Share on PinterestContamination fears may cause people with OCD to wash their hands excessively.In 1998, researchers Matthew Botvinick and Jonathan Cohen of the University of Pittsburgh, PA, detailed an experiment that people would later refer to as the "rubber hand illusion" (RHI).In the experiment, 10 people sat down, resting their left arm on a table.…
Share on PinterestThousands of LA jail inmates would benefit from receiving mental health support away from prison, a new report suggests.The Los Angeles (LA) county jail system holds thousands of inmates at any one time, and past reports have suggested that these include many people who were previously homeless and who experience mental health issues.As…
Share on PinterestAs little as a $1 increase to the minimum wage could prevent thousands of people from attempting suicide, a new study suggests.According to the National Institute for Mental Health, in 2017, the latest year for which data is available, "[s]uicide was the 10th leading cause of death overall in the United States," accounting…
Nutrition is big business, and the public is growing increasingly interested in how food affects health. At the same time, mental health has become a huge focus for scientists and the general population alike.It is no surprise, then, that interest in the impact of food on mental health, or "nutritional psychiatry," is also gathering momentum.Supermarkets…
Share on PinterestResearchers have found some evidence that exposure to polluted air during childhood could increase a person's risk of schizophrenia.According to the World Health Organization (WHO), around 20 million people all around the globe live with schizophrenia.Hallucinations, persistent false beliefs, disordered thinking, and emotional disconnect chiefly characterize this mental health condition, and it is…
Share on PinterestNew research points to a link between bone health and ambient air quality.Osteoporosis is a condition characterized by impaired bone density, which causes them to become brittle and fragile.This condition tends to affect older individuals, particularly females, but some environmental factors — such as a lack of vitamin D — can also contribute…
Share on PinterestResearchers have now mapped the main 13 categories of emotion that music can evoke in us.Have you ever been in a situation where you wanted a playlist of musical tracks to put you in a certain mood — for example, to motivate you to work — but were unsure how to find it…
backing — some scientists believe that the black and white stripes of a zebra protect it from biting insects.As just one example, a 2019 study found that horses wearing coats with striped patterns attracted fewer flies than both horses without any covering and horses wearing materials without stripes.With growing support, it now seems reasonable that…
diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and Parkinson's disease."The authors also note that earlier studies into the impact of pyrethroids on health have had limitations; to date, there have been no investigations into the links between exposure to these pesticides and mortality. So, the scientists set out to plug these gaps in our knowledge.They have now published their…
October 2019.In Canada, respondents to recent Deloitte surveys reported that they were eager to use edibles not just for recreational purposes, but also for a range of medical reasons, chiefly to help them cope with anxiety and sleep disorders."It is [also] notable that current edible consumers say they are more likely to buy premade cannabis…
Journal of Anatomy.There are a lot of intriguing — and somewhat endearing — facts about baby pandas.For one thing, the giant panda newborns are particularly "helpless." They are born blind, pink, and hairless. They do not open their eyes until they are 6–8 weeks old, and they cannot move before the age of 3 months.The…
Share on PinterestScientists believe that they are on the path to a vaccine against dementia.Globally, dementia affects an estimated 50 million people. Because dementias are primarily a disease of older age, this figure is likely to increase as the average life expectancy increases.In fact, some scientists have calculated that the burden of dementia in the…
Share on PinterestNew research is questioning the predominant hypothesis that a buildup of beta-amyloid causes Alzheimer's disease.Alzheimer's disease affects over 5.5 million people in the United States and millions more around the globe.Yet, researchers are still at a loss as to why this condition — which is characterized by memory impairment and many other cognitive…
Share on PinterestResearchers are soon to test a new therapy for improving heart function and recovery after a heart attack.According to the American Heart Association (AHA), around 605,000 people in the United States have a new heart attack each year, and approximately 200,000 experience a recurrent attack.Reperfusion, which is a technique that frees up the…
Share on PinterestA recent study finds more evidence that obesity increases the risk of developing melanoma.Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the United States.Melanoma accounts for just 1% of skin cancer cases, but it causes the majority of deaths from this type of disease. There are an estimated 96,480 new melanoma…
Share on PinterestNew research looks at the causes of type 2 diabetes and the lifestyle changes that may reverse this condition.Between 1980 and 2014, the number of people living with diabetes across the world increased from about 108 million to 422 million.As many as 90% of these individuals have type 2 diabetes.Pharmacological interventions have done…