Healthy life

Healthy life means to make positive choices which improve your physical, mental and spiritual health. You made these choices when you :

• eat a d' variety; food of nutritional quality as suggested by the Canadian food Guide; # develop a circle of social contacts supporting l' help and the respect;
• emain physically active in order to keep the form, to reduce the stress and to increase your energy;
• abstain from smoking and put a term at the unhealthy lifestyles.

The lifestyle choices healthy are influenced by the medium in which you live, work or study. You to maintain with the current positive practices of health in your environment is d' effective means; to improve your general health and your feeling of wellbeing.

Ressources disponibles

Santé Canada encourages the Canadians to play a more active part in their health. In this section, you will find l' information to help you to make choices informed on your health in fields like the healthy food, l' physical-activity, pregnancy, mental health and sexual and reproductive health. Information is available to l' intention of precise demographic groups such as the children, the women and the elder ones, and in d' fields; interest specific, including the voyages, the prevention of wounds and consumption and abuse substances.

You can also learn some on the following bond brings you to another Web site Canadian Strategy as regards lifestyles healthy, an initiative carried out by the governments federal, provincial and territorial.

Related resources

You seek l' additional information about your health? Consult our Spécialement section for you. These specialized pages contain l' information on relevant questions as regards health. It is indicated to you where the educational cases of Canada Health are, likely to contribute to improve your own practices of life.

A protection against the diabetes

It is clearly recognized that regular and prolonged meetings d' physical-activity of the aerobic type, like the bicycle, the race on foot and swimming, increase the sensitivity to l' insulin on the level of the muscles, a phenomenon which delays l' appearance of the diabetes. New research also shows that l' physical drive stimulates the pancreas, the gland which secretes l' insulin. The first event to occur in the chronology of the development of the diabetes is a resistance of fabrics to l' insulin. “But there must be also failure of the pancreas for qu' the diabetes appears”, underlines Raynald Bergeron of the department of kinesiology of l' University of Montreal. The role of l' insulin is to insert in the cells, in l' occurrence those of the muscles, glucose in circulation which arrives of the digestive system. However in the diabetics, all occurs as if the lock which corresponds to the receivers on the muscular cells did not recognize any more the key qu' is l' insulin. “When l' insulin binds to its receiver, a cascade d' intracellular events will lastly cause the migration of conveyors of glucose towards the membrane of the cell where while acting as a channel they will help glucose to penetrate in the cell”, specifies it. However of the biopsies of muscles clearly showed that l' drive improves at l' human the migration of the conveyors of glucose and supports better an insertion in the cellular membrane. In its laboratory, Raynald Bergeron recently carried out studies which showed in rats which become spontaneously diabetics that “l' physical drive prevents l' appearance of the diabetes thanks to an improvement of secretion d' insulin by the pancreatic cells”. That wants to thus say that “if quelqu'

one becomes resistant to l' insulin, [like that occurs initially in the development of the diabetes], l' physical drive will make its pancreas able to meet its increased requirements out of insulin [because of its resistance to l' insulin]. In our experiment, the trained animals were able to secrete d' more; insulin that the more sedentary animals”, underlines l' endocrinologist Bergeron. It is thus clear that l' physical-activity helps to prevent the diabetes.

Tips know some dell' bird dell' domestic animal - 5 ways to assure a healthy bird dell' domestic animal

To have a healthy bird as it leave of your family it can be un' wonderful addition and un' experience rewarding to many levels. Here they are 5 ways to contribute to assure a healthy bird that at last it will extend their screw and your enjoyment. It feeds a healthy diet--The diet dell' bird, like ours, would have to be various and well-rounded. L' objective is to try to duplicate to what your race detail mangierebbe in the wild one. The verdure, the germogliatura seeds, the dice and determined fruit are good choices. The alimony to avoid includes the chocolate, tea and coffee that all have upgrades them to cause a uncontrolled increase in the cardiac frequency and died. L' alcool must be avoided because their livers are not equipped in order to eliminate them in put into effect them and in an effective way. For sure being, it avoids the avocados since are toxic to many razze. The organic strawberries are very well, or normal strawberries that have been washed in a special risciacquatura that removes the pesticides and the bacteria. Control with your veterinary all' ndemnity - it syntonizes the amounts and the frequency of several alimony.

It assures that the cage is sure--It assures that the cage that lodged your bird within or free from zinc, cable and brass. It watches give of the made cages of bird in other countries that sometimes still they use L. to - varnish or based enamel. The ingestions of these metals can cause to the complications heart-breaking which the galling, the blindness and even the dead women. Apt toys of the refueling--The birds obtain reamed also! Having several toys in the cage and to turn the refueling of the toy frequently they will contribute to maintain your bird happy and have stimulated. A bird that happy and is stimulated is less probable to fall in the depression and/or mutila because of the trouble. It avoids the toys with the ropes, or opens the chains to mesh because of the possibility of your bird that suffocates, hanging, or obtaining the interfered with nail and lasci to take panicoare with the disastrous result. It holds account social interaction--Some birds, like people, have need dell' interaction more social than to be happy and so as to the disposition dell' bird in your house remarkablly will interest their happiness and general sense of well-being. The parrots, as an example, are much social so as to put them in un' high zone of traffic in to your will allow house to think them very more a part of the family. Filters l' air--Using l' arrest of the particle of high efficiency or the filter dell' air of HEPA (than for definition how much removes,3 small particles micron) will go a long way protect your bird and your family from the complications caused from the dispersed diseases nell' air connected with the birds. In more, a purifier dell' HEPA air will filter particles which dander, piume and the powder dell' bird and will diminish the number of the respiratory infections that your bird is probable to obtain. And on purpose, l' clean air is good for the human beings also!

A healthy spirit in…

A healthy mind in a healthy body. Science confirms more than ever this Latin proverb. The researchers continue to check by grinds experiments that l' physical-activity decreases the symptoms of the depression and l' anxiety and qu' it increases the capacity of concentration while intervening on the neurochimy of the brain, on its rate d' oxygenation and on connections between the neurons. Michael Babyak, of l' Duke university in North Carolina, showed that l' antidepressant effect of l' exercise would be as powerful as that of the drugs, which raise l' effectiveness of the neurons with serotonin and which, by this action, manage to dissipate the depressive symptoms. In d' other terms, like the antidepressants, l' physical-activity increases the serotonin concentration on the level of the brain. During l' exercise, of the hormones, known as neuromodulatrices, are secreted on the level of the muscles and join the brain, where they will have an impact on certain neuro-transmitters, such as the serotonin, which is associated with l' antidepressant effect, as well as the dopamine and the norépinéphrine, which intervene in the circuits of l' attention and of the executive functions, like planning d' a task, underlines Dave Ellemberg, professor and researcher at the department of kinesiology of l' University of Montreal. Regular practice of l' physical-activity raises also the release of factors neurotrophic derived from brain (BDNF) mainly on the level of the hippocampi of the brain, where they stimulate the synaptogénèse, c' be-with-to say the production of new connections (or synapses) between the neurons. “L' physical-activity has not only one impact on l' mood, but also on the memory. Studies in imagery showed at the people who make l' exercise systematically a packing synaptic in the area of the temporal lobes where the hippocampi [sites of the memory] are. And that results in an increase in the mnemic capacities”, explains the researcher. Dave Ellemberg also recalls that the meetings d' physical-activity increase l' blood contribution towards the brain and consequently increase l' oxygenation of the neurons, of which l' s' activity; intensify. On electroencephalograms (EEG) obtained after d' a meeting d' exercises, it is indeed possible to see an increase in l' intensity of l' neuronal activity which is normally associated with the executive functions and with l' caution. It appears also increasingly obvious qu' a regular physical-activity delays the cognitive losses which occur during ageing, underlines the researcher before specifying that l' exercise slows down significantly the progression of the disease d' Alzheimer.

Public say mental health problems deserve sympathy

The public is broadly sympathetic towards people with mental health problems, according to a Department of Health survey published this weekend.

The survey 'Attitudes to Mental Illness 2009' showed that the vast majority of the public think that people with mental health problems deserve sympathy and that society needs to be more tolerant towards them (86 and 85 per cent respectively).

There were some improvements in attitudes on employment and integration of people with mental ill health into the community. The survey shows:

* Almost three quarters (73 per cent) agreed that people with mental health problems should have the same rights to a job as anyone else - up from 66 per cent in 2008.

* 79 per cent agreed that mental health services should be provided through community based facilities - up from 72 per cent in 2008.

* 79 per cent also agreed that people with mental illness should not be excluded from their neighbourhood - up from 74 per cent in 2008.

Levels of fear of mental illness also demonstrate signs of improvement:

* 61 per cent of people agree that people with a mental illness are far less of a danger than most people suppose - compared to 57 per cent in 2008.

* Only 15 per cent of respondents feel frightened by people with mental health problems living in residential neighbourhoods.

Care Services Minister Phil Hope said:

"There's no question that even now in the 21st century, prejudiced and outdated attitudes to mental health problems still exist, leading to discrimination and social exclusion. But this survey shows that some attitudes are starting to change for the better.

"I want to help create mentally healthier and more resilient communities, but also a culture where if people do develop mental health problems they are accepted. We'll be consulting on how to do this later this year as part of the New Horizons programme."

Some attitudes to mental illness have worsened, according to the survey.

* 18 per cent of people thought that one of the main causes of mental illness was lack of self discipline and willpower - up from 14 per cent in 2008.

* In 2009 11 per cent of people said they would not want to live next door to someone with a mental health problem, an increase from 8 per cent since 1994.

* The proportion agreeing that we need to adopt a more tolerant attitude decreased from 92 per cent in 1994 to 85 per cent in 2009.

* The proportion disagreeing with the statement 'People with mental illness don't deserve our sympathy' decreased from 92 per cent in 1994 to 86 per cent in 2009.

Siesta in Healthy Adults and Coronary Mortality in the General Population

Androniki Naska, PhD; Eleni Oikonomou, BS; Antonia Trichopoulou, MD; Theodora Psaltopoulou, MD; Dimitrios Trichopoulos, MD

Arch Intern Med. 2007;167(3):296-301.

Background Midday napping (siesta) is common in populations with low coronary mortality, but epidemiological studies have generated conflicting results. We have undertaken an analysis based on a sizable cohort with a high frequency of napping and information on potentially confounding variables including reported comorbidity, physical activity, and diet.

Methods Among participants in a general population cohort (the Greek European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition [EPIC] cohort), 23 681 individuals who at enrollment had no history of coronary heart disease, stroke, or cancer and had complete information on frequency and duration of midday napping, as well as on potentially confounding variables, were followed up for a mean of 6.32 years. Data were modeled through Cox regression, using time to coronary death and treating deaths from other causes as censoring events as outcomes.

Results Among men and women, when controlling for potential confounders and using those not taking siesta as a referent category, those taking a siesta of any frequency or duration had a coronary mortality ratio (MR) of 0.66 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.45-0.97). Specifically, those occasionally napping had a 12% lower coronary mortality (MR, 0.88; 95% CI, 0.48-1.60), whereas those systematically napping had a 37% lower coronary mortality (MR, 0.63; 95% CI, 0.42-0.93). Among men, the inverse association was stronger when the analysis was restricted to those who were currently working at enrollment, whereas among women, a similar analysis was not possible because of the small number of deaths.

Conclusion After controlling for potential confounders, siesta in apparently healthy individuals is inversely associated with coronary mortality, and the association was particularly evident among working men.


Author Affiliations: Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, University of Athens Medical School, Athens, Greece (Drs Naska, Trichopoulou, Psaltopoulou, and Trichopoulos and Ms Oikonomou); Hellenic Health Foundation, Athens (Dr Trichopoulou); and Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Mass (Dr Trichopoulos).

Anti Drug Vaccination plan (Drug Rehab): Immunize People From Effects of Cocaine, Heroin and Nicotine

This article is about anti drug vaccination plan. Please read full of attention.. might that is important for you. How would you like your children to be immune to the pharmacological effects of hard drugs like cocaine, heroin, and even nicotine? Using new medical vaccination technologies, children can now be immunized against the effects of these drugs so that they don’t feel the high, or the brain chemistry alterations, from such drugs if they were to consume them. Doing this, of course, would make it extremely unlikely that these children would later grow up and become addicted to those drugs. Because without the brain chemistry alterations, consuming such drugs is basically pointless.

It’s an exciting new medical technology that has been tested in terms of immunizing people against the effects of nicotine, but now discussions are underway that would expand the program to other drugs such as cocaine and heroin and roll out national immunization programs for all children. This is being discussed in the UK right now, but chances are that it will soon merit discussion in the United States as well.
For my own comments on this technology, it’s helpful to look at both the outrageous cost to society for drug addiction and drug use, and the potential dangers of national vaccination programs. In general, I’m against vaccination when it’s required or forced upon the general public, because I believe that many vaccines are tainted with mercury and other toxins and that they can cause lifelong problems in many children. It is well known that vaccinations against polio and others diseases actually kill some children, and the public health benefit of forced vaccinations among U.S. schoolchildren is highly debatable.

But when it comes to hard drugs like cocaine and heroin, vaccinations start to look a lot more beneficial to society as a whole. For starters, if we could practically eliminate smoking in the United States within one generation, the nation would save countless dollars in terms of health care costs and improve productivity and quality of life of its citizens. This vaccination program has the potential to eradicate smoking altogether — a move that would no doubt diminish the incidence of chronic diseases such as heart disease, lung cancer, nervous system disorders, and breast cancer. If we could immunize people against cocaine and heroin before they’re at an age where they might start experimenting with such hard drugs, we could do tremendous good for the country as a whole by preventing drug addiction and all the lifelong problems associated with such addictions, including financial poverty, family hardships, and devastating health consequences.

In theory, then, I’m strongly in favor of exploring a vaccination technology that can immunize children against the effects of these hard drugs and nicotine, because I think it would save untold numbers of lives and an extraordinary amount of money in health care costs alone. But to firmly stand behind such technology, I would need to be convinced that it is inherently safe and has no other negative side effects, and when it comes to vaccinations, that’s a pretty tall order. Because many vaccinations do indeed have rather alarming side effects, and we should not force a population to undergo a medical technology unless it has been proven safe and effective — and even then, I much prefer it being a choice of the parents, rather than being mandated by the federal government.

Ideally, such a vaccination program, if proven completely safe, would be offered free of charge, paid for by taxpayer dollars, and publicized through public schools. Of course, I wouldn’t want my own children to be the first batch of experimental human guinea pigs to receive such a vaccination, and I firmly believe that the best way to avoid hard drug addictions with our children is to give them a better education and strong family environments, where they don’t need to turn to hard drugs in order to feel fulfilled in the first place.

Now, as long as we’re talking about vaccinations, there’s an interesting idea of a far more useful vaccination that could aid in weight-loss efforts by the American public. What if we could be vaccinated against the sweet taste of sugar? If so, we could end our addictions to high-carbohydrate foods, and more easily choose healthful foods that don’t contain so many refined carbohydrates. If human beings were born without the taste sensation for sweetness, and without the associated brain chemistry effects that automatically follow the consumption of carbohydrates, we wouldn’t be so addicted to carbohydrates as a nation. Soft drink sales would be virtually non-existent. The grocery store shelves wouldn’t be lined with candy masquerading as food — like you’ll find in granola bars or pizza sauce, both of which are made with refined sugar.

The idea that we could all be vaccinated against the taste and brain chemistry effects of sugar consumption is, of course, pure fantasy at the moment, but it is not fantasy to suppose that with advanced genetic engineering technology we could someday produce offspring who are not so closely wired to the consumption of sugar. In fact, there’s something you can do about that right now: research shows that when expectant mothers avoid eating refined sugars, their babies are born with less of a craving for sugars. And that, in my book, is one of the greatest gifts a mother can give her unborn child: a foundation for living a healthy life, free of refined sugars, soft drinks, cake, cookies, and other foods and beverages that promote obesity and chronic disease.

The secret to surviving the holiday buffet

By Brian Wansink, Ph.D.
msnbc.com

There is probably no greater diet danger zone than the holiday buffet. It's hard to resist grabbing a huge plate and piling it up with buttery breads, cheeses, meats, cakes, cookies and pies.

Although it might seem as if we’re swimming against stream when it comes to the delicious — but calorie-laden — holiday table, there are a lot of people who seem immune to overloading their plates. They have fun at buffets, parties and dinners without gaining weight. What’s their secret?

To better understand how some people survive the pitfalls of all-you-can-eat dining, researchers at my Cornell University Food and Brand Lab observed 213 normal weight and overweight diners at buffets across the country. We found that heavier diners are more likely than slimmer diners to sit closer to the buffet, use larger plates and serve themselves immediately instead of browsing the buffet
In the study, heavy folks grabbed a plate almost as soon as they arrived and immediately started serving themselves. The normal weight diners were more likely to scout things out first. When they did pick up a plate they were seven times more likely than the heavy eaters to take the smallest plate available. Some specifics:

• 71 percent of normal-weight diners browsed the buffet before serving themselves, compared to 33 percent of obese diners.
• 27 percent of normal-weight patrons faced the buffet compared to 42 percent of obese diners.
• 16 percent of obese diners sat at a booth rather than a table compared to 38 percent of normal weight diners.
• Normal-weight people chewed their food an average of 15 times per bite versus overweight people who chewed only 12 times. In fact, speedy eaters are three times more likely to be overweight than people who eat more slowly and who don’t eat until they’re full, recent research found.
• Overweight diners sat an average of 16 feet closer to the buffet than normal-weight diners, presumably to shorten the trip when they go back for seconds … or thirds.
  

Have your cake and eat it
There are three main problems with a buffet, not only at the holidays, but anytime of the year. Those huge tables of food are prime examples of what I call the 3 C's of disastrous dieting:

Convenience: Food is all around and it’s often with arm-reach.

Caloric: Whether sweet or salty, buffet foods are often higher in the indulgence factor than good sense.

Choices: There is a lot of variety, which increases how much you eat because your taste buds don’t burn out on one thing.

The bottom line of the buffet is you really can

have your holiday cake and eat it, too. You just need to browse the food to find what you really want, use a small plate and eat slowly. To avoid the temptation of going back for seconds, sit as far away from the table of food as possible. If you don’t face the goodies, you are less likely to spot something else you want to pile on the plate.

In my book, "Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think," I also describe a trick that seems to work well for many holiday buffet-goers. It’s called the Rule of Two. You can choose anything you want at the buffet, but you can never have more than two items on your plate. If you want to load it up with nuts and cake, go ahead. If you want to go back for seconds and load it up again with chips and carrots, go ahead. Although this sounds like a recipe for disaster, it actually works quite well for people for three reasons:

• You tend to take the two types of food you want most. People who love desserts don’t work their way up to desserts. They’ll start with the desserts, and then stop.
• You tend to not overfill you plate. Putting only two things on our plate helps keep our serving sizes somewhat small because we psychologically don’t want to overload on a particular item.
• You tend to not go back more than two times. In one study we did on the Rule of Two, 83 percent of people only made one or two additional returns to the buffet.

Using some of these easy rules can help you take the focus off the food and pay more attention to what really makes the holidays special — your family and friends.

Brian Wansink, Ph.D., author of "Mindless Eating — Why We Eat More Than We Think," is head of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion. He is also director of the Cornell Food and Brand Lab.

Obese woman has brain surgery for weight loss

LOS ANGELES - Brain surgery for weight loss?

West Virginia mother of two Carol Poe, 60, is only the second person in the United States to undergo deep brain stimulation for weight loss after trying everything from diets to having her stomach stapled.

Last month, she took part in a clinical trial at West Virginia University hospital in which neurosurgeons drilled into her brain and used electricity to control her feelings of hunger and satisfaction.

Poe's story will be told on ABC Television's "Nightline" program on Monday, March 9.

Poe, who is 5 feet 2 inches tall and who weighed 230 pounds before the surgery, said that at her heaviest she weighed about 490 pounds.

Dr Julian Bailes, chairman of West Virginia University's department of neurosurgery, said Poe was a good candidate for the radical treatment.

"This is not for overweight patients. It's for obese patients," Bailes told "Nightline."

"This is a frontier of medicine...to be able to generate tiny pulses of electricity in these deep nuclei of the brain, and to see what effect they may have on behavior, including in this case the behavior of eating and the issue of uncontrolled appetite," he said.

Bailes told Reuters that the West Virginia University hospital was the only one in the United States, and the only center he knew of worldwide, using the deep brain stimulation technique specifically on obese patients.

He said the first patient underwent surgery in November 2008. The second, Poe, took place in February. Both are part of a clinical trial, approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, conducted by fellow neurosurgeons Michael Oh and Donald Whiting.

Poe was awake during the three-hour surgery, in which wires carrying an electrical impulse were inserted into her brain in the region where the stomach is controlled, and linked to two pacemaker devices implanted in her chest.

The voltage going into her brain is turned up slowly over future months to give Poe the sensation of feeling full.

"We hope her sensation is a sensation of satiety, a sensation of fullness, a lack of compulsion to consume excess calories," Bailes told "Nightline". "And a sensation again of satisfaction, of not having the feeling we need to eat some more when we know we don't."

Doctors said it would be several months before any weight loss is noticeable while the voltage to the brain is gradually increased. But a week after the voltage was turned on, Poe told "Nightline" she had already lost three pounds.

"When I eat, I get full faster. I just don't have the cravings like I used to have," she said.

Copyright 2009 Reuters. Click for restrictions.

Heavy? You may live three to 10 years less

LONDON - Being obese can take years off your life and in some cases may be as dangerous as smoking, a new study says.

British researchers at the University of Oxford analyzed 57 studies mostly in Europe and North America, following nearly one million people for an average of 10 to 15 years. During that time, about 100,000 of those people died.

The studies used Body Mass Index (BMI), a measurement that divides a person's weight in kilograms by their height squared in meters to determine obesity. Researchers found that death rates were lowest in people who had a BMI of 23 to 24, on the high side of the normal range.

Health officials generally define overweight people as those with a BMI from 25 to 29, and obese people as those with a BMI above 30.

The study was published online Wednesday in the medical journal, Lancet. It was paid for by Britain's Medical Research Council, the British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research UK and others.

"If you are heading towards obesity, it may be a good idea to lose weight," said Sir Richard Peto, the study's main statistician and a professor at Oxford University.

Moderately heavy people lost 3 years of life
Peto and colleagues found that people who were moderately fat, with a BMI from 30 to 35, lost about three years of life. People who were morbidly fat — those with a BMI above 40 — lost about 10 years off their expected lifespan, similar to the effect of lifelong smoking.

Moderately obese people were 50 percent more likely to die prematurely than normal-weight people, said Gary Whitlock, the Oxford University epidemiologist who led the study.

He said that obese people were also two thirds more likely to die of a heart attack or stroke, and up to four times more likely to die of diabetes, kidney or liver problems. They were one sixth more likely to die of cancer.

"This really emphasizes the importance of weight gain," said Dr. Arne Astrup, a professor of nutrition at the University of Copenhagen who was not linked to the Lancet study. "Even a small increase in your BMI is enough to increase your risks for cardiovascular disease and cancer."

Previous studies have found that death rates increase both above and below a normal BMI score, and that people who are moderately overweight live longer than underweight or normal-weight people.

Other experts said that because the papers used in the study mostly started between 1975 and 1985, their conclusions were not as relevant today.

Astrup worried that rising obesity rates may reverse the steep drops in heart disease seen in the West.

"Obesity is the new dark horse for public health officials," he said. "People need to be aware of the risks they're taking when they gain weight."

© 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Weight loss surgery revs sexual function in men

New York - Sexual dysfunction that commonly occurs in morbidly obese men improves after weight loss surgery, according to a new study.

"Sexual dysfunction should be considered one of the numerous potentially reversible complications of obesity," the study team concludes.

Dr. Ramsey M. Dallal, from Albert Einstein Healthcare Network, Philadelphia, and colleagues measured the degree to which 97 morbidly obese men suffered from sexual dysfunction and then analyzed the change in sexual function after substantial weight loss following gastric bypass surgery.

Before surgery, the morbidly obese men had significantly lower sexual function relative to that of a previously published reference control group of men before surgery, the investigators report.

After losing an average of two-thirds of their excess weight, men experienced significant improvements in sexual function, with the amount of weight loss predicting the degree of improvement.

"We estimate that a man who is morbidly obese has the same degree of sexual dysfunction as a nonobese man about 20 years older," the investigators report. "Sexual function improves substantially after gastric bypass surgery to a level that reaches or approaches age-based norms."

"Sexual function is an important aspect to quality of life and is now well documented to be a reversible condition," Dallal explained.

"We are interested in examining sexual function in females, as well as understanding the mechanism of obesity-related sexual dysfunction," Dallal added.

Brain-zapping device OK’d for OCD therapy

NEW YORK - Patients suffering from obsessive, distressing thoughts have a new treatment option: a pacemaker-like device that relieves anxiety with electrical jolts to the brain.

The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday approved Medtronic's Reclaim Deep Brain Stimulator device as the first implant to treat obsessive-compulsive disorder, which causes uncontrollable worries, such as fear of germs or dirt.

Patients suffering from the disorder try to relieve their anxiety with obsessive behavior, such as washing their hands or checking locks repeatedly.

"These are obtrusive thoughts that take control of people's lives to the point that they lose their jobs, can't have relationships and in many cases, can't even leave their homes," said Dr. Hooman Azmi of Hackensack University Medical Center.

While about 2.2 million Americans have the disorder, the new device would only be available to a small group of patients who don't respond to other treatments, such as antidepressant drugs and therapy.

The FDA approved the device under a program reserved for conditions that effect fewer than 4,000 people each year.

The FDA's director for devices stressed that Reclaim provides some relief, but patients likely will have to continue taking medications as well.

"Reclaim is not a cure," Dr. Daniel Schultz said in a statement. "Individual results will vary and patients implanted with the device are likely to continue to have some mild to moderate impairment."

Shaped like a pacemaker, the Reclaim device is implanted under the skin of the chest and then connected to four electrodes in the brain. The electrodes deliver steady pulses of electricity that block abnormal brain signals.

Similar devices have been used since the 1990s to treat movement disorders like Parkinson's disease and tremors. But where prior devices target areas of the brain that deal with movement, Medtronic said its product delivers electrical signals to areas that control mood and anxiety.

"What deep brain stimulation does is modulate those circuits that we believe are hyperactive in patients with obsessive compulsive disorder," said Paul Stypulkowski, the company's senior director of research.

Medtronic Inc., the world's largest medical device maker, also is studying the use of the technology in patients with severe depression.

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In 2005, rival Cyberonics became the first company to win FDA approval for a device to treat depression. However, the company's Vagus Nerve Stimulator has been plagued by questions of effectiveness.

Members of Congress and consumer watchdog groups campaigned against the Cyberonics device, citing research that some patients who have received it had worsening depression. A number of insurers, including the government's Medicare program, have refused to pay for the device in depression patients.

Medtronic representatives point out that their technology differs from that used by Houston-based Cyberonics, which delivers an electrical signal to nerves in the neck. Medtronic's devices stimulate the brain directly.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.