Rawalpindi Arts Council in collaboration with Blood Transfusion Department Holy Family Hospital organized a walk in connection with International Blood Donor Day here on Thursday.
Green Task Force Chairman Dr Jamal Nasir, Prof Dr Musadiq Khan and the Rawalpindi Arts Council director participated in the walk. The walk was started from Rawalpindi Medical College to Holy Family Hospital Dr Jamal Nasir said that purpose of organizing walk was to create awareness among the masses about blood donation, adding that blood donor is a hero because his donation saves life.
Meanwhile, students and principals of Wiqar-un-Nisa Degree College for Women, Government Degree College for Women Dhok Mangtal, Government Degree College for Women Gawalmandi, Government Degree College for Women Peshawar Road, Government Degree College for Women Jhanda Chichi, Government Degree College for Women 6th Road, Government Degree College for Women F Block, Government Degree College for Women B Block, Government Degree College for Women Khayaban-e-Sir Syed and Government Degree College for Boys Satellite Town participated in the walk enthusiastically.
Exercise doesn’t help alleviate depression: A study that investigated whether physical activity alleviates the symptoms of depression has found that there is actually no benefit. Research published in the British Medical Journal suggests that adding a physical activity intervention to usual care did not reduce symptoms of depression more than usual care alone. This study contrasts with current clinical guidance, which recommends exercise to help those suffering from the mental illness, the Telegraph reported.
Mental illness affects one in six adults in Britain at any one time. To carry out the study researchers recruited 361 patients aged 18 to 69 years, who had recently been diagnosed suffering with depression.
Trial participants were then split into two groups to receive either the physical activity intervention in addition to usual care, or usual care on its own and were followed up for 12 months to evaluate any change in their symptoms. But the study discovered that adding exercise failed to alleviate symptoms of depression more than usual care alone, only increasing levels of physical activity.
The study, carried out by teams from the Universities of Bristol, Exeter and the Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry, is the first large-scale, randomized controlled trial to analyse the effects of exercise on depression. Earlier most of the evidence for the positive effect of physical activity in treating depression has originated from studies of small, non-clinical samples using interventions that would not be practicable in an NHS setting.
“Numerous studies have reported the positive effects of physical activity for people suffering with depression but our intervention was not an effective strategy for reducing symptoms” said Melanie Chalder, of the University of Bristol“s School of Social and Community Medicine.
“However, it is important to note that increased physical activity is beneficial for people with other medical conditions such as obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease and, of course, these conditions can affect people with depression,” she said.
“Many patients suffering from depression would prefer not to have to take traditional anti-depressant medication, preferring instead to consider alternative non-drug based forms of therapy,” said John Campbell, professor of general practice and primary care at Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry (University of Exeter)
“Exercise and activity appeared to offer promise as one such treatment, but this carefully designed research study has shown that exercise does not appear to be effective in treating depression.”
This study has been published in the British Medical Journal.
Meditation improves brain wiring in just one month: Researchers have found that just a month of meditation training alters brain wiring in ways that could open the door to new treatments for mental disorders.
They looked at the effects of integrative body-mind training (IBMT) on two groups of university students.
Scans showed physical changes in the brains of the volunteers after just four weeks, or 11 hours, of training.
Nerve fibres, known as ‘white matter’, became denser, providing greater numbers of brain-signalling connections. At the same time there was an expansion of myelin, the protective fatty insulation surrounding nerve fibres.
The effects were seen in the anterior cingulate cortex region of the brain, which helps regulate behaviour. Poor nerve activity in this part of the brain is associated with a range of mental problems, including attention deficit disorder, dementia, depression, and schizophrenia.
The study built on previous research based on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans that first highlighted brain changes induced by IBMT. Scientists revisited results from two 2010 studies, taking a closer look at what the scans revealed.
One involved 45 US students from the University of Oregon and the other 68 students from China’s Dalian University of Technology.
The researchers found greater density of axons, or nerve fibres, after two weeks of IBMT training, but no change in myelin formation.
After a month both increases in axon density and myelin were seen.
Students undergoing IBMT also reported improvements in mood, experiencing reduced levels of anger, depression, anxiety and fatigue. They also had lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol.
“This study gives us a much more detailed picture of what it is that is actually changing,” the Daily Mail quoted study leader Professor Michael Posner, from the University of Oregon, who carried out the original US research, as saying.
