Who are vulnerable to addictions

Shortly after the death of 27-year old British singer Amy Winehouse, radios across the length and breadth of the land resounded «Rehab», a song about refusing to do drugs rehabilitation.
The official cause of death is not expected to be announced before October because pending toxicology tests, but the dependence on drugs and alcohol is believed to have played a role.

The use of illegal substances is very common, writes the newspaper "New York Times". According to an Inter-American 2008 study, 46% of Americans have tried an illegal substance at some point in their lives, but the proportion of those still using is 8%. This suggests that most of those who experiment with drugs do not develop dependence on them. Who are they, therefore, are at risk?

• Mental illness

Doctors know how long now suffering from certain psychiatric illnesses - including disorders of mood,

anxiety and personality - are at increased risk of addiction. According to epidemiological study by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) in the USA, the mentally ill are almost three times more likely to develop a disorder and addiction compared to non-sufferers.

Similarly, 60% of those suffering from addiction to a substance have a mental illness. However, it remains unclear whether addiction predisposes to the development of mental disease or vice versa.

Scientists also know that a mental disease not only increases the risk of discontinuing substance use and the risk of direct dependence and addiction. Apparently, in many cases illegal substances used as "self-medication": patients use them to 'cure' their misery.

There are clinical and epidemiological data reinforce this view. Alcohol and drugs affect mood and behavior by activating the same brain pathways that disrupt serious mental illnesses. It is therefore not surprising that patients with severe depression or anxiety disorder often turn to alcohol and other sedative substances. These substances did not have antidepressant properties and merely exacerbate the underlying problem, leading to a vicious cycle of depression and addiction.

Certain personality disorders also increase the risk of substance use and alcohol. Sufferers of narcissism often attracted to stimulants such as cocaine, which impart a false sense of power and confidence. Similarly, individuals with borderline (borderline) personality disorder, which are struggling to control their impulses and anger, often resort to drugs and alcohol.

• Brain disorder

Newer evidence suggests that substance abuse can be a developmental brain disorder and that individuals who develop addictions the brain works differently than it does for other people.
Dr Nora Volkov, director of the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) of the U.S., discovered in studies with brain imaging that are addicted to substances such as cocaine, heroin and alcohol have fewer dopamine receptors in brain reward centers of what non-addicted. Dopamine is a substance that plays a vital role in the development of feelings of pleasure and desire.
When Dr. Volkov compared the reactions to a stimulus of a group of addicts with the reactions of healthy volunteers found that the sound with high levels of receptor D2 (a subtype of dopamine receptors) found the stimulus repellent. In contrast, addicted to low levels of D2 found it pleasant. This finding and others respectively suggest that addicts may have faulty reward system in their brains. There are some interesting clues that the addicts who detoxified increasing receptor D2.

• The environment

But studies have shown that even people who have no disorder in the brain reward circuitry risk of developing addiction to drugs and alcohol if continuously exposed to them.
Studies by Dr Volkov have shown that primates without predisposition to addiction become avid users of cocaine when decreasing the number of D2 receptors in their brains. How can happen this fall; One way is the constant exposure to stressful social circumstances, according to the investigations.
Long-term drug use usually begins in adolescence. To those who are vulnerable or use must be directly addressed before they become addictive.
It is therefore clear that the question "who is addicted and who is not" the answer depends on the complex interplay of genes, environment and psychology. And unfortunately, luck .

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Myths and truths about sunscreens

What SPF should have a good sunscreen? How much should I put it and how often to renew? Safe is our last year's sunscreen? U.S. scientists have the answers - and sort out the myths from the truths.

1. The higher the SPF, the better. Myth. Sounds reasonable, but the differences are not as great as we think.

A sunscreen with SPF 15 equal to bind 93% of the UV radiation, while an equal with SPF 30 engages 97% and another with 98% SPF50.
"The SPF, however, ceases to matter if someone does not use a sufficient amount of sunscreen," warns Dr. Mona Gkochara, assistant professor of dermatology at Yale University. And it seems to be rather the rule, according to several studies.

For better protection, Dr Gkochara says we need an amount equal to a ping pong table for our body, 30 minutes before we go out, so as to absorb it well our skin. Beyond that, we want new spreads to parts of the body facing the sun every two hours.
For staff, it takes an amount equal to a trans every day, regardless of weather conditions.
Two. We can use last year's sunscreen. Truth. Most sunscreens have a shelf life of about two years, according to Dr. Jordan Gilman from New York.

However, if you use sunscreen properly, difficult to leftover from last summer, since it will take 25 to 50 ml of sunscreen to adequately cover your entire body - so the 100 ml at best should be suffice for four coats much.

Three. Sunscreen only needed parts of the body exposed to the sun. Myth. The average T-shirtparechei would provide as much protection a sunscreen with SPF equal to 7, says Dr. Gilman.
Dark and dense fabrics provide more protection, but safer is to coat your entire body with sunscreen and leave half an hour to be absorbed before getting dressed to leave the house.
Unless you can afford to buy sunscreen clothing, made from specially ilioprostateftika fabrics.

4. If you use foundation with SPF plain do not need sunscreen on the face. Myth. Certainly the foundation with SPF is preferable neat, but does not provide as great sunshade by spreading the first person with a suntan lotion and after applying makeup in the SPF.
This is because on the one hand most makeup "break" a few hours after being applied consistently to find 'passes' the sun's ultraviolet rays, on the other hand to provide full protection should be smeared on a thick layer - and that most women do not, by Dr. Gilman.
Therefore, make sure to first suntan lotion and after makeup with SPF.

5. Sunscreen is carcinogenic. Myth. The only danger to the health of these would be to absorb the ingredients the body and it does not happen at the dermatologist Dr Amy Gouesler.
As he explains, the sun's ultraviolet radiation breaks down quickly enough chemicals in sunscreen, long before penetrating the skin.
If nevertheless worry, use sunscreen with natural binding ingredients such as zinc oxide and titanium oxide, which remain on the skin surface to form a protective barrier in the sun.

6. Waterproof sunscreen withstand all day. Myth. No sunscreen is completely waterproof, so the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) of the United States may qualify as "water-resistant» (water-resistant) and not "waterproof» (waterproof).
Or sweating enter the water to swim, you must repeat the spreads just go, otherwise you need spreads every 2-3 hours.

7. Sunscreen prevent the production of vitamin D in the skin. Myth. Despite their use, skin is exposed to a small amount of ultraviolet radiation, which is sufficient to produce the required quantities of vitamin D, by Dr. Brett Kolntiron, assistant clinical professor of dermatology at the University of Cincinnati.

8. Sunscreen with antioxidants provide better protection from UVAkai the UVB. Truth. Although not a sunscreen active ingredients, antioxidants are active complement SPF, bind the harmful rays 'escape' of the sunscreen ingredients within the active Gkochara.
Such antioxidants are green tea extract and polyphenols from tomatoes and berries, adds. "Studies have shown that it prevents the creation of harmful free radicals in the presence of ultraviolet radiation," he explains.

Source: NEWS

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Let me see ... your letters to tell you who you are

What shows how writing about our personality?

May the way of writing to reveal the personality and skills? They claim specialists graphics character called graphologists - and millions of people may not be able to get to work because of this controversial practice.

Graphology is not the same thing as judicial handwriting analysis, used to authenticate historical documents or whether a signature is fake.

However, graphologists claim that they can find many aspects of personality and mental state of a person by the way you write them. For example, letters which are obliquely forwards show social person while they are swept backwards show shy nature.

The Canadian psychologist Barry Beierstain explains that "curiously, many who despise astrology and reading the lines of the hand, still believe that the way writing can reveal something about our mental state. After writing, talent and personality are controlled by the brain, the supposed correlation of these three do not seem at all unreasonable. " That is exactly what they claim graphologists. They believe in two manuscript pages can distinguish the auditor from the chef, from the lazy active, the thief from honest.

Although graphology exists from the 19th century, is still used in various situations, among them employment. "I post about 100 people a year in high corporate posts," says executive recruiter Jeffrey Ntesvains. "If graphology was ineffective, I would understand because I would lose my customers. However until now no one has gone. "

But the fact is that scientific studies have failed to find evidence that some letters associated with the personality and psyche. Some social people make large round letters while others do not. Some geniuses have perfect writing, others not. People change jobs, perhaps personality, but do not change their letters. Although graphology were valid, we could identify future terrorists simply reading a manuscript to.

Graphology not alone pseudoscience using employers worldwide. In 2009, an Austrian insurance company looking for candidates for positions sellers and managers, who have had their zodiac sign Capricorn, Taurus, Aquarius, Aries or Leo. In 2011, a Chinese company seeking people who have the zodiac sign Capricorn, Libra and Pisces, excluding those who were Scorpios or Virgos, "because it would be difficult to co-exist with them" by a company representative.

Can these practices for hiring us look like a bad joke, but candidates with appropriate qualifications may be rejected because the employer may rely on a pseudoscience.

Source: newsbeast.gr

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