We have all heard the saying, “Like father, like son.”  A new study though takes the meaning of it a step further. As we watch young children grow up, we often may wonder if their health and body weight is based solely off what their diets consist of.  However, a new study raises the question…Can high sugar diets in fathers lead to obese offspring?

A study done by Science Daily wanted to test this theory and used fruit flies to do so.  The study injected sugar into male fruit flies just one or two days before mating and found that obesity was a result in their offspring.  This occurred due to alterations that affected gene expression in the embryo.  Looking at the study, the male fruit flies that did not receive increased sugar injections before mating had “normal” weighing offspring, while the male fruit flies with the increased sugar injections had offspring who were larger and less healthy.

When looking at this study, there are undoubtedly factors that could cause no correlational between it and humans.  For one, fruit flies are a completely different species than humans are. Their reaction to the increased sugar levels could effect their offspring differently than human offspring.  However, the study could potentially be very important in teaching humans a lesson. If there was an effect on a baby fruit fly from its dad only having increased sugar before mating for a day or two, it really makes you think about a human male who had been consuming sugar for weeks, months, or even years before mating.

It could easily be argued that fruit flies are too different from humans, so I decided to see if there were any studies done regarding this topic on the animal that is closest to the human: the monkey.

The study done with monkeys wanted to take the research a step further and analyze the offspring’s health and weight after examining both the father and mother’s dietary habits.  In the study, there were two groups.  One group was offsprings born to mothers who ate a high fat diet in which 36% of the daily calorie intake was fat.  The opposing group, which was the controlled group in the study, were offspring who were born to mother’s who ate a diet where only 14% of the daily calorie intake was fat. When the baby monkeys were six to eleven months in age (equivalent to a human toddler), their dietary preferences, body composition, and physical activity were all measured.  The offspring who were born to mothers of healthy diets reported to have a higher desire for healthy foods, slimmer figures, and a higher rate of physical activity on a daily basis.

The results of this study were looked at from a controlled and not controlled group, which provided the researchers with a good way to compare the two offsprings.  It makes you think about how great the effect of the mother and father’s diets can be on their future offsprings.  The study brought up a good point that not only genetically can it effect the offspring, but it can also effect his or her choices in diet.  Thinking about this, it does make logical sense.  If you are constantly fed a certain way, your body will become accustomed to that food and crave it more. Or perhaps how a child who grows up in a healthy food household will be more likely to feed their future children the same way.

Thinking about the issue a bit further, once out of the womb, a very common practice is to breast feed your child.  This got me thinking about whether the mother’s diet still can effect her child during the breast feeding period. According to Live Strong, eating unhealthy foods high in sugar and glucose reduces the important and healthy vitamins and nutrients from your body.  These nutrients, or lack thereof, are given directly to the baby through the mother’s breast milk.   So, if a mother continues to eat unhealthy while breast feeding; the baby can be suffering the consequences of her actions.

In conclusion, while there are third variables that play a role in an of offspring’s weight and health, the tests with fruit flies and monkeys both seem to suggest the parents diet plays a role as well.  If eating healthy is good for you anyway, why not stick to that routine and increase the chances of giving a healthy life to your baby? Andrew has always taught us in these situations to analyze the benefits versus the costs.  So, one may argue that a healthier diet is more expensive or time consuming to make.  So, I would say, if one is able to eat healthy despite these factors: it is definitely worth it in the long run and possibly even for the next generation.

Work Cited:

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-athletes-way/201401/physically-fit-fathers-may-have-healthier-children

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/12/10/fathers-diet-may-influence-long-term-health-offspring/

http://www.mcgill.ca/newsroom/channels/news/you-are-what-your-father-eats-231995

One of the ongoing, pressing questions in our world is: What is the cure to cancer?  While some treatments and medicines have been discovered which may aid in the recovery process, there is still no known cure.  So, I decided to do some research on what other factors could possibly prevent cancer before it ever even strikes.  I was expecting to find that you should eat certain foods or something along those lines, but what I found is a theory that is a bit different than that.

Prostate cancer is the development of cancer in the prostate, which is a gland in the male reproductive system.  It usually is slow growing and can easily spread to other parts in the body such as the bones and lymph nodes.  Dr. David Samadi, the first surgeon in the nation to successfully perform a robotic surgery redo, gives his male patients a simple prescription to help lower their prostate cancer risks: “Have more sex.”

At first, a study was done in Canada which involved 3,200 men. Half of the men had been diagnosed with prostate cancer, while the other half were a healthy, controlled group. The men were all questioned on their sexual history and how many women they have slept with in their life time so far.  The study found that men who had slept with 20 or more women had a 28% drop in the chances of one day developing prostate cancer.  The study was published in the journal, “Cancer Epidemiology.”  The study went on to say that the men who had reported to be virgins or have had only very minimal sexual experience were twice as likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer.

Don’t get too excited though, boys…As more research was done, it was suggested that frequent ejaculation was the more important key in the prevention of prostate cancer and that the number of women did not matter as much.  Frequent sexual activity was the key and would be just as beneficial with a single, committed partner.

Taking a closer look at the study, it is good that the participants of the study came in big numbers. 3,200 is a wide range of people and is large enough to hold pretty random.  It is also vital that there is a controlled group, which there was by the group of healthy men with no signs of prostate cancer.  While the large, controlled study definitely should grab some attention, there are third variables that could be playing a role which cannot be ignored.  Family history, exercise, genes, and daily diets could have caused the men’s likelihood of getting or not getting prostate cancer.

While these third possible variables are important to keep in mind, the sexual activity aspect should not be ruled out.  Looking a bit further into the reasoning behind it, it is found that men who do not ejaculate often can have inflamed cells which gather in the seminal vesicles.  The seminal vesicles are adjacent to the prostate gland.

After reading the results of the study, it got me thinking about how the study was geared towards straight men and their sexual activity with women.  Would the same results be found with men who are gay?? Is it simply the ejaculation that creates benefits like the study suggests or does the female body somehow play a role in it too?

According to researchers at the University of Montreal, men who slept with 20 or more other men increased their risk of prostate cancer by double and made an aggressive cancer five times more likely. While at this time there is little information explaining why sex with woman reduces prostate cancer, but male on male sex doubles it; it is an interesting experimental result that will need to be tested further.  Despite not knowing exactly why it is, it raises the question of the female body playing a role in lowering the chances of prostate cancer for their male partner.  Is it a bigger process than just lots of ejaculation? Looking at what we know with the gay sex results doubling the prostate cancer chances, it appears that it could be possible it is a bigger science than just frequent ejaculation.

This thought brought up the question then of, does frequent masturbation reduce prostate cancer chances? After researching this, it was incredible how opposite the results were.  Some resources claimed that frequent masturabtion did in fact lower prostate cancer.  According to one study conducted by Harvard Medical School on men in their forties, the ones who reported to masturbating 21 times or more per month had a 33% lowered risk of getting prostate cancer compared to the men who reported to masturbating only four to seven times per month. BBC News found the same results and summed up their findings by saying, “Men who ejaculated five times a week were a third less likely to develop prostate cancer later in life.”  However, other resources reported the exact opposite results. Overall, it can concluded that more time and research studies need to be done on this topic before anything can be proven.  In addition, as Andrew has taught us, the studies for this topic too need to be broad enough.  We do not know if the Harvard Medical study tested enough people to get a completely random result.  However, Harvard and BBC are both reputable sources which is always something worth considering when analyzing the results of a study.

While it is not proven that more frequent sexual activity is the direct cause of lowering prostate cancer chances, it certainly could be a factor.  Maybe next year in Andrew’s class more studies will have been done regarding gay men and prostate cancer correlational and this topic can be taken even further!

Work Cited:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3072021.stm

http://www.livescience.com/48858-link-between-sex-and-prostate-cancer.html

http://www.harvardprostateknowledge.org/does-frequent-ejaculation-help-ward-off-prostate-cancer

After last week in class when Andrew showed us his personal health results along with his son’s, I got to thinking about why some people were afraid to get their own personal results.  I recall Andrew saying some people are unable to emotionally deal with the results and how the government feels not everyone can handle knowing what may be their future health fate.  That class topic got me thinking about serious health diseases we can develop in life and when I did some research, the question popped up of can a babies cry reveal if they will be Autistic?

The definition of Autism is, “A neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impaired social interaction, verbal and non verbal communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior.” Often times someone with autism will display very jerky, abrupt movements, abnormal posture and problems with intentional movements.

According to Live Science, the pitch of a babies cry can provide insight into whether the baby will be autistic or not.  Often times, this is able to be determined as early as six months of age.  In the study, 39 babies were involved.  21 of the babies were from families who had older siblings with autism.  The remaining 18 babies were from healthy families with no background of autism.  A computer aided analysis showed that the babies from unhealthy siblings had higher pitched cries that ranged over a larger variety of pitches, while the babies from the healthy families had lower pitched cries that remained more constant.  The results were only true though when the babies were crying due to pain; for example, when they fell down or bumped their head.

While this study is a good place to start in the discovery of autism, it is important to remember there are many flaws in it.  39 is a very limited study.  The baby count would need to be much greater to provide a more randomized group.  In addition, the number of babies with no autism family history would need to be equal to the number of babies with the autism family history.  In the study above, there are much fewer healthy babies which creates an unequal playing field before the study even begins.  Although Live Science is known as a reputable source for science information, there is a major problem with this study.  The problem is the cries were only detected to have the different pitches when the babies felt pain.  Clearly, you cannot purposefully harm a baby just to monitor its cry.  Due to this, it makes it very difficult to test because the cause of the crying cannot be caused by outside forces.  Often times in studies, the researcher can alter or cause the reaction on what is being tested.  However, in this case,  that cannot be done which makes the studies more time consuming.

According to study researcher Stephen Sheinkopf, the pitch of the babies cries could only be picked up by computers and proper, sophisticated technology.  It is not able to be determined by the simple use of a mother’s ear.  After learning this, many mothers may think it is not worth the time or hassle to get their babies cries listened to.  However, looking back at the study three years later, it was found that the three babies with the highest pitched cries did in fact develop autism.  Could this be a coincidence?  It could be due to third variables such as family history, genetics, or always, just by chance.  Or could the fact that the three babies with the highest pitch cries developing autism be the start of proving this theory?  While we do not know for certain either way, it is important to not take the evidence as proof due to the factors discussed earlier, but also to not disregard the study either for it could be beneficial as more research is done over the years.

Looking further into the topic and for even more reliable resources, I found an article done by TIME.  TIME did an article analyzing babies crying pitches as well and found very similar results to Live Science.  According to TIME, “The findings are intriguing enough to warrant a follow – up, particularly since it’s so difficult to find indicators of autism in very young children.”  The reason this can potentially be so crucial is usually autism cannot be spotted in children until around the age of two or three because that is when the child begins to walk and talk and social deficits can be spotted more easily.  So, the pitch of a babies cry is the leading predictor in a child without having to wait two or three years.

So, what caused researchers to look at crying pitch in the first place?  According to autism specialists, often times children and adults with autism will often make more sing-songy, upbeat noises compared to their peers.  This got researchers wondering if these same higher pitched noises could be detected when the child is first born from birth to six months of age.

In conclusion, there is no proof that babies high pitched cries can lead to autism.  However, it definitely is not a blind shot that the two are connected.  While multiple researchers have reminded parents that you cannot detect pitches with the human ear, perhaps being extra precaucious especially if autism runs in the family wouldn’t be the worst idea.  Andrew always says that it is important to look at the benefits versus the cost of doing the action.  So, if autism runs in the family, it may be worth that time to get your baby checked out just to be safe.

Work Cited:

http://healthland.time.com/2012/11/28/can-a-babys-cry-be-a-clue-to-autism/

http://www.livescience.com/25116-autism-babies-cries.html

https://news.brown.edu/articles/2013/07/crybaby

Everyone knows the popular saying that if you scare someone with hiccups, the hiccups will go away.  Is there any truth to this?  Is there any reason certain remedies work for some people and not others?  For me, a spoonful of peanut butter always makes my hiccups go away instantaneously but all of my friends think it’s silly and useless for them.  So, what exactly causes those annoying hiccups and what is the truth behind the remedies that cure it?

The definition of a hiccup is an unintentional spasm of the diaphragm by a quick closing of the vocal chords which produces a distinctive sound.  In medicine, it is known as the, “Synchronous diaphragmatic flutter.”  It occurs several times per minute and its duration is dependent on each specific person.  Due to the uncomfortable feeling, many people try to end the hiccups early by different remedies and tricks.

This then brings up the question, what can bring on hiccups?  Often times if a person is eating or drinking much too fast, hiccups can occur.  This is due to too much air being swallowed with the food while digesting.  It has also been found that anxiety and stress can often bring on short-term and long-term hiccups.  So, the most important thing one can do to prevent this annoying function is to eat slowly, breathe steadily, and have a friend who is good at scaring you.

Let’s take a look at some of the most popular hiccup remedies.  First, the trick of having someone scare  you.  According to Live Science, when scared, one is easily capable of jump starting their breathing pattern which can override the spasm patterns of the hiccups.  Another popular trick is to gargle with ice water.  According to Dr. Oz, gargling with ice water tricks the brain into focusing on the extreme cold instead of the hiccup spasms.  The cold sensations cause the brain to focus on the temperature and hiccups often stop.

However, Dr. Oz is not always viewed as a reliable source in the medical community so I decided to look further to see if his ice water trick had been looked at by any other sources.  Live Strong did a study on hiccups as well and also found that the ice water trick could be beneficial.

Hiccup remedies do not work for everyone.  This could be based on a variety of different factors.  Third variables could definitely play a part in the scare tactic.  If someone  scares easily by nature, this may work better for them than for someone else who watches frequent horror films and does not get surprised by things popping out at them.

Like Andrew is always reminding us, there will be outliers in science.  According to BBC News, the longest hiccup attack was experienced by Charles Osborne for 68 years.  At first, he would hiccup up to 40 times per minute.  In later years, it decreased to 20 times per minute.  Osborne goes to show that not everyone is able to stop their hiccups by a simple scare or glass of ice water.  Everybody reacts differently to hiccups and some people are more prone to them than others.

Work Cited:

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-causes-hiccups/

http://www.livescience.com/23834-hiccup-scare-fort-hood.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/05/health_guinness_medical_record_breakers/html/2.stm

After returning from my second canning weekend yesterday, I got to thinking about the money my group made and specifically, the dollar amount per canner.  When giving this some thought on my long car ride back to State, I realized that the canners who made more money throughout the weekend were the kids dressed in the colorful tutus, silly colored capes, or bright bandanas and leis.  Is it a coincidence that the boy wearing brighter colors in a greater abundance than everyone else had the highest canning total? This got me thinking, how much of an influence does color truly have on the human brain?

Many fast food restaurants often use the colors red, orange, and yellow in their logos because these colors are found to increase appetite.  Some of the biggest food chains such as McDonalds, Dunkin Donuts, and KFC are perfect examples of these color schemes.  In fact, these danger colors go further than just the yellow golden arches.  A study conducted by researcher James Clear proves even further that certain colors can effect eating habits.  Participants of the study were split into two groups.  One group was given white plates and the second group was given red plates.  The groups were then able to select pasta with a white sauce on it or pasta with red, marinara sauce on it.  After letting the two groups eat as much as they preferred, the study found that the group with red plates who chose pasta with the red sauce ate up to 30% more than the group with white plates and white sauce on their pasta.

There could potentially be false positive results in this study because it was unclear how large and randomized the study was.  However, the study is still a useful one because each individual was allowed to eat as much as they wanted without any restrictions or influence besides the colors of the plates or pasta sauce.

On an even more serious note, research was done on the suicide rates off of a bridge depending on what color the bridge was painted.  The University of British Columbia conducted a study looking specifically at color effects on the brain and took notice of the Blackfriars Bridge.  The bridge was originally built out of solid black iron.  Later, the bridge was painted over with a green color and the suicide rate declined by 30%.  Green is often connected to symbolizing rebirth or new beginnings.  So, while the decrease in suicide could be attributed to third variables such as the people’s careers advancements, family happiness, or personal success; 30% is a large enough amount taken from a completely randomized group of people.  This is pretty good evidence that the new bridge color did play a significant role in lowering the suicide rate.

While green was a helpful color in the bridge study, not all colors are so positive.  According to NBC News, cars painted red get more tickets than any other color car.  Red often is related to fury, anger, or extremity which may be tied to police officers subconsciously having their eye out for red car drivers.  However, with this example, it is important to remember confounding variables could play a factor.  While it is possible drivers are only being pulled out an extra amount because their car is red, it is also possible people with the tendency to drive faster and be more daring like to purchase red cars. Specifically, the confounding variable would be that fast drivers have a tendency to buy red cars.

After looking carefully at these different examples, there is not 100% proof that colors alone effect a humans mind with no influence from outside factors; however, there is definitely good studies and examples to show colors can play a significant role.  So, whether it be canning weekend apparel or a plate color at dinner time, remember that color does have an effect and to choose wisely.

Work Cited:

http://humannhealth.com/effect-of-different-colors-on-human-mind-and-body/243/

http://www.colour-affects.co.uk/psychological-properties-of-colours

http://jamesclear.com/feeling-fat

We have all seen our parents have a glass of wine at dinner and perhaps wondered, are they receiving any benefits from that consumption?  Wine, is an alcoholic beverage made from fermented grapes or other fruits.  Yeast consumes the sugars in the grapes and converts them into alcohol and carbon dioxide.  Given that wine is of course an alcoholic beverage, too much could be harmful.  However, could a simple glass or two daily go a long way?

The argument that wine can help prevent heart disease stems from the idea that wine, especially red wine, contains flavonoids and other antioxidants that can play a part in helping to reduce heart disease.  These antioxidants may do this by increasing levels of high density lipoprotein cholesterol (a good cholesterol) and fight to protect against artery damage.

A study conducted by the Mayo Clinic on red wine and heart disease takes a look specifically on how this beverage can help the heart.  The study was conducted on a large group of mice.  Resveratrol, a key ingredient in red wine that helps prevent damage to blood vessels, was given to half of these mice.  It was found that the mice who received the resveratrol received a significant amount of less blood clotting than the mice who did not receive it.

I am not sure this study can prove the hypothesis about wine to be valid because it must be recognized that mice could respond differently than humans.  Mice blood clots could occur  differently than humans blood clots; however, it is still a study worth at least considering. As Andrew has taught us this year so far, it is important to look at as many sources and studies as possible and make a conclusion that way without disregarding any information.

As Andrew has taught us this year, there are always third variables that can play a part when trying to figure out a cause of something.  I believe third variables could potentially have a lot to do with why people have healthier hearts and less heart problems.  Some of these third variables could be a healthy diet, a routine work out schedule, or simply lucky genetics.

As a final thought, one must think about the gain versus the opportunity cost.  Like Andrew’s example in class: we do not know for certain that sleeping with the television off can prevent depression, but if the opportunity cost is so low of simply clicking a remote button, than why not do it?  The same logic applies here.  It is not completely proven that red wine can reduce heart disease, but if there is a chance it does and you do not mind the taste of red wine, than the opportunity cost of pouring a glass is very low and could potentially be very beneficial in the future.

Work Cited:

http://www.compoundchem.com/2014/05/28/redwinechemicals/

http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/heart-disease/in-depth/red-wine/ART-20048281

http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/GettingHealthy/NutritionCenter/HealthyEating/Alcohol-and-Heart-Health_UCM_305173_Article.jsp

We have all been there.  The teacher is in the middle of the lecture and suddenly you realize you missed the last fifteen minutes of it.  Or perhaps you finish the chapter of a book only to realize that while your eyes were moving over every word, you have no idea what just happened to the characters.  Many people will often say daydreaming is bad and distracts from class, other people, or the world around you.  However, after doing some research, daydreaming definitely has many positive benefits.

Daydreaming is simply an altered consciousness.  Similar to how sleep is, except it happens while we are awake.  Daydreaming allows for images, tastes, sounds, and smells to be imagined and even seem as though they are right in front of us.  Daydreaming and these senses are often caused when one is zeroing closely in on a specific thought at any point throughout the day.  The part of the brain that controls these daydreams is often known as the “default network.”  This network is composed of the frontal cortex, the limbic system, and several other cortical systems involved in sensory experiences.

According to ABC Health, “We often discover solutions or better ways of doing things than we would have, had we not had the mind-wandering space.”  Daydreaming allows for the imagination to wander and as ABC Health pointed out, it allows us to think about solutions in the free, open space of our brains.  Often times our decisions can be very rushed and in the moment, so daydreaming allows us to truly have a chance to think through a situation or problem in a relaxed manner. This could help all of us make more rational decisions that are based on logic and thought.

So, what do most people daydream about?  According to the Education Portal, most people daydream about what they want in the future.  For some, the future may mean years down the road.  For others, the future may mean a college student daydreaming about their upcoming weekend or their plans for after class in an hour.  Regardless of the time frame, as humans, our minds wander to a place of what we want to happen.  Thinking about it logically, this would make sense.  The weeks can be busy and stressful and naturally our minds want to bring us to a place of serenity and happiness where we feel at peace.

It is important to consider though that while daydreaming is caused by the desire to bring your mind to a happy, peaceful place; there are many third variables that can cause one to daydream.  These third, or confounding variables, could be lack of sleep, anxiety, or nervousness.  Third variables such as these could also cause someone to want to remove their mind from the current situation and wander in topics elsewhere. Regardless of the reason though, daydreaming is the minds way to temporarily escape reality and bring itself to a better state.  So, as long as you are not totally missing that whole Econ lecture or ignoring your mom at the dinner table, I would definitely conclude that daydreaming every so often can cause more creative and logical choices in our daily lives.

Work Cited:

http://www.abc.net.au/health/features/stories/2014/05/06/3998712.htm

http://education-portal.com/academy/lesson/what-is-daydreaming-in-psychology-definition-disorder-quiz.html

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/fulfillment-any-age/201301/why-and-how-you-daydream

Lately, the legalization of gay marriage in various states has been a very prominent topic in the media which has caused me to want to explore the topic further.  It got me thinking about different species of animals and who they are attracted to both physically and emotionally.

According to a Yale study, “Although Darwin’s theory of natural selection predicts an evolutionary disadvantage for animals that fail to pass along their traits through reproduction with the opposite sex, the validity of this part his theory has been questioned with the discoveries of homosexual behavior in more than 10%of prevailing species throughout the world.”  As most of us know, reproduction is the ultimate goal for species, so the fact that 10% of species are venturing away from this act shows what a strong and real force homosexual actions and feelings can be for animals too. It also causes me to wonder if animals did not have such tremendous need to reproduce to keep their specifies from going extinct, would the number be even higher than ten percent?

However, many scientists question whether animals are truly gay or lesbian, or if they simply are curious.  Perhaps, some animals do not even have the intelligence level to truly understand the difference and just crave physical interaction.  Linda Wolfe, head of anthropology at East Carolina University commented, “The issue is complicated because because we don’t know anything about the eroticism in the heads of animals.” This too is a decent point and part of the reason this topic continues to be wondered about and studied.  Unlike with humans, we cannot simply ask a bird or a reptile about their feelings towards the subject.  Although that perhaps sounds silly, in all seriousness, the lack of communication does make it hard to differentiate between animals being curious and truly being homosexual.

James Owen for National Geographic did a study on birds behavior regarding this subject.  He found that many females participated in sexual activity with other females on a regular basis.  These observations at first were thought to be strong evidence that the birds were homosexual.  Alongside Owen though was another researcher who believed the two female birds behavior was simply a way to gain power for reproduction.  Parish argued, “Female macaques may enhance their social position through homosexual intimacy which in turn influences breeding success. Taking something that’s non reproductive, like mounting another female—if it leads to control of a resource or acquisition of a resource or a good alliance partner, that could directly impact your reproductive success.”

Are females in this case participating in sexual acts because they truly are homosexual for each other, or are they smart enough to recognize that these acts can attract a male so the act of homosexual behavior is being done in hopes of better reproduction? Again, it goes back to the fact that at this point humans are not fully able to know animals intentions and what their minds are thinking so the topic will have to continually be explored.

Overall, much of the evidence found would suggest that yes, animals can be gay.  However, many opposing viewpoints makes reverse causation come into play.  Are homosexual animals participating in sexual activity with each other because they truly want to be with that sex both physically and emotionally, or do animals simply crave sexual activity and in turn, we are concluding that these animals are gay and lesbian?

Work Cited:

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/07/0722_040722_gayanimal.html

Do Animals Exhibit Homosexuality?

I am sure that the majority of us at this point have experienced the feeling of heartache.  Whether it was from the loss of a grandparent or your long term boyfriend/girlfriend calling it quits, the feeling of a broken heart is unfortunately a universal emotion.  When my boyfriend of two years broke up with me before college, I sat in my bed with Ben & Jerry’s and swore I was going to die from crying so much.  I felt more pain than I have ever experienced before and I am still so young.  It got me thinking about people who lose their relationship after being with that person for five, ten, or even thirty years.  It got me questioning: Can you truly die from a broken heart?

After doing some research, I learned that it is very common for a spouse to die months or even weeks after their significant other passes away.  According to BBC News, “The number of people who had a heart attack or a stroke in the month after a loved-one died was double that of a matched control group who were not grieving (50 out of 30,447 in the bereaved group, or 0.16%, compared with 67 out of 83,588 in the non-bereaved group, or 0.08%).”  This statistic goes to show that heart break truly can effect the physical and medical state of a human being.

Broken heart syndrome, known more formally as Stress Cardiomyopathy, is a temporary condition where the heart muscle becomes suddenly weakened or stunned.  This causes the left ventricle to change shape.  So, while the heart does not technically “break,” there definitely is a clear change in its shape when it is weakened by external causes such as losing a loved one.

After learning more about humans and our heart break, I was curious to see how it is for other animals.  It was fascinating learning how many other animals experience these same circumstances just as humans do.  In one article, an elephant in India named Damini refused to move, eat, or drink after losing her companion.  According to the doctors, the intense grief Damini was experiencing caused all of the treatments to fail and she ended up dying.  Damini’s refusal to move, eat, or drink was a choice she made.  This shows how although heart break can kill, it also is the individual’s choice in some circumstances whether to fight back or not.  If Damini had continued to eat her food and stay hydrated, would her story have ended up differently?  This shows that it is not the physical breakage of a heart that can cause death, but more often so the way we react to it that can physically harm us.

I suppose what we should all get out of this is that humans and animals both can be greatly effected by how we treat each other.  Heart break is a real thing and I have now learned that yes, it is in fact possible to die if the heart break is severe enough.

Work Cited:

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-28756374

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/695312/India-elephant-dies-of-broken-heart.html?pg=all

After a night of perhaps too much drinking, humans will often experience a nauseous state the following day, more commonly called the “hangover.”  While most know the feeling and what causes it, many are not aware of specifically why this occurs.

Simply put, a hangover occurs when the body consumes too much alcohol.  In more detail, the  body digests more ethanol than your body can process.  Ethanol is the active ingredient found in alcoholic beverages.  So, the more you drink, the more ethanol your body has to attempt to process.  According to the New York Post, drinking on an empty stomach is very dangerous and it is always advised to eat something before consuming alcohol.  This is because food in your stomach can slow down the absorption of ethanol and reduce the hangover the following morning.

The hangover often causes people to feel exhausted, dizzy, sleepy, uncomfortable, and thirsty.  While those symptoms are the obvious ones, there are also some symptoms that are not so medically apparent.  According to Medical News Today,  “A hungover person may also experience elevated levels of anxiety, regret, shame, embarrassment, as well as depression.”  Often times these symptoms are caused by an unbalance in the body system.  For example, when drinking, one may urinate more which causes the body to be dehydrated.  Often times an individual may also vomit, causing the body to lose nutrients and leave them with an empty stomach.

So, what should one do when experiencing a nasty hangover?  One recommendation is to drink alka seltzer.  The drink contains sodium bicarbonate which can help ease and settle acid in the stomach.  Some also say to drink lots of water or sports drinks.  Keeping the body hydrated is key and water especially will keep the body this way.  Of course, no matter the remedy, a hangover is not fun.  To prevent one more right off the bat, the only true trick is to drink less over a longer period of time.  It is important to space out drinks throughout the night and again, never drink on an empty stomach.  Hopefully with these easy tips and insight, hangovers will be more manageable and not as severe.

Work Cited:

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/5089.php

http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20452426_7,00.html

http://nypost.com/2014/08/28/the-science-behind-your-hangover/

We cry when we are sad and sometimes, we cry when we are happy.  Someone passes away, tears come.  Your boyfriend cheats on you, tears come.  You fail an exam you studied all week for, tears come.  Everyone knows when crying occurs for the most part, but do we really know why or how?  It is a question I have always wondered so I decided to do some research about it.

Tears are a mixture of water, mucus, and oil that are released from the lacrimal gland.  These tears do not only come when we are sad.  In fact, there are three different categories of tears.  The first is called basal tears.  This is the moisture that keeps our eyes from completely drying out.  The second type is known as reflex tears which protect the eyes against outside forces, such as a strong wind, smoke, or onions.  The last type is referred to as emotional tears, which of course, most of us are most familiar with.  These tears come when we get emotional due to life events or important occurrences.

What exactly does it mean then when people say, “You need to have a good cry.”  According to ScienceLine, ” Having an emotional cry is a way to rid the built up toxins.”  This is why sometimes you may feel emotionally and physically better after crying for a while.  Of course, this can not be completely proven because there are also other variables.  For example, if you are crying to your best friend, you may feel better after because she was consoling you and cheering you up.  While there are undoubtedly third factors, researchers have backed up the theory that crying can make you feel better and release toxins.

Like the picture above, one of the reasons humans are believed to cry is because as babies that was one of the only ways to communicate.  Babies cannot speak yet, so crying is their only way to let their parents know about their exhaustion, hunger, sadness, or frustration.  Crying is an action that begins right at the start of our lives and continues throughout.  Happy or sad, tears show emotion for us as human beings.

Work Cited:

http://science.howstuffworks.com/life/crying1.htm

Why do people cry?

In one of my science classes last year as a senior, my teacher brought up the topic of shark finning.   She told us how it is becoming a very popular practice for the delicatessen in other areas of the world known as, “Shark Fin Soup.”  Shark finning is awful in itself because the practice is abusive to animals and morally wrong.  The practice pulls the shark out of the ocean, fins them, and then throws them back into the water.  Often times, the shark will then bleed to death in the water in immense amounts of pain.

Why is this ridiculous practice still occurring?  Well, shark fins can be sold on average for about $300 per pound.  Those in the industry often justify this cruel practice towards these animals by saying they need the money to provide for their families.   While it possibly can be understood that ones family always comes first, there must be another way.  These sharks are being finned and then being thrown helpless back into the ocean.  If they do not bleed out, they often will just drown.

According to the Discovery Channel, “Shark finning is responsible for 88 to 100 million shark deaths, per year.”  While Shark Week and movies like “Jaws” tend to make the shark out to be nothing but terrifying and vicious, the shark is actually at the top of the food chain and is incredibly vital for keeping the balance of the ocean ecosystem together.   Perhaps this is highly overlooked considering in Hong Kong, a bowl of of Shark Fin soup is often priced at over $100.  It is considered a supreme delicacy that resembles important and high status if ordered and eaten.

What can we do as a society to stop this madness?  Many animal humane societies are suggesting that restaurants in areas where Shark Fin Soup is popular go out of their way to state they do not serve the dish.  By doing this, it will cause people to hopefully stop and think about the whole act and why it is so unjust.  Sharks take twenty years to reach sexual maturity and produce young, so the rapid decline of sharks puts it in a very serious position of going extinct.  Before any extreme measure like that were to happen, action needs to be taken.  One of the first steps should simply be education about the topic because many people do not even know shark finning is something that is occurring in our own world.

Work Cited:

http://matadornetwork.com/change/7-reasons-to-ban-shark-finning/

http://www.discovery.com/tv-shows/shark-week/about-this-show/sharks-shark-finning.htm

Many girls spend large quantities of money on going to tanning beds.  I am sure we have all witnessed the girl who looks a little too orange at a formal in the middle of the winter.  Although many girls say they feel better in their skin when it is not pale, they may not be considering the full detrimental effects of how dangerous tannings beds can be.

Tanning beds emit ultraviolet rays called UVA and UVB which effect the skin both on the surface and the deeper tissue as well.  When the skin becomes exposed to the two types of rays, the body produces melanin which is a brown pigment that darkens the skin.  This is our bodies way of trying to protect ourselves and our skin from the damaging rays.  According to the World Health Organization, “Excessive exposure can lead to problems such as eye and skin cancer.”

One of the main reasons tanning beds increase skin cancer risks is because when the body is exposed to UV rays it produces enzymes in attempt to protect itself.  However, these enzymes do not always repair the skin damage.  Often times the enzymes mutate and turn cancerous.  As a society, we must sit back and ourselves if the price of “beauty” is really worth years off your own life.

One of the challenges with the tanning industry is often times tanning salons will advertise that their salon is safe and they know how to control the UV rays so the process does not have a good chance of harming you.  The DR. OZ show did a study about this topic and reported back that salons say this simply as a marketing technique to draw in customers.  It is proven that these UV rays increase your chances of cancer and skin impairments, so even if a salon can control it slightly, it is not worth any of the risk.

In conclusion, what does this all mean? When really thinking about this topic, it says a lot about our society.  The fact that millions of people are willing to risk their own personal health to look tan on command is a sad realization.  We live in a world where the media puts way too much emphasis on appearance and helps send some people to pretty desperate measures.  Some people may say, “I only go to a tanning bed two or three times per year.”  While that is better than others, that could be two or three times too many for the safety of your health.

Work Cited:

http://www.doctoroz.com/blog/susan-evans-md/dangers-tanning-beds

http://www.livestrong.com/article/105867-negative-effects-tanning-beds/

When I was seven years old, I decided to become a vegetarian.  Until the age of eleven, four years later, I completely was.  Despite my young age, it was a topic that was important to me and I had no trouble sticking to my decision.  At the age of eleven though, I was told that my iron levels were incredibly low and my doctor suggested to me that I start eating chicken again and be a Semi Vegetarian which means I would only not eat any pork or beef products.  This is what I have been doing from age eleven until today.  Thinking back to my personal experience in my food choices, it has me interested on vegetarianism and the pros and cons on a larger scale of people.

According to Live Strong, many people who give up meat products begin to lack the essential vitamins the body requires.  For example, the body needs Vitamin B12 because it helps produce red blood cells.  Vitamin B12 occurs naturally in animal products, so a vegetarian may began to lack this essential vitamin and damage their body from the inside.   Secondly, like I did, a vegetarian may suffer from iron deficiency or another important essential vitamin or mineral.  The lack of these items may cause the body to become weak or have problems internally with blood cells or digestion.

Of course, there are many wonderful sides to becoming a vegetarian.  It is a highly recommended diet for someone who needs to lose weight because red meat and fatty pork are not good for a healthy diet.  A vegetarian diet is much lower in calorie intake and removes a lot of the fatty meats an individual may have been consuming before.  It also has been proven that this diet can help reduce the risk of kidney stones and gallstones.  According to Health Magazine, a multitude of diseases get lowered risks when meat is cut out of the diet.  It was reported that, “Non meat eaters are 40% less likely to develop Cancer than meat eaters.”

Lastly, having a vegetarian diet helps because overgrazing livestock hurts the environment.  It hurts it through soil depletion, erosion, and harm to native plants and animals.  This is a huge factor and positive of why more people should consider the vegetarian diet.

Often times, eating chicken still bothers my conscious.  I feel bad for the animals and it has always been a personal choice I felt strongly about.  Perhaps sometime in the near future I will become a complete vegetarian again.  I would have to take the proper precautions to make sure I do not become deficient in any of my vitamins or minerals.  I would have to find those resources through other foods, tofu, fruits, and possibly pill supplements that were healthy and natural.  This has always been a topic that has been very personal and meaningful to me.  People often tell me I am crazy for not eating bacon by the pound, but it is unhealthy for me and the cruelty towards the pigs can often be pretty extreme.  While the vegetarian/semi vegetarian may not be for everyone, it certainly has some positive contributions.

Work Cited:

http://www.health.com/health/

http://www.savvyvegetarian.com/articles/iron-vegetarian-diet.php

http://www.livestrong.com/article/441302-the-negative-effects-of-vegetarianism/

When many people think about food, they often think about the effects it has on our body shape and size.  While that is a huge factor, food effects so much more than our outer appearance.  Depending on your diet, an individual’s mood can be greatly effected.

According to HealthMad, 2/3 of people who report to have no mental depression or serious issues also eat multiple servings of fresh fruit daily in their meals.  Fruit contains many vitamins, minerals, and needed strength to keep the brain focused and alert.  Live Strong also participated in a study about eating healthy.  They found that people who reported to be happier in their daily lives ate more berries, nuts, and proteins and limited their sugar and fat in take.  Specifically, almonds, kale, and avocados have been proven to sharpen the mind and create a sense of fulfillment which allows the human body to feel satisfied.

Of course, just like healthy foods can keep you positive and focused, unhealthy food has its own effects.  Junk food provides consumers with a temporary “high” that quickly falls away.  The reason this happens is because sugar enters the human blood stream very quickly.  When it enters the blood stream, it creates this “high” or feeling of energy, but quickly after it leaves the individual feeling sluggish and drained. That is due to the fact that it is not a true satisfied feeling you would receive from healthy options, but a fake “high” that comes from sugar pumping through the veins.

In fact, ABC News did a study on how “Happy Meals” make people unhappy.  The name of the study was “Happy Meals: Are fast food and depression linked?”   The study discusses how foods high in fat and cholesterol can make the body feel bloated and tired, which in result, can make the person feel low and wiped out.

Of course, there will always be outside “Z” factors in life that cause us to be happy and sad.  Food itself can not make or break a person’s mood or mindset.  However, the ingredients healthy food and unhealthy food contain can certainly make at least a small difference.  So, why not help yourself out? Although an apple or a handful of almonds may not solve all your problems, it definitely would help to motivate you to work through them rather than a bag of chips which would only make one feel more tired and low.

Work Cited:

http://healthmad.com/conditions-and-diseases/healthy-body-equals-healthy-mind/

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/health/2012/03/30/unhappy-meals-are-fast-food-depression-linked/

http://www.livestrong.com/article/271458-how-healthy-eating-affects-mood/

Hey guys, my name is Allison Doluisio and I live thirty minutes outside of Philly in a suburb called Bucks County.  I have always been very interested in Public Relations, which is in the School of Communications.  While I have never minded science, I have always felt my true passion lies in communicating with others.  Due to my strong passion for communications, that is why I am not entering into a science field or major.  I took this specific science course because my advisor told me it was not heavily math based.  I am not a huge math fan, so I thought that would suit me well.  In addition, this course seemed to cover interesting topics that actually matter greatly in the world right now and I am excited to learn more about them.  I like to be informed in what is going on in the world around me and I love how this course will aid me with that.

I am so excited to be here in Happy Valley! I can’t wait for the first home game this weekend!