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Here is a link to show exactly where the Space Station is over earth right now: Click Here
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Mental Health
#157804
11/01/13 12:23 AM
11/01/13 12:23 AM
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OP
SDA
Active Member 2016
Dedicated Member
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Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 1,275
Calif. USA
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Research shows that spending time with nature has extensive mental health benefits
by Ben Hirshberg
(NaturalNews) Intuitively, many people understand nature's role in human health. Whether it is walking on the beach, swimming in the ocean, or hiking in the mountains, interaction with nature seems to have a positive effect on humans. The sounds, smells, and sights of the great outdoors appear to have an amazing stress-reducing capacity. Research backs up this folk wisdom, showing that spending time with nature can decrease feelings of depression, increase self-esteem, decrease tense feelings, help us to be more caring, less aggressive and violent, be less likely to procrastinate, and better able to work through problems.
One study from 2007 done in the UK compared the mental state of depressed individuals who took a walk in a park outdoors and a walk inside a shopping center. 71 percent of the group who took a walk in the park reported that their levels of depression decreased, compared to only 45 percent of the group who walked inside the shopping center. Additionally, 22 percent of the group who walked in the shopping center reported their depression levels increasing.
The same study also showed that 71 percent of the participants who walked in the park reported feeling less tense, compared to 50 percent of those who walked in the shopping center. Additionally, a whopping 90 percent of participants who walked in the park reported an increased self-esteem, compared to only 44 percent of the participants who walked in the shopping center.
A 2009 study from the University of Rochester found that when study participants were exposed to pictures of nature, they were more likely to list connectedness and community higher as life aspirations than wealth and fame than when the participants were exposed to urban pictures. The same study also found that when participants were exposed to pictures of nature, they were more likely to share money with others than when they were exposed to urban pictures.
Research done by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign studied public housing in Chicago and randomly assigned each subject to a room with a view of grass and trees or a view of a barren courtyard. They found that subjects who were assigned to rooms with a view of nature had fewer aggressive conflicts, incidents of domestic violence, procrastinated less on goals they deemed important, and were less likely to believe that they had unsolvable problems than subjects who had views of the courtyard.
These studies underscore the importance of not losing touch with nature. In many modern societies where depression levels are soaring, an effective tool to help can be found in their own backyards.
Sources for this article include:
http://www.mind.org.uk/news/1795_go_green_to_beat_the_blues
http://www.rochester.edu/news/show.php?id=3450
http://www.msnbc.msn.com
Suzanne
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Re: Mental Health
[Re: Suzanne]
#169977
11/19/14 12:33 AM
11/19/14 12:33 AM
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OP
SDA
Active Member 2016
Dedicated Member
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Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 1,275
Calif. USA
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Walnuts, Social Activity and Cognitive Exercise Help Stave Off Dementia
by Daniel Barker
(NaturalNews) Those looking to find ways to stave off dementia as they enter old age have just received a double-dose of good news.
Two recent studies have indicated a couple of methods which offer significant protection for the human brain against the onset of Alzheimer's disease.
One of the studies finds that it is possible to keep the brain healthy through exercising it; the other reveals that diet is also an important factor in preventing decline in brain function.
Experts at the University of Santiago de Compostela in Spain conducted research on brain function with an emphasis on determining what factors might prevent or slow down the tendency toward dementia in older people.
The researchers found that possessing and using a large vocabulary appears to play an important role in minimizing the effects of aging on the human brain.
A recent article in The Express summarizes the findings[1]:
"Cognitive reserve" is the name given to the brain's capacity to compensate for the loss of its functions.
This reserve cannot be measured directly; rather, it is calculated through indicators which are believed to increase this capacity.
Cristina Lojo Seoane, co-author of the study published in the journal Annals of Psychology, said: "We focused on level of vocabulary as it is considered an indicator of crystallised intelligence - the use of previously acquired intellectual skills.
"We aimed to deepen our understanding of its relation to cognitive reserve."
The study took into account the level of education, vocabulary scores, complexity of their jobs and reading habits of the subjects who participated in the study.
The researchers compared 222 healthy people over the age of 50 with 104 others who had mild cognitive impairment and found that, among those in the latter group, many had lower vocabulary scores.
This led the researchers to the conclusion that "a higher level of vocabulary, as a measure of cognitive reserve, can protect against cognitive impairment."
The second study examined the effects of diet on aging brains and found that eating walnuts on a daily basis has a measurable impact towards the prevention of the onset of dementia.
The study was conducted by researchers at the New York State Institute for Basic Research in Developmental Disabilities:
The new research, published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, found that potent ingredients in the popular nuts can have a beneficial effects in reducing the risk, delaying the onset, slowing the progression of, or preventing Alzheimer's.
Led by Dr Abha Chauhan, the study found significant improvement in learning skills, memory, reducing anxiety, and motor development in mice fed a walnut-enriched diet.
The researchers believe that it is the high antioxidant content of walnuts which may protect the brain from the degeneration typically seen in Alzheimer's.
Oxidative stress is the damage that occurs within the body during the aging process and which is caused by the actions of naturally- occurring chemicals called "free radicals." Oxidative stress has been identified as one of the major factors involved in the aging of the brain and other parts of the human body.
The antioxidant properties of walnuts appear to help in minimizing the effects of oxidative stress on the brain.
Walnuts can also help in keeping the heart healthy and are a great source of vitamins, minerals and omega-3 fatty acid, all of which have health benefits.
Although no single method or dietary supplement appears to be a cure for dementia, it's well worth adding walnuts to your daily diet along with an effort to boost your vocabulary and exercise your brain.
Sources:
[1] http://www.express.co.uk
[2] http://science.naturalnews.com
Suzanne
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Here is the link to this week's Sabbath School Lesson Study and Discussion Material: Click Here
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