Placebo effect: New study shows how to boost the power of pain relief, without drugs

ScienceDaily (Feb. 3, 2012) ? Placebos reduce pain by creating an expectation of relief. Distraction -- say, doing a puzzle -- relieves it by keeping the brain busy. But do they use the same brain processes? Neuromaging suggests they do. When applying a placebo, scientists see activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. That's the part of the brain that controls high-level cognitive functions like working memory and attention -- which is what you use to do that distracting puzzle.

Now a new study challenges the theory that the placebo effect is a high-level cognitive function. The authors -- Jason T. Buhle, Bradford L. Stevens, and Jonathan J. Friedman of Columbia University and Tor D. Wager of the University of Colorado Boulder -- reduced pain in two ways -- either by giving them a placebo, or a difficult memory task. lacebo. But when they put the two together, "the level of pain reduction that people experienced added up. There was no interference between them," says Buhle. "That suggests they rely on separate mechanisms." The findings, published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, could help clinicians maximize pain relief without drugs.

In the study, 33 participants came in for three separate sessions. In the first, experimenters applied heat to the skin with a little metal plate and calibrated each individual's pain perceptions. In the second session, some of the people applied an ordinary skin cream they were told was a powerful but safe analgesic. The others put on what they were told was a regular hand cream. In the placebo-only trials, participants stared at a cross on the screen and rated the pain of numerous applications of heat -- the same level, though they were told it varied. For other trials they performed a tough memory task -- distraction and placebo simultaneously. For the third session, those who'd had the plain cream got the "analgesic" and vice versa. The procedure was the same.

The results: With either the memory task or the placebo alone, participants felt less pain than during the trials when they just stared at the cross. Together, the two effects added up; they didn't interact or interfere with each other. The data suggest that the placebo effect does not require executive attention or working memory.

So what about that neuroimaging? "Neuroimaging is great," says Buhle, "but because each brain region does many things, when you see activation in a particular area, you don't know what cognitive process is driving it." This study tested the theory about how placebos work with direct behavioral observation.

The findings are promising for pain relief. Clinicians use both placebos and distraction -- for instance, virtual reality in burn units. But they weren't sure if one might diminish the other's efficacy. "This study shows you can use them together," says Buhle, "and get the maximum bang for your buck without medications."

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Association for Psychological Science.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. Jason T. Buhle, Bradford L. Stevens, and Jonathan J. Friedman and Tor D. Wager. Distraction and Placebo: Two Separate Routes to Pain Control. Psychological Science, 2012

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120203141503.htm

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New York Health Insurance Plans ? Home Based Businesses and ...

Feb 2nd, 2012

Deciding which health insurance provider can offer you, the most health insurance coverage at the best price is difficult enough. When you are operating a home based business, the choices of low cost health insurance become slightly estranged. Most individuals are aware that when they purchase a health insurance policy through a group the overall cost is divided amongst all those who are involved.

This is a method to lower the cost of health insurance for each individual because in larger group numbers there is a base figure for the health insurance provider to work. As an individual involved in operating a home based business there are still a few avenues you can research to purchase an affordable health insurance policy, but it will take some work.

1. Join a group, like the local Chamber of Commerce

2. Research health insurance providers who cater to small businesses

3. Gather information of your personal medical needs

4. Research health insurance coverage that will suit you

5. Research the advantages of a health savings account

Colleges, Universities, an alumni association, professional and amateur sports teams, and the local Chamber of Commerce all have low cost health insurance group plans that will accommodate the needs of those enrolled. This is an option to consider before purchasing an individual health insurance policy at a higher cost.

Many of the health insurance providers do offer affordable health insurance coverage with the small business in mind and may be another avenue for you to research before making any decision. The competition between health insurance providers is often an overlooked factor in finding a health insurance plan that will suit your needs and that of your home based business.

Home based businesses are hard pressed to purchase an affordable health insurance policy for medical protection because one catastrophic event can compromise your business and that is not what you want to happen. It does no good to procrastinate and eventually find your business is no more because you neglected to find an affordable health insurance policy to help cover the cost of your personal medical requirements.

Researching which health insurance plan will provide for your personal needs will take time, but the end will be justified the first time you experience a high medical bill from your health care provider. Another viable option is to research the possibility of acquiring a health savings account. This will afford you much more flexibility as opposed to the traditional health insurance policy that deals with the HMO, PPO, and POS.

Source: http://www.nyhealthinsurer.com/2012/news/home-based-businesses-and-health-insurance/

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UK minister Chris Huhne faces criminal charges (AP)

LONDON ? England's chief prosecutor says Energy Secretary Chris Huhne, a leading Cabinet minister, has been charged with attempting to dodge a speeding penalty ? casting his political career into doubt.

Keir Starmer, chief prosecutor for England and Wales, said Friday that Huhne, a Liberal Democrat lawmaker, would face allegations of perverting the course of justice.

Huhne is alleged to have persuaded his now ex-wife, economist Vicky Pryce, to accept a speeding penalty on his behalf in 2003, to escape a driving ban. Huhne has consistently denied any wrongdoing.

Under ministerial rules, Prime Minister David Cameron can decide whether Huhne should remain a member of the Cabinet while he contests the charges ? though Huhne is expected to stand down voluntarily.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/britain/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120203/ap_on_re_eu/eu_britain_minister_charged

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Analysis: Middlemen take toll on China agricultural profits (Reuters)

BEIJING (Reuters) ? Want a slice of the billions of dollars China spends each year on farm subsidies? Become a middleman and open a toll road.

Operators of the vast network of roads that connect China's fields to cities can earn gross margins of up to 90 percent, making them the most profitable of the supply chain middlemen who reap the most from China's harvests.

So while food prices soared 11.8 percent and China spent more on farm subsidies in 2011 than ever before, the 18 percent rise in average rural incomes still left farmers like Jiang Bo lagging badly behind their urban cousins.

"Even when our vegetable prices are at their highest levels, we still do not make much money because there are too many middlemen in the supply chain," said Jiang, a farmer in eastern China's Shandong province, who told Reuters she is weighing whether to quit the fields for factories this year.

Cutting logistics costs -- 10 percent of the nation's gross domestic product in 2010, double that of Japan -- has been pledged for years in the government's annual agricultural plan to increase rural income and spread harmony through society.

It's not easy, given that raising income for producers implies rising prices for consumers, and China's leaders have vowed to fight inflation.

"We must support direct selling, clean all kinds of charges and reduce the distribution cost of agricultural products," Premier Wen Jiabao wrote in an essay published in the influential magazine Qiushi, or Seek Truth, in January.

Central government subsidies for seeds, tools, other means of production and plant grains alone totaled 140.6 billion yuan ($22.26 billion) in 2011, up from 134.5 billion yuan in 2010, while 98.6 billion yuan has already been spent so far this year on grain subsidies.

And that is just a part of the overall agricultural spending done by Beijing in a bid to keep farmers like Jiang, tempted by the rising factory wages, tilling the fields while ensuring vegetable prices stay within reach of urban low-income families.

A tax tweak for vegetable distributors abolished the 13 percent levy they paid from the start of this year.

But it's cutting the costs of the middlemen that offers most potential for Beijing to raise the social dividend of its spend.

An investigation by Hu Dinghuan at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science showed that the price of tomatoes rose from 2 yuan per kilo leaving the fields to 5 yuan per kilo at the warehouse door of supermarkets in 2007.

"The distribution cost must be even higher nowadays because of rising fuel prices," he said.

The government is mulling a cut in highway toll fees and has already started a nationwide check on rampant charges at toll gates. Shanghai made the Hujia Expressway -- China's first highway that opened in 1988 -- toll free on January 1.

China has previously suspended toll charges to curb inflation. When prices soared in 2008, the National Development and Reform Commission scrapped toll fees for trucks carrying fresh vegetables, driving down the annual rate of vegetable inflation from a peak of 46 percent in February to 22.7 percent in March. It was negative 2.1 percent by November that year.

GARDEN-TO-DOOR SELLING

Zhao Yuzhong has his own way to cut through the middlemen.

He and his fellow farmers on the northern outskirts of Beijing are pioneers in delivering fresh vegetables directly to city consumers, getting produce from field to table in fewer than five hours.

"We now earn more than twice what we did before and our price is 30 percent lower than what the supermarkets offer," Zhao told Reuters by telephone.

The main challenge when they set up their firm in May was how to reach as many families as possible. Since then the company has already broken even and Zhao reckons annual revenues could double to 2 million yuan ($317,500) in 2012.

Its transportation costs are now less than 1 percent of sales.

Taking the initiative has put Zhao and his partners a step ahead of plans the government has to help farmers connect directly with big supermarkets and chain stores.

But both Jiang and Zhao said the retailers charged high fees to sell farmers' products, despite government support.

HUGE SUBSIDIES

Still, squeezing out the middlemen will not completely compensate for the seasonal price swings that can wipe out small farmers.

Jiang suffered big losses selling her Chinese cabbage crop at 0.1 yuan per kilogram after a bumper autumn harvest. Prices in the summer were 1.4 yuan per kilo.

"Vegetable prices are very seasonal. The best way is for the government to set a floor at times of oversupply, buy vegetables

directly from us to build up reserves and release them later to even out price fluctuations," Jiang said.

"All the central government policies are very good. Yet we are not benefiting much," she said.

Beijing is testing the idea of vegetable reserves, basing its plan on the experience it has had in managing grain stores.

But Dang Guoyin, a senior researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said China had limited room to increase farm subsidies and that urbanization would be a better way to raise rural incomes.

China should make it easier for farmers to sell their produce directly at street lane stands, or cut the cost of their access to urban vegetable markets, Dang added.

"The higher the urbanization rate is, the more farmers earn and the narrower the urban-rural income gap becomes."

Other analysts agree, saying that road networks have helped transform China's rural communities despite the profits earned by middlemen.

"One of the greatest things the Chinese government has done for the countryside is to build a good road system," said Richard Herzfelder, a consultant on agricultural issues.

"Once a town connects to a market you can see the whole mixture of crops change, you see the whole landscape change."

($1 = 6.3165 Chinese yuan)

(Additonal reporting by Lucy Hornby; Editing by Don Durfee and Paul Tait)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/china/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120202/bs_nm/us_china_economy_agriculture

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The EU Is Investigating Samsung Over Unfair Patent Lawsuits [Samsung]

When Samsung went on a patent lawsuit spree last year in the European courts, they may have reneged on an agreement they gave the European Telecommunications Standards Institute to license any "essential patents" to competitors "fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory" terms. So now the EU is investigating Samsung on suspicion that they distorted competition in the mobile market. Fun! More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/-z0bqL0ZVkg/eu-lanches-an-antitrust-investigation-against-samsung-over-patent-lawsuits

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Nikon Coolpix P510 arrives in London, we go hands-on (video)

You may have heard that Nikon's revealed a few -- well, a lot of -- new cameras this week. Fortunately it wasn't long until we were able to get to grips with some of the more interesting models. Unfortunately both the super-zooming Coolpix P510 (seen here) and the super-zooming P310 arrived sans battery, unwilling to be coaxed into working, but more than happy to show off how the finished unit would feel in the hand. We were able to get a hardware tour from Nikon's James Loader, who gave us a brief overview of the new Coolpix P series and talked up how that 42x zoom interacts with that 16.1-megapixel backlit CMOS sensor. You'll find that right after the gallery, alongside our own impressions on the hardware. We hope to grab a working sample ahead of the bridge camera's March 22nd launch, priced at £400 ($630) in the UK.

Update: We've corrected the pricing. As previously reported, the camera will reach US shores at a more wallet-friendly $430.

Gallery: Nikon Coolpix P510 hands-on

Continue reading Nikon Coolpix P510 arrives in London, we go hands-on (video)

Nikon Coolpix P510 arrives in London, we go hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Feb 2012 09:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/bCFUWBLWgiM/

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Cancer charity halts grants to Planned Parenthood (AP)

NEW YORK ? The nation's leading breast-cancer charity, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, is halting its partnerships with Planned Parenthood affiliates ? creating a bitter rift, linked to the abortion debate, between two iconic organizations that have assisted millions of women.

The change will mean a cutoff of hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants, mainly for breast exams.

Planned Parenthood says the move results from Komen bowing to pressure from anti-abortion activists. Komen says the key reason is that Planned Parenthood is under investigation in Congress ? a probe launched by a conservative Republican who was urged to act by anti-abortion groups.

The rupture, which has not been publicly announced as it unfolded, is wrenching for some of those who've learned about it and admire both organizations.

"We're kind of reeling," said Patrick Hurd, who is CEO of Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Virginia ? recipient of a 2010 grant from Komen ? and whose wife, Betsi, is a veteran of several Komen fundraising races and is currently battling breast cancer.

"It sounds almost trite, going through this with Betsi, but cancer doesn't care if you're pro-choice, anti-choice, progressive, conservative," Hurd said. "Victims of cancer could care less about people's politics."

Planned Parenthood said the Komen grants totaled roughly $680,000 last year and $580,000 the year before, going to at least 19 of its affiliates for breast-cancer screening and other breast-health services.

Komen spokeswoman Leslie Aun said the cutoff results from the charity's newly adopted criteria barring grants to organizations that are under investigation by local, state or federal authorities. According to Komen, this applies to Planned Parenthood because it's the focus of an inquiry launched by Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., seeking to determine whether public money was improperly spent on abortions.

Cecile Richards, president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, has depicted Stearns' probe as politically motivated and said she was dismayed that it had contributed to Komen's decision to halt the grants to PPFA affiliates.

"It's hard to understand how an organization with whom we share a mission of saving women's lives could have bowed to this kind of bullying," Richards told The Associated Press. "It's really hurtful."

Planned Parenthood has been a perennial target of protests, boycotts and funding cutoffs because of its role as the largest provider of abortions in the United States. Its nearly 800 health centers nationwide provide an array of other services, including birth control, testing for sexually transmitted diseases, and cancer screening.

According to Planned Parenthood, its centers performed more than 4 million breast exams over the past five years, including nearly 170,000 as a result of Komen grants.

Komen, founded in 1982, has invested more than $1.9 billion since then in breast-cancer research, health services and advocacy. Its Race for the Cure fundraising events have become a global phenomenon.

For all its mainstream popularity, however, Komen has been a target of anti-abortion groups since it began its partnerships with Planned Parenthood in 2005.

Life Decisions International includes Komen on its "boycott list" of companies and organizations that support or collaborate with Planned Parenthood. In December, Lifeway Christian Resources, the publishing division of the Southern Baptist Convention announced a recall of pink Bibles it had sold because some of the money generated for Komen was being routed to Planned Parenthood.

Aun, the Komen spokeswoman, said such pressure tactics were not the reason for the funding cutoff and cited Stearns' House investigation as a key factor.

That investigation, which has no set timetable, was launched in September when Stearns asked Planned Parenthood for more than a decade's worth of documents.

Stearns, in a statement emailed to the AP on Monday, said he is still working with Planned Parenthood on getting the requested documents. He said he is looking into possible violations of state and local reporting requirements, as well as allegations of financial abuse, and would consider holding a hearing depending on what he learns.

Many of the allegations were outlined in a report presented to Stearns last year by Americans United for Life, a national anti-abortion group, which urged him to investigate.

Democrats and Planned Parenthood supporters have assailed the probe as an unwarranted political ploy.

Komen, while not publicly announcing its decision to halt the grants, has conveyed the news to its 100-plus U.S. affiliates. Richards said she was informed via a phone call from Komen's president, Elizabeth Thompson, in December.

"It was incredibly surprising," Richards said. "It wasn't even a conversation ? it was an announcement."

Richards subsequently sent a letter to Komen's top leaders ? CEO Nancy Brinker and board chairman Dr. LaSalle D. Leffall, Jr. ? requesting a meeting with the board and asserting that Komen had misrepresented Planned Parenthood's funding-eligibility status in some states.

According to Planned Parenthood, the Komen leaders replied to Richards with a brief letter ignoring the request for a meeting, defending the new grant criteria, and adding, "We understand the disappointment of any organization that is affected by these policy and strategy updates."

Aun, in a telephone interview, said Komen was not accusing Planned Parenthood of any wrongdoing.

"We want to maintain a positive relationship with them," she said. "We're not making any judgment."

Richards said Planned Parenthood is intent on raising funds quickly to replace the lost grants so that women in need do not go without breast-screening services. Already, the family foundation of Dallas oilman/philanthropist Lee Fikes and his wife, Amy, has donated $250,000 for this purpose, Planned Parenthood said.

The Komen decision was perplexing to Dottie Lamm, a Denver newspaper columnist and breast cancer survivor. She has done fundraising for Planned Parenthood, participated in several Races for the Cure, and serves on an honorary advisory council for the local Komen affiliate.

"It really makes me sad," said Lamm, wife of former Colorado Gov. Richard Lamm. "I kind of suspect there's a political agenda that got to Komen ... I hope it can be worked out."

Stephanie Kight, a vice president with Planned Parenthood of Orange and San Bernardino Counties, said her affiliate in Southern California received a Komen grant for 2011 and was able to obtain an additional grant of $120,000 for 2012 by signing the deal with its local Komen counterpart just before Komen's new criteria took effect. Under the criteria, no further grants will be allowed unless the pending House inquiry is resolved in Planned Parenthood's favor.

Kight said her conversations with local Komen leaders indicated there was a shared sense of frustration over the national Komen decision.

"One of the things these organizations share is the trust of women across the United States," Kight said. "That's what we're concerned about ? not losing the trust of these women, who turn to both of us at their most difficult moments."

___

Online:

Susan G. Komen for the Cure: http://ww5.komen.org/

Planned Parenthood: http://www.plannedparenthood.org/

___

David Crary can be followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/CraryAP

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/health/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120131/ap_on_he_me/us_planned_parenthood_komen

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