The Challenge of Aging

A will is a legal instrument expressing a person's intentions and wishes for the disposition of his or her property after death.

I personally do not have will, since I am 20 years old and do not legally own anything. But when I am older, I definitely will have one. Wills are extremely important. Wills insure the testator (person who makes the will) that their properties and belongings will be given to those that they wanted so. 

Free forms for creating a will are available to residents of all 50 states and the District of Columbia. 

Since every resident in the United States has access to creating a will for free, there is multiple websites to easily access. I will be listing them below:

onlineforms.lawdepot.com

wills.rocketlawyer.com

www.freelawyer.com

I would like to add that a living will is a legal document that a person uses to make known his or her wishes regarding life prolonging medical treatments.

These are also extremely important, because they can stop someone from plugging your plug! (Or the other way around. Whatever you want them to do to you, when your in a critical state). 

I hope this makes you want to get a will today! :) 

Remember, life is short and might as well protect yourself and your loved ones.

Environmental Health

GARBAGE ISLAND!

Garbage Island is a is a gyre of marine debris in the central North Pacific Ocean.

It's said to be twice the size of Texas and full of debris. The main debris is plastic! This is really bad, since plastic is not biodegradable. The plastics (and other debris) are polluting the oceans and harming innocent animals. 

Trash pilled so high, it's sitting on the ocean! 

The picture above, is quite disturbing  I put it up so people can see the negative consequences of properer disposal of waste. 

"It is estimated that 80% of the plastic in the ocean comes from land sources while 20% comes from ships at sea"

"Because the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is so far from any country’s coastline, no nation will take responsibility or provide the funding to clean it up. Many international organizations, however, are dedicated to preventing the patch from growing any further."

The reason why I picked Garbage Island out of all the videos is because it seemed the most shocking to me. 

How to help!:

REUSE

RECYCLE

THROW AWAY TRASH PROPERLY 

Sources Used:

http://geography.about.com/od/globalproblemsandissues/a/trashislands.htm

http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/encyclopedia/great-pacific-garbage-patch/?ar_a=1

Anti-Cancer a New Way of Life Movie Advertisement

Local Health Services Ad

Everyone knows that health care is hard to obtain these days, and even if you do have it, it can still be extremely expensive. I decided to make a local ad to help those who are either don't have health care or can't afford it. 

Here's their website for more information:

http://www.plannedparenthood.org

The Immune System

The immune system is the body's collective physical and chemical defenses against foreign organisms and pathogens. (page 318 from Health textbook). 

Many things can alter the immune system, for better or worse. I will be talking about the effects of alcohol on the immune system. 

Obviously, drinking alcohol is not something that aides the body to be healthy, it actually makes it worse. 

"Chronic use of alcohol can lead to liver cirrhosis and a compromised liver function. This, in turn, can reduce the absorption of nutrients and their delivery to target cells.

Compromised liver function can also inhibit detoxification of carcinogenic compounds that are ingested. The effect of alcohol on nutritional status and liver function may also suppress immune function" (Thomas)


"Alcohol can directly suppress various immune
responses, and clinical studies have found alcohol abuse to
be associated with an increased incidence of a number of
infectious diseases" (Romeo)

Drinking too much can lead to serious cancers, shown in the picture above. 
If you do want to drink alcohol, remember to only do so in moderation! :)


Works Cited:

Romeo, Javier, Julia Wärnberg, Esther Nova, Ligia E. Díaz, Sonia Gómez-Martinez, and Ascensión Marcos. "Moderate Alcohol Consumption and the Immune System: A Review." British Journal of Nutrition 98.S1 (2007): n. pag. Print.

Thomas, David B. "Alcohol as a Cause of Cancer." Environmental Health Perspectives 103.8 (1995): 153+. JSTOR. Web. 28 July 2013. <http://www.jstor.org.prozy.palomar.edu/stable/pdfplus/3432303.pdf>.

The Science of Sex Appeal

Today, I watched "The Science of Sex Appeal". I found it extremely fascinating and will share some key points/facts. 

Symmetry: The more symmetric a face is, the more attractive. 

The picture above me, is actually the same person. The left was altered to be more symmetric, and the right was made to be less symmetric. 80% of people thought the left half was more attractive. Do you agree??

Scent: It has be proven that women will always find their dad or brother's body odor unsexy/unattractive.

The picture above me is showing a group of women rating 10 different men's body odor from a scale of 1 (being unsexy) to 10 (being sexiest). The women did not know that they smelt either their dad's or brother's body odor. All of them rated their family members' scent unattractive. Interesting, yeah? 

Women are Choosier: This one seems obvious. A man can go have as many one night stands, without any consequences. While a women can have a single one night stand, and become pregnant for 9 months, and then have to raise the child(ren) for the rest of their live. That's a huge difference. 

Shapely Figures: Many women feel like the majority of men mainly rate a women on how attractive she is on her breasts. However, this study shows otherwise. Men really focus on the waist! 

Here's the link to watch the videos!: 

http://dsc.discovery.com/tv-shows/other-shows/videos/other-shows-science-of-sex-appeal-videos.htm

Digital Communication Advertisement

I was supposed to pick one advertisement for digital communication, either good or bad. I decided to make one for both. I believe almost everything in this world has a balance of good and bad. 

The Good:

The Bad:

Reflection on "Bully" the movie

Today in class I watched the movie, Bully. It was a real eye-opener. The movie is a documentary that followed 5 different children who get bullied on a daily basis in American schools. 

You can watch the film on Netflix. 

Here is the website you can go to, so you can find out information for the bully project: http://www.thebullyproject.com

After watching this film, I was mortified at how children act towards each other, and especially  how the teachers and principals at the schools did not do anything to fix the problems. My main question is how come the parents did not make their children go to another school? What happened to the Principal after the film was released? Did she get fired? This film made me feel sad knowing that bullying starts at such a young age, but leaves long-lasting effects on those who are bullied. 

Bullying impacts the health of our population in a very negative way: "A 2011 nationwide study found that 40% of teachers and school staff consider bullying a moderate or major problem in their schools and that 32% of students between ages 12-18 report experiencing bullying"(from thebullyproject.com)

This is a huge public health concern. I know you can not change everyone and even after you tell a child bullying is wrong, they will still do it. I believe they are ways to drastically limit it. For example public schools especially should have more security guards on campus that are seen constantly to be a reminder to the children they will be protected/not be able to get away with bullying. Teachers and principals should have a zero tolerance policy towards bullying. And if a child should get bullied on a daily basis, the parents should immediately remove their child from the school. But the most important thing to combat bullying is TO STAND UP AGAINST IT!

Watch this film, you will not regret it! :) 

"Aha" Moments

An "aha" moment is when you are reading and then suddenly think "wow, I had no idea". 

I am making an "aha" from the chapters I have read so far for my Health 100 class:

Chapter 1: Taking Charge of Your Health 

1. "71% of American men are overweight" 

2. "About 1 in 5 people in the United States has some level of disability, and the rate is rising,especially among younger segments of the population"

Chapter 2: The Constant Challenge

1. "A brisk 10-minute walk can leave you feeling more relaxed and energetic for up to 2 hours"

2."56 million prescriptions for sleeping pills were filled in the U.S. in 2008, at a cost of $4.5 billion"

Chapter 3: Psychological Health

1. "75% of all people who intend to commit suicide warn a family member or friend of their intention"

2. "Although treatments are highly effective, only about 35% of people who suffer from depression currently seek treatment"

Chapter 7: The Use and Abuse of Psychoactive Drugs

1. "In addition to being one of the most popular psychoactive drugs, caffeine is one of the most ancient" 

2. "20 million Americans used benzodiazepines 
 for non-medical purposes in 2008" 

Chapter 8: Alcohol and Tobacco 

1. "79,000 American deaths are related to excessive alcohol use each year"

2. "Smoking accounts of 30% of cancer deaths and 87% of lung cancer deaths"

Chapter 9: Nutrition Basics 

1. "Added sugar in food increased 19% from 1970 to 2005, adding about 76 calories per day to the average American's diet"

2. "150 million Americans take dietary supplements"








Chapter 10: Exercise for Health and Fitness 

1. "Only 32% of Americans are at a healthy weight"

2. "Physical inactivity increases the risk of CVD by 50-240%

Chapter 11: Weight Management 

1. "In 1960, 13% of adult Americans were obese. In 2008, nearly 34% were obese"

2. "Anorexia affects about 3 million people, 95% of them female"   

Chapter 16: Personal Safety 

1. "About 40% of all unintended firearm deaths occur among people age 5-29"

2. "Only 6% of rapists ever spend a day in jail for their offense" 
  
       

Stress and Psychological Health

Psychological health is, "mental health, defined negatively as the absence of illness or positively as the presence of wellness" (page 48 of Health textbook)

Below, is a picture of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs:

As you see, excretion (which is a different way of saying "exercise") is one of the most important activities a person can do in their day. 

After watching, "The Fun Theory" I realized that if we make exercise seem fun, more people will do it, making everyone healthier  even if it just temporary.

The people in the video were seen as enjoying themselves as they walked up the stairs, rather than taking the escalator. 

If you haven't watched this yet, you will enjoy it! :) 

Stress Post

Everybody has stress and deals with it in different ways. Some are more effective than others. 

First what is really stress?

      -"The general physical and emotional state that accompanies the stress response" (Page 25 of Health textbook).

My personal stress soother is LISTENING TO MUSIC!








All you need is a radio, Ipod, or any device that can play music and just lay down and listen to your favorite music until you are calm/not stressed out. 








This method reduces stress by:
-"influencing pulse, blood pressure, and the electrical activity of muscles"
-"leads to reduced levels of the stress hormone cortisol and causes changes in electrial activity in the brain"       (Page 42 in Health textbook). 

Nutrition Journal Assignment

On a typical day, this is what I eat:

Breakfast: 
          -Egg beaters (egg substitute), scrambled, cooked with             butter
          -Sausage, turkey, reduced fat, brown and serve, cooked
          -water

Lunch:    -Turkey diet frozen meal with dressing, gravy, vegetable, and fruit (Healthy Choice brand)
          -water

Snack:    -water
          -Apple

Dinner:   -Gatorade
          -Pasta, cooked with salt and vegetable oil
          -tomato sauce 

The picture above shows that I only hit one of the main target groups completely, which is "Protein". I am "ok" in the "Fruits" section. I am under in the "Refined Grains", "Vegetables", and "Milk and yogurt". 

Also, I eat way to much sodium. I don't eat to much oils or saturated fats.

How I calculated all of this was making an account to Supertracker. I added my personal information, like my weight and height, and age so it could base my diet around me. It's much more personal than just one chart, made for everyone.

If your interested here's the link: https://www.supertracker.usda.gov/

Carbohydrates:
Oranges
Garbanzo Beans
Carrots 

Simple Carbohydrates: 

Milk 

Most Fruits 

Concentrated Simple Carbohydrates:

Sugar

Soft Drinks

Grape Jelly

Food Label Comparison

Here is three food labels of things I consume:

1. Reese's Puffs Cereal 

2. Cookies And Cream Pop Tarts

3. Grape G2 Gatorade

As you can see the Pop Tarts are the worst for you. The Gatorade is pretty reasonable compared to other drink choices out there. I believe the Reese's Puffs is not crazy packed with sugar or calories. 

Movie Advertisement

Exercise Program

Want to get into shape? If you follow my exercise program and FITT formula, you can change your body, for the best!


Here is the formula that will get you "fitt" in no time! 

What I do everyday: I stretch my whole body BEFORE AND AFTER any type of workout. Below is a picture of the stretches I do.

Sunday: REST

Monday: Warm up by jogging in place for 5 minutes. Run outside for 30 minutes.

Tuesday: Warm up by jogging in place for 5 minutes. 3 sets of 10 repetitions of lifting 10 pound dumb bells.

Wednesday: Warm up by jogging in place for 5 minutes. Run outside for 30 minutes.

Thursday: Warm up by jogging in place for 5 minutes. 3 sets of 10 repetitions of lifting 10 pound dumb bells.

Friday: Warm up by jogging in place for 5 minutes. Run outside for 30 minutes. 

Saturday: Warm up by jogging in place for 5 minutes. Run outside for 30 minutes. 

Biography: About Me

My name is Giana P. and I am 20 years old. I am almost done with Palomar College and soon will be transferring to Cal State Long Beach. My favorite color is pink and favorite drink is lemonade. My baby is my puppy GoldieLocks. My dream career job is to become a flight attendant for Delta Airlines. I am making this blog for my Health class at Palomar!