MESSENGER POST MEDIA

2020

health
magazine

Advertising supplement for the WEEK OF JANUARY 26, 2020

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remember to
BREATHE
YOGIC METHOD SHOWN TO HELP WITH ANXIETY, DEPRESSION
BY MELISSA ERICKSON | MORE CONTENT NOW
Take a deep breath. It might make you feel better.
A new study found that a specific kind of yogic breathing can help
calm anxiety and alleviate depression, according to researchers
at the University of Pennsylvania. The research suggests that
a comprehensive yoga-breathing-based program may be a
promising new low-cost therapy for improving mental health and
well-being.
Supplement to meds
Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the
United States, affecting 40 million adults 18 and older, or 18
percent of the population, according to the National Institute of
Mental Health. About 37 million Americans practice yoga as a way
to feel relaxed, be more flexible, get rid of stress and promote a
positive self image, according to the 2016 Yoga in America study.
This new study, published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry,
found that a breathing-based meditation practice known as
Sudarshan Kriya yoga helped alleviate severe depression in people
who did not fully respond to antidepressant treatments. In the
study, researchers found significant improvement in symptoms
of depression and anxiety in medicated patients with major
depressive disorder who participated in the breathing technique
compared to medicated patients who did not participate.
A rhythmic breathing technique, Sudarshan Kriya is a simple yet
powerful way to draw an individual into a deep state of meditation.
“Sudarshan Kriya yoga gives people an active method to experience
a deep meditative state that’s easy to learn and incorporate
in diverse settings,” said Dr. Anup Sharma, a neuropsychiatry
research fellow in the department of psychiatry at the University of
Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine.
More than half of the 41 million Americans who take antidepressants
do not fully respond to the medication, the researchers noted. Add-
on therapies are often prescribed to enhance the effects of the
drugs in these patients, but they typically offer limited additional
benefits and come with side effects that can curb use, prolonging
the depressive episode. What’s more, patients who don’t fully
respond to antidepressants are especially at risk of relapse.
“With such a large portion of patients who do not fully respond
to antidepressants, it’s important we find new avenues that work
best for each person to beat their depression,” Sharma said. “Here,
we have a promising, lower-cost therapy that could potentially
serve as an effective, non-drug approach for patients battling this
disease.”
How it works
The meditation technique, which is practiced in both a group
setting and at home, includes a series of sequential, rhythm-
specific breathing exercises that bring people into a deep, restful
and meditative state: slow and calm breaths alternated with fast
and stimulating breaths.
Past studies have found that yogic breathing benefits people
suffering from milder forms of depression, depression associated
with alcohol dependence and major depression.
“The next step in this research is to conduct a larger study
evaluating how this intervention impacts brain structure and
function in patients who have major depression,” Sharma said.
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how to
quickly replenished by the body, so the risks are minimal, Schaffler
said. “The only thing you can get from donating blood is a great
feeling that you’re helping somebody,” he said.

SAVE
Platelet donation takes a few hours and has a different process.
Don’t wait
Unfortunately, blood cells have a limited shelf life. Depending on
the component, that shelf life varies from 42 days for red blood cells

a LIFE
to five days for platelets. Many times, after a disaster such as 9/11
or Hurricane Katrina, well-meaning people will rush to give blood,
creating a supply too large to use. Organizations like the New York
Blood Center have to manage their supply carefully, making sure
to collect enough but not collect so much that some of the supply
has to be thrown away.
Schaffler encourages people to donate at their leisure. Hospitals
need a supply of blood every day for all types of patients, and
regular donations will give them a better chance of doing more
good. “You don’t have to wait until there’s some public tragedy,
JANUARY IS NATIONAL because every day, there’s a private tragedy,” he said. “You shouldn’t
just wait for a newscaster to tell you there’s a need for blood.”
DONOR MONTH Where to go
Many people donate at blood drives organized by their workplaces,
BY ERIKA ENIGK | MORE CONTENT NOW houses of worship, or the sites of organizations they belong to.
Others visit special donation sites, at which donors can stop in
There’s a way for people to save lives without spending any money anytime. To find a blood donation site in your community, visit
or even much time. If helping others was on your list of resolutions americasblood.org or do an Internet search.
for this year, consider giving blood. January is National Blood
Donor Month.
According to redcrossblood.org, January is typically a difficult
month to collect blood donations because of winter weather and
busy post-holiday schedules. But the need for blood is always
there. There is no artificial source of blood; it must come from
humans, according to Harvey Schaffler, executive director of
donor marketing at the New York Blood Center. In addition, blood
doesn’t last forever, and it’s needed every day in hospitals across
the country.
Requirements
Blood donors must be at least 110 pounds and in general good
health, Schaffler said. Age limits vary by state but are generally
around 16 and older. Blood donors must wait at least 56 days
between blood donations and 7 days before donating platelets.
Platelet donors may donate once every seven days, not to exceed
six times in any eight-week period, and must wait 7 days before
donating blood.
The process
Donating blood takes about 15 minutes from start to finish,
Schaffler said. Donors fill out a registration form and are given a
short Q&A about their medical history. Their temperature and
blood pressure are taken, iron levels are checked, and then they
give their pint of blood.
For each donor, there are new, sterile materials, and blood is

73 Buffalo Street
MESSENGER POST MEDIA Canandaigua NY 14424
585.394.0770 • www.MPNnow.com
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test your
DIABETES
KNOWLEDGE
BY MELISSA ERICKSON | MORE CONTENT NOW
About 30 million children and adults have diabetes in the United
States. Out of that number, nearly 95 percent have type 2 diabetes.
Sadly, the problem is even greater for minority and ethnic populations.
What do you need to know about “the silent killer?” Diabetes is a
disease in which the body has trouble changing food into energy. As
a result, the levels of sugar in the blood become higher than normal.
To learn more, check out this did-you-know about diabetes.

1. What percentage of What’s the number?

people with diabetes $245 billion: Nine out of 10
are unaware they Total medical costs and people do not know

11
have it? lost work and wages for people they have prediabetes.
diagnosed with diabetes.
A. 10 percent C. 33 percent
B. 25 percent

2. Symptoms of
D. 50 percent
29.1
million people have diabetes.
That’s one out of every
people, but one out of four does
not know they have diabetes.
diabetes include:
A. Urinating often
B. Feeling very thirsty
86,000,000
people — that’s one out of three adults — have prediabetes.
C. Feeling very hungry, even
though you are eating Risk of premature death is 50 percent more for adults with
D. Extreme fatigue diabetes than for adults without diabetes.
E. All of the above
walking) 30 minutes a day, five days a week.

3. To prevent diabetes,
three months. and exercising moderately (such as brisk
average blood sugar over the past two or (15 pounds if you weigh 200 pounds)
you should: for diabetes management. It measures
under control and the primary test used
by losing 7 percent of your body weight
your risk for type 2 diabetes by 58 percent
A. Exercise daily best ways to know if your blood sugar is D. Research shows that you can lower3.
B. Lose weight True: The A1C test is one of the 6.
numbness in the hands/feet (type 2).
C. Be more active fruit as one of their carbohydrate choices. are eating more (type 1); tingling, pain or
D. All of the above False. People with diabetes can eat5. to heal; weight loss — even though you
blurry vision; cuts/bruises that are slow

True or false
4. A thin person can have diabetes.
5. People with diabetes should
avoid fruit because it is high in sugar.
6. There is a test that accurately
diagnoses diabetes.
that of those who are overweight or obese.
or thin people with diabetes is almost twice
Medicine, the death rate for normal-weight
Northwestern University Feinberg School of
people. According to a 2012 study by the
dangerous in normal-weight or thin
of any weight and can be especially
True. Diabetes can affect a person4.
diabetes. Additions symptoms include
E. All of the above are symptoms of2.
seem so harmless.
disease, oftentimes because symptoms
with diabetes do not know they have the
Association, about one-fourth of all people
1.
B. According to the American Diabetes
Answers:
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