Just a little F.Y.I.

Nope. No research today! I've been struggling to find a topic for my latest blog post that would be useful and beneficial to those who read it, but I've come up short. I've perused ScienceDaily.com all the way to (gasp!) wikipedia.com and I can't seem to come up with a topic.

So, I'll just share what I know: fatigue.

It's come to my attention that at this point in the quarter (week 8, to be exact), my brain and my body do not cooperate with one another. I can take my body to all the places it needs to go (school, appointments, and the like) but my brain keeps checking out, getting distracted, and just, well, plain not cooperating with my plan for the day.

So, given the fact that I'm a "talk therapy" advocate, I'll "talk" about it.

I'm frustrated with the fatigue that hits me at this point in the quarter. I try to accomplish homework and my other life obligations and I just can't seem to get the motivation up to even exercise (which is a 5-times-weekly activity for me, so I'd say it's already a habit and shouldn't be subject to "motivation"). However, I have to get into acceptance about the fact that my body can only do so much. But, I still balk at the idea of "letting things go." After all, there's always so much to be done! But, as I've heard before (from a wise person, I'm sure), much more useful work gets done if one is prepared and well rested for it.

I think I'll go take a nap. Just kidding. Maybe...

Financial Aid and Grad School

Getting a higher education isn't easy. Or cheap. Going to a public university is definitely cheaper than going to a private one (think USC and their $30,000 plus tuition yearly). However, the fact that even one of my classmates is having a hard time paying for school and that this necessitates him or her to work, really chaps my hiney, so to speak.

I know I've written about financial aid on my blog before, and I'd like to offer up some suggestions again, but I'm no expert. I'm hoping that others who may read this post will take heart and offer up their own suggestions, so that others may benefit from their wisdom.

If and until that happens, I've dug up some book titles for scholarship searches and websites that may be of help:

• www.fafsa.com (apply for financial aid online)
• www.fastweb.com (access to financial aid info and scholarship search)
• "1001 Ways to Pay for College" -- good for a wide range of scholarship and financial aid ideas
• Your local library -- oftentimes has Scholarship Books or other resources for student financial aid planning

These are all books and resources I've used myself. But this, by no means, is even a slightly exhaustive list. I'm sure there's more resources than I could possibly research and put on this blog. But, at least it's a good start! Hope it helps!!

Studying, Stress and College Midterms -- separating myth from fact

Some strategies students have been employing for -- ahem -- centuries (I'd venture to guess) are actually not effective and may cause the already-present school stress to compound itself. According to about.com, the following strategies may trick you into thinking you're a good student, but in fact, cause more problems than they alleviate. Here's the highlights that do not work:

• Studying in an "all nighter" fashion
• Drinking excessive amounts of caffeine
• Cramming at the last minute
• Studying with friends you normally hang out with (duh)

All you need is love, love....

A study performed by the University of Chicago says that men derive health benefits from being married to a significant other woman in their lives. Specifically the study states:

"...married men actually live longer, fuller lives than their bachelor counterparts--primarily, researchers say, because of the love and continuous support system that a wife can provide."

The study was based on a stay-at-home wife versus one who works outside the home full-time. The difference between health benefits of each was 25 percent! The man whose wife works outside the home benefited less.

So, besides the obvious emotional benefits of marriage, apparently you can benefit health-wise also!

Have a Happy Valentines Day!

So this mouse with a cane walked into a bar...

(*if I use any more sarcasm, I'm going to gag) 

Wow. Mickey's not lookin' so great these days. I wonder why? Could it be all that processed food and diet soda he's been eating and drinking lately?

According to a study published by the FASEB journal on sciencedaily.com (one of my fave websites, since Laura Freberg's blog introduced me to it), this looks as though that could be the case.

As in most research studies, the researchers used mice to find the correlation between junk food and particular results in the human body -- it's obviously meant to translate from the effects on mice to the effects on us, although it's also obvious that we are not mice and in order to find out the particulars of the study, I encourage you to find the research paper and peruse the "methods" section. What the researchers found was that the preservatives -- phosphates to be exact -- actually accelerate the aging process in mice. Which alludes to the effects of phosphates on the human body. Unfortunately, phosphates are found in more than just one type of food.

The study specifically cites soda as one of the resident evils of the junk food industry. That's one of my faves. I drink diet soda like most people drink water. Since most people drink it for its caffeine, they may not think about all the phosphates included in their slurp or gulp. It may be time to start paying attention.

After doing research of my own, working with a personal trainer, and talking with yogis, I've discovered that we, as humans, should be drinking at least our body weight in ounces in pure water per day. So, if your weight = 150 lbs, you should be drinking 150 ounces of water per day. That takes determination.

It's worth it, though. I may do another blog post in the future about the effects of dehydration on the body. For now, simply pinch the skin on the back of your hand. If it stays "up and pinched" so to speak, for a few seconds before the skin returns to it's original state, you may be dehydrated. So, folks, drink more water, less soda - that's the take home message.

That is, if you want to live a little longer. 

Psychotic Illness Linked to Cannibis and Other Substances

Pot has often been called the "gateway drug" due to it's ability to introduce a person to the world of drug use with seemingly benign side effects. Apparently, this is no longer the widely-held belief. Researchers have found that early-onset psychotic illness has been linked to the use of cannibis.

ScienceDaily.com has published an article on this very subject. As with other blog entries, I'll attempt to give a short synopsis of the article (call it "research lite" if you will):

• Cannibis is used by more than 16 million Americans (translation: this doesn't include all the people hanging out in Netherlands' "Red Light District")
• Pot is not the only substance linked to psychotic illness; think: methamphetamine-induced psychotic disorder
• Those who use drugs, and more often, use pot, develop symptoms of psychosis an average of 2 years younger than those who do not use drugs
• Those who are predisposed to developing schizophrenia can influence the symptoms' early appearance by using cannibis
• Those who have early onset of schizophrenia tend to have a worse prognosis overall
• Smoking cigarettes while pregnant has been linked to the development of psychotic symptoms in the child during their teenage years (thanks ScienceDaily.com)

If you do not have a genetic propensity to develop psychotic disorder, you won't necessarily develop one by substance use. Schizophrenia won't be "caused" by substance use. But, as stated above, methamphetamine-induced psychotic disorder is real. Cigarettes are more malicious than they sound. And, who wants to take a chance anyways?

Thyroid Symptom, Depression, or Simple Fatigue?

Thyroid Gland

I've often appreciated the plain language on about.com and their seeming ability to take complicated issues and explain them in layman's terms.

I especially appreciate it when my doctor tells me I need to get my thyroid checked when I seem to be having symptoms that I wouldn't normally associate with my thyroid (like a cold-tremble feeling in my body). For the record, I am diagnosed with hypothyroidism and have been getting my blood drawn/meds adjusted off and on since I was 14 years old.

What I didn't know was that it can cause symptoms that mimic depression or malnutrition. To explain thyroid issues, here's a primer:

hypOthyroidism is:

• an underactive thyroid gland; a glandular disorder resulting from insufficient production of thyroid hormones

wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

while hyPERthyroidism is:

• an overactive thyroid gland; pathologically excessive production of thyroid hormones or the condition resulting from excessive production of thyroid hormones

wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

Either way, a person's energy level and personal sense of well-being are affected. I concentrate on the issues surrounding hypOthyroidism because the symptoms tend to mimic Depression, another fave research topic of mine. Here are some of the greater and lesser known symptoms of the disorder according to about.com (it's a long list, so scroll down about halfway for the lesser known and more surprising symptoms:

·         I am gaining weight inappropriately

·         I'm unable to lose weight with diet/exercise

·         I am constipated, sometimes severely

·         I have hypothermia/low body temperature (I feel cold when others feel hot, I need extra sweaters, etc.)

·         I feel fatigued, exhausted

·         Feeling run down, sluggish, lethargic 

·         My hair is coarse and dry, breaking, brittle, falling out 

·         My skin is coarse, dry, scaly, and thick 

·         I have a hoarse or gravely voice 

·         I have puffiness and swelling around the eyes and face

·         I have pains, aches in joints, hands and feet 

·         I have developed carpal-tunnel syndrome, or it's getting worse

·         I am having irregular menstrual cycles (longer, or heavier, or more frequent) 

·         I am having trouble conceiving a baby 

·         I feel depressed 

·         I feel restless 

·         My moods change easily 

·         I have feelings of worthlessness 

·         I have difficulty concentrating 

·         I have more feelings of sadness

·         I seem to be losing interest in normal daily activities 

·         I'm more forgetful lately

Other symptoms commonly associated with hypothyroidism patients:
 My hair is falling out

·         I can't seem to remember things 

·         I have no sex drive 

·         I am getting more frequent infections, that last longer 

·         I'm snoring more lately 

·         I have/may have sleep apnea 

·         I feel shortness of breath and tightness in the chest 

·         I feel the need to yawn to get oxygen 

·         My eyes feel gritty and dry 

·         My eyes feel sensitive to light 

·         My eyes get jumpy/tics in eyes, which makes me dizzy/vertigo and have headaches 

·         I have strange feelings in neck or throat 

·         I have tinnitus (ringing in ears) 

·         I get recurrent sinus infections 

·         I have vertigo 

·         I feel some lightheadedness 

·         I have severe menstrual cramps           source: about.com

A lot of the time, I post things on my blog that I feel would be helpful to many people. This means that I research things that would be (hopefully) surprising to most people and would allow them to have a reason to go to their doctor instead of suffering with symptoms they have no explanation for. Of course, as a disclaimer, I must say "Do not try to self-diagnose or self-medicate." That's what doctors are for.

For the rest of my readers, I'm hoping it will be interesting fodder for your active brains. Enjoy.

Grad Students: Adult v. Non-Adult students

Seems my brain has gone on a semi-permanent hiatus lately. It's a mere 5 weeks into the 11-week quarter and I've already fallen behind on my reading. It's a far cry from where I was as an undergrad, though! I was lucky if I even got to the reading! Thank goodness for discipline.

So, I wonder, do Grad Students have more issues with exhaustion than Undergrad Students? It begs consideration. I decided to do a little research.... and this is what I came up with -- a professor's perspective:

"When beginning a program, students should expect to feel overwhelmed...I must say my adult learners seem to do very well with balancing the many issues they have going on, such as school, life and work. Not to say that my other students don't do well, it's just that the adult learners seem to be able to keep up with little or no foreseen problems." --gradschools.com

 Well, I must say, that's a relief! There certainly are many trials one must get through just to be able to go to a Graduate-level program. Then, once one gets there, it's even more difficult to succeed. Grad School is not for the faint of heart! I believe this is a well-known thing, but I needed to see it in print for myself.

The article goes on to say that time management is an essential part of keeping the "overwhelm" in check. I haven't personally gotten to the point where I feel like I've mastered time management, but I'll let you know when I get there!

This is your snail, this is your snail on drugs....any questions?

Seems that according to Science Daily.com, a woman researcher by the name of Barbara Sorg, from Washington State University, has decided to get some snails (specifically: " the pond snail Lymnaea stagnalis") addicted to methamphetamine for the purposes of studying what meth does to the memory.

The article goes on to explain that while addicts may be able to stop using a drug for a period of time, the brain still stores a memory for the use of the drug. Further, according to the studies performed by Sorg and a colleague, methamphetamine makes the memories formed "under the influence" harder to forget. So why get a snail high, you ask? It seems that snails have a memory for whether or not they should raise their pneumostomes (oxygen-suckers) above the water, according to the quality of the water -- and whether or not the water was laced with methamphetamine.

I believe the researchers are trying to draw a parallel between relapse on methamphetamine and the memory the brain has for common environments associated with the drug. In simplified terms this means that if you are exposed to an environment you used to use methamphetamine in, you are more likely to succumb to the memory of using and do it again. Interesting. And, unnerving.

And, ultimately, it's a questionable thing to do to a poor animal. So I just want to give a shout-out to all the lab animals who were sequestered for this experiment: Thanks for your sacrifice, little guys!

Addicted to Facebook?

• CNN has an article online (click the blog title to check it out) on Facebook addiction and the signs to look for if you're a proponent of staying on the computer way past your bedtime and ignoring things like *life* to check in on the computer.

Facebook users are even posting links to satires of the Facebook phenomenon, underscoring its salience in today's technology. Check this one out:  "Failbook"
It shows the possible (and probable) banter that occurs daily on the hit url.

Pretty interesting how we have laymen who understand the psychology behind how and why people post the things they do online for the world to see, mindless as they are, and then can't seem to untangle themselves from the keyboard long enough to grab another cup of coffee. See, this is me doing that same thing right now. Perhaps I'm addicted.

But before we go that far let's peruse a few of the "warning signs" CNN believes either supports my argument that I'm a Facebook-freak, or shoots it down altogether:

• Pile's "Facebook Compulsion Inventory" is a psychological test-of-sorts that shows whether or not your interest in Facebook is minor, or social life threatening: Pile's Facebook Compulsion Inventory --The test includes items such as the following:
1. "I have more in common with the people I chat with on Facebook than I have with my spouse or partner."
2. "Sometimes I lose sleep because of the time I spend on Facebook."
3. "I feel excited and energized when I access my Facebook page."
4. "I feel that others would think less of me if they could see my private messages on Facebook."

There's several other criteria that tend to point to Facebook addiction, but I think you get the idea. Take the test. That is, if you're not too busy on Facebook.