Many of my friends have suffered from acne all throughout high school. They take on numerous ways to minimize acne such as moisturizers, creams and prescribed medicines by dermatologists. Acne can cause many young individuals to feel worse about themselves and some question the ways that they need to go about minimizing these blemishes. Many people believe that acne is caused by sweat,while studies shown it has no effect. I wanted to find the best ways in order to combat acne, if there really was such a way.

Acne first is defined as a disease of the Pilosebaceous units. These units are made up of a sebaceous gland that will then connect to the follicle, containing a strand of hair. The glands make an oily substance that empties within the surface of the skin opening the hair, which is known as the pore. Acne is first seen when the follicle that contains the hair, sebum and keratinocytes, produces a plug. Oils allow a bacteria known as Propionibacterium acnes have chemicals that attract white blood cells to cause an inflammation most commonly on the upper back, chest and face.

There are many precautions that have been studied to prevent the negative affects from working out with the human skin. Touching your skin is the worsts and preventing it will eliminate blemishes or clogged pores. While working out, touching your skin can move oils and bacteria into your skin leading to inflammation. A study was shown with football players who wore dirty equipment showed worse acne in these locations. This went against the many factors that exercise can get rid of toxins in the body. This experiment had many variables that helped to prove the causation of acne since football equipment does contain a lot of sweat that is not cleaned off. Even those who just lay on their sheets after working out will contain dirt that can cause irritation to the skin. To improve hygiene, it was recommended to wash your face with a gentle pH balancing cleanser. The sweat is not the main focus of these studies, it is the hygiene and care that one takes on after exercise.

There is actually no argument that can state that exercise is bad for humans. As you are working off those calories and relieving stress from such a busy week, individuals begin to believe that sweat could cause acne to those who are prone to have it. According to the Children’s Hospital of Colorado, sweat doesn’t have any affect on acne. Sweat begins when you begin your workout, which is made up of water and small amounts of ammonia, urea, salt and sugar. Sweat flushes these impurities from the skin. Exercise could be known to help the skin because in face it increases blood flow to an individual’s skin and brings nutrients through your body. 

One major experiment was through a single-blinded, randomized, controlled trial that was tested on athletic males. It first began when guys had to workout 5 days a week for 2 weeks straight. The control group did not exercise, the next group showered within the first hour after the experiment and group 3 waiting longer than 4 hours to shower. The subjects were all wearing the same 100% cotton t-shirt so there were no outside variables towards the amount of acne. The amount of acne was counted after they worked out on day 14. These results concluded that

As many people believe exercise can help acne, some believe it can worsen. This study proved that 20.4% improved, 21.4% got worse and 29.1% had no affect. The information to this experiment proved that other tests need to be done in order to see the causation. There have been many debates about the real cause is acne such as genetics, stress and dietary choices. All in all, exercise is the best thing to relieve the stress, as many college students seem to follow that step today. The gym is very humid and causes many types of bacteria to harm humans. With the proper techniques, many will see that sweat is not the problem to their inflamed skin, but the proper care after their workout may cause their skin to break out.

Just last year, my parents told me that it was essential that I took a low dose aspirin everyday. I was diagnosed with a clotting disorder known as Prothrombin 20210A Mutation, where the body produces an excess amount of Prothrombin, which when levels are high can form blood clots. Either one or both copies of the gene can be inherited and both, depending on one or both of your parents passing down this gene, which is a higher risk of clotting.

Although many see this mutation as being something traumatic or bad to someone’s life, ever think there may be something good to this trait? There’s only 2% of Americans who have this mutation. Although lose dose aspirin is suggested to take frequently, maybe this is something that is actually saving humans’ lives. An experiment has been done where there were initially women who were given either 100 mg of aspirin or a placebo. There were findings that over 100 more women who were given the low dose of aspirin did not result in a cardiovascular disease. Although they did not give exact conclusions that seem to explain the effects of aspirin, scientists may have a hard time proving due to waiting many years in order to see results. Scientists are still trying to prove if the correlation of low dose aspirin prevents heart attacks. In this one study, science proved that Analysis concluded that aspirin significantly reduced the risk of major cardiovascular events, ischemic stroke, and myocardial infarction among women 65 years of age or older. 

Though there isn’t any proof of causation, low dose aspirin once a day has had a strong correlation with reducing cancer in the colon, esophagus, stomach, and rectum. Back to my previous post, some say that Alzheimer’s can be reversed with aspirin. Professor of internal medicine, Mark Fendrick at University of Michigan states “Aspirin is the one drug I would take to a desert with me” Does this mean that besides the negative effects of avoiding long periods of immobility, refraining from cigarette soking, from birth control and difficulties during pregnancy may actually just mean that this low dose aspirin will actually make me live a longer life, or even save the lives of new borns? With preventions to such cancers and cardiovascular diseases, this may be the drug that is actually doing wonders for some people. 

There haven’t been many experiments based on this gene mutation since it is not known to be commonly tested but many doctors are finding that those who do clot may have been living with the gene mutation and were unaware. From previous doctor visits, the mutation is recently becoming more common and humans are almost dying from the mutation because they weren’t aware of the precautions. Clotting has now ranked third most common cause of death, behind cancer. Blood clots themselves affect an estimated of 900,000 a year and although most who do not have this gene mutation, those who know if it are at a better chance of preventing it and may actually live a longer life.

If it’s from watching a movie to actually knowing a family member with Alzheimer’s, you know the effect it has on everyone around them. Alzheimer’s affects many Americans today and is known to be the sixth leading cause of death. The cure is still unknown and is a disease that causes problems with memory and behavior. The symptoms will first begin off slow but then progressively get worse over time. Although many people develop it at an older age, it is not a part of aging. With no current cure, studies show that they can temporarily slow the memory loss symptoms and improve their quality of memory. Studies still continue but it became interesting to see that we may be able to actually reverse it.

Researchers are seeing that memory loss is a major concern. Today, the disease affects 30 million people around the world and 5.4 million Americans. In 35 years, scientists believe that 160 million people will be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. With these high numbers, billions of dollars are spent to find a cure.

The University California, Los Angles, conducted a study that creates a success to this theory. Nine out of 10 patients saw symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease revers after they were done with a program. During this program, they were increasing their level of Vitamin D, used DHA supplements, and participated in fasting to normalize their levels of insulin. The patients were mostly between the ages of 55 to 75 and saw that their memory began to improve. The study saw 90% success as the one woman who did not see success was in a later stage of dementia.

This study was the first small study that was actually done on humans and will require many larger studies to see the exact relationship. An experiment that involves injections was taken place over a 2 to 3 week span. It was found successful when histone deacetylase inhibitor was injected into mice. It was found to not alter the memory in normal mice but did cause effects in mice that contained DNA from an unrelated organism known as transgenic.  Also injections of sodium valproate and sodium butyrate brought back the memory within these mice. Testing on these mice showed that treatment towards the mice’s memory correlates to the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease.

The vaccine is now given to four different hospitals in Britain, who were diagnosed with the disease early on in their life. The vaccines first started on the mice and now are thought to trigger antibodies to protect the body from disease. The British patients began this trial a year ago and will soon be able to know the success of the vaccine within the next couple of months. The vaccine is given four times over 6 months. Science continues to build these holes that’s human’s are forgetting and hope to soon rebuild their memory.

All throughout high school, I was dreading going to class because of how early it starts. I would wake up at 6 every morning, have to be in class from 7:20- 2:10 play sports after school until 5 and then do my homework until 11. Repeating this over and over became very tiring and I wondered why the older kids always started earlier than the younger kids. As I got older, I needed more and more sleep and it was becoming torture to even go to school. The question always occurred to me, as I began to search for if it was unhealthy for teens to go to school that early.

There have been many research studies to show that their sleeping patterns tend to shift during teen years. When these periods shift, teens begin to stay up later at night and then sleep later in the morning. What makes a teen sleep in this different cycle is the level of melatonin, with the strongest levels at the age of 17 and 18. If teens show that the learn better later in the day, younger children are proving that they are more awake earlier in the morning, causing more people to question the typical school day schedule.

The correlation becomes clearer after the study through Dr. Danner. This study focused on 800 high school freshman. Through this observational study, the average sleep was around 2.5 hours and nearly half reported less than 8 hours of sleep. The amount of sleep had a direct relationship with GPA and the levels of emotional disturbance. Since there was no exact experiment with a control group, it just strengthened people’s beliefs but did not prove the actual cause.

As much as we say this, there never were really any studies to prove it. There was research though that over 40,000 schools started at the recommended time of 8:30 am. Many pediatrics began to recommend that high school shouldn’t start before this time because they saw a correlation between grades, depression and the time school began. Starting school later causes such a conflict with scheduling after-school activities and in addition to higher costs for buses; this made it harder to change.

We can state our beliefs that starting school later will better our learning but this experiment better shows that there is causation. The study was to prove the effects on teens’ sleepiness at school with an earlier starting time. First the students in 9^th grade began school at 8:25 and in 10^th grade started at 7:20. The students were asked to monitor their sleep and resting periods. The sample included 25 females and 15 males that were at the age of 14-16. The study showed that although students in 10^th grade had to wake up earlier, they did not go to sleep early, causing them to get less sleep. The relationship was confirmed from previous studies that optimal alertness is present when a teen sleeps over 9 hours, and only one 9^th grade student was receiving that amount of sleep.

A teenager doesn’t control the shift in their sleeping pattern. Once a teen goes through puberty, the body tends to shift its sleep cycle and will make it harder for them to even fall asleep before 11 pm. Eight high schools that delayed their first bell found the improvements not only in grades but attendance and car crash rates.

Ever wonder why you eat just because you are bored or when you find out terrible news so you grab junk food even though you aren’t hungry? Stress eating is one of the many causes to obesity and an unhealthy diet. Many individuals find themselves doing so well with eating healthy until they grab snacks and eat because they are stressed. This is one of the many reasons why college students have such a hard time losing weight because as they study, they tend to snack. As the numbers of obesity begin to increase, my interest grew stronger on the correlation between stress and obesity.

Like biting your nails, stress eating takes the mind off the moment and and forms some kind of reward to the human mind. Dr. McCreery states, “Stress activates your adrenal glans to release cortisol, increasing your appetite. ” Besides cortisol, there are also hunger hormones that are delayed like ghrelin that will help to regulate your appetite. Researchers have seen that about one-fourth of Americans now rate their stress as a level 8 out of 10. When we become stressed and cortisol is released, it also increases our motivation to continue eating. The preference of food tends to stay constant throughout humans, as they prefer eating high fatting snacks. Through observations, women are actually burning 100 fewer calories per day that suffered from such anxiety, adding up to a gain of 11 pounds a year. Many psychologists are surveying students to show that under stress, your eating habits will feel uncontrollable.

One experiment that was taken into consideration of my research was a sample of 4,000 teens. They first completed a survey that measure their level of stress then their levels of fruits, vegetables, snacking and breakfast consumption. Many analyses proved that these higher fatty foods related to the amount of stress they experienced. The effects were also proven to be independent from weight, gender and genetics and concluded to contribute to disease.

Emotional eating does not affect our actual problems, but it known for a more temporary cure while eating. After you eat, most people just begin to feel guilty about their eating habits and still struggle with the problem that they were facing before their high-sugared meal. There are many differences between actual hunger and emotional hunger that some humans do not differentiate. Many differences include emotion hunger comes on suddenly, you only crave certain foods, uncontrollable eating and focusing on specific tastes rather than an empty stomach. Although it seems that we are being rewarded for going through such a stressful period in our life, it is raising the national average of obesity.

Other studies have been conducted to examine the correlation towards obesity and stress- eating. The sample size was 2,400 men and 2,800 women, who were born in 1966. The BMI was taken at 31 years old and was highest on stress-driven eaters. The stress eating was due to unemployment, progressing towards an academic degree, and a low emotional support. Our generation today can admit to this unnecessary habit, as there are many ways to try and avoid it. Although some people suffer more than others, we witness it everyday. There are many ways to avoid this concept that would help our national level of obesity.

Ever walk into whole foods and realize that it is so much more expensive getting food there then it would be if you just resorted yourself to some McDonalds. Weight loss is hard enough and the fact that healthy foods are so expensive makes it even harder. Many scientists have done studies in order to see if the correlation between obesity and poverty is true.

One of the most relatable studies was taken around numerous U.S. studies. These studies watched differences in neighborhoods that had better access to supermarkets and limited access to convenience stores had healthier diets.

Families that have low- income struggle a great deal for food. When put in this position, they try to take great advantage of their money. Study by Drewnowski in 2010 proved that refined grains, added sugars and fats are generally inexpensive. Those who have limited resources will buy food to last them long enough where they do not need to go shopping as much. The cheaper the food is, the more they will buy. This is known as a concept of maximizing their calories per dollar in order to spend less over a longer period of time. If fresh produce is available to lower income neighborhoods, it will be cheaper than usual, but not be as appealing.

Besides a healthy diet, being active is the next step to losing weight successfully. It was heartbreaking to see that the crime rates in low-income neighborhoods are very high, which leads to many individuals not wanting to run outside. Gym memberships and workout equipment are very expensive as well.

One major study was taken in 2009, where they found that 70% of the U.S health costs were due to obesity-associated diseases. They found that towns with the lowest incomes were being diagnosed with diabetes. Households that make below $25,000 have no insurance, making individuals pay a total of $9 billion a year.

Americans have seen a huge increase in the amount of individuals who are suffering from obesity. The U.S itself has risen sharply over the past two decades, where 64% of adults are overweight and 30% are obese. Many observers watched residential mobility programs to see if the movement out of low poverty will improve their health. In Boston, they saw that there was better health overall for both adults and children. Also they saw that fewer children had injuries and the employment factors were more beneficial.

It’s hard for many individuals to move out of these low- poverty neighborhoods because some are stuck on the connections that they have or that it is obviously too expensive for them to live anywhere else. Although many see that weight is something that is in your hands and is easy to control, these individuals struggle to have access to the resources that we do to live a healthier life.

I know especially as the school year progresses, I will not be able to make it through the day without a nap. There isn’t enough time in one day with all the schoolwork and extra-curricular activities that most students try to balance but I know we are capable of always fitting a nap in. Some individuals can sleep all afternoon and although we think it’s best to get more sleep, that isn’t the case in the afternoon.

More than 85% of humans sleep for a short period of time throughout the day due to such sleep deprivation. Researchers have observed many humans sleeping patterns and one very common topic has been naps. Scientists first concluded that the most successful nap is between 10 and 20 minutes. These short naps have the most effective results.For example it can help relaxation, improve performance, increase alertness and cause less confusion when an individual wakes up. Researcher Sara C. Mednick says that these short naps will benefit you day so much and will give you the best energy boost.

Longer Naps can be worse for the body. Those who nap longer are observed to have sleep inertia and nighttime sleeping problems. Sleep inertia is the feeling of confusion after they nap for longer than 30 minutes. Once the body sleeps longer than 30 minutes, their body goes into a deep sleep that makes them even more tired when woken up. Post-nap impairment is more common to those who sleep longer and will actually make humans feel worse. Although you are more tired when you wake up, it will be harder to fall asleep later at night.

One of the most famous nap experiments was actually used with astronauts in NASA. There were 91 volunteers who spent 10 days on a different sleeping schedule. The observers came up with 18 different sleeping arrangements. The sleep schedule first ranged from 4 to 8 hours and then added a nap that was between 0 and 2.5 hours. The astronauts were then tested after they woke up from a nap based on their memory, alertness, response time and other skills. Some other studies that were not covered by this blog were their temperature and hormone levels that tend to fluctuate throughout the day. The results of this experiment that naps don’t recover constant sleepless nights from the astronauts but they do boost the performance of those who need a short-term boost.

Some say that even naps are more beneficial to students then caffeine. The best way to recharge your body is to power-nap and avoid the sugar. It’s good that naps so short are better because we are so busy for longer ones. If a nap is encouraged, I have no problem taking that advice.

Ever wonder why you’ll be in a bad mood and then when people who are happy surround you, you aren’t sad anymore? Friends are so important to a teenagers’ life because they tend to know how you feel at the time and their support, is the best support. Happiness is contagious and studies are showing that teenagers who suffer depression are recovering due to time spent with positive individuals.

Many researchers have been doing studies in order to see the amount of college students who are suffering with depression. Specifically, the use of SONA at Penn State surveyed students based on their emotional state. Questions such as “Do you feel worthless?” or “Are you always worried?” have been repeatedly asked to college students. Recorded by scientists, studies have shown that over 3 million people who are affected from depression and 10 percent of teens now suffer from it. Depression is a very serious condition where an individual has a constant feeling of sadness and is an illness that interferes with your daily activities. Depression can be caused by genetic, biological and environmental factors. In psychology we have learned that the brain actually appears different through medical technology than those who do not suffer from it. There is a chemical imbalance that leads to depression and is very common these days. Although there is medicine and psychotherapy to help treat it, is there more that actually helps?

One study used surveys and interviews at home to see how students in certain schools changed their moods. They wanted to discover if the high school students were influenced by one another and modeled it for 6 to 12 months. The method they used was very similar to those who model how an infectious disease spreads. Some seemed to believe that the sad mood would spread throughout students who hung out in groups but it was the opposite. The only mood that seemed to spread was happiness. Many different studies have seen this conclusion that sadness does not spread as easily has happiness does.

Another famous study was taken place in Massachusetts General Hospital where they found that patients who had strong social relationships were less likely to commit suicide. Staying away from such strong medications, researchers are finding that youth clubs are more likely to have a healthier and positive effect on those who suffer depression. Being surrounded by those who are happy increased the positive mood of those sad by 15%.

All in all scientists are seeing that happiness is not the only aspect in life that is contagious besides viruses. Scientists are trying to find out the social networks that influence other things for the good or for the bad such as obesity or smoking. Depression is something that is not handled lightly and those who suffer from it are in great risk. Be sure to spread your happiness to those who are suffering.

Whenever I’m just sitting around, without even thinking, I’ll crack my knuckles, or my hips, or my ankles or my toes or even my back. Every time that happens my sister sits there cringing, wishing that she didn’t hear it. She tells me that “I’m going to cause arthritis” or that “it’s really bad for me” but is it really? Ever since I competed in dance, my bones began to crack more and more frequently. These thoughts always popped in my head wondering if cracking your bones can actually do any harm.

Many studies have been done to show the results toward bones cracking, although it is hard to find exact answers. After reviewing many analyses the answer is that it most likely does not harm you. Everyone can have different inputs but I think those who are fond of cracking their bones can say they would be happy to hear those results, I know I am.

One experiment that took place was through a scientist Fryer who was able to crack every finger. The experiment included using a tube connected to a cable that would be pulled until the joint cracked. The results were shown through an MRI video that showed the true visual of what occurs while you crack your bones.

When you crack your knuckles, your finger joints form a gas-filled cavity, known to be synovial fluid. In the past, scientists use to believe that joint cracking would cause more of a gap between joints, but it really doesn’t. Basically many scientists will say it depends on the frequency of times an individual will do it. Those who do it all the time may cause inflammation or swelling on their joints but not arthritis.

As a competitive dancer, I cannot shift my weight from side to side without a loud pop in my hip. I never purposely do it but I can’t break this habit. This is most common for dancers because when the hip snaps, a tendon rolls over protrusions of your femur or pelvis. Joseph P. Garry, MD showed another major study that only 1/3 of dancers who pop their hips were experiencing physical hip troubles.

There aren’t many ways to prevent your bones from cracking. Scientists have suggested that if you do struggle with excessive hip popping, you should go to physical therapy in order to strengthen the hip flexor. One very common explanation for this is that dance is a sport that ignores certain prime flexors in the hip while you’re externally rotated hips and legs tighten other flexors that they are not use to using. Dr. Howenstine also recommended that the use of Vitamin K would strengthen bones. The vitamin produces a protein known as Osteocalcin, helps absorb and use calcium to strengthen bones.

Many people crack their bones so often that they don’t even realize that they’re doing it. In conclusion, those who crack their bones should not worry so much that they are harming their body. There are such ways to improve it but nothing that will seriously damage your body. There is not definite answer towards if there are such long term- effects but scientists continue to study it.

Ever wonder why your friends always text you telling you their dreams but you can’t even remember one in the past month? Some people even say that they don’t dream because they never can recall them, its just a black picture. Some scientists concluded that this statement was false with their use of experiments. The study of dreams has always been very interesting to me as I always wonder what causes those dreams and if some people don’t dream. It’s proven that you do dream every night and the only ones who do not have brain injuries.

When we dream, it tends to be during the time period known as the rapid eye movement (rem cycle) of sleep. The REM cycle appears to happen at least 2 hours of your rest, which is known to be 20% of your sleep. What most people don’t know is that your eyes actually move quickly in different directions; the only time this phenomenon will happen during your sleep. It begins once you fall asleep, 90 minutes after to be exact, and starts at a 10-minute period. As each cycle begins, it gets longer and longer and your heart rate fastens. This period is where individuals tend to have have the most intensified dreams.

Many people try very hard to remember their dreams but with the use of science, some concluded that you could improve your memory. One way for example is increasing your vitamin B6 count. This vitamin is known to help improve dream clearness and ways to recall. A healthy dosage for those that try to remember their dreams varies from 100-500mg.

Dreams are always a questionable topic but many scientists have used different procedures to see how our brain works. One very important experiment was using electroencephalography to record electrical activity in the brains of 36 people while the participants of the research listened to tunes and hear their own first name. High recallers of their name showed a decrease in a brain wave called alpha wave when they heard their names compared to those who didn’t recall hearing their name. This can highly relate to when asleep, those can recall their dreams vs. those who cannot. Those who highly recall are those who wake up easier from sounds or disruptions and then wake up and will remember their dream better than those who are heavier sleeper. The sooner you wake up after a dream, the more likely it is to remember it.

Women tend to have many more dreams that are either their worst nightmares or very emotional stories. When men do remember their dreams, it is usually more aggressive than those of women. Analysis shows that women will remember these dreams more often than men. Another study also shows that higher rates of dream recall can be towards those who are more open-minded, and prone to fantasizing.

Dream studies are so questionable that always make me wonder if these dreams that occur will relate to something in my life. Some dreams are just so good that you wish when you open your eyes, you can close them and your dream will continue. I wish that everyone could remember their dreams because they bring such a fascinating input on life.

Hello everyone, my name is Hannah Papa and I am from Long Island, New York. I am a freshman here at Penn State and I am in the Smeal College of Business. I plan on majoring in Supply Chain Management and have a love for math. While filling out my courses for this semester, my advisor suggested this course to fill my science requirement for a general education credit. Over the years, many students have given positive feedback for Science 200. I’ve always done well in science classes and thought starting my Penn State experience with this general education course would be perfect.

I don’t plan on majoring in science because in high school I could never stand the long lab periods. I always thought it was interesting and liked it better than English and History, but ever since I met a professor here at Penn State who explained Supply Chain to me, I have been very interested. The program here in Smeal is so strong that with hard work, I can’t wait to see what the future has in store for me.