Did you know that clinical depression causes more years of disability than cancer, HIV/AIDS, and cardiovascular and respiratory diseases combined? A major depressive episode occurs in five to seven percent of the world’s population every year, and one in six people will at some point suffer from the disease. This is why scientists in Israel and elsewhere are constantly on … [Read more...]

Hospitals across the United States are installing the Israeli-devised MAP (Monitor Alert Protect) system — the world’s first continuous bedside monitoring device to display, in real time, where a patient is developing high-pressure points that lead to bedsores. MAP consists of a pressure-sensing mat that sits on top of the bed, wired to a monitor that provides color-coded … [Read more...]

Maybe it’s not only teachers who get a headache from their students’ lip smacking, bubble popping and gum cracking. Dr. Nathan Watemberg of Meir Medical Center in Kfar Saba, Israel, has evidence that gum-chewing teenagers, and younger children as well, may be giving themselves a pain in the head. His small study focused on child and adolescent gum-chewers suffering from … [Read more...]

The mosquito-borne parasites that cause malaria were wiped out in Israel several years before the state’s founding in 1948. So why did leading malaria experts choose Jerusalem as the place to meet last week to formulate a new strategy for African nations? Because the tactics that proved successful here in the 1920 and 1930s, coupled with new technologies, could be exactly … [Read more...]

Most of us have moments when we could really use a hug – when we’re sad, lonely, scared or stressed. The therapeutic value of a good squeeze for emotional well being is well documented. For people affected by autism, post-traumatic stress and anxiety or attention disorders, research has shown that hugging is an especially effective soother. Spread the Word • Email this … [Read more...]