Neurologist

Josh Hartnett Talks About ‘Bunraku’

neurologist — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 09:49:39 +0000

Josh Hartnett in ‘Bunraku’

Josh Hartnett stars as The Drifter in writer/director Guy Moshe’s action thriller Bunraku co-starring Gackt, Woody Harrelson, Ron Perlman, and Kevin McKidd. The Drifter is a mysterious stranger who’s on a mission to take down the powerful Nicola (Perlman), a vicious crime boss who rules the city with the help of his evil henchmen. Mixing different genres (including old-school Westerns) and drawing inspiritation from Japanese puppet theatre, Bunraku takes audiences into a bizarre new world where guns no longer exist and where gangs rule the streets.

In support of Bunraku‘s release on Video on Demand on September 1st (followed by a theatrical release on September 30th), Josh Hartnett talked about being a part of such a unique project, Guy Moshe’s vision, and tackling some very intense action scenes.

Exclusive Josh Hartnett Bunraku Interview

How does the final cut of the film compare to the vision you had in your head after seeing the script?

Josh Hartnett: ”You know, I didn’t know what to expect when I read the script. The script was secondary in the process of getting to know this movie because Guy came out to New York – Guy Moshe, the director – came up to New York and showed me kind of a pre-made digital mock-up of a few scenes. We talked about his references for the film far before I ever read the script. He asked me not to read it before he showed me all these visual things. It kind of reminded me of the way that Robert Rodriguez did Sin City. It was the visuals first, and then he tried to figure out what to do with the script.”

“I really respected Guy’s obvious enthusiasm and his excitement and his ability to push himself to the point that most people would kind of stand back and say, ‘This may come across as totally absurd.’ He just pushed through it. And I think he accomplished something that’s unique and definitely something that other people aren’t doing. I’m proud to be able to work with him on this.”

“I read the script before I actually said yes, but the first thing I saw and the thing that stuck in my mind were the references he had. He referenced a lot of French new wave films and Kurosawa films, of course, and Sergio Leone films of course. And he was looking to do something that was kind of ’60s-centric, you know, and yet he wanted to bring in new technology to create this world. The reason that I think that he titled it Bunraku is because he wanted it to be an obvious staged world that you’re involved in. Do you know what Bunraku means?”

I do now, but I didn’t before this film.

Josh Hartnett: ”Okay. Well, puppeteers are onstage with these life-size puppets and they’re performing melodramas and mysteries. It’s a traditional Japanese form of theatre, and Guy wanted this to be just as far removed from reality, in that he’s telling a parable. And it reminded me a lot when I read the script of something like Star Wars, actually, orHidden Fortress - the Kurosawa film that Star Warsis based on. It has this sort of little guys versus an evil empire storyline and the little guys all band together in a hilarious way and are guided by a sage, in this case Woody Harrelson’s part as the bartender. In Star Wars‘ case, the Obi-Wan Kenobi part with Alec Guinness. It had a lot of similarities to it.”

Do you believe, knowing all the references that Guy was intending to work off of, that’s what actually comes across on the screen?

Josh Hartnett: ”You tell me.”

I think so. I think he captured it.

Josh Hartnett: ”Good. Being so close to it, I had certain expectations before I saw it. But I saw a lot of the visuals before we finished because they were cutting together these little short reels with music. You could kind of get a sense of how it’s going to look and how it’s going to feel.”

“They talk about special effects all the time these days and how you can heighten things and create these fantastic superhero movies where some of the characters will do things that are just physically impossible at every turn. I liked that this was pretty much all the stunts, all the fight sequences, were in camera and that it was just the background that was heightened. It’s more of an art piece, really, surrounding these spectacular fights than it is a CGI-infused over-the-top action films.”

Your fight scenes look really brutal.

Josh Hartnett: [Laughing] “I was in pretty good shape.”

Was it difficult for you, because this is not the type of film you normally do?

Josh Hartnett: ”I was getting a little fat before this film. [Laughing] But it whipped me right in shape. It was a challenge for me, for sure. Before I did this film I was sitting on my ass all the time and they made me go to the gym and learn some brutal fight moves. We had a good time – nobody really got hurt.”

“We worked with these terrific stunt guys and they were all trained in MMA. They got me a month and a half before we started filming, and I mean the first day I couldn’t do 20 sit-ups. I was not in good shape. They got me to quit smoking. I started really going to the gym three or four hours a day with them. You can see some of it, I’m sure, when the DVD comes out. I’m sure that they’ll have some of the behind-the-scenes stuff. We just did a lot of choreographed training. It was not so much about being bulked up but being ready to do some pretty interesting moves.”

Were there any mishaps during the action scenes?

“The only time I really got hurt on this film was doing that jump from building to building. Obviously I wasn’t jumping from building to building, but I was jumping quite a long ways to a pad. I was supposed to jump to a pad but I kind of leaped over the pad because I was playing a little game with the camera operators, seeing how close I could get to the actual camera. I think I did something to my hamstring and that swelled up, and then my sciatic nerve started to pinch. My whole left leg turned into a mess for about three months.”

“But the training was just kind of stage choreography, really, combined with a lot of physical, twice a day physical training. But it was mostly focused on the choreography because everybody had to be doing it exactly right, especially for the sequence in the prison. I mean, it’s a long, uncut sequence and the timing had to be correct. It had to be that way, and you don’t spend five days doing it. I think we did that whole scene in like three hours or something. We just shot it really quickly. We didn’t have a lot of time on this film. It’s not a huge budget, so we had to make sure that our choreography was all pre-planned and worked out to the end.”

Not only do they put you through a lot of physical stunts, but you also hold your body very differently in this movie. Was that something that just came with the character?

Josh Hartnett: ”No. I mean, there are little tricks, you know? You can make the shoulders of your jacket too tight or you can wear a lot of heavy, restrictive garments. Or you can put some sort of pebble in your shoe which I think Dustin Hoffman did in Midnight Cowboy. You can do all sorts of things to give yourself physically a different demeanor. But with this, it just came organically through all the training and the fighting. His mentality is just so straight line; he doesn’t beat around the bush, so I just wanted to be up front and center. He’s not very sly. He’s no-holds-barred.”

I always find it really interesting when a character doesn’t have a name. You’re just known as ‘The Drifter’ in Bunraku. Did you, in your own mind, give him a name?

Josh Hartnett: ”Harold. [Laughing] No, I didn’t. I let him remain a mystery. Okay, so, we came up with this whole backstory which I don’t want to give too much away because I don’t want to spoil it, but it had a lot to do with his family being taken away from him and who he was raised by. And, what we decided is that he was raised by gypsies and he traveled a lot. All the while he had this idea in his mind that he was going to avenge his father’s death and find out who he really is. But he got caught up in this training and this world…and maybe there was a little bit of fear. The idea that we had was that he was never really given a name – that he had a name as a young boy, but that he lost it over time in a sort of fantastical way. It’s not meant to be strictly…obviously this movie doesn’t even take place in the real world and I don’t want to be Freudian.”

5 ways to revitalize your spirit

neurologist — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 09:37:23 +0000

Tip #1: Practice Mindfulness

Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D, founder of the Stress Reduction Clinic at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center, summed up mindfulness when he said, “Wherever you go, there you are.”

Mindfulness is paying attention to the present moment and not thinking about what someone said to you this morning, talking on the phone while replying to an email, or worrying about the future.

Once a day from now on, I want you to put sincere effort into being fully present. Give your undivided attention to what you’re doing. If you have a lunch date, enjoy being with that person, rather than thinking about that client meeting you had in the morning or stressing about the pile of work sitting on your desk. Even the most mundane tasks, like making dinner, can come alive. Notice the smells, tastes, textures.

Here is a description of what mindfulness is, adapted from Full Catastrophe Living, by Jon Kabat-Zinn. Mindfulness is…

Being yourself.
Not judging yourself, over-analyzing what you’re going to say, or getting caught up in your thoughts.
Accepting and appreciating what each moment offers.
Allowing things to be the way they are, without getting caught up in expectations, hopes, wishes, and experiences.
Being patient with yourself and other people. Not being impatient or anxious for certain things, pleasant and unpleasant, to happen.
Trusting yourself and your feelings.

Tip #2: Read Books That Inspire You

What are you interested in? What inspires you, motivates you, moves you? For example, you may dream of having a life coach to keep you on track with your goals. If you can’t afford the $300 to $500 per month fee, go to the bookstore. There are plenty of helpful books to help you assess where you are now, where you want to be, and learn from people who have done it. These are some books I’ve read and enjoyed:

The Best Year of Your Life: Dream It, Live It, Plan It, by Debbie Ford
The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment, by Eckhart Tolle
The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom, by Don Miguel Ruiz
Anatomy of the Spirit, by Carolyn Myss

Tip #3: Give Thanks at Meals

See if this scenario is familiar – you’d love to go for lunch but you have too much to do, so you grab a sandwich to go and bring it back to your desk. Within minutes, your sandwich is gone, you’re still hunched over at the computer, and you can barely remember how it tasted.

Instead, start each meal with a pause – take a deep breath and give thanks for the food your about to eat. Or, say a prayer, whatever has meaning for you. Buy a beautiful plate, placemat, mug, or food container to use.

Tip #4: Book a Monthly Massage

Once a month, treat yourself to a relaxation massage. If it is out of your budget, consider going to a massage school student clinic in your area. Treatments by massage therapists-in-training are often 1/4 of the regular cost.

Tip #5: Forgive

Forgiving yourself and others can be liberating. Many people carry past hurts inside them and are unable to let them go. Start by forgiving yourself – if something you say or do causes misunderstanding or may be interpreted as hurtful, don’t let it sit and don’t beat yourself up over it.

Give a sincere apology and then do something to psychologically cleanse, such as taking that thought and imagining yourself throwing it in the garbage can or taking a warm shower when you get home. You can also try these affirmations:

“Life is too short to beat myself up over what’s done in the past. I choose to forgive myself and forgive others.”
“I know how much it hurts me when other people are mad or hold grudges at me. I don’t want to be the one who makes other people feel that way.”

30 Interesting Facts about Human Brain

neurologist — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 16:55:36 +0000

Brain is the central organ of the human body. It is extremely complex and sophisticated. The functions of the brain were found by the ancient Egyptians and Greeks in 400 BC. It was Hippocrates who first discovered that brain played an important role in sensation and intelligence. Nowadays, everyone understand the importance of having the brain, but most of us don’t know much about it, so here are some interesting facts for you.

(image credits: jepoirrier)

1) There are no pain receptors in the brain, so the brain can feel no pain.

2) The human brain is the fattest organ in the body and may consists of at least 60% fat.

3) Neurons develop at the rate of 250,000 neurons per minute during early pregnancy.

4) Humans continue to make new neurons throughout life in response to mental activity.

5) Alcohol interferes with brain processes by weakening connections between neurons.

6) Altitude makes the brain see strange visions – Many religions involve special visions that occurred at great heights. For example, Moses encountered a voice emanating from a burning bush on Mount Sinai and Muhammad was visited by an angel on Mount Hira. Similar phenomena are reported by mountain climbers, but they don’t think it’s very mystical. Many of the effects are attributable to the reduced supply of oxygen to the brain. At 8,000ft or higher, some mountaineers report perceiving unseen companions, seeing light emanating from themselves or others, seeing a second body like their own, and suddenly feeling emotions such as fear. Oxygen deprivation is likely to interfere with brain regions active in visual and face processing, and in emotional events.

7) Reading aloud and talking often to a young child promotes brain development.

8 ) Information travels at different speeds within different types of neurons. Not all neurons are the same. There are a few different types within the body and transmission along these different kinds can be as slow as 0.5 meters/sec or as fast as 120 meters/sec.

9) The capacity for such emotions as joy, happiness, fear, and shyness are already developed at birth. The specific type of nurturing a child receives shapes how these emotions are developed.

10) The left side of your brain (left hemisphere) controls the right side of your body; and, the right side of your brain (right hemisphere) controls the left side of your body.

11) Children who learn two languages before the age of five alters the brain structure and adults have a much denser gray matter.

12) Information can be processed as slowly as 0.5 meters/sec or as fast as 120 meters/sec (about 268 miles/hr).

13) While awake, your brain generates between 10 and 23 watts of power–or enough energy to power a light bulb.

14) The old adage of humans only using 10% of their brain is not true. Every part of the brain has a known function.

15) A study of one million students in New York showed thatstudents who ate lunches that did not include artificial flavors, preservatives, and dyes did 14% better on IQ tests than students who ate lunches with these additives.

16) For years, scientists believed that tinnitus was due to a function within the mechanics of the ear, but newer evidence shows that it is actually a function of the brain.

17) Every time you recall a memory or have a new thought, you are creating a new connection in your brain.

18) Memories triggered by scent have a stronger emotional connection, therefore appear more intense than other memory triggers.

19) Each time we blink, our brain kicks in and keeps things illuminated so the whole world doesn’t go dark each time we blink (about 20,000 times a day).

20) Laughing at a joke is no simple task as it requires activity in five different areas of the brain.

21) The average number of thoughts that humans are believed to experience each day is 70,000.

22) There are two different schools of thought as to why we dream: the physiological school, and the psychological school. While many theories have been proposed, not single consensus has emerged as to why we dream. Some researchers suggest that dreams serve no real purpose, while other believe that dreaming is essential to mental, emotional and physical well-being. One theory for dreaming suggests dreams serve to clean up clutter from the mind.

23) The Hypothalamus part of the brain regulates body temperature much like a thermostat. The hypothalamus knows what temperature your body should be (about 98.6 Fahrenheit or 37 Celsius), and if your body is too hot, the hypothalamus tells it to sweat. If you’re too cold, the hypothalamus makes you start shivering. Shivering and sweating helps get your body’s temperature back to normal.

24) Approximately 85,000 neocortical neurons are lost each day in your brain. Fortunately, his goes unnoticed due to the built-in redundancies and the fact that even after three years this loss adds up to less than 1% of the total.

25) Differences in brain weight and size do not equal differences in mental ability. The weight of Albert Einstein’s brain was 1,230 grams that is less than an average weight of the human brain.

26) A living brain is so soft you could cut it with a table knife.

27) There are about 100,000 miles of blood vessels in the brain.

28) London taxi drivers ,famous for knowing all the London streets by heart, have a larger than normal hippocampus, especially the drivers who have been on the job longest. The study suggests that as people memorize more and more information, this part of their brain continues to grow.

29) The brain can live for 4 to 6 minutes without oxygen, and then it begins to die. No oxygen for 5 to 10 minutes will result in permanent brain damage.

30) Our brain often fools us. It often perceives things differently from the reality. Look at those pictures. Square A and B are actually the same shade of gray.

Monte Car Movie Trailer

neurologist — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 18:35:33 +0000

Teen star Selena Gomez stars in the romantic comedy Monte Carlo, a film with a familiar-feeling plot and lots of pretty people. Check out the trailer and see what you think:

http://movies.about.com/library/movies/Monte-Carlo-Trailer.mov

Monte Carlo stars Selena Gomez, Leighton Meester, Katie Cassidy, Cory Monteith, Pierre Boulanger, Luke Bracey, and Brett Cullen, and is set to hit theaters on July 1, 2011.

Monte Carlo Plot:

Based on the Jules Bass book Headhunters published in 2001, Monte Carlo finds Selena Gomez playing a teen named Grace who’s mistaken for a socialite while on a trip to Paris. Flying off to Monte Carlo for a charity ball and auction, Grace and her friends find themselves involved in the search for a million dollar necklace that goes missing.

Breast-feeding probably doesn’t stave off multiple sclerosis relapse

neurologist — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 18:30:46 +0000

Breast-feeding doesn’t appear to prevent a relapse of multiple sclerosis.(Christinne Muschi / Reuters)

Breast-feeding is often encouraged for women with multiple sclerosis. It’s not only good nutrition for the baby, studies have suggested itmay protect the mother against a relapse of the disease.

A study published Wednesday casts doubt on that assertion, however. Researchers followed 298 women with multiple sclerosis for one year after delivery. About one-third of the women breast-fed their babies for at least two months and the remaining did not breast-feed or only did so for a very short time.

Researchers found no protective effect for breast-feeding. It did not worsen the relapse rate, either. They did find that women who had relapses during pregnancy were more than twice as likely to have a relapse in the postpartum period compared with women who remained healthy during pregnancy. It could be that those women are more likely to breast-feed their babies.

‘Larry Crowne’ Exclusive Premiere Photos

neurologist — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 18:28:13 +0000

Gallery of photos from the world premiere of Larry Crowne featuring Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Rami Malek, Taraji P Henson, Cedric the Entertainer, Wilmer Valderrama, Rita Wilson, Maria Canals-Barrera, Malcolm Barrett, Ian Gomez, Nia Vardalos, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Grace Gummer, George Takei, Bryan Cranston, Selita Ebanks, RJ Mitte, Alex Quijano, Roxana Ortega, Carly Reeves, Brad Altman, Jenna Elfman, and Michael Nardelli.

The premiere of Universal Pictures’ Larry Crowne was held on June 27, 2011 in Hollywood, CA.

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Spinal fluid test a ‘real weapon’ against Alzheimer’s

neurologist — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 13:30:04 +0000

A test which can spot Alzheimer’s years before full-blown symptoms arise has been hailed as potentially a “real weapon” against the disease.

Experts say that developing a reliable early-warning test for Alzheimer’s is crucial if drugs are to be developed which stops it developing Photo: GETTY

It involves examining levels of two particular proteins in spinal fluid, that tend to be higher in people who go on to develop the brain disorder.

Alzheimer’s is often preceded by a condition called mild cognitive impairment (MCI), which involves memory and thinking problems.

About 15 per cent of people with MCI go on to be diagnosed with clinical Alzheimer’s every year.

However, some regain their full brainpower, but doctors do not know who will go down which route or why.

Now scientists have found that by looking at concentrations of two proteins in spinal fluid together, they are able to tell in four out of five cases who will go on to develop Alzheimer’s and who will not.

Researchers at the Technical University Munich analysed a number of spinal fluid proteins in 58 people with MCI, 21 of whom went on to be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s over three years.

They found that two proteins – one called tau and another called soluable amyloid precursor protein beta (sAPPβ) – were particular powerful predictors when combined with a person’s age.

Tau, which causes cell death when it builds up in the brain, is already well established as a biomarker. The other, sAPPβ, is a new finding.

In a paper published last night (TUES) in the journal Neurology, the authors wrote that the new protein was of great value because levels became raised very early during disease development.

Alzheimer’s Research UK, a charity, commented that spinal fluid protein tests “might be real weapons” in tackling the disease.

Rebecca Wood, its chief executive, added: “This small study provides a potential new lead to follow up.”

Prof Simon Lovestone, of the Institute of Psychiatry at King’s College London, said: “If this finding is replicated in larger studies it would be a significant step forward.”

Adding the new protein made predictions more accurate, which was “really important,” said Prof Lovestone, one of Britain’s leading experts on Alzheimer’s biomarkers.

He said that perfecting a predictive test for Alzheimer’s was essential to develop drugs to combat the disease.

The was because changes began in the brain up to a decade before clinical symptoms emerged, he explained.

Secondly, if people knew they were very likely to get Alzheimer’s they could plan for the future.

“You might go ahead with that world cruise and think about what care you want, if you know,” he said.

But he cautioned that all spinal fluid tests had an Achilles’ heel – they required an “uncomfortable” lumbar puncture to obtain the sample.

“That’s particularly problematic if you want to give the test lots of times, for example at three or six month intervals.”

Prof Lovestone is currently working on a blood test to detect the early signs of Alzheimer’s, a disease which currently affects more than 800,000 people in Britain.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk

Eleuthero

neurologist — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 17:12:42 +0000

What You Need to Know About Eleuthero, Often Called Siberian ginseng

Eleuthero (Eleutherococcus senticosus) is a medicinal herb said to offer a wide range of health benefits. Although it is also referred to as “Siberian ginseng,” eleuthero does not belong to the same family as “true” ginseng, which includes Korean or Asian ginseng and American ginseng. Eleuthero is available as a dietary supplement and sometimes used in skincare products.

Uses For Eleuthero

Eleuthero is thought to act as an adaptogen, a class of herbs that supposedly boost the body’s resistance to stress. Proponents claim that eleuthero can also help with these health conditions:

In addition, eleuthero is sometimes used to improve athletic performance, boost the immune system, and ease the side effects ofchemotherapy.

Benefits of Eleuthero

To date, research on the health effects of Siberian ginseng is fairly limited. However, some studies suggest that eleuthero shows promise in the treatment of certain conditions, including:

1) Colds

Eleuthero is possibly effective for cold relief when taken in combination with the herbandrographis, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Indeed, a 2004 study of 130 children (published in Phytotherapy Research) found that an herbal formula containing eleuthero and andrographis helped reduce cold duration and severity when treatment was started at the early stages of the cold. In general, it takes four to five days of treatment with the andrographis/Siberian ginseng combination in order to experience maximum cold relief, the NIH states.

2) Fatigue

Eleuthero may help improve mental performance in people with mild, stress-induced fatigue, according to a 2009 research review published in Current Clinical Pharmacology. Additionally, a 2004 study from Psychological Medicine found that eleuthero might benefit people with “moderate fatigue.” However, the study also found that eleuthero was not effective for people with severe fatigue. The study involved 96 people with fatigue, each of whom received either eleuthero or a placebo for two months.

3) Osteoarthritis

For a 2009 study published in The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology, researchers assigned 57 patients with osteoarthritis of the knee to six weeks of daily treatment with either a placebo or an herbal formula containing eleuthero, Panax ginseng, and Chinese foxglove. By the study’s end, those had received the herbal formula showed greater improvement in pain and physical functioning (compared to those who had taken the placebo). However, it’s not known whether eleuthero on its own can help manage osteoarthritis.

4) High Cholesterol

Eleuthero may help cut cholesterol, according to a small study published in Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications in 2008. For the study, 40 postmenopausal women were assigned to receive either calcium or calcium plus eleuthero for six months. Study results revealed that those who were given calcium plus eleuthero experienced significant decreases in LDL cholesterol and certain markers of oxidative stress (a destructive biological process linked to many major health problems, including heart disease and cancer).

What You Need to Know Before Using Eleuthero

The NIH warns that eleuthero products often contain “adulterants” (other ingredients that do not contribute to the benefit of the product). Silk vine is a common adulterant of eleuthero, according to the NIH. To avoid adulterants, read product labels carefully or ask your health-care provider to recommend an eleuthero product to you.

It’s also important not to confuse eleuthero with other types of ginseng commonly used in herbal medicine, such as Panax ginseng and American ginseng.

Is Eleuthero Safe?

Although eleuthero is likely safe when used in the short term, it may trigger a number of side effects (including insomnia, headache, nervousness, drowsiness, and hypoglycemia). It’s also important to take caution when using Siberian ginseng if you have high blood pressure, a heart condition, diabetes, a hormone-sensitive condition (such as breast canceror uterine fibroids), or a mental condition (such as mania or schizophrenia). In these cases, the NIH recommends avoiding the use of eleuthero or using eleuthero only under your doctor’s supervision.

Pregnant and breast-feeding women and children should also avoid the use of eleuthero.

Should You Use Eleuthero for Health Purposes?

While taking eleuthero in combination with andrographis may help treat the common cold, it’s too soon to recommend eleuthero for any other health problem. If you’re considering the use of Siberian ginseng in treatment of a chronic condition, make sure to consult your doctor before starting your supplement regimen.

_Sources:

_{Hartz AJ, Bentler S, Noyes R, Hoehns J, Logemann C, Sinift S, Butani Y, Wang W, Brake K, Ernst M, Kautzman H. “Randomized controlled trial of Siberian ginseng for chronic fatigue.” Psychol Med. 2004 Jan;34(1):51-61.}

_{Lee YJ, Chung HY, Kwak HK, Yoon S. “The effects of A. senticosus supplementation on serum lipid profiles, biomarkers of oxidative stress, and lymphocyte DNA damage in postmenopausal women.” Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2008 Oct 10;375(1):44-8.}

_{National Insitutes of Health. “Ginseng, Siberian: MedlinePlus Supplements“. November 2010.}

_{Panossian A, Wikman G. “Evidence-based efficacy of adaptogens in fatigue, and molecular mechanisms related to their stress-protective activity.” Curr Clin Pharmacol. 2009 Sep;4(3):198-219.}

_{Park SH, Kim SK, Shin IH, Kim HG, Choe JY. “Effects of AIF on Knee Osteoarthritis Patients: Double-blind, Randomized Placebo-controlled Study.” Korean J Physiol Pharmacol. 2009 Feb;13(1):33-7.}

_{Spasov AA, Ostrovskij OV, Chernikov MV, Wikman G. “Comparative controlled study of Andrographis paniculata fixed combination, Kan Jang and an Echinacea preparation as adjuvant, in the treatment of uncomplicated respiratory disease in children.” Phytother Res. 2004 Jan;18(1):47-53.}

Reduce Belly Fat, Naturally

neurologist — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 17:07:58 +0000

How to Reduce Belly Fat

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services warns that women with a waist measurement of more than 35 inches and men with a waist measurement of more than 40 inches may have an increased risk for obesity-related diseases. While overall weight loss is the only known way to fight abdominal obesity and protect against obesity-related diseases, some research suggests that certain natural solutions may help reduce belly fat. Here’s a look at several study findings:

1) Soy and Belly Fat

Taking soy supplements may reduce belly fat in obese postmenopausal women, according to a small study published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology in 2010. For the study, researchers assigned 39 postmenopausal women to three months of treatment with either soy supplements or a placebo. Results revealed that soy helped reduce belly fat and interleukin-6 (a marker of inflammation), but failed to improve blood-sugar metabolism and increase levels of leptin (a hormone involved in fat metabolism).

2) Probiotics and Belly Fat

A 2010 study from the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition) shows that probiotics may help reduce belly fat. Every day for 12 weeks, 87 study participants drank either seven ounces of a fermented milk enriched with a probiotic strain called Lactobacillus gasseri SBT2055 (LG2055) or the same amount of fermented milk made without LG2055. Compared to the control group, those who consumed the LG2055-enriched fermented milk showed a greater reduction in belly fat and body weight.

3) Green Tea and Belly Fat

Green tea, which has been shown to speed up metabolism in preliminary studies, is sometimes touted as a natural remedy for abdominal obesity. However, in a 2007 study from the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, researchers found no difference in belly fat between overweight women treated with green tea extract for 12 weeks and study participants given a placebo for the same time period.

Should You Use Natural Remedies to Fight Belly Fat?

Although preliminary findings are promising, it’s too soon to recommend any type of natural remedy in treatment of abdominal obesity. If you’re looking to lose belly fat, it’s important to combine a healthy diet (low in saturated fats and simple carbohydrates) with an exercise program that includes both aerobic exercise and strength training. There’s also some evidence that managing your stress may help fight belly fight as well.

_Sources:

_{Christie DR, Grant J, Darnell BE, Chapman VR, Gastaldelli A, Sites CK. “Metabolic effects of soy supplementation in postmenopausal Caucasian and African American women: a randomized, placebo-controlled trial.” Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2010 Aug;203(2):153.e1-9.}

_{Elissa S. Epel, PhD, Bruce McEwen, PhD, Teresa Seeman, PhD, Karen Matthews, PhD, Grace Castellazzo, RN, BSN, Kelly D. Brownell, PhD, Jennifer Bell, BA and Jeannette R. Ickovics, PhD. “Stress and Body Shape: Stress-Induced Cortisol Secretion Is Consistently Greater Among Women With Central Fat.” Psychosomatic Medicine 62:623-632 (2000).}

_{Hill AM, Coates AM, Buckley JD, Ross R, Thielecke F, Howe PR. “Can EGCG reduce abdominal fat in obese subjects?” J Am Coll Nutr. 2007 Aug;26(4):396S-402S.}

_{Kadooka Y, Sato M, Imaizumi K, Ogawa A, Ikuyama K, Akai Y, Okano M, Kagoshima M, Tsuchida T. “Regulation of abdominal adiposity by probiotics (Lactobacillus gasseri SBT2055) in adults with obese tendencies in a randomized controlled trial.” Eur J Clin Nutr. 2010 Jun;64(6):636-43.}

Neurologist

Top 10 MTV Video Music Awards Moments

10. 1995 – Courtney Love Disrupts Madonna Interview

9. 1988 – Guns ‘n Roses – “Welcome to the Jungle”

8. 1990 – MC Hammer – “U Can’t Touch This”

7. 1993 – Neil Young and Pearl Jam – “Keep Rockin’ in the Free World”

6. 1994 – Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley Kiss

5. 2000 – Eminem – “The Real Slim Shady”

4. 2001 – *NSYNC with Michael Jackson – “Pop”

3. 2009 – Taylor Swift Wins Best Female Video and Is Interrupted by Kanye West

2. 1992 – Nirvana – “Lithium”

1. 2003 – Madonna, Britney Spears, and Christina Aguilera

Josh Hartnett Talks About ‘Bunraku’

Exclusive Josh Hartnett Bunraku Interview

5 ways to revitalize your spirit

Tip #1: Practice Mindfulness

Tip #2: Read Books That Inspire You

Tip #3: Give Thanks at Meals

Tip #4: Book a Monthly Massage

Tip #5: Forgive

30 Interesting Facts about Human Brain

(image credits: jepoirrier)

1) There are no pain receptors in the brain, so the brain can feel no pain.

2) The human brain is the fattest organ in the body and may consists of at least 60% fat.

3) Neurons develop at the rate of 250,000 neurons per minute during early pregnancy.

4) Humans continue to make new neurons throughout life in response to mental activity.

5) Alcohol interferes with brain processes by weakening connections between neurons.

7) Reading aloud and talking often to a young child promotes brain development.

8 ) Information travels at different speeds within different types of neurons. Not all neurons are the same. There are a few different types within the body and transmission along these different kinds can be as slow as 0.5 meters/sec or as fast as 120 meters/sec.

9) The capacity for such emotions as joy, happiness, fear, and shyness are already developed at birth. The specific type of nurturing a child receives shapes how these emotions are developed.

10) The left side of your brain (left hemisphere) controls the right side of your body; and, the right side of your brain (right hemisphere) controls the left side of your body.

11) Children who learn two languages before the age of five alters the brain structure and adults have a much denser gray matter.

12) Information can be processed as slowly as 0.5 meters/sec or as fast as 120 meters/sec (about 268 miles/hr).

13) While awake, your brain generates between 10 and 23 watts of power–or enough energy to power a light bulb.

14) The old adage of humans only using 10% of their brain is not true. Every part of the brain has a known function.

15) A study of one million students in New York showed thatstudents who ate lunches that did not include artificial flavors, preservatives, and dyes did 14% better on IQ tests than students who ate lunches with these additives.

16) For years, scientists believed that tinnitus was due to a function within the mechanics of the ear, but newer evidence shows that it is actually a function of the brain.

17) Every time you recall a memory or have a new thought, you are creating a new connection in your brain.

18) Memories triggered by scent have a stronger emotional connection, therefore appear more intense than other memory triggers.

19) Each time we blink, our brain kicks in and keeps things illuminated so the whole world doesn’t go dark each time we blink (about 20,000 times a day).

20) Laughing at a joke is no simple task as it requires activity in five different areas of the brain.

21) The average number of thoughts that humans are believed to experience each day is 70,000.

24) Approximately 85,000 neocortical neurons are lost each day in your brain. Fortunately, his goes unnoticed due to the built-in redundancies and the fact that even after three years this loss adds up to less than 1% of the total.

25) Differences in brain weight and size do not equal differences in mental ability. The weight of Albert Einstein’s brain was 1,230 grams that is less than an average weight of the human brain.

26) A living brain is so soft you could cut it with a table knife.

27) There are about 100,000 miles of blood vessels in the brain.

28) London taxi drivers ,famous for knowing all the London streets by heart, have a larger than normal hippocampus, especially the drivers who have been on the job longest. The study suggests that as people memorize more and more information, this part of their brain continues to grow.

29) The brain can live for 4 to 6 minutes without oxygen, and then it begins to die. No oxygen for 5 to 10 minutes will result in permanent brain damage.

30) Our brain often fools us. It often perceives things differently from the reality. Look at those pictures. Square A and B are actually the same shade of gray.

Monte Car Movie Trailer

Teen star Selena Gomez stars in the romantic comedy Monte Carlo, a film with a familiar-feeling plot and lots of pretty people. Check out the trailer and see what you think:

Monte Carlo stars Selena Gomez, Leighton Meester, Katie Cassidy, Cory Monteith, Pierre Boulanger, Luke Bracey, and Brett Cullen, and is set to hit theaters on July 1, 2011.

Monte Carlo Plot:

Breast-feeding probably doesn’t stave off multiple sclerosis relapse

Breast-feeding doesn’t appear to prevent a relapse of multiple sclerosis.(Christinne Muschi / Reuters)

Breast-feeding is often encouraged for women with multiple sclerosis. It’s not only good nutrition for the baby, studies have suggested itmay protect the mother against a relapse of the disease.

‘Larry Crowne’ Exclusive Premiere Photos

Images 1-12 of 27

Spinal fluid test a ‘real weapon’ against Alzheimer’s

A test which can spot Alzheimer’s years before full-blown symptoms arise has been hailed as potentially a “real weapon” against the disease.

Researchers at the Technical University Munich analysed a number of spinal fluid proteins in 58 people with MCI, 21 of whom went on to be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s over three years.

They found that two proteins – one called tau and another called soluable amyloid precursor protein beta (sAPPβ) – were particular powerful predictors when combined with a person’s age.

Tau, which causes cell death when it builds up in the brain, is already well established as a biomarker. The other, sAPPβ, is a new finding.

In a paper published last night (TUES) in the journal Neurology, the authors wrote that the new protein was of great value because levels became raised very early during disease development.

Alzheimer’s Research UK, a charity, commented that spinal fluid protein tests “might be real weapons” in tackling the disease.

Rebecca Wood, its chief executive, added: “This small study provides a potential new lead to follow up.”

Prof Simon Lovestone, of the Institute of Psychiatry at King’s College London, said: “If this finding is replicated in larger studies it would be a significant step forward.”

Adding the new protein made predictions more accurate, which was “really important,” said Prof Lovestone, one of Britain’s leading experts on Alzheimer’s biomarkers.

He said that perfecting a predictive test for Alzheimer’s was essential to develop drugs to combat the disease.

The was because changes began in the brain up to a decade before clinical symptoms emerged, he explained.

Secondly, if people knew they were very likely to get Alzheimer’s they could plan for the future.

“You might go ahead with that world cruise and think about what care you want, if you know,” he said.

But he cautioned that all spinal fluid tests had an Achilles’ heel – they required an “uncomfortable” lumbar puncture to obtain the sample.

“That’s particularly problematic if you want to give the test lots of times, for example at three or six month intervals.”

Prof Lovestone is currently working on a blood test to detect the early signs of Alzheimer’s, a disease which currently affects more than 800,000 people in Britain.

Eleuthero

What You Need to Know About Eleuthero, Often Called Siberian ginseng

Uses For Eleuthero

Benefits of Eleuthero

1) Colds