Mindfully Healing

Certain words can reduce both social pain and physical pain. Swearing can help to relieve hurt feelings and an aching heart, new research has found. Swearing aloud helps to quickly reduce various types of ‘social distress’ such as being socially excluded. The experiment was carried out to test ‘Pain Overlap Theory’. This is the idea that physical pain is processed in a similar way by the brain as social pain, the kind you get from being rejected or embarrassed. Dr Michael Philipp, the study’s first author, explained the results: “The

How coffee consumption is linked to both mental and physical health. Moderate coffee consumption is linked to reduced depression risk and lower levels of Parkinson’s and dementia, new research finds. Not only that, but the review of more than 200 studies found that drinking 3 to 4 cups of coffee a day is linked to many other benefits. These include lower levels of heart disease, reduced risk of some cancers, diabetes and liver disease. The study’s authors write: “Coffee consumption was consistently associated with a lower risk of Parkinson’s disease,

The cause of Alzheimer’s is not just in the brain. Alzheimer’s disease could be a problem that involves the whole body, according to new research. Alzheimer’s — the most common form of dementia — has usually been thought of as only a brain disease. However, research now suggests the disease could be triggered elsewhere in the body. Chinese research has shown that amyloid-beta — the protein thought central to Alzheimer’s — can contribute to the disease even when it comes from outside the brain. The findings suggest drugs that might

How to identify autism before 18 months of age. Autism is not usually diagnosed before two-years-old. However, the subtle warning signs can be seen even earlier — perhaps before the age of 18 months. The earlier a child is diagnosed with autism, the quicker the treatments can begin. The five early warning signs of autism are: More limited and repetitive play, less name response, less social smiling, less babbling, limited gesture use. Before one-year-old it is difficult to spot any of these signs. But between 12 and 18-months, it is