition does become a factor in judgment.(3)
Equivalent of Darwinian Just So Story
I have noted an interesting phenomena among scientists and in “scientific” writings. Presenting a Darwinian “just so” story for the phenomena that you are discussing seems to provide the research with a veneer of scientific credibility. It is as if a Darwinian “just so” story is a suitable substitute for empirical data.
For those who study persuasion, they will note a similar phenomena in the general population. For example, people dressed in a suit and tie are more persuasive than those not dressed in this manner.(4) Authority is conferred to individuals dressed in this manner. For those of us who worked in an hospital setting in graduate school, we were always excited when we were able to wear a white lab coat, because the patients listened to us better and were more apt to follow our instructions.
As an aside, this may be related to evolutionary factors indicating intelligence. Intelligence among our ancestors may have been displayed by having unique abilities (such as making unique tools or being able to communicate in a way that less intelligent apes could not understand).[1] Over time, our ancestors would have developed a mutation to recognize these symbols as promoting survival, and would have thus been more attracted to individuals who displayed these symbols. [Yes, I'm being sarcastic here.]
So, I hope you enjoy this forthcoming series analyzing pseudoscientific Darwinian Psychology. There is a wealth of material upon which to draw. The motto for this area seems to be, “If it sounds good and references evolution, then it is science.”
—References—
(1) Just So Stories, Wikipedia
(2) Darwin Says “Just So…”
(3) Darwinian Fundamentalism, Stephen J. Gould, (1997)
(4) Perceived Symbols of Authority and Their Influence on Compliance, Bushman, B.J. (1984)
—Notes—
[1]. I have generated a Darwinian Just So Story to help provide credibility to this post. Did it work?
Women who deliver vaginally may be more responsive to their newborns in the early postpartum period than those who deliver via cesarean section, new research suggests.1
This has been speculated about for a long time, but new research shows that it is the case. I think it only makes sense. As humans, I think we are automatically more connected with others with whom we have suffered together. But, I think the other point is that this method is more natural (as God intended perhaps). I realize that there are many situations where this is not an option, but I also know that over the years, the decision of vaginal versus cesarean birth has been a matter of convenience. I don’t necessarily mean the woman either. I’ve heard stories about a doctor having to come in on a holiday to deliver a baby, and in order to get it over as soon as possible, opted for cesarean. Or worse, induced the birth and utilized forceps for the most rapid delivery possible. Doctors like their holiday times as much as anyone.
The research also found:
“We found a significant difference in activity in certain cortical and subcortical areas of the brain in this group of mothers who delivered vaginally compared with those who delivered by cesarean section. Broadly speaking, the cortical brain regions are believed to be important for regulating emotions and empathy,” principal investigator James Swain, MD, PhD, FRCPS, told Medscape Psychiatry.
This research is part of a longer term study examining the relationship between bonding at delivery method. The researchers reported that cesarean deliveries have increased from 4.5% in 1965 to 29.1% in 2006. Based on my observations, people who were born via cesarean section are more reactive to sudden changes, scared of surprises, and have more difficulty with life transitions.
I became the victim of one of his most violent crimes, and repressed the memories for 43 years until 2005. Dickinson meticulously planned a gang rape in my honor several days in advance. My life was derailed. I told no one — not even the rapist. Confronting Dickinson would mean acknowledging to myself that the rapes had actually occurred … too horrible for my conscious mind to accept, and at that time, the words drugged or raped never occurred to me. I forced myself into denial, refusing to believe it ever happened. The mind rejects whatever it deems as “unimaginable”. More on that later.1
There is a general defense mechanism that seems to explain all others to one extent or another. That defense mechanism is repression. All defense mechanisms involve a blocking of information from awareness. With the specific defense mechanism of repressed memories, the information is from one’s past. The quote above is from an individual who experienced horrific trauma, repressed it, and then recovered it later.
Freud rejected his earlier notion of widespread sexual abuse as fantasies. He simply could seem to deal with the implications. Later, therapists and shrinks in their exuberance, implanted many false memories through suggestion into their patients. As a result, many psychologists, completely rejected the notion of repressed memories. When what they should have learned is to be very careful, and to understand the issue in great detail. Part of the duty of a physician is, “first, do no harm.” This is also the duty of a shrink. By rejecting out of hand, the possibility of repressed memories, there are folks who will be harmed. I’ve seen a number of folks who thought “something might have happened,” but as far as I can tell nothing did. This is not generally how truly repressed memories emerge.
One also has to be very careful with the use of hypnosis in the recovery of repressed memories. This can easily implant false memories. That said, a very competent psychologist may help someone to recover memories in a very objective and sensitive way.
I write on the psychological aspects of atheism, because academic psychology and academic tradition has been biased and focused on the psychological aspects of belief in God. I feel there needs to be a little balance to this issue. Recently, there has been some research that seems a little more even-handed in the study of belief and disbelief. It is a very large and ongoing study.
I have noted before, the association between a poor relationship with one’s father and atheism. Paul Vitz noted this association for the most extreme atheists. The recent study presents some data on the issue in terms of what atheists and believers say about their relationship with their fathers.
There certainly is a correlation here. It looks as if approximately 56% of atheists believe that they had a good relationship with their father, whereas, 62% of believers believed they had a good relationship with their fathers. Granted, that’s only about a 6% difference. So, while the association I’ve noted between relationship problems with the father and atheism exists. It does not appear to be the whole story. I would also point out, that in treatment, that beliefs about one’s relationships with one’s parents often changes during the course of treatment. Patients often come to see their relationship with their parents in a new light–the light of today’s understanding. So, I will admit that the relationship may be less strong than what I have presented before, but certainly does exist. This factor with the mother, is not associated. The study also did not examine the strength of belief and association with the relationship with one’s parents (which is the notion of Paul Vitz).
I’ve also asserted the following before:
4). They portray themselves as enlightened, intelligent, tolerant, moral, caring, accepting, loving, peaceable, and kind. And sometimes, they really and truly are. I’ve known them and met them. However, they are not tolerant, in general, of the beliefs of “believers.” They can tolerate anything but that.
I think the data broadly supports this assertion. You can see more graphs here.
The data does seem to show that atheists (on average), view themselves as more intelligent than the rest of the population.
So, as you can see, 68% of atheists believe they are more intelligent than the average person, whereas, 52% of Christians believe they are more intelligent than the average person. This is a stronger association than the assocation between the relationship with the father and atheism. So, this confirms what I’ve stated with respect to intellectual elitism and atheism. However, I would also state that I have never seen a study of IQ scores of believers vs. atheists. So it is at least possible that their beliefs about their intelligence are accurate. But on average, in my opinion, this intellectual elitism does exist.
I will continue to examine these issues in Part VI.
((FOR THE EYES OF A SHRINK ONLY))
Other folks, please read at your own risk. Do I have your interest?
As a shrink, you really need to have several quotes at the ready–quotes possessing wisdom. Folks come to see you for wisdom, believe it or not. This is a piece of wisdom taught to me by my mentor. When folks come to see a shrink, they expect shrinks to have some wisdom. I’ll present some of the gems that I have acquired over the years. These are few and far between. I don’t learn these very often. I quote myself here a couple of times. I hope that’s not too vain. Are you a non-shrink and still reading? Hmmmmm. (Shrink raises one eyebrow, and then looks away while observing non-verbal behavior out of the corner of his eye).
ANGER
“No man is ever made braver through anger, except the one who would never have been brave without anger. It comes, then, not as a help to virtue, but as a substitute for it. And is it not true that if anger were a good, it would come naturally to those who are the most perfect? But the fact is, children, old men, and the sick are most prone to anger, and weakness of any sort is by nature captious.”1
“Be ye angry, and sin not.” (Ephisians 4:26).
“If you do not wish to be prone to anger, do not feed the habit; give it nothing which may tend to its increase.” (Epictetus).
“If you are patient in one moment of anger, you will escape a hundred days of sorrow.” (Chinese Proverb).
“Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.” 2
“Anger is part of being human. You’ll never get to a place where you’re never angry. That doesn’t happen for humans. At times, anger drives us to address things that we would not otherwise. So, it can be a positive motivation at times. You can tell it’s not positive by thinking about whether the other person is put beneath you as a human being. If so, then you are out of line.” — The Country Shrink
SUICIDE
“Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem.” (Author unknown)
“Folks who commit suicide make it more likely that their children or relatives will do the same. There is nothing more harmful to family members than for one of the family members to commit suicide. I’ve worked with people who had a family member commit suicide as a child. There are few traumas that are worse.” –The Country Shrink
…. To Be Continued–You didn’t expect me to reveal all of the scant wisdom I have in one post, did you? ….
What, you’re not a shrink and you’re still reading? For shame. For shame. Who woulda thought it?
1 http://praxeology.net/seneca2.htm
2 http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/29885.html
Some concepts in psychology are very difficult to explain. Part of the reason is that some concepts apply to one individual, but not to another. One of the challenges of being a shrink, is being patient enough to figure it out. Another thing is, that when you see a new patient, you never know for sure how long they will stick around.
What if the first session is the only session? Do you want to work to make it maximally therapeutic? But will that cause them to only come in for one session?
I find that as a shrink I have to pay attention to what I’m thinking and feeling and what I’m saying to a patient. If I find myself trying to convince a patient to stay in treatment for the long-term, I’ve very liked picked up on, an unconscious level, that they may well not stay in treatment. So far, every time I’ve noticed myself doing this, the patient doesn’t stay in treatment for very long.
They seem to stay a little longer if I point this fact out when I notice myself doing this, and we analyze their historical patterns for sticking with things. But still, it often ends up being a short-term treatment, when I think it really needs to be a longer term treatment. Perhaps, with time, I will figure out how to address these patterns in such a way that these folks stay in treatment.
As some examples, I’ve worked with a number of folks who have only seen a ‘therapist’ (I hate that term), for one to three sessions. Often they’ve seen several therapists for this many sessions. When I encounter this, I try to analyze the reasons why this occurs with the patient. Often, my experience is that that will stay two to four times longer in treatment with me, but then they drop out.
This is difficult for a shrink (or me), because I want to see good outcomes in every case. But this field teaches me on a daily basis to know my limits, and to strive for more understanding. So, while I strive to help my patients change their life patterns, I try to improve the patterns that I have with my patients. In the end, I am human, and make mistakes on a daily basis. Unfortunately, that is part of the human condition. All I can do, and you can do, is to work to see what mistakes have been made in the past, and work to prevent them from occurring again in the future.
I remember one fellow I saw. He was a bartender. Over the years, he joked to all of his friends, “I’ve been a bartender since I was six.” He started out by getting his father a new beer whenever requested (which was often). He didn’t know any different. This was normal family life to him. Then his father was killed in a truck driving accident when he was 8-years-old. His mother became extremely depressed and couldn’t function (couldn’t cook, couldn’t comfort, couldn’t provide parental correction, and so forth). So, he became the perfect boy (independent, high achieving, extremely helpful, protective of those with emotional needs, and so forth).
Unfortunately, he missed out on his childhood. When he became an adult, he dropped out of college, started using drugs, hooked up with women who were bad news, and generally disappointed his mother. She didn’t give him any attention or concern after the death of his father (she couldn’t). He missed his dad horribly. He became a bartender to repeat the early pattern (serving beer and liquor to folks). He also repeated a number of other patterns from his relationship with his father.
These things represent an unconscious wish “for a better outcome.” The person wishes greatly that things had not turned out the way that they had. They keep repeating, in ineffective ways, the early traumatic experience. Unconsciously, they are trying to resolve the early problem–to make things turn out differently. On another level, their symptoms are communicating the problem from their past. When they end up finding a shrink who can understand these things, they are finally able to communicate, verbally, what bothered them so horribly. Unfortunately, with today’s training, there are not many shrinks who can understand this unconscious communication. It’s rare that I don’t see this communication. I see it every single day in my practice. The symptom communicates the problem.
Just as when you have an intense pain in your shoulder communicates that there might be a physical problem with your shoulder. This prompts you to seek medical attention. Life patterns and problems also prompt people to seek psychological help. Too often, this is not recognized in my opinion.
The first thing to consider when you have apparent physiological problems, is that you have a physical problem (a problem with your body). You want to have this checked out by a doctor. Even in cases where many doctors think that the problem is psychological, a significant percentage of case are actually a physiological problem.
Now, there are also a number of cases that have a psychological component. That doesn’t mean that the pain or the symptom is not “real.” Because it certainly is—all symptoms are experienced in the mind. If your finger is cut, it feels like it is in your finger where the pain is, but it is actually ‘felt’ in your mind. Pain signals are sent from the site of the injury to the brain.
It’s been estimated that up to 90% of doctor’s visits are for difficulties that have a psychological component.1 Perhaps that’s a bit misleading, because of the strong link between the mind and the body.
When I first started graduate school, I noticed that every break I had, I got sick! There are different theories as to why this happens. But I found the most important component was my thinking. Now that’s odd isn’t it? Now, during the time of year when people have more of the flu, colds, etc.. (winter), we all notice when others are sniffling, coughing, and blowing their noses. We think, “I hope I don’t get that.” But, we end up getting it anyway, a lot of the time. Oddly, as long as I thought, “I don’t have time to get sick,” and as long as it was actually true, I did not get sick. At times, an illness can perform a function. Such as a severe cold may force you to rest more than you would otherwise. You may have a personality type where you don’t rest enough, but if you are forced to rest, you will.
Now, another notion is that aspects of immune system activity may increase under stress, but then crashes after the stress is gone (I’ve simplified this greatly). This increases our susceptibility to infections of various types. One study found that Olympic athletes are more likely to become ill in the period after the competition is over. Studies have shown that the immune response tends to crash for these individuals after the competition is over. So there is a mind component, but there is also a body component to this. They are intimately linked.
There is a branch of psychology called, Psychoneuroimmunology.2 This is a branch that investigates the relationship between psychological variables, neurological variables, and immunological variables. It’s a fascinating field of study, and there is much to learn about the relationship between the mind and the body. We are only beginning to scratch the surface with our understanding.
1 http://stress.about.com/od/stresshealth/f/psychosomatic.htm
2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychoneuroimmunology
The mind and the body are intimately interconnected. If we’re honest, we don’t understand how this works. Suffice it to say, we only understand some of the results.
One woman I saw was having marital problems. She developed severe hives. She and her husband had an intense argument and she felt the relationship was on the verge of ending. She could not put her feelings about this into words, so I asked her to put it into an image. She rubbed her hand against the bare wall behind her. She said, “This is it. It’s nothing! That’s what I saw for my life. Or stepping off of the edge of the Grand Canyon at night. You can’t see anything. You don’t know how far your falling. It’s just terror.” She showed me her hives when she first came in. I asked her to show me again at the end of the session (they were greatly reduced and she found this remarkable!). This is but a simple example of how emotions can be expressed in the body.
The interesting thing is, with hypnosis, a certain area of the body can be focused on. And while general immune system features may not change (such as circulation of killer T-cells), the immune response changes for the very specific area that is focused on. For example, let’s say a person has a wart on their finger. If in hypnosis, you have them visualize that wart shrinking and healing, there will be a very specific immune system response in that area only! So, how in the world can this happen? Warts are caused by a virus. But the immune system can be unconsciously directed to the very specific area in question by the mind!
I will continue this series in the future.
I work with a lot of folks who have a great deal more ability than they ever utilize. I often find myself scratching my head….”This person is extremely capable, but they’ve gone for years only making minimum wage.” They never ask for a raise. They put up with mistreatment in their dead-end job. They are not assertive in their personal relationships (they make no demands on their friends or spouses or boyfriends or girlfriends).
Sometimes, they had a learning disability, and came to believe that they were incompetent. Sometimes they had a speech problem (problems learning how to talk). Sometimes they had problems in developing motor skills (problems learning how to walk, had medical conditions requiring braces on their legs, had an early high fever resulting in poor motor skills, experienced a lack of oxygen at birth resulting in poor motor skills, and so forth). Sometimes, they were viewed by a parent as being completely incompetent, and told that they would be a failure. The reasons are numerous and very personal to the individual.
But the upshot, is that a person’s self-perception becomes their reality. Be willing to fail. You’ll gain more wisdom from failure than you ever will from success. God didn’t give you the skills and abilities that you have for no reason.
I don’t know if this is just bad reporting or bad science. But, if you believe it, you ought to have your man tested to make sure he is monogamous before you marry him. Although the title of the story states, “Possible Monogamy Gene Found in Humans,” it goes on to say that no such thing was studied.
In the prairie voles and marmosets, receptors for the two systems sit on adjacent cells, so social activity is highly rewarding, leading to monogamy.
It also says,
They found that variation in a section of the gene called RS3 334 was linked to how men bond with their partners. Men can have none, one or two copies of the RS3 334 section, and the higher the number of copies, the worse men scored on a measure of pair bonding.
Not only that, men with two copies of RS3 334 were more likely to be unmarried than men with one or none, and if they were married, they were twice as likely to have a marital crisis.
Okay, cute study. This is the problem with ethology, the study of animal behavior from a biological perspective, and then extending it to human behavior. This is often done in evolutionary psychology, and is junk science in my opinion.
“Sorry honey, I must have multiple copies of that RS3 334 gene.”
Yeah, that would fly. Good luck with that one.
Or how about this,
“Honey, I’d like to have you tested for the RS3 334 gene before we get married, because multiple copies make animals unfaithful.”
Good luck with that too.
Believe it or not, we all have self-defeating expectations at times. What do I mean by this?
“I wish I could meet someone to date…”
“What have you done to try to meet somebody?”
“Well nothing. Nobody would want to date me anyway.”
“Hmmm…”
A self-defeating expectation is different from outright self-sabotage. With self-sabotage, a person approaches a goal only to shoot themselves in the foot by something they do. For example, a person might drop out of college with only a class or two left to complete before achieving a degree. Secretly, they may fear that they will fail in their chosen career path, so it’s short-circuited before it even has a chance to start.
Most often with both patterns, there is an element of anxiety that is often subtly concealed. There can sometimes be a deep-seated belief, “Whatever I do, I am doomed to fail.” This often becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. A person brings about that which they fear.
Now, believe it or not, sometimes a self-defeating pattern brings about things that are more positive in a person’s life. I remember one lady whose grandmother wanted her to become a nurse. She had a very close relationship with her grandmother. One day, her grandmother was complaining about a pain in her leg. Her grandmother remarked, “Oh, I probably just pulled a muscle.” And she responded, “Yeah, probably so.” Two days later, the grandmother was dead because a blood clot in her leg dislodged and ended up in her heart. This woman felt tremendously guilty—that she had caused her grandmother’s death by not suggesting that she see a doctor. She felt she had to fulfill her grandmother’s dreams for her in becoming a nurse. But she struggled in college. She became more depressed. She kept flunking certain classes. It was not because she lacked intelligence—I tested her IQ level and she should have been able to get all A’s or at least A’s and B’s in every class she took. What we discovered was that she didn’t really want to be a nurse. Once she was able to resolve her feelings of guilt about her grandmother’s death, she was able to see that her grandmother would have wanted her to choose a profession that she wanted to choose. She switched majors and started getting the A’s and B’s that I knew she was capable of.
Sometimes the patterns of self-defeat run a little deeper and keep repeating over and over. Most often, this has to do with a pattern of experiences in childhood that leads the person to have deep doubts about the competence or effectiveness. These patterns take longer to resolve, because the self-defeating beliefs are very strong and resist change. Sometimes, these patterns take several years to resolve. There may be numerous subtle anxieties that keep a person in a repeating pattern of self-defeat. But, if you are truly motivated to overcome these patterns and have a shrink that you connect with, you can overcome these patterns with a lot of hard work. Unfortunately, there is no medication that will help you do this, and there is no quick fix. It is difficult to resolve these patterns outside of a psychotherapeutic relationship, because everyone has their blinders.
Race horses are fitted with blinders. The blinders restrict their field of vision to basically straight ahead of them. This is so they do not become frightened by other things that are going on around them. People have “mental blinders,” defenses that keep them from recognizing those things that frighten them. Psychotherapy can help people remove these blinders and confront their fears and anxieties.
This is a long overdue summary of recent psychology news items that I have found to be of interest.
Estrogen Relieves Psychotic Symptoms in Women With Schizophrenia – In a single double-blind study of the use of estrogen in women with severe schizophrenia, it was found that symptoms were significantly reduced compared to placebo. This study was related to the observation that many women with schizophrenia experience a relapse of psychotic symptoms or increased psychosis during low-estrogen phases of the menstrual cycle. This is interesting in that I have seen at least one patient who experienced psychosis ONLY during this phase.
Experimental Agent Safe, May “Dissolve” Amyloid Plaques in Mild to Moderate AD – If you have a parent, grandparent, or another relative with presumed Alzheimer’s disease, you probably know something about how devastating it can be. One theory of Alzheimer’s disease involves the notion of a build up of beta amyloid plaques in the brain. Apparently, this studied demonstrated the ability of an antibody to attack these plaques. While interesting, the researchers have yet to demonstrate that this actually improves cognition and memory. They hope this has to do with the short duration of the study, which was basically to test the safety of the drug.
Early Study Finds Increased Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in Long-Term Users of Tricyclic Antidepressants – A recently published study showed an association between lymphoma and use of tricyclic antidepressant medication. The authors were careful to point out, that this was just an association, and there was no proof that the medications caused lymphoma. Tricyclic medications are an older generation of medication than the current SSRI medications. They are sometimes used when there is no response to SSRIs, and sometimes can be used as a sleep aid (trazadone specifically). The risk was higher with long-term use.
Sage Oil Supplements May Help Short-Term Memory – Short-term memory is commonly used to what’s referred to as recent memory. A study found that Sage oil supplements helped people have better recall on a word-learning task.
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