Stayin’ Alive
Whats Inside ? Feature Article
(pxhere.com/2017)
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Eating Habits Changing the lives of Students
12
Passive Death the Silence from Within
18
Dangers of Antibiotics
28
Technology that is Fighting Cancer
Unhealthy Minds
10
Progression of Fear
16
Life Cycle of the Retrovirus
22
The Fear of Cancer
26
Top 5 Side Effects of Chemotherapy and Radiation
27
(commons.wikimedia.org/2014)
Letter from the Editor
Info Graphics
(www.af.mil/2016)
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Read these Words Before you Proceed Editors: Asahi Jige, Logan Vaz, Romi Klein, Terry Brown
more about teamwork, early in the development of the magazine, there were some Hi my name is problems with finding a colRomi Klein. I am currently 14 years old and a or scheme, however everything came together nicely freshman at the Liberal in the end. In addition to Arts and Science Academy or LASA. In my free teamwork, I also learned about my article topic. I time, I enjoy running. I was part of the LBJ cross learned how there are many different types of antibiotcountry team. I also ics and how they each work play trumpet in the LBJ differently. I learned that band. Because my mom is a nurse, I developed in some antibiotics attack the cell wall, causing the cell to interest in medical scirupture do the the weakences when I was little. Because of this, I decided ening of side bonds in the to write about antibiotic peptidoglycan, other types resistance and the over- can inhibit protein or RNA synthesis. I also learned how use of antibiotics. This the increased use and overtopic was important to use of antibiotics can lead to me, because so many people do not know when mutations causing antibiotic resistance. I hope that the and when not to use reader takes away the threat antibiotics. I wrote this in hopes that by explain- that antibiotic resistance ing how antibiotics work, poses on society, and I hope that you find this magazine and when antibiotics to be just as interesting as it should be used, I could is informational. Thanks for help prevent antibiotic reading the magazine. resistance. From making my article, I learned
Romi Klien
Photo Credits: Terry Brown
Layout and front cover page designer
Photo Credits: Terry Brown
Asahi Jige
R omi Klien
Table of Contents page designer
A
sahi Jige
Hi my name is Asahi Jige. I am 14 years, almost 15 year old freshman at the Liberal Arts and Science Academy (LASA). I was born here at Austin, Texas. However, I am Japanese because I have a Japanese mom and dad. One of my hobbies is playing my instrument. I play an instrument called an Euphonium/Baritone. I am a member of the LBJ Band/ Marching Band also play the Euphonium/ Baritone in this band. Another hobbies I have are playing baseball and basketball with my friends and family. I am also planning to play for the LBJ baseball team in the spring. I also like playing ultimate frisbees with my friends and family
when I have some spare time. In school my favorite subjects are Math and Science. These subjects are very interesting and love learning about them with my fabulous teachers at LASA. My article is about chemotherapy and other technology used to cure cancer. I wrote this to help inform other people about how these important technology are used to cure cancer because many people do not know how these technology work.Making this magazine was very fun and exciting. I was able to meet with new friends and people during interviews and when I was making the magazine. It was hard and overwhelming at first but, overall it was a fun process and had much time making this, so have fun and read our magazine about your health.
Back Cover Page Designer
L
Logan Vaz
Photo Credits: Terry Brown
Hi my name is Terry Brown. I am a 14, almost 15, year old freshman at The Liberal Arts and Science Academy (LASA) in Austin. I don’t have many hobbies due to the amount of school work I have, but in my bit of spare time I travel to and from Houston, Texas to visit my family and I also enjoy sleeping. The topic I decided to write about was the function of food, sleep and how they correspond with the health of your mind and the state of mind you are in. This topic was very intriguing to me due to the fact that I don’t get very much sleep or eat as well as I might need to in order to maintain a healthy lifestyle. This Topic was something I felt needed to be touched on, because so many people seem to look over it or not pay close enough attention to this topic. In making this article I hope to shed a little light onto the matter
Photo Credits: Romi Klien
Terry Brown
amount about how it can become worse. The rest ogan vaz of our group focused on Hello, my name is other issues pertaining to Logan Vaz. I am 14 years health-such as the human old and a freshman at body, the viruses that imLASA (where our group pair it, and the cures used wrote this magazine), against it. All of these are This magazine pertains to essential in understandthe topic of health; both ing yourself as well as your physical as well as menhealth. It is my hope that tal. In this magazine, the reading this will increase human body, the human your understanding of mind, the diseases that fear-and how it can be infect it, and the cures more easily overcome-as which had worked before well as what is important were analyzed. I wrote for the human body, the the segment on the mind, different ways that it is primarily focusing on the corrupted, and the mediimplications of fear. I first cine that has previously became interested in fear worked against it. Writing while reading the book my article helped me unDune, where fear was derstand some of the ways constantly referred to as that deep types of fears the mind-killer. Later, my are formed and also taught grandfather gave me the me several techniques book Emotional Intellito make them somewhat gence, which breaks down manageable. Thank you for why it is so important to taking your time to read have Emotional Intelthis, and it is my sincere ligence and the reasons desire that you enjoy what that those issues need to we have written. be solved. In my article, I primarily focused on the process of overcoming fear then wrote a small
T erry Brown
and explain the certain needs of our bodies and how to properly take care of them. Throughout the entirety of making this article and magazine I have personally learned about how the body depends of the right amount of food and sleep in order to work at its best potential. Along with the new information I learned personally, during this time of making the magazine, I found that many people feel the same about their eating habits and their way of living. Everyone I spoke to in the making of my article were very educated on the matter and wanted to make an impact on the readers and those who may also be struggling with the same issues that are presented in the article. As a letter from the editor I wish you safe learning and a great time reading this magazine.
Letter from The Editors Page Designer
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05
Stayin’ Alive
Fall 2017
Bodies are works of art. They are crafted with state of the art anatomical systems and organs paired with high-quality blood. They have the most intelligent motherboard on earth, hard wired to the rest of the body, allowing it to comprehend, grow with the body and its surroundings.
By: Terry Brown
Eating Habits Changing the Lives of Students
The Body
The mind will unlock the meaning of the body’s self-deprivation and insufficient sleep. This brain will soon fully understand why they might be tired, restless, and unhealthy with unhealthy eating habits. The goal in this lifetime is to allow those who are lost in their health journey to find a cure to a common issue. Over the last few years, studies have been conducted on college and high school students physical and mental health due to their food intake and their sleeping schedules. Many professors and medical scientists have studied many students in hopes of understanding the reason behind inconsistent sleep in teens and college students alike, and there have also been studies to understand the issue of eating habits in juxtaposition to students abilities to maintain focus in their classes. When Ashley Foster, of Austin, Texas, was a student, she felt on a weekly basis she probably ate out about 4 or 5 times a week. She stated that it kept her going, even though it probably dragged her down a little bit more because it’s wasn’t healthy. She said once you go
out to eat you start liking it and craving it more fast food. Foster has graduated from college and has a stable job now. When she was in college she felt as though her eating habits were not where they needed to be and she states that her sleeping habits were very bad along with her eating habits. Her habits have now changed for the better, she claims she gets more sleep because her body is being nourished with the right food, she no longer must worry about the extreme health risks of eating improperly and she now has time to focus on her state of mind. This affects many college students around the U.S. and other countries as well. Finding time to sleep and eat healthy in between studying is very hard for students to do, so they resort to eating unhealthy foods and not sleeping properly. Foster says that she never had time to focus on her mental health, but only time to focus on what she needed to do at the time. She wasn’t really focused on her physical or mental health, she just wanted to focus on her work and get everything she needed to done finished. Foster said that she didn’t care for her body the best way possible. She didn’t take the time to ask herself if she was running on an empty gas tank or if she could actually function to her highest capacity. Many college students feel this way and choose to continue going about their normal schedule even when they are exhausted. When speaking to other college Stayin’ Alive
Fall 2017
06
students and working adults on this matter, they also stated that getting the job done was the only thing that matters in those cases. Foster said that eating out was the best option for her at the time. She said, “it’s all about personal choices you know? You know most of the time your friends will say, you know, let’s go out to eat we’re going out to eat. So it’s all about personal choices and trying to make the healthy choices. Yeah, it gets all up in your brain.”
Foster said that eating out was the best option for her at the time. She said, “it’s all about personal choice you know?” Many people in this time of their life choose efficiency over health, even though one is more important than another. Foster started to reflect on her bad decisions and understand how it now impacts her life. She felt that through the efficient eating habits she had in college, she now struggles with her weight and eating habits. She continued to suggest that people in their college years learn to eat properly so they can retain more knowledge in their time in college. Foster feels strongly about the recent studies on the sleeping habits of college students because she can relate, and she recommends that getting regular sleep and eating properly will increase your brain’s ability to work at its highest level and for your body to work with you;
not against you. In June of 2017, an article written by CNN reporter Victoria Knight stated, the Scientific Reports based a study on the sleeping patterns of college students and how they are linked to increased or decreased GPAs. The study explains that regular sleepers, those who go to sleep and wake up at the same time, in comparison to irregular sleepers, who don’t have a sleep schedule, seemed to obtain a higher grade in the study. In the study, Andrew Phillips, lead author of the study and associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, explains that the body has a set clock and that if you are not consistent with your sleep schedule you can potentially have delayed melatonin release, (the hormone that makes you tired and sleep at night, which can lead to insomnia and various medical conditions). Many doctors and professors spoke on the effects of students not getting the recommended about of sleep needed. Dr. Charles Czeisler, another study author and chief of the Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, contended the body has a way of making itself feel as though it is in another time zone, if not properly rested, which can make an 8 A.M. class feel like a 5 A.M. class. Alongside Dr. Czerisler, Dr. Phillips says “We know the human circadian clock is very sensitive to light. Your patterns of light exposure are also what set the timing of your body’s circadian clock,” Phillips said. With this new found informa-
tion, Foster and Trinaye Guice, of Austin, Texas, felt insufficient and irregular sleep contributed to their stress, terrible eating habits, and troubles retaining information in college. The Scientific Journals’ study also speaks on sleep regularity and sleep timing, these are some of the most important aspects in terms of the circadian rhythm. If your body doesn’t get a sufficient amount of rest every night, over the years it can cause degradation of many different physiological systems which makes your body, immune system, and your heart vulnerable to adverse health outcomes. Experts have learned about a new syndrome caused by the
“People who have
non-24-hour sleepwake syndrome (or free running disorder) have a circadian rhythm that is out of sync.” circadian clock. In the statement from the article, it states “People who have non-24-hour sleep-wake syndrome (or free running disorder) have a circadian rhythm that is out of sync. It causes these people to have slightly longer than 24hour sleep cycles and causes their body clock to shift to later bedtimes every couple of days, making them go to sleep and rise at later times each day.” Guice feels as though she was free running her entire high
school and college career and understands that this is not something she, or anyone else, should have to experience for a good education. Through these recent studies and the information from Foster and Guice, it seems as though a college is a place where people lose control of themselves and they are just looking for a way to get things done. This is not the best trend and through the opinions of students and professors around the U.S., this trend needs to die down. Not only does bad sleeping habits keep the body from functioning at its full potential but unhealthy fast foods can also hinder the body from doing its physiological duty. Guice had many problems with her college health and feels that students in this day and age need to learn dietary health techniques to allow them to live a healthier more productive life. College students have to deal with many things like the stress of classes, finding time for a life, eating properly, and sleeping properly. All these things have taken a toll them and are some of the main factors of health issues in this age range of people. Through constant study and word of mouth students all over the U.S. can potentially find a new way to live a healthier better life. ยง
Ashley Foster Age: 35 Years Lives: Austin, Texas
Photo Credits: Ashley Foster (Foster/2017)
Trinaye Guice Age: 31 Years Lives: Austin, Texas Photo Credits: Trinaye Guice (Guice/2017)
Brian Miller Age: N/A Lives: Austin, Texas
Interviewees Labeled for reuse: www.dellmed.utexas.edu (Brian Miller/ 2017)
Labeled for reuse: www.commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Biological_clock_human.svg
This diagram depicts the circadian patterns typical of someone who rises early in morning, eats lunch around noon, and sleeps at night (10 p.m.).
“Our body contains a circadian clock, which helps to keep time for many bio-
logical functions. One of the key markers of the circadian clock is melatonin. Usually, at nighttime, our circadian clock sends a signal that tells us to release melatonin overnight.” -Andrew Phillips
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“We know the human circadian clock is very sensitive to light. Your patterns of light exposure are also what set the timing of your body’s circadian clock,” - Andrew Phillips
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Sleep is back in session
Unhealthy Minds By: Terry Brown
Ratio of fast food
Restaurants to grocery stores The U.S. Branch of Horticulture (USDA) characterizes a nourishment betray as any registration region where no less than 20 percent of the tenants are beneath the destitution line and 33 percent live finished a mile from the closest general store (or in country regions, more than 10 miles) Roughly 23.5 million Americans live in a sustenance forsake, says the USDA, including West Virginia, Ohio, and Kentucky, additionally urban regions like Detroit, Chicago, and New York City. The administration trusts nourishment deserts are adding to the corpulence pestilence in the U.S., by driving the rustic and urban poor to depend on prepared sustenances and fast food, rather than new meat, vegetables, and natural products
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Fall 2017
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about research, explaining that how people think about stress can affect its impact on us: “Seeing things that feel stressful as a challenge to us instead of a looming threat can help us mount a more adaptive and health response to the stressor, helping us
PASSIVE DEATH The Silencer from Within By Logan Vaz I
t is thebetter devil,under spinning hisand have better may have developed a fear at of the same time.” into overcoming fear. to perform stress physiological activation lies, barbed chains woven in silk, spiders after being bitten by one through your mind. The ‘what if’ while another may have developed Fear can also help with other that certainly binds you in chains a fear of sharks after reading about emotions such as anger. According of your own design. The effect that shark attacks. According to Katie to Goleman, anger is a secondary heightens your senses, but limits Spillar, a former therapist, a person emotion. This means it is a result of your intellect. Whatever thoughts, with PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress other emotions, known as primary whatever reasons, whatever common Disorder) can re-experience their emotions. Since anger can be caused sense that had been held before trauma by any number of things, by fear as a natural defense that begins to melt away in the hellsomeone beaten by their father may pumps adrenaline into the body, fire made by your mind. Every experience it when their adopted being able to manage one’s fear scenario, however unlikely, or even father disciplines them for their helps with anger control. Stress, impossible, races through the mind. behavior. The smell of liquor can also a secondary emotion, also has a The putrid smell of liquor forces its make someone who was beaten by a direct correlation with fear. Because way through your nostrils, sending drunk re-experience their trauma. someone is afraid that something your mind spiraling back to those might go wrong or that they will not days of abuse. You stand, frozen, In this article, fear is classified one arrive on time, they become stressed. as a spider, still yards away, slowly of four ways; as SP, GAD (General shivers through the grass, drawing Anxiety Disorder), OCD (ObsessiveThus, the need to be able to control closer to you. Memories overcome Compulsion Disorder), or PTSD, or fear, and consequently levels of logic and reasoning as pain becomes generalized in hopes that it will able stress and anger, to negate negative ever present — not allowing you to to apply to many of these different effects is shown. However, stress focus or think and drawing you back situations. can have positive effects on people into those times of life that are your worst. According to Daniel Goleman in “Emotional Intelligence”, “At best IQ contributes about 20 percent to the factors that determine life success, which leaves 80 percent to other forces.” Most of these other forces can be classified as EQ (or emotional intelligence). Although EQ contains many aspects separate from fear, controlling a person’s fear does make up a portion of this aspect. By studying fear and developing different ways These are the extremes; and they to manage it, people are able to are experienced only rarely. Because attempt to move past it. It starts if managed correctly. For instance, fear is so complicated, many different with small successes which develop situations can affect it. For instance, Dr. Jacqueline J. Evans, a lecturer at impulse control and exercises the University of Texas (UT), wrote one person with SP (Specific Phobia) people’s will but eventually grows
“Fear is the mindkiller. Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration.” - In Dune by Frank Herbert
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Stayin’ Alive
Fall 2017
“Stress is a fact of life, but we can adjust how we see it and in turn use it to help us do our best, and try not to let it injure us” -Dr. Evans
about research, explaining that how
set in academics results in a better
stress from becoming overwhelming.
Source: (commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Schizophrenia_brain_large.gif)
people think about stress can affect its impact on us: “Seeing things that feel stressful as a challenge to us instead of a looming threat can help us mount a more adaptive and health response to the stressor, helping us to perform better under stress and have better physiological activation at the same time.” However, while stress can be helpful, it is also useful to know how to control it. This directly correlates with studies that have shown that having a growth mind
performance. Focusing on how this situation will affect a person later and how that corresponds with the actions taken now can help prevent
Dr. James W. Pennebaker, the centennial liberal arts professor of psychology at the University of Texas. (AP Photo/Marsha Miller/2016).
Conversely, focusing on the present situation will draw the moment out. Dr. James W. Pennebaker, the centennial liberal arts professor of psychology at the UT, stated, “Reliving a traumatic experience can mimic the actual experience to some degree.” This shows that the basis of re-experiencing a trauma is rooted in recognizing similarities and not being able to stop the flow of emotions that bring a person back into the past.
Stayin’ Alive
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Why People Fail at their Jobs
Source: (www.leadershipiq.com/blogs/leadership/35354241-why-new-hires-fail-emotional-intelligence-vs-skills
into the past. Spillar stated that when handling trauma, “The more secure we are with our relationships the more soothing it is for our brain.” She also said that it is important to start by focusing on how someone feels about the situation rather than how it would appear to an outside observer since PTSD, like all types of fear, is usually not logical. Spillar recommended that while working through trauma people should focus on being aware of what might set them off, talking about how they feel, and calming down. As with most types of fear, deep breathing helps. While the root cause of PTSD lies in the past, the cause of GAD can 15
Stayin’ Alive
Fall 2017
often lie in the future. According to Perelman School of Medicine University of Pennsylvania’s website, “Of all major mood and anxiety disorders, Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) represents one of the most common, but least studied disorders.” The website went on to state several of the symptoms including restlessness, fatigue, muscle tension, and a difficulty sleeping and that if experienced for more than six months, then it is likely that a person has this disorder. This common disorder is interesting in that it primarily falls into two categories: what a person is afraid of now and what they fear will happen in the future. The first one can be dealt with similarly to the other fear
types as it resides in the present and your actions can help to directly
ource: (www.consumerhealthdigest.com/ brain-health/left-brain-right-brain-myths.html)
contradict your fear. However, it becomes more difficult with problems that lie within the future. For people experiencing either of these, the website recommends finding people who can help with your problems, exercising, and deep-breathing.
The next fear type, OCD, is one of the strangest disorders. It manifests from a person not being able to let a thought out of their mind. As stated by the website Help Guide, it impairs focus and follows the following cycle: obsessive thought that cannot be let go of, constant and intense anxiety, compulsive behavior, temporary relief, and then repeats itself again. The same website recommends attempting to break this cycle by refusing to follow the compulsive behaviors. For someone who hoards supplies because they are afraid of the effect that losing it will have on them, it could be to start throwing something out. The final fear type, SP can be dealt with in almost the exact same way as GAD, except this time the focus will be on one narrow event rather than a broad one. Evans said that one method to re-
“I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me... Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.” -In Dune by Frank Herbert duce stress is meditation — focusing on one point, breathing in through the nose for a ratio of one, holding for a ratio of two, then breathing out through your mouth for another ratio of two. She added that “The strongest influences on controlling stress are the most expected. Exer-
Source: (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ptsd-brain. png)
cise, sleep, a good diet, and a feeling of social connectedness are believed to be the basic necessities in managing stress well.” She also stated that optimism can be a key deterrent to stress and that people who are optimistic naturally resist stress better than others. All of these together allow for the following conclusions: the effectiveness of stress is very much related to the manner in which it is viewed — either as insurmountable or a challenge that will change a person — optimistically, or pessimistically. Techniques such as deep breathing, which have been recognized as helpful for all four types of fears, are very useful when handling stress. Although that is true, emotional connections have also been stated as one of the best ways to handle stress. While learning techniques to improve how a person reacts to fear is helpful, it is also important to study how it can become worse. In his paper “Fear Generalization and Anxiety: Behavioral and
James W. Pennebaker, Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Dell Medical School at the UT. (AP Photo/Beth Widen/2016).
Neural Mechanisms,” Dr. Joseph Dunsmoor, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Dell Medical School at UT wrote, “Overgeneralization of fear behaviors is common in many mental health disorders, including specific phobia, obsessivecompulsive disorder, panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and PTSD. For example, a person with a fear of spiders may react defensively to all crawling bugs. Clinical fears and anxieties also generalize readily across contexts. For example, a fear of spiders is not confined to a location where spiders have been encountered but extends to contexts where spiders might be encountered (e.g., forests).” If overgeneralization occurs, the fear which had previously blocked out one aspect of one’s life expands into other aspects. Since this has not been studied very much, it can only be assumed that the same methods used against other types of fears should be used against this one. Spillar talked about how to react to failures as relating to fear-stating that punishment should not be the first reaction, but that one should analyze why they succeeded or failed. If that person is helping another with PTSD than the other primary action should be support. While what she said primarily relates to PTSD, it undoubtedly holds a certain level of precedence pertaining to other fear types. The best ways to attempt to overcome fear is to slowly, with increasing levels of intensity, begin to work on facing small aspects of it. While doing this, maintaining healthy relations, staying physically healthy, and practicing deep breathing will prove very influential. While fear is often hard to overcome, it must be surpassed, and understanding one’s mind makes that process easier. & Stayin’ Alive
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The Progression of Fear by Logan Vaz Two deadly emotions that are constantly riveting around in people’s mind are fear and anger. While fear is a primary emotion, anger is a secondary emotion. This means that anger can be dealt will by dealing with the primary emotions that would have otherwise caused it (such emotions may include pain, disappointment, embarrassment, and fear). While it is still difficult to handle anger, it is easier to handle it if you are able to cut off the initial emotions. Thus, by finding a way to deal with the primary emotions (this section will focus on fear), we are able to limit the amount that anger will affect our lives. This will focus on fear because I believe that it is often the cause of anger and since it is deadly on its own. However it is also one of the hardest to handle because can be caused from very diverse events. In the table below, as well as the diagram on the next page, the dangers of fear, the escalation of fear, and the causes for decreased as well as increased fear will attempt to be found. Also included in the second diagram will be a few of the many ways to decrease the irrational fear in your life. The following table will take two different types of fear (OCD and PTSD) and apply different situations to them:
Fear type OCD *Obsessive compulsion disorder* PTSD *Post traumatic stress disorder* PTSD *Post traumatic stress disorder* OCD *Obsessive compulsion disorder*
Before event A certain aspect of something brings about a fear. This could be using a dirty public rest room for fear of contamination.
The event
After the event
Overgeneralization-what was one irrational fear becomes greater and expands past what is previously was. This can be a result of associating two events together. Being in a situation with various contamination clues can cause this.
If overgeneralization occurs (as it often does) then a connection may form between contamination and a public rest room rather than things being unsanitary and contamination.
The person is acting normally. The High stress situation-even if trauma that they are suffering from this event might not have appeared has not emerged. stressful, and to an outside observer it is not, to the person struggling with PTSD, there is something similar between this event and the trauma they experienced.
One of three reactions occursfight, flight, or freeze as the limbic system overflows the pre frontal cortex, bringing about a loss of rational thought as the person is engrossed in their memory of the trauma.
The person is acting normally. The Repeated situation-something trauma that they are suffering from that occurred during the trauma is now repeated. This could be a smell, has not emerged. a taste, or even a feeling. Any one of these senses could result in this. The end affect is that the emotional side of the brain takes over the rational when whatever similarity occurs.
One of the three primary reactions occurs. Since the memory of the trauma is unorganized, if the person was beaten by an alcoholic, the smell of alcohol could bring back the entire memory of the trauma.
A thought is constantly running through your mind that you are unable to stop thinking about. This could include ‘what if I wrong’ or ‘what if this contaminates me’.
Reduced stress-whatever situation was previously troubling you (rather related to this fear or something entirely different) is lifted. This allows the mind to focus because it is less tired.
Whatever thought you were unable to let go becomes resolved either as you tell someone about what you are experiencing or go directly against your chain of thoughts.
Sources: Katie, Spillar (Former therapist); https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ pmc/articles/PMC3932061/; Dr. James W. Pennebaker
Key: 1) The first time this will feel like a major accomplishment. You may have begun to practice calming techniques such as deep breathing and running through the likely senarios. At this point, you are beginning to attempt to break your fear.
2) You are arriving back to where you began. Likely you have begun calming techniques and the situation has become less stressful. If applicable, practicing will help.
A) At this point, you begin to stop using your techniques. Perhaps your fear has begun to grow worse making them less affective or a situation that is more stressful is making it harder to concentrate.
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Escalated fear: SP: Public speaking becomes harder to perform. Difficulty socializing may arise. GAD: Constant worry begins to stop you from performing more and more activities
*Note: if a path has multiple lines, then it is harder to travel upon. The greater the angles between the lines, the harder it is.*
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Practicing calming techniques and time has allowed the fear to decreace. Thought it is still present, it is easily dismissed. GAD: Worry no longer stops you from acheiving your goals or holds you back. It is still a fight, but through meditation and logic it becomes easier to control. SP: While public speaking may still frighten you, is does not impair your performance or cause irrational thoughts that appear as though they may become true.
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B) A highly stressful situation comes up, making it harder to concentrate on techniques to calm down. When attempting to scale down your fear, thoughts such as ‘I’ve tried this before’ may arise. Counters to this include reminding yourself that you have made progress and that you need to break free of this.
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3) Interrupting the cycle of fear (fear, worrying thoughts, anxious feeling) by controling your train of thoughts is becoming regular. By breaking this cycle, fear cannot continue to stack upon itself. Application of techniques has heavily occured and will continue to.
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You have faced your fear to mixed results and are continuing to do so with resolve. SP: You have practiced public speaking and have learned how to calm yourself. GAD: You can calm yourself with reminders of logic. You perform activities that cause you anxiety.
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Moderate/same stress
rg
Th ou g
u yo
Specific Phobia (SP) *fear of public speaking*
Stays relatively the same SP : same fear of public speaking. Performance is heavily impared. GAD: Constant worry, but nothing more
4) Calming techniques become second nature, and break stress more easily. Practice has been essential up to this point, and is even more so now. C) Giving in during an infulencial, or multiple times, to your fear or not calming yourself down may result in this.
The Dangers of
ANTIBIOTCS By Romi Klein
Tuberculosis (TB), although having dated back to at least 17,000 years ago, was only identified as a disease in 1820. It was romanticized for the belief that it caused artistic ability. TB was not a concern until the 19th century when it was found to be contagious. It wasn’t until 1944, that an effective antibiotic had been found against Tuberculosis. Around that time mortality rates were already dropping due to improving conditions of life. However, this advantage was abused, which led to the overuse of antibiotics. Now, antibiotics are overused, they are dubbed prescription drugs, but with determination one can easily be prescribed. These microbes are evolving and one day, the overused drugs, having been exposed too much,will be useless against bacterial infections like TB. One day TB will rise again.
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These drugs aren’t all they’re cracked up to be
In the picture there are two cultures of bacteria. One (left) is sensitive to antibiotics, the other (right) is resistant to the majority of the antibiotics. Graham Beards/2011.
Antibiotics are chemical compounds that either kill or inhibit the growth of the bacteria. In a bacterial infection the bacteria reproduce via binary fission, where one cell splits into two cells. Sometimes there is an error in the replication of the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and the DNA mutates, some of these mutated bacteria can be drug-resistant. When someone take antibiotics, the antibiotics kill all of the bacteria around the infection, including some of the helpful bacteria that live in you. When you kill all of the bacteria, you are just left with the antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
“Without a vaccine, your body doesn’t have the necessary arsenal to defeat the virus, and it undergoes the whole creating antibodies process then. Due to this, it’ll take longer to defeat the virus. [But] viral and bacterial infections are different types of infections. -- Bacterial infection are like E. coli, where you have a harmful bacteria living inside you.
There are antibacterials [antibiotics] that you can take to overcome the infections, like the pills you might have to take to overcome a viral infection,” said Emily Thompson, a LASA student. In the United States, we are only prescribed antibiotics to help prevent overdoses and antibiotic-resistance. However, in many third-world countries, antibiotics are available over the counter. This can lead to the increase of antibiotic resistance, as it is cheaper to take antibiotics than to go to the doctor and find out if one really needs to take antibiotics.
To prevent the spread of infectious diseases one needs to educate, vaccinate people. One “need[s] to educate people about viruses and how they spread, people need to be aware about if there are any outbreaks and just be careful in general. For the preventable diseases people should be vaccinated.” —Thompson. The penicillin infiltrates the cell wall. The penicillin prevents the peptidoglycan from forming side bonds, weakening the bonds. Due to the weakened bond, the cell wall ruptures and the bacteria dies. Fortunately, these types of antibiotics do not affect human cell, because eukaryotic cells do not have cell walls, and cell membranes do not contain peptidoglycan.
Antibiotic resistance does not only occur in humans, but in other animals and plants. One of these antibiotic-resistant strains is Escherichia coli (E. coli), that is found
in animals like cows that are raised for mass consumption. Because the cows are not raised in humane conditions, and are feed grain doused in antibiotics, the E. coli in the cows become antibiotic resistant. When the cows are slaughtered, the E. coli can be transmitted to humans through livestock consumption, resulting in an increase in antibiotic-resistant bacteria, “[The best way to prevent diseases without a cure is] education. People need to be aware if there is an outbreak nearby. People should always be aware of any potential threats in their area. People also need to know how they are transmitted, you can know there is a biological threat, but if you don’t know how it is transmitted you are at more Stayin’ Alive
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0f a risk for contracting the virus. For example, HIV and AIDS have no cure currently available. Anyone can be at risk. However, by knowing it is an std you can decrease your risk by not having unprotected sex. By knowing it is transmitted through bodily fluids and blood, you can avoid dealing with other people’s blood. If this is known, people can decrease their risk of contracting HIV.” said Emily Thompson. Thompson goes on to explain how a vaccine is a watered down strain of the disease regardless of if it is caused by a virus or bacteria. However, a vaccine can only be used to prevent, and not cure, so in the case of these third world countries, the vaccination rate is low. As stated before, most of the time the only treatment once one has contracted a bacterial disease is antibiotics. In a study conducted by the Sage Journal, where they asked randomly selected high school student in India about their awareness of antibiotics,
“Most students (67 percent) were unaware of the problem of antibiotic resistance, with around half (49 percent) mistakenly thinking that bacteria cause cold or flu. Around one-fifth (19 percent) said they frequently self-medicate with antibiotics”-Nerissa ML Almeida Santimano, David R Foxcroft 02
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The best way to prevent antibiotic resistant is to avoid antibiotic in the first place, unless absolutely necessary. While there might not be a great substitute for antibiotics, the best method to avoid them, is to not get sick. By washing one’s hands and eating correctly, one can decrease their chance of getting sick in the first place. “After my mother had me, her doctor prescribed her a certain amount of painkillers to take daily. My mom did as the doctor said and noticed that she started to forget if she changed my diaper, if she fed me, if she gave me my medicine, etc. When she noticed she decided that she would stop taking the painkillers, and deal with the pain be taking the painkillers. Painkillers could put my and her life in danger. So and technically an overdose prescribed by a doctor,” said Sophia McLaughlin-Diaz, an aspiring doctor.
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Similar to the painkillers described above, antibiotics can be very addictive, but in a different sense. When one lives in a country so driven by the desire to be productive, with no time to be sick, in a country filled with people uneducated about antibiotic, bacteria, and viruses, there is no wonder why this culture demands antibiotics. In this country, they are glorified as the instant cure for everything; doctors prescribe over 100 million unnecessary prescription antibiotics a year. It makes one wonder: how different is this country, from other countries that offers over-thecounter antibiotics. How different is this country from the ones blamed for antibiotic resistance? §
This infographic depicts the ways antibiotic resistant bacteria can infect humans. To the left is shows how it is possible to infect livestock that is raised for human consumption, and on the right is shows how it can be transmitted through humans. CDC/2013.
this is a diagram showing a strain of TB that is resistant to two of the strongest types of antibiotics. The diagram to the lefts shows the antibiotics which block cell wall synthesis, like penicillin, and the diagram to the right shows the antibiotics which block transcription and translation, like Aminoglycosides. NIAID/2015.
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The Life Cycle of the
1
By Romi Klein
Retrovirus How a retrovirus
infects a cell and reproduces
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1 A retrovirus enters the body. 2 The glycoproteins on the outside of the virus come in contact with a cells cell receptors. 3 The viral envelope fuses with the cell membrane and the capsid is released into the cytoplasm. The capsid “uncoats” (breaks apart) releasing the RNA and reverse transcriptase. 4 RNA directed DNA polyerase, or Reverse transcriptase, an enzyme found in retroviruses, turns the RNA into DNA, in a revers process of transcription (DNA into RNA), hence the name of the enzyme. 5 The viral DNA infiltrates the cells nucleus, integrating itself with the pre-existing cell’s DNA. When the process of transcription happens, the viral DNA is replicated. 6 The viral DNA exits the nucleus and a new capsid is assembled with parts that the cell’s proteins have made. 7 A new virus starts to emerge (budding) from the cell. 8 A new completed virus completely emerges from the cell, ready to infect a new one. The cell may be destroyed as new viruses emerge from it.
sources: 1. https://www.nature.com 2. https://courses.lumenlearning.com 3. https://www.britannica.com
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“The First Wealth is Health”
-Raph Waldo Emerson-
Technology that is Fighting
Cancer
By: Asahi Jige
T
here are a lot of scary health problems you can have in your lifetime. But one of the most scariest thing is getting cancer. About 40 percent of the population get cancer in their lifetime. Some of the most common cancers are breast, lung, and prostate cancer. All of these cancers can be deadly, if you don’t get treatment early. Luckily, in the health environment, there is a lot of advanced 25
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technology used to cure and help fight cancers right now like chemotherapy and advanced imaging technology. All of these technologies are important in the effort to curing cancer. When you hear advanced imaging technology, you might not know what it does or how it helps when curing cancer. Dr. Anna Sorace at University of Texas said that advanced imaging is used to “find ways to monitor and predict whether if that tumor or cancer is going to respond
well to current therapies.” This technology helps you to assess the cellularity, vascularity, and biological characteristics of the cancer/tumor. This information can be used to predict if therapy will work and monitor it during the process of therapy. To predict and monitor these cancer, the patient will first go threw magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), as well as dynamic contrast enhanced MRI , diffusion weighted MRI, and magnetic space transfer MRI. From these different images the oncologist will extract quantitative metrics to look at the cancer/ tumor cellularity, vascularity, and biological characteristics. Then, the oncologist can predict if treatment will respond will or not. According to Sorace, it took a long time to create this technology. She said, “Prior going into clinical studies, we do a lot of pre-clinical animal based research that evaluates these imaging biomarkers, and imaging metrics to look at in animal model, whether or not if individ-
ual tumors or cancer/whether or not we can extract these imaging metric to predict a breast cancer tumor or a brain tumor will respond to treatment.” After this pre-clinical research, they translated the findings into a clinical study. Oncologists do the same thing for evaluation on patients. After the research, they make mathematical models, and com-
“Some of these women that are undergoing breast cancer that are involved in our clinical settings are amazing women and gives you the opportunity to see where you can make a difference and improve health care.” putational models to look at and predict how the cancer/tumor will respond to treatment. Some people may wonder why you might need to do all of this to predict if a treatment will respond. Sorace explains, We
Labeled for reuse (commons.wikimedia.org / Zereshk / 2007)
can save valuable time, money, and patient’s health by potentially changing to a more effective therapy that is available.” It helps cut unnecessary cost for the therapy on patient. Also, if the patient receives the wrong type of treatment for the specific cancer, the patient’s cancer could get worse. After these predictions, the doctors begin to work on treatment. One of the most common treatments for cancer is chemotherapy. Currently, it is used for almost all of the cancers that exist right now. Dr. Nick Brian, radiologist at University of Texas, said, “chemotherapy is very dangerous and most people do not understand the dangers.” He also said that chemotherapy causes side effects which can be very dangerous. Chemotherapy can kill cells that are good for your body while affecting the other ones as well. The American Cancer Society website said that there are mainly three reasons that chemotherapy is used for treatment. They are to cure, control, and palliation. The main objective here is to completely cure it and kill all of the cancer cells. If curing is impossible, the oncologist will try to control and stop the tumor to grow anymore. It does not get rid of the cancer Picture of the University of Texas Medical Center Stayin’ Alive
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“If cancer isn’t treated, it can spread to other places in your body and cause more problems.” He added that to cure it, they use chemo cells to kill these infected cells. But at the same time the chemo cells can kill good cells, or cells you need to live, which causes the side effects.
MRI Imaging of the Brain (Dr. Anna Sorace)
itself but it can make life better and longer. The final thing chemotherapy is used for is to just ease symptoms which are called palliative chemotherapy or just palliation. They do this when the cancer is at an advanced stage and is not possible to control it anymore. The American Cancer
Society website said that they try to improve the quality of life or help the person feel better. Now onto how chemotherapy helps cure, control or palliation. In our body, there are trillions of cells. Brian said that cancer starts when there is a change in a normal cell. Then these cells make more cancer cells. He said,
There are multiple ways to get chemotherapy. Chemo can be given as a shot, pill, or even as a liquid. Most often chemo is put into your blood threw a plastic tube called catheter. This method is called intravenous infusion (IV) chemo. You may get chemo every day or a few a week. Chemo is given between breaks of the cycle of treatment. They use this break to help rebuild healthy cells in your body. “The number of times you get chemo, how you get chemo, and how long the break between treatment cycle all depends on cancer type, the stage the cancer is in, and the goal of the treatment,” said Brian. When you hear chemotherapy and radiation, you might think that they are the same thing. However, that is not the case. Chemotherapy is a drug that
“I love working in a field where I can
create techniques and discover techniques in the pre-clinical settings and then translate them into clinical work.
”
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kills cancer cells in your entire body. On the other hand, radiation uses advanced technology to deliver targeted beams of radiations. Brian said, “Chemotherapy delivers drugs to the entire body, but radiation only targets only a specific part of the body.” Since both are used to fight cancer, the American Cancer Society website states that neither is better. Once more, it all depends on the type of cancer. There are many advanced and important technologies being developed to cure cancer. Advanced imaging technology helps monitor and predict if the cancer will respond will to treatment or not and chemotherapy and radiation help to cure it. They are all important, but at the same time very dangerous. As Brian said, you have to know what each of these do, how these perform those activities, and why they do so. By knowing these basic knowledge on these treatments, it might help people to live longer and live a happier life. §
Make Sure to Check Our Other Feature Articles on Health
More Information on Cancer/ Chemotherapy on pg. 29 and pg. 30
Picture of Seton Hospital
Labeled for reuse (en.wikipedia.org / Donna Budak / 2010) Stayin’ Alive
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Did You Know
4 10 in
get cancer
both men and women
by: Asahi Jige
There are more than
14.1 million person with cancer in the world
Survival Rate is Only
50% Breast
Lung Prostate Colorectum
Urinary Bladder Skin One of the Most Common Cancer: Colorectum Lung Pancreas Breast Liver Prostate
Chemotherapy and Radiation has about a 3.8% death rate
Chemotherapy lasts about 4 - 6 months
Most Common Deaths by Cancer: Dr. Nick Bryan; American Cancer Society; Dr. Anna Sorace; Patrick Haney
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5 Top
Side Effects of Chemotherapy and Radiation
by: Asahi Jige
Decrease in Blood Cell Count: Chemo affects good cells including your blood cell
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Nausea and Vomiting: Chemo can affect the nervous system, which leads to nausea and omitting
Hair Loss: Hair follicles are made of rapidly dividing cells, so some types of chemo damage these cells
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Mouth and Throat Change: Chemo affects fast growing cells like the cells in your GI tract, which can change your throat and Mouth
Pain: Pain can be caused by the cancer itself or by the chemo
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Dr. Nick Bryan; American Cancer Society; Patrick Haney 30 Haney Stayin’ AliveCancer FallSociety; 2017 Patrick Dr. Nick Bryan; American
War-it is ever present. In your mind, in your body, shown in your decisions. A hundred battles fought for each choice your make, and a thousand for every breath you take.
The
Death
from
Within
Natural Defense The Danger
of a
Lifesaver
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