Sunday, July 26, 2009

Treating the Winter Blues

In my last blog we began a discussion of seasonal affective disorder or SAD.  We will pick up where we left off.   There is actually some debate in the psychiatric community whether or not SAD is actually a separate diagnosis, apart from general depression.  Those who claim it is not suggest that it is no more than a seasonal coincidence that occurs in someone with recurring episodes of depression.  As support to this idea... Complete news at...

In this blog, I am going to deal with a question that has stumped some of the most talented researchers in the world.  That should hopefully get your attention- this vexing question seems simple, but represents the “holy grail” of biology.  The question: why do we sleep?  Consider this- we spend approximately one-third of lives doing it and scientists are still not quit sure why.  (Much of this and future blogs on... Complete news at...

Let’s continue talking about restless legs syndrome (RLS).   We reviewed some of the symptoms, causes, and adverse effects of restless legs syndrome in the past two blogs, now let’s talk about how RLS is diagnosed.  Due to the unusual sensations that patients with RLS complain of, it is sometimes difficult for a healthcare provider to determine if these complaints are actually related to RLS.  Contrary to popular... Complete news at...

Title: Talk Complete news at...

Title: Health Tip: Log Headaches in a Diary
Category: Health News
Created: 6/25/2009 7:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 6/25/2009 Complete news at...

In my last blog we discussed at length the different stages of sleep, namely non-REM and REM, the biological need for sleep to stay alive, and started discussing what some researchers believe may be the function of some portions of non-REM sleep.  We reviewed how there is some evidence linking declarative memory (memory of facts and figures) to slow wave sleep and procedural memory (the ability to perform tasks like riding a bike or playing... Complete news at...