“The worst pandemic in modern history was the Spanish flu of 1918, which killed tens of millions of people. Today, with how interconnected the world is, it would spread faster.” ~Bill Gates When people complain about a stomach virus or stomach flu, we don’t really think about it too much. But, although “stomach flu” is…
Celebrex, Heart Disease and Safety
Many patients using colexicob, which is sold under the trade name Celebrex, have concerns about safety, and they have good reason. A few weeks after September 2004 when Vioxx was withdrawn from the market, Bextra, a sister drug, was also found to increase the risk of heart disease. Drugs like Vioxx, Celebrex, and Bextra fall…
What Is The Default Mode Network?
The default mode network (DMN), also known as the default network, is a network of interacting brain regions known to have activity highly correlated with each other and distinct from other networks in the brain. The default mode network is most commonly shown to be active when a person is not focused on the outside…
Why You Should Start Walking For Health and Fitness
“My grandmother started walking five miles a day when she was sixty. She’s ninety-seven now, and we don’t know where the heck she is.” ― Ellen DeGeneres I laugh whenever I hear that line. For some reason, it also always makes me reflect on how compartmentalized our busy modern lives have gotten. We go to…
What is Rheumatology?
Rheumatology is a subspecialty in the practice of both internal medicine and pediatrics. This means that a doctor must first become either an internal medicine practitioner or a pediatrician and then subspecialize, receive extra education and clinical practice, in the specialty of rheumatology. A doctor who practices rheumatology will be devoted to diagnosis and treatment…
Striatum Acts As Hub For Multisensory Integration
A new study from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden provides insight on how the brain processes external input such as touch, vision or sound from different sources and sides of the body, in order to select and generate adequate movements. The findings show that the striatum acts as a sensory ‘hub’ integrating various types of sensory…
Stress Hormone Amygdala Function Flips In Maturing Brain
Contrary to evidence that the amygdala stimulates stress responses in adults, researchers at Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University have found that the amygdala has an inhibitory effect on stress hormones during the early development of nonhuman primates. The amygdala is a brain region known to be important for responses to threatening situations and…
Matrix Weight Training Benefits
Matrix training is a unique form of weight training exercise that was created by Dr. Ronald Laura nearly three decades ago. More current exercise instructors, such as Kathy Smith, are also claiming to have developed the Matrix method of exercise. In each case the goal of the exercise is the same. When we normally exercise,…
Spontaneous Gestures Improve Learning In Signers And Speakers
Spontaneous gesture can help children learn, whether they use a spoken language or sign language, according to a new report. Previous research by Susan Goldin-Meadow, the Beardsley Ruml Distinguished Service Professor in the University of Chicago Department of Psychology, has found that gesture helps children develop their language, learning and cognitive skills. As one of…