An eating disorder such as anorexia nervosa or bulimia is one of the most difficult types of disorders to overcome. However, many people who struggle with eating disorders also struggle with chemical dependencies, making recovery twice as hard. Fortunately, there is still hope. If you or someone you love has coexisting disorders, consider entering an alcohol and drug rehab program with the resources and staff to treat eating disorders.

A comprehensive treatment program should be able to treat individuals with coexisting disorders such as a person suffering from bulimia and alcoholism.  Patients should receive an assessment by an experienced eating disorder counselor followed by a physical examination to diagnose any illnesses caused by the effects of the drug or alcohol addiction and the eating disorder.

Eating disorders and chemical dependencies are diseases and should be treated simultaneously for a greater chance of recovery and complete healing. Checking into an alcohol rehabilitation center, for example, without treating the eating disorder could cause the individual to start drinking again or continue neglecting their nutritional needs.

While every patient is different, a professional rehabilitation center can develop a treatment plan that is most helpful for the individual. For more information about chemical dependency and eating disorders, please contact leading rehabilitation center Cirque Lodge.

A newly revealed European study indicates that teenagers should engage in at least an hour’s worth of exercise daily in order to stay safe from the common obesity gene, which has been nicknamed ‘fatso’.

The lead author of the study, Jonatan Ruiz, part of the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, said that the results of the study was initiative enough for teenagers to start exercising more often and be active. Ruiz said extra exercise on top of sports was not necessary and recommended that all teenagers take part in at least one active sport.

Featured in April’s edition of Archives of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, the study is in line with US guidelines which also recommend that teenagers, as well as children get at minimum one hour of exercise, be it swimming, cycling, dancing, etc.
Researchers also point out that obesity is caused not only by genes, but also by lifestyle choices, and are now reiterating the importance of exercise and healthy eating.

The FTO gene, which is linked to obesity, according to research racks up pounds when in variant form. Statistics indicate that one in six people who carry two copies of the gene variant weigh at average around seven pounds more than people who do not carry it.

Approximately 750 teenagers from Spain, Austria, Sweden, Italy, Hungary, France, Belgium, Germany and Greece were subjected to this study in which blood tests were carried out to determine their gene variant. The teenagers also had to wear monitoring devices for a period of seven days, which gauged the amount of physical activity they underwent.

It’s a well-known fact that multiple sclerosis that occurs due to the fact that the immune system attacks the fatty substance known as myelin that protects the nerves has no cure.

However, recent developments in three studies that were published in the New England Journal of Medicine, found that two new drugs that can be taken orally (rather than injectable medications) namely fingolimod and cladribine, work to alter the immune system response.

Interestingly, these pills have reduced the relapse rate of people with the relapse-remitting type of multiple sclerosis, although there are still concerns with the side effects of medication (such as increased infections and even cancer) that is used to suppress the immune system.

Two of these new studies focused on the effects of fingolimod where participants were randomly selected to take a daily dose of 0.5 mg, 1.25 mg or a placebo. The second study, which had about 1153 participants, received a daily dose of 0.5 mg or 1.25 mg of fingolimod or a weekly dose of 30 micrograms of interferon beta-1a (Avonex) for the duration of a year. The third study which studied the effects of cladribine, where the patients received a dose of either 3.5 mg or 5.25 mg per kilogram of body weight or a placebo.

Results for all three studies indicated that the annual relapse rates were less than 1%, while also finding slower disease activity and progression. These studies also indicated that patients were responding well to both the drugs, and this bodes well for the 400,000 Americans (and their loved ones) who have to deal with the reality of multiple sclerosis from day to day.

For most people, self-indulgence and impulsive behavior go hand-in-hand but interestingly, it’s the opposite (deprivation) that really causes one to act on his or her impulses, only to look back and regret going forward.

No, this is not some monologue based on mysticism but these conclusions have been drawn based on a study that was recently published in the journal, Psychological Science. Researchers from the University of South Dakota provided a set of question to 65 students in which they had to decide whether they would choose a smaller sum of money ‘tomorrow’ or a larger sum in the future.

The only twist, however, is that half the students were requested to answer the question with an empty stomach while the other half were given a caffeine-free soda that contained sugar or the artificial sweetener, aspartame. As a part of the experiment, blood glucose levels were measured at the beginning of the experiment and after the volunteers drank the soda.

“Within 10 minutes of drinking a sugary soda, participants’ interest in a larger, future reward was higher,” said Xiao-Tian Wang, one of the psychological scientists who conducted the study. This experiment, he said, explored the link between glucose levels in the body and eating behavior but also decision-making.

The results of the experiment showed that people who consumed the soda were less likely to make a hasty choice as compared to those who had an empty stomach, or even more surprisingly, those who consumed a diet soda.

The obvious conclusion to which was that in giving the body a ‘diet soda’, the body feels that there is an ‘energy crisis’, and so it grabs everything that is available immediately, thus increasing the chances of being impulsive.

In medical circles, the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has been the subject of great concern with failed efforts to find a workable cure for this virus that causes one’s immune system to fail completely. The virus is spread by the transfer of blood, semen, vaginal fluid, pre-ejaculate, or breast milk, and has known to claim about 25 million lives over the past two decades.

However, latest developments suggest that this dreaded virus can be stopped, thanks to a ‘chemical condom’ called Truvada that has been successfully tested on mice that had ‘humanized’ immune systems.

The drug in question, is a combination of the medications tenofovir and emtricitabine, and has been used to treat people with AIDS as well as preventing infection after one has been exposed to the HIV virus.

Interestingly, the study exposed the mice to higher-than-normal levels of HIV than is found in humans both rectally and intravenously and found that out of the 17 mice that were given a dose of Truvada, only one was found to be infected. On the other hand, all mice that were not given a dose of Truvada were found to be infected.

Although, the results show promise in being able to block the infection of HIV through its major routes of transmission, there are a few caveats that must be kept in mind.

Firstly, the experiment was conducted on ‘humanized’ mice, and not humans. Not only that, it is expensive that might run up bills of hundreds of dollars if people continued to have sex with multiple partners, and could also impact the effectiveness of the pill as well. Side effects also continue to be a part of HIV infection treatment as well.

However, A. David Paltiel, a professor at the Yale School of Medicine thinks that, “It’s reasonable to think that this might one day prove to be a strategy you could use”.