The scientific world is getting a bit wiser about the effect emotions can have on your health for better and for worse. How you handle your emotions may also affect the way your body manages the healing process too.

Scientists monitored the progression of healing of 93 patients with diabetic foot ulcers (neuropathic or neuroischaemic) four times during a 24-week span, taking into account their coping skills, cortisol levels and the psychological stress they felt.

Patients with a controlling personality -- My-way-or-the-highway, who-cares-if-you're-right folks -- were the least likely to heal from their foot ulcers. Because this disease requires long-term patience and treatment to recover, researchers believe those who seek to control and speed up the process also experience additional frustration and distress that work against healing.

Depression also contributes to the problem, as patients fighting their emotions demonstrated less healing and overall improvement by the end of the study, one more reason to seek out safer, gentler ways, like meditation, to calm your mind and body.

Diabetologia, Vol. 53, No. 8, pp. 1590-1598, August 2010

Bloomberg Businessweek August 6, 2010

Recently, I admitted all this lifestyle changes stuff I'd been writing about for a long time in this space finally got to me. I couldn't ignore all the extra pounds on my body weighing me down or my desire to "get old" with my wife of 20 years, my kids, my grandkids and all the family (and extended family) I'd accumulated over a half-century of living a second longer. I don't use the bad genes "defense" to deflect the responsibility, or the "I'm too busy to eat properly excuse" any more.

These changes have been easier for me to make thanks to a renewed commitment to exercise. In my case, it's nearly 40-minute sessions of brisk walking on a treadmill at least twice a week. Granted, this is a small commitment and not enough for many purists, but this makes sense for me based on my personal and professional responsibilities and I feel A LOT BETTER for doing it too.

If you're looking for excuses not to exercise, however, you can find them just as easily. Take, for instance, this recent New York Times piece detailing a position paper from the National Athletic Trainers' Association about that counsels athletes on various skin diseases and how to avoid them. Or, the side-story about a wrestler who developed a staph infection after being exposed to methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, better known as MRSA.

The aforementioned athlete says he did all the right things that would've prevented any exposure to MRSA, but it happened anyway. And, there are other lesser but annoying problems you'll face at the gym -- think athlete's foot or jock itch -- if you're not careful.

Fortunately, you can sidestep most of these nasties hiding out at the gym by taking some common-sense precautions, like those listed in a recent blog post from Outside magazine. In fact, I had already been following many of these simple suggestions before reading it.

Journal of Athletic Training, Vol. 45, No. 4, pp. 411-428, July/August 2010 Free Full Text Report

New York Times August 2, 2010

More evidence is emerging that consuming alcohol can be good for your health, this time dampening the severity of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), regardless of gender (although this connection was stronger in men).

Scientists compared the health of 873 RA patients to that of some 1,000 folks who didn't suffer from the debilitating disease, using detailed questionnaires, physical exams, x-rays and blood work to pinpoint differences related to alcohol consumption.

The sobering truth for teetotalers like me: Those who imbibed at least 10 days out of each month were four times less likely to develop RA than patients who didn't drink a drop of alcohol. What's more, a patient's RA risks declined depending on the frequency of their alcohol consumption. And, among RA patients who drank alcohol most frequently, their symptoms were less severe compared to the teetotalers and infrequent drinkers

Although scientists weren't absolutely certain about the reasons alcohol had an effect on RA, it may have something to do with suppression of the body's immune system, thus influencing the way this disease develops. In fact, it's entirely possible that RA suppression may vary depending on the kind of alcoholic beverage consumed too.

Rheumatology July 28, 2010 Free Full Text Study

USA Today July 31, 2010

ScienceDaily July 28, 2010

It wouldn't be surprising if the recent results of the GLOW study on the bone health of 60,000 women from around the world -- particularly the conclusion that women over age 50 have a 50-50 risk of experiencing an osteoporosis-related fracture -- had a lot to do with a proposed draft of expanded recommendations for osteoporosis screenings issued by the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force in early July. What may be surprising to some of you: Men are mentioned briefly in these new recommendations.

Guidelines issued eight years ago called for routine screenings for women older than age 64 and those between ages 60-64 with an increased risk of fractures, but no recommendations for men.

This newest proposal expands recommended osteoporosis screenings to include all younger postmenopausal women if their risk of breaking a bone over a decade -- due to family medical histories or poor lifestyle habits -- is equal to or greater than that of the typical 65-year-old woman. And, as far as the bone health of men goes, even though it was mentioned, the evidence was far from conclusive about the benefit or harm of screening older men, so no recommendations are forthcoming.

One major concern voiced by some medical experts: This review didn't include results from studies in which more than 20 percent of the patients had experienced an osteoporosis-related fracture, resulting in an exclusion of major treatment trials, thus narrowing any reporting on their effectiveness.

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Draft Recommendation Statement July 6, 2010 Free Full Text Article

Annals of Internal Medicine July 5, 2010 Free Full Text Study

MedPage Today July 6, 2010

MSNBC July 5, 2010

Some of the more popular posts on our blogsite over the past year have explored the myriad of options available to treat pain naturally, safely and without a drug, from hypnosis to acupuncture and tai chi.

Mastering the ability to meditate is one more effective drug-free alternative that may help patients better handle the emotions that can trigger their pain, according to a British study measuring the pain relief felt by patients with varying degrees of meditation experience (from no background to decades of training). Scientists tested the value of meditation by inducing pain with a laser on the forearm skin of a dozen patients, all the time monitoring their brain activity for signs of anticipating, then feeling, pain.

As in most everything, the more experience one had with meditation, the more he or she was able to dull the searing pain. In addition, scans showed how meditation veterans better anticipated the coming pain in the prefrontal cortex, a sector of the brain that controls attention and thought processes when it perceives of a possible threat.

Meditation also trains patients to focus more intently on the present, rather than anticipating a murkier future, which is why researchers believe it so effectively reduces the recurrence of depression that worsens chronic pain.

Pain May 24, 2010

LiveScience June 6, 2010

ScienceDaily June 2, 2010

We've highlighted a number of ways people can better manage their pain in this space through integrative medical treatments such acupuncture and tai chi. Metastatic breast cancer patients may also find pain relief from another very unconventional source: Hypnosis.

Scientists studied the effect of hypnosis on pain management while monitoring the health and pain levels of 124 female metastatic breast cancer patients at four-month intervals over the course of a year. Patients were assigned to a treatment regimen of education alone (the control group) or education plus hypnosis training and practice in a group therapy setting.

Women who learned hypnosis experienced a significantly diminished intensity of pain over time compared to the control group. Additionally, patients who could be hypnotized more easily derived greater benefits, such as using this skill more often away from group settings and addressing other cancer symptoms.

One caveat: Hypnosis couldn't reduce the number of instances or consistency of pain episodes women experienced.

No doubt, some of you may be very skeptical about hypnosis, and some of it is deserved, especially if you've grown up seeing such experts use their skills to "make" folks do harmless things against their nature on TV. Apparently, however, the Mayo Clinic saw enough value in hypnosis to devote a section of their Web site to defining the rewards and few risks associated with this treatment.

Health Psychology, Vol. 28, No. 5, pp. 579-587, September 2009

ScienceDaily February 26, 2010

You may recall my recent post about the benefits of music for your health. This time, it's listening to soft music on your iPod or any other music player of your choice in a quiet place that can be just as relaxing and beneficial for your mind and body as a series of massage sessions, according to a new study comparing the effectiveness of various complementary and alternative medical (CAM) treatments to reduce anxiety.

Over a three-month period, 68 patients were assigned either to 10 one-hour therapeutic massage sessions or a pair of control treatments: relaxation therapy or thermotherapy (legs and arms were wrapped intermittently with warm towels and heating pads). All participants were treated on massage tables in a softly lighted room, surrounded by quiet music.

Interestingly, all three groups reported a 40 percent symptomatic decrease in anxiety at the conclusion of this series of treatments and a matching 50 percent drop three months later, surprising researchers that there was no real difference between therapeutic massage, thermotherapy or listening to relaxing music.

As much as I love a good massage, nothing relaxes me more than knowing I can save a few bucks and improve my mental health just by spending a few minutes listening to Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou, the Greek composer better known in the world of cinematic music as Vangelis.

Depression and Anxiety February 23, 2010

healthfinder.gov March 19, 2010

ScienceDaily March 11, 2010

You may recall a study we posted about the placebo effect on your brain and spine. One of the oldest healing treatments around -- acupuncture -- may work entirely in your brain to battle pain too.

British scientists discovered the drain of pain while they were scanning the brains of 17 patients during two rounds of acupuncture (a shallow treatment used by Japanese practitioners and deeper insertions, per the Chinese method).

As a patient receives acupuncture successfully, he or she experiences deqi, a composite of unique sensations connected with the clinical efficacy of the treatment. Out of the 17 patients treated, brain scans of the 10 who experienced deqi showed these sensations contributed to a deactivation of pathways in the brain that process pain.

Good to see that conventional medicine is testing complementary and alternative medical practices like acupuncture and tai chi, and paying closer attention to all the real benefits associated with them.

Brain Research, Vol. 1315, pp. 111-118, February 22, 2010

Telegraph.co.uk February 6, 2010

ScienceDaily February 5, 2010

The best exercise program may not be the most conventional, structured one but it can certainly be more effective for you and your health, as evidenced in this study about the beneficial, gentle effect of Tai Chi on the knees of seniors.

Forty healthy seniors over age 65 with knee osteoarthritis were divided into two groups pursuing very different treatment options over the course of the 12-week study. One group participated in hour-long Tai Chi sessions twice a week, learning and practicing self-massage, movement, breathing and relaxation techniques while the control group attended classes that reviewed various ways (among them diet and nutrition) to treat knee osteoarthritis for 40 minutes followed by 20 minutes of stretching exercises.

Compared to the control group, seniors who practiced Tai Chi enjoyed a significant decrease in knee pain and, generally, better physical and mental health.

Before starting any exercise program, however, you'll want to review our 10 tips that will, not only, help you sidestep the inadvertent aches and pains that come with exercise and keep doing it long after the other 50 percent throw in the towel.

Arthritis Care & Research, Vol. 61, No. 11, pp. 1545-1553, November 15, 2009

ScienceDaily November 1, 2009

Yahoo News October 29, 2009

When friends try to convince you emotions are completely separate from your physical health, consider sending a link to this study about moods and how they affect your sensitivity to pain.

Canadian scientists measured the neural activity of 13 patients (via functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)) who were given small but painful electrical shocks while viewing groups of images geared to elicit either a neutral (a book), negative (an angry bear) or positive (water-skiing) response.

No surprise, when exposed to unpleasant images, patients felt pain far more strongly than they did when looking at more pleasant pictures.

These findings backed up similar research conducted two years ago that found music perceived by patients to be pleasant reduced pain levels significantly.

Nature Precedings February 26, 2009 Free Full Text Study

healthfinder.gov November 13, 2009

Insciences.org November 10, 2009

The placebo effect -- a handy and inert tool used in research to study the effect of medical treatments -- may not only work on your brain, among other things, to tame pain. German researchers believe the power of the placebo may be felt in your spinal cord.

Scientists applied painful heat to the arms of 13 healthy men, then told them they were being treated with two creams, one a placebo and the other containing a "painkiller." However, both creams contained inactive ingredients. The first time the sham painkilling cream was used, scientists cut down the intensity of the heat by more than half to give patients the feeling that the "real" product actually worked. When testing the real placebo, however, scientists kicked up the temperature to 80 percent of their patients' average pain threshold to trick them.

Using specialized functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanner, researchers applied both creams in separate spots on each patient's left forearm, then turned on the heat in each spot 15 times.

When the skin where the fake painkiller was applied with heat, patients reported a lessening of pain by 26 percent, and no responses from the fMRI scanner. When the other control product was used, however, the fMRI recorded signaling in the region of the spine known as the dorsal horn, implications that neural activity had increased in response to pain.

Researchers speculate the signaling picked up by the fMRI in the spine may be triggered by higher brain areas releasing natural opioids that dampen pain.

Science, Vol. 326, No. 5951, p. 404, October 16, 2009

Popsci October 16, 2009

Reuters October 15, 2009

New Scientist October 16, 2009

Add premature signs of aging to the list of problems pain can impose on younger Baby Boomers that make them look and feel as if they're 20-30 years older than they really are, according to a new study.

Researchers reviewed data on more than 18,500 patients (ages 50-older) participating in the 2004 Health and Retirement Study examining the markedly increasing number of functional limits that impede a person's ability to live independently as they age. Among the physical functions considered: Daily living activities like bathing or eating, using one's upper extremities and mobility issues such as walking or climbing stairs.

The physical abilities of young Baby Boomers in the 50-59 age bracket who suffered from pain were very comparable to patients in the 80-89 demographic who experienced no pain issues. By the numbers, only 4 percent of fiftysomething patients in pain could jog a mile and just 55 percent were able to walk several blocks.

Although the study wasn't built to determine if pain causes disability or vice versa, scientists believe both scenarios may be true and that "pain and disability probably can act together in ways that make both problems worsen in a downward spiral." Moreover, patients may be better served if pain and disabilities are treated at the same time, not separately.

Journal of the American Geriatric Society, Vol. 57, No. 9, pp. 1556-1561, September 2009

ScienceDaily September 21, 2009

Changing your sleep habits with behavioral therapy -- not a prescription -- can do a world of good for your health, especially for older Baby Boomers battling osteoarthritis and related comorbid (secondary) insomnia, according to a recent study.

Researchers compared the effect of treating osteoarthritis and insomnia with cognitive behavior therapies on 23 patients (average age 69) over the course of a year versus assigning 28 patients (mean age 66.5) to a stress management/wellness control group.

No surprise, sleep latency (the time it takes to transition from being fully awake to asleep) among patients learning new therapies decreased significantly at the outset (almost 17 minutes) and those same benefits persisted a year later (11 minutes). Wake after sleep onset (the time spent from sleep onset to final awakening) also fell sharply by 37 minutes and almost 20 minutes 12 months later.

The pain associated with arthritis declined significantly too (by 9.7 points initially and 4.7 points a year later), leading researchers to conclude that insomnia coexists as a separate illness alongside osteoarthritis, not as a symptom, so improving sleep habits can have a beneficial impact on both conditions.

Learn how to get more and better sleep every night and treat the aches and pains that may be associated with it by reviewing these latest Sleep Tips to Improve Your Waking Health.

Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, Vol. 5, No. 4, August 15, 2009. p. 355-362

healthfinger.gov August 20, 2009

EurekAlert August 15, 2009

An alarming percentage of joint health supplements for humans and pets failed to achieve minimum quality standards and FDA labeling requirements, based on recent testing conducted by ConsumerLab.com.

Out of 21 products made for human consumption that were selected by ConsumerLab.com for testing, five failed to meet federal regulations or quality standards for important reasons, including lead contamination, general mislabeling and failing to include the correct amount of ingredients. In one case, a product contained the right amount of glucosamine but no detectable amount of chondrotin, while another had less than 6 percent of the stated amount of chondrotin and 2.81 micrograms of lead.

No surprise, pet products fared even worse, with only two out of six chosen by ConsumerLab.com earning passing grades. Although none were tainted with lead, four products contained no more than 17 percent of the glucosamine or chondrotin claimed on their labels.

Learn more about quality problems associated with other supplements, and get a better understanding what you're really paying for, by reviewing CNCA's Nutritional Supplement Quality - the Facts.

ConsumerLab.com July 6, 2009 Subscription Required