Is Shapewear a Risky Trend for Teen Girls?
Rebecca Sapp/WireImage for Kari Feinstein PR(NEW YORK) — What do stars like Gwyneth Paltrow, Kim Kardashian and Oprah Winfrey all have in common?Each is among the celebrities who have admitted to wearing Spanx and Spanx-like products, otherwise known …
Five-Ring Fever: When Olympic Parents Push Their Kids Too Hard
Polka Dot Images/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — Judi Brown Clarke, a silver medalist in the 400-meter hurdles at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics who went on to coach at Michigan State University, witnessed young athletes who fell apart as their controlling par…
Is Cinema-Phobia Taking Hold?
Stockbyte/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — When Emilie Yount was in her 20s, she used to spend five days a week huddled in Chicago movie theater seats, “banging out” film reviews and blogs for publications like Reel Reviews and TribecaFilm.com. Being alone in a…
James Holmes Gave No Indication of Violent Delusions
RJ Sangosti-Pool/Getty Images(NEW YORK) — Colorado massacre suspect James Holmes gave no outward signs of mental illness or violent delusions, and mental experts said that is common among mass murderers.Before Friday’s massacre, Holmes had no pr…
Family of Colorado Shooting Suspect Faces Difficult Emotional Road
University of Colorado Denver(AURORA, Colo.) — The family of Aurora, Colo., shooting suspect James Holmes faces a difficult emotional road in the days, weeks and months ahead as they struggle to cope with the enormous reality of his alleged actions, e…
How to Talk to Children About the Colorado Movie Theater Shooting
Thomas Cooper/Getty Images(NEW YORK) — Hours after the horrific shooting during a midnight screening of The Dark Knight Rises at a Colorado movie theater, Melissa Lawrence’s young children were on their way to camp, happily oblivious to the tragedy.Th…
Aurora Suspect May Be Delusional, Psychologists Say
Univ of Colorado Denver/iStockphoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — As authorities are investigating the shooting rampage at a midnight showing of The Dark Knight Rises in an Aurora, Col., movie theater, details are emerging about James Holmes, the 24-year-old…
Elderly Binge Drinkers Face Higher Risk of Cognitive Decline
iStockphoto/Thinkstock(VANCOUVER, British Columbia) — Women have been told for years that a glass of wine a day could actually improve their health, because it’s good for the heart and brain. But researchers in San Francisco warned Wednesday at the Al…
Could Ritalin Help Alzheimer’s Patients, Too?
iStockphoto/Thinkstock(VANCOUVER, British Columbia) — Ritalin, a drug most often used for attention deficit disorders in the very young, may hold promise for a very different set of patients — the predominantly old group of patients who suffer with A…
Researchers Discover Uncharted Territory in Pre-Clinical Alzheimer’s
iStockphoto/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) — This week, at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Vancouver, researchers from the Mayo Clinic reported results of their study of potential biomarkers for preclinical Alzheimer’s disease.
“Biomar…
Women Beat Men on IQ Tests for First Time
John Rowley/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — New research is providing an answer to the age-old, delicate question: who is smarter, men or women? A new study has come down on the feminine side of that argument, finding that women now score higher on IQ tests th…
Soldiers and Veterans Should Have Annual PTSD Screenings, Report Says
iStockphoto/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) — Servicemen and women returning from the war zones get screened for post-traumatic stress disorder, but a new report says too little happens after that. An Institute of Medicine study says that of those who show sym…
Unlocking Emotional Issues May Be Key to Extreme Weight Loss
ABC/CRAIG SJODIN(NEW YORK) — Chris Powell, the man who orchestrates each jaw-dropping weight transformation on ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition, says his secret as a hard-charging trainer has less to do with exercising people’s bodies…
Could Spanking Children Cause Harm in Adulthood?
Ablestock.com/Thinkstock(MANITOBA, Canada) — Physical punishment such as spanking, pushing, grabbing or slapping in childhood could do more harm than good, according to researchers. A study, authored by Dr. Tracie Afifi of the University of Manitoba a…
Purple Hearts for Troops with PTSD?
iStockphoto/Thinkstock(SEATTLE) — When Ron Morton returned from Vietnam in 1976, he abused drugs, attempted suicide and failed as a husband, unaware he was suffering a classic case of post-traumatic stress disorder from the near-fatal accidents he wit…
Math Anxiety in School? Scientists Have It Too
Photodisc/Thinkstock(BRISTOL, England) — Tell us if this describes you. You’re a smart person who did well in school. You were interested in science, but you didn’t pursue it because you were worried about all the math you&rsqu…
Heart Attacks and PTSD: A Vicious Cycle
iStockphoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — PTSD is a type of anxiety that occurs after a severely frightening experience. Sufferers experience nightmares, high blood pressure and an increased heart rate. Often, they live in fear of things that would remind th…
Sandusky Defense Argues Letters Consistent with Personality Disorder
Patrick Smith/Getty Images(BELLEFONTE, Pa.) — Jerry Sandusky’s defense team filed a motion Monday that asked permission for a psychologist to testify about histrionic personality disorder, a psychiatric disorder characterized by dramatic, emotio…
Depression Therapy: Phone Sessions Sometimes as Good as In Person
Jupiterimages/Thinkstock(CHICAGO) — Telephone therapy may be just as good as in-person therapy for treating depression symptoms, at least for the short term, according to a study published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.In …
Emergency Room Waits for Psychiatric Patients: Safe or Profitable?
iStockphoto/Thinkstock(BOSTON) — Psychiatric patients waited an average of 11.5 hours to be admitted into the emergency room of a hospital, according to a recent study published by Annals of Emergency Medicine. Study author Anthony Weiss of Partn…