According to a recent review of reviews it is concluded that while awaiting further high quality trial evidence it would seem appropriate for exercise to be recommended in combination with other treatments. This cautious conclusion should be that exercise is more effective than no treatment and that for mild to moderate depression it is efficacious and for severe depression it should be added to other treatments in the treatment program. Let's have a look at the evidence. Until the nineties of the previous century research and reviews were mainly based on non-randomized controlled trials unpublished dissertations and observational studies and their .....read more »

Grand Round is up at Six Until Me. A collection of the finest medblog posts written down as a Diner's Menu. The bells on the door of the diner near my office jangled as I walked in. "Hey Kerri," said Lisa, the waitress who knows my morning coffee order by heart. "Here for lunch today?" "Yeah, I'm looking for a little snack here at the Grand Rounds Cafe." I took a seat. "What's on the menu?" Well done and an interesting read. Check it outRelated posts: Grand Rounds Vol. 6 No. 30 is up at The Sterile Eye Grand Rounds, Old .....read more »

A recent review in Circulation is published: Cocoa and Cardiovascular Health. It reviews the clinically relevant cardiovascular effects of cocoa, focusing on potential mechanisms involved in the response to cocoa and the potential clinical implications associated with its consumption. Recently we discussed the possible ways chocolate protects the cardiovascular system in a post. In short you can see these mechanisms in the picture beneath, from this review. In short Although still debated, a range of potential mechanisms through which flavanols and cocoa might exert their benefits on cardiovascular health have been proposed: activation of nitric oxide (NO) and antioxidant, antiinflammatory, and antiplatelet effects, .....read more »

No I am not a specialist in flu, but for those of you who are worried some links to objective and sound information. Swine Flu FAQ Sciencebase Watching Swine Flu on the Internet by David Rothman with maps or Swine Flu Follow Online Swine Flu - Ten Tips for Me and You by Doc Gurley A Guide To Swine Flu by Scientific American Swine flu: what you need to know on New ScientistRelated posts: Swine Flu or Mexican Flu in the Media, A Refreshing Look 7 tips for dealing with to much information Google Maps Mania ..read more »

Very nice video about the differences between the way men and women think and feel. Some very good lessons in there. Men have a box in their brain with nothing in it: The Nothing Box, the favorite box of a manRelated posts: Sex Differences in the Brain Gender differences in frontal lobes Gender Differences in Empathy ..read more »

The Playing For Change project made this film of buskers around the world playing "Stand By Me" (it's part of a project that raises funds to build schools). Nicely done and touching indeed, thanks BoingBoingRelated posts: US Citizens have a Distorted World View Iceland has the Happiest People in the World World’s Most Complicated Cork Screw ..read more »

Researchers at the University of Twente in the Netherlands have developed an extremely small microfluidic chip that simulates chemical reactions commonplace in the human body, for testing drug reactions. The device is around a thousand times smaller than the usual electrochemical cell (the volume of the chip's main fluid channel is a mere 9.6 nanoliters) and uses electrodes to control the chemical reactions. It's already been used to conduct tests on Amodiaquine, an anti-malarial drug, with more studies sure to follow Read more about the chip on physorg.com Thanks EngadgetRelated posts: Human Computer Interfaces Better Matched to our Brains and Body Video clip made .....read more »

The DUTCH Design Fashion Architecture (DutchDFA) programme was established in order to strengthen the international position of the leading sectors in the Dutch creative industries – design, fashion and architecture – sustainably and for the long term. The programme is being established in the midst of a rapidly changing world. Globalisation in conjunction with sustainable development represents the greatest challenge of our time. The creativity, expertise and innovative drive of Dutch designers place them in a position to make an essential contribution to this. Have a look at their website: Dutch Design Fashion Architecture. I liked this worksofa. Rem Koolhaas .....read more »

Tim O'Reilly and Sarah Milstein are two of my favorite tweeters, and they've just written The Twitter Book, a pleasingly-designed 240-page guide to making the most out of Twitter. The hard copy won't be out for a little while, but you can buy the PDF right now for $15.99. The Twitter Book by Tim O'Reilly and Sarah Milstein Thanks BoingBoingRelated posts: The Twitter Book, A Review Twitter Revolution, A Book Review Twitter means business ..read more »

Haven't written about adolescence for some time now. The hype of antidepressants and suicidal behavior in adolescents has slow down a bit. Did some about adolescents being brain damaged people. To reach to some conclusions about maturation of personality during adolescence we need a scale and a lot of follow up data in a large group of adolescents. You can analyze the increase of mean-level growth during follow up on that scale. This means you will need a scale that overall shows an increase in scores toward maturation. You will also need rank-order stability. Rank-order stability means that when an .....read more »