The Malaysian Insider :: Features
The Malaysian Insider :: Features |
| Running may reduce the lust for money, says study Posted: 05 Mar 2013 07:30 AM PST  A new German study finds that running may take the edge off a desire for money. — shutterstock.com picNEW YORK, March 5 — Aerobic exercise can reduce cravings for sugar and nicotine, and according to a new Germany study it may also reduce your desire for money. In the study, in this month's issue of Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, researchers divided 48 men into two groups, with one group running on a treadmill for 30 minutes at low to moderate intensity. According to Runner's World, the placebo group performed light stretches and arm circles. An hour after the workouts, the subjects played a game in which money was the incentive, all while an MRI monitored their brain activity. Runner's World writes that the subjects had to press buttons as quickly as possible to either win a euro or prevent themselves from losing one. Each subject performed the task 75 times. Results showed that the running group had lower cravings for cash, likely due to the feel-good effect of dopamine — which overrides the brain's desire for money, at least for a few hours after your workout. Access the study: http://journals.lww.com/acsm-msse/Abstract/2013/03000/Acute_Exercise_Influences_Reward_Processing_in.25.aspx |
| Haunted by trauma, tsunami survivors in Japan turn to exorcists Posted: 05 Mar 2013 01:00 AM PST  World Japan mourns; grapples with tsunami aftermath UPDATED @ 03:47:41 PM 11-03-2012 March 11, 2012 An evacuee of Okuma town, who is dressed in a protective suit, offers prayers for victims of the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami. — Reuters picHIGASHI-MATSUSHIMA (Japan), March 5 — The tsunami that engulfed northeastern Japan two years ago has left some survivors believing they are seeing ghosts. In a society wary of admitting to mental problems, many are turning to exorcists for help. Tales of spectral figures lined up at shops where now there is only rubble are what psychiatrists say is a reaction to fear after the March 11, 2011, disaster in which nearly 19,000 people were killed. "The places where people say they see ghosts are largely those areas completely swept away by the tsunami," said Keizo Hara, a psychiatrist in the city of Ishinomaki, one of the areas worst-hit by the waves touched off by an offshore earthquake. "We think phenomena like ghost sightings are perhaps a mental projection of the terror and worries associated with those places." Hara said post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) might only now be emerging in many people, and the country could be facing a wave of stress-related problems. "It will take time for PTSD to emerge for many people in temporary housing for whom nothing has changed since the quake," he said. Shinichi Yamada escaped the waves that destroyed his home and later salvaged two Buddhist statues from the wreckage. But when he brought them back to the temporary housing where he lived, he said strange things began to happen. His two children suddenly got sick and an inexplicable chill seemed to follow the family through the house, he said. "A couple of times when I was lying in bed, I felt something walking across me, stepping across my chest," Yamada told Reuters. Many people in Japan hold on to ancient superstitions despite its ultra-modern image. Yamada, like many other people in the area, turned to exorcist Kansho Aizawa for help. Aizawa, 56, dressed in a black sweater and trousers and with dangling pearl earrings, said in an interview in her home that she had seen numerous ghosts. "There are headless ghosts, and some missing hands or legs. Others are completely cut in half," she said. "People were killed in so many different ways during the disaster and they were left like that in limbo. So it takes a heavy toll on us, we see them as they were when they died." In some places destroyed by the tsunami, people have reported seeing ghostly apparitions queuing outside supermarkets which are now only rubble. Taxi drivers said they avoided the worst-hit districts for fear of picking up phantom passengers. "At first, people came here wanting to find the bodies of their family members. Then they wanted to find out exactly how that person died, and if their spirit was at peace," Aizawa said. As time passed, people's requests changed. "They've started wanting to transmit their own messages to the dead," Aizawa said. Shinichi Yamada said life had improved since he put the two Buddhist statues in a shrine and prayed. He still believes the statues are haunted, but now thinks their spirits are at peace. — Reuters |
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