Avoiding Brain Fog with Provasil

Do you often find yourself in a state of confusion? Are you starting to forget little things - your grocery list, the title of a movie you have recently seen, or your car keys? Are you becoming increasingly fuzzy-headed, unable to think clearly? If you find yourself confused at times and lacking clarity and focus, then you must be suffering brain fog. Having a foggy brain can be frustrating - not to mention scary - which is why Cognetix Labs has come up with Provasil, a supplement that promotes mental agility.

The Foggy Brain

Brain fog is a general term that refers to mental confusion that can come in many forms: forgetfulness, inability to focus, lack of clarity and reduced mental acuity. Also known as mental fatigue, brain fog can refer to episodes of mental confusion that can range from the mild to the severe. The worst part is that brain fog strikes without warning. One moment you forget which part of the huge mall parking lot you left your car in; the next you completely fail to remember that you are not supposed to be in the mall because you have a scheduled appointment with your doctor.

While having mental lapses every now and then is normal, you should not take brain fog episodes sitting down. You must get to the root cause and address them before they start taking over your professional and personal life.

What causes brain fog?

There are many factors that contribute to having a foggy brain. Solving your brain fatigue issues starts with knowing exactly what causes it. Here are some of the most common causes:

1. Diet. To function optimally, the brain needs complex carbohydrates, proteins and healthy fats. However, most diets today emphasize low-fat diets with foodstuffs that are supposedly "healthy" but are, indeed, mostly processed and high in sugar. Processed food - full of preservatives like MSG - is the enemy of a healthy and happy brain because these additives contain neurotoxins that cause not just brain fog but also mood swings and anxiety. Brain fog can also be caused by some food allergies and intolerances, mainly from gluten, soy and dairy.

2. Sleep issues. Aside from adequate nutrition, the brain also needs enough sleep and rest to function properly. Not getting enough sleep causes low creativity, inattention and impaired judgment. People naturally lose brain cells every day, and uninterrupted sleep allows the creation of new brain cells. If you are feeling fuzzy and unable to focus, check your sleeping patterns. Your brain might not be getting the amount and quality of sleep it needs.

3. Stress. Stress put a strain on the brain, which in turn causes depression, anxiety, poor decision making, memory loss and even insomnia. High levels of stress can also lead to conditions like Alzheimer's diseases and dementia.

Avoiding Brain Fog with Provasil

Brain fog may be temporary, but it can also persist for years. The condition can be debilitating, so if you are experiencing more and more episodes of haziness, you need to see your doctor so he can rule out dementia and other brain-related illnesses.

You can avoid brain fog through exercise, enough sleep and proper nutrition. However, these alone might not be able to help clear your mind, especially if you are starting to age. Fortunately there's Provasil, a powerful blend of nutrients and herbal extracts that are proven to improve your focus, boost your memory and get your mental ability back in shape.

Who says you have to suffer? Lift that fog with the Provasil formulation and get back into the swing of things.

Is Depression a Disease or an Opportunity?

A depression diagnosis does not have to be a life sentence. Often, it is a sign that our lives are out of balance and that we�re stuck. It is a wake-up call and, potentially, the start of a journey that can help us become whole and happy, a journey that can change and transform our lives.

When a physician observes the signs and symptoms of �major depressive disorder� in someone�the difficulty sleeping and eating, the weight loss, the absence of interest in a world which once pleased her, the feelings of helplessness and hopelessness�he is likely to prescribe anti-depressant drugs. When a patient asks questions about the need for drugs, she (I use the feminine to remind us that more than twice as many women as men are diagnosed with depression) is often told, �Depression is a biochemical disorder like insulin-dependent diabetes. Diabetics need insulin because their pancreas doesn�t work properly. And you need the drugs, the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), like Paxil and Prozac, to raise your levels of serotonin.�


It sounds authoritative, appropriate, and effective. Unfortunately it�s inaccurate.

First of all, the biochemical disorder has never been demonstrated. Some people with depression may have lower levels of serotonin, a neurotransmitter which helps to calm the brain and balance many body functions. But it seems that they are a minority. Doctors often don�t even measure the level of serotonin before prescribing drugs to affect it.

Second, the SSRIs are not, in fact, selective. Serotonin producing cells are distributed widely through the brain and body�the small intestine has the largest number�and altering serotonin inevitably alters the level and action and many functions of other neurotransmitters, including dopamine, which mediates pleasure. A cascade of uncomfortable and sometimes dangerous side effects result, including gastro-intestinal upset, neurological problems like headaches, muscle stiffness and tremors, weight gain, and sexual dysfunction�in up to 70 percent of all those who take the SSRIs. Indeed, in the early weeks of taking the drugs, a number of people, mostly young adults and adolescents, become more depressed and more suicidal.

In fact, neither the SSRIs, nor the serotonin�norepinephrine (norepinephrine is a neurotransmitter that may affect mood and activity level) reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs), which are increasingly prescribed, do a very good job. Doctors have prescribed these and other anti-depressants with great enthusiasm for more than twenty years�some thirty million Americans are currently using them for premenstrual syndrome, chronic pain, and anxiety, as well depression�because they believed the published studies which showed that the drugs were 60 to 70 percent more effective for depression than the placebos, the sugar pills, to which they were compared. These numbers were seriously misleading.

The drug companies, which profit hugely from SSRIs and other antidepressants, had, for the most part, only published the positive studies. When researchers went to the United States Food and Drug Administration and recovered the unpublished negative studies, the results were quite different. Reviews of the literature, which were published in our most prestigious medical journals�including The New England Journal of Medicine and The Journal of the American Medical Association�revealed that antidepressants were little, if any, better than placebos�except for a small minority of the most seriously depressed people.

All this doesn�t mean that antidepressants aren�t sometimes helpful. They can be, even with their limitations and side effects. What it does mean is that they should not be regarded as the �treatment of choice� as most physicians believe them to be, but instead as a last resort.

My treatment of choice is what many call �integrative.� I think of it as a way to get Unstuck, to help us move through and beyond the depression and the other difficulties that our lives may bring us. I describe this integrative, comprehensive approach in some detail in my book, Unstuck: Your Guide to the Seven Stage Journey out of Depression. It combines the best of conventional treatments, including various forms of psychotherapy, with a variety of other techniques that enhance each person�s emotional life and cognitive abilities as well as her physical health. Medication should be used only when this approach doesn�t work. �In extreme situations� Hippocrates said 2500 years ago �extreme remedies.�

The foundation for this Unstuck approach is a meditative or mindful one�which simply means that it is designed to help people to be relaxed, aware and self-aware, and firmly grounded in the present moment. The Unstuck approach includes specific meditation techniques like slow, deep �soft belly� breathing and mindful walking and eating, which have been shown to decrease levels of anxiety and stress, enhance mood and optimism, and promote greater emotional stability and more reliable judgment. Both focused and mindful meditation raise the levels of the same neurotransmitters at which SSRIs and SNRIs are aimed.

Movement and exercise, which have been repeatedly shown to at least equal anti-depressants in relieving symptoms of depression, and also to raise neurotransmitter levels, are central. It looks like about 30 minutes of daily exercise is optimal, but all of us should start with what we can do�walking a couple of blocks is a great beginning�and be sure to do something we hope to enjoy.

Nutrition may also be crucial in preventing, as well as treating, depression. People who are depressed may be deficient in B vitamins, Vitamin D3, Selenium, Magnesium, and the Omega 3 fatty acids that are present in fish oil. Others are sensitive to gluten and other food substances which may cause inflammation, which has been implicated in depression.

It is important to stimulate imagination and intuition as well as nourish the body. I teach techniques like guided imagery, drawings, and written dialogues to help depressed and anxious people to access more easily their imagination and to use their intuition and creativity to find answers to previously insoluble problems.

Work with a skilled therapist can be important, even crucial, but it is exponentially enhanced by what we can do for ourselves. Because they are grounded in self-awareness and self-care, each and every one of these techniques carries with it a general as well as a specific benefit. In acting to understand and help ourselves, we overcome the feelings of helplessness and hopelessness that are the hallmarks of depression.

Many people find they can multiply the effectiveness of self-care by being part of a group in which they learn together and share their experiences and themselves with one another. In the Mind-Body Skills Groups which The Center for Mind-Body Medicine has developed, participants feel less like damaged or ill patients, more like pilgrims together on a journey toward greater understanding, health, and wholeness.

Finally, symptom relief, the treatment of depression, and spiritual practice can be intimately connected. Using self-care techniques and living more meditatively often paves the way for us to connect with something�god, nature, a higher power�great than ourselves and to find meaning and purpose in our lives. And spiritual connection, meaning, and purpose are among the most powerful proven antidotes to depression.

James S. Gordon, M.D., a psychiatrist, is the author of Unstuck: Your Guide to the Seven-Stage Journey Out of Depression, from which part of this article was excerpted. He is the Founder and Director of The Center for Mind-Body Medicine, a Clinical Professor at Georgetown Medical School, and former Chair of the White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Policy.

Read more: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/depression-is-an-opportunity-not-a-disease.html#ixzz2VQkRrBz1

Boys are facing double the risk of depression, Hong Kong study shows

Chinese culture blamed, with families having higher expectations than for girls, expert says

 

Teenage boys are twice as likely to suffer from depression as girls, a survey shows.

The finding is opposite to that of similar surveys conducted in Western countries. One of the researchers says traditional Chinese culture is to blame.

Associate professor Sylvia Kwok Lai Yuk-ching, of City University, said: "Chinese families have higher expectations of boys than girls. That's why boys may experience more stress from their parents to deliver better academic performances."

As the stress accumulated, Kwok said, boys were more prone to getting depressed because men - unlike women - tend to bottle up their feelings instead of confiding in others.

The survey, commissioned by social welfare organisation St James' Settlement, was conducted between October and March and involved 1,033 secondary school pupils aged between 11 and 18 at four schools in Eastern District and Sham Shui Po, one of the city's biggest working class areas.

Researchers from the university's department of applied social studies found that overall, 32.7 per cent of the pupils had a tendency to slip into depression.

But the proportion of boys likely to be diagnosed as depressed was 14.5 per cent, compared with only 7.1 per cent for girls, they found.

Florence Lau Kam-ching, school social work service manager of St James' Settlement, said: "Whenever we see teenage boys diagnosed with depression, their level of seriousness is higher than the girls' as they've probably been harbouring negative emotions for a long time without relief."

The researchers also said pupils who came from single-parent families, whose mothers had low education, or who lived on monthly household incomes of less than HK$10,000, were more prone to emotional disorders such as anxiety and depression.

To help the children beat the blues, St James' Settlement undertook a programme at the four schools - the "Positive Life Ambassador Project". It taught pupils how to think positively and to be thankful for what they have.

Depression is the world's fourth most common illness, and the World Health Organisation believes it will become the most common by 2020.

This article first appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition on May 05, 2013 as Boys are facing double the risk of depression

The Cognitive Symptoms of Depression

The cognitive symptoms of depression tend to receive less attention than other symptoms of this difficult illness. Namely, symptoms such as sinking mood, fatigue and loss of interest garner more recognition.

Yet cognitive symptoms are quite common. "[They] are actually significantly prominent in depression," said Deborah Serani, Psy.D, a clinical psychologist and author of the book Living with Depression.

And these symptoms are incredibly debilitating. "In my opinion, when cognitive symptoms of depression hit, they are more of a pressing concern than physical symptoms."

Cognitive symptoms can interfere with all areas of a person�s life, including work, school and their relationships. Problem-solving and higher thinking, according to Serani, are greatly diminished. "This can leave a person feeling helpless and without a plan of action to defeat depression."

Poor concentration can cause problems with communication, and indecisiveness may strain relationships, according to William Marchand, M.D., a clinical associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Utah School of Medicine and author of the book Depression and Bipolar Disorder: Your Guide to Recovery.

The cognitive symptoms of depression also may get confused with other conditions, complicating diagnosis. Here�s a specific list of symptoms along with similar disorders.

Cognitive Symptoms of Depression

"Cognitive symptoms can be subtle and often go unrecognized," according to Dr. Marchand. Fortunately, psychotherapy can help individuals become more aware of these symptoms, such as distorted thinking, he said.

Marchand and Serani shared these cognitive symptoms of depression:

* Negative or distorted thinking
* Difficulty concentrating
* Distractibility
* Forgetfulness
* Reduced reaction time
* Memory loss
* Indecisiveness

Disorders That Mimic Depression

"The cognitive aspects of depression usually involve a person�s thinking being sluggish, negative or distorted in quality," Serani said. However, there are many other disorders that share these similar symptoms, because they, too, inhibit cognitive function. Unfortunately, this means that the "risk for misdiagnosis is high," she said.

For instance, Serani mentioned attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (the inattentive type), post-traumatic stress disorder and substance abuse.

Co-occurring disorders can add to the confusion. "In many cases there are comorbid conditions such as dementia (in elderly individuals), adult ADHD and generalized anxiety disorder, and it can be difficult to sort out which condition is causing the cognitive symptoms," Marchand said.

It�s critical to receive a proper and comprehensive evaluation to make sure that you have depression or another condition. Again, psychotherapy and medication can improve cognitive symptoms along with other symptoms of depression. Also, there are many strategies you can try on your own to reduce symptoms and feel better (which are explored in another article).

This article is from Margarita Tartakovsky - M.S. is an Associate Editor at Psych Central and blogs regularly about eating and self-image issues on her own blog, Weightless.

APA Reference

Tartakovsky, M. (2013). The Cognitive Symptoms of Depression. Psych Central. Retrieved on May 6, 2013, from http://psychcentral.com/lib/2013/the-cognitive-symptoms-of-depression/

Risk of Depression Influenced by Quality of Relationships

The mantra that quality is more important than quantity is true when considering how social relationships influence depression, say U-M researchers in a new study.

After analyzing data from nearly 5,000 American adults, the researchers found that the quality of a person's relationships with a spouse, family and friends predicted the likelihood of major depression disorder in the future, regardless of how frequently their social interactions took place.

Individuals with strained and unsupportive spouses were significantly more likely to develop depression, whereas those without a spouse were at no increased risk. And those with the lowest quality relationships had more than double the risk of depression than those with the best relationships.

The study, which was published online today in PLOS ONE, assessed the quality of social relationships on depression over a 10-year period, and is one of the first to examine the issue in a large, broad population over such a long time period.

Nearly 16 percent of Americans experience major depression disorder at some point in their lives, and the condition can increase the risk for and worsen conditions like coronary artery disease, stroke and cancer.

"Our study shows that the quality of social relationships is a significant risk factor for major depression," says psychiatrist Alan Teo, M.D., M.S., a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholar at U-M and the study's lead author. "This is the first time that a study has identified this link in the general population."

Digging deeper into the results, the researchers found that certain positive and negative aspects of relationships also predicted depression. Social strain and a lack of support -- especially in spousal relationships and to some extent with family members -- were both risk factors for developing depression later.

"These results tell us that health care providers need to remember that patients' relationships with their loved ones likely play a central role in their medical care," Teo says. "They also suggest that the broader use of couples therapy might be considered, both as a treatment for depression and as a preventative measure."

While the results confirmed the researchers' assumptions about relationship quality, they did not find a correlation between the frequency of social interactions and the prevalence of depression as predicted. Even if participants were socially isolated, having few interactions with family and friends, it did not predict depression risk. Teo says this finding should also translate to mental health treatment considerations.

"Asking a patient how she rates her relationship with her husband, rather than simply asking whether she has one, should be a priority," Teo says.

The researchers say that the study's significant effect size -- one in seven adults with the lowest-quality relationships will develop depression, as opposed to just one in 15 with the highest quality relationships -- indicates the potential for substantial change in the general population.

"The magnitude of these results is similar to the well-established relationship between biological risk factors and cardiovascular disease," Teo says. "What that means is that if we can teach people how to improve the quality of their relationships, we may be able to prevent or reduce the devastating effects of clinical depression."

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Michigan Health System.

Journal Reference:

Alan R. Teo, HwaJung Choi, Marcia Valenstein. Social Relationships and Depression: Ten-Year Follow-Up from a Nationally Representative Study. PLOS ONE, 30 Apr 2013 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0062396
 

Late-life depression may boost dementia risk

U. PITTSBURGH (US) � Late-life depression is associated with an increased risk for all-cause dementia, Alzheimer�s disease, and, most predominantly, vascular dementia, a new study shows.

Previous research has shown a link between depression and Alzheimer�s disease, but this is the first meta-analysis that specifically addresses the risk of Alzheimer�s disease and vascular dementia in older adults with late-life depression.

The study is also the first to show that late-life depression increases the risk of vascular dementia and that the risk of vascular dementia is greater than the risk of Alzheimer�s disease for older adults with depression.

"All-cause dementia" refers to all dementia syndromes, the most common of which is Alzheimer�s disease, accounting for 60 to 80 percent of all dementia cases.

Alzheimer�s disease is associated with memory problems and apathy in early stages, and impaired judgment, confusion, disorientation, behavior changes, and difficulty speaking in later stages.

Vascular dementia is the second most common cause of dementia, and is associated with impaired judgment or ability to plan and complete tasks, as opposed to memory loss that is common in early stages of Alzheimer�s.

"An understanding of how late-life depression increases the risk of dementia could lead to better prediction and prevention mechanisms," says Meryl Butters, associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and corresponding author of the study published in the British Journal of Psychiatry.

"Early diagnosis and prevention of depression could have a major dual public health impact as they could also potentially prevent or delay cognitive decline and dementia in older adults."

Late-life depression is one of the most common psychiatric illnesses in older adults, affecting 15 percent of adults aged 65 and older in the United States, or approximately 6 million people.  Depression in late-life may be a relapse of an earlier depression, or it can be triggered by chronic illness (including degenerative brain diseases such as Alzheimer�s disease), grief, placement in a nursing home, or hospitalization.

Late-life depression is associated with poorer general health and higher incidences of cardiovascular disease. Although the symptoms of depression vary, clinical depression is characterized by an inability to function normally or complete daily tasks, over a prolonged period of time.

The research evaluated a total of 23 community-based cohort studies as part of a meta-analysis to calculate the pooled risk of all-cause dementia, Alzheimer�s disease and vascular dementia in older adults with late-life depression.  The findings concluded those with late-life depression are:

* 1.85 times more likely to develop all-cause dementia

* 1.65 times more likely to develop Alzheimer�s disease

* 2.52 times more likely to develop vascular dementia

"Fortunately, we already know that depression can be prevented and treated," Butters says. "Now that we know the risks of dementia, we need to conduct clinical trials to investigate the impact of preventing depression on risk of cognitive decline and dementia in older adults."

The research was sponsored by the National Institute of Mental Health and the John A. Hartford Foundation Center of Excellence in Geriatric Psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh.

Source: University of Pittsburgh
            futurity.org

Rat Study Suggests Even Mandatory Exercise Lessens Anxiety, Depression

New research using rats suggests that even when individuals are forced to exercise, they still benefit from reduced anxiety and depression.

Prior research has shown that voluntary exercise is a method to relieve stress, but experts were uncertain as to the mental benefit of exercise when exercise is mandated.

Specifically, researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder wanted to study whether a person who feels forced to exercise, eliminating the perception of control, would still reap the anxiety-fighting benefits of the exercise.

Examples of mandatory exercise include regimens placed on high school, college and professional athletes, members of the military or those who have been prescribed an exercise regimen by their doctors, said Benjamin Greenwood, Ph.D., an assistant research professor in CU-Boulder�s Department of Integrative Physiology.

"If exercise is forced, will it still produce mental health benefits?" he said. "It�s obvious that forced exercise will still produce peripheral physiological benefits. But will it produce benefits to anxiety and depression?"

To find an answer, Greenwood and colleagues designed a lab experiment using rats. During a six-week period, some rats remained sedentary, while others exercised by running on a wheel.

The rats that exercised were divided into two groups that ran a roughly equal amount of time. One group ran whenever it chose to, while the other group ran on mechanized wheels that rotated according to a predetermined schedule.

For the study, the motorized wheels turned on at speeds and for periods of time that mimicked the average pattern of exercise chosen by the rats that voluntarily exercised.

After six weeks, the rats were exposed to a laboratory stressor before testing their anxiety levels the following day. The anxiety was quantified by measuring how long the rats froze � a phenomenon similar to the proverbial deer in the headlights � when they were put in an environment they had been conditioned to fear.

The longer the freezing time, the greater the residual anxiety from being stressed the previous day, researchers said. For comparison, some rats were also tested for anxiety without being stressed the day before.

"Regardless of whether the rats chose to run or were forced to run they were protected against stress and anxiety," said Greenwood, lead author of the study appearing in the European Journal of Neuroscience.

The sedentary rats froze for longer periods of time than any of the active rats.

"The implications are that humans who perceive exercise as being forced � perhaps including those who feel like they have to exercise for health reasons � are maybe still going to get the benefits in terms of reducing anxiety and depression," he said.

Source: University of Colorado at Boulder

Mouse Study Shows Why Sleep Deprivation Temporarily Relieves Depression?

Many people have experienced relief from depression after going without a good night�s sleep � but the mood boost typically only lasts until the person falls asleep again.

Although sleep deprivation is an impractical long term treatment, researchers have been interested in the workings behind this phenomenon. Now a research team at Tufts University has pinpointed glia as the key players.

Previously, the researchers found that astrocytes � a star-shaped type of glial cell � regulate the brain chemicals involved in sleepiness.

While we�re awake, astrocytes continuously release the neurotransmitter adenosine, which builds up in the brain and causes "sleep pressure," the feeling of sleepiness and its related memory and attention deficits.

Adenosine creates this pressure by binding to receptors on the outside of neurons like a key fitting into a lock. As more adenosine builds up, more receptors are triggered, and the urge to sleep gets stronger.

In the new study, the researchers investigated whether this process is responsible for the antidepressant feelings during sleep deprivation. Mice with depressive-like symptoms were given three doses of a compound that triggers adenosine receptors � mimicking sleep deprivation.

Although the mice continued to sleep normally, after 12 hours they showed a significant improvement in mood and behavior, which lasted for 48 hours.

The findings verify that the buildup of adenosine is responsible for the antidepressant effects of a lack of sleep. These results lead to a promising target for new drug development because it suggests that mimicking sleep deprivation chemically may offer the antidepressant benefits without the unwanted side effects of actually losing sleep.

This type of treatment could give immediate relief from depression, especially compared to traditional antidepressants, which often take six to eight weeks to work.

According to Dustin Hines, lead author and a postdoctoral fellow at Tufts, this study may also have implications beyond depression and sleep regulation.

"For many years neuroscientists focused almost exclusively on neurons, whereas the role of glia was neglected," Hines said.

"We now know that glia play an important role in the control of brain function and have the potential to aid in the development of new treatments for many illnesses, including depression and sleep disorders."

Source: Psych Central News