Author Archives: Jessica Ann Taylor

Do Cell Phones Cause Cancer?

I am constantly using my phone, whether I’m texting, talking on it, or checking various social media apps such as twitter and instagram. When I heard a rumor that your cell phone could cause cancer, it kind of freaked me out considering  I’m on mine 24/7. I decided to do some research to see if this was true.

The National Cancer Institute says that there is not a consistent link between cell phones an cancer. Although cell phones do give off radiofrequency energy, usually it is not enough to actually cause any sort of tissue damage. The National Cancer institute says that cancer is caused by damage in the DNA, and the radiofrequency waves do not cause DNA damage. One way they tested if cell phone use causes cancer is by utilizing a comparing the cell phone use of people with tumors to the cell phone use of people without tumors.

Another study done found a small link between cell phones and cancer of the salivary glands. This study may not be accurate because of the small amount of participants. It could very easily just be chance that caused the positive correlation between cell phone use and salivary gland cancer. Overall, this article also agreed that there is no link between cell phone use and cancer.

A different study done in Sweden concluded that cell phone use does in fact cause Glioma, a deadly form of brain cancer. The study says that people who have been talking on a cell phone for 25 years or more had triple the risk of developing this deadly cancer. The article says that since my generations uses there phones so much, in about 10 years we will see a drastic spike in brain tumors. It also says that most of the other studies done have been financed by the cell phone industry. That could make sense as to why this study found a link, but the others didn’t. A correlation between cell phones and cancer could cause the cell phone business to lose business or be forced to put large amounts of money into research for new technologies for cell phones so that they do not cause cancer. There could also be a confounding third variable that instead causes the cancer. Perhaps there is something in the water that all the participants are drinking that actually causes the cancer.

Overall, there may be a link between cancer and cell phones, but there also may not be. Findings could easily be due to chance or a confounding third variable. It is also hard to come to a conclusion because of the constant changing of cell phone technology. Cell phones from 20 years ago are much different than cell phones now. Maybe the cell phones now do not cause cancer, but cell phones from 20 years ago did, or vice versa.   In conclusion, I will probably continue to use my cell phone, but it is interesting and scary that there could possible be a link to cancer.

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Fluid in the Ear

Last weekend I woke up feeling like my ear was popped, kind of like when you fly on an airplane or drive up a very tall hill, changing your elevation. I couldn’t really hear very well. When my symptoms didn’t go away after a couple of days, I decided to go to UHS. They told me I had fluid in my ear. I was surprised! I thought I had an earwax buildup or an ear infection, but I was very confused how fluid gets, and stays in ones ear.

After some research, I found out that this buildup of fluid in my ear without any sort of pain or redness is called Otitis media with effusion. What the CDC says about it is that it is caused by some sort of upper respiratory infection, allergy, or an irritant such as cigarette smoke. It says it is supposed to go away on its own. Another way this could happen is that the eustachian tube gets blocked. Because of this fluid builds up in the middle ear and causes blockage making it hard to hear. Many doctors say the fluid should go away on its own, while others believe in surgically inserting tubes into the ear to help drain the fluid.

Although research shows that an upper respiratory infection such as a cold is likely to cause the fluid to buildup in the middle ear, but maybe it is actually reverse causation. It could be possible that the buildup of fluid in the ear causes a cold. If that is true, it there must be something else that causes the build up. Maybe it has something to do with the amount of wax in a persons ear, or maybe a buildup of earwax causes a buildup of fluid, which then causes a cold. Experiments on this are probably done via a case study. Treatment seems like its on a case by case basis because there are many different ways to deal with the buildup of fluid.

Overall, I’m not completely sure how this fluid ended up in my ear, but what I do know is that I would like it to go away

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How Does Nair Work?

This past week when I was at home my friend decided to remove hair on her body by using the product Nair. Nair is a type of hair removal cream. It seemed to work well for her, but it got me wondering how it really worked and what the science was behind it.

When looking at an article on livestrong.com I discovered that Nair works by “dissolving bonds between keratin proteins in the hair shaft.” This is why Nair basically melts the hair off someones leg. Since it doesn’t kill the follicle of hair, it will eventually regrow, but not as fast as it would if the user was shaving. Nair says that their products are not tested on animals, so therefore the sample size must be all people who are using Nair. Nair is said to cause hair to grow back at a slower rate than it would if someone was waxing. While many claim this, this might not be true. All Nair does is essentially melt the hair off a persons leg, so the follicle will still grow at the same rate.

I couldn’t find any information about what types of experiments were done to test Nair, except that Nair was not tested on animals. I would assume that in order to find out whether or not Nair makes leg hair grow back at a slower rate, many different case studies would be utilized. I can imagine that they would have people use Nair and report back how long it took for their leg hair to start growing back in. They could then compare that to how long their leg hair grew back while shaving. Nair may claim that their product causes leg hair to grow back at a slower rate, but in actuality this could also be due to chance.

Overall, after seeing this information, I not only learned how Nair works, but I have come to the conclusion that it probably does not work any better or worse than shaving. Neither Nair nor shaving kill the hair follicle, so it makes sense that they would both grow back at the same rate considering the follicle is still working. I think shaving versus Nair is more of an opinion/preference, since it seems like they both work equally as well. For myself, I would probably choose to shave just because of complications that could happen because Nair contains many chemicals.

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Does Cracking Knuckles Lead to Arthritis

I have one major pet peeve, people cracking their knuckles. I’m not sure why it grosses me out so much, but I cringe whenever someone does it. If you crack your knuckles around me, my response, besides my disgusted face, will always be “did you know that cracking your knuckles gives you arthritis?” I decided to do some research to see if there was any merit behind the line I  always say.

Cracking your knuckles is basically popping bubbles of fluid in your joints. An article from BBC shows some studies that have been done on the relationship between knuckle cracking and arthritis. One study talks about a doctor from California who, for 60 years, cracked only the knuckles in his left hand. After 60 years went by, he concluded that he had no signs of arthritis in either hand. The article also goes on to talk about another study that was done with 300 people over age 45. Of the people studied, the ones who admitted that they cracked their knuckles had a less strong grip in their hands, and 84% showed signs of swelling. Although they had things wrong with their hands, none of them had arthritis. Lastly, the article talks about a third study that was done with whether the frequency of cracking knuckles has anything to do with arthritis. The study concluded that people who crack their knuckles every 15 minutes show no difference in their hands than people who crack them once a day. Overall the article concluded that no, cracking your knuckles does not cause arthritis.

Another article on arthritis also concluded that knuckle cracking and arthritis have no connection. It talks about how although it is not linked to arthritis, it is linked to soft tissue damage and damage to ligaments surrounding the joints. Yes, it may not give you arthritis, but it will damage your hands.

Everyone’s favorite health question answering website web MD also concludes that there is no relationship between knuckle cracking and arthritis, but there are other risks of cracking your knuckles. Web MD says that knuckle cracking causes no harm to hands, but often times in an attempt to crack their knuckles, people crack their joints. Joint cracking is very bad for your hands. It could cause tendons to snap over the tissue, loosen cartilage, and cause injury to ligaments.

Overall, I could not find anything supporting that knuckle cracking causes arthritis. I will still tell people not to do it, mostly because it annoys me, but also because it seems like most studies conclude that it does cause some type of harm to your hands.

arthritis-knuckles

Since coming to Penn State, I’ve been starting to get a little homesick being so far from home. One thing I miss most about being home is my adorable dog. One thing every college student has a lot of is stress. I had heard about a school that brings in “stress puppies” before final exams, so I was wondering if dogs actually helped reduce stress.

Studies show that the hormone oxytocin, which is stress reducing, can increase when someone plays with or pets a dog. At the same time, cortisol, a stress hormone, decreases when playing with or petting a dog. Another study also shows that people with dogs who also had high blood pressure were able to keep it lower in stressful situations.

Studies show that a dog can offer unconditional love. For People with depression, this may help ease their symptoms. A pet can give them love that is not complicated. Pets do not have complicated relationships. As the article puts it, “You don’t have to worry about hurting your pet’s feelings or getting advice you don’t want.” The article also says that dogs force people to be more active, which is also true. You have to walk your dog multiple times a day, and if you are a good pet owner, you will run around and play with it. I personally used to take my dog on runs at home. Physical activity is proven to be good for physical and mental health, which will help decrease stress levels. A dog is also a companion. When someone is depressed, they may feel alone. A dog is always there when you are feeling sad, I mean they are man’s best friend for a reason.

At the same time, I read a yahoo answers post talking about how a woman’s family dog is causing stress in her home. Taking care of a pet can be a lot of work, and thus can increase stress. I know from personal experience that a dog can also stress you out. When you are busy, they are something extra to take care of. They need to be fed, walked, bathed, and can often get themselves in trouble. They can make messes, chew things, and some dogs are misbehaved.

Overall, in my opinion, I think that just seeing and petting a dog, such as a stress dog that is brought into schools can help decrease stress, but actually owning one probably depends on they type of dog you have. Dogs have different personalities, so a low maintenance dog will probably help reduce stress, but a dog that is bad behaved or high maintenance could have the opposite effect and promote stress.

coco this is my dog, Coco, who I’m obsessed with. I miss her and I think she definitely reduces stress in me.

First Blog Post

Hi I’m Jessi! I’m from Framingham, MA and I’m going in undecided but looking to be a business major. I’m taking this course because I needed to fulfill a a requirement. I hated all my high school science classes, so I asked my advisor which one could be fun. After making sure I had no plans to be a science major she told me to take this course!

I’m not planning on being a science major because I did not like enjoy any of my science classes in high school, especially chem and physics. Also, science never really interested me. I do not want to have to do labs or take any of the terrifying science classes that people I have met who are science majors are required to take.

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