Sunday, April 28, 2013

Signs of Stress

-"Of Course You're Stressed. Just Look At You"
-Chris Woolston, Los Angeles Times 
-April 27, 2013
-http://www.latimes.com/health/la-he-ordinary-stress-20130427,0,214998.story
When people are stressed, they usually have the same signs showing they are stressed. However, when they have been under that stress for years, it appears to be worse. Due to cortisol and a number of other hormones, the brain puts itself in a "fight-or-flight" situation, and this is noticed through a change in physical appearances or actions. One way the human body tries to fight away stress is through grinding teeth. People release their stress and problems by putting their teeth through the torture. Another sign is gum disease. Having high amounts of cortisol in the blood leads to periodontal disease, and that leads to tooth loss. More signs of stress are inflammation, thinning hair and bones, and weight gain. People eat more when they are stressed due to the need to have something to comfort them. Cortisol weakens bones because it prevents them from being able to gain calcium, and inflammation is also caused due to the cortisol and other hormones.

Eleven-Year-Old Survivor

-"Five Dead in Georgia House Fire, 11-Year-Old Girl Sole Survivor"
-Michael Mello, Los Angeles
-April 27, 2013
-http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-georgia-house-fire-20130427,0,3889612.story
In Newnan Georgia, the house of a family with five children was burned and four of them were killed along with one adult. At one in the morning, firefighters appeared at their house but the home was completely burned. The last child remaining had no idea what was happening until her mother woke her up and urged her to run away. However, the child's mother, Alonna McCrary, was found dead in attempt to rescue her four other children, ages one through five. The one child who survived was sent to the hospital to check her lungs. She must feel lonely and abandoned because she no longer has her mother or her other four siblings by her side. Lately, a lot of people have been dying from tragic events such as this, or the Boston bombings. It is heartbreaking to know members of families are passing away, especially for this specific girl because she was the only one to survive.

Sunday, April 21, 2013

Suspect's University

-"Boston Bombings; Students at Suspect's Campus Express Shock, Relief"
-Michael J. Mishak, Los Angeles Times
-April 21, 2013
-http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-boston-bombings-umass-students-20130421,0,7176563.story
University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, the university where Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the man suspected of being the bomber at the Boston Marathon, was enrolled. When the university was notified that he was the suspect, they evacuated the school knowing he was enrolled there, but was reopened after he had been captured. A school that used to be loud and talkative, was now shy and scared. The lives of these students will no longer be the same, especially for those who had him in their class, or maybe even sat next to him and talked to him on a daily basis, or even if he lived in the same dormitory as they did. Two students who lived in the same dormitory were rudely awakened by a fire alarm, and went to live with their family, considering they were not allowed into their dorms whatsoever. All they wanted was to have life back to the way it was and to finish the semester as quickly and calmly as possible. The school wants to be as comforting to the students as possible. Being a witness to this large of an event must have been extremely traumatizing for the students.

Hookah vs Cigarettes

-"Study: Hookah No Safer Than Cigarettes, Just Differently Dangerous"
-Amina Khan, Los Angeles Times
-April 19, 2013
-http://www.latimes.com/news/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-hookah-cigarette-smoking-cancer-shisha-20130419,0,7032333.story
People who smoke hookah try to argue that it is safer than cigarettes, such as the forty percent of college students who have admit to doing it and said they believe it is safer. Hookah smokers believe that since it is water based, the tobacco and other toxic ingredients will be filtered out. Contrary to their belief, it does not filter out anything and they probably inhale more tobacco from hookah than cigarettes. A study in San Francisco tested eight men and five women for four days of smoking cigarettes (about eleven per day), and another four days of smoking hookah (three sessions per day). Even though more nicotine was found in the participants' blood when smoking cigarettes, they could still get addicted to hookah. However, almost three times as much carbon monoxide was found in their breath for smoking hookah, and higher levels of benzene in their urine (linking to leukemia).