Mind Matters

Bad habits are a form of defiance; Plus: Can Marijuana unlock lost memories?

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Our Bad Habits: Why, Oh, Why?

Those of us with persistent bad habits aren't quite blue in the face yet, but we just as well ought to be since we spend so much time ignoring public health warnings about smoking, drinking, overeating and stressing out. But there's a reason we won't stop, reveal studies conducted at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada.

It is the underlying cause.

Rural sociology professor Dr. Cindy Jardine studied the lifestyle habits of people who ranked habits such as smoking, stress and sun-tanning. Smoking was ranked "very dangerous" by more than half of those surveyed in one group. In another group, 65 percent said smoking was "very dangerous."

The need to be socially accepted and "plain, old human defiance" were two main causes of keeping up bad habits, the study found. Other reasons included underlying reasons such as poverty, joblessness and a history of abuse.

"People have a very realistic understanding of the various risks in the lives," Jardine says. "... but we need to look at other factors we haven't been looking at before. If we could get to the underlying issues of what turns people to drink, would do better in fully understanding the context of their lives."

Simply put, Jardine says, people won't give up risky behavior until they understand the psychology behind their actions.

Image courtesy iStock Photo

Marijuana May Unlock Memory Loss

While the medicinal effect of marijuana is embroiled in a perpetual debate, an Ohio State researcher has found that the drug may slow the memory-erasing effects of Alzheimer's disease.

In a study of rats (whose biological responses closely mimic those of humans), Dr. Craig Wenk induced the effects of Alzheimer's by causing rat brains to become inflamed. Brain inflammation, Wenk says, is a normal part of aging, but it does serious damage in Alzheimer's sufferers.

A synthetic substance similar to the marijuana plant reduced brain swelling, and the rats were better able to recall details of specific tasks.

"It's a pretty good prediction of how a human would respond to this drug," according to Wenk.

The substance cannot be used in humans because it, too, has the psychoactive effects of marijuana.

"Using synthetic component may eventually help us to separate the beneficial effects from the psychoactive effects [of marijuana]," Wenk said.

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