It was an ordinary, sunny Sunday in January just over five years ago that would change our lives forever. . . On a walk with Christine Huda, NICABM’s Executive Director and my long-time partner, we were discussing the fact that she’d been having trouble talking recently. “You’ll see your physician tomorrow,” was my response. The […]
How the Brain Helps Us to Survive Trauma
New research into brain science has shown that neuroplasticity, or the changing of the brain, is possible. But the downside is that negative experiences also affect the brain. Scientists have known that stress can alter the brain’s structure, but the specifics of these changes have not yet been found. A new study out of the […]
PTSD and Dementia
Here’s a worrisome finding. Having a diagnosis of PTSD is positively associated with an increased risk of developing dementia. According to a recent study published in Alzheimers and Dementia Kristine Yaffe, MD, from the University of California San Francisco led a group of researchers as they tracked over 180,000 veterans aged 55 and older from […]
What “Shell Shock” Taught us about Treating PTSD
Back in World War I when we were trying to treat soldiers experiencing “shell shock” (later known as PTSD), a new profession known as Occupational Therapy was founded. The thought at that time was that these shell shocked soldiers would find relief quicker by doing something rather than just talking about their experiences. Hmm. It […]
Stress and Cancer
We know that stress is unhealthy, but does it have any impact on cancer? A new study in The Journal of Clinical Investigation looked at the effect that chronic stress had on ovarian cancer patients. Anil Sood, MD and his colleagues at the University of Texas implanted ovarian cancer cells into mice and then exposed […]