Low Cholesterol Associated with Depression

Cholesterol is essential for brain function.  Yet one more reason to reconsider the need for cholesterol lowering medications.  The following article provides a good explanation:


http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-breakthrough-depression-solution/201106/low-cholesterol-and-its-psychological-effects

New Study Shows That Meditation Affects Gene Expression

http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/05/study-how-yoga-alters-genes/275488/

Body Fat Hardens Arteries After Middle Age

Researchers at the Medical Research Council (MRC) Clinical Sciences Centre at Imperial College London scanned 200 volunteers to measure the speed of blood flow in the aorta, the biggest artery in the body. Blood travels more quickly in stiff vessels than in healthy elastic vessels, so this allowed them to work out how stiff the walls of the aorta were using an MRI scanner.  The research was published in the journal Hypertension.

In young adults, those with more body fat had less stiff arteries. However, after the age of 50 increasing body fat was associated with stiffer arteries in both men and women.

Body fat percentage, which can be estimated by passing a small electric current through the body, was more closely linked with artery stiffness than body mass index, which is based just on weight and height. Men are on average about 21 per cent fat and women 31 per cent fat.

Dr Declan O’Regan, who led the study, said: “The effects of having more fat seem to be different depending on your age. It looks like young people may be able to adapt to excess body fat, but by middle age the cumulative exposure to years of obesity may start to cause permanent damage to the arteries. 

Practicing Yoga Regularly Can Lower Blood Pressure

Yoga calms the mind and works out the body, but now, a study on the effects of yoga on hypertension concluded that yoga can significantly lower blood pressure. The 24-week study, conducted by Debbie L. Cohen, MD; Anne Bowler, BA and Raymond R. Townsend, MD of the University of Pennsylvania, showed that people who practiced yoga 2 -- 3 times per week saw their blood pressure decrease significantly: an average of three points for both systolic and diastolic blood pressure, from 133/80 to 130/77. Participants who only followed a controlled diet -- and did not practice yoga -- saw only a decrease of one point, from 134/83 to 132/82.

Meditation Affects Your Genes

A new study by Dr. Herbert Benson, author of The Relaxation Response, found that meditation affects how your DNA expresses itself.

In a new Harvard study, both experienced meditation practitioners and those new to the practice were taught a simple meditation technique, which I teach in my book How to Give Clients the Skills to Stop Panic Attacks: Don't Forget to Breathe. The meditators had blood test results that proved that the meditation changed how the genes expressed themselves, but those who had meditated longer had more profound results. 

The exciting part is that genes associated with energy metabolism, mitochondrial function, insulin secretion, and telomere maintenance were turned on, while those involved in inflammation were turned off. In other words, meditation turns on gene expression that foster the body's natural self-repair mechanisms, helping to prevent and treat aging and disease, while shutting off gene expression that predisposes the body to illness.  Pretty cool!