How Much Sleep Do We Really Need?

As a college student, I can relate to the feeling that you're not getting enough sleep. Whether I'm staying up to finish a paper, to study for a test the next day, to finish a project, or just because I'm out with friends, I often find that I am crawling into bed at 3 or 4 in the morning, planning to get up only a few hours later for class. Every night before I go to sleep, I count in my head how many hours of sleep I will probably get, and the numbers seem to get smaller and smaller as each semester goes on. I would estimate that I average about 6 hours of sleep a night, and possibly an hour-long nap during the day if I am extremely lucky. An article from the New York Times, however, suggests that this is not enough sleep per night.

The article says that most people need 8 hours of sleep a night. This might seem like old news, but they actually did a study on how much sleep people need to test this. They had groups of people sleep for 4, 6, or 8 hours a night for two weeks, and tested their alertness every couple hours each day to see how the amount of sleep they got affected them. The study suggests that people who get 6 hours of sleep a day (like me) have a declining level of alertness each day. After two weeks of sleeping 6 hours a night, these subjects were as impaired as people who are legally drunk. Wake up call! I need to make sure that I try my hardest to get 8 hours of sleep every night, or else I will be going to class and taking tests like I am drunk. Not exactly the impression I want to make on teachers...

Article Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/17/magazine/mag-17Sleep-t.html?ref=health

Image Source: http://blog.visiondecor.com/index.php/2008/08/30/dont-ruin-your-college-sleep-schedule/

Video Game Addiction - What is our world coming to?

This past week we talked about video games in class, and whether or not they are a reason that so many children are obese today. An article from discovermagazine.com suggests that video games are not only dangerous because of the effects that it has on children's weight, but that they can actually become addicting as well. The study said that boys are four times as likely to become addicted to video games as girls, and kids who are addicted to video games are twice as likely to have ADD than other kids and will have worse grades than kids who are not addicted. The study doesn't necessarily say that playing video games makes children have these negative effects on their behavior - it could be that children who aren't doing well in school desire to play video games to become good at something. But, in my opinion, I think that the massive amounts that children spend playing video games is a negative effect on their progress in school, their ability to have creativity to play in other ways, and the development of an attention span.

I think that the effects that video games have on children cause a need for a major revolution in the parenting styles of today's society. Most parents are too afraid of sending children outside to play, or don't want to have to put up with the child's complaining, so they just stick their kid in front of a TV set and hand them either the remote or an Xbox controller. This has changed so much even since the time I was a kid - either that, or my parents were just different. The only gaming system my family ever owned was a Nintendo 64. We still have that gaming system and play it once every couple months or so for the memories of when we were kids, but my sisters and I were not ruled by this gaming system when we were young. We went OUTSIDE! Every day, sometimes all day. My parents didn't force us to, we wanted to! We came up with so many games and scenarios - I still remember playing orphanage, mommy and kids, runaway slaves, and so much more. We would also ride bikes all the time, play with chalk, jumprope, make forts in the backyard, jump on the trampoline, swing, play hide and seek, and so much more. None of my sisters or I have Attention Deficit Disorder, none of my sisters or I are overweight, and none of us have ever had any problem with excelling in school.

I think that if parents realized exactly how harmful video game systems are on their children's development, they would not allow their children to play them so much. If parents protest in saying that they can't do anything about it, or their kid would hate them or sulk for days about it - who cares! You are the parent, you have the authority, and you need to step up and take charge, for the sake of the good of your child! Yes, he might sulk for days or even months, but in the end you have done what is right, and he will thank you eventually. Parents need to foster creativity and imaginations in their children instead of sticking them in front of a television with a PS3, Xbox, Wii, or whatever it might be. If they are worried about peer pressure to buy their kids portable gaming systems, don't give in. Other people should not rule the way you parent your children, and if you want to help your child escape the possibility of a video game addiction, you will stand up for the health and development of your child by not allowing them to play video games more than they ought to.

Article Source: http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2009/04/22/some-kids-are-pathologically-addicted-to-video-games-study-finds/comment-page-1/#comment-807276

Image Source: http://www.skuggen.com/2010/08/addiction-to-video-games-curable-with-medicine/

Fasting - New Reasons to Stop Eating!

A recent article from DiscoverMagazine.com details two studies that fasting can improve heart health and reduce the chance of diabetes. The studies show that fasting reduces the level of triglycerides and the blood sugar level in the body, both of which are good things. Also, fasting induces the production of a human growth hormone by 2,000%! Fasting has also, in these studies, been linked to lower cholesterol and better memories. Although the study of the longterm effects of fasting has not been concluded since these studies are fairly recent, I believe that one could safely assume that fasting for a limited amount of time is good for the body and the mind.

If fasting truly does all of these things for your body, I am surprised that more people do not fast more often. I know that many religious people, including myself, fast on occasion, usually to remember to pray for something every time they get hungry. I have only fasted a few times, and only for things that are very important to me. I'm the type of person who loves her food, so I don't give it up easily! Also, I have always played sports year round since I was little, so I wasn't able to stop eating for an extended period of time because I needed the food for my sports. The few times that I have fasted, though, I survived without a hitch, so I don't think that fasting is too much of a strain on my body. The researcher in this article fasts for one day, once a month. I think that I will try to adopt this habit in hopes that it will reduce my chances getting of diabetes and coronary heart disease and decrease my triglyceride level. Who knows, maybe I'll even lose some weight from this endeavor!

Another facet of the study showed that fasting for only one day raises the level of a growth hormone by 2000%! I wonder if children who fasted for one day a month since they were young would grow up to be bigger and stronger than children who do not fast. I do not know if this study would be ethical or not (I am guessing that depriving children of food is probably looked down upon in most circles), but I do think that it would be an interesting study, nevertheless. But, whether or not children are able to execute the opportunity of fasting, I will implement this in my own life, and hope that it has good consequences for my body.
Article Source:http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2011/04/08/a-day-without-food-may-help-maintain-a-heart-without-disease/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+80beats+%2880beats%29
Image Source:https://mrkhealth.pbworks.com/w/page/23513911/How-can-we-educate-and-help-IA-students-avoid-the-dangers-of-Eating-Disorders

"Alzheimer's: A Few Helpful Tips"

My uncle has Alzheimer's. He has steadily been getting worse, and in recent years, his disease progressed even more. A recent article by CNN details how the disease of Alzheimer's has the capability to make a relatively peaceful person very violent toward family members and pets. I fear for my uncle and his wife, and that this violence from Alzheimer's could possibly happen to their family. If he develops angry tendencies or violent behaviors, like the people in the CNN article, it could cause disaster for my family. My aunt, his wife, is very small and fragile, and probably would not be able to handle the care of my uncle if he were to become violent. There are several tips that this article offers, however, that seem like they would be very helpful to tell my aunt if my uncle's case were to worsen even more.

A few of these tips are:

1. Back down if the patient does not want to do something. Wait until a later, more opportune time when he has calmed down.

2. Apologize when the patient is upset, even if you did nothing wrong. It will calm the person down.

3. Change the topic when something you are talking about is upsetting the patient.

4. Remember that the Alzheimer's patient sees the world through different eyes than you.

5. If needed, call someone for help.

People who have family members or friends who have Alzheimer's would do well to learn these few tips that will help them to communicate and calm the people with the disease. I am glad that I have learned these helpful tips so that I will be able to better communicate with my uncle as his disease progresses.

Article Source: http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/03/30/alzheimers.violence.caregiving/index.html 

Image Source:http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-563223/Alzheimers-sufferers-win-landmark-court-appeal-denied-drugs.html 

"The Down-low About Kissing"

An article that details twenty facts about kissing from DiscoverMagazine.com shows that kissing involves much more than just showing your partner you love them! This article teaches how kissing is cultural and learned, how it can make or break a relationship, how it produces certain chemicals in the body, and how nasty saliva really is.

First, kissing is not a universal behavior in all cultures, but it does exist in more species than just us humans. Apes press their lips together to show emotions, just as we press our lips to other people to show emotions. It is a cultural behavior because not all cultures do it, but the Romans, and later the Europeans, helped to spread the act of kissing throughout more of the world. It is also a learned behavior, thought of as coming from the natural feeding experiences that humans experience in early childhood as well as from an old tradition of smelling the cheek of a loved one. This was a surprise to me – I ignorantly believed that most, if not all cultures in the world kissed each other as a sign of affection. But, apparently this is just another example of me being so American-minded and not knowing enough about other cultures in the world.

People determine their compatibility with each other in a scientific sense through smelling each other. Being close to a person when you are kissing them gives you a perfect opportunity to be able to smell their specific scent and determine whether or not the scientific part of your mind thinks that you two make a good match. Apparently, women are even able to distinguish between men who have different immunity-coding genes than themselves, and are possibly even more attracted to such men. This would result in their baby having a stronger immune system than a baby whose father had the same immunity-coding genes as the mother. This seems like natural selection at work! I never had any clue that the brains of women could work like this, and choose men who have different genes through smelling them while kissing.

Besides the whole immunity-coding genes deal, there is another biological factor that kissing adds to the mix. Kissing spurs the production of neurotransmitters such as dopamine, known as “the love drug.” Dopamine is a neurotransmitter produced in the brain that is associated with feelings of happiness and desire. The production of this drug is especially present when kissing a person for the first time, and it can add to the feeling that is perceived as being in love because it causes a person to lose their appetite and not be able to sleep. Kissing also has other hormonal effects, causing men to produce oxytocin, which causes them to become more attached to the woman that they are kissing. Also, kissing reduces the levels of cortisol in the body, which makes people healthier and less stressed out. Who would have thought that kissing is actually healthy! It helps you to feel happier, healthier, less stressed and more attached to the person that you are kissing!

While there are several good things about kissing, like some of the few already mentioned, there is also a dirty, bacterial side to this deed. This article in particular details the nitty-gritty about saliva. More men than women prefer kisses with tongue, but there can be a downside to this – there are about 100 million bacteria in every milliliter of saliva! But, the act of exchanging saliva while kissing allows a man to pass testosterone to his partner, which could increase his partner’s sex drive and possibly even increase the number of offspring. Even though there is this upside to exchanging saliva, there is always the scary thought of having bad breath or something in your teeth when you’re kissing someone – but thankfully for us women, we care a lot more about that then men do. Although the thought of exchanging so much bacteria in your saliva is particularly disgusting, I highly doubt that it will cause anyone to stop kissing their boyfriend or girlfriend!

Article Source: http://discovermagazine.com/2011/jan-feb/20-things-you-didnt-know-about-kissing

Image Source: http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://images.quizilla.com/H/HIM6six6HER/1125605151_nocentkiss.JPG&imgrefurl=http://www.myspace.com/blobmonkey&usg=__9Rgw3muZD6EpBZNyx_vYH8mknQ8=&h=285&w=416&sz=10&hl=en&start=0&sig2=eV6zLR6a-fvgRADK60Jkkw&zoom=1&tbnid=4liLCDT9Ko52IM:&tbnh=138&tbnw=184&ei=KNyGTdK5GYa3tgervI2-BA&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dinnocent%2Bkiss%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Den%26biw%3D1003%26bih%3D607%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=263&oei=KNyGTdK5GYa3tgervI2-BA&page=1&ndsp=15&ved=1t:429,r:3,s:0&tx=69&ty=103 

AIDS

If a survey was conducted that asked people what disease they would most like NOT to get, I bet that one of the top answers would be AIDS. This syndrome is a disease that leads to different diseases as well, and is caused by a virus called HIV (human immunodeficiency virus). There are treatments available for this disease, but no ultimate cure that rids a body of AIDS.

In the 1980s, gay men and intravenous drug users started developing symptoms that led to the discovery of AIDS. Scientists think that this disease originated in chimpanzees in Africa, but moved to humans, possibly by humans eating infected chimps. Now it is a pandemic, an epidemic that is spread over a wide geographical area. It is present in every country in the world, although the concentration of AIDS is in sub-Saharan Africa.

AIDS is actually very easy to get – if you have contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person, then the virus is transferred from their body to yours. Most people who get AIDS get it through unprotected sex, but there are other ways to get it too. The spread of the disease would be much less if people would only wear condoms, become more educated about sex, and even if circumcisions were performed for male. There are also treatments that can help to slow the replication of the HIV virus in the body, but there is no treatment to eradicate the virus from the body completely. Scientists are working on a vaccine for AIDS, and currently have about 30 potential vaccines, but none have been confirmed to prevent the disease.

I, personally, would be devastated if anyone I knew contracted AIDS. You always hear such scary stories about people dying from AIDS, especially in Africa, and it is so easy to get that I would not be surprised if I actually do know people that have it. I hope that the scientists working on cures and vaccines come to a major breakthrough that eliminates this disease from the world, but I doubt that it would happen for quite some time. Something that comes to my mind through learning about AIDS is the difference between the research for a cure for AIDS and the research about cancer. In my mind, my first thought is that more time and resources should be spent on the research for cancer, because patients don’t have any choice in the matter of whether or not they get cancer. It seems to me that AIDS patients mostly get the disease from irresponsibility on someone’s part, but I know that I do not know enough about the disease to make a judgment like that. I do hope that diseases such as cancer and AIDS will be wiped out in coming years, so that everyone will have a better chance to experience the joys of life in this world.

Image Source: http://panachereport.com/channels/old_school_update/AIDSBLK.htm

Article Source:http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/health-and-human-body/human-diseases/aids-article/?source=A-to-Z

"Discrimination Directed Towards Obese People"

Everyone has had an experience with discrimination at some point in their lives. Whether it be based on gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, or whatever else, discrimination is never a pleasant experience for anyone involved. What some may be surprised to find out is that there is discrimination related to people’s weight going on in this country also. Research has been conducted that shows that when obese people feel like they are being discriminated against, it can have negative effects on their health. Now obviously, the obesity itself has severe effects on their health, but research conducted by a group from Purdue University says that obese people who feel discriminated against are more likely to have a steeper decline in their health over time than obese people who do not feel as though they are being discriminated against.

The Purdue team surveyed a group of people about health problems, and, as would be expected when this survey was followed up ten years afterwards, the obese people were the ones who had the worst health in the group. But, not as easy to expect, the obese people who felt that they experienced discrimination because of their weight experienced the biggest decline in their health and functional abilities over this period of ten years.

Everyone knows that discrimination is unhealthy for everyone involved. It’s not good for society and it has the capacity to affect the mental aspect of the lives of all involved. Although we mostly think about discrimination being because of race, now we know that it even applies to people who are overweight. I once saw an episode of “What Would You Do?” on TV, and one of the scenarios was that waiters would make fun of larger people for ordering big meals. I couldn’t believe that anything like that would happen in the real world, but now that I have thought about this type of thing more, I am sure that it happens a lot more than most people think it does. I think that, just as we should stand up for people who are being treated unfairly or cruelly because of their race or ethnicity, everyone should stand up for people who are being discriminated against because of their size. Normally, when I am in public, I don’t like to get involved with other people’s business, but now that I know that it is a proven scientific fact that discrimination against obese people significantly fare worse in their health, I will be more likely to interfere with such a discriminatory situation. Everyone deserves a chance at a happy life, and no one should be allowed to take that away from anybody.

Article Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/bysubject/social.php

“Stigma weighs heavily on obese people, contributing to greater health problems”

Image Source: http://civicplatform.blogspot.com/2010/09/how-to-overcome-discrimination-in-world.html 

"How NOT To Choke When You're Nervous"

            Everyone experiences things in life where they are under a tremendous amount of pressure to perform well. Whether it be a job interview, a sports game, or the SAT, there is always the terrifying chance that you will choke under the pressure and fail. Science has actually found different ways to reduce the chance of choking, which, if implemented, could possibly help people to become more successful in stressful situations.

Scientist Sian Beilock, who has Ph.D.s in both psychology and kinesiology, says that choking happens when you try to control motor skills that you would perform better if you didn’t pay attention to them or when we allow ourselves to be distracted by anxious thoughts. It happens when we are very aware of the pressure that is placed on us to do well in a specific situation. An easy way of thinking about it is that if you worry about what’s going on, then it takes up space in your brain so that you don’t have enough room to focus on the task that you are trying to perform well.

Choking and pressure comes from a variety of places. One of these is stereotypes. Pressure can come from how well one is expected to perform – if they know that stereotypes or certain people expect that they will perform well, then they are more likely to do well. If, however, stereotypes expect them to perform badly, then they are more likely to perform badly. For example, when Asian girls taking a math test focus on the fact girls are not expected to do as well as boys on math tests, their performance suffers. If they focus on the fact that Asians are stereotypically better at math than people from other ethnicities, they are likely to perform well.

Another reason that some people choke is that they are self-conscious about their body movements. For example, if someone is worried about if they look funny while playing a sport, they may not perform as well as they can. Self-monitoring doesn’t allow you to be as good as you could be at what you’re doing. If a basketball player is worried about whether he looks good to the cheerleaders standing by the court, then he is not focusing as much as he can on doing well in the basketball game.

Over-thinking things doesn’t allow you to perform your best either. Studies have shown that writing about your worries and fears before a big test will actually increase your score. Although it might seem that it would be bad to focus on your worries right before a big test, it’s actually better to get them all written down and out of your mind before you begin a test or go into an interview.

The last thing that makes it easy for a person to choke is interpreting

things going on with your body in a negative light. For example, if your heart starts beating really fast and your palms get clammy, you will be more likely to choke if you attribute those things to nervousness. If you attribute them to excitement and readiness to get started, however, then you are less likely to choke.

            Knowing what factors add to the chance that you will choke in a pressure-filled environment will allow you to avoid them, and hopefully succeed more than you fail. I personally have experienced some of these factors that, when handled poorly, have caused me to choke, and when handled well, have caused me to perform well. I have tried writing about my feelings when I have felt really stressed before a big test, and I performed very well on the test. These factors have all come into play before my piano competitions and sports games also. When my heart is beating fast before a big volleyball game and I think it is because of my nervousness, I therefore become nervous. When I don’t make a big deal out of it, however, I don’t think that I am nervous, and perform better. I think that, with all of the pressure-filled situations out there in the world today, people would be better off knowing all of these factors that could cause them to choke so that they can try their best to avoid them.

Article Source: http://discovermagazine.com/2010/the-brain-2/06-science-reveals-how-not-to-choke-under-pressure

Image Source: http://www.abundantprivatepractices.com/bootcamp_mar09.html 

"Advantages to Paying Attention in High School Spanish"

It seems that every elderly person today is developing Alzheimer's. Chances are that you know someone who has dementia - possibly even a family member. Alzheimer's is a disease that affects not only the person who endures it, but all those who have a relationship with that person. The loss of memory often results in that person forgetting favorite memories or even a person altogether, even a close family member such as a daughter or husband. These devastating consequences have caused Alzheimer's to be one of the most dreaded diseases, and the fact that there is no cure yet for this disease makes the prospect of developing dementia that much more unpleasant. But, don't give up all hope of remembering your loved ones for the rest of your life - even though the scientific community has not uncovered a cure, it has learned that certain things can lessen the chance that your life will be severely affected by Alzheimer's.

A recent article from Discover Magazine called "Alzheimer's Study: Bilingual Brains are Dementia-Resistant" relates the new discovery that bilingual people have a greater chance of coping better with dementia than monolingual people. Psychologist Ellen Bialystok performed a study on 200 people, half of which were bilingual and half were monolingual, and presented the results of this study at the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in Washington D.C. recently. These people all had about the same level of mental capacity, but the bilingual people were diagnosed with Alzheimer's about four years later than the monolingual people. While speaking two languages doesn't mean that you won't contract the disease, it does prolong it for years, years that could be precious and invaluable for you and your family.

Bialystok also performed CT scans on these 200 patients, and even found that the dementia had affected the brains of the bilingual people more so than the monolingual people. This means that the disease had been more destructive in the brains of people who spoke multiple languages. Although one might think that the bilingual people might have reacted worse to the disease because of this, the opposite is true - the brains of the bilingual people, whether it was because of the extra 'brain exercise' or development from speaking two languages, allowed them to cope better with the disease, even though it was more advanced in their brains.

Babies who grow up speaking two languages are even better off than people who learn a second language later in life. While they enjoy the advantages of being better off if they end up contracting Alzheimer's, they also develop other very useful skills because of this bilingual knowledge. If a person who has spoken two languages all of his life looks at two people speaking different languages, he can determine which is speaking what language by simply watching him, without even hearing the words that the person is speaking! People who grow up deciphering between body languages and mouth movements of different languages can carry this knowledge over to other languages as well, which can prove to be a very useful life-skill. 

Learning of these potential health benefits to speaking more than one language pushes me more than ever before to learn another language. I wish that I had known of these health benefits and social benefits earlier - if I had, I might have put more effort into my high school Spanish classes, with the hope that I would be able to cope with Alzheimer's more efficiently if I ever get this disease when I am older. Because of the benefits of speaking more than one language, I believe that everyone should push themselves to learn another language - he would be able to have many social benefits such as being able to talk to people who speak only that language, and then that person would be able to battle Alzheimer's better in their older life. Such a discovery even makes me think about teaching my children another language from a very young age so that they will develop all of the benefits associated with being bilingual.

Article Source: http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2011/02/22/alzheimers-study-bilingual-brains-are-dementia-resistant/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+80beats+%2880beats%29

Image Source: http://biopsyreport.com/2008/03/10/dementia-happens/ 

“Cancer? Psh…Ignore It”

H. Gilbert Welch, a physician at the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, has come up with a new idea in the world of cancer and the treatments of this disease. He says that America has essentially become way too quick to jump to treat cancerous tumors found in patients, and that people might actually benefit from ignoring their tumors. I know, my first thought is…”What?!”  Dr. Welch puts forth some convincing arguments that might even persuade some people to wait and see what their body alone does with the cancer before seeking medical treatment. Then again, his seemingly nonchalant attitude toward the people who are harmed by such tumors puts me on the total opposite side of the fence.

Dr. Welch says that because American doctors are so quick to treat anyone who has the slightest sign of cancer, many people who didn’t really need the treatment have had to undergo treatments that have left them scarred psychologically and physically. The National Breast Cancer Coalition even opposed a legal bill that promotes that women under 40 years old should go through early-detection screening for breast cancer. Is the medical community really supporting the idea that women with a chance of developing breast cancer should not go through the steps to ensure that they can live as long as possible? Even if there are people who have to endure treatments that they don’t really benefit from, isn’t it worth it if we can save the lives of people who DID benefit from such treatments? Scientists have studied prostate cancer and the percentages of men who actually benefit from treatment. They say that fifty men had to be diagnosed and treated for one to benefit. Isn’t this worth it though? I’d rather that happen than that one man not get treated because his chances aren’t good that it will hurt him. What if it does?

Welch also mentions a study of two groups of Norwegian women who were screened for breast cancer – one group was screened three times, and one group was screened only the last time. In theory, the last scans would show all of the tumors that have been accumulating over a period of time, but this did not happen. There were actually tumors that showed up in the first two scans that did not show up in the last scan of the women who were scanned three times. The tumors disappeared! There is always a chance that cancerous tumors will disappear by natural causes, but there is also the very dangerous chance that the tumors will grow and become incredibly treacherous to the patient. Does the fact that some tumors disappear naturally mean that we shouldn’t immediately treat any tumors that we see in patients? I sure hope not. There will be tumors that will go away naturally – I understand that. But the chance that the tumors are malignant and will grow is too great, in my opinion, to wait and see if the tumor will go away on its own. My grandmother and aunt both suffered from and beat breast cancer. If the doctors had told them to ignore their first symptoms or tumors, who knows what would have happened. I think that even if there will be an enormous number of people who will get unnecessary treatment, it is worth it if it helps even just a few people who benefit from this treatment. In this type of dilemma, I’m on the “better safe than sorry” side.

Article source: http://discovermagazine.com/2009/new-science-of-health/new-rx-for-cancer-ignore-it-sometimes
Image source: http://shareforus.com/anti-cancer-food/anti-cancer