HEALTH AND WELLNESS

                     Do you have trouble sleeping? The problem could be a lack of exposure to sun bright light during the day, especially if you are elderly. Researchers in Japan recently conducted a study of nursing-home residents who suffered from insomnia, and they found that the poor quality of the subjects sleep was related to their limited daily exposure to environmental light. At the same time, blood tests revealed that these elderly residents had low levels of the hormone melatonin.        Melatonin is secreted by the pineal gland in the brain. Under normal conditions, the daily rhythm of melatonin secretion causes concentrations in the blood to be “high during the nighttime and nearly undetectable during the daytime.        However, when the elderly are not expose to enough light during the day, blood melatonin levels fall. It seems that as far as the body is concerned, this blurs the distinction between day and night, which the researchers believe affects

                                     CAN we overcome stress? If we can, should we?      Today psychophysiologists are beginning to formulate models showing that stress, anxiety, and depression influence the body to create or aggravate mental and physical disorders. Greater stress and anxiety tend to degenerate the physical body and depress one’s mental outlook on the world. Are there ways to reverse this process of physical degeneration while maximizing the condition under which positive attitudes, beliefs, and life-style changes can heal the afflicted body and mind?      The basic assumption at the root of current research is that there is both a psychological and a physical component to all disease. Another common assumption is that individual is able to exercise a marked degree of will power in the development, aggravation, and alleviation of these disorders. From these assumptions one might conclude that a personal psychology or philosophy may have a pronounced e

                                               [1]         MALE DEPRESSION          One of the oldest things about depression is the lingering myth that it is mostly a female disorder from which real men are genetically protected. Specialists say depression remains hidden in men because men visit health professionals less often than women, with less opportunity to talk about their problems and they are less able to articulate emotional distress. So doctors are more familiar with symptoms that are common in female victims of depression. In women depression has a notably different constellation of symptoms than in men. What are some of the symptoms common in male depression? Anger, fatigue, irritability, aggression, a drop in work performance, and a tendency for the sufferer to isolate himself from loved ones and friends. Sadness does always accompany depression –especially for men.                                              [2]         PROBLEMS CONNECTED WITH OBESITY  

               Few fish grab our attention the way the clown fish does. Perhaps it wins our hearts with its fancy coloring, which may remind us of a circus clown. Or maybe we are struck by its surprising choice of home –among the stinging tentacles of a sea anemone. Not surprisingly, another name for the clown fish is anemonefish .              Like many Hollywood actors, clown fish are not averse to photographs. Divers and snorkelers can usually expect clown fish to pose for pictures, since they rarely stray far from home and are not particularly shy.            But what makes clown fish amazing is their seemingly risky lifestyle. Living among poisonous tentacles would seem to be comparable to setting up home in a nest of serpents. Still, clown fish and their anemone of choice are inseparable. What makes this strange partnership possible and successful?           Like most good partnerships, clown fish and anemones give and take. The relationship is not merely conv

                                                       MYSTERIOUS LAVENDER                                                                                   Queen Elizabeth 1 of England ordered that the royal table be supplied with a condiment made of it. Charles VI of France sat on cushions stuffed with it. What was the object of this royal ardor? A fragment shrub known as lavender. Anyone who has ever stood amid the purple haze of a lavender field will understand why so many people are captivated by this aromatic plant.       There are over 30 species of lavender. This hardy herb thrives in diverse climates, from the cool air of the French Alps to the dry heat of the Middle East. The plant’s botanical name Lavandula comes from the Latin lavare, meaning “to wash.” It is derived from a custom of the ancient Romans, who perfumed their baths with lavender oil.                                            MEDICINAL VALUE           The medicinal use of lavender dates bac