HEALTH – Page 16

A Food Safety Researcher Explains Food Expiration Dates Don’t Have Much Science Behind Them – Here’s Another Way To Know What’s Too Old To Eat

9Dec

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

NUTRITION

A Food Safety Researcher Explains Food Expiration Dates Don’t Have Much Science Behind Them – Here’s Another Way To Know What’s Too Old To Eat

Florida’s outbreak of listeria has so far led to at least one death, 22 hospitalizations and an ice cream recall since January. Humans get sick with listeria infections, or listeriosis, from eating soil-contaminated food, undercooked meat or dairy products that are raw, or unpasteurized. Listeria can cause convulsions, coma, miscarriage and birth defects. And it’s the third leading cause of food poisoning deaths in the U.S. Avoiding unseen food hazards is the reason people often check the dates on food packaging. And printed with the month and year is often one of a dizzying array of phrases: “best by,” “use by,” “best if used before,” “best if used by,” “guaranteed fresh until,” “freeze by” and even a “born on” label applied to some beer. People think of them as expiration dates, or the...

12Dec

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

MENTAL HEALTH

The History Of Emoticons

An emoticon is most often used to express the mood of the writer through the use of letters and punctuation to form a facial expression. They serve to improve the communication of simple text by informing the receiver of the intended tone and temper of the writer. An example would be a sarcastic statement that would be lost in plain text but is saved by the use of a smiley face. The word, emoticon, is formed by blending the English words icon and emotion. After years of usage, many internet forums and messenger services as well as many games played online have replaced the typed text with a paired image. For instance, if you typed a colon for eyes and parenthesis for a mouth, this text would be replaced with the familiar yellow smiley face that is commonly known. These corresponding image...

Would You Consider Wellness Advice From Influencers

12Dec

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

SELF-CARE

Would You Consider Wellness Advice From Influencers

The scandal that should force us to reconsider wellness advice from influencer. Former social media influencer and “wellness guru” Belle Gibson first caught public attention after claiming she cured herself of terminal cancer by rejecting conventional medicine in favour of a healthy diet and lifestyle. Her story was documented on a blog and social media, which became the basis for a successful book and app, featuring lifestyle advice and healthy recipes. In 2015, however, Gibson was exposed as a fraud. It was revealed that she never had cancer and failed to donate the proceeds from her app to charity, as promised. Now, she has been summoned to appear in Federal Court following her failure to pay a AUD410,000 penalty for misleading health claims. Beyond the psychological factors motivating...

Among College Students Alcohol Is Becoming More Common In Sexual Assault

12Dec

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

FOR THE W, SELF-CARE

Among College Students Alcohol Is Becoming More Common In Sexual Assault

The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work. The big idea One out of every three. That is the number of women in college who say they have been a victim of sexual assault either when they were in high school or college. That’s according to my new peer-reviewed research in the Journal of Interpersonal Violence, which is based on survey data from 2015. That figure is significantly higher than it was in the mid-1980s when I conducted the first such national survey of college students at 32 institutions. Back then, the number was one out of every four. Of these incidents, 75% involved victims who admitted they were incapacitated by alcohol at the time of the assault. In the mid-1980s, that number stood at 50%. For the study, sexual assault was defined consistently wit...

Mildly Depressed Or Simply Stressed, People Are Tapping ‘Therapy On The Go’ Apps For Mental Health Care

10Dec

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

MENTAL HEALTH

Mildly Depressed Or Simply Stressed, People Are Tapping ‘Therapy On The Go’ Apps For Mental Health Care

It might be surprising to think about browsing for therapists and ordering up mental health care the way you can peruse a menu on Grubhub or summon a car on Lyft. But over the last decade, digital access to therapy has become increasingly common, in some cases replacing the traditional model of in-person weekly sessions between a therapist and client. Apps for mental health and wellness range from mood trackers, meditation tools and journals to therapy apps that match users to a licensed professional. My team’s research focuses on therapy apps that work by matching clients to a licensed professional. As a social work researcher, I am interested in understanding how these apps affect clients and practitioners. My research team has studied the care that app users receive. We have talked t...

The Chemistry Of Cooking Over An Open Flame – What Makes Smoky, Charred Barbecue Taste So Good?

9Dec

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

NUTRITION

The Chemistry Of Cooking Over An Open Flame – What Makes Smoky, Charred Barbecue Taste So Good?

The mere thought of barbecue’s smokey scents and intoxicating flavors is enough to get most mouths watering. Summer is here, and that means it is barbecue season for many people in the U.S. I am a chemist who studies compounds found in nature, and I am also a lover of food – including barbecue. Cooking on a grill may seem simple, but there is a lot of chemistry that sets barbecue apart from other cooking methods and results in such a delicious experience. Cooking over an open flame – whether from gas, wood or charcoal – allows you to use both radiant and conductive heat to cook food. Romary/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA Cooking with fire First, it is important to define barbecue because the term can mean different things in different cultures or geographic locations. At its most basic, barb...

According To A New Study Dangerous Counterfeit Drugs Are Putting Millions Of US Consumers At Risk

9Dec

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

SELF-CARE

According To A New Study Dangerous Counterfeit Drugs Are Putting Millions Of US Consumers At Risk

The Food and Drug Administration took 130 enforcement actions against counterfeit medication rings from 2016 through 2021, according to my new study published in the journal Annals of Pharmacotherapy. Such actions might involve arrests, confiscation of products or counterfeit rings being dissolved. These counterfeiting operations involved tens of millions of pills, more than 1,000 kilograms (2,200 pounds) of active ingredient powder that could be turned into pills in the U.S. and hundreds of millions of dollars in sales. Unfortunately, with over 11,000 rogue pharmacy sites selling drugs on the internet, these actions barely scratch the surface. The FDA’s Office of Criminal Investigations conducts and coordinates criminal investigations into manufacturers and individuals violating federal...

What Exactly Is Toe Jam? From Harmless Gunk To A Feast For Bugs

12Dec

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

SELF-CARE

What Exactly Is Toe Jam? From Harmless Gunk To A Feast For Bugs

Toe jam can be a source of fascination, disgust or barely noticed. It can be a sign you need to wash your feet or rethink your choice of footwear. It can also lead to major health issues. Toe jam, the gunk and debris between your toes, has even made it to a Beatles song. But it was unlikely John Lennon was thinking about foot hygiene when he wrote the lyrics to the second verse of Come Together: He wear no shoeshine, he got toe-jam football He got monkey finger, he shoot Coca-Cola He say, ‘I know you, you know me’ One thing I can tell you is you got to be free. Yes, The Beatles really mentioned toe jam in Come Together (YouTube). What is toe jam, actually? Toe jam isn’t a medical term. There is no formal medical term to describe the dead skin cells, sweat, sock lint and dirt that comb...

Red Wine Better On The Waistline Then Beer And Spirits

12Dec

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

SELF-CARE

Red Wine Better On The Waistline Then Beer And Spirits

Beer and spirits have more detrimental effects on the waistline and on cardiovascular disease risk than red or white wine. Drinking beer and spirits is linked to elevated levels of visceral fat – the harmful type of fat that is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome, and other health complications – whereas drinking wine shows no such association with levels of this harmful fat and may even be protective against it, depending on the type of wine consumed. In fact, we found that drinking red wine is linked to having lower levels of visceral fat. These are some of the key takeaways of a new study that my colleagues and I recently published in the Obesity Science & Practice journal. Although white wine consumption did not influence levels of viscer...

Essential Reads On The Uses, Effects And Potential Of Cannabis

12Dec

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

SELF-CARE

Essential Reads On The Uses, Effects And Potential Of Cannabis

As states have legalized marijuana for medicinal and recreational use, and federal law now allows sale of hemp-derived products, cannabis and its derivatives are getting more attention and study. The Conversation has compiled excerpts of articles from scholars who have been watching recent marijuana developments. 1. Studies may support CBD claims Soaring sales of products containing the marijuana extract CBD followed Congress legalizing CBD in 2018. CBD sellers and users swear by its ability to relieve pain and anxiety. Although science isn’t yet sure about that, there are reasons for encouragement, writes Hillary Marusak, a professor of psychiatry and neuroscience at Wayne State University. “Neuroimaging studies in humans show that CBD can reduce activity in the amygdala and anterior ci...