Day: 09/02/2015

Mental Health Benefits Of Forgiveness: Forgiving Others Can Protect You From Depression

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Forgiving a friend or partner for little flaws and pet peeves is one thing, but it’s often harder to let go of bigger wrongdoings — like someone breaking your trust. But allowing yourself to forgive others might help protect you from depression, according to a new study out of the University of Missouri.

 

The study examined aging adults in particular and wanted to see how forgiveness affected their mental health and depression — particularly if the participants felt unforgiven by others (which tends to be a bummer). They used data from the Religion, Aging, and Health Survey, which includes information about 1,000 adults who are older than 67. The researchers found that older women in particular benefited from forgiving others; they were less likely to be depressed if they indulged in forgiveness, whether or not they felt unforgiven by others.

However, the same results didn’t apply to men. In fact, men still reported high levels of depression if they felt unforgiven by others — even if they tried to forgive others. While it’s only one small study, it points to the notion that men and women cope differently with depression, and perhaps women are more likely to feel relief or happiness when they nourish social ties — a part of which involves forgiveness and empathy.

“It doesn’t feel good when we perceive that others haven’t forgiven us for something,” Christine Proulx, an author of the study and an associate professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Science at the University of Missouri, said in the press release. “When we think about forgiveness and characteristics of people who are forgiving — altruistic, compassionate, empathetic — these people forgive others and seem to compensate for the fact that others aren’t forgiving them.”

The researchers point out that as people get older, they tend to reflect more about their lives and characteristics — and they’re more likely to forgive others. It turns out that, for women at least, this reflection and forgiveness benefits mental health.

“It sounds like moral superiority,” Proulx continued, “but it’s not about being a better person. It’s ‘I know that this hurts because it’s hurting me,’ and those people are more likely to forgive others, which appears to help decrease levels of depression, particularly for women.”

Past research has shown there are both mental and physical health benefits when it comes to forgiving others. One recent study found that holding a grudge actually impaired certain physical fitness aspects in participants (students were asked to jump after recalling grudges; those who held onto negative feelings about someone didn’t jump as high as people who had forgiven). In addition, a 2014 study found that people who forgave others for their transgressions were more likely to forget those negative things, giving them a chance to let go and focus on positives.

Perhaps most interestingly, while your therapist might tell you to forgive yourself when times get tough, it’s not always just self-forgiveness that decreases depression. Rather, forgiving others seems to have the most positive impact.

“Self-forgiveness didn’t act as the protector against depression,” Proulx said in the press release. “It’s really about whether individuals can forgive other people and their willingness to forgive others.”

Medical Therapies for Adult Chronic Sinusitis

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Importance  Chronic sinusitis is a common inflammatory condition defined by persistent symptomatic inflammation of the sinonasal cavities lasting longer than 3 months. It accounts for 1% to 2% of total physician encounters and is associated with large health care expenditures. Appropriate use of medical therapies for chronic sinusitis is necessary to optimize patient quality of life (QOL) and daily functioning and minimize the risk of acute inflammatory exacerbations.

Objective  To summarize the highest-quality evidence on medical therapies for adult chronic sinusitis and provide an evidence-based approach to assist in optimizing patient care.

Evidence Review  A systematic review searched Ovid MEDLINE (1947-January 30, 2015), EMBASE, and Cochrane Databases. The search was limited to randomized clinical trials (RCTs), systematic reviews, and meta-analyses. Evidence was categorized into maintenance and intermittent or rescue therapies and reported based on the presence or absence of nasal polyps.

Findings  Twenty-nine studies met inclusion criteria: 12 meta-analyses (>60 RCTs), 13 systematic reviews, and 4 RCTs that were not included in any of the meta-analyses. Saline irrigation improved symptom scores compared with no treatment (standardized mean difference [SMD], 1.42 [95% CI, 1.01 to 1.84]; a positive SMD indicates improvement). Topical corticosteroid therapy improved overall symptom scores (SMD, −0.46 [95% CI, −0.65 to −0.27]; a negative SMD indicates improvement), improved polyp scores (SMD, −0.73 [95% CI, −1.0 to −0.46]; a negative SMD indicates improvement), and reduced polyp recurrence after surgery (relative risk, 0.59 [95% CI, 0.45 to 0.79]). Systemic corticosteroids and oral doxycycline (both for 3 weeks) reduced polyp size compared with placebo for 3 months after treatment (P < .001). Leukotriene antagonists improved nasal symptoms compared with placebo in patients with nasal polyps (P < .01). Macrolide antibiotic for 3 months was associated with improved QOL at a single time point (24 weeks after therapy) compared with placebo for patients without polyps (SMD, −0.43 [95% CI, −0.82 to −0.05]).

Conclusions and Relevance  Evidence supports daily high-volume saline irrigation with topical corticosteroid therapy as a first-line therapy for chronic sinusitis. A short course of systemic corticosteroids (1-3 weeks), short course of doxycycline (3 weeks), or a leukotriene antagonist may be considered in patients with nasal polyps. A prolonged course (3 months) of macrolide antibiotic may be considered for patients without polyps.

25 Life Changing Lessons To Learn From Rumi

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25 Life Changing Lessons To Learn From Rumi

“Study me as much as you like, you will not know me, for I differ in a hundred ways from what you see me to be. Put yourself behind my eyes and see me as I see myself, for I have chosen to dwell in a place you cannot see.” ~ Rumi

Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Balkhī, also known as Rumi, was a 13th-century Persian poet, jurist, theologian, and Sufi mystic who, in my personal opinion, wrote some of the most beautiful and most profound words that were ever written. You won’t believe it how much wisdom and how so much power there is in his words. It’s incredible.

rumi

Today I would like to share with you 25 life changing lessons to learn from Rumi, lessons that have the power inspire and empower you to live a more authentic, beautiful, loving and meaningful life.

Enjoy :)

1. Stop acting so small. You are the universe in ecstatic motion.

“You were born with potential. You were born with goodness and trust. You were born with ideals and dreams. You were born with greatness. You were born with wings. You are not meant for crawling, so don’t. You have wings. Learn to use them and fly.”

“You sit here for days saying, This is strange business. You’re the strange business. You have the energy of the sun in you, but you keep knotting it up at the base of your spine. You’re some weird kind of gold that wants to stay melted in the furnace, so you won’t have to become coins.”

“Why should I stay at the bottom of a well when a strong rope is in my hand?”

“Become the sky. Take an axe to the prison wall. Escape.”

“Do you know what you are? You are a manuscript oƒ a divine letter. You are a mirror reflecting a noble face. This universe is not outside of you. Look inside yourself; everything that you want, you are already that.”

2. Your job is to live your life in a way that makes sense to you, not to “them”.

“Start a huge, foolish project, like Noah…it makes absolutely no difference what people think of you.”

3. Never give up on yourself.

“When you go through a hard period, When everything seems to oppose you, … When you feel you cannot even bear one more minute, NEVER GIVE UP! Because it is the time and place that the course will divert!”

“Sorrow prepares you for joy. It violently sweeps everything out of your house, so that new joy can find space to enter. It shakes the yellow leaves from the bough of your heart, so that fresh, green leaves can grow in their place. It pulls up the rotten roots, so that new roots hidden beneath have room to grow. Whatever sorrow shakes from your heart, far better things will take their place.”

“Dance, when you’re broken open. Dance, if you’ve torn the bandage off. Dance in the middle of the fighting. Dance in your blood. Dance when you’re perfectly free.”

4. Ignorance is God’s prison.

“Ignorance is God’s prison. Knowing is God’s palace.”

5. The treasures that can be found outside of you can’t even compare with the treasures that can be found inside of you.

“You wander from room to room Hunting for the diamond necklace That is already around your neck!”

“If you knew yourself for even one moment, if you could just glimpse your most beautiful face, maybe you wouldn’t slumber so deeply in that house of clay. Why not move into your house of joy and shine into every crevice! For you are the secret Treasure-bearer, and always have been. Didn’t you know?”

“Everything in the universe is within you. Ask all from yourself.”

“Why are you so enchanted by this world, when a mine of gold lies within you?”

“You go from village to village on your horse asking everyone, “Has anyone seen my horse?”

“Don’t knock on any random door like a beggar. Reach your long hand out to another door, beyond where you go on the street, the street where everyone says, “How are you?” and no one says How aren’t you?”

“There is a fountain inside you. Don’t walk around with an empty bucket.”

6. When you let go of who you are, you become who you might be.

“Knock, And He’ll open the door Vanish, And He’ll make you shine like the sun Fall, And He’ll raise you to the heavens Become nothing, And He’ll turn you into everything.”

“Forget safety. Live where you fear to live. Destroy your reputation. Be notorious.”

“Don’t be satisfied with stories, how things have gone with others. Unfold your own myth.”

“Set your life on fire. Seek those who fan your flames.”

“Be melting snow. Wash yourself of yourself.”

7. There is something you can do better than anyone else.

“Everyone has been made for some particular work, and the desire for that work has been put in every heart.”

“Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder. Help someone’s soul heal. Walk out of your house like a shepherd.”

8. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.

“As you start to walk out on the way, the way appears.”

9. When you commit to something, do it with all your heart.

“Half-heartedness doesn’t reach into majesty. You set out to find God, but then you keep stopping for long periods at mean-spirited roadhouses.”

“When you do things from your soul you feel a river moving in you, a joy. When action come from another section, the feeling disappears.”

“Wherever you are, and whatever you do, be in love.”

10. Good things come to an end so that better things can fall together.

“Do not grieve. Anything you lose comes round in another form.”

11. The wound is the place where the Light enters you.

“What hurts you, blesses you. Darkness is your candle.”

“Where there is ruin, there is hope for a treasure.”

“Don’t turn away. Keep your gaze on the bandaged place. That’s where the light enters you.”

“Grief can be the garden of compassion. If you keep your heart open through everything, your pain can become your greatest ally in your life’s search for love and wisdom.”

“You have to keep breaking your heart until it opens.”

12. Do what you love and do it with love.

“Let the beauty we love be what we do.”

“Let yourself be silently drawn by the stronger pull of what you really love.”

“Be occupied, then, with what you really value and let the thief take something else.”

13. Think less. Feel more.

“Reason is powerless in the expression of Love.”

“Put your thoughts to sleep, do not let them cast a shadow over the moon of your heart. Let go of thinking.”

“Only from the heart can you touch the sky.”

“There is a candle in your heart, ready to be kindled. There is a void in your soul, ready to be filled. You feel it, don’t you?”

“Be empty of worrying. Think of who created thought! Why do you stay in prison When the door is so wide open?”

14. Love is worth it all.

“Gamble everything for love, if you’re a true human being. If not, leave this gathering.”

“Let the lover be disgraceful, crazy, absentminded. Someone sober will worry about events going badly. Let the lover be.”

15. Appreciate both the good and the bad in your life.

“Be grateful for whoever comes, because each has been sent as a guide from beyond.”

“If you are irritated by every rub, how will you be polished?”

“When someone beats a rug, the blows are not against the rug, but against the dust in it.”

16. You change your world by changing yourself.

“Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.”

17. We are made of Love and made to Love.

“We are born of love; Love is our mother. “

“Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.”

“Through Love all that is bitter will be sweet, Through Love all that is copper will be gold, Through Love all dregs will become wine, through Love all pain will turn to medicine.”

“I have no companion but Love, no beginning, no end, no dawn. The Soul calls from within me: ‘You, ignorant of the way of Love, set Me free.’ “

“That which is false troubles the heart, but truth brings joyous tranquillity.”

18. Your Soul is not of this world, your body is.

“All day I think about it, then at night I say it. Where did I come from, and what am I supposed to be doing? I have no idea. My soul is from elsewhere, I’m sure of that, and I intend to end up there.”

“When I die, I shall soar with angels, and when I die to the angels, what I shall become you cannot imagine.”

19. At the Soul level, we are all ONE.

“All religions, all this singing, one song. The differences are just illusion and vanity. The sun’s light looks a little different on this wall than it does on that wall, and a lot different on this other one, but it’s still one light.”

“What shall I say, O Muslims, I know not myself, I am neither a Christian, nor a Jew, nor a Zoroastrian, nor a Muslim.”

“I am neither of the East nor of the West, no boundaries exist within my breast.”

20. Your Soul is more precious than anything.

“You know the value of every article of merchandise, but if you don’t know the value of your own soul, it’s all foolishness.”

21. Choose your life partner wisely.

“Take someone who doesn’t keep score, who’s not looking to be richer, or afraid of losing, who has not the slightest interest even in his own personality: he’s free.”

22. Real love transcends the material plane and no matter if your bodies are apart, your souls will forever be connected.

“Goodbyes are only for those who love with their eyes. Because for those who love with heart and soul there is no such thing as separation.”

23. Raise your words, not your voice.

“Raise your words, not voice. It is rain that grows flowers, not thunder.”

24. Silence is the language of God.

“Silence is the language of God, all else is poor translation.”

“Words are a pretext. It is the inner bond that draws one person to another, not words.”

“In Silence there is eloquence. Stop weaving and see how the pattern improves.”

25. Just to be alive is not enough.

“You think you are alive because you breathe air? Shame on you, that you are alive in such a limited way. Don’t be without Love, so you won’t feel dead. Die in Love and stay alive forever.”

What is your favorite quote from Rumi? What is the one lesson you have learned from this beautiful and amazing Soul?  You can share your insights by joining the conversation in the comment section below :)

 

Warning Signs of a Stroke

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Image not available.

A stroke happens when part of the brain is damaged because of either the blockage of a blood vessel or the rupture of a blood vessel in the brain.

WHAT CAUSES A STROKE?

A stroke can happen in one of 2 ways: a blood vessel in the brain can either get blocked (cutting off blood flow; called ischemic stroke) or start bleeding (called hemorrhagic stroke). Strokes caused by blockage are much more common than strokes caused by bleeding. Things that increase the risk of having a stroke include high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, smoking, an abnormal heart rhythm calledatrial fibrillation, and lack of physical activity. Therefore, maintaining a healthy lifestyle and taking medications for any of these other medical conditions will lower your risk of stroke.

WHAT ARE THE SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF A STROKE?

When the brain does not get enough blood flow, many different signs and symptoms can occur. The amount and type of symptoms depend on what part of the brain is involved.

Some of the common signs of stroke include

  • Asymmetry in the face or a droop on one side of the face

  • Weakness on one side of the body (such as an arm, leg, or both)

  • Numbness or unusual sensations on one side of the body

  • Trouble speaking (speech is slurred; cannot repeat a simple phrase)

WHAT SHOULD I DO IF I NOTICE WARNING SIGNS?

Time is the most important factor if you think you are having a stroke. The faster you can get to a hospital, the better your chances of recovery. Therefore, you should call the paramedics right away if you have any of the above warning signs—do not “wait it out” to see if the symptoms get better on their own.

The reason that time is very important is that for some strokes, a medication that dissolves blood clots can be given through the bloodstream as treatment. This medication only works during the first few hours after a stroke. After that it is no longer effective and can even cause harmful side effects. Therefore, it is very important, when possible, to record the exact time that you or someone around you first noticed symptoms and the time that you were last well without symptoms.

In the April 23/30, 2014, issue of JAMA, an article discusses a study that was done to try to improve the time delay in giving clot-dissolving medications for stroke. The idea was to give the clot-dissolving medication in the ambulance on the way to the hospital instead of after arriving at the hospital, and this study showed some promising early results.

Sexual Satisfaction And Wellbeing.

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Our overall wellbeing, as well as how we perceive the quality of a relationship, depends on how sexually satisfied we are, according to a new study. The bad news is that one in four of us aren’t happy with our sex lives at all.

Dating News: Sexual Satisfaction And Wellbeing

Long Story

Half of us haven’t had sex in the last month, and one in four of us is dissatisfied with our sex lives, according to a survey by Relate on the state of modern relationships. Among a wide range of findings, researchers report that almost one in six people said a good sex life is fairly or very important.

But the importance we place on sex actually, ahem, droops the longer we’ve been in a relationship. A third of those who have been in a relationship for less than two years saw sex as very important, but this dropped to 22% of people who’d been shacked up for 10 to 14 years.

The (getting) lucky ones among us who say they’re satisfied with their under-the-sheet time also report feeling good about themselves more often than the quarter of us who are dissatisfied.

Not too surprisingly, those in the sexually satisfied camp were also more likely to report having a good or very good relationship with their partner.

Not that we’re counting, but those in a relationship reported having sex once a week or more, compared to less than one in 20 of singletons who said they have sex this regularly. But, singles, if it makes you feel any better, 37% of married respondents reported they hadn’t had sex in the last month.

You can forget make-up sex, though: half of in-a-relationship respondents reported never or rarely arguing with their partner, and just under half said they only argued occasionally.

This comes despite the fact that men are more likely than women to admit infidelity (26% versus 22%), and are even more likely than women to admit having wrestled with the temptation of cheating.

A whopping 94% of relationship counsellors and sex therapists say a relationship can overcome infidelity, however only a third of respondents agreed.

The report also compared the overall wellbeing of single and coupled-up people. Eighty-four per cent of people who were married or cohabiting reported that they felt good about themselves, with little difference between the two.

But bad news for single people: only 69% reported feeling good about themselves. And they can forget seeing that number again for a while.

Own The Conversation

Ask The Big Question: If there’s no difference in wellbeing for married and cohabiting couples – why should we bother getting married?

Disrupt Your Feed: Are more men cheating than women, or are they just more willing to admit it?

Drop This Fact: The survey found that honesty, commitment and communication made the top three elements of a happy relationship.

Omega-3 supplements continue to prevent psychological disorders up to 7 years after patients stop taking them.

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The psychiatric benefits of short-term omega-3 supplementation could last for years afterward. This is the suggestion made by a study conducted by researchers from the University of Melbourne and the Medical University of Vienna and published in the journal Nature Communications on August 11.

The researchers followed up on a study in which young people at ultra-high risk of schizophrenia were given omega-3 supplements for 12 weeks. The original study found that people in the omega-3 group who developed schizophrenia did so an average of a year later than people who had been given a placebo.

In the new study, researchers found that even seven years later, the people in the omega-3 group were significantly less likely to have developed schizophrenia than those in the placebo group.

Cuts schizophrenia rate 75 percent

Omega-3s are a family of essential fatty acids that are known to play an important role in the development and function of the nervous system, including the brain. Prior studies have linked omega-3 deficiencies to a variety of mental health problems. Omega-3s have also showed promise as a treatment for anxiety and depression, and low levels have been linked with an increased risk of schizophrenia. People with schizophrenia have been shown to have low levels of both omega-3s and omega-6s in their cell membranes.

In the new study, the researchers found that only 10 percent of the people who had participated in the 12-week omega-3 trial developed schizophrenia over the following seven years. In contrast, nearly 40 percent of those in the placebo group developed schizophrenia in that time.

“We show that omega-3 significantly reduced the risk of progression to psychotic disorder during the entire follow-up period,” the researchers wrote.

Omega-3s help the brain develop

The researchers could not explain exactly how omega-3 supplementation might prevent schizophrenia seven years later, but they did discuss several possibilities. They noted that the brain’s neural circuitry has “several critical periods of development” during which interventions such as omega-3 supplementation might influence the way in which the brain’s connections are formed. Adolescence might be such a “critical period” for the development of schizophrenia, and providing a boost of omega-3s at this time might stop the processes that lead to the development of psychosis, instead shunting the brain onto a healthier developmental path.

Two recent studies in animals provide some support for this hypothesis. One study found that when rats with brain lesions were treated with an antioxidant during adolescence, they did not develop the structural brain defects seen in untreated adult rats. In addition to the brain defects, the untreated adult rats developed behavioral and electrophysiological changes comparable to those seen in schizophrenia.

“Adolescence may therefore be a critical developmental stage in which pathophysiological conditions (for example, oxidative stress) can affect the developing brain, but at the same time it may also provide a window of opportunity for preventive intervention,” the Melbourne and Vienna researchers wrote.

The second study found that when rats were deprived of dietary omega-3s, levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine changed in their brains. Among adolescent rats, dopamine levels dropped. Among adult rats, however, the levels actually increased.

Humans at ultra-high risk of schizophrenia have elevated dopamine levels in the brain. The findings suggest that omega-3 supplementation during adolescence might prevent dopamine levels from becoming elevated, thereby halting one of the processes that leads to the development of schizophrenia in adulthood.

Although the study was too small to recommend omega-3 supplementation for schizophrenia prevention, the researchers noted that omega-3-rich fish oil “has no clinically relevant side effects” and that greater intake is therefore unlikely to cause any harm.

Approximately one percent of the population suffers from schizophrenia, which is characterized by hallucinations and delusions. The disease has a very strong genetic component, but it is also known to be influenced by environmental factors. It currently has no cure.

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/051017_Omega-3_oils_schizophrenia_dopamine.html#ixzz3kgvtbqXl

Munchausen’s syndrome

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Introduction

Munchausen’s syndrome is a psychological and behavioural condition where someone pretends to be ill or induces symptoms of illness in themselves.

It is also sometimes known as factitious disorder.

People with the condition intentionally produce or pretend to have physical or psychological symptoms of illness.

Their main intention is to assume the “sick role” to have people care for them and be the centre of attention.

Any practical benefit for them in pretending to be sick – for example, claiming incapacity benefit – is not the reason for their behaviour.

Munchausen’s syndrome is named after a German aristocrat, Baron Munchausen, who became famous for telling wild, unbelievable tales about his exploits.

Types of behaviour

People with Munchausen’s syndrome can show different types of behaviour, including:

  • pretending to have psychological symptoms – for example, claiming to hear voices or claiming to see things that are not really there
  • pretending to have physical symptoms – for example, claiming to have chest pain or a stomach ache
  • actively trying to get ill – such as deliberately infecting a wound by rubbing dirt into it

Some people with Munchausen’s syndrome may spend years travelling from hospital to hospital feigning a wide range of illnesses. When it is discovered they are lying, they may suddenly leave hospital and move to another area.

People with Munchausen’s syndrome can be very manipulative and, in the most serious cases, may undergo painful and sometimes life-threatening surgery, even though they know it is unnecessary.

Read more about the symptoms of Munchausen’s syndrome.

What causes Munchausen’s syndrome?

Munchausen’s syndrome is a complex and poorly understood condition. It is still unclear why people with the condition behave in the way they do.

Some experts have argued that Munchausen’s syndrome is a type ofpersonality disorder.

Personality disorders are a type of mental health condition where an individual has a distorted pattern of thoughts and beliefs about themselves and others.

This leads them to behave in ways most people would regard as disturbed and abnormal.

Another theory is that the condition may be the result of parental neglect and abandonment, where only real or imagined illness gives them feelings of care.

Read more about the possible causes of Munchausen’s syndrome.

Treatment

Treating Munchausen’s syndrome can be challenging, as most people with the condition refuse to admit they are faking illness.

For those who do admit their behaviour is abnormal, talking therapies such as cognitive behavioural therapy can sometimes be effective.

Read more about the treatment of Munchausen’s syndrome.

Who is affected?

From the available case studies, there appear to be two relatively distinct groups of people affected by Munchausen’s syndrome:

  • women aged 20 to 40 years old, who often have a background in healthcare, such as working as a nurse or a medical technician
  • unmarried white men who are 30 to 50 years old

It is unclear why this is the case. It is also not known exactly how common Munchausen’s syndrome is.

Some experts believe it is underdiagnosed because many people with the condition succeed in deceiving medical staff. It is also possible cases may be overdiagnosed as the same person could use different identities.

A large study carried out in a Canadian hospital estimated that out of 1,300 patients, there were 10 who were faking symptoms of illness.

Munchausen’s syndrome

A psychiatrist explains the motivation behind Munchausen’s syndrome, also known as factitious illness, where someone pretends to be ill or causes symptoms in themselves. This can include inflicting wounds or tampering with blood and urine samples. He also explains the importance of getting treatment and describes another form of the condition where a person fabricates an illness in someone in their care.

Fabricated or induced illness

There is a variant of Munchausen’s syndrome known as fabricated or induced illness (also known as Munchausen’s syndrome by proxy).

This is where an individual fabricates or induces illness in a person under their care. Most cases involve a mother and her child.

Read more about fabricated or induced illness.

Hypochondria and malingering

Munchausen’s syndrome should not be confused with health anxiety (hypochondria) and malingering. These are defined as:

  • health anxiety (hypochondria) – a psychiatric disorder where a person has a fear of illness and interprets normal bodily functions, such as sweating, or minor abnormalities, such as aches and pains, as indications of major illness
  • malingering – where a person fakes illness to gain a material benefit, such as avoiding military duty or obtaining compensation.

Symptoms of Munchausen’s syndrome

Symptoms and signs of Munchausen’s syndrome may include pretending to be ill or self-harming to aggravate or induce illness.

There are four main ways people with Munchausen’s syndrome fake or induce illnesses, including:

  • lying about symptoms – for example, choosing symptoms that are difficult to disprove, such as having a severe headache or pretending to have a seizure (fit) or to pass out
  • tampering with test results – for example, heating a thermometer to suggest a fever or adding blood to a urine sample
  • self-infliction – for example, cutting or burning themselves, poisoning themselves with drugs, or eating food contaminated with bacteria
  • aggravating pre-existing conditions – for example, rubbing faeces into wounds to cause an infection, or reopening previously healed wounds

Other signs

Some clues that a person may have Munchausen’s syndrome include:

  • making frequent visits to hospitals in different areas
  • claiming to have a history of complex and serious medical conditions with little documentary evidence to support this – people often claim they have spent a long time out of the country
  • having symptoms that do not correspond to test results
  • having symptoms that get worse for no apparent reason
  • having very good medical knowledge
  • receiving few or no hospital visitors – many people with Munchausen’s syndrome adopt a solitary lifestyle and have little contact with friends or family
  • being willing to undergo often painful or dangerous tests and procedures
  • reporting symptoms that are vague and inconsistent, or reporting a pattern of symptoms that are “textbook examples” of certain conditions
  • telling highly unbelievable and often very elaborate stories about their past – such as claiming to be a decorated war hero or that their parents are fantastically rich and powerful

Munchausen’s by internet

A relatively new condition has been labelled Munchausen’s by internet. This is where a person joins an internet support group for people with a serious health condition, such as cystic fibrosis or leukaemia, and then claims to have the illness themselves.

While these actions may only be confined to the internet, they can have an incredibly destructive effect on support groups and online communities. People with genuine health conditions have reported feelings of betrayal and anger upon discovering they have been lied to.

One expert on Munchausen’s by internet has compiled a list of warning signs that indicate someone may be affected by the condition, including:

  • posts and messages that contain large chunks of information and appear to have been directly copied from health websites, such as NHS Choices
  • reports of experiencing symptoms that appear to be much more severe than most people would experience
  • making claims of near-fatal bouts of illness followed by a miraculous recovery
  • making fantastic claims that they later contradict or others disprove at a later date – for example, they may claim to be attending a certain hospital that does not actually exist
  • claiming to have continual dramatic events in their life, such as loved ones dying or being the victim of a violent crime, particularly when other group members have become a focus of attention
  • feigning an attitude of unconcern when they talk about serious problems, probably to attract attention and sympathy
  • other “people” claiming to post on their behalf, such as a parent or partner, but they use exactly the same pattern of writing.

Causes of Munchausen’s syndrome

There is little available evidence about the possible causes of Munchausen’s syndrome because many people with the condition refuse to co-operate with psychiatric treatment or psychological profiling.

Based on the available research and case studies, there are several factors identified as possible causes of Munchausen’s syndrome. These include:

  • emotional trauma or illness during childhood – this often resulted in extensive medical attention
  • a personality disorder – a mental health condition that causes patterns of abnormal thinking and behaviour
  • a grudge against authority figures or health professionals

Childhood trauma

Some experts have suggested many cases of Munchausen’s syndrome may be the result of parental neglect and abandonment, resulting in feelings of childhood trauma.

As a result of this trauma, a person may have unresolved issues with their parents that cause them to fake illness. They may do this for a number of reasons. For example, this may be because they have:

  • a compulsion to punish themselves (masochism) by making themselves ill because they feel unworthy
  • a need to feel important and be the centre of attention
  • a need to pass responsibility for their wellbeing and care on to other people

There is also some evidence to suggest people who have had extensive medical procedures, or received prolonged medical attention during childhood or adolescence, are more likely to develop Munchausen’s syndrome when they are older.

This may be because they associate their childhood memories with a sense of being cared for. As they get older, they try to obtain the same feelings of reassurance by pretending to be ill.

Personality disorders

There is some evidence many people with Munchausen’s syndrome have a personality disorder.

Personality disorders are a type of mental health condition where an individual has a distorted pattern of thoughts and beliefs about themselves and others. This leads them to behave in ways most people would regard as disturbed and abnormal.

Some examples of the different personality disorders thought to be linked with Munchausen’s syndrome include:

It could be that the person has an unstable sense of their own identity and also has difficulties establishing meaningful relationships with others.

Playing the “sick role” allows them to adopt an identity that brings unconditional support and acceptance from others with it. Admission to hospital also gives that person a clearly defined place in a social network.

Diagnosing Munchausen’s syndrome

Diagnosing Munchausen’s syndrome can be challenging for medical professionals.

People with the condition are often very convincing and skilled at manipulating and exploiting a doctor’s concern for their patient, and a doctor’s natural interest in investigating unusual medical conditions.

Investigating claims

If a health professional suspects a person may have Munchausen’s syndrome, they will usually make a detailed study of that person’s health records to look for inconsistencies between their claimed and actual medical history. They may also attempt to talk to their family and friends to see if the person’s claims about their past are true.

Health professionals can also run a number of clinical tests to check for evidence of self-inflicted illness or tampering of clinical tests. For example, the person’s blood can be checked for traces of medication that they should not be taking but could explain their symptoms.

Doctors will also want to rule out other possible motivations for their behaviour, such as faking illness for financial gain or because they want access to strong painkillers.

A diagnosis of Munchausen’s syndrome can usually be confidently made if:

  • there is clear evidence of fabricating or inducing symptoms
  • the person’s prime motivation is to be seen as sick
  • there is no other likely reason or explanation for their behaviour

Treating Munchausen’s syndrome

Treating Munchausen’s syndrome can be difficult because most people refuse to admit they have a problem and will not co-operate with suggested treatment plans.

Some experts suggest healthcare professionals adopt a gentle non-confrontational approach, suggesting the person has complex health needs and may benefit from a referral to a psychiatrist.

Other experts argue that a person with Munchausen’s syndrome should be confronted directly with a question about why they have lied and whether they suffer from stress and anxiety.

One of the biggest ironies surrounding Munchausen’s syndrome is that people with the condition are genuinely mentally ill, but will often only admit to having a physical illness.

If a person admits to their behaviour, they can be referred to specialist psychiatric services for further treatment.

If the person does not admit to lying, most experts agree the doctor in charge of their care should minimise medical contact with them.

This is because the doctor-patient relationship is based on trust and if there is evidence the patient can no longer be trusted, the doctor is unable to continue treating them.

Psychiatric treatment

It may be possible to help someone control the symptoms of Munchausen’s syndrome if they admit they have a problem and co-operate with treatment.

There is no standard treatment for the condition, but a combination of psychoanalysis and cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) has shown some success in helping people control their symptoms.

Psychoanalysis

Psychoanalysis is a type of psychotherapy based on the theories of Sigmund Freud. Freud suggested unconscious beliefs or motivations, often formed during early childhood, can be the cause of many psychological conditions.

Psychoanalysis attempts to uncover and resolve these unconscious beliefs and motivations.

Read more about psychotherapy.

Cognitive behavioural therapy

Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) works by helping a person identify unhelpful and unrealistic beliefs and behavioural patterns.

A specially trained therapist teaches the person ways of replacing unrealistic beliefs with more realistic and balanced ones.

Read more about CBT.

Family therapy

People with Munchausen’s syndrome still in close contact with their family may also benefit from having family therapy.

The person with Munchausen’s syndrome and their close family members discuss how the condition has affected the family and the positive changes that can be made.

It can also teach family members ways to avoid reinforcing the person’s abnormal behaviour. For example, this could involve recognising when the person is playing the “sick role” and avoiding showing them concern or offering support.

SEA LEVEL RISING FASTER THAN EXPECTED, NASA WARNS

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Sea levels have already risen 3 inches on average since 1992, with some areas experiencing as much as a 9-inch rise. Photo credit: NASA / Saskia Madlener

New research underway indicates that at least three feet of global sea level rise is near certain, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) scientists warned Wednesday.

That’s the higher range of the one to three feet level of rise the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) gave in its 2013 assessment.

Sea levels have already risen three inches on average since 1992, with some areas experiencing as much as a 9-inch rise.

“Given what we know now about how the ocean expands as it warms and how ice sheets and glaciers are adding water to the seas, it’s pretty certain we are locked into at least three feet of sea level rise and probably more,” said Steve Nerem of the University of Colorado, Boulder and lead of NASA’s interdisciplinary Sea Level Change Team. “But we don’t know whether it will happen within a century or somewhat longer.”

The Greenland ice sheet has contributed more greatly to sea level rise, losing an average of 303 gigatons of ice a year over the past decade, while the Antarctic ice sheet has lost an average of 118 gigatons a year. But scientists at NASA and the University of California, Irvine warned last year that glaciers in the West Antarctic “have passed the point of no return.”

Glaciologist Eric Rignot of the UC-Irvine and NASA’s JPL and lead author of the West Antarctic study, stated Wednesday that East Antarctica’s ice sheet remains a wildcard.

“The prevailing view among specialists has been that East Antarctica is stable, but we don’t really know,” Rignot stated. “Some of the signs we see in the satellite data right now are red flags that these glaciers might not be as stable as we once thought.”

Exactly how much rise will happen and when is uncertain, they say. “We’ve seen from the paleoclimate record that sea level rise of as much as 10 feet in a century or two is possible, if the ice sheets fall apart rapidly,” said Tom Wagner, the cryosphere program scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “We’re seeing evidence that the ice sheets are waking up, but we need to understand them better before we can say we’re in a new era of rapid ice loss.”

MAJOR DEPRESSION SYMPTOMS IMPROVED WITH CHLORELLA

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The symptoms of depression are often treated with drugs that can have long-term adverse side effects. A new study finds chlorella significantly reduces symptoms of major depression.

Certainly we can’t blame depression on nutrition alone. There is certainly a spiritual component – an emptiness from within, or call it what you want. This is why natural health uses the moniker, “body, mind and spirit” – because the condition of the spirit is critical for the health of our body and mind.

But within this moniker, ‘body, mind and spirit’ we also find there is a link between the three. One cannot separate them, whether clinically or abstractly.

For this reason, our moods are often linked with hormone and neurotransmitter balance and availability – along with their reception among nerve and brain cells.

The question is whether or not natural therapies can seriously affect our moods – more importantly, those producing greater symptoms of anxiety and depression. Apparently, the clinical answer is yes.

Chlorella and clinical depression

Research from the University of Western Australia in Perth has found that chlorella can significantly improve symptoms of depression.

The researchers tested 92 patients with major depressive disorder – a disorder that affects millions of people around the world.

The researchers split the patients into two groups. They gave 42 of the patients 1,800 milligrams of Chlorella vulgaris extract per day. The other 50 patients continued their standard care.

The researchers used a scale called the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) to test the patients’ symptoms of depression, along with the Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI-II) scale. Both of these have been used in clinical settings to establish the range of depressive symptoms and the severity of the diagnosis.

After six weeks of treatment with either the standard pharmaceutical treatment or chlorella extract, the researchers found that those patients who had taken the chlorella had significantly reduced scores in both depression tests. The BDI-II scores went down by over four points and the HADS scores went down by 3.71 points.

To give some reference, the HADS scale consists of 21 points, and anything over an 8 is considered symptomatic of anxiety or depression.

In addition to reduced total scores, the researchers also saw significant reductions in some of the subset scores. For example, physical and cognitive symptoms were significantly improved in the chlorella group, and subscales for depression and anxiety were significantly lower among the chlorella group.

The researchers concluded:

“This pilot exploratory trial provides the first clinical evidence on the efficacy and safety of adjunctive therapy with CVE in improving physical and cognitive symptoms of depression as well as anxiety symptoms in patients who are receiving standard antidepressant therapy.”

Chlorella is a microalga. It is a single-celled algae that is typically grown in controlled growth medium tanks. It is significantly high in protein, with over 40 percent protein, with all of the essential amino acids. It also contains proteins that stimulate growth hormone and brain neurotransmitters.

Concentrated extract was used in this study due to the fact that whole chlorella can be difficult for the body to break down the cell wall. An extract provides the contents of the cell after the cell wall has been broken.

REVEALED: WHY ANIMALS’ PUPILS COME IN DIFFERENT SHAPES AND SIZES

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Wolves and foxes are closely related and share many of the same characteristics. But look at their eyes – where wolves have rounded pupils like humans, foxes instead have a thin vertical line. But it isn’t just canines –across the animal kingdom, pupils come in all shapes and sizes. So why the differences?

It’s a question that has long interested scientists working on vision and optics. In a new study published in the journal Science Advances, colleagues from Durham,Berkeley and I explain why these pupil shapes have developed.

Goats, sheep, horses, domestic cats, and numerous other animals have pupils which vary from fully circular in faint light to narrow slits or rectangles in bright light. Theestablished theory for this is that elongated pupils allow greater control of the amount of light entering the eye. For instance, a domestic cat can change its pupil area by a factor of 135 from fully dilated to fully constricted, whereas humans, with a round pupil, can only change area by a factor of 15. This is particularly useful for animals that are active both day and night, allowing for much better vision in low light conditions.

The cat on the right has got its night-vision goggles on.

However, if the only reason for elongated pupils was to control the amount of light entering the eye, the orientation would not be important: horizontal, vertical, or diagonal would all offer the same advantages. Instead, the pupils are almost always horizontal or vertical, which suggests there must be other benefits which explain this orientation.

Pupils fit for every niche

Our work has focused on the visual benefits of vertical and horizontal pupils in mammals and snakes. One of the most interesting factors we found is that the orientation of the pupil can be linked to an animal’s ecological niche. This has beendescribed before, but we went one step further to quantify the relationship.

We found animals with vertically elongated pupils are very likely to be ambush predators which hide until they strike their prey from relatively close distance. They also tend to have eyes on the front of their heads. Foxes and domestic cats are clear examples of this. The difference between foxes and wolves is down to the fact wolves are not ambush predators – instead they hunt in packs, chasing down their prey.

In contrast, horizontally elongated pupils are nearly always found in grazing animals, which have eyes on the sides of their head. They are also very likely to be prey animals such as sheep and goats.

We produced a computer model of eyes which simulates how images appear with different pupil shapes, in order to explain how orientation could benefit different animals. This modelling showed that the vertically elongated pupils in ambush predators enhances their ability to judge distance accurately without having to move their head, which could give away their presence to potential prey.

Sheep can usually see you coming.

Grazing animals have different problems to deal with. They need to check all around for prey and they need to flee rapidly in case of attack. Having eyes towards the side of their head helps them to see nearly all around them. Having a horizontal pupil enhances the amount of light they can receive in front of and behind them while reducing the amount of light from above and below. This allows them panoramic vision along the ground to help detect potential predators as early as possible. The horizontal pupil also enhances the image quality of horizontal planes and this enhanced view at ground level is also an advantage when running at speed to escape.

So, vertically elongated pupils help ambush predators capture their prey and horizontally elongated pupils help prey animals avoid their predators.

We realised our hypothesis predicted that shorter animals should have a greater benefit from vertical pupils than taller ones. So we rechecked the data on animals with frontal eyes and vertical pupils and found that 82% are what is considered “short” (which we defined as having a shoulder height of less than 42cm) compared with only 17% of animals with circular pupils.

We also realised that there is a potential problem with the theory for horizontal elongation. If horizontal pupils are such an advantage to grazing animals, what happens when they bend their head down to graze? Is the pupil no longer horizontally aligned with the ground?

We checked this by observing animals in both a zoo and on farms. We found that eyes of goats, deer, horses, and sheep rotate as they bend their head down to eat, keeping the pupil aligned with the ground. This remarkable eye movement, which is in opposite directions in the two eyes, is known as cyclovergence. Each eye in these animals rotates by 50 degrees, possibly more (we can only make the same movement by a few degrees).

There are still some unexplained pupils in nature. For example, mongooses have forward-facing eyes but horizontal pupils, geckos have huge circular pupils when dilated which reduce down to several discrete pinholes when constricted and cuttlefish have “W”-shaped pupils. Understanding all these variations is an interesting challenge for the future.