Jealousy and the rotting of our bones

Jealousy and the rotting of our bones

Jealousy comes in many different sizes and reasons.
To the reader and most people, a bad habit, but unavoidable.
We become envious when we compete, and we do - in many areas of modern living: work, study and sport are the obvious ones, but neighbours, parents and lovers all find a good reason to be envious.
Wanting something or someone that we don't have, which we think we deserve, but unfortunately the other owns.

This unwelcome feeling and desire is highly unhealthy for us for several reasons. It's brings and promotes anger - at life, colleague at work or yourself and leads to a very bad thing indeed - depression.

In Proverbs 12;4 King Solomon a wise man, no doubt, writes:
'A noble wife is the crown of her husband, but the wife that acts shamefully is like rottenness in his bones'.
And a more familiar one in Proverbs 14;30 :
'A tranquil spirit revives the body, but envy is rottenness to the bones'.
At first glance, a metaphoric description but is it really?

Almost 3,000 years later and surprisingly enough, in the same city, researchers at the Hebrew university of Jerusalem found that depression
can cause a loss of bone mass leading to Osteoporosis.

Three researchers, Prof. Raz Yirmia from the university's Brain and Behavior Laboratory, Prof. Itai Bab from the Bone Laboratory and Prof.
Esther Shohami from the Brain Trauma Laboratory say they understand
better the interaction between the mind and the skeletal system.
Their findings were published by the American journal - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

The research done mainly on rodents, shows that after four weeks of depressed state, the animals developed a massive bone mass loss.
The reason - a reduction in bone-building cells - called Osteoblasts, and as a result damage to the bone renewal process.
A connection was made by the researchers between depression and the skeletal system - and that depression sets off a system called 'Sympathetic Nervous system' which releases a neurotransmitter named Noradrenaline-
as result of depression, but also from various other stress situations.
The Noradrenaline has a negative effect on the bone building cells, but treatment with anti-depressant drug- blocks Noradrenaline and by doing so the detrimental influence on the bone.

Good news especially when we study the staggering numbers:
One in two women and one in five man over the age of 50 years old will break a bone because of this condition. Many millions all over the world
are suffering.
Osteoporosis is caused by hormonal conditions, smoking
and different chronic diseases and not only because of depression, but the effect of mental health on our body is again proven.

-prevention is better than cure.

Lets assume depression is responsible for ten percent of the cases of Osteoporosis and that anti-depressant drugs are necessary and can help many of these people.
We are left with millions of people who can be helped by doing good to themselves&others - stop being envious!
There is nothing to gain - just pain.
Each person has his own journey to march, and he should enjoy it regardless of the material circumstances.