LIFESTYLES - HEALTH ISSUES

In changing environments, where emotional/physical stability is threatened, compensating homeostatic mechanisms are activated to adapt to the changing conditions. This is known as reactive homeostasis, the stress response or the General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS). The GAS is a non-specific alarm reaction eliciting a generalized increased arousal promoted through specific neurophysiological responses dealing with the reasons for the alarm. When the GAS is activated the cerebral cortex (the analytical or conscious brain), the limbic system (the emotional brain) and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, or stress axis, are mobilized. Normally the stress response is adaptive because extra physiological resources are mobilized to optimally deal with the stress and enhance survival.

It is also well recognized that chronic or long-term physical/psychological stress is an important etiological factor in many human diseases, including those of the cardiovascular and immune systems, cancer, gastric ulcerations, hypertension, diabetes, depression and psychoses. The diseases of adaptation are commonly advanced by non-adaptive lifestyle choices relating to diet, exercise and substance abuse. Check out viewpoint article on The Association Between Addition and Depression, and Addiction and Reproduction (in pdf format). The publishers website is http://www.reproduction-online.org

Latest Review: Neuropharmacology of Drugs and Alcohol in Mother and Fetus.

Recent local conference papers include High Tech Neuroscience, Neuroethics, & The Precautionary Principle, which was presented at Asia-Pacific Perspectives On The Ethics Of Science & Technology.

These proceedings can also be found at the UNESCO e-book site:
http://www2.unescobkk.org/elib/publications/137/

Check out the Meditation and Brain Function Paper (in pdf format) to find out how the inner workings of the human brain may be consciously regulated.

On a related topic, discover how Yoga improves pregnancy outcomes.

An excellent source of information can be found on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) Radio National’s weekly program ‘The Health Report’ produced and presented by Dr Norman Swan. Click on http://www.abc.net.au/rn and follow the links.

PLos Open Access Publications - Special Issue on Poverty and Human Development

Also, the ABC site on Health and Wellbeing is also worth a look, at http://www.abc.net.au/health/

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