Social Groups Can Help Ease Depression

Researchers have suggested that building a strong connection to a social group helps clinically depressed patients recover and helps prevent relapse.

For the paper, (CIFAR) Senior Fellow Alexander Haslam, lead author Tegan Cruwys and their colleagues at the University of Queensland conducted two studies of patients diagnosed with depression or anxiety. The patients either joined a community group with activities such as sewing, yoga, sports and art, or partook in group therapy at a psychiatric hospital.

In both cases, patients responding to survey questions who did not identify strongly with the social group had about a 50% likelihood of continued depression a month later.

But of those who developed a stronger connection to the group and who came to see its members as 'us' rather than 'them,' less than a third still met the criteria for clinical depression after that time. Many patients said the group made them feel supported because everyone was "in it together."

While past research has looked at the importance of social connections for preventing and treating depression, Haslam, a member of CIFAR's Social Interactions, Identity and Well-Being (SIIWB) program, says it has tended to emphasize interpersonal relationships rather than the importance of a sense of group identity.

6 Things Women Notice About Men Right Away

First impressions may be made in moments, but they predict the course your relationships follow. So if you know what exactly about you draws in the votes, you can perfect it -- and do better with the opposite sex. So what do women notice immediately?

According to Dr Gordon Patzer, author of Looks: Why They Matter More Than You Ever Imagined, and one of the world's leading authorities on physical attractiveness, a lot of what women notice in the first few minutes is appearance-based. "A substantial portion of the six features of a man are apparent, in terms of height, weight and overall physical attractiveness," he says. And when appearances don't make the cut, the door slams shut on further interactions.

 Here's a list of things to keep that door open.

1. Physical stature

Yep, you knew this already: size matters. Height and weight are right on top of the list of things women notice. "Too much or too little of either immediately classifies the man as unattractive to women, and closes the door before less physically obviously features (such as confidence) can be determined," says Dr Patzer. Take heart though, the acceptable range is influenced by the woman's own height and weight.

2. Appearances and attractiveness
Yes, beauty is skin deep, but it's going to get women to explore what lies beneath. Attractiveness does include what you were born with, but your genes alone can't scuttle your chances. What really counts is what you do with your hair, clothes, grooming and basic hygiene. If you can't make the effort, women certainly are not going to work hard to learn more about you!

3. Smile
Once women are done assessing your overall build, women will look at your smile. "The ability to smile, particularly within the first few minutes of meeting, sends a welcoming, non-hostile signal to women," says Dr Patzer. There is one proviso though -- the smile must show off reasonably good-looking teeth. It's never too late to fix an appointment with the dentist!

4. Humour

Another reason to show off those pearly whites! Women like men who have the ability to laugh. Even better, make the woman laugh. That instantly nets you bonus points!

5. Confidence

Women find confident men attractive. According to Dr Sameer Malhotra, head of psychiatry and psychotherapy department at Fortis Hospital in New Delhi, within the first few minutes of meeting, women will not only suss out your level of confidence, they will also interpret the vibes you give out and how you think. "Women notice how clear or decisive you are and whether you approach things positively." Just remember, cockiness and arrogance are not the same as confidence!

6. Conversation
Men have successfully given womankind the impression of being strong and silent. So women aren't expecting you to have mad talking skills. All you've got to do hold her attention. "We know (scientifically) that the more or longer that a woman gets to know a man, the more physically attractive he becomes in her mind," says Dr Patzer. Women are looking for someone to keep up the conversation -- so forget the one-liners, just be yourself!

Get Over That Holi Hangover

Holi's here, and that means it's time to bring on the colours and get into the festive spirit, so to speak. But sometimes it's difficult to recover from Holi drinking, especially when you have to work the next day. Here are a few ways to deal with a Holi hangover. 

AT THE PARTY Don't mix drinks: This will only exacerbate a hangover, so it's best to stick to one type.
Don't drink on an empty stomach: Make sure you head to a Holi party on a full stomach. Otherwise, the alcohol will hit your system with a vengeance.
Avoid deep-fried food: Steer clear of food that's oily and fried as this could make you feel nauseous later.
Drink water regularly: Keep sipping on water every half an hour, or between drinks, as this will prevent you from getting dehydrated.

AFTER THE PARTY Rehydrate your system: If you have a headache after binge drinking, keep sipping on lemon juice with water, or just plain water.

Drink buttermilk: If your stomach is acting up, it's best to drink buttermilk to soothe your stomach.

Don't drink coffee or tea: Need a pick-me-up before you head out to work? Don't drink coffee or tea even though it may be your usual way to perk up in the mornings. The caffeine in coffee will further dehydrate your body. Instead, drink herbal tea as it does not contain caffeine.

Have a smoothie: Fructose is a healthy form of sugar, and bananas have natural antacids that can help with nausea, so one of the best ways to get over a hangover is to have a banana shake. All you need to do is combine cold milk and chopped bananas in a blender and blitz them. If you want to make the shake more interesting, add strawberries, carrots, bananas and berries of your preference to it.

Go for a walk: This may be the thing you are least inclined to do, but getting some fresh air is one of the best ways to counter a hangover-induced headache.

Blocking Immune Response May Reduce Disability After Stroke

New York, March 15: Stroke is the fourth-leading killer in the world and an important cause of permanent disability.

This may no longer be the same as scientists have now found that using a compound to block the body's immune response reduces chances of disability after a stroke significantly.

The study shows that after a stroke, the injured brain cells provoke the particular immune cells 'CD4+' T-cells to produce a substance, 'IL-21', that kills the neurons in the blood-deprived tissue of the brain.



For the study, normal mice, ordinarily killed or disabled by an ischemic stroke, were given a shot of a compound that blocks the action of 'IL-21'.

Brain scans and brain sections showed that the treated mice suffered little or no stroke damage.

"This is very exciting because we haven't had a new drug for stroke in decades, and this suggests a target for such a drug," said Zsuzsanna Fabry, a professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at University of

Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.

The final part of the study looked at brain tissue from people who had died following ischemic strokes, said Matyas Sandor, professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at the University of Wisconsin.

It found that 'CD4+' T-cells and their protein, 'IL-21' are in high concentration in areas of the brain damaged by the stroke.

The similarity suggests that the protein that blocks 'IL-21' could become a treatment for stroke, and would likely be administered at the same time as the current blood-clot dissolving drugs, Sandor said.

The study appeared in the Journal of Experimental Medicine.

Space Debris Can Make Future Space Missions Impossible

There may soon be so much debris in orbit around the Earth that future space missions could become impossible, scientists have warned.

Researchers at the European Space Agency (ESA) have said that the amount of debris from man-made objects is about to reach “criticality”.This means there is so much debris that it is colliding with other debris – generating particles of space junk at an accelerating rate.

The scientists said it would eventually surround the planet in so much speeding space junk that swathes of space will become inaccessible.


There is so much debris that it is colliding with other debris - generating particles of space junk at an accelerating rate. (NASA Image)


“If the current launch rate continues, then collisions will soon be 25 times higher than now. This would make space flight in low Earth orbits almost impossible,” ESA said.

“There are already 17,000 trackable objects larger than a coffee cup, which threaten working missions with catastrophic collision. Even a 1cm nut could hit with the force of a hand grenade.”

To tackle the problem, the space agency is designing a hunter-killer space probe to track down and destroy defunct satellites and so halt the growth of the burgeoning cloud,’The Sunday Times’ reported.

The e.DeOrbit probe would deploy a Roman gladiator-style array of nets and harpoons to first trap rogue satellites and then drag them downwards until they burn up in the atmosphere.

While the question remains how long it will take for the debris cascade to render space unusable, researchers said there are already certain orbits, popular with communication and military satellites, that could become unusable within a decade or two.

The worst affected are orbits of 800-965 km altitude that pass over the poles, because these already contain many of the 5,000 or so satellites launched by humanity since the space age began.

ESA said removing between five and 10 large satellites from space each year would be enough to stop the debris cloud growing.

Sleep disorders could prove deadly

The effects of a restless and sleep deprived night may extend far beyond exhaustion and feeling cranky, according to many studies.

Studies have shown that sleep disorder can contribute to heart disease, hypertension, even memory loss and depression. So not being able to get good quality sleep at night could be bad for your health and lifestyle.




According to surveys about 50% of all middle-aged men and 20% of women aged 50 and above suffer from sleep apnea which is caused due to a narrowed air passage that does not allow sufficient oxygen into the system-usually as a result of obesity.

So when a patient with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) falls into deep sleep, his air passage closes, and for a few seconds, he stops breathing. Then, his/her oxygen-deprived brain wakes him up partially, and he changes his position to re-open the air passage and starts breathing/snoring again.

Doctors explain that this happens at least 40 times in the night. When it becomes a chronic problem, and there is constant shortage of oxygen in the body, it triggers the secretion of stress hormones, which in turn strains the heart.

The scary part is that only a minority of sleep apnea patients know of their problem and seek treatment and this some times results in heart attack or an accident because of drowsiness during the day.

Once the patient is aware of the problem through Sleep Study, he/she can begin treatment. For mild forms of OSA simply losing weight can help while chronic snorers would have to use a C-Pap (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) machine, which involves wearing a mask to bed every night to prevent the airway from closing.

Woman Gives Birth to a Two-Headed Baby

Urmila Sharma from northern India went into labor on Wednesday (March 12) morning and gave birth to a baby with two heads.

"Yes this report is perfectly true that we have delivered a female baby having two heads," Dr. Ashish Sehgal, the CEO of Cygnus JK Hindu Hospital, told ABCNews.com in an email.

"She is presently alive and healthy," she stated.

Thirty two-year-old Sharma and her husband could not get regular ultrasound scans done due to lack of funds. As a result, they found out just two weeks beforehand that the baby was suffering from a serious complication.

Dr Shikha Malik at Cygnus JK Hindu Hospital said, "We only came to know she was carrying conjoined twins after an ultrasound two weeks ago but it was too late to do anything by then."

The baby, who was born by C-section and weighed 7lbs 7oz, was delivered with two heads, two necks, two spines, but only one tiny body. The baby girl is technically considered to be conjoined twins, and they suffer from a rare condition called dicephalic parapagus, states a Hollywood Life report.

Apparently, chances of survival for the baby are slim.

A "meticulous and challenging" surgery could be the key to saving the twins' life, but the procedure can't take place until they are in stable condition, Dr Sehgal told the Daily News.

"The parents are very distressed and we are helping the family the best we can," Dr Malik explained while discussing the aftermath of the baby girl's birth.

The doctor did not confirm whether or not the surgery would be separating the babies or just easing their 'conjoined' condition.




By Arjun Varma