Tuesday, March 10

HEALTH

6 ways to build motivation to do your schoolwork now that you’re forced to learn online at home
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SELF-CARE

6 ways to build motivation to do your schoolwork now that you’re forced to learn online at home

Even in normal circumstances, it can be hard to get motivated to do your schoolwork. But these are not normal circumstances. The switch to remote instruction caused by COVID-19 has been unsettling. Patterns have changed. Habits have been disrupted. Remote classes are simply different from classes that involve face-to-face instruction. As a researcher who looks at what it takes to get through college, I have a few tips that could maximize your motivation and productivity when you’re at home going to school online. 1. Guard your time You do not need large amounts of time to be productive. Instead, be intentional and focused in short blocks where you can work without interruption. Protect these open times by setting up your workspace to minimize distraction – including silencing notificatio...
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How SNAP can help people during hard economic times like these
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NUTRITION

How SNAP can help people during hard economic times like these

A record number of Americans are seeing their hours cut or losing their jobs due to the initial economic repercussions of the coronavirus pandemic. How will millions of newly jobless families keep putting food on the table? They might get some help from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. The nation’s largest anti-hunger system helped about 35 million low-income people buy groceries in 2019, down from a peak of over 47 million in 2013 in the aftermath of the Great Recession. After repeatedly trying to scale back SNAP the White House recently agreed to Congress’s efforts to ramp it back up. The Families First Act, which President Donald Trump signed into law on March 18, included an additional US$1 billion in funding for other nutrition programs and will let more people enroll ...
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Who Can You Trust and Why?
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SELF-CARE

Who Can You Trust and Why?

I always find it interesting to watch politicians who attack their opponents and then, when they drop out of the race because of lack of support, back the person who they have been trashing. It is easy to attack others and make promises when you are hoping that others will vote for you! But the process doesn't always seem to be honourable. It is easy to listen to a charming individual who seems to have a good line but keep in mind the old expression that states: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is". To trust means that you have confidence that someone or something is reliable and honest. You can trust the sun to rise each day. But how do you know who you can trust? There are several markers that will help you to decide if you should trust someone: They have a good track ...
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5 ways life would be better if it were always daylight saving time
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SLEEP, VIDEO REELS

5 ways life would be better if it were always daylight saving time

In my research on daylight saving time, I have found that Americans don’t like it when Congress messes with their clocks. In an effort to avoid the biannual clock switch in spring and fall, some well-intended critics of DST have made the mistake of suggesting that the abolition of DST – and a return to permanent standard time – would benefit society. In other words, the U.S. would never “spring forward” or “fall back.” They are wrong. DST saves lives and energy and prevents crime. Not surprisingly, then, politicians in Washington and Florida have now passed laws aimed at moving their states to DST year-round. Congress should seize on this momentum to move the entire country to year-round DST. In other words, turn all clocks forward permanently. If it did so, I see five ways that America...
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Blacks are at higher risk for Alzheimer’s, but why?
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SELF-CARE, VIDEO REELS

Blacks are at higher risk for Alzheimer’s, but why?

Blacks are at higher risk for several health conditions in the U.S. This is true for heart disease, hypertension, type 2 diabetes and stroke, which are often chronic diseases. And it is also for Alzheimer’s disease, in which blacks have two times higher incidence rates than whites. So, why do these disparities exist, especially in Alzheimer’s disease, which isn’t typically considered a chronic disease but a progressive one, or one that worsens over time? Some researchers attribute the gap to both societal and systemic factors related to inequities in education, socioeconomics, income and health care access. Other factors such as stress, diet, lifestyle and genetics may also contribute. However, there’s a less-explored question in Alzheimer’s that could contribute to this disparity: Is ...
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Natural supplements can be dangerously contaminated, or not even have the specified ingredients
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SELF-CARE

Natural supplements can be dangerously contaminated, or not even have the specified ingredients

More than two-thirds of Americans take dietary supplements. The vast majority of consumers – 84% – are confident the products are safe and effective. They should not be so trusting. I’m a professor of pharmacy practice at the University of Connecticut. As described in my new article in the Annals of Pharmacotherapy, consumers take real risks if they use diet supplements not independently verified by reputable outside labs. What are the risks? Heavy metals, which are known to cause cancer, dementia and brittle bones, contaminate many diet supplements. One study of 121 products revealed 5% of them surpassed the safe daily consumption limit for arsenic. Two percent had excess lead, cadmium and aluminum; and 1% had too much mercury. In June 2019, the Food and Drug Administration seized 300...
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The secondhand smoke you’re breathing may have come from another state
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SELF-CARE

The secondhand smoke you’re breathing may have come from another state

Scientists estimate that each year in the U.S., outdoor air pollution shortens the lives of about 100,000 people by one to two decades. As it turns out, much of this pollution originates not in a person’s own neighborhood, but up to hundreds or even thousands of miles away in neighboring states. And, absent strong federal regulations, there’s very little Americans can do about it. In a study published on Feb. 12, we used state-of-the-art modeling to estimate the number of air pollution-related deaths that combustion emissions – those from any kind of burning, from cook stoves to car engines to coal power plants – from each state have caused in every other state over the past 14 years. On average, 41% of these air pollution deaths in the U.S. resulted from what we call “secondhand smok...
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E-cig flavors may be more than alluring; they could cause damage themselves
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SELF-CARE

E-cig flavors may be more than alluring; they could cause damage themselves

Millions of Americans are vaping, and some are getting sick. Since June 2019, 2,711 have been hospitalized and 60 have died due to EVALI (e-cigarette-associated lung injury), the devastating lung disease linked to e-cigarettes. Five million users are middle and high school students. Some are as young as 11, although it’s illegal to sell vaping products to anyone under 21. A vape shop in New York City shows a line of flavorings on Jan. 2, 2020. Mary Altaffer/AP Photo, CC BY-SA Especially for kids, much of the lure is flavor. E-cigarettes offer attractive smells and tastes. Fruit, mint, candy and dessert flavors are the favorites, and studies suggest they ignite the desire to vape. That’s why the Trump administration just banned the sale of those sweet flavors from cartridge-based e-cigs, t...
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Why bipolar disorder is becoming more ‘desirable’ than other mental illnesses
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MENTAL HEALTH

Why bipolar disorder is becoming more ‘desirable’ than other mental illnesses

Bipolar disorder is a severe mental health condition. But in recent years it has become the one mental health diagnosis that patients are willing to accept. Research shows that to some people it has actually become “desirable” when compared with other mood disorders. This could be because of bipolar disorder’s association with creativity. For example, Charles Dickens and Beethoven are thought to have had bipolar disorder. The de-stigmatising effect of considerable media coverage could also be factor. As could its association with successful celebrities such as Stephen Fry, Kanye West and Carrie Fisher. Figures like Fry – who made the revealing BBC television documentary, The Secret Life of the Manic Depressive – have used their positions to bring home the disturbing realities of the cond...
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Why teen depression rates are rising faster for girls than boys
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MENTAL HEALTH

Why teen depression rates are rising faster for girls than boys

We’re in the middle of a teen mental health crisis – and girls are at its epicenter. Since 2010, depression, self-harm and suicide rates have increased among teen boys. But rates of major depression among teen girls in the U.S. increased even more – from 12% in 2011 to 20% in 2017. In 2015, three times as many 10- to 14-year-old girls were admitted to the emergency room after deliberately harming themselves than in 2010. Meanwhile, the suicide rate for adolescent girls has doubled since 2007. Rates of depression started to tick up just as smartphones became popular, so digital media could be playing a role. The generation of teens born after 1995 – known as iGen or Gen Z – were the first to spend their entire adolescence in the age of the smartphone. They’re also the first group of teens...
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