Lisa B.'s blog

Discussion Questions:

Do breast cancer organizations promote group support or imply that those "who live "fight" harder than those who've died?"

 

When Ehrenreich posted on the Komen.org message board under the subject "angry," she received replies that were not supportive of her frustration with breast cancer. For example, "Kitty" replied: "You need to run, not walk, to some counseling....Please, get yourself some help and I ask everyone on this site to pray for you so you can enjoy life to the fullest."  Is it healthy for cancer patients to reject feelings of negativity?

The purpose of this study is to determine if gender has an influence on hand hygiene behavior and promotion. Hands are the primary vehicle of transmission for many infectious diseases. Teaching appropriate hand hygiene and providing accessible hand sanitizer can be effective components in controlling the spread of micro-organisms. However, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine concluded in an October 2009 study that there are differences in hand washing behavior by gender. This investigation will examine the compliance of men and women with hand washing and using a hand-rub with a waterless alcohol based compound.

The Freshman 15: Are colleges over-simplifying nutrition?

 

 

Discussion Questions:

Senior Seminar in Biology and Society

September 22, 2009

As a neurologist, Oliver Sacks writes about the riddle of human identity from a medical perspective, but with great compassion and understanding for the patients he has known throughout his years of practice.  In The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales, he presents selected case histories of his patients to investigate what he calls the ‘neurology of identity.' What is unique about Sachs, and what I found personally motivating, is his approach to the patient as a total person, not just as someone who has a disease, as well as his ability to clearly relate this complex interrelationship in story form.  Although some of the cases can be technically challenging for the non-medical reader, Sachs' humanist perspective maintains his focus on using disease sta

Marketed under the trade names "Equal" and "NutraSweet," aspartame has met the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requirements as a food additive for the past thirty years, yet the artificial sweetener continues to be a subject of public controversy.  Recent concerns have focused on potential neurotoxicity in humans, since its metabolic byproducts are phenylalanine, known to cause brain damage in humans with an inborn inability to metabolize this amino acid, and aspartic acid, an excitatory neurotransmitter (Stegink et al., 1837).

 

Controlling food intake and energy balance are an important homeostatic mechanism of the human body, partly mediated by dopamine (DA) pathways in the cerebrum. DA augments the behavioral drive for stimulus reward, although it is not directly responsible for the hedonistic sensation itself. However, this feedback pathway is subject to pathologic reinforcement through aberrant behaviors, which paradoxically could reinforce both the overconsumption of food in Binge Eating Disorder and excessive dieting in Anorexia Nervosa.