How to Improve the IQ of Your Child and Teenager
August 7, 2008
A recent report revealed that working with one’s own hands in a real world 3D environment is imperative for full cognitive and intellectual development. The report was released by Dr. Aric Sigman, who was commissioned by the Ruskin Mill Educational Trust.
Unfortunately, brain development of children from the Western world is being threatened by their failure to work with their hands in school and at home. Certain classes in school are becoming much less popular, and many schools do not even offer classes in areas that involve working with the hands due to lack of interest. These classes include woodworking, metal work, crafts, agriculture, music, and auto mechanics.
Why are these classes being cancelled? Because children want to play computer games and take computer classes. The Western world is fast becoming “a software instead of a screwdriver society.” Unfortunately, many people in our society today consider working with one’s hands to be for the “lower class.” Research has showed that increasing time spend on the virtual world of computers is displacing hands-on play and hands-on learning. Hands-on play and hands-on learning allow young people to:
• experience how the world works in a practical way
• gain an understanding of materials and processes, and
• make informed judgments about abstract concepts.
Dr. Sigman’s report pointed out that many 11 year olds have deficits in certain areas of their cognitive development that were not present in children of the same age a generation or two ago. There has also been a decline in the ability of young engineers and apprentices to conceptualize straightforward mechanical problems. The findings of Dr. Sigman’s report clearly emphasize the need for strengthening the role of “3D learning, and crafts in education today.” It also underscores the need for parents to take the responsibility to ensure their children get more of a hands-on upbringing.
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Too Much Sleep May Increase Stroke Risk in Menopausal Women
August 7, 2008
Regularly getting 9 hours or more of sleep per night appears to increase the risk of stroke in post menopausal women, according to a study published in the American Heart Association Journal “Stroke” in July 2008.
The study, which involved 93,000 women ages 50-79 years old from 40 locations around the United States, ran from 1994 to 2005. Although only 5% of study participants reported getting 9 hours of more of sleep nightly, those 5% had a 60-70% higher risk of stroke compared to women getting only 7 hours of sleep per night (the most common duration).
The risk of stroke increased by 14% in women who routinely got less than 6 hours of sleep per night. The optimal amount of sleep for most people is between 7 and 8 hours per night. Some people, however, can get by with as little as 6 hours of sleep while other need as many as 9. According to this study, too much sleep may be even worse than too little sleep as far as stroke risk is concerned.
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Another Way to Get a “Natural High”
August 7, 2008
I’m interested in ways in which people can a nice dopamine, serotonin or norephenephrine surge in the brain without it setting themselves up for addiction. When an addictive substances is first used, the brain is stimulated in certain reward areas. The next time the substance is used, there is less of a reward sensation. Eventually, after the addictive cycle is repeated 50 or 60 times, the individuals dopamine levels are no longer in the “happy” stage. In between “fixes,” they will even experience such low dopamine levels that they have a very sad or empty feeling. At this point, they begin turning to their addiction just to come up to neutral levels of dopamine. In other words, they are no longer engaging in their addiction to “get high.” They are “doing it” just to get numb.
Unfortunately, even behavioral addictions (which don’t involve substances) can elicit this same response. Certain activities, such as gambling, pornography, movie addiction, rock music, etc. can actually raise the dopamine to an almost euphoric level. Unfortunately, these levels drop below neutral thereafter. This is in contrast to activities such as taking a walk in the park, seeing a beautiful sunset, reading a thought provoking book, meditating on a passage from scripture, or eating a watermelon, mango, or other piece of natural fruit. In such cases the dopamine levels do not go as high. The higher levels of dopamine last much longer, but they also do not go as low when the natural “high” is over, eventually just going down to but not below neutral.
Another way to get a natural, non-damaging high was recently discovered and published in the July 2008 Journal of Pediatrics. Investigators found that when mothers saw the faces of their own infants, key reward-related areas of their brains lit up. Pet scans taken during the study suggested increased blood flow to the areas of the brain involved in thinking, movement, behavior, and emotion. Interestingly enough, these are the same areas of the brain which have been activated in other experiments associated with drug addiction.
According to Dr. Lane Strathern, of the Human Neuro Imaging Laboratory of Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, seeing the smiling face of your own baby brings you a natural high.
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Frontal Lobe Suppressants Often Go Together
August 7, 2008
When people partake in activities that suppress their frontal lobe, they are more likely to augment the effect by engaging in additional suppressant activities.
A case in point would be the experience of people frequenting bars where syncopated rock n’ roll music is played. The louder the music is played, the faster people drink, with the end result being an increased consumption of alcohol. A French study published in the Journal of Alcoholism Clinical and Experimental Research supported this conclusion, finding that turning up music caused people to drink more alcohol, but in fewer gulps. The study, which was led by Nicholas Gueguen, observed 40 men ages 18-25 at two bars on three successive Saturday nights.
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Cigarette Manufacturers Working to Hook First-time Smokers
August 7, 2008
According to the American Lung Association, 4000 children under 18 smoke their first cigarette each day. Of those 4000 first-time smokers, nearly 1100 will become regulars at the habit.
Tobacco companies would like to convert more of those first time users into regular smokers, and they have found a way to do it. According to a report published by the American Journal of Public Health in July 2008, tobacco companies manipulate the amount of menthol in cigarettes to make those first few puffs more palatable to young smokers.
“Menthol stimulates the cooling receptors in the lung and oral pharynx,” said Dr. Gregory Connelly of the Harvard School of Public Health. As a result, smoking becomes easier for those who are not accustomed to it. Menthol cigarette brands have been rising in popularity with adolescent users. The highest use has been documented among younger, newer smokers. “Menthol helps the nicotine go down,” said Dr. Connelly. He also states, “that tobacco companies are using an ingredient here to make nicotine addiction easier.”
The best solution, of course, is for young people never to smoke their first cigarette in which case they will never become an addicted smoker. The next best scenario, for young people who do try their first cigarette, would be for them to get a large inhalation from a hardcore Marlboro cigarette without menthol, in which
case their first cigarette experience could very likely be so terrible, they’ll never want to try it again.
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Fruit Smoothie
August 7, 2008
½ cup orange juice concentrate
½ cup water
½ cup non-dairy milk (Silk Milk, Rice Dream)
½ pkg Mori-Nu Tofu, lite
1 Tbsp golden flaxseed meal (or 1 Tbsp flaxseed oil)
2 small frozen bananas, sliced
1 cup frozen strawberries or blueberries
Blend all ingredients until smooth. This smoothie makes a great way to start your day. Yields 4 cups.
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Mental Health Important to the Success of Kidney Transplants
August 7, 2008
The most common internal organ transplanted is the kidney. In an effort to decrease the risk of rejection, researchers spend thousands of dollars trying to find the good kidney matches. As it turns out, good mental health is just as important as “good matches”. New research indicates that depression doubles the risk of kidney failure after a transplant, return to dialysis, and death.
Depression screening and periodic reassessment is crucial in determining which patients should be referred for specialized mental health treatment prior to or immediately after kidney transplantation. This research was reported by Dr. Fabienne Dobbels from Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium, in the American Journal of Kidney Diseases, May 2008
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Higher Levels of Boron = Less Cancer
August 7, 2008
For years we have known that the trace mineral Boron reduces the risk of osteoporosis. According to researchers at the Anderson Cancer Center in Houston , Texas , higher levels of Boron have now been shown to be associated with a lower risk of lung cancer in women. In the study, the lowest levels of boron were associated with a 92% increased risk of contracting lung cancer.
Hormone replacement therapy in women actually reduces the risk of lung cancer by 31%. The highest risk group for lung cancer are women over age 60 who did not use hormone replacement therapy, and who have low boron levels.
It should be noted that hormone replacement therapy is no longer recommended for the typical American, because it increases the risk of thrombosis, which in turn may lead to a heart attack or stroke. The benefits of hormone replacement therapy may outweigh the risks, however, for vegetarian American women who are well-hydrated and have other risk factors for heart disease under control. Vegetarian sources of boron include apples, pears, peanuts, grapes, orange juice, beans, bananas, broccoli, and salad.
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Social Integration Can Help Preserve Memory
August 7, 2008
In a 6-year “Health and Retirement Study”, researchers found that social integration helped delay the memory decline which is usually associated with old age. 16,638 Americans participated in the study, which measured memory by immediate and delayed recall of a ten word list.
Social integration was assessed by marital status, volunteer activity, frequency of contact with children, frequency of contact with parents, and frequency of contact with neighbors. People with high social integration produced the least decline in their memory, while those least socially integrated had twice the rate of memory decline during the 6 year period. Results from this study, which was conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health, were reported in the American Journal of Public Health.
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Cancer Risk Declines as Fruit and Veggie Intake Climbs
August 7, 2008
Researchers recently completed one of the largest cancer studies ever performed, which surveyed nearly 500,000 adult Americans age 50 and up, then followed their health for four years. The study identified smoking and heavy drinking as major risk factors for the development of head and neck cancers. Certain foods, however, emerged as particularly protective factors against these cancers, even in smokers and alcoholics.
Study participants who ate the most vegetables (typically 4 or more servings per day) had 1/3 lower risk of head and neck cancers than the group that ate the fewest (less than one serving per day.) Peppers, tomatoes, carrots and legumes (such as beans, peas and string beans), were all linked to lower cancer odds. Odds of developing cancer also decreased as consumption of rosacea fruits increased. (Rosacea fruits include apples, nectarines, peaches, plums, strawberries and pears).
The study’s authors are unclear about which compounds provide the protective effect. According to Dr. Neil D. Friedman, “numerous potentially beneficial compounds are present in these foods and it’s not possible to pinpoint which of those, or a combination thereof, are responsible” (International Journal of Cancer). Previously, Dr. Gary Frazier had reported how fruit intake substantially reduces the risk of lung cancer in non-smoking Seventh-day Adventists. While the exact agents causing this risk reduction remain unclear, this large, landmark study did show that cancer risk declined as fruit and veggie intake climbed.
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