Post from: Blisstree

It’s easy to point fingers at “bad” mothers who make questionable choices about the health of their kids (ahem, Tanning Mom), but the truth is that many of us learned what we know about nutrition, fitness, and taking care of our amazing female bodies from none other than our own mother. And even if you didn’t have a mom full of great advice, it’s never too late to hear what other great mamas have to say. So, as Mother’s Day approaches, here’s some really valuable, real-world health advice from Mom.

Often, we get bogged down in the negative and blame mothers for all the world’s problems, but that’s just unfair. Instead, we decided to highlight the amazing knowledge that moms have, by asking around about what unforgettable, awesome advice women received from their mothers or mother-like figures. We got tons of responses, ranging from body-positive messages of self-love, to little, everyday tips, like eating whole grains. It turns out, moms are pretty savvy.

Thank you, moms of the world, for instilling in us a love of health, fitness, and taking care of ourselves. And thanks, readers and friends, for sharing what your mom taught you.

What did your mom teach you about health and wellness? Share it in the comments!

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Post from: Blisstree

Post from: Blisstree

Yes, I had high expectations for being the perfect and healthy mom. And I’ll admit, I even went so far as to judge other moms who weren’t all that healthy (because, you know, before you have kids, you think you know everything about parenting). To those moms that I judged, I apologize. To my former neurotic self, I apologize, too. Because not only did I not follow-through with most of those rules, over the course of the last 15 years, I did some pretty unhealthy things that I swore I would never do.

Photo: shutterstock

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Post from: Blisstree

One dermatologist, Doris Day, told ABC News that she likely suffers from “tanerexia”:

When you look at this, this is somebody who has a problem who most likely has a condition called “tanerexia,” where they just don’t realize just how much color they have. She’s at higher risk for skin cancer, and it also doesn’t send the right message to her child.

Past research has proven that tanning bed users exhibit brain changes during a tanning session that mirror those seen in drug addicts. The brains of those using indoor tanning showed activation in the regions associated with pleasure-seeking and reward–similar to what we may feel when we eat sweets or drink alcohol.

Study author, Dr. Bryon Adinoff, explained how some people can get sucked in to this:

Using tanning beds has rewarding effects in the brain so people may feel compelled to persist…even though it’s bad for them.

Bust just because tanning makes some people feel good, does that mean they are addicted or they have mental health issues? Clearly, this woman has a dependence on tanning, and that could signal a legitimate medical condition. People who continue to do things that are harmful to their bodies and cannot stop are often addicts.

So, yes, it does seem like she has an addictive personality trait here, but does that mean she needs mental health counseling? And should her little girl be allowed to continue living with her? Those are the top questions swirling around right now…

Tell us what you think!

Photo: bodyodd.msnbc.msn.com

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Post from: Blisstree

Now, Stone is on a mission to help remove the societal stigma that still exists around postpartum depression. She is the writer of a highly successful blog and the founder of a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating and empowering more women and lobbying for a better health care system to evaluate, diagnose and treat this disease–a disease that has become a “major health epidemic.”

Read on for more of our eye-opening interview with Stone:

Tell me about your experience. What happened?

It probably started when I was pregnant. I was highly anxious, even more so than most first-time pregnant mothers. But I didn’t recognize that and thought that was normal. I was voraciously reading every pregnancy book ever written, paying close attention to every bit of food I ate, worrying about all the details, etc. But I didn’t recognize where I was heading. After my son was born nine years ago, the first two days were happy, but after that, it started to really hit me.

At first, I was just nervous and worried all the time. I was having trouble eating and sleeping, and I believed I wasn’t cut out to be a mother and that my son would never love me. I would cry all the time. Around 7-9 weeks postpartum, I started having intrusive thoughts, like, what if I accidentally hurt him in some way or what if I drowned him? The intrusive thoughts are not like postpartum psychosis though–they are really “what if” thoughts. You’re not actively contemplating doing these things, but the thoughts are very unwanted.

How long did your postpartum depression last?

These symptoms went on for three months before I reached out for help. It was just so bad, and I was literally so miserable that reaching out for help felt like I was just giving up. I thought they would call the police or the people in the white coats and off I would go, and that was going to be it for me.

With postpartum depression, there are a variety of symptoms you can experience. Some moms will have more of the depression type symptoms; others may have numbness, disconnectedness, anger and rage or things like intrusive thoughts. It’s something a lot of people don’t understand because they have one view of what postpartum depression is (sadness all the time).

Were you aware of postpartum depression at all before this happened?

In my childbirth education class, I distinctly remember my childbirth nurse saying there’s this thing called PPD that I’m supposed to talk with you about, but it never happens to any of my students, so we’re not going to talk about it. Even in What to Expect When You’re Expecting, the author wrote, just have a glass of wine. There really wasn’t much education about all of this nine years ago. People now think everyone is getting proper eduction, and that couldn’t be further from the truth.

What was the worst thing PPD made you do or feel?

The worst thing it made me feel was that I was a monster. You think you know yourself your whole life and then this happens to you, and it completely rearranges your vision of yourself. It didn’t matter to me the person I was for the 32 years prior. I was convinced that this was really the person I was, and it had been waiting to come out all along. I felt like I was a horrible person and would be locked up because of it.

The worst thing it made me feel towards my son was those moments that I felt like I should never have had a baby. I remember thinking, I made a massive mistake. I was in this place of massive panic, and now I thought, this was the worst mistake I’ve ever made, I’ve become a monster, my life is ruined and so is my son’s and my husband’s.

How did you cope with all of this and having a newborn at the same time?

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Post from: Blisstree

The way our brains handle the neurotransmitter dopamine can help determine how motivated (or unmotivated) we are, according to new research. In other words, the difference between slackers and overachievers could be explained by their relationships to this crazy brain chemical. And this discovery could lead to new treatments for increasing motivation. 

The study, published in the May issue of The Journal of Neuroscience, shows for the first time that increased dopamine activity in a part of the brain called the insula can make people less willing to work.

Dopamine activity affects many things—movement, memory, learning, mood, sleep—but it’s especially important for “reward processing,” or the way your brain reacts to things such as drugs, food, sex and power. These rewards trigger increased dopamine activity in the brain; stimulants like cocaine, meth work directly on the dopamine system. Decreased dopamine activity has been linked to depression, Parkinson’s disease and ADHD.

It seems decreased dopamine activity would also be associated with decreased motivation, but not so. In the study, subjects were given a series of tests (things like pressing a button a certain number of times in a minute) in which they could earn small monetary rewards.

Some accepted harder challenges for more money even against long odds, whereas less motivated subjects would forgo an attempt if it cost them too much effort.

After this, participants underwent brain imaging to measure dopamine activity in different parts of the brain. Both high and low motivation were associated with increased dopamine activity. The difference was in where this activity took place: Those willing to work harder showed more dopamine response in parts of the brain known as the striatum and the ventromedial prefontal cortex; those who expended the least effort showed increased dopamine in the insula region.

The fact that dopamine can have opposing effects in different parts of the brain complicates the use of psychotropic meds that affect dopamine levels, researchers note. But knowing this could lead to better drugs for treating ADHD, depression and other mental issues that kill motivation.

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Post from: Blisstree

During a late-night trip down Facebook Memory Lane (come on, we’ve all done it…possibly after a few glasses of red wine), you may find out the following information about your old friends: their relationship status, where they work, what they’ve eaten for brunch lately (thanks, Instagram!), and, in the very near future, whether or not they are an organ donor.

According to the New York Times, Facebook has announced that they will soon (and by “soon” they mean “probably today”) launch a new “Health and Wellness” feature, which will feature other health statistics–and maybe encourage a healthier lifestyle? Here’s hoping!– right alongside the rest of your personal information. Your donor status will be one of the prompts, a move which those in the field (i.e., people who work with the organ registry, also known as “people who save lives”) call “historic.” Because it really is. From the article:

Previous efforts to encourage organ donation have struggled, Dr. Cameron said, because the issue is sensitive and personal and because the decision is made at the motor vehicle department, where many people may not want to focus on the prospect of dying. Fewer than half of adult Americans have signed up to be an organ donor.

Each year, over 7,000 people die waiting for an organ, while perfectly viable ones are cremated or buried, due to lack of awareness, privacy concerns, or uninformed (and grieving) family members.

The decision, according to ABC News, came to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg over dinner with his girlfriend, who is currently in medical school. It was then that she informed him of the dire lack of organ donors–and that he decided that, with a captive audience of 160 million US citizens, he stood to actually make a real difference. Zuck also credited Steve Jobs, whose live could have been dramatically extended had he received a liver donation.

Of course, like every new thing Facebook ever does, the immediate reaction from many people is that it is creepy and weird and oppressively engaging in our personal lives. But the thing about Facebook is that it’s already a part of our lives. You’ve probably already told it your religion, who your friends are, where you work, where you live, what your political stance is, your sexual orientation–all of which is just as personal as your organ donation status, if not more. And for many of us, that information is listed on our drivers’ license or other form of government-issued identification, anyway. Because wanting to donate your organs after you die is kind of like a will; it doesn’t really do a lot of good for the living if the wishes of the deceased were kept a secret.

What’s neat about this little bit of advocacy is that, unlike other hip, buzzed-about campaigns for change (hey, where is Joseph Kony, anyway?), organ donation is precisely in line with the capabilities of most of today’s armchair activists (a.k.a. “slacktivists”). Much like online petitions, the decision to list organ donation status, or become a donor in the first place, takes all of two to three clicks–you just set it and forget it. The real act (and the real impact) doesn’t happen until, heaven forbid, something happens to you.

The move also raises interesting questions about Facebook’s future in the realm of health and wellness. Because, while it may seem weird to have your medical records or other personal health information online through a social networking site, the fact is that, for many of us, Facebook is a portal to our actual lives, available right on our phone. Imagine you find yourself in an ER, unable to move or speak, while doctors try to figure out who you are, who to contact.

They could zip through your contact book looking for “Mom” or “Dad,” or they could pull up your Facebook app and see where you’re from, who you recently spoke with, who you’re dating, where you work (and maybe, what your insurance there is like), and, at some point in the future, even what medications you’re on. With 900 million users logged in and voluntarily offering up their personal information, adding those (private) pieces of data might change the way we treat serious situations.

But all of that is still far off. What’s coming soon is an awesome outreach program by one of the most ubiquitous forces in the modern era. Facebook is poised to actually do some good and, in a very real way, possibly save lives. And while that may feel like an overstep to some, to those who have lost a loved one while they anxiously awaited a new lung, liver, or heart, it’s a conversation that needs to happen.

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Post from: Blisstree

Post from: Blisstree

Post from: Blisstree