Sep 17, 2013 | Integrative Medicine, Music Therapy
Guest post by Abigail Strubel, MA, LCSW
The function of music is to release us from the tyranny of conscious thought.
– English conductor Sir Thomas Beecham (1879 – 1961)
One of the most groundbreaking programs at Beth Israel Medical Center is the Louis and Lucille Armstrong Music Therapy Program. For the past 20 years, it has provided music therapy to an extremely diverse cross-section of patients ranging from premature babies in the neonatal ICU, to geriatric patients in palliative care, to musicians at The Louis Armstrong Center for Music & Medicine, where Stephan Quentzel, MD, and Joanne Loewy, DA, LCAT, MT-BC, and their team treat performing artists from Broadway to the subway. Care is provided on both an inpatient and outpatient basis, with individuals, groups and families. (more…)
Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | LGBT Health, Primary Care
LGBT health post by Barbara Warren and guest blogger Beth Monkarsh
A recent study out of University of Montreal and McGill University found that people who were open about their sexual orientation identity were less anxious, depressed and stressed than both heterosexuals and people in the “closet.” Persistent stress can cause the hormone cortisol to spike, creating inflammation in the body. Inflammation has been linked to increased risk of heart disease, diabetes and other chronic illnesses. (more…)
Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | Community Outreach
The National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (NCADD) has established Alcohol-Free Weekend (April 5-7), to raise public awareness about alcohol and alcoholism as a chronic, progressive, yet treatable disease. During this weekend, NCADD extends an open invitation to all Americans to engage in three alcohol-free days. The use of alcohol and how it may be affecting individuals, families, businesses and our communities is an important consideration for all of us.
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Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | Geriatrics, Speech Pathology
Some forgetfulness, or a little memory loss, in people middle-aged and older, is actually normal and not a cause for concern. There are natural aging processes that explain minor lapses in memory, more popularly called “senior moments.”
As we age, our ability to divide our attention among two or more activities starts to diminish slightly—it may be harder to do “two things at once”! The holiday season is an especially busy and hectic time, full of many tasks that we feel we have to accomplish before the festivities begin. We may find it more efficient to do one thing at a time, from start to finish, as typical interruptions may lead us to forget momentarily what we were doing or saying.
After about 55 years of age, both our physical and mental responses naturally start to slow down. Humans have millions of impressions, recollections, words, dates and other items stored in our memory bank. Withdrawing information—such as remembering appointments, errands to run, people’s names and phone numbers—might take a little longer as we get older, so it’s always a good idea to mark a calendar and write things down. The more we have on our mind, the more we should use simple reminders such as “to-do” lists, wrist-watch or cell-phone alarms, and pill boxes sorted by day of week.
So, while the occasional forgetting where we placed our car keys or the pen we were just writing with is typical of normal aging, there are other memory changes that are not normal. Benign senescent forgetfulness is a disorder characterized by continual repetition of accounts of events, questions and requests; generally, the person’s short-term memory loss does not worsen or interfere with everyday life. Dementia is a far more serious and progressive decline in mental functions, including not remembering your name and address, how to dress yourself or balance your checkbook, and clearly requires an evaluation by a physician.
For more information on normal and abnormal behavior as we age, please visit http://www.merckmanuals.com/professional/geriatrics.html or the Beth Israel Senior Health web site at http://www.wehealny.org/services/bi_seniorhealth/index.html.
Nov 18, 2012 | Community Outreach, Diet and Nutrition, Holistic Health
Low vitamin D levels are associated with depressive symptoms. That is the main conclusion by researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and the Cooper Institute in Dallas in a cross-sectional study of 12,564 participants. Given this finding, is vitamin D the new wonder pill for depression?
Why the focus on vitamin D?
For the past five years, prominent studies disclosed the risks associated with vitamin D deficiency. In 2010, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) found that the evidence supported the importance of vitamin D along with calcium in promoting bone health, but not for other health outcomes. In contrast, the studies of Pearce (2010) and Holick (2007) associated vitamin D deficiency as a risk factor for various medical conditions, including autoimmune diseases, vascular disease, infectious diseases, osteoporosis, obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and certain cancers.
What does the latest study on vitamin D for depression suggest?
Using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), higher vitamin D levels were associated with a significantly decreased risk for depression. The Dallas study reported that participants with higher vitamin D levels were 0.92 times less likely to have depression compared to participants with lower vitamin D levels. Note that the study found stronger association particularly for those who had previous history of depression.
What can we learn from the study?
Based on findings from different studies, it is important for patients to be screened on vitamin D levels to determine the risks and threats to bone health, and mental health as well. It is clear that vitamin D is a critical supplement for bone health, and its role in preventing depression has been emerging in recent studies.
How much vitamin D supplement do I need?
On these aspects, it is helpful to start with the IOM recommendations for bone health. At all age levels, except for those over 70 years old, the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) is 600 International Units (IU) daily. For persons older than 70, the RDA is 800 IUs. (The IUs are boldly printed on the labels of over-the-counter vitamin D.) For the upper limits, the IOM concluded that intakes more than 4,000 IUs of vitamin D per day increase the risk for harm. Please note that the Dallas study does not indicate the recommended intake levels for vitamin D with reference to depression.
How should I consult with my health care provider?
In the next visit to your health care provider, it would not hurt to ask for vitamin D levels in your blood draws. It is also certainly helpful to tell your provider what other supplements you take regularly. This is important because, by doing so, you can help prevent adverse drug reactions and unfavorable interactions among the medications and supplements you take.
Above all, it is not only ourselves that we need to consider for the vitamin D screening and subsequent supplementation; we need to suggest screening to our loved ones as well. In light of the Dallas study, it is highly recommended for those with history of depression to have vitamin D level screenings. That suggestion could spell the difference in taking away depression during the holidays and beyond.
