Meditation Appears to Produce Enduring Changes in Emotional Processing in the Brain

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/11/121112150339.htm

A new study has found that participating in an 8-week meditation training program can have measurable effects on how the brain functions even when someone is not actively meditating. In their report in the November issue of Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, investigators at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), Boston University (BU), and several other research centers also found differences in those effects based on the specific type of meditation practiced.

"The two different types of meditation training our study participants completed yielded some differences in the response of the amygdala -- a part of the brain known for decades to be important for emotion -- to images with emotional content," says Gaëlle Desbordes, PhD, a research fellow at the Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging at MGH and at the BU Center for Computational Neuroscience and Neural Technology, corresponding author of the report. "This is the first time that meditation training has been shown to affect emotional processing in the brain outside of a meditative state."

Several previous studies have supported the hypothesis that meditation training improves practitioners' emotional regulation. While neuroimaging studies have found that meditation training appeared to decrease activation of the amygdala -- a structure at the base of the brain that is known to have a role in processing memory and emotion -- those changes were only observed while study participants were meditating. The current study was designed to test the hypothesis that meditation training could also produce a generalized reduction in amygdala response to emotional stimuli, measurable by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).
Participants had enrolled in a larger investigation into the effects of two forms of meditation, based at Emory University in Atlanta. Healthy adults with no experience meditating participated in 8-week courses in either mindful attention meditation -- the most commonly studied form that focuses on developing attention and awareness of breathing, thoughts and emotions -- and compassion meditation, a less-studied form that includes methods designed to develop loving kindness and compassion for oneself and for others. A control group participated in an 8-week health education course.
Within three weeks before beginning and three weeks after completing the training, 12 participants from each group traveled to Boston for fMRI brain imaging at the Martinos Center's state-of-the-art imaging facilities. Brain scans were performed as the volunteers viewed a series of 216 different images -- 108 per session -- of people in situations with either positive, negative or neutral emotional content. Meditation was not mentioned in pre-imaging instructions to participants, and investigators confirmed afterwards that the volunteers had not meditated while in the scanner. Participants also completed assessments of symptoms of depression and anxiety before and after the training programs.
In the mindful attention group, the after-training brain scans showed a decrease in activation in the right amygdala in response to all images, supporting the hypothesis that meditation can improve emotional stability and response to stress. In the compassion meditation group, right amygdala activity also decreased in response to positive or neutral images. But among those who reported practicing compassion meditation most frequently outside of the training sessions, right amygdala activity tended to increase in response to negative images -- all of which depicted some form of human suffering. No significant changes were seen in the control group or in the left amygdala of any study participants.
"We think these two forms of meditation cultivate different aspects of mind," Desbordes explains. "Since compassion meditation is designed to enhance compassionate feelings, it makes sense that it could increase amygdala response to seeing people suffer. Increased amygdala activation was also correlated with decreased depression scores in the compassion meditation group, which suggests that having more compassion towards others may also be beneficial for oneself. Overall, these results are consistent with the overarching hypothesis that meditation may result in enduring, beneficial changes in brain function, especially in the area of emotional processing."
Eric Schwartz, PhD, of the BU Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Center for Computational Neuroscience and Neural Technology, is senior author of the Frontiers in Human Neuroscience report. Additional co-authors are Lobsang T. Negi, PhD, and Thaddeus Pace, PhD, Emory University; Alan Wallace, PhD, Santa Barbara Institute for Consciousness Studies; and Charles Raison, MD, University of Arizona College of Medicine. The study was supported by grants from the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, including an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grant to Boston University.

We, the majority...

Humans were smarter 3000 years ago, scientist says

The human race is slowly losing its intellectual and emotional capabilities because it no longer faces extreme evolutionary pressures, new research contends.

Human intelligence and behavior require optimal functioning of a large number of genes, but the intricate web of genes that gives people these capabilities has started to backslide, the scientists said in an article appearing Nov. 12 in the journal Trends in Genetics.

"The development of our intellectual abilities and the optimization of thousands of intelligence genes probably occurred in relatively nonverbal, dispersed groups of peoples before our ancestors emerged from Africa," study author Dr. Gerald Crabtree, of Stanford University, said in a journal news release.

In the early stages of human evolution, intelligence was critical for survival and there was immense selective pressure acting on the genes required for intellectual development. But once humans achieved a certain level of evolutionary progress, they slowly began to lose ground.

The development of agriculture led to urbanization, which may have weakened the power of natural selection to eliminate mutations that caused intellectual disabilities, the researchers explained.

Based on the frequency that harmful mutations appear in the human genome and the assumption that 2,000 to 5,000 genes are required for intellectual ability, Crabtree estimated the effect that the past 3,000 years (about 120 generations) of human history have had on humans. He concluded that all people now carry two or more mutations harmful to their intellectual or emotional stability.

He noted, however, that the loss of intellectual and emotional capabilities is quite slow and it's likely that a solution will be found in the future.

"I think we will know each of the millions of human mutations that can compromise our intellectual function and how each of these mutations interact with each other and other processes, as well as environmental influences," Crabtree said.

"At that time, we may be able to magically correct any mutation that has occurred in all cells of any organism at any developmental stage," he said. "Thus, the brutish process of natural selection will be unnecessary."

Mothers

Why Do Women Cheat?

By Tammy Worth                           Reviewed by Marina Katz, MD   

Source: WebMD

When Thea and her husband moved to Los Angeles a few years ago, she had no friends close by and was alone frequently while her husband worked long hours. Though Thea, who asked that her full name not be used, says her husband was the "best friend someone could have," the spark, and sex, were gone.

Seeking company and a little romance, Thea became a member of AshleyMadison.com, a web site that connects married people wanting to have an affair.

After a few dates with a man she connected with, she began an ongoing affair. "He was giving me all of the stuff my husband wasn't -- attention and affection," she says.

There are many reasons for infidelity, such as revenge, boredom, the thrill of sexual novelty,sexual addiction. But experts say that a large majority of the time, motivations differ by gender, with men searching for more sex or attention, and women looking to fill an emotional void.

"Women tell me, 'I was lonely, not connected, I don't feel close to my partner, and I was taken for granted,'" says Winifred Reilly, MA, MFT, a licensed marriage and family therapist in Berkeley, Calif. "They say they wanted to have someone who would look into their eyes and make them feel sexy again."

Emotional Reasons

Every affair is different, and so are every woman's reasons for her involvement.

That said, men are more likely to cite sexual motivations for infidelity and are less likely to fall in love with an extramarital partner, says Helen Fisher, PhD, a biological anthropologist at Rutgers University and the author of Why Him? Why Her? and Why We Love.

Women tend to have an emotional connection with their lover and are more likely to have an affair because of loneliness, Fisher says.

"Women tend to be more unhappy with the relationship they are in ... while men can be a lot happier in their primary relationship and also cheat," Fisher tells WebMD. "Women are more interested in supplementing their marriage or jumping ship than men are -- for men, it is a secondary strategy as opposed to an alternate.".

In one of her studies, Fisher found that 34% of women who had affairs were happy or very happy in their marriage. A greater percentage of men who had affairs, 56%, were happy in their marriage.

In the Genes?

The theory that adultery is "natural" for men, fulfilling their Darwinian need to spread their seed, has been around a long time. But the connection women look for when having affairs may have evolutionary roots as well.

The theory, Fisher says, is that from the earliest days, women paired with a primary mate to have children. But as women went out to gather food, they slept with other men, creating an insurance policy -- to have someone who would help rear children and provide resources should their mate die.

"Women who slept around collected more meat, protection, and resources from their lovers," Fisher says. "She might even have an extra child to create more genetic variety in her lineage; if some children die, others will live on."

That theory is controversial and can’t be proven or disproven eons later. But experts say that women's motivations to have affairs are typically more than sexual. That's not to say that some women don't have affairs just for the sex or that sex wasn't important -- but in general, women's motivations aren't just about sex.

"I don't think women are doing it because they want to have more sex, but I don't think they mind if they get it," Reilly says. "It is not really about sex per se as much as the experience of being with somebody."

Jumping Ship

Diane, who asked that her full name not be used, left her marriage emotionally long before she had an affair. The Tulsa, Okla. woman says she was living with a lot of disillusionment in a disappointing, sexless marriage.

"You feel the loss of your dreams and hopes and how you thought things would turn out," Diane says. "I was very lonely; I could never understand the concept of being lonely in a marriage until it happened."

She began to flirt with other men to get attention, but she never considered having an affair. That is, not until a business trip landed her with a friend in a beautiful setting drinking wine. She began a long-term affair, a path she admits she was likely on anyway as her marriage dissolved.

Using another partner to transition out of a bad marriage is one of the common reasons women have affairs.

"They are on a sinking ship and use it as a life raft because they don't want to just jump into the cold water," Reilly says.

She also sees some women have affairs during periods of vulnerability or life change, like when a child goes off to college or after a job loss. They may see it as a form of comfort during upheaval.          

Another common reason is a cry for help in the marriage. One of Reilly’s patients had an affair, ended it, and then told her husband as a way to point out they were in more trouble than he thought.

Reilly says her clinical experience has shown that affairs are almost always caused by problems in the marriage. Therapy, at times, can be helpful to avoid going down that path.

"People have affairs because they are looking for something," Reilly says. Although she sees a number of couples grappling with infidelity, "more people come to me [before it happens] because they want to save their marriage."

Accidental or On Purpose

Women are also less likely than men to have an affair that "just happens," because they tend to think longer and harder about the situation, experts say.

Some women take time " to warm up to it," says Marcella Weiner, EdD, PhD, an adjunct professor at Marymount Manhattan College in Brooklyn, N.Y. "Going in and leaving quickly isn't their thing. Men can walk away more easily, because their emotions are just different and it is unusual for a woman who wants to have sex and forget about it."          

It may be an old notion that women are the ones who get attached in a relationship, Reilly says. But she sees that women do connect with their partners in affairs and think more about taking part in one.

"Women really can recognize the risk for them," Reilly says, pointing to the possibility of losing their partner because of an affair.

When it comes to affairs, society tends to more harshly judge women than men, Reilly says.

"Women don't easily have an affair," she says.

Family

We Are What We Experience

ScienceDaily (Oct. 5, 2011)


Our life experiences -- the ups and downs, and everything in between -- shape us, stay with us and influence our emotional set point as adults, according to a new study led by Virginia Commonwealth University researchers. The study suggests that, in addition to our genes, our life experiences are important influences on our levels of anxiety and depression.

"In this time of emphasis on genes for this and that trait, it is important to remember that our environmental experiences also make important contributions to who we are as people," said principal investigator Kenneth Kendler, M.D., director of the VCU Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics.

"When I was growing up, in talking about the importance of a good diet, we used to say 'You are what you eat.' What this study shows is that to a substantial degree, 'you are what you have experienced.' That is, your life history stays with you in impacting on your background book, for good or for ill," he said.

Kendler, professor of psychiatry, and human and molecular genetics in the VCU School of Medicine, and an international team of researchers from VCU and other universities, analyzed nine data sets of more than 12,000 identical twins with symptoms of depression and/or anxiety through the lifespan.

By studying identical twins, researchers have a pair of individuals who are born with identical genetic compositions and a shared family environment. Their environments may begin to change as they begin to make divergent decisions as they get older that come with lifestyle, diet or friends.

Participants completed reports relating to their own symptoms of anxiety and depression in a five-to-six-year period. The participants varied in age and were from American and European population-based registries.

According to Kendler, statistical models, developed by his colleague Charles Gardner, Ph.D., a research associate in the VCU Department of Psychiatry, were used to observe how components of individual variation changed over time. The team observed that as the twins moved from childhood into late adult life, they increasingly diverged in their predicted levels of symptoms, but after that point, stopped further diverging. Further, they noted that environmental experiences contribute substantially to stable and predictable inter-individual differences in levels of anxiety and depression by mid-life in adults.

The study first appeared online Sept. 23, and in the October issue of Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. Read the journal's news release here.

Kendler collaborated with VCU researchers Lindon Eaves, Ph.D., Erik Loken, Ph.D., Judy Silberg, Ph.D., and Charles Gardner, Ph.D.; Nancy Pedersen, Ph.D., and Paul Lichtenstein, Ph.D., with the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden; Christel M. Middeldorp and Dorret Boomsma, with VU University, Amsterdam; and Chandra Reynolds, with the University of California, Riverside.

Depressed People Often Hide Symptoms from Doctors

By Amanda MacMillan

MONDAY, September 12, 2011 (Health.com)

Family doctors and other primary care physicians are often the first health professionals to learn that a patient is depressed, but that doesn’t mean they identify all of the depression cases that walk through their offices.

Far from it: A new survey of California adults has found that 43% of people would keep their depression symptoms to themselves during a doctor’s appointment, because they feel their emotional difficulties are off-topic, they don’t want to be prescribed antidepressants, or they’re afraid a record of the conversation will be seen by employers.

The results aren’t especially surprising, but they do highlight the need to educate patients, doctors, and nurses about the importance of discussing mood problems during checkups and other routine appointments, says study coauthor Richard Kravitz, MD, a professor of internal medicine at the University of California, Davis.

“The primary care sector cares for a majority of patients with mental health conditions in America, and we know that depression is undertreated everywhere,” Dr. Kravitz says. “The number one reason for that is because recognition of depression starts with disclosure from the patient.”

Gerard Sanacora, PhD, a professor of psychiatry at the Yale University School of Medicine, says this study offers more evidence that the stigma surrounding mental illness is still an obstacle that prevents many people from seeking effective, timely treatment.

“I was actually surprised that even more people didn’t feel that it was a burden to talk to their doctor,” says Sanacora, who was not involved in the study. He suspects that if the survey hadn’t been conducted in California—one of the states most accepting of mental illness, he says—the patients would have been even more hesitant to discuss depression.

The National Institute of Mental Health funded the survey and analysis. The results were published today in the Annals of Family Medicine.

Kravitz and his colleagues surveyed 1,054 adults over the phone about their general health, access to doctors and insurance, demographics, and family and personal histories of mental health problems. The researchers then asked the respondents whether 11 potential reasons for not wanting to talk with a doctor about depression applied to them a little, a lot, or not at all. (The reasons were gathered from focus groups in a related study.)

The most common concern, which 23% of respondents said applied a lot to them, was that the doctor would recommend antidepressants. Other popular reasons were that it’s not a primary care physician’s job to deal with emotional issues (16%) and that their medical records could fall into the hands of an employer or another outside party (15%). Respondents also expressed fear about being referred to a specialist or being labeled a “psychiatric patient.”

The people who had the most to gain from talking with their doctor—individuals with moderate to severe depression symptoms at the time of the phone survey—subscribed to the most beliefs that would prevent them from doing so.

This reluctance among patients is crucial to overcome, Sanacora says, because the longer depression goes undiagnosed, the harder it can be to treat and the more permanent damage it can do. “There’s increasing evidence that the state of being depressed could actually be injurious to the brain,” he says. “Delaying treatment is probably the worst thing a patient can do for their mental health.”

Primary care physicians need to actively promote mental-health treatment in their offices, Dr. Kravitz says. “Putting pamphlets in the waiting rooms, using appropriate posters, or providing questionnaires to patients are all ways to show that depression lies within the scope of their practice,” he says.

Dr. Kravitz and his colleagues are also developing a public service announcement targeted toward high-risk demographic groups. In the survey, for instance, people who were female, Hispanic, had no family history of depression, and had less education or lower household income were all more likely than their peers to express reluctance about talking with their doctors.

Sanacora says that doctors can also do a better job at picking up on physical signs of depression that patients may be more vocal about, such as chronic pain, lack of appetite, and sleep problems.

“The emotional aspect is only a small part,” he says. “Physicians need to consider these other symptoms, and ask some pointed questions. That may eventually lead to more diagnoses.”

Behind the Masks – The Mysteries of Dissociative Identity Disorder

By Veronica Pamoukaghlian, MA | Editor Shaheen E Lakhan | http://www.brainblogger.com

While Toni Collette may have pulled off making dissociative identity disorder (DID) look glamorous and sexy in the recently cancelled Showtime series United States of Tara, the reality of this disorder is much more complex. As fun as it is to watch an actress play five different parts in one show, for people with DID, the shifting is no fun at all.

One thing the show did get right is the fact that most people with DID develop it as a response to trauma, especially early childhood abuse from a parent or caregiver; studies have consistently reported this in 95-98% of the cases. People develop this disorder in order to distance themselves from the traumatic experience, by way of creating other personalities. While momentary dissociation is a technique that normal people use to cope with traumatic situations; in the case of people with DID, this dissociation goes beyond the moment, creating a whole new persona that has not been affected by the abuse, as an escape mechanism.

The prevalence of DID in the general population has been established at 1%, making it far more common than popular belief would have it. Nevertheless, the allure of the “exotic” continues to surround this condition, for example, because hypnosis is commonly used to gain access to the alters, as the different personalities are called. A scientifically accepted technique, hypnosis still remains, in the public mind, a practice bordering the world of the occult, found more at home in magic show than in the therapist´s office.

Perhaps because of its assumed rarity, it is the diagnosis of DID that poses one of the biggest problems. In 1993, a Dutch study of 71 DID patients established that:

Patients had spent an average of 8.2 years in the mental health system prior to correct diagnosis. Patients presented with many different symptoms and frequently received other psychiatric or neurological diagnoses.

Over the years, studies carried out in other parts of the world have yielded similar results, raising awareness about DID and the methods that could be used to identify it, separating it from other disorders, some of which can sometimes be comorbid with it, thus further complicating an effective diagnosis.

According to DSM IV, DID can be diagnosed whenever there is a coexistence of:

• The presence of two or more distinct identities or personality states (each with its own relatively enduring pattern of perceiving, relating to, and thinking about the environment and self).
• At least two of these identity or personality states recurrently take control of the person’s behavior.
• Inability to recall important personal information that is too extensive to be explained by ordinary forgetfulness and not due to the direct effects of a substance (e.g. blackouts or chaotic behaviour during alcohol intoxication) or a general medical condition (e.g. complex partial seizures).

While some alters can be harmless, a study on DID and suicidality found a strong correlation between the disorder and repeated suicide attempts, as well as the risk of causing harm to others. As the DID patient does not control the alters, this presents a great danger. In fact, DID patients have often been involved in crime investigations, and North American law has even recognized the right of the different personalities to have different attorneys, outlining a plot fit for the ultimate trial film from Hollywood. Courts have also been known to take the testimonies of the different alters as if they were actually different people, especially in cases in which one of the “bad” alters has committed a crime that neither the patient´s main personality nor the other alters have a recollection of.

Many times, people have ended up going to jail for crimes committed by one of their alters. Even today, with all the developments and research carried out by the scientific community, it seems that DID remains as mysterious as ever, and people continue to suffer from this disorder without even being aware of it, all over the world.

For those who have been successfully diagnosed, the International Society for the Study of Dissociation (ISSD) has developed a phasic treatment framework for dissociation disorders, including DID. The three phases are:

• safety, stabilization and symptom reduction
• working directly and in depth with traumatic memories
• identity integration and rehabilitation

A recent study by DID expert Bethany Brand and some of her colleagues concluded, after analyzing most of the current literature and research pertaining to DID treatment results, that the three-phase treatment has been widely effective, bringing about a reduction of “symptoms of dissociation, depression, general distress, anxiety and PTSD.”

A Cure to Cancer?

 Causes of Cancer

DNA Damage caused by several factors, weakened immune system, or busy immune system.

The cancer has no single cause, but rather a combination of factors, the main of which are stated below.

• Some Viruses (Make the immune system busy especially those viruses that remain in the body for a course of a lifetime (EBV for example).)
• Chemicals (Make the immune system busy, weakened, or even some can make damages to the DNA. Smoking, unhealthy foods, detergents)
• Radiations (Radiations have a role in causing damage to DNA thus leading to uncontrollable division of cells, thus making the ability to repair way below the growth of cancer cells.)
• A lot of sugars (It is known that cancer cells feed on sugars, glucose and fructose to live and divide.)
• Weakened Immune System (Make the immune system unable to kill the huge numbers of cancer cells over time.)
• Lack of Sun Exposure (Our body needs sun as it is essential for vitamin D proper intake, in addition to boosting the mood and reducing stress. Imagine that without sun there is no life on earth, so imagine the effect of the sun on our health. It is advised to those who work at night to try to see the sun. Advised daily exposure is 10-30 minutes. Women wearing Hijab are of great risk of developing many illnesses especially cancer, MS, and osteoporosis.)
• Excessive Sun Exposure (This habit can cause errors in DNA thus causing skin or lip cancer same as radiations over time.)
• Insufficient Water Intake (Our body needs at least 2 liters of water daily to be able to refresh the blood cycle & get rid of many of the wastes through excretion. It is essential that we get rid of harmful intruders in our body and water is an important factor.)
• Insufficient Oxygen Intake (Our body needs a considerable amount of oxygen to help blood circulation, reduce stress, and help the division of cells, whereas cancer cells hate oxygen, and do not need it to divide. Deep breathing is advised always, and relaxation sessions are of great help.)
• Unhealthy habits such as lack of activity and stress (Having said all of the above, you can now imagine the effect of sports and leading a healthy life. Sports help in excretion of body wastes through increases sweating, freshening of the blood and oxygen cycle, reducing stress, and securing a high oxygen intake.)
• Unhealthy Food Intake (Foods rich in vitamins, fibers, and water are always preferred. Processed food that is rich in chemicals is not recommended at all. Not necessary to go organic, but necessary to go natural rather than processed food. (Processed bread, sugar, meat such as hotdogs, etc…)

Extended exposure to the above factors due to work, smoking, viruses while weak immunity, food rich in unnatural chemicals, or other factors leads to uncontrollable growth of cancer cells as the damage to DNA outclasses the ability to repair.

Role of immune system in cancer?

Killing cancer cells

When there are a lot of cancer cells, the immune system fails to kill all cancer cells that outclass the immune system's ability, thus a tumor is formed.

Boosting the immune system?

Sports, natural vitamins, sufficient sun exposure, enough water intake, sufficient oxygen intake through slow and deep breathing.

Nowadays treatments of cancer

Treatments nowadays such as chemo or radio treatments work on killing cancer cells, yet, not tackling the causes.

Cancer prevention

Cancer prevention is possible by taking countermeasures and reversing the effect of the causes as stated above.

How?

• Some Viruses (It is advised that people who have viruses such as HIV, HPV, EBV, etc… work a lot on boosting their immune system through sports, natural vitamins, and sufficient not excessive sun exposure)
•  Chemicals (Reduce and minimize the exposure to chemicals such as smoking, unhealthy foods, detergents, and other chemicals. Obsession about this is not healthy as it increases our stress, but it is important to minimize the exposure to chemicals if not eliminate some especially smoking…)
• Radiations (Reduce exposure to radiations. If you were exposed for a long time, it is advised that you lead a very healthy life and try to boost your immune system through sports, natural vitamins, and sufficient not excessive sun exposure.)
• A lot of sugars (It is known that cancer cells feed on sugars, glucose and fructose to live and divide. Limit your sugar intake, and try to take natural sugars from fruits.)
• Weakened Immune System (Those who have a weak immune system are advised to boost their immune systems as stated above.)
• Lack of Sun Exposure (Get a sufficient exposure to sun between 10 and 30 minutes daily. Women wearing hijab should seriously consider taking it off.)
• Excessive Sun Exposure (Limit sun exposure to 30 minutes a day maximum. It is ok to get a sun tan from time to time, but make sure to use proper protection. Those with very white skin are advised to use 75%+ protection)
• Insufficient Water Intake (Our body needs at least 2 liters of water daily to be able to refresh the blood cycle & get rid of many of the wastes through excretion. It is essential that we have the needed water intake on daily basis.)
  
  
  
• Insufficient Oxygen Intake (Our body needs a considerable amount of oxygen to help blood circulation, reduce stress, and help the division of cells, whereas cancer cells hate oxygen, and do not need it to divide. Deep breathing is advised always, and relaxation sessions are of great help.)
• Unhealthy habits such as lack of activity and stress (Having said all of the above, you can now imagine the effect of sports and leading a healthy life. Sports help in excretion of body wastes through increases sweating, freshening of the blood and oxygen cycle, reducing stress, and securing a high oxygen intake.)
• Unhealthy Food Intake (Foods rich in vitamins, fibers, and water are always preferred. Processed food that is rich in chemicals is not recommended at all. Not necessary to go organic, but necessary to go natural rather than processed food. (Processed bread, sugar, meat such as hotdogs, etc…)

  Towards Curing Cancer?

Below are some steps that would make healing cancer possible.

1. Surgery is recommended were possible to take out the tumors.
2. For a period of 6 months, do the below:
1. Eliminate sugars from your diet
2. Eliminate white bread and salt
3. Eliminate processed food and try to go organic
4. 4 servings of vegetables and 3 servings of fruits
5. Vitamin pills
6. 2.5 to 3 liters of NATURAL water
7. Make sure to be exposed to sun for 10-30 minutes daily
8. Make sure to do light sports for one hour daily
9. Make sure to meet and talk with other people for at least 3 hours daily. Avoid staying alone.
10. Make sure you get enough sleep (8 hours daily)
11. Make sure to sleep the hours from 12-5 A.M.
12. Avoid medicines and pills
13. Practice relaxation and breathing techniques on DAILY basis.
14. Onions, garlic, broccoli, cinnamon, ginger, and dark green vegetables in your daily food intake.
15. Drink tea on daily basis (Natural tea for at least 3 times daily)
16. Limit coffee intake though it is not harmful, but it would reduce your ability to sleep.
17. Avoid glucose and fructose syrups. (Natural Fructose is recommended, and that is in fruits.)

3. If you find that the improvement is slow:
1. Try taking metformin pills 3 times a day to help glucose metabolism (cancer cells feed on sugars)

Horror in the Mind – The Psychological Effects of Torture

By Veronica Pamoukaghlian, MA | Editor Shaheen E Lakhan |  http://brainblogger.com

When most people think of torture, the first thing that comes to mind is unimaginable, unendurable pain. Physical pain is, however, the one thing that tends to remain in the torture chamber, the hidden cells of illegal prisons after the victim has left. As terrible as the physical after effects of torture may be, the real horror is what remains in the mind.

Unfortunately, and in spite of the United Nations, Amnesty international and the Geneva Convention, torture is still practiced all over the world today, most often by all kinds of governments, may they be democratically elected or not:

Torture is widely practiced throughout the world. Recent studies indicate that 50% of all countries, including 79% of the G-20 countries, continue to practice systematic torture despite a universal ban. (Carinci, 2010)

Perceptions of horror vary depending on contextual elements. For example, institutionalized torture that comes from within one´s own country is experienced very differently from isolated acts of torture perpetrated by non-state criminals. A feeling of helplessness is central to the torture cycle, according to Metin Besoglu, one of the world´s leading experts on the subject of torture and mass violence trauma, and this helplessness is much more dramatic in a situation where an individual knows he is facing an all-powerful enemy, such as the state or a terror regime.

Studies by Besoglu and his collaborators have also determined that political activists tend to suffer more attenuated psychological trauma. This is due to the fact that a strong belief in ideas or a solid religious faith seems to make the individual´s feel less powerless in front of the victimizers, and the feeling that one is not in control has been demonstrated to be one of the prime stressors of torture, and ultimately, a prime cause for its severely traumatizing effects.

While some earlier research tried to identify a “torture syndrome,” the current literature suggests that there isn´t sufficient evidence for this, and that the disorders associated with torture experiences can be classed under the PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) and CTD (cumulative trauma disorders) umbrella.

In his article Surviving Torture, after having tended to thousands of torture survivors all over the world, Mollica advises that the focus on PTSD often makes physicians forget that the main problem encountered in this population is depression, while he also observes that professionals are sometimes afraid to ask the right questions, because they are perhaps not sure how to deal with the information about such traumatic events, or they are afraid of “opening a Pandora´s box.”

In fact, post-torture symptoms range from the prevalent chronic pain, which is often connected to actual musculoskeletal damage, to neurophysiological damage associated to head injury, trauma congruent hallucinations and anhedonia. Family trauma is also very common; for example, it has been shown that

Children of tortured parents reveal more psychosomatic symptoms, headaches, depression, learning difficulties and aggressive behavior They manifest more severe ADHD, enuresis, and trauma related psychotic symptoms, developmental arrest or delays.

Surprisingly enough, research has also put forward the notion that torture survivors display some positive psychological traits, when compared to control groups. Namely, they are better equipped to grow out of the traumatic experience, more resilient and more tolerant to adversity than those who haven´t suffered tortured, while involved in the same violent environment. This is again attributed to the commitment to a collective cause and the presence of a strong belief system.

Behavioral intervention, including exposure to those situations which foster fear, has been seen to obtain very positive effects, such as PTSD and depression reduction, after even one single session. Surprisingly again, this has been the case even when the treatment takes place while the subjects are still living in an environment where they may still risk being tortured.

These findings come from a study of former Yugoslavia war survivors, which also indicated that redress and the reinstitution of a sense of justice in the world are not enough of themselves to significantly help torture survivors` psychological healing process. According to this paper by Besoglu and collaborators, regardless of any political and judicial changes that benefit the victims, “recovery from PTSD appears to require specific interventions designed to enhance sense of control over traumatic stressors” (Abildgaard, 1984).

In his article You can´t fight violence with violence, Besoglu explains how the trauma of torture and other types of mass violence commonly beget more violence. According to the same study of former Yugoslavia conflict victims, the greatest desire for vengeance was seen in people who had had loved ones tortured, raped, killed or imprisoned. Besoglu explains these violent instincts as follows:

[R]etaliatory aggression attenuates the feelings of helplessness that arise from trauma. For an intuitive understanding of those feelings, simply imagine your home suddenly being raided by invading forces and your loved ones being humiliated, imprisoned, tortured, raped or killed.

It would seem that, as if it wasn´t bad enough of itself, torture can not only destroy a family, and even a whole generation (i.e. during the Latin American dictatorships of the 1970´s), it is also a seed for new violence, planted on extremely fertile ground.

Enrique Iglesias on virginity, man love and his tiny Spanish willy...

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au


ENRIQUE Iglesias's Aussie concert turned into an Oprah-style discussion of virginity, man love and tiny manhood.

Fans are divided over the concert which turned into an Oprah-style discussion of virginity, man love and tiny manhood.

The Latin chart-topper invited three Melbourne men on stage for a bizarre 20-minute interlude.

The three fans, who were quick to proclaim their heterosexuality, were spotted by Iglesias dancing in the crowd.

Once summoned on stage, they grabbed the microphone to tell the singer, "You’re the most beautiful man in the world."

From there things got stranger and stranger.

Nineteen-year-old Simeon Bisas wound up sharing with Iglesias the intimate details of losing his virginity last year.

Iglesias told the crowd he waited until he was 25 to rid himself of his virginity, even though his friends preferred to pay for their first time.

"I grew up with a lot of my friends and all of them lost their virginity with hookers, not that there’s anything wrong with that," Iglesias clarified. "They had to pay for it. I wanted to wait for the right girl so I waited until I was 25."

He soon changed his story, saying he lost it at 17-and-a-half in his brother’s house.

"I was nervous as shit the first time. Usually the first time is not the best. Let me be honest, I was 17-and-a-half, I was so nervous. It lasted 10 seconds."

When Bisas said he lasted 10 minutes the first time, Iglesias stated, "Really? I don’t even last eight minutes now."

When the lads said Iglesias’ "Spanish good looks" would help with the ladies, the singer said. "What does Spanish good looks have to do with the size of your penis? Maybe I have the Spanish looks but I have the smallest penis in the world. I’m serious."

Another of the boys, Jackson Strangward from Hawthorn, even asked Iglesias about rumours he’d split with girlfriend Anna Kournikova, saying "I thought you guys had it made in the shade."

Iglesias said, "Everything’s cool, it’s just I like to keep it as private as possible. She gave me a free pass in Melbourne."

Bisas, who had professed his man love for Iglesias, asked "Guys included?"

Iglesias said. "No, no guys included Simeon, are you talking for yourself? This is getting weird."

The singer also investigated each of the boys’ abs, revealed he waxes his chest, and gave the three continual shots of what looked like a bottle of scotch, which was emptied while their on-stage therapy session continued.

It angered many fans who just wanted Iglesias to sing. Instead Bisas sang Iglesias’ hit Escape, even running down the catwalk at Rod Laver Arena, before the four men sang a cover of Stand By Me.

Iglesias admitted he had a high fever and nearly cancelled the show but did not want to let his Melbourne fans down. He noted he probably should not have been mixing alcohol with antibiotics and kept his cap on for the entire concert.

When the concert got back on track fans were treated to back to back hits, with the R-rated version of Tonight I’m Loving You both opening and closing the show.

Other favorites included Not in Love, Bailamos, Rhythm Divine and Be With You.

Support act Havana Brown came back on stage to take over Nicole Scherzinger’s part inHeartbeat. The other opening act, rapper Pitbull, joined in for the No.1 hit I Like It.

Iglesias surfaced at the back of the venue to perform his ballad Hero, calling up Melbourne girl Kylie on stage for a slow dance. Iglesias moved Kylie’s hands onto his backside before giving her a passionate kiss on the mouth at the end of the embrace.

The singer also jumped off stage to kiss a female fan in a wheelchair at the end of the show.

Tickets are still available for Iglesias' final Melbourne show at Rod Laver Arena tonight.

Britney Spears’ ex-minder makes more allegations, including farting, sex infront of kids!

Source: http://www.celebitchy.com/

Britney Spears’ ex-bodyguard Fernando Flores has opened his mouth yet again. If you’ll remember, he’s the one who’s been shilling stories to The Sun ever since he left Britney’s employment after working for her from February through May last year. At first, Fernando kept things pretty believable with claims that Brit walked around naked in front of him, tried to tempt him into her bed, and refused to wear underwear in public, the latter of which was the “last straw” because Fernando got the blame for the fallout. These things weren’t exactly flattering to Britney, but they were plausible because (as we all recall far too clearly) Britney has shown herself to be quite fond of going pantless in front of the paparazzi.

Then, Fernando escalated the game by selling the story that Britney beat her sons with belts and knowingly fed them foods to which they were allergic. When Fernando finally filed his lawsuit last September, he included the above allegations as well as the claim that Britney had sex in front of her kids. According to Radar Online, Flores has now filed a new document with the court, which is rather comical in one light but also quite serious in its potential ramifications. Flores is asking for $10 million in damages due to the “psychological damage, anxiety attacks, depression and insomnia” that he suffered because Britney farted, picked her nose, and (here’s the kicker) took many drugs, including methamphetamines. Really. 

Former cop Fernando Flores is suing the star’s conservators alleging sexual harassment against Spears. Flores alleges he faced a series of bizarre come-ons from Britney, 29, who paraded naked in front of him and often beckoned him into her bedroom for sex.

In recent filings of Flores’ lawsuit, a copy of which RadarOnline.com and Star magazine have exclusively obtained, the former bodyguard ratcheted up his charges against the Toxic singer, claiming she broke wind and picked her nose “unapologetically,” did not shower for days on end, nor brushed her teeth or ever wore deodorant.
“Spears was generally personally unkempt,” Flores, 29, alleged.
The ex-staffer — who is claiming at least $10 million damages from Britney for what he describes as “repeated, unwanted sexual advances and harassment” — detailed in court papers filed in Los Angeles how the chart-topping diva craved a cocktail of drugs during the time he worked for her.
“Based on his former experience as a police officer, Plaintiff (Flores) is informed and believes and alleged thereon that Defendant Spears was often under the influence of illegal prescription and non-prescription drugs, such as Ritalin, Narcon (Naloxone) and methamphetamines,” the documents state.
He claims, “Defendant Spears was mentally unstable, and personally obnoxious and demanding, requiring her staff on various occasions and for no rationally discernable reasons to address her as ‘Jennifer’ or ‘Queen Bee,’ on other occasions, Defendant Spears would cut her hair in an erratic fashion, leaving uneven and bald spots on her head.”
Flores worked for Spears from February until July, 2010, when he stormed out of her Calabasas, Calif., mansion after she allegedly bent over in a short nightie to expose herself.
“Spears made repeated unwanted sexual advances to Plaintiff, summoning (him) to her room at her residence for no other purpose or reason than to expose her naked or near naked body to Plaintiff,” according to the suit.
But Flores insists “the sexual advances of Spears were unwanted for a variety of reasons.”
“Spears had obnoxious personal habits, such as chain smoking cigarettes, which made her smell continually of stale tobacco,” he wrote in his court document.
“She broke wind or picked her nose unselfconsciously and unapologetically before Plaintiff (Flores) and others and she was constantly and gratuitously loud and profane in her speech.
“She did not bathe for days on end, did not use deodorant, did not brush her teeth, did not fix her hair, did not wear shoes or socks.”
According to Flores, he suffered psychological damage, anxiety attacks, depression and insomnia as a result of Britney’s alleged harassment.
Soon after the suit was filed, last year, the Spears family released a statement saying it was “just another unfortunate situation where someone is trying to take advantage of the Spears family and make a name for himself.

[From Radar Online]

Britney’s camp has long since held the claim that Flores is attempting to pull a shakedown, and her attorneys have filed a motion to strike the ex-bodyguard’s latest filing. Further, a Britney source has also responded to TMZ: “He’s a liar.” Here’s the thing — this guy has progressively released statements about things that we can believe that Britney would do, such as the sexual overtures. Then, he made more serious allegations about her parenting, and now he’s coupling some bizarre complaints (the farting and nose picking) with the most potentially damaging allegation of all: those damn methamphetamines. Obviously, Flores’ logic all along has been to make many believable statements about Britney so that, in turn, we would ideally buy anything that he says about her. Yet I simply don’t think it’s possible for Britney to be a methhead when she’s been under such strict guidelines from her conservator father for the past several years. Yes, she’s not all there, mentally, but Flores is pulling a really dirty tactic here and, clearly, has crossed the line because he just wants that $10 million.