Do You Have SAD or Just the Winter Blues?

If you find that when temperatures start dropping, your mood does too, then you're not alone. This is because experts believe that as many as 20% of Americans experience the so-called winter blues every year. Typically, winter blues amount to some minor social withdrawal and mood swings, which reverse themselves as our planet rotates back towards the sun.


However, for millions of people around the world, these depressive symptoms are severe and long-lasting, which end up affecting how they sleep, eat, think, and live their lives. One such person was Diana Lillo, 55. Despite her symptoms changing from one year to the next, every winter she found that she had “depression for no apparent reason—a generalized feeling of ‘doom and gloom’ even when nothing, in particular, was wrong.”

When it started to affect her marriage, Lillo sought help and was diagnosed with SAD. “Seasonal affective disorder, or SAD, is clinical depression that follows a seasonal pattern,” says Kelly Rohan, Ph.D., Professor of Psychological Science and Director of Clinical Training at the University of Vermont.

Health professionals are not entirely sure why it occurs, but they agree that a lack of sunlight plays a key role. One theory is it messes with your biological clock, which can lead to symptoms of depression. Another theory is that the lack of light interferes with brain chemicals, such as serotonin and melatonin, which affect sleep and mood.


If you have the usual winter blues, your symptoms will most probably be rather mild. “Perhaps you feel a little less energetic than you do in the summertime and have some food cravings that are unusual, like wanting to eat more carbohydrate-rich foods, or you sleep a little more, but not substantially more,” says Rohan. Such feelings will typically leave of their own accord, possibly just after a few days.

On the other hand, SAD typically causes more serious oversleeping, weight gain, appetite changes, lethargy, and social isolation. You could also end up experiencing intense sadness, irritability, problems concentrating, feelings of hopelessness or worthlessness, or even suicidal thoughts.

What's more, if you are diagnosed with SAD, these symptoms will stick around “for at least two weeks, if not longer, most of the day, nearly every day,” according to Rohan. They will interfere with your daily functioning and ability to do things, causing a lot of distress.

That’s precisely what happened to Lillo, who found that she was “going deeper and deeper into depression until suicidal thoughts appeared every winter.” This “every winter” part is key: If the symptoms of depression have appeared for at least two years in a row, and haven’t turned up during other seasons, there’s a high chance that SAD is the cause.

If you think you might suffer from SAD, it’s important that you talk to your doctor about it. They might recommend antidepressants or therapy, in addition to some strategies you can try at home. One of the best things you could do is to maximize the amount of daylight that you're exposed to. Rohan suggests taking morning walks which "gets the light that is available to your retina, which can help reset a biological clock. And it gets you moving in terms of physical activity.”

Light therapy is also very useful when it comes to treating SAD. Your doctor can prescribe this form of therapy, which entails spending some time every morning sitting next to a box that emits very bright light. This will simulate the effect of sunlight and has been proven to work for approximately 70% of SAD patients.

When suffering from SAD, you would also do very well to avoid being alone. “Go meet up with that group you belong to or go to the gym or go see that movie, see friends for coffee,” says Rohan. “Withdrawing from those routines sets you up for what I call going into hibernation mode, which really breeds depression.”

All in all, people with SAD need to be prepared for the future. This may involve anticipating “down” times, watching out for worsening symptoms, and planning activities ahead. It may also mean beginning treatments before allowing any symptoms to kick in since the best defense is a good offense.

This is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.     

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Alzheimer’s and Gum Disease: Can One Bacterium Cause Both?

Gum problems affect more than half of the world’s population, but most people choose to ignore their oral health - a decision that can have dire consequences, as it turns out. An increasing number of scientific findings point out how gum disease causing bacteria can spread and affect the entire body, even your brain. In a previous article, we’ve discussed how poor oral health can contribute to heart disease and problems with episodic memory, but an even more worrying finding has been made in 2019, suggesting that a strain of bacteria that is typically involved in gum disease called Porphyromonas gingivalis may be the cause of Alzheimer’s disease.

The Science Behind Alzheimer’s Disease
For decades, beta-amyloid plaques and TAU tangles have been considered the cause of Alzheimer’s disease. These plaques and tangles bunch together causing clumps in the brain tissue that interfere with the function of our brain cells. As a result, certain brain functions, such as short term memory, executive functioning, and even emotional perception, just to name a few, become affected, making Alzheimer’s sufferers progressively less and less independent and capable of living life at its fullest.
Indeed, beta-amyloid plaques and TAU tangles are a unique and frequent finding in post-mortem studies in Alzheimer’s patients, and for decades, the reason behind their development was a mystery. One of the major hypotheses was that the cause may be due to an infection, and once again, post-mortem research suggested that it might be a strain of the herpes virus or even a fungus that trigger the condition.

However, these studies were small, and their results too unconvincing for the global medical community to recognize that infections cause the neurodegenerative condition, especially since other factors, such as genetics and age are known risk factors of Alzheimer’s.

The Link Between Gum Disease and Alzheimer’s

In 2019, a new study was published in the Science Advances journal finding a bacterium typically associated with gum disease in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients. But the researchers didn’t stop there and did a follow-up study in an attempt to find not only a cause but also a cure for the condition.
The scientists suggested that toxins called gingipains produced by Porphyromonas gingivalis bacteria were to blame for the creation of plaques and tangles, and they developed a drug they called COR388 that blocks these gingipains. During this second experiment, mice were exposed to the Porphyromonas gingivalis bacteria, and after 6 weeks, the bacteria already appeared in their brain and started causing plaques.

Then, the mice were treated with the drug the researchers had developed, which resulted in a significant reduction of plaques in the mice’s brains and halted neurodegeneration. The researchers conclude that Alzheimer’s disease is caused by the Porphyromonas gingivalis bacterium, and they are already in the process of conducting clinical trials on human subjects to test the efficacy of the experimental drug.

In an interview with the New Scientist in December of 2019, one of the leading authors of the study Steve Dominy revealed that 570 people with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s from 95 health centers across the US and Europe were enrolled in the clinical trial, and we should expect the results in 2021.

A Critical View
While the gum disease study definitely uncovered one way the beta-amyloid plaques and TAU tangles characteristic of Alzheimer’s can occur, many leading scientists in the field point out that we should look at the bigger picture instead of stating that Porphyromonas gingivalis is the exclusive cause of Alzheimer’s, as any other microorganism could likewise be responsible for the formation of plaques and tangles.

Still, the research is exemplary, as it makes us reimagine what the plaques and tangles found in Alzheimer's patients' brains really are - a symptom of the disease, instead of its definitive cause. The study also managed to show how an infection considered relatively harmless managed to contribute to the development of the most widespread neurodegenerative condition - Alzheimer’s disease.

The lesson here is clear: good overall health, including dental hygiene and oral health, as well as a timely treatment of any infections, even seemingly minor one, is key in preventing serious future health issues.

this is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.     
https://gscrochetdesigns.blogspot.com. one can see my crochet creations  
https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com. feel free to view for easy, simple and healthy recipes    
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