Yoga, the 5,000-year-old Indian practice, has positive effects on mild depression and sleep complaints, even in the absence of drug treatments, and improves symptoms associated with schizophrenia and ADHD in patients on medication, according to a systematic review of the exercise on major clinical psychiatric disorders.

The review of more than one hundred studies focusing on 16 high-quality controlled studies looked at the effects of yoga on depression, schizophrenia, ADHD, sleep complaints, eating disorders and cognition problems.

Benefits of the exercise were found for all mental health illnesses included in the review, except for eating disorders and cognition problems as the evidence for these was conflicting or lacking.

Dr. P. Murali Doraiswamy, a professor of psychiatry and medicine at Duke University Medical Center, US, and author of the study, explained that the emerging scientific evidence in support of yoga on psychiatric disorders is “highly promising” and showed that yoga may not only help to improve symptoms, but also may have an ancillary role in the prevention of stress-related mental illnesses.

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Drinking sweetened beverages, especially diet drinks, is associated with an increased risk of depression in adults while drinking coffee is tied to a slightly lower risk, new research suggests.

“Sweetened beverages, coffee and tea are commonly consumed worldwide and have important physical—and may have important mental—health consequences,” study author Honglei Chen, MD, PhD, with the National Institutes of Health in Research Triangle Park in North Carolina and a member of the American Academy of Neurology said.

The study involved 263,925 people between the ages of 50 and 71 at enrollment.

From 1995 to 1996, consumption of drinks such as soda, tea, fruit punch and coffee was evaluated.

About 10 years later, researchers asked the participants whether they had been diagnosed with depression since the year 2000. A total of 11,311 depression diagnoses were made.

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A new study has found that eating fatty and sugary foods causes chemical changes in the brain even before obesity occurs, suggesting that going on a diet might be similar to going through drug withdrawal.

The study was conducted by Dr. Stephanie Fulton of the University of Montreal’s Faculty of Medicine and its affiliated CRCHUM Hospital Research Centre.

“By working with mice, whose brains are in many ways comparable to our own, we discovered that the neurochemistry of the animals who had been fed a high fat, sugary diet were different from those who had been fed a healthy diet,” Fulton explained.

“The chemicals changed by the diet are associated with depression. A change of diet then causes withdrawal symptoms and a greater sensitivity to stressful situations, launching a vicious cycle of poor eating,” she stated.

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Adults who were exposed to trauma in early childhood are more likely to suffer from anxiety and mood disorders, as traumatic experience induces lasting changes to their gene regulation, according to scientists.

Scientists from the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry in Munich have now documented for the first time that genetic variants of the FKBP5 gene can influence epigenetic alterations in this gene induced by early trauma.

In individuals with a genetic predisposition, trauma causes long-term changes in DNA methylation leading to a lasting dysregulation of the stress hormone system.

As a result, those affected find themselves less able to cope with stressful situations throughout their lives, frequently leading to depression, post-traumatic stress disorder or anxiety disorders in adulthood. Doctors and scientists hope these discoveries will yield new treatment strategies tailored to individual patients, as well as increased public awareness of the importance of protecting children from trauma and its consequences.

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Stress, when left unmanaged can lead to health problems, say University of Alabama at Birmingham experts who have also suggested some ways to help deal with its negative effects.

While everyone responds to stress differently, common signs include changes in eating habits, feeling like you have no control, forgetfulness, headaches, lack of energy and focus, short temper, trouble sleeping, upset stomach and aches and pains.

And studies have shown that women experience more physical symptoms of stress than men.

“Women experiencing stress differently from men often has to do with the roles they impose on themselves,” explained Susanne Fogger, D.N.P., assistant professor in the UAB School of Nursing and a long-time psychiatric nurse practitioner.

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Dr Gowthaman, Medical Director, Dr Gowthaman’s Ayurveda Panchakarma Center, Chennai, answers readers’ questions on Ayurveda. Get your doubts cleared and see them featured on our FAQ page every Tuesday.

This week’s answers:

1. i am 24 years old, i am suffering with white hair problem, almost half of my hair was prematured, i am really feeling insecured with it i request you to give me a suggestion
thanking you
sushma.v

Hi Sushma,
please check your thyroid, Vitamin D and prolactin levels. High stress, lack of physical exercise and leucorrhoea can lead to this condition. You may require a full treatment healing plan than a simple remedies.
Yoga, good diet with Ayurveda therapies can change this condition.
Add 2-3 liters of water and as much as fresh vegetables, fruits and more importantly 30 minutes of physical exercise can change this condition.
50 gm of Amla powder + 50 ml of fresh Curd + 5 ml of fresh lemon juice + 2 white Egg – Mix all these thoroughly and apply as a pack covering the hair roots. Wash hair with luke warm water after 45 minutes. Repeat this process for 90 days.
Ayurveda therapy Nasya plays a important role in healing. Please visit the near by Ayurveda therapy center for this therapy.

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Dr Hemant Mittal, neuro-psychiatrist, answers readers’ questions on Mental Health. Get your doubts cleared and see them featured on our FAQ page every Tuesday.
This week’s answers:

1) Every time I say something to someone, includes both family and outsiders, I always doubt myself and feel guilty about what I’ve said. I do not use harsh words, but I still feel that I may have offended someone. How do I overcome this feeling?

2) I also feel inferior when I see others. Although everyone, including my family, tell me that I’m an accomplished home maker, I still feel that I’ve not been able to achieve what others have. I am also a great cook, mother, wife. I am the spinal cord of my family but I still feel incomplete and an underachiever. How do i give myself more credit?
AshokJain

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Dr Hemant Mittal, neuro-psychiatrist, answers readers’ questions on Mental Health. Get your doubts cleared and see them featured on our FAQ page every Tuesday.
This week’s answers:

Dear Dr. Hemant Mittal, I am 34 years married female….my problem is tht i am not happy….i feel low, depress all the time….Nothing gives me any kind of happiness….Negative ideas and unnecessary ideas occupy my mind….i dont have peace of mind….feel like crying all the time…..kindly help me……
Balvinder Kaur
Dear Mrs.Kaur, from what you have mentioned it seems that you are having clinical depression. This could be due to environment around you. When things don’t go according to what we plan, the brain starts to shut itself creating negativity and sadness.

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Scientists have proved that Wordsworth was actually right to say daffodils are a source of joy.

The poet wrote that at the mere thought of the flowers “my heart with pleasure fills”, and now scientists say they could help treat depression.

Studies have found that compounds in Crinum and Crytanthus – South African species of snowdrops and daffodils – are able to pass through the blood brain barrier, the defensive wall that keeps the brain isolated.
According to scientists from the University of Copenhagen, the wall is a major problem in treating brain diseases including depression because drugs are pumped out as quickly as they are put it.

Research showed that nine out of ten compounds cannot penetrate the brain. But Professor Birgen Broden said the compounds from the South African flowers were able to pass through the barrier.

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Ignorance, stigma and lack of doctors have long marred mental healthcare in India. But with stressful lifestyles and ever increasing cases of depression, this much neglected segment is now gaining importance in the country`s medical scenario.

According to an estimate by the World Health Organisation (WHO), depression will become the second largest illness in terms of morbidity in another decade. It already affects one out of every five women and one in every 12 men.

`Social awakening towards mental diseases and their cure has finally started to come,` said Anindita Paul, director of Sanjivini Society for Mental Health.

`In terms of the urban society, there is lot of awakening which is coming now. Still as a country a lot more needs to be done,` says Paul.

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