HOMEOSTATIC MED4U

The term 'mind - body' is thrown around like a nut in a coffee grinder. If you want to be healthier, learn how to be happier. Your mind is more powerful than you think. How you feel and what you think can directly affect your body, by changing the structure of your brain and the functioning of your immune system.  The more you feel positive emotions like gratitude and awe, and the better you learn to control your negative emotions like fear and worry, the more your body becomes resistant to infection, inflammation, heart disease, cancer, and even general aging. Each biochemical reaction that takes place is either moving us towards health or away from health. We are never in a state of stagnation. It is interesting that negative thoughts rooted from fear, are associated with inflammation and catabolism while positive thoughts rooted in love, are associated with anti - inflammatory chemicals and tissue regeneration and repair. The concept of the 'mind' encompasses...

'Mood swings' is a common term used to describe rapid and intensely fluctuating emotions. People often describe mood swings as a roller coaster of feelings from happiness and contentment to anger, irritability and even depression. On top of the world in the morning, depressed over lunch time, and angry in the evening - teenagers have a reputation for mood swings. Any rapid fluctuation in hormones is accompanied by irritability, recklessness, aggression and depression. In early puberty, teenagers experience very rapid rises in the level of sex hormones.  Girls will continue to experience fluctuations in oestrogen and progesterone levels with their menstruation. Pre - menstrual syndrome is an acknowledged irritability and mild depression in adult women. Oestrogen has a wide range of effects on the body and brain. It exerts influence on the central nervous system through complex mechanisms of physiology and psychology. Mood swings can be genetic but are most often the re...

Feelings of sadness or anxiety might be linked to increased 'chitchat' between two areas of the brain. When a person is feeling down, the electrical communication between two brain cells in two specific regions of the brain, involved in memory and emotion increases. It's unclear if this increased brain communication is a cause or an effect of bad mood.  There are three parts of the brain that appear to play a role in depression - the hippocampus, amygdala and the prefrontal cortex. The hippocampus stores memories and regulates the production of a hormone called cortisol. The body releases cortisol during times of physical and mental stress, including during times of depression. In people with depression, the long - term exposure to increased cortisol levels can slow the production of new neurons and cause the neurons in the hippocampus to shrink. This can lead to memory problems.  The prefrontal cortex is responsible for regulating emotions, making decisions and forming...

There are big problems that come up in our lives, affecting our hopes and dreams for ourselves, our family and even our very lives. When a person's knee starts hurting chronically, affecting what they choose to do in their daily life, should they have a knee replacement surgery? And if a person's doctor diagnoses him/her with prostrate cancer, that person starts worrying - " Should I have the prostrate removed? Should I have radiotherapy or should I simply have it actively monitored?" These are hard questions..But the way we approach them if we want the best outcomes, is the same way doctors and scientists approach any problem they face. It's a way each of us not only apply science to our everyday lives, but should demand that those making decisions on our behalf should think scientifically as well.  Each of the personal or family problems we face appear to be unique, but there are similarities to how we'd approach them: 1. For the knee replacement surge...

'Positive thinking' is a soft and fluffy term that is easy to dismiss. In today's world, it rarely carries the same meaning as 'persistence' or 'work ethic'. But those views maybe changing. Positive thinking is about much more than just being happy or displaying an upbeat attitude. Positive thoughts can actually create real value in your life and help you build skills that last much longer than a smile. Let's say you're walking through a forest, and suddenly, a tiger steps on the path ahead of you. When this happens, your brain registers a negative emotion - in this case, fear. Negative emotions program your brain to do a specific action. When that tiger crosses your path, for example, you run. The rest of the world doesn't matter. You are focused entirely on the tiger, the fear it creates, and how you can get away from it. Negative emotions narrow your mind and focus your thoughts. At the same time, you might have the option to climb a tree,...

Are you really happy? What are the things that make you feel happy? When was the last time you felt like you were at the top of the world? I felt the strong need to address these questions after one of my great friends couldn't go about normally with her life. She kept feeling she was inferior and low, she felt she was not fit for anything in this world. She considered herself to be worthless and a burden. I didn't want to make her feel like this about herself. I'm sure there are many more people like her in this world. A strong message for all of you.. These questions which I asked initially do sound a bit childish, but aren't these the most important questions we need to introspect once in a while? If we delve deeper into the science of happiness, we will find that there isn't any clear definition to it. It can vary from person to person and also change with situations. But when we look at the broader concept, we'll find that science to happiness lies in ou...

How did life begin? There can hardly be bigger questions. There's light. But then what happened after that? How did life arise on the third rocky planet orbiting the unremarkable star at the centre of our solar system? We, humans have been wondering about the answer to this question probably almost as long as we have been able to wonder.  Life really is a form of chemistry, a particular form in which chemicals can lead to their own reproduction. But the important thing, I think, is that when we think about the origin of life this way, it isn't that life is somehow different from the rest of the planet. Life is something that emerges on a developing planetary surface, as part and parcel of the chemistry on that surface. Life is literally a part of the fabric of a planet like Earth. Life is also sustained by the planet itself. That is, all of the nutrients that go into the oceans, and end up getting incorporated into biology, at first they're locked up in rocks, and then ...