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By Michelle Roberts

Health reporter, BBC News

Coffee must contain caffeine to have the effect, say the researchers

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Is drinking coffee bad for you?

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Women who drink two or more cups of coffee a day are less likely to get depressed, research suggests.

It is not clear why it might have this effect, but the authors believe caffeine in coffee may alter the brain’s chemistry. Decaffeinated coffee did not have the same effect.

The findings, published in Archives of Internal Medicine, come from a study of more than 50,000 US female nurses.

The experts are now recommending more work to better understand the link.

And they say it is certainly too soon to start recommending that women should drink more coffee to boost mood.

Caffeine lift

The Harvard Medical School team tracked the health of the women over a decade from 1996 to 2006 and relied on questionnaires to record their coffee consumption.

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This fits nicely with a lot of the previous work and what we know about caffeine and the brain”

Prof Bertil Fredholm

Karolinska Institute

Just over 2,600 of the women developed depression over this time period.

More of these women tended to be non- or low-coffee drinkers rather than frequent coffee consumers.

Compared with women who drank one cup of caffeinated coffee or less per week, those who consumed two to three cups per day had a 15% decreased risk of developing depression.

Those who drank four or more cups a day cut their risk by 20%.

Regular coffee drinkers were more likely to smoke and drink alcohol and were less likely to be involved in church, volunteer or community groups. They were also less likely to be overweight and have high blood pressure or diabetes.

Even after controlling for all of these variables, the trend of increasing coffee consumption and lower depression remained.

via BBC News – Coffee may prevent depression, scientists say.

Many disabled people say that life without their service animals is unthinkable. And while public institutions are required to admit service animals without question, some public schools claim they cannot handle the disruption of a dog in a busy classroom.

Disabled students are hoping new federal guidelines will help them avoid legal battles over their animals.

EnlargeLarry Abramson/NPR

Nathan Selove relies on his service dog, Sylvia, to help him deal with meltdowns and other issues related to Asperger’s syndrome.

Nathan And Sylvia

Everyone at Sherando High School in Virginia knows Nathan Selove: He’s the kid with the dog.

“Actually,” he says, “she’s the only dog in the Frederick County public school system, so far.”

Sylvia is a sweet-tempered yellow Lab who accompanies Nathan to school every day. She wears a green vest that proclaims: “Don’t pet me, I’m working.”

Nathan used to be a target of bullying, but is less so now, he says. He strolls down the hallways, leash in hand, looking relaxed, sunglasses propped above his forehead. You would hardly know he has Asperger’s syndrome, or that he sometimes has terrifying meltdowns in class. That’s why Sylvia is here.

By PERRI KLASS, M.D.

Published: December 13, 2010

As recently as 2002, an international group of leading neuroscientists found it necessary to publish a statement arguing passionately that attention deficit hyperactivity disorder was a real condition.Enlarge This ImageRelatedHealth Guide: ADHDIn the face of “overwhelming” scientific evidence, they complained, A.D.H.D. was regularly portrayed in the media as “myth, fraud or benign condition” — an artifact of too-strict teachers, perhaps, or too much television.In recent years, it has been rarer to hear serious doubt that the disorder really exists, and the evidence explaining its neurocircuitry and genetics has become more convincing and more complex.Even so, I’ve lately read a number of articles and essays that use attention or its lack as a marker and a metaphor for something larger in society — for the multitasking, the electronic distractions, the sense that the nature of concentration may be changing, that people feel nibbled at, overscheduled, distracted, irritable.But A.D.H.D. is not a metaphor. It is not the restlessness and rambunctiousness that happen when grade-schoolers are deprived of recess, or the distraction of socially minded teenagers in the smartphone era. Nor is it the reason your colleagues check their e-mail in meetings and even spare me! conversations.

via Untangling the Myths About Attention Disorder – NYTimes.com.

ROUND-THE-CLOCK PURPLE AND GOLD

Ron Artest to donate part of his salary to mental health charities

December 9, 2010 |  4:05 pm

Lakers forward Ron Artest is saving up his money and waiting until July 1, 2011 to figure out what to do with it.

But this isn’t because of a possible NBA lockout. That’s the date he’ll decide how much of his $6.79-million salary he plans to donate to charities benefiting mental health awareness.

“The lockout has nothing to do with it,” Artest said before the Lakers’ 87-86 victory Wednesday over the Clippers. “It’s just the season. I already got enough publicity off the ring. It’s time to focus on the season.”

Artest is referring to his current charitable effort where he’s raffling off his 2010 championship ring through his website, where he says bidding has reached about $500,000. He also had a party following the Lakers’ game at the L.A. Live’s Conga Room to raise money for the effort, and plans to announce the winner Christmas morning. He acknowledged the large number of fans who expressed genuine concern for raffling his ring away, including his wife, but Artest said she had no problem with donating a portion of his salary.

“We lost $7 million before, unfortunately,” Artest said, referring to the money he lost for his 86-game suspension in 2004 for his involvement in the Malice at the Palace. “But at least it’s going toward something good.”

Just when it’s hard to conceive how Artest can top himself, he somehow does. We’re not talking about

via Ron Artest to donate part of his salary to mental health charities | Lakers Blog | Los Angeles Times.

Ángel Franco/The New York Times

Chris Hughes, founder of Jumo, says he wants his site, to be unveiled Tuesday, to do for charities “what Yelp did for restaurants.”

By JENNA WORTHAM

Published: November 30, 2010

Chris Hughes, one of the founders of Facebook and the chief digital organizer for Barack Obama’s presidential campaign, knows a thing or two about building online communities.

Now he is applying his expertise to a new venture called Jumo, which aims to connect people with nonprofits and charitable organizations.

The site, which is being unveiled on Tuesday, aims to “do what Yelp did for restaurants,” Mr. Hughes said, indexing charities “to help people find and evaluate them.”

Individual charities, projects like building a school in rural Africa and broad issues like gay rights will all have dedicated pages on Jumo.

Relevant news articles, Twitter posts and YouTube videos will be added to the pages, and users can add their own feedback and comments. Users can also find their Facebook friends and follow their adopted projects and issues on the site.

The idea is to take the principles that helped Mr. Hughes organize a network of volunteers into a successful political force and apply them to a much broader universe of causes and issues.

via Jumo, From a Facebook Founder, to Focus on Charities – NYTimes.com.

By CHARLES ZANOR

Published: November 29, 2010

Narcissists, much to the surprise of many experts, are in the process of becoming an endangered species.

Not that they face imminent extinction — it’s a fate much worse than that. They will still be around, but they will be ignored.

The fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (due out in 2013, and known as DSM-5) has eliminated five of the 10 personality disorders that are listed in the current edition.

Narcissistic personality disorder is the most well-known of the five, and its absence has caused the most stir in professional circles.

Most nonprofessionals have a pretty good sense of what narcissism means, but the formal definition is more precise than the dictionary meaning of the term.

Our everyday picture of a narcissist is that of someone who is very self-involved — the conversation is always about them. While this characterization does apply to people with narcissistic personality disorder, it is too broad. There are many people who are completely self-absorbed who would not qualify for a diagnosis of N.P.D.

via Narcissistic Disorder to Be Eliminated in Diagnostic Manual – NYTimes.com.

A growing body of research suggests that maintaining an attitude of gratitude can improve psychological, emotional and physical well-being.

Adults who frequently feel grateful have more energy, more optimism, more social connections and more happiness than those who do not, according to studies conducted over the past decade. They’re also less likely to be depressed, envious, greedy or alcoholics. They earn more money, sleep more soundly, exercise more regularly and have greater resistance to viral infections.

via Thank You. No, Thank You. – WSJ.com.

Anyone else think there is something wrong about all these high paid CEO’s of non-profits?

Fifteen Highest-Paid Charity CEOs – Newsweek.

By STUART ELLIOTT

Published: January 28, 2010

A NATIONAL effort to encourage businesses to employ workers with disabilities is not your father’s hire the handicapped campaign.

A print ad from a new campaign using comical labels, intended to encourage employers to ignore labels when hiring people with disabilities.

One difference is that the new ads are paid rather than pro bono, with an estimated budget of $4 million for the first two quarters of 2010. The ads will appear on television, in print, online and outdoors; there is also a sponsorship deal with NPR.

The ads are being financed largely by agencies in 30 states that provide employment services as well as health and human services to their citizens who are disabled. The agencies have set a goal of raising $10 million for the campaign’s budget for the full year.

via Advertising – Using Humor in a Campaign Supporting Disabled People – NYTimes.com.