Category Archives: Aging
Use of bilateral mastectomy increased significantly throughout California from 1998 through 2011 and was not associated with lower mortality than that achieved with breast-conserving surgery plus radiation.
September 2014, Vol 312, No. 9 > < Previous ArticleNext Article > Original Investigation | September 3, 2014 Use of and Mortality After Bilateral Mastectomy Compared With Other Surgical Treatments for Breast Cancer in California, 1998-2011 FREE Allison W. Kurian, MD, MSc1,2; Daphne Y. Lichtensztajn, MD, MPH3; Theresa H. M. Keegan, PhD2,3; David O. Nelson, PhD2,3; … Continue reading
Maurice Preter MD and Donald F. Klein, MD, DSc: Lifelong opioidergic vulnerability through early life separation: A recent extension of the false suffocation alarm theory of panic disorder.
“[…W]e objectively, experimentally showed a physiological link between endogenous opioid system deficiency and panic-like suffocation sensitivity in healthy adults. This is consonant with the expanded Suffocation-False Alarm Theory of panic suggesting an episodic functional endogenous opioid deficit (Preter and Klein, 1998). The specificity of the naloxone + lactate model of clinical panic should be tested using specific anti-panic components, possibly including opioidergic mixed agonist-antagonists such as buprenorphine. If specific, the naloxone + lactate effect in normal humans affords a screening method for testing putative anti-panic drugs which is currently not available. This could obviate the experimental treatment of panic disorder patients in drug development.
Our data also show for the first time that actual separations and losses during childhood, such parental death, parental separation or divorce (CPL), effect lifelong alterations in the physiological reactivity of the endogenous opioid system of healthy adults.
This result encourages epigenetic inquiry into the effects of CPL on endogenous opioid systems, and their role in resilience under extreme stress. In addition, a redefinition of what constitutes a (truly) healthy control in clinical research protocols may be called for.” Continue reading
Exercise’s Psychological & Physical Effects on Health, Disorders, & Quality of Life
Meta-Analyses: Exercise’s Psychological & Physical Effects on Health, Disorders, & Quality of Life. Another gem from Dr. Ken Pope’s web site.
Flatworms Recall Familiar Environs, Even after Losing Their Heads: Scientific American
Flatworms Recall Familiar Environs, Even after Losing Their Heads: Scientific American. Highly recommended reading. As it turns out, one does not have to go all the way down the evolutionary ladder to be reminded that even brain-impaired or brain-damaged individuals … Continue reading