To Extract Knowledge from Matter
Perceive, Think, Act
I have always been ambivalent in regards to meditation, mostly due to its teachings that many perceived problems are simply in “our head” and all we need to do as “treatment” is steer our thoughts in a particular direction. We are flooded with information/advice that once we master whatever technique the specific type of meditation … Read more Meditation can worsen mental health, even cause clinical psychiatric issues
The evidence that adult health problems have their roots in childhood or even prenatally continues to accumulate. The study below demonstrates that children who have experienced violence, trauma, deprivation or have had generally stressful childhoods not only enter puberty much earlier but are on average several years older (biologically) than their peers. While being several … Read more Childhood stress / deprivation leads to early puberty / aging
Several months ago, I did a post on just how stressful the IP administration method is for lab animals. That method is considered the de-facto standard for steroid studies, yet it appears it is so stressful that it can easily produce invalid results due to the its strong effects on the HPA axis and overall … Read more Lab animals kept under stressful conditions, thus affecting study results
Yet another study demonstrating the crucial role of oxidative metabolism (OXPHOS) in a chronic degenerative condition considered largely genetic in origin. Just as importantly, the study corroborates findings from other recent reports/experiments demonstrating that the presence of cellular debris in the blood stream is anything but benign. The presence of such debris is interpreted by … Read more Low metabolism, cellular debris may cause Huntington Disease (HD)
Another good study, which not only corroborates the causative role of elevated serotonin in a number of behavioral disorders in children (which extend into adulthood) but demonstrates the key role of endotoxin (LPS) in that process. Namely, the pregnant animals exposed to stress who had sterile guts were immune to the pro-inflammatory effects of stress … Read more Prenatal stress ups serotonin, which causes autism and mental disease in offspring
Just a few weeks ago I made a post about yet another study linking grey hair to increased stress. The mechanism of action described in that study was increased HPA activity and specifically elevated norepinephrine levels. Other studies have also implicated tryptophan/serotonin, which is still consistent with the stress hypothesis as serotonin is perhaps the … Read more Reducing stress may reverse greying of hair
I would have much preferred if the authors of the study below investigated the level of serotonin and its relation to giving up (“learned helplessness” anyone?), but I suppose the dogma of serotonin is still too “sacred” to be questioned in biomedical research. So, instead of saying that elevated serotonin causes despair and giving up, … Read more Drop in dopamine behind giving up
The connection between stress and health issues is perhaps the best kept “public secret”. As the saying goes, the only people who do not believe in the pathology of stress are doctors…and the dead. I would add to this category the profession of statisticians who publish studies like the one below. Despite demonstrating “dose-dependent” relationship … Read more Long Work Hours Linked to Hypothyroidism
Not exactly news for most of my readers, but it is a popular topic for many people and, as usual, the response of most doctors is that the premature greying is genetically influenced and not much can be done about it. While the study below conclusively links greying to stress, I think the mechanism provided … Read more Stress causes grey hair
I have had discussions with numerous psychiatrists about the concept of “learned helplessness” (LH) and its relation to chronic stress. All of those doctors flatly denied that LH is a concept relevant to humans and argued that it is nothing more than a useful model of depression in animal studies, designed to evaluate animal exposure … Read more The government knows stress causes “learned helplessness” / depression