Dealing With Stress

Previous issues

INITIATIVES
Academic Commandos

RESEARCH
Open Research Day
Dealing With Stress, the Natural Way
Setting the Computer's Sights
Democracy is Not the Key to Peace in the Middle East
Islam and Christianity
Punctuating Mozart
Reshaping Distance Education

TECHNOLOGY
E-reader
Hybrid Books

GRADUATES
Prof. Gidi Gross: Cancer Researcher
Israel Adam: From Slum Alcoholic to Honors Student and a Master's Degree
All Doors Opened to Elishai Ezra
The Open University as His Greatest Challenge in Life: Sharli Afanger

STUDENTS
Walking in Their Footsteps in Ashdod
University Student Since 8th Grade

MILESTONES
Prof. Hagit Messer-Yaron
Prof. Ron Weidberg
Dr. Yuval Eylon
Dr. Adia Mendelsohn-Maoz
Prof. Aviva Halamish
Dr. Ophir Munz-Manor
Dr. Baruch Ziv
Dr. Milly Perry
Dr. Yoav Yair
SuperBrand University

EVENTS
Dance with Your Fears
Heavens Above

RESEARCH
Breakthrough Research: Dealing With Stress, the Natural Way ...continued from previous page. The results have been fascinating. The newborn mice were exposed to stressful situations at the two crucial stages of their lives. One was at a very early age, after the first two weeks of their lives, when they underwent maternal separation for set periods of time. Then, at the stage of maturation, at around one month, the young mice were unexpectedly moved to 'other families' cages, had lights turned on when they should have been off, and had their intake of water limited. In both cases, the mice exhibited extreme signs of stress. The mice were then divided into three different groups, where they were administered either a placebo, a conventional drug for treating anxiety or the natural substance. What Dr. Doron's team discovered was that those mice who had been treated with the natural treatment enjoyed an equivalent reduction in anxiety levels – a low level of corticolesterone in the blood, a standard physiological measure of anxiety – as those who had been treated with the conventional drug. But the conventional drug has side effects, and while the team is now checking for side effects from the natural treatment, they feel certain that there will be none. They also discovered one other interesting effect. The hippocampus area of the brain, responsible for memory, is impacted under stressful levels. Generally, if the stress situation does not take place over an extended period of time, the brain can undergo neurogenesis. Chronic stress lessens the brain’s ability to do so. The chemical inside the body which stimulates neurogenesis is BDNF. Conventional drugs are known to stimulate BDNF and therefore help in the brain’s neurogenesis process, but surprisingly (or maybe not) the natural treatment exhibited even better results. This experiment may have some very long-range implications and applications – from stress control to memory enhancement. The team has already received a provisional patent, and Dr. Ravid Doron has been approached by the Tel Aviv Medical School and the Weizmann Institute who have shown great interest in the experiment. "I am convinced that we will get to the market very quickly, because we are talking about only natural subtances. Right now we are looking for a company to pick up the glove with us, a company interested in pharmacology using nature's own products." In the meantime, they will be expanding the experiments, as per the Helsinki accords, with patients suffering from stress and anxiety currently in Israel's psychiatric hospitals. Page: 1 2

RESEARCH

Breakthrough Research: Dealing With Stress, the Natural Way

...continued from previous page.

The results have been fascinating. The newborn mice were exposed to stressful situations at the two crucial stages of their lives. One was at a very early age, after the first two weeks of their lives, when they underwent maternal separation for set periods of time. Then, at the stage of maturation, at around one month, the young mice were unexpectedly moved to 'other families' cages, had lights turned on when they should have been off, and had their intake of water limited. In both cases, the mice exhibited extreme signs of stress.

The mice were then divided into three different groups, where they were administered either a placebo, a conventional drug for treating anxiety or the natural substance.

What Dr. Doron's team discovered was that those mice who had been treated with the natural treatment enjoyed an equivalent reduction in anxiety levels – a low level of corticolesterone in the blood, a standard physiological measure of anxiety – as those who had been treated with the conventional drug. But the conventional drug has side effects, and while the team is now checking for side effects from the natural treatment, they feel certain that there will be none.

They also discovered one other interesting effect. The hippocampus area of the brain, responsible for memory, is impacted under stressful levels. Generally, if the stress situation does not take place over an extended period of time, the brain can undergo neurogenesis. Chronic stress lessens the brain’s ability to do so. The chemical inside the body which stimulates neurogenesis is BDNF. Conventional drugs are known to stimulate BDNF and therefore help in the brain’s neurogenesis process, but surprisingly (or maybe not) the natural treatment exhibited even better results.

This experiment may have some very long-range implications and applications – from stress control to memory enhancement. The team has already received a provisional patent, and Dr. Ravid Doron has been approached by the Tel Aviv Medical School and the Weizmann Institute who have shown great interest in the experiment.

"I am convinced that we will get to the market very quickly, because we are talking about only natural subtances. Right now we are looking for a company to pick up the glove with us, a company interested in pharmacology using nature's own products."

In the meantime, they will be expanding the experiments, as per the Helsinki accords, with patients suffering from stress and anxiety currently in Israel's psychiatric hospitals.

Page: 1 2