Health | Science Research

Studies About Weight Loss

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Estimates suggest that around thirty percent of Americans are obese, and around another thirty percent are overweight. That’s means about six in every ten Americans are overweight or obese. The weight-loss industry is booming as more and more people look and pay for ways to lose weight. There are a lot of weight-loss methods out there in addition to buying medications like prescription Acomplia online. Here are a few.

Hypnosis – Studies vary in regard to the effectiveness of using hypnosis to treat obesity. Some say that it works, but others suggest that hypnosis is just a psychotherapeutic placebo that helps people make themselves eat better and exercise.
Drugs – Weight-loss drugs are growing in popularity. Some can be obtained over the counter, or people can even order Xenical via a website. Drugs are most effective in conjunction with lifestyle changes. Some have minor gastrointestinal side effects, but they can have positive results.
Tea – Green tea is sometimes promoted as a sort of weight-loss miracle. Recent studies have suggested that antioxidants and other ingredients in green tea can actually reduce body fat and lower cholesterol.
Liposuction – The University of Colorado studied a group of women who received liposuction and found that after a year, all the weight had come back in other areas of their bodies. Liposuction is an invasive and often temporary solution to obesity.

All these weight-loss methods rely, at least partly, on exercise and eating right, but these methods can help you be successful in reaching weight-loss goals.

Filed Under: General Tagged With: Health, Obesity, Weight loss

Sidestep White Noise with Online College Degrees

Being deaf or partially deaf can inhibit one’s ability to interact in most, if not all, social situations. It can be a bit of a challenge to listen to and clearly hear the words uttered by others if there is other noise, known as white noise, in the background. White noise is similar to that emitted by a TV tuned to a channel which has ‘snow’ or black and white static on the screen. It hovers at a frequency that is most easily picked up by the human ear and causes a masking effect to speech, effectively drowning it out. This phenomenon is prevalent in any noisy situation, such as bars and shopping malls. These places can be bothersome to a person who struggles with hearing loss.

Another place which creates a struggle for the hearing impaired, despite the lack of overpowering ambient noise, is a classroom. Often a teacher’s voice just doesn’t reach the hard of hearing student’s ears, even if they sit very near to the front of the classroom. Perhaps it’s the gentle ambient noise of the heating and air conditioning unit or the teacher’s predilection to speak when facing the blackboard, but whatever the reason, hearing impaired students often struggle to make out the precise words the professor is speaking. This poses obvious problems as the student, taking notes, will write down incorrect things that they thought they heard correctly.

One way around this issue for the hearing impaired or deaf student is to register for online classes. The course material is available through the Internet and so reduces the need to rely on hearing. It’s the eyes that count where online college degrees are concerned, not the ears. Not only is the format convenient, it can afford the opportunity to improve one’s GPA, as there is a much reduced chance of mishearing facts or figures.

Filed Under: Education, General Tagged With: Background noise, Conditions and Diseases, Health, Hearing, Hearing impairment, Taste, Television, White noise

The Benefits and Disadvantages of Studying Nursing

Getting an education in nursing is a popular choice made by many people all over the world. By getting a nursing qualification students can expect to have a rewarding job that has potential for career advancement and diversification. However like with most university courses there are pros and cons to studying nursing. Students must take the time to research these before they decide to commit to studying nursing.

There are many benefits to studying the field of nursing. Firstly people are always going to need somebody to care for them in their old age. This means that nurses will never be out of demand. As nurses are expected to interact well with others they generally have good people skills. This is something that can be used in any career. Another benefit is that nursing schools often put their students in a variety of different placements. This means that students will be able to experience a wide variety of different nursing environments. This will help students choose the environment that they are best suited to.

The negative aspects of working within the nursing industry and studying nursing at a university are generally related to stress. Both the work environment and course are very intensive. Students will find the course load even more difficult when they are working placements and studying at the same time. The job of a nurse is demanding on both a physical and a mental level. This may be difficult for some people to keep up with.

The decision to get a nursing education should not be taken lightly. Students should think about the reasons that they want to become a nurse and then research universities that offer this course. Students should be aware that they will have little time for anything other than working or studying when they are enrolled in this course.

Filed Under: Education Tagged With: Health, Nurse, Nursing, Student

Healthy Lifestyles and Education Level

Reductions in the risk of stroke and heart disease can be attributed to better education as well as living in wealthy countries. Citizens of middle- and low-income countries do not experience this lowering of cardiovascular risks. This is according to a new study. Men from high-income countries that are well educated had the lowest rates of heart disease, according the study. The results of this study also show that these results are not the same in less wealthy countries.

The lead author of the study Dr. Abhinav Goyal points at that results of studies such as these that are researched in wealthy countries, cannot be thought to have the same results in poor nations. He says that other studies actually conducted in those poorer countries need happen in order to see the correct study results. Dr Goyal is a professor at Emory Rollins School of Public Health, as well as the Atlanta-based Emory School of Medicine.

Dr. Goyal studied during a two-year period approximately 61,000 subjects from 44 countries. These subjects had bee diagnosed with cardiovascular, stroke or heart disease risk factors. These risks include smoking, elevated blood pressure, clogged blood vessels or obesity.

On interesting fact that came out in the study is that about 50 percent of well-educated women in wealth countries engaged in smoking and only 35 percent of lesser educated women smoked. In the lower income countries these numbers saw highly educated women smoked at a rate of about 21 percent, with 14 percent had received less education.

On the men’s side 66 percent of well educated men from wealth countries smoked. Compare this to 75 percent with a lower level of education. And interesting, subjects from the lower income countries had smoke rates that were the same across all levels of education. Goyal points out that a high-level of education does not mean a healthier lifestyle.

Filed Under: Education, Medical, Research Tagged With: Blood pressure, Education, Health, Heart disease

Study Indicates Caffeine Affects Boys More

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A new study has found some interesting facts about caffeine: It apparently affects boys more strongly than it does girls. The study was examining caffeine’s impact on the health of adolescents.

The study found that an increasing number of kids are consuming a larger amount of caffeine and caffeinated drinks; however there is very little know about what effects this drug has on their development. The study was published in Behavioral Pharmacology.

This study examined the effects of caffeine consumption on adolescents ages 12 to 17. The study concluded that males would play a computer game for significantly longer time periods in order to win a caffeinated drink that would girls. Control factors of the study included thirst, boredom and regular caffeine consumption.

Lead researcher Jennifer R. Temple is a neurobiologist at the University of Buffalo, stated that she had the expectation that these drinks containing caffeine would effect the subjects more strongly who usually consumed the highest amounts of caffeine. This was regardless of gender. However, the study presents a relationship between the craving for caffeine and sex.

Temple says she’s not sure why the males in the study responded at high rates, but she speculates that it may be hormones and the effect that caffeine gets from those. Another researcher, Aaron Luebbe of the University of Mississippi Medical Center, also indicates that there may be cyclical periods of caffeine use. She says that there may be consequences of this use on such things as emotions and sleep. Luebbe as conducted studied the symptoms of depression and caffeine usage among adolescents.

While both researchers don’t believe that it a real danger to children, both say that consuming large amounts of caffeine is not healthy, for either gender. Temple says if only moderate use is allowed, it should not have an abnormally negative effect. .

Filed Under: Education, Medical, Research Tagged With: Caffeine, Health, University of Mississippi

What is Test Anxiety?

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Almost every one of us has suffered from test anxiety. It is highly unusual that any student doesn’t feel some sort of stress or anxiety before a test. This anxiety can manifest self in many ways included, irritability, anger, physical issues and depression. Research is showing ways to understand how this may affect learning.

The ability to retain and recall information can be repressed under stress. This is because anxiety creates a mental static that then causes the brain to lose its ability for retrieval as well as reduces reason and comprehension. Understanding the relationship with anxiety and the ability for physical and cognitive performance is understanding the effects of the emotion on the nervous system.

Feelings or emotions like anxiety, anger and fear cause an out of sync reaction between branches of the nervous system. The brain activity that is normally synchronized becomes affected which then disrupts clear thinking and processing by the brain. However, other emotions such as happiness can bring about a state of increased synchronization in the nervous system, as well as the brain. And one is then able to process information and think better.

Students who obtain or have been given the strategies and tools can overcome this anxiety. These strategies include good physical habits as well as emotional coping skills. These skills will also overcome any anxiety or stress symptoms. And they will be better equipped to prepare and perform at test time. And important factor of this is that the student must actually identify and relate the feeling. Then the tools they are given can manage the anger, frustration or self-doubt. Good exercise and physical habits should also be part of the picture of alleviate anxiety and stress during test taking. Good physical sense will let students obtain a good energy level that gets the brain in the right state for thinking.

Filed Under: Education, Research Tagged With: Anxiety, Health, Mental health, Stress