Can Botox Relieve Depression?

Can Botox help you be free of depression?

Rainy days used to bring Kathleen Delano down. She’s suffered depression since her 20s. Antidepressants and therapy didn’t help. I wasn’t suicidal, she says, but I wasn’t interested in getting out of bed. I wasn’t interested in talking or communicating with friends or family.

So she enrolled in a piloy study testing the effects of Botox on depression. Dr. Eric Finzi of the Chevy Chase Cosmetic Center conducted the pilot trial to test whether preventing a patient from frowning would make it difficult to feel sadness. To feel emotions, you have to express it on the face, he felt.

The study involved 10 patients who were clinically depressed.

Dr. Finzi injected a normal dose of Botox into their brows. Two months later, nine out of 10 patients were no longer clinically depressed. You’re basically preventing people from expressing those sad and angry emotions on their face. Somehow, that’s feeding back directly to the brain, said Dr. Finzi.

Results are gradual and take a week or two to kick in. It’s not like you take the Botox and ‘Hallelujah, I’m healed, said Dr. Finzi.

But Kathleen is already a believer. I’m really feeling for the first time in a lot of years that I’m free of depression, she said.

When the Botox wears off, so does the antidepressant effect, so patients would need to get the shots about every three months to remain free of depression. A single Botox treatment costs about $400.

Source: King5.com

Who Wants to Become a Billionaire

Are billionaires born or made. And are there any common success secrets required to become a wealthy billionaire.

Forbes Magazine gets these questions a lot, and finallydecided it was time to go beyond the broad answers of smarts, ambition and luck by sorting through otheir database of  the ultra wealthy in search of trends.

Forbes analyzed everything from the billionaires’ parents’ professions… to where (or if) they went to school… their track records in the early stages of their careers… and other experiences that may have put them on the path to extreme wealth.

Their admittedly unscientific study of the 657 self-made billionaires yielded some interesting results.

Some of the most common professions among the parents of American billionaires (for whom Forbes  could find the information) were: engineer, accountant and small-business owner.

Those who became a billionaire by making  their fortunes from finance make up one of the most highly educated sub-groups: More than 55% of them have graduate degrees. Nearly 90% of those with M.B.A.s obtained their master’s degree from one of three Ivy League schools: Harvard, Columbia or U. Penn’s Wharton School of Business.

But you don’t have to go to college to become a billionaire. More than 20% of the self-made American moguls on the most recent list of the world’s billionaires never finished college. Many of them made their fortunes in the tech sector. Among them:  Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Michael Dell, Larry Ellison, (Oracle) and Theodore Waitt (Gateway).

Several ultra wealthy billionaires suffered a bitter professional setbacks early in their careers. Pharmaceutical tycoon R.J. Kirk’s first venture was a flop–an experience he regrets but appreciates. Failure early on is a necessary condition for success, though not a sufficient one, he told Forbes in 2007.

According to a statement read by Phil Falcone during a congressional hearing, his botched buyout of a company in Newark in the early 1990s taught him several valuable lessons that have had a profound impact upon my success as a hedge fund manager.

Want to become a billionaire. One place to start is to first learn to think like a millionaire. And YES, this IS possible.

Source: Forbes

Is It Possible to Regenerate Your Brain?

Contrary to popular belief, recent studies have found that there ARE some ways to regenerate your brain.

Studies  at the National Institute on Aging Gerontology Research Center and the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have shown that both calorie restriction and intermittent fasting, along with vitamin and mineral intake, increase resistance to disease, extend lifespan, and stimulate production of neurons from stem cells.

Fasting has also been shown to enhance synaptic elasticity — possibly increasing the ability for successful re-wiring following brain injury. These benefits appear to result from a cellular stress response, similar in concept to the greater muscular regeneration that results from the stress of regular exercise.

Other research suggests that increasing time intervals between meals might be a better choice than chronic calorie restriction, because the resulting decline in sex hormones may adversely affect both sexual and brain performance. Sex steroid hormones testosterone and estrogen are positively impacted by an abundant food supply.

But if your not keen on starving yourself, there are other options. Another recent finding from the Burnham Institute for Medical Research and Iwate University in Japan reports that the herb rosemary contains an ingredient that fights free radical damage in the brain. The active ingredient (carnosic acid)  protects the brain from stroke and neurodegeneration such as Alzheimer’s, and from the effects of normal aging.

Simply using  rosemary in its natural state  is known to get into the brain, and has been consumed by people for over a thousand years. The herb was used in European folk medicine to help the nervous system.

Other brain boosters found in walnuts and fatty fish (such as salmon, sardines, and lake trout) are thought to help ward off Alzheimer’s disease. In addition, they likely help prevent depression and have been shown to help prevent sudden death from heart attack.)

Turmeric, typically found in curry, contains curcumin, a chemical with potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. In India, it is even used as a salve to help heal wounds. East Asians also eat it, which might explain their lower rates (compared to the United States) of Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease, in addition to various cancers. If curry isn’t part of your favorite cuisines, you might try a daily curcumin supplement of 500 to 1,000 mg.

Physical exercise may also have beneficial effects on neuron regeneration by stimulating regeneration of brain and muscle cells via activation of stress proteins and the production of growth factors. But again, additional research suggests that not all exercise is equal. Interestingly, some researchers found that exercise considered drudgery was not beneficial in neuronal regeneration, but physical activity that was engaged in purely for fun, even if equal time was spent and equal calories were burned, resulted in neuronal regeneration.

Exercise can also help reduce stress, but any stress-reducing activity can help the brain. There is some evidence that chronic stress shrinks parts of the brain involved in learning, memory, and mood. (It also delays wound healing, promotes atherosclerosis, and increases blood pressure.)

It should go without saying that short-term cognitive and physical performance is not boosted by fasting, due to metabolic changes including decrease in body temperature, decreased heart rate and blood pressure and decreased glucose and insulin levels, so you’re better off not planning a marathon or a demanding work session during a fasting period.

As part of a healthy lifestyle the prescription of moderating food intake, exercising, and eating anti-oxidant rich foods is what we’ve long known will boost longevity, but it’s good to know that we can bring our brains along with us as we make it into those golden years without being the 1 in 7 who suffers from dementia. Try this for immediate brain health!!

By Rebecca Sato / Source: Daily Galaxy

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