Exercise Can Ease Psychosis in Young People

That is the title of this article I am reviewing today. "'Exercise has been shown to significantly reduce symptoms of first-episode psychosis in young people, according to a new study at the University of Manchester in the U.K. 'This was only a pilot study, but the improvements, particularly in psychiatric symptoms, were dramatic,” said lead author and doctoral student Joseph Firth. “Personalized exercise at local leisure centers seems to be a cost-effective and successful way to help these young people recover.'  When young people are diagnosed with psychosis, the long-term prospects are typically poor with high rates of relapse, unemployment, and premature death.  Many patients also experience rapid, unwanted weight gain due to the antipsychotics they are prescribed.'"If it can help then for sure they should do it.  I walk for exercise I do not know if there is any benefit other than I do not gain weight and even lost a lot by walking.
The article goes on to say: "'Although exercise has been found to be an effective treatment for people with long-term schizophrenia, there have been no studies showing its effects on psychiatric symptoms in young adults with early psychosis, until now. For the study, the researchers recruited 31 people ages 18-35 who had been referred to local mental health centers for treatment.  With the participants help, the researchers designed personalized exercise routines which were carried out under supervision for 10 weeks at local recreation centers. 'Establishing an exercise regime for people with psychosis is likely to be much more effective when they are younger, and in the earliest stages of treatment. Getting people into a routine early on also helps set habits for life, which can make a huge difference to their long-term physical and mental health,' Firth said.'"My illness came on when I was already twenty seven.  To have it younger and go through relapses and everything would be hard and if exercise helps that would be great.  The reason I do not see any difference in me is I do not suffer from symptoms by last relapses was in 1994 because they had lowered my medicine. I am lucky in my illness because I do not have problems with my mental illness.
The article ends: "'The study participants actually exceeded the target amounts of exercise, achieving 107 minutes of vigorous exercise training each week for 10-weeks. This compares favorably with exercise programs in healthy populations as well as in schizophrenia. 'Personalizing exercise training to the activities which patients find most motivating helps them stick to their program,' said Firth.
At the end of the 10-week period, the participants completed a variety of standardized mental and physical health tests. The researchers compared their results to those of a control group of seven people being treated by mental health services without an exercise program. The findings showed that the exercise group experienced a 27 percent reduction in psychiatric symptoms on the standardized tests, much better than the control group. Their brain function also improved, and they achieved a slight reduction in body weight — going against expected weight gain from normal treatment.
'By reaching people early on, exercise can provide a healthy and empowering add-on treatment for young people with psychosis. This could massively improve their social functioning and mental health, hopefully preventing long-term disability from ever arising,' Firth said.'" I do know that when I take a day off from work the day is long and my aunt who is retired tells me the same thing so anything I believe that can improve the lives of those who suffer from this illness is great. I used to work out in the fitness center where I live there I would lift weight also.  Although now that we have new mangement they want to charge to workout I will not pay so I just walk now.

Exercise can tackle symptoms of schizophrenia

That is the title of this article I am reviewing today. "Aerobic exercise can significantly help people coping with the long-term mental health condition schizophrenia, according to a new study from University of Manchester researchers. Through combining data from 10 independent clinical trials with a total of 385 patients with schizophrenia, Joseph Firth found that around 12 weeks of aerobic exercise training can significant improve patients' brain functioning. The study by Firth, Dr Brendon Stubbs and Professor Alison Yung is published in Schizophrenia Bulletin, the world's leading journal on Schizophrenia and one of leading periodicals in Psychiatry. Schizophrenia's acute phase is typified by hallucinations and delusions, which are usually treatable with medication. However, most patients are still troubled with pervasive 'cognitive deficits'; including poor memory, impaired information processing and loss of concentration. The research showed that patients who are treated with aerobic exercise programs, such as treadmills and exercise bikes, in combination with their medication, will improve their overall brain functioning more than those treated with medications alone."  I have a treadmill where I live although it is always busy that is why I used to prefer to just take walks since I had the surgery for lung cancer I cannot walk so far in the summer.  I do not know if it because of the fires around or I am just going to have trouble walking.  I am going to try again this winter because I really need to walk not to lose weight because I lost enough with the surgery.  Just to exercise.
The article goes on to say: "'The areas which were most improved by exercising were patients' ability to understand social situations. their attention spans, and their 'working memory' - or how much information they can hold in mind at one time. There was also evidence among the studies that programs which used greater amounts of exercise, and those which were most successful for improving fitness, had the greatest effects on cognitive functioning. Joe Firth said: 'Cognitive deficits are one aspect of schizophrenia which is particularly problematic. 'They hinder recovery and impact negatively upon people's ability to function in work and social situations. Furthermore, current medications for schizophrenia do not treat the cognitive deficits of the disorder.'" It does not help memory but to understand social situations that is not enough for people they need help to hold down a job.
The article ends: "'We are searching for new ways to treat these aspects of the illness, and now research is increasingly suggesting that physical exercise can provide a solution.' He added: 'These findings present the first large-scale evidence supporting the use of physical exercise to treat the neurocognitive deficits associated with schizophrenia. 'Using exercise from the earliest stages of the illness could reduce the likelihood of long-term disability, and facilitate full, functional recovery for patients.'" I did not walk as much as I have these last few years although I have always walk as I do not drive.

How Exercise May Help the Brain Grow Stronger

That is the title of this article I am reviewing today. "Physical activity is good for our brains. A wealth of science supports that idea. But precisely how exercise alters and improves the brain remains somewhat mysterious. A new study with mice fills in one piece of that puzzle. It shows that, in rodents at least, strenuous exercise seems to beneficially change how certain genes work inside the brain. Though the study was in mice, and not people, there are encouraging hints that similar things may be going on inside our own skulls. For years, scientists have known that the brains of animals and people who regularly exercise are different than the brains of those who are sedentary. Experiments in animals show that, for instance, exercise induces the creation of many new cells in the hippocampus, which is a part of the brain essential for memory and learning, and also improves the survival of those fragile, newborn neurons. Researchers believe that exercise performs these feats at least in part by goosing the body’s production of a substance called brain-derived neurotrophic factor, or B.D.N.F., which is a protein that scientists sometimes refer to as “Miracle-Gro” for the brain. B.D.N.F. helps neurons to grow and remain vigorous and also strengthens the synapses that connect neurons, allowing the brain to function better. Low levels of B.D.N.F. have been associated with cognitive decline in both people and animals. Exercise increases levels of B.D.N.F. in brain tissue."  I used to exercise by taking walks before they took out my left lung.  I cannot do it now but am looking forward to the weather cooling down so I can try again.  I do not know if it is the hot weather or the fires that make it impossible for be to walk like I used to.
The article goes on to say: "But scientists have not understood just what it is about exercise that prompts the brain to start pumping out additional B.D.N.F. So for the new study, which was published this month in the journal eLIFE, researchers with New York University’s Langone Medical Center and other institutions decided to microscopically examine and reverse engineer the steps that lead to a surge in B.D.N.F. after exercise. They began by gathering healthy mice. Half of the animals were put into cages that contained running wheels. The others were housed without wheels. For a month, all of the animals were allowed to get on with their lives. Those living with wheels ran often, generally covering several miles a day, since mice like to run. The others remained sedentary.

After four weeks, the scientists looked at brain tissue from the hippocampus of both groups of animals, checking for B.D.N.F. levels. As expected, the levels were much higher in the brains of the runners. But then, to better understand why the runners had more B.D.N.F., the researchers turned to the particular gene in the animals’ DNA that is known to create B.D.N.F. For some reason, the scientists realized, this gene was more active among the animals that exercised than those that did not. Using sophisticated testing methods, the scientists soon learned why. In both groups of animals, the B.D.N.F. gene was partially covered with clusters of a particular type of molecule that binds to the gene, though in different amounts." Well I see exercise is beneficial for a person.  I used to pride myself on being able to walk all over town.  Maybe this winter I can again.

The article ends with: "In the sedentary mice, these molecules swarmed so densely over the gene that they blocked signals that tell the gene to turn on. As a result, the B.D.N.F. genes of the sedentary animals were relatively muted, pumping out little B.D.N.F. But among the runners, the molecular blockade was much less effective. The molecules couldn’t seem to cover and bind to the entire B.D.N.F. gene. So messages from the body continued to reach the gene and tell it to turn on and produce more B.D.N.F. Perhaps most remarkably, the researchers also found a particular substance in the runners’ brains that fended off the action of these obstructionist molecules. The runners’ brains contained high levels of ketones, which are a byproduct of the breakdown of fat. During strenuous exercise, the body relies in part on fat for fuel and winds up creating ketones, some of which migrate to the brain. (They are tiny enough to cross the blood-brain barrier.) The brain uses these ketones for fuel when blood sugar levels grow low. But it appears that ketones also cause the molecules that hinder the B.D.N.F. gene to loosen their grip, as the scientists realized when they experimentally added ketones to brain tissue from some of the mice. Afterward, their B.D.N.F. genes were not blocked by nearly as many of the bothersome molecules, and those genes could get on with the job of making B.D.N.F. None of this occurred in the brains of the sedentary mice. 'It’s incredible just how pervasive and complex the effects of exercise are on the brain,' said Moses Chao, a professor at the Skirball Institute of Biomolecular Medicine at N.Y.U. who oversaw the study. Whether the same mechanisms that occur in mice occur in our own brains when we exercise is still unknown. But, Dr. Chao pointed out, like the mice, we have more B.D.N.F. in our bodies after exercise. We also create ketones when we exercise, and those ketones are known to migrate to our brains. Generally, however, this process requires exerting yourself vigorously for an hour or more, after which time your body, having exhausted its stores of sugar, starts burning stored fat and making ketones. If an hour or more of intense exercise seems daunting — and it does to me — don’t despair. 'We are only starting to understand' the many ways in which exercise of any kind and amount is likely to alter our brains, Dr. Chao said. For now, he says, 'it’s a very good idea to just keep moving.'" Just keep moving anyway you can.  It all helps for the better.  I would not want to lose my memory or anything because I did not move around or walk. 

Exercise and Mental Health

That is the title of this blog I am writing about today. Well I was off on vacation last week and did was not able to do as much walking as I wanted to do. I have been walking more though, I know longer wait for the bus after work I walk down three blocks to catch it to get some exercise. I then get left off about a half mile from my apartment and walk home.  I cannot tell from my clothes if I am losing even a little although I am not going to give up as it took time to gain this weight and I know it will take time to lose it.
I am going to see my pdoc today and they will weigh me and I will know if I lost a little weight.  Also kind of exciting day seeing my pdoc today he told me last time if my arm does not shake as it did at my last visit then I will not have to see him so often.  I think the shaking was a fluke as it did happen for about a week and that was the longest it had ever happened.  I was nervous that day and week as a lot was happening to me. It is not shaking today and hope I do not get nervous before I go. I do not think so.
I would like to take this further step in my recovery.  Things are not always so well for me I have my ups and downs but for the most part I am happy.  When I read the news like I did last week about people in the state hospital for murder only having to do five years before some are released always remind be of the state hospital I was not there for murder.  It was the hardest time I ever did.  I remember when I would see people get out earlier then five years it made me think why not me to.  Even though they have a restaurant there and walk the grounds. The time was hard because it made be think about freedom more than if I was locked up in prison.
The hospital showed there success rate in the article. I know I am one I have been out of there for twenty one years and never want to go back not even for a check up.  That is one place more than prison that frightens me because I have been there and it is not the best of places to be. Life can be hard sometimes although you just have to keep hope that things will get better and they usually do.

Wellness Advice Often Lacking for Mentally Ill

That is the title of this article I am writing about.  "A new study finds health care providers often fail to provide dietary and exercise advice to patients with diabetes, or to those who display symptoms of mental illness.  People with mental illness are often at high risk for diabetes as well as other “lifestyle” diseases.  During the investigation researchers discovered more than half of patients with symptoms of mental illness, and nearly one-third of those who also had diabetes, failed to receive appropriate health education.  The study has been published in the journal Diabetes Educator.
Although exercise and dietary recommendations have been a mainstay of diabetic care, researchers say those with mental illness can also benefit from a wellness lifestyle. Appropriate amounts of physical activity and healthy dietary choices can improve the quality of life and prevent debilitating health problems for diabetics and for those with mental illness. Providers should not miss the opportunity to advise people with mental illness on health promotion and lifestyle changes, said researcher Xiaoling Xiang of the University of Illinois. 'It is important that providers counsel people in this population as early as possible about exercise and nutritional changes that reduce the risks associated with diabetes — before risk factors such as hypertension and high cholesterol manifest,' said Xiang, a doctoral candidate in social work. People with mental illness have significantly higher rates of health problems such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, hypertension, and high cholesterol that could be prevented or alleviated with lifestyle modifications. They are also at increased risk of premature death, according to the study." People need to know before they develop theses diseases.  I know for one I do not want any health problems in my life.  I know that walking helps and I do walk.  The treadmill also helps.
The article goes on to say: "In the current study, participants ranged from 18 to 70 years old. The prevalence of diabetes was 15.6 percent among people in the data sample who had symptoms of serious psychological distress, compared with 7.9 percent of their peers.  Rates for all of the clinical conditions that predispose patients to diabetes were significantly higher among participants with symptoms of mental illness than among their counterparts.  More than 70 percent of those with mental illness had body mass indexes above 25, compared with 64.3 percent of their peers. They also had significantly higher rates of hypertension (42.1 percent, compared with 25.6 percent), hyperlipidemia (42 percent, versus 30.6 percent), and cardiovascular disease (29.7 percent, versus 14.7 percent).  People with symptoms of psychological distress who had not been diagnosed with diabetes at the time of the study had an average of more than three diabetes risk factors, compared with their counterparts, who averaged 2.4 risk factors.  The likelihood of patients receiving lifestyle counseling increased in accordance with their number of risk factors, however. While only 10.4 percent of patients who had no diabetes risk factors said they had received dietary advice from their health care providers, more than 65 percent of people with five or more risk factors had received dietary counseling." I know that before I had a mental illness and stopped smoking I hardly had to worry about my weight.  Now I have to lose a least twenty pounds and I still will not be at the weight I was before all this happened.
The article ends with: "'Given the elevated risk for diabetes among individuals with symptoms of psychological distress, even greater numbers of clinicians in the study sample should have been providing lifestyle counseling,' Xiang said.  'However, the increase in the rates of diabetes and diabetes risk factors seems to have outpaced the increase in the rates of provider advice for this population.' Because people with mental illness tend to utilize outpatient, inpatient, and emergency services at much higher rates than the general population, clinicians have increased opportunities to educate patients about the benefits of a healthy diet and physical activity, Xiang said.
Researchers used data from the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services’ Medical Expenditure Panel Survey. This survey interviews a nationally representative sample of participants multiple times over a two-year period about their health and use of medical services. Subjects in the data sample who had symptoms of mental illness had scored 13 or higher on the six-item Kessler Psychological Distress Scale, also called the K6, a screening tool that has been shown to be strongly predictive of serious mental illness." I do not want diabetes.  I do what I have to make sure I do not get it. I do need to walk more or get on the treadmill more than I do.  I will just have to make the changes to make sure I do.

A Battle Plan to Lose Weight

That is the title of this article  I am writing about. "Laura Ward, 41, had always attributed her excess pounds to the drugs she takes for major depression. So Ms. Ward, who is 5-foot-6 and once weighed 220 pounds, didn't try to slim down or avoid dietary pitfalls like fried chicken. But in a clinical trial, Ms. Ward managed to lose more than 30 pounds doing low-impact aerobics three times a week. During the 18-month experiment, she was introduced to cauliflower and post-workout soreness for the first time. She and the other participants attended counseling sessions where they practiced refusing junk food and choosing smaller portions. She drank two liters of Diet Dr Pepper daily instead of eight. Eventually, Ms. Ward, who lives in Baltimore, realized her waistline wasn’t simply a drug side effect. 'If it was only the medications, I would have never lost all that weight,' she said.

People with serious mental illnesses, like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or major depression, are at least 50 percent more likely to be overweight or obese than the general population. They die earlier, too, with the primary cause heart disease.Yet diet and exercise usually take a back seat to the treatment of their illnesses. The drugs used, like antidepressants and antipsychotics, can increase appetite and weight." I do not have increase appetite as I have cut down the size of my portions I eat.  Although when I go out to eat or thanksgiving I might have more. My cutting my portions to half of what I used to eat and cutting down the number and the kinds of soda I lost twenty pounds although I have plateaued.  I drink coke zero or Pepsi max as it does not taste bad except if I go to a restaurant that does not have those drinks. 

The article goes on to say: "'Treatment contributes to the problem of obesity,' said Dr. Thomas R. Insel, the director of the National Institute of Mental Health. 'Not every drug does, but that has made the problem of obesity greater in the last decade.”

It has been a difficult issue for mental health experts. A 2012 review of health promotion programs  for those with serious mental illness by Dartmouth researchers concluded that of 24 well-designed studies, most achieved statistically significant weight loss, but very few achieved “clinically significant weight loss.'  But now a trial published online in The New England Journal of Medicine in March has provided the most comprehensive evidence yet that people with serious mental illness can lose weight, despite the challenges. Nearly 300 people with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, schizoaffective disorder or major depression — including Ms. Ward — were assigned to either a control group given basic nutrition and exercise information or one whose members exercised together and attended weight-management sessions.

The mean difference between the groups at 18 months was a modest seven pounds, but studies have shown that it is enough to reduce cardiovascular risks, the researchers noted. Nearly 38 percent of participants in the intervention group lost 5 percent or more of their initial weight, compared with only 22.7 percent of members of the control group. The difference between the groups could have been bigger, as the control group benefited from one aspect of the intervention: healthier dietary choices offered at the 10 psychiatric programs where the study took place, like baked fish instead of fried. 'This population can make a change,' said Dr. Gail L. Daumit, the study’s lead author and an internist at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. 'There’s been a lot of stigma that they can’t do it.' Most other trials had “a narrowly defined population that excluded people with lots of co-morbidities,” said Dr. Caroline Richardson, at Veterans Affairs Ann Arbor Healthcare System in Michigan. But this study 'applies to a lot of people.'"  I would like to lose more weight I am happy though that I have not gained it back except a couple of pounds then I lose that again. Although if I could lose thirty more pounds I would be happier.

The article ends with: "The study suggests that weight loss may take a different trajectory for those with mental illness. Weight loss in the intervention group didn’t 'peak early' and then rebound a bit, as sometimes happens in programs targeted to people without mental illness, Dr. Daumit said. Instead, it 'progressed over the course of the trial.'  Since the study, Ms. Ward said she had regained at least 15 pounds. Still, every other day she walks for 20 minutes.  Dr. Stephen J. Bartels, a professor of psychiatry at Dartmouth and co-author of the 2012 review, said the more effective interventions for people with mental illness combined education and structured activity, focusing on both exercise and diet.  Classes and exercise programs seem to work better when they are available where mental health services are provided. And these programs should probably run six months or longer, he said.

Losing weight is challenging for anyone, let alone people with problems with executive function and memory. In Dr. Daumit’s trial, researchers gave cards to carry in wallets and purses that emphasized messages like avoiding sugary drinks.  One of the few widely tried health-promotion programs for people with mental illnesses is InShape, available at 10 sites in New Hampshire and 9 programs in 5 other states. One of its tenets is to have patients set their own goals, with the help of a health 'mentor' who also sometimes accompanies them to the gym to get them past any feelings of discomfort.

In a randomized controlled yearlong intervention using InShape, to be published in Psychiatric Services next month, almost half of the 133 participants had either clinically significant weight loss (5 percent or more of body weight) or clinically significant improvements on a six-minute walk, said Dr. Bartels, the lead author.  'Many of them come to feel helpless about how they will avoid gaining weight,' Ken Jue, who started InShape at Monadnock Family Services in Keene, N.H., in 2003. “We try to encourage people and say, ‘You do have some control in this.’" I  started walking again. The treadmills in my building are broke. I get left off on the bus farther from my apartment and then walk home. That way I get exercise everyday unless I have to be home at a certain time for something. It's time to lose this weight once and for all time.

Worry or Anxiety

If you are feeling anxious when facing any kind of situation in which you feel challenged which could be any sort of interview, a school test or even a date and your worries seem to be overwhelming, you may be suffering from an anxiety disorder.  There are different types of anxiety disorders and there are many treatments including medication, and self help treatments.  When understanding the type of anxiety you are suffering from, you can find the steps to overcome your symptoms and once again control your life.

I have been living with worry for the past two months because of an ignorant mistake I made at work.  Not only have I been worried, my responsibilities have slackened and the fear factor of my maintaining my position at work just will not alleviate itself.  I keep thinking the worst of the situation and I noticed I turn corners and refrain from eye contact when approached.  In short I am losing sleep because of a mistake I made.  I can’t sum this up to be a panic attack, or that I am suffering from anxiety, yet many people do worry and cannot find the conscious time to consult a therapist or other professional to sort matters out. 

Anxiety disorders are a group of conditions not just a single disorder and can be different from person to person who may suffer from anxiety.  Suffering from anxiety disorder for one person may be intense, striking without warning, another person may panic at a simple gathering or someone else may struggle with the fear of walking alone at night or have uncontrollable thoughts.  Fear and worry are symptoms shared in anxiety disorders and along with fear there are others known as emotional symptoms of which you may find eight different kinds of emotional symptoms.  There are physical symptoms which a person suffering from an anxiety disorder may mistake as a medical illness.

What can you do to see yourself through anxiety?  Write down your thoughts, your worries mainly.  Create a time where you can concentrate on your anxiety, focusing on the negative aspects, then writing them down and learning to accept uncertainty and not think of immediate solutions.  Practice relaxation techniques with deep breathing which can alleviate your anxiety symptoms and help you relax and find well being.  Don’t drink or use drugs or smoke tobacco products, these add to more anxiety.  Exercise and get good rest, a lack of sleep can cause anxious thoughts or feelings

AnxietyAttacks & Anxiety Disorders: Signs, Symptoms, and Treatment

Written by Donald S  

Get Movin’

That is what this article talks about to reduce obesity in the state of Colorado.  This also has to do with recovery from mental illness.  Why because the antipsychotic medicines we take make a lot of us gain weight.   Also as we get older we find it harder to lose that weight.  The article says: “On July 11, LiveWell Colorado (livewellcolorado.org), a nonprofit dedicated to preventing and reducing obesity in the state, launched the Colorado Get Movin’ Challenge, an effort to motivate residents to commit to a month of physical activity.  The free online log encourages participants to do something from a list of hundreds of possible activities, from walking and gardening to more strenuous efforts such as running and rock climbing, for an average of 30 minutes a day for 30 days in August.” Right now I am walking at least six days a week.
When I noticed I was gaining and not losing anymore I started back on the treadmill.  I am on it for thirty minutes.  This last Saturday it said that I had lost 120 calories and on Sunday it said 125 calories.  I do not watch how many calories that I usually eat, although I noticed that if I eat my three meals a day I do not snack as much and I think that is where those extra calories come from.  Geodon that I take is supposed to be weight neutral.  I know I gained all this weight when I was on Moban.  I should have started exercising then. “It never fails to amaze me the physical, mental and emotional change that happens when people take time for themselves to be active on a consistent basis, he says.  But the Get Movin’ Challenge is designed to be just that, a challenge.  If you feel that making time for yourself is challenge enough, then that works just fine.”  Even though on the weekends that I work out on the treadmill I still take my walks. 

I feel that should help me lose more even more.  As I said people with mental illness have a tendency to put on more weight with antipsychotics and they also get diabetes more.  That is something I want to stay away from.  That is one reason I started back on the treadmill.  Also finding a time in the early morning when no one else is on it in my building.  Right now my goal is to get back to where I was a couple of months ago.  Then I will set my goal for losing even more.  I live in a good neighborhood where you can walk to stores and other things so that helps.  If recovery is what you want then you should also exercise so you can live longer to enjoy life.  People with mental illness die 15 to 20 years younger than the rest of the population.

Exercise and Schizophrenia

This article says that exercise benefits physical and  mental health in patients with schizophrenia. “In a study of 63 patients with schizophrenia, Thomas Scheewe (University Medical Center Utrecht, the Netherlands) and co-authors found that 1 or 2 hours of exercise therapy per week significantly reduced positive and negative symptoms, depression, and the need for care, and improved cardiovascular fitness compared with occupational therapy.” I do know that exercise will help you lose or maintain the level of weight a person has.  It is good to learn that it helps with the negative symptoms also.
They also say: “Exercise therapy appears to be an effective add-on-treatment in schizophrenia, they write in Acta Psychiatica Scandinavica.  In total, 31 patients were randomly assigned to undertake 6 months of exercise therapy, which was primarily designed to improve cardiovascular fitness but also included muscle strengthening exercises for variety, and 32 to receive occupational therapy, which comprised creative and recreational activities such as painting, reading, and computer activities.” I have continued doing my walking, although I have not hit the treadmill.  I have no excuse I have to start again, because that is what helps a lot to lose weight changing up to different exercises.
The article goes on to say that: “Moreover, in per protocol analysis, which only included patient in both groups who had a compliance rate of at least 50%, exercise therapy was associated with a significant 20.7% reduction in Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) scores…”That is good news and of course it helps keep depression away.  They also say it helped reduce the need of care.   I know exercise work well, that is why I have to do two types the treadmill and walking.  I want my legs to be able to walk well into old age.  You can also visit us at http://mhcd.org/blog

Mental Health and Diabetes

I had done some light reading on diabetes a month ago, with the intention of writing about mental health illness and its effect on people with diabetes. I had found out that depression is the main mental illness people suffer from after they have contracted diabetes or have suffered with for a long time even as they may not have known they had the diabetic illness. As I read sporadically during the weeks I finally came across a write-up in the MSN news about diabetics and stigma as well as facing shame. I had to stop and think after reading the editorial, even though it wasn’t intense to the degree of mentioning depression or suicide, it did mention amputation, facing the truth of having diabetes, poor eating habits, and not taking care of yourself. The lack of exercise was another of those foreboding mentioned aspects of the disease and it was at that point, that I began to feel somewhat ashamed of myself. I don’t exercise and I do slip into depression at particular times when thinking of what kind of good times am I missing because of the side effects and symptoms I am living with. When I was diagnosed with Type II diabetes, I remembered how I felt the shame of being fat, uneducated about what was happening to me, and the lacking of exercise which was a part of my life. I looked about the room full of people who were normal, mostly healthy, and felt the stigma of carrying diabetes and my own health. I began to feel I was fat, lazy and a junk food junkie amongst my fellow employees. The depression was real at this point, and the fears grew concerning diabetes; the amputations, the risk of heart attack, being too overweight and the shut in attitude I began living because of the effects I was living with which included my mental health medications. In short I thought eventually nothing good about the illness or my mental illness and I had no one to blame; diabetes is not a “crutch”. “Even diabetics themselves can have a blame-the-victim feeling, says Theresa Garnero, a diabetes nurse educator at the Califormia Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco. “Granted, if you’re not eating healthfully, and you’re not exercising like you should – and most people don’t – there should be a modicum of truth to that.
”Hidden shame of diabetes: 'I didn't speak about it' - Health - Diabetes | NBC News  after reading this editorial, I began to have a change of mind about life and death, it’s in my hands. I began to believe that the shame I was feeling was a matter of wanting someone to cry for me, pat me on my back and walk with me. I can’t change the side effects per se of my mental health medications, yet I can be strict about my diet, and even if I don’t exercise for long hours on end, I can walk and restrain myself from some of the other bad habits I have picked up on during the course of my years. Why burden yourself with the blues of something that could harm you, and why wait for someone to hold your hand, denial is our worst enemy, hope is the word we must understand to become healthier, even mentally. Written by Donald S.

Aging Brain-More Shrewd

I came across this article about the aging brain. We did an earlier blog on training the brain. I thought this might be just as interesting. They give us the bad news in the article first: “Reaction time is slower,” for middle aged people. They go on to say: “We’re quick, but we’re sloppy when we’re in middle-age. We make more errors when we’re in middle-age,” It makes coming up with the word that is on the tip of our tongue harder to say. Sometimes for me when I see someone I have not seen in a while it may take a minute to remember their name.
Here is a graphic about the aging brain that might be of interest. There is not all bad news about the brain aging though: “..Points to a continues improvement in complex reasoning skills as we enter middle age…this increase may be due to a process in the brain called “myelination” Myelin is the insulation wrapped around brain cells that increases their conductivity- the speed with which information travels from brain cell to brain cell. And the myelination doesn’t reach its peak until middle age.” We can then know when problems might come up and reason them out.
Here is the part about brain cells dying off: “is that once a brain cell dies off you can’t replace it. But many studies have now shown … that there is, in fact, brain cell growth throughout life.” You may continue learning and changing your brain like in the computerized brain games. There is also another part that helps in changing your brain and that is exercise. They gave treadmill training to “aging couch potatoes,” this is what they found: “Those who’d trained had larger hippocampi, the brain area key for memory. Other brain regions too – central for decision-making, planning and multi-tasking- were also larger in the treadmill exercisers.” More reason to make sure you work out.
The two scientists that did this research also exercise four or five days a week and do crossword and numbers puzzle every day. “… not only talk the talk, they also, quite literally walk the walk.” It would not be right if they just said do it and did not also work out and try and change their brain. The treadmill is good to work out on it helps with your body and brain.

Health and Discpline

I believe health and discipline go hand in hand. Like to exercise you have to have the discipline to exercise as many times a week as the goal you start with. I was exercising four times a week. Lately it has only been twice a week, and that means that I have to have the discipline to get back on schedule. I know you say I will exercise tonight and then something comes up and you say I will make up for it tomorrow then something else comes up and a week is gone. I just have to do it as soon as I get to my apartment. Once I put on my music and start exercising it is fast and easy. It is the starting that is hard for me. As far as my eating that has been going good. At my last doctor visit I had lost two more pounds. I hope I am eating healthy, although what has caused the weight loss has been my cutting down on portions. I feel the same if I eat one sandwich or two. That part is easy too. I was reading on the healthy skeptic this week about taking supplements. He says that if you can get the vitamins from food all the better. I like liver once in a while but not all the time, or even once a week. I believe that if you read the websites and do things in moderation it will all work out in the end for the best. It is easier to exercise in the summer. I do have to get back on schedule.

Healthy Recovery

I am writing about being healthy and not necessarily losing weight. Both would be great to achieve. Medication makes you gain weight, and that does include Psych medication as well as other medication. What if a person takes more than one kind of medication than it can be a double whammy. In the online article “10 ways to manage your weight on Psych meds.” One of the paragraphs is about eating slowly. I live alone so when I eat and the grandkids are not there. I usually eat very fast. Which is not a good idea, because they say it takes 20 minutes for your brain to tell you your stomach is full. I always use just pieces of articles I read, and not everything they say literally. The other paragraph of this article is do not try to be perfect. Some days you will have a not healthy snack or not exercise. Do not get upset. You do not have to do it vigorously everyday. Another thing I noticed when I exercise before supper is that I am not as hungry. That helped me to cut down on the portions I eat. I even started eating less at lunch. Articles I read say that the best weight to lose is between .5 to 2lbs a week. If you lose that little the more likely the weight will stay off. Although even if you do not lose weight, it is better to just be healthy. Taking care of your heart and not getting diabetes is the right thing to do. Beyond Meds says it is hard to lose weight from medication. Do not blame yourself if you cannot lose it. Just stay healthy in a way that is good for you.