Graham Miles, 66, said that through sheer willpower he regained the use of his body after he was left completely paralysed except for his eyes by a stroke in the stem of the brain which connects it to the body.

His recovery is such that he can now walk, talk and even races cars.

But while it has amazed doctors and his family and friends, it has also reopened the debate about assisted suicides and the assumption that completely paralysed patients can never recover.

Mr Miles, a father-of-two, believes he overcame the devastating condition by tapping into the “extra capacity” of the brain.
telegraph.co.uk

Tags: Health

By Rachael Rettner, LiveScience Staff Writer

Practicing yoga may do more than calm the mind — it may help protect against certain diseases, a new study suggests.

In the study, women who had practiced yoga regularly for at least two years were found to have lower levels of inflammation in their bodies than did women who only recently took up the activity.

Inflammation is an immune response and can be beneficial when your body is fighting off infection, but chronically high levels of inflammation are known to play a role in certain conditions, including asthma, cardiovascular disease and depression.

Inflammation is known to be boosted by stressful situations. But when yoga experts were exposed to stress (such as dipping their feet in ice water), they experienced less of an increase in their inflammatory response than yoga novices did.

“The study is the first one, I think, to really suggest how yoga could have some distinctive physical benefits in terms of the immune system,” said researcher Janice Kiecolt-Glaser of Ohio State University. “It suggests that regular yoga practice is really good for you.” she told LiveScience.
livescience.com

Tags: Health

By PAM BELLUCK

The ancient Chinese practice of tai chi may be effective as a therapy for fibromyalgia, according to a study published on Thursday in The New England Journal of Medicine.

A clinical trial at Tufts Medical Center found that after 12 weeks of tai chi, patients with fibromyalgia, a chronic pain condition, did significantly better in measurements of pain, fatigue, physical functioning, sleeplessness and depression than a comparable group given stretching exercises and wellness education. Tai chi patients were also more likely to sustain improvement three months later.

“It’s an impressive finding,” said Dr. Daniel Solomon, chief of clinical research in rheumatology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, who was not involved in the research. “This was a well-done study. It was kind of amazing that the effects seem to carry over.”
nytimes.com

Tags: Health

By LiveScience Staff

The life of a Buddhist monk may seem far-removed from the busy, gadget-packed daily buzz most of us experience. But new research suggests daily meditation can give us a piece of the peaceful life, as the focused practice boosts attention spans.

“You wonder if the mental skills, the calmness, the peace that [Buddhist monks] express, if those things are a result of their very intensive training, or if they were just very special people to begin with,” said Katherine MacLean, who worked on the study as a graduate student at the University of California – Davis.
[10 Ways to Keep Your Mind Sharp]
livescience.com

Tags: Health

By Rachael Rettner, LiveScience Staff Writer

The compound resveratrol, which is present in red wine and gained fame for its supposed life-extending properties, might also help combat obesity, a new study in animals suggests.

The results show lemurs, members of the primate family, gained less weight during their seasonal fattening period when they consumed daily resveratrol supplements.

The drug also boosted the primates’ metabolism and appeared to cause the animals to cut back their food at mealtime, factors that could have contributed to the anti-obesity effects.
livescience.com

Tags: Health