Researchers now understand how cocaine addiction occurs. Scientists have discovered that cocaine use leads to epigenetic changes from repeated exposure to the drug; linked to an enzyme that alters the reward pathway in the brain.

The findings that cocaine addiction is linked to changes in gene expression could lead to new therapies to help individuals battling drug addiction. Changes in the circuitry of the brain that controls pleasure and occur over time affects epigenetic changes. The process does not change DNA sequencing, but rather the way genes behave. By studying mice, the researchers found that cocaine exposure that leads to addiction alters the reward pathway in the brain by repressing G9A, a histone demethylating enzyme that plays a critical role in epigenetic control and the way genes are expressed.

“This fundamental discovery advances our understanding of how cocaine addiction works,” said NIDA Director Dr. Nora D. Volkow. “Although more research will be required, these findings have identified a key new player in the molecular cascade triggered by repeated cocaine exposure, and thus a potential novel target for the development of addiction medications.”

The findings that cocaine alters genes and the pleasure circuitry of the brain and causes addictiveness comes from comparing two groups of mice – one group of young mice was repeatedly given cocaine, and another group repeated doses of saline, followed by a dose of cocaine. The researchers confirmed that chronic cocaine exposure alters the reward pathway by repressing the G9A enzyme.

“The more complete picture that we have today of the genetic and epigenetic processes triggered by chronic cocaine give us a better understanding of the broader principles governing biochemical regulation in the brain which will help us identify not only additional pathways involved but potentially new therapeutic approaches,” said Dr. Eric J. Nestler, study investigator and director of the Brain Institute at Mount Sinai School of Medicine.

Cocaine and other drug addictions are linked to the brain and to behavior. Until now few clues have been available as to why some individuals develop drug addiction and others do not. A lack of understanding by scientists of how cocaine leads to addiction has been a limiting factor for successful treatment of the disorder. Drug abuse and mental disorders frequently occur together, making the new study important.

Scientists now know that cocaine alters the expression of genes through its effect on epigenetics. Cocaine addiction, shown by the mouse studies, suppresses the G9A enzyme which is responsible for how genes behave, altering the pleasure pathway in the brain.

Living, working, and socializing in the computer age can be very efficient and rewarding, however, sitting dormant at a computer screen all day can wear on your body. While searching the Internet or typing an email, your eyes are scanning the screen but the main body parts that are moving are your hands. Using your wrists and fingers to manipulate the keyboard and mouse can be particularly stressful on your tendons and muscles while the rest of your body is relaxed sitting at a computer all day. Here are some helpful tips for helping your hands get the relief they need after a hard day…whether you have an office job pecking on a keyboard, working outside with your hands, crafting, tending to a garden, or simply suffering from sore and overworked hands.

Posture

The way you sit or stand carries importance to more than just your mother. Posture professionals recommend sitting up while typing and leaning back a little at the keyboard to allow your spine to stretch. Finding the right office chair can be a hassle and they are also very costly, but you can find inexpensive lower back supports to keep you from slouching at your desk and helping to cradle your lumbar for the best possible seated position. Wrist guards, an ergonomically enhanced mouse, and supportive mouse pads can also be found and will help your posture and hopefully, your productivity.

Movement

Whether working with tools and machinery or living on the other side of a screen doing too much of one activity gets tedious and everyone needs a break. Experts say that if you are sitting for long periods of time, get up for two minutes every half hour and stand, walk around a bit, or just stretch from your toes up to your head.

Exercise

A little well known fact is that most of the crafty hobbies and everyday situations in which you use your hands actually need your finger strength instead of your palm strength. Sage advice from Dr. Alejandro Badia of the Badia Hand to Shoulder Center based in South Florida. Dr. Badia recommends finger exercises and wrist strengthening ideas to increase the blood flow to your hands and tighten the muscles in order to lessen pain. Common painful conditions that can arise from hurt upper limbs include: osteoarthritis, tendinitis, carpal tunnel syndrome, and general overall discomfort. Dr. Badia says that using a resistance band (or a device like the Xtensor, a popular resistance glove-like apparatus that works all your extensor muscles) hones in on certain finger extensor muscles that provide the basis of the finger strength necessary for healthy hands. Improve your range of motion by doing a couple exercises a couple of times per week.

More often than not we take our fingers for granted from driving, holding, gripping, touching, typing, eating, cooking, putting on makeup, shaving, and any other thousand things we do all the time that require the use of our hands we barely remember to take the time to pamper them and give them the support they need to help us throughout the day. Knuckle-cracking and joint pulling have often been used for relief however they have proven over the years not to be the healthiest idea because it can impair your dexterity and possibly decrease your flexibility over time. Ultimately by improving posture, remembering to move around while staying inactive, and building up our tendons, we can prevent injuries, stress, and strains that our joints would normally accrue over time.

Are you looking for clear and concise answers when it comes to how to drop a few pounds this summer and many are turning to their personal trainers to show them the way. The American Council on Exercise (ACE) recently conducted a survey of 1000 ACE-Certified Personal Trainers to get their advice regarding the best techniques to get fit for summer.

They recommended strength training, interval training and increased cardio as their top three exercise approaches for a summer, total-body makeover when combined with a sensible, portion controlled, healthy diet.

1. Strength Training — Nothing too intimidating, but just 20 minutes of basic exercises two days a week will help firm and tone the whole body. Strength training will modestly increase metabolism, helping to burn more calories — even at rest. Start any strength-training program with one set of exercises and a weight that allows the completion of eight to 12 repetitions. Any program should exercise the major muscle groups of the lower body, torso, and upper body. Special attention should also be given to strengthening the core muscles and lower back to help enhance individuals’ functional capabilities for safely engaging in various summer recreational activities.

2. Interval Training – Lack of time is the number one reason people give for not exercising regularly and lack of results once they do start exercising isn’t far behind. Interval training is a great solution for both of these common problems. Interval training involves alternating short bursts of intense activity with what is called active recovery, which is typically a less-intense form of the original activity. “In its most basic form, interval training might involve walking for two minutes, running for two, and alternating this pattern throughout the duration of a workout, it is an extremely time-efficient and productive way to exercise,” said Cedric Bryant, PhD., FACSM, chief science officer for ACE.

3. Increased Cardio/Aerobic Exercise – Aerobic exercise is any activity that uses large muscle groups in a continuous, rhythmic fashion for sustained periods of time. Walking is a weight-bearing aerobic exercise. So are jogging, rope skipping and dance-exercise. There are also non-weight-bearing aerobic exercises, such as bicycling, stationary cycling, swimming and rowing. “Consistency is key to a successful program, said Bryant. “You should exercise at a comfortable pace and gradually increase the intensity of your workouts. To lose weight, gradually work towards accumulating 60 minutes or more of low — to moderate — intensity physical activity on most days of the week.”

Christmas Eve and there is so much to do. Gifts must be wrapped, shopping is not done, people are coming in town, kids are way too excited and had one too many chocolate Santa’s to eat and you are on your last nerve, what do you do?

There are a variety of calming herbs and teas that can help you relax. Chamomile tea is a great way to calm the nerves. Glycine, an amino acid in chamomile, acts a nerve relaxant. It taste great and add a little peppermint or mint to give it a holiday touch. Kids love the taste of this wonderful tea as well and can be calming. Make it iced with a few cranberries or fruit floating on top.

Passionflower tea has anti-anxiety properties and can help sooth and calm. It can help relax muscles, improve blood circulation and help with headaches. Ashwagandha Tea is good for calming the nerves and helping with stress and nervous exhaustion. It helps clear the mind which can help improve memory because it does not feel cluttered. It is a very good calming tea.

Skullcap tea is not only good for calming nerves it can help women who have PMS. This wonderful tea can help relax tense muscles and even help with muscle spasms. It also helps reduce irritability. Mint teas have a wonderful aroma and a warm cup can help sooth and calm nerves.

Ginseng tea is good for a variety of reasons. It helps clear mental exhaustion which is bound to happen over the holiday season and can almost immediately reduce stress. In addition, this wonderful tea can help build your immune system, helps with mental and physical fatigue, and has an overall calming effect. Ginseng tea has many health benefits as well. So pour yourself a nice warm cup, and maybe pick up a few packages to give as calming gifts.

Of course valerian tea is wonderful for tension, stress, anxiety and nerves. Though not the greatest tasting tea, flavors can be added to this to make it taste a little more pleasing. If you have a difficult time sleeping, this teas will definitely do the trick.

Calming teas can be wonderful not just during this time of year but anytime you need to calm and relaxed. Stress relieving teas help to bring the stress hormones back to normal levels. So when you begin to feel overwhelmed over the holiday season, stop what you are doing for a moment and make a nice cup of tea.

It’s possible to learn HOW to better your health in only 4 steps and this article will show you how. Each step is a bite-sized nugget of healthy living information you can actually use.

Let’s get started…

Step 1: Nutritional Supplements

In my opinion, they are very necessary and very beneficial- especially when combined with healthy eating habits. It’s very difficult to get all the nutrients your body needs through food alone, but combining proper nutrition with nutritional supplements is very powerful.

That being said, the one supplement everyone should be taking is a good multi vitamin/mineral. Look at it as added insurance- eating well is crucial, but now that you’re also taking a multi, you can rest assured you’re getting the nutrients your body needs.

Step 2: Nutrition

Good nutrition is SO important. You are what you eat…remember that. Make a conscious effort to gradually improve your eating habits, eating more of the good foods (nuts, berries, peanut butter, olive oil, greens, chicken, whole grains, etc.) and less of the bad foods (fried food, saturated fat, fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, etc.). Reading the label of what you’re eating will tell you a lot.

You may think you lack the needed will power, but you’ll be amazed at what happens when you start to gradually improve your eating habits.

Step 3: Exercise

Exercise is the missing piece of the puzzle when it comes to better health. There are so many benefits of exercising, including stronger bones and improved libido- it’s a no brainer to start doing it. Your goal should be to exercise 3-5 times a week with a combination of cardio exercises and strength training (but no more than 1 hour per workout session).

It’s been measured that if you add 3 pounds of muscle to your body, this added muscle will burn as many calories as if you ran 1 mile. Muscle burns calories!

Step 4: Stress Management and Sleep

Stress management and getting good sleep each night round out your path to better health. Until you find a way to manage your stress, it will continue to do damage to your body. Two tips you might want to implement include prioritizing your day each morning and practicing deep breathing exercises (yes, you probably already knew this, but have you tried it?).

Getting enough sleep each night is equally important when you consider your body uses this time to repair itself. You should aim for 7-9 hours each night. Two tips you might want to implement include exercising and avoiding late night eating.

Late life depression, characterized by persistent down moods, can elevate the risk of multiple illnesses, worsen the outcome of existing medical conditions, and increase mortality in senior citizens. Japanese researchers have found a link between green tea consumption and the risk of developing depression among the elderly.

Dr. Kaijun Niu, of Tohoku University Graduate School in Sendai, and colleagues studied 1058 healthy elderly men and women, all over the age of 70. About 34% of the men and 39% of the women in the study suffered from depression symptoms and 20-24% showed signs of severe depression. The participants were surveyed on their daily intake of green tea and on depression symptoms using a 30-item Geriatric Depression Scale.

44% of those studied were less likely to have depression symptoms if they drank four or more cups of green tea daily. The researchers found the link even after considering such factors as social and economic status, gender, diet, history of medical problems, and the use of antidepressants.

There was not a similar effect found with other teas, such as black tea or oolong, or coffee. Although all teas come from the Sinensis plant, green tea is processed by steaming the leaves which preserves antioxidant levels.

Other studies have linked green tea to the lessening of psychological problems. Theanine, an amino acid commonly found in green tea, generates a tranquilizing effect on the brain by stimulating the production of alpha-brain waves associated with relaxation. It also alters levels of neurotransmitters such as serotonin and dopamine that can affect mood swings.

Although the consumption of green tea appears to be a safe option, the researchers warn that further research is needed to draw a more tangible connection between tea consumption and mental health. In addition, green tea does contain caffeine, which has not been shown to have a direct link to depression, but some individuals who are more sensitive to caffeine effects may experience adverse symptoms, such as irritability or anxiety. Symptoms of depression should be evaluated by a health care professional.

Heart attacks and other heart conditions tend to be more common in the winter. Cold lowers the heart’s supply of blood, while exertion raises the demand for it. This imbalance between supply and demand can also cause attacks of chest pain.

When your body gets cold, blood vessels constrict. “If you already have plaque built up in your arteries, that constriction can decrease blood flow to the heart, leading to symptoms and a heart attack,” says Jennifer Mieres, director of cardiology at the New York University School of Medicine. If you have risk factors for heart disease, such as high blood pressure and high cholesterol levels Mieres suggest people take extra care to stay warm.

A decade-long study of 66,346 hip fractures in New York City found that, at least in that city, hip fracture rates were highest in winter, especially on the coldest and windiest days. “In cold weather, people venture out less, so theoretically, that could be a protective factor,” says Joseph Zuckerman, an orthopedic surgeon who helped conduct that study and is president of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons. “But when people do go out, there are greater risks, including ice patches.”

It is thought that winter inactivity weakens muscles, making falls more likely. “It’s wise to practice defensive walking,” Zuckerman says, “Watch where you are going. If you need a walker or cane, use it. Inside, get rid of loose rugs and other clutter and install a night light.”

Winter is a time when we not only catch colds and flu but when chronic ailments are exacerbated by the cold, wind and damp. People with arthritis may experience their condition worsening in the winter months with even achier bones and joints.

“Some studies have shown that about 70 percent of people with arthritis are weather sensitive,” notes Dave Terlizzi, director of the new Kimball Institute for Rehabilitative and Occupational Health Services. “Women and those with osteoarthritis may be slightly more affected by weather changes than men and people with other types of arthritis.”

“That’s why it is essential for people who have arthritis, and those who could potentially acquire the disease, to exercise and avoid becoming a couch potato during the winter months,” Terlizzi states.

Cold and damp weather can cause tendons, ligaments and muscles surrounding joints to contract, and cavities in joints can be affected by atmospheric pressure. It is still unknown why some people are affected by weather and others are not.

It may feel pretty lonely out there when everyone you know is trying to shed pounds and you are trying to put some on. However, your goals are exactly the same as those trying to lose some weight: To eat a healthy diet, and reach a normal body weight. It’s just as much of a challenge for the overweight person to lose pounds, as it is for you to gain them.

The good news is that it’s possible for all of you to sit at the same table, with the same menu, enjoy each other’s company, and reach your goals. You will be choosing a few things that they may be avoiding, but generally, eating healthy to gain weight involves eating the same variety of foods as your friends.

Whether you are underweight because of a recent illness, an eating disorder, or simply because your sense of taste declined as you grew older, the way to increase your weight is to increase the calories in your diet. To do this in a healthy way, you will not want to just add more junk foods to your diet. Junk foods don’t offer much nutritionally, and are loaded with unhealthy saturated fats and sugar.

Eating fish, nuts, and even seeds, routinely throughout the week will provide you with needed healthy fat and calories. Because red meat has a high saturated fat content, meals of this type would best be limited to one or two times a week.

Black beans, kidney beans, pinto beans, dried peas, and soy beans are all good sources of protein and calories. A delightful snack is easy to make by placing beans and cheese on a tortilla; roll it up, and microwave until it’s hot, enjoy.

Powdered milk added to soups, sauces, and smoothies, is a relatively effortless way to get bonus calories and protein.

Olive oil is a healthy diet choice because this monounsaturated fat will add calories to your diet, and help keep your cardiovascular system in good shape. For healthy salad dressings and mayonnaise, choose those made with canola or safflower oil.

The carbohydrates found in vegetables, fruits, and whole grains, infuse energy and nutrients into your daily diet. The USDA recommends that our daily diet include lots of grains and cereals; and that at least three servings a day are from whole gain breads, cereals, or and pastas. Whole grain carbohydrates provide calories, fiber, nutrients, and some protein in a healthy diet.

In the naturally calorie sparse vegetable group, starchy vegetables like potatoes and corn provide more calories, per serving, than the dark green vegetables; however, since dark green vegetables are important to any balanced diet, their caloric values can be easily supplemented by adding a little olive oil for flavoring, or toppings like slivered almonds, or grated cheese.

Fruits supply plentiful vitamins as well as phytochemicals which may possibly help prevent heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. Avocados are relatively high in calories, rich in monounsaturated fat, vitamin B and fiber. Bananas are also relatively high in calories, and can add an interesting taste to your morning cereal, or to a lunchtime peanut butter on whole wheat sandwich. Dried fruits can be used as healthy, high calorie snacks.

Replace sugary sodas with fruit juices to add calories, nutrients, and hydration to your diet.

Remember to take your multivitamins daily. Your healthcare provider can tell you if one of the many weight gaining supplements on the market today, is an appropriate way for you to add additional calories, protein, and carbohydrates to your daily diet.

Everyone eats desserts on occasion; a little chocolate is certainly good for the spirits. Your best choice in this category might well be something made with dark chocolate because it has anti-oxidants not found in other sweets.

One study found that people tend to eat more when eating with close friends, and also tend to eat more when eating with people who eat more. Socializing may be part of the answer; enjoy eating with your friends, especially those that really enjoy a meal; you’ll be having fun and eating your way to a healthy, normal weight.

As the weather turns colder and the sunlight hours dwindle, more and more Americans flock to indoor tanning salons to get that much desired straight-from-the-beach bronze glow. In fact, nearly 30 million people in the United States tan in salons every year, most of them women between the ages of 16 and 49. But before you start baking under the lights, you might want to consider the numerous health risks associated with tanning bed use.

Let’s begin with infections. If the surface of the tanning bed isn’t cleaned properly or if the towels you use aren’t washed in hot water, you can get infections like pubic lice (crabs) and warts caused by the human papillomavirus, or HPV. Tanning beds and exposure to UV rays can have a detrimental effect on your immune system as well because it reduces the activity level of natural killer cells and T cells. UV exposure is also thought to promote the spread of skin-associated infections because the T cells are suppressed. Dr. Dawn Davis, a dermatologist at the Mayo Clinic, has seen plenty of infections from tanning beds. “It’s very dangerous,” she said. “I’ve seen people come to my office who’ve gotten severe burns and scarring from tanning beds and lots of infections.” The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta reports an estimated 700 emergency room visits per year are related to tanning salon exposure.

When you don’t use goggles in the tanning bed, your eyes can be severely burned by the intense ultraviolet (UV) rays. You can develop arc eye or flash burns, a painful ocular condition sometimes experienced by welders who fail to use adequate eye protection. UV rays can also cause cataracts and damage the retina of the eye. And every time you expose your skin to UV rays, you increase your risk for developing melanoma; the most deadly form of skin cancer because it spreads easily to other organs and bones through the blood or the lymph system.

One of the biggest risk factors for melanoma is persistent exposure to UV rays, one part of the spectrum of light that reaches the Earth from the sun. The longer ultraviolet rays (UVA), which penetrate deep into the skin, are responsible for tanning and are often associated with allergic reactions, such as a rash. Shorter rays (UVB) penetrate the top layers of skin and are responsible for sunburn. Tanning salons use fluorescent bulbs that emit both UVA and UVB radiation. The amount of UVA radiation emitted in a tanning bed is up to three times more intense than the UVA in natural sunlight, and the UVB intensity in tanning beds approaches that of bright sunlight. So it makes perfect sense that tanning devices, like the sun, would increase skin cancer risk.
“Although some people think that a tan gives them a ‘healthy’ glow, any tan is a sign of skin damage,” says Sharon Miller, M.S.E.E., a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) scientist and international expert on UV radiation and tanning. “A tan is the skin’s reaction to exposure to UV rays,” says Miller. “Recognizing exposure to the rays as an ‘insult,’ the skin acts in self-defense by producing more melanin, a pigment that darkens the skin. Over time, this damage will lead to prematurely aged skin and, in some cases, skin cancer.”

In a recent report from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), the cancer division of the World Health Organization, classified tanning beds that emit UV radiation as “carcinogenic to humans”—the agency’s highest cancer-risk category, which also includes radon gas, plutonium, radium, tobacco and the hepatitis B virus. Since 1992, the beds had been deemed “probably carcinogenic to humans.”

IARC’s conclusions were based on an analysis of 19 studies conducted over 25 years on indoor tanning and the risk for melanoma. The review found that people who begin using tanning beds before age 35 increase their risk of developing skin cancer 75 percent. Overall, the melanoma risk for anyone who has ever used a tanning bed goes up by 20 percent. Because the development of cancer is a long process that may take decades, IARC recommends banning commercial indoor tanning for those younger than 18 years to protect them from the increased risk for melanoma and other skin cancers. “Young people may not think they are vulnerable to skin cancer,” says Dr. Ron Kaczmarek, and FDA epidemiologist who analyzed the report. “They have difficulty thinking about their own mortality.”

Since 2003, UV radiation from any source has been listed by the U.S. National Toxicology Program as a known carcinogen (cancer-causing substance). Currently, many government agencies caution against tanning. Yet of the more than 68,000 people in the United States who will learn they have melanoma this year and one out of eight will die from it, according to NCI estimates. In addition, the American Academy of Dermatology reports that melanoma is the second most common cancer in women 20 to 29 years old.

The bottom line is that long-term exposure to UV rays, whether from the sun or a tanning bed, increases the risk of developing skin cancer. However, there are alternatives. Instead of using a tanning bed, the American Cancer Society advises people to use sunless self-tanning creams, lotions or sprays along with regular skin checks by your doctor or dermatologist. Dr. Ellen Marmur, chief of the division of dermatologic and cosmetic surgery at Mount Sinai Medical Center suggests, “Go for a 10-minute walk three times a week or eat salmon or tuna or eggs or fortified cereal. You don’t need to use a dangerous habit like a tanning booth.” Marmur, like most other dermatologists, says the message of the IARC report is clear: “What I’m really hoping for is that people will opt out of using tanning beds.”

Gyms across the country are full of people (the majority of which are men) trying to bulk up in order to extract the maximum potential from their muscles. Although regular exercise and weightlifting can show results, athletes looking to amp up their physique for an upcoming match, game, or competition have often turned to the natural substance creatine to create their preferred physical look. Creatine has been negatively portrayed in the media for the past few decades, stemming from problems with the substance being abused at the Olympics and the trickle effect on sports affiliates down the line from professional teams to local chapters.

According to most people who have used or recommended it, creatine is not the enemy. A mixture of three amino acids—arginine, methionine, and glycine—creatine is a naturally occurring substance that is found in all vertebrates, being produced internally by the pancreas, liver, and kidneys. People consume creatine in foods such as fish in order to keep their muscle tissues strong—especially around the heart—and there is no harm in ingesting it through your diet because small, daily dietary amounts (usually around 1 to 2 grams) are not considered abusive.

Athletes however, use creatine powder, tablets, or supplement pills in order to help build muscle mass while in the gym and some even say it keeps energy up and puts off the inevitable muscle fatigue caused by overexertion. Creatine is aimed at the serious bodybuilder and the recommended dosage can be anywhere from 15 to 25 grams per day before rigorous workouts based on body weight. Short intense workouts are best for building the muscle mass wanted with creatine for example competitive sports like swimming, cycling, running sprints, or the most popular form: lifting weights.

Anti-creatine groups say that creatine does little more than add water weight and endanger the body by causing the organs to work overtime. Professionals do warn that these types of intense routines can overwork the kidneys and end up being dangerous for otherwise healthy individuals. Some studies have revealed prolonged use of creatine resulting in rare kidney disease or flaring up of an existing kidney problem in young adults taking a lot of the supplement. Severe muscle cramps are another potentially dangerous symptom purported to come about with large amounts of creatine being pumped through the body’s systems; although no science has backed this up and the cause may very well be from simple dehydration.

In a double-blind study with placebo controls done by researchers in 2003, creatine was able to improve the memory function of vegetarians as a supplement for the naturally-occurring creatine carnivores consume while eating meat. Although we see that creatine is safe in small doses and for people relying on it to help strengthen the muscular tissue without the goal of creating over-processed muscles, there have been no studies stating that any long term effects are shown with prolonged use for athletes.

The positive results on a person’s performance, however, has shown to be a negative effect within the media and has had quite a backlash. While medals were stripped from Olympians testing positive for the substance in the past, creatine has yet to be outlawed. Recently the NCAA banned the use of creatine by a team (meaning the coaches, trainers, or administration cannot recommend or distribute to their college sports organization) but it is not illegal for individuals to use creatine and be part of a sports team.

As with all substances, organic or not, there are always more studies to be done in order to make sure it is safe from every angle. There will always be side effects and drug interactions as with every type of substance we put into our bodies but as far as we can tell, creatine as of right now poses no serious threat to the football players and bodybuilders of the future.