I’m a great admirer of positive psychology, which has been a fantastic corrective to the traditional ‘disease model’ of psychology and has provided an extremely helpful examination of the different factors which constitute human well-being. However, I think there is one important aspect of human well-being which positive psychology has largely ignored. Positive psychologists have suggested that there are two main …
1.1 billion people at risk of hearing loss
Some 1.1 billion teenagers and young adults are at risk of hearing loss due to the unsafe use of personal audio devices, including smartphones, and exposure to damaging levels of sound at noisy entertainment venues such as nightclubs, bars and sporting events, according to WHO. Hearing loss has potentially devastating consequences for physical and mental health, education and employment. According …
BPA exposure linked to autism spectrum disorder, study reports
A newly published study is the first to report an association between bisphenol-A (BPA), a common plasticizer used in a variety of consumer food and beverage containers, with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in children. The study, by researchers at Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine (RowanSOM) and Rutgers New Jersey Medical School (NJMS), shows that BPA is not metabolized well …
Anxious people more apt to make bad decisions amid uncertainty
New brain evidence provides insight into why highly anxious people are worst at making decisions when things get unpredictable Credit: Illustration by Ian Smiley Highly anxious people have more trouble deciding how best to handle life’s uncertainties. They may even catastrophize, interpreting, say, a lovers’ tiff as a doomed relationship or a workplace change as a career threat. In gauging …
More Kids Are Doing Yoga and Using Natural Remedies Like Melatoninand Fish Oil, Report Says
A new government report shows that 1 in 9 children in the U.S. (11.6 percent) are using complimentary therapy to stay healthy, an amount that has not changed in five years. What has changed since the report was last conducted in 2007: kids are doing a lot more yogaand taking more melatonin, a plant-based sleep aid. Many of the other types of natural healing …
What The Hell Is Concierge Medicine?
Recently, I was dumped. It seemed to come out of nowhere. As far as I knew, everything was fine, and I honestly had no reason to think otherwise. She dropped the axe by way of a letter, with plenty of flowery language to dress up the usual clichés: “I feel like I’m giving and giving, but getting little in return.” …
The Failing Animal Research Paradigm for Human Diseases
“The history of cancer research has been a history of curing cancer in the mouse. We have cured mice of cancer for decades—and it simply didn’t work in humans.” This statement was made by Richard Klausner, M.D., former director of the National Cancer Institute, to the Los Angeles Times(Cimons 1998). It is a statement that applies equally to many other common …
How Root Canals Could Spark Autoimmune Diseases
Are root canals safe? Dr. George Meinig, author of Root Canal Cover-Up, was a founding member of the American Association of Endodontics. He quit the association later in his career after he saw firsthand the adverse affects that root canals have on the immune system. Dr. Meinig also witnessed the irreparable damage to the jaw bone caused by the infected cavitation sites …
Why You Should be More Grateful
I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought, and that gratitude ishappiness doubled by wonder. —GK Chesterton ‘Gratitude’ derives from the Latin gratia, which, depending on the context, translates either as ‘grace’, ‘graciousness’, or ‘gratefulness’. Gratitude never came easily to us men, and is a diminishing virtue in modern times. In our consumerist society, we tend to focus on what we …
Can I make my brain as plastic as a child’s?
Five years ago, in a new city and in search of a new hobby, I decided to try playing a musical instrument for the first time. I had never learned to read music; in my grade school, the optional orchestra class was offered at the same time as the optional robotics class, and I chose the latter. Understanding nothing about …


