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Scientists are speculating over sleep patterns of whales; Sperm whales to be exact. Apparently, they believe these whale's brains sleep one half at a time. The two sides alternate until both are rested.

"The researchers, whose study was recently published in Current Biology, noticed the whales performed the mesmerizing drift dives 7.1 percent of the time, usually between 6 p.m. and midnight."

There has been more and more studies involving the sleep patterns of whales, because often times they do not flee when a boat is coming there way. Why would they not move? Because they are asleep? The reason whales sleep near the surface of the water is so they don't have far to go to breathe.

Of course this study is now causing people to question how much sleep you really need for development and such. I don't think they should do that, your body needs sleep. Period. You need sleep for a healthy immune system and to allow your body time to relax and unwind. I should know, I get very little sleep.

Most people say you should sleep about eight hours a night, but there really isn't a magic number to sleep. You know whether you have gotten or not, you can feel it. When you haven't gotten enough you won't be able to fully concentrate and you will run out of steam early on in the day.

Did you know sleep deprivation can cause you to be more hungry throughout the day? It makes sense doesn't it? Food gives you energy. Chew on that one folks.

SOURCE

Labels: sleep, whale

Did you know there is an entire website about parents against junk food?

I found it on Roseanne's blog. Yes, Roseanne from the television comedy about the Conner Family from back in the 80s and 90s. Man, I loved that show. I still watch it whenever it is on Nick @ Nite.

Anyway.

Parents Against Junk Food is a website devoted to descreasing childhood obesity in America. It has facts about childhood obesity such as, "In the past 30 years, the occurrence of overweight in children has doubled and it is now estimated that one in five children in the US is overweight." And it has an entire page devoted to taking action against junk food being sold in public schools. We all know why it is sold there...money. But you can support the cause to eliminate said junk food nonetheless.

I eat junk food. Yep. Well, see, you need to know this about me. I am always hungry. If I'm not hungry then I am sick or really depressed. Right now I'm not particularly hungry but I have been feeling depressed. There is a lot going on in my life right now and the stress is wearing on me. But I love cookies, ice cream, salt&pepper chips, nachos, pizza...all that good stuff. I must admit I have been trying to eat better though by snacking on carrots, oatmeal and dry cereal from time to time.

I think this website is a wonderful idea. I hope there are many parents out there who support this cause and actively participate. My son is very active. He loves his video games and tortilla chips, but he can also run around for hours and he is super thin even after eating tons of pizza. I have been trying to get Braeden to eat more healthy, but it's not easy.

It is refreshing to find a site in which learning new methods of keeping a healthy home are relevant and upfront. Their mantra is, "We are devoted to eliminating junk food from our public school system. No sodas. No candy bars. No chips. No processed lunch or foods of minimal nutritional value. Let's ask our public schools to feed both body and mind properly, to take seriously their role as guardians of our children's health and welfare."

What are your thoughts on this topic? I know money is a huge issue and the junkier the food the cheaper it normally is because it has the demand to be competitive with pricing. How do you think we, as parents, can help to back this situation better?

Labels: children healthcare, junk food, obesity

Not all realms of wellness really include being sick do they? I mean, sometimes you can wake up in the morning and just not feel well even though you know you are really fine.

As a Mom I find myself running around like a crazy person quite often. I cannot tell you how many times I have had to go home during my lunch break just to get a shower because I couldn't find any other time during the day. When you feel gross and your hair is clearly not clean, well, it can set the mood for you entire day. It doesn't matter how many different ways you try to pull it up in a pony tail it just won't work.

My Mom used to tell me about a product she and her sisters used when they were younger to help keep their hair looking clean. My grandma wouldn't let them shower if they were sick, probably related to superstitions of wet hair and being cold, I don't know. So if there hair felt gross they used a dry shampoo to absorb some of the oils. I could never really grasp that concept until I saw such a product line exists now, too.

Salon Grafix's Dry Shampoo line offers a Spray Powder Shampoo. It's not something you need to have a great deal of time for and you can bring it with you anywhere. How is that for convenience? Shampoo on the go!

So you might be skeptical, like I was, and wonder how it could actually work. It's for situations when you can't find time for a complete shower, it is NOT meant to replace anything though and your personal hygiene is VERY important to maintain so you still need to find a way to get clean. ONly use this between normal shampoos. =o)

So you choose the product for your hair color and then spray it on. It won't leave a residue behind but it will make your hair look clean and shiny. It is so worth it for us on-the-go Mamas who still like to look nice even when we're running around crazy.

Labels: cosmetics, hair care

If you could test your child to find out if a mental illness is likely in their future, would you do it? And if it came back positive how would you be proactive?

"The research was conducted in youth with a median age of 16 and was funded primarily by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), part of the National Institutes of Health."

Of course it makes sense to me that intervening in the early stages of a mental illness could definitely help to alleviate some of the severity of the outcome. But I would think testing a child for something like this could also aide in their paranoia or self-hating. The illness doctors are most interested in heading off as early as possible is schizophrenia.

The combinations of factors that predicted psychosis included:

• deteriorating social functioning (for example, spending increasing amounts of time alone in one's room, doing nothing);
• a family history of psychosis combined with recent decline in ability to function (such as a drop in grades not explained by other factors or an unexplained withdrawal from extracurricular school activities).
• increase in unusual thoughts (such as thinking that strangers' conversations are about oneself);
• increase in suspicion/paranoia (such as suspicion of being followed); and
past or current drug abuse.

Most of this seems self-explanatory to me. I feel these are warning signs of definite issues that should be looked into regardless of this research study. Do you know what I mean? If my child had any of these risk factors I would absolutely try to help them. I don't see why a study had to be done on a bunch of teenagers to prove warning signs exist.

Maybe I'm misinterpreting the article. Let me know what you think.


SOURCE

Labels: mental health

Pain in your joints is the worst, because they ache when you're not moving them and then they pulsate with pain when you do move them. My Dad was injured on the job about a month ago and has been out of work. He has a tear in his ACL and his Meniscus. In addition to the tears, he has gout crystals and his white blood cell count is alarmingly elevated.

Needless to say he is in a great deal of pain.

He needs surgery but with the inflammation they have been unable to get accurate imaging. And now with the elevated WBC there is concern over infection. To make matters worse his employer, Amtrak, is handling this in a less than stellar way. But that is a different story for another day.

All of this has prompted my research of knee ailments and surgeries. While reading, I stumbled across an interactive tool that allows you to virtually perform a knee replacement. The site hosting this tool is called Edheads.org and it has numerous activities that are meant to "activate your mind." It's fascinating! You go through each step and I learned a great deal. You learn how much weight a new knee needs to be able to withstand. I also know now that sutures cause less scarring than other methods of closing an incision.

My Dad hopefully won't need a complete replacement. I read on Wikipedia that Gout crystals are deposits related to elevated concentrations of uric acid in the blood stream. Taking high doses of Vitamin C can lower uric acid levels but shouldn't be tried without first speaking with a doctor. Foods to avoid or limit are those with high protein, seafood, lentils and peas and alcohol. Alcohol, especially beer, because the yeast used in brewing beer is very high in purine.

The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of the ligaments in the center of the knee joint. The ACL along with the posterior cruciate ligament (PCL)are what helps stabilize the knee joint and allows for proper weight management for the joint. When an ACL is torn 50% of the way or more it is almost certain the meniscus will tear as well which is what happened with my Dad. There are two menisci in your knee. They are horseshoe-shaped shock absorbers that help to both center the knee joint during activity and to minimize the amount of stress on the ACL.

Treatments for the tears will probably include a partial meniscectomy. I don't feel they will be able to repair his meniscus due to the amount of damage involved. If the tear somehow didn't reach the edge of the meniscus than perhaps they can use sutures to close it. It is true that some tears can heal themselves which is why I believe the doctors have waited so long before pushing surgery. I believe that was a mistake on their part because my Dad's tears are severe and if it hadn't been for the inflammation I feel the images would have more accurately shown the severity. As it stands now he has had fluid removed three times from his knee (which is NOT good to do, fluid should only be removed once after injury).

I know my Dad is in pain. When I was 16 I had a proximal and distal realignment of my right knee. My meniscus was repaired and some of the cartilage was shaved away due to having been damaged so severely. Trust me when I say it is no picnic. But prolonging suffering not only causes more pain but it causes further damage and weakening of the joint. So I hope the doctors get their act together soon. And for now I'll just keep praying for my Dad.

Labels: knee

I don't know about you but I never complete my resolutions. I always have the best of intentions but by February I'm back to eating tons of cookies. What can I say? I have a whole set of sweet teeth.

My hope for 2008 is that doctors and scientists are able to develop new treatments/cures for cancer. Or perhaps more likely, better screenings which are less invasive and can be used for very early detection.

I'd also like to see more people delve into the healthcare profession. We are lacking good doctors, nurses and surgeons that actually care about their patients more than their salary or recognition.

And last but not least, I would like less news on childhood obesity. And for that to happen we need to make sure our families are active and eat more nutritiously. Less fast food and more sit-down family dinners. It's not easy, but in many ways it is very necessary.

Labels: cancer, nutrition, obesity, research, resolutions