Mindfulness can prevent relapses of depression as effectively as antidepressant pills, according to a study in the Lancet widely reported this morning.
People with recurrent clinical depression assigned to the mindfulness approach while coming off antidepressants were as likely to avoid relapse at two years as those who continued to take drugs, the BBC says.
The mindfulness based CBT helps people focus on the present, recognise warning signs of depression and respond in ways that prevent them falling back into depression, the report explains.
Elsewhere, researchers have found that a steroid cream currently used to treat athlete’s foot could offer a ‘cure for multiple sclerosis’, according to The Telegraph.
Apparently the team found that the drug miconazole ‘instructs’ stem cells in the brain to repair nerve damage. The athlete’s foot drug – and also a cream usually used to treat eczema – stimulated the regeneration of damaged brain cells, which were then found to reverse paralysis in mice.
Lastly, the type of e-cigarette smokers use to help them quit may determine the chance of success, The Independent reports.
In a year-long survey, researchers found nearly a third of smokers who used ‘tank’-style e-cigarettes were able to quit smoking, compared with only 11% of ‘cigalike’ realistic type e-cigarette users, and 13% of non-users.
According to the report, experts believe this is a concern because ‘many of the most prominent brands in the UK are owned by tobacco companies’.
