Far too many soldiers end up behind bars while the rest of us are free to ignore the human evidence of what our military ventures really cost.
As all the other justifications for the U.S. invasion of Iraq have fallen by the wayside, it is ironic that the one that remains is "freedom," because in the name of someone else's freedom, we train our own soldiers to behave in ways that may very well cost them their own.
Gordy Lane is a retired Syracuse police detective who served in the Marine Corps during the Vietnam War. As a cop, it was his job to put lawbreakers behind bars, but as a veteran, he understands that when you go to war, "you come back a little different than when you went over there."
"Listen," he says, "you pop up out of a foxhole, and you blow a guy's head open like a watermelon. The other two guys in the foxhole start patting you on the back and saying, 'Good job!' because you just did the worst thing that you can do to another person. How do you translate that into civilian life?"
Health & Wellness
© Leif Parsons
In a country obsessed with germs and sickness, antibacterial soaps and sanitizers are becoming more and more common. But because such products contribute to the growing problem of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, some researchers recommend sanitizers made with cinnamon oil, which has been shown in many studies to have powerful antimicrobial properties.
A recent study by a team of surgeons, for example, found that a solution made with cinnamon oil killed a number of common and hospital-acquired infections, like streptococcus and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA.
The quality of a person's social life could have an even greater impact than diet and exercise on their health and well-being. There is growing evidence that being a member of a social group can significantly reduce the risk of conditions like stroke, dementia and even the common cold. New research by the Universities of Exeter and Queensland, Australia, shows that membership of social groups has a positive impact on health and well-being. The work highlights the importance of belonging to a range of social groups, of hanging onto social groups, and of building new social groups in dealing with life changes such as having a stroke and being diagnosed with dementia.
Writing in Scientific American Mind, the researchers from the Universities of Exeter, Queensland and Kansas review a number of previous studies, including many of their own, which identify a link between group membership and physical and mental health. Some more recent studies which support the same conclusion are presented by the Exeter-based researchers at the British Science Festival today (Thursday 10 August).
Commenting on this work, Professor Alex Haslam of the University of Exeter, said: "We are social animals who live and have evolved to live in social groups. Membership of groups, from football teams to book clubs and voluntary societies, gives us a sense of social identity. This is an indispensable part of who we are and what we need to be in order to lead rich and fulfilling lives. For this reason groups are central to mental functioning, health and well-being".
Writing in Scientific American Mind, the researchers from the Universities of Exeter, Queensland and Kansas review a number of previous studies, including many of their own, which identify a link between group membership and physical and mental health. Some more recent studies which support the same conclusion are presented by the Exeter-based researchers at the British Science Festival today (Thursday 10 August).
Commenting on this work, Professor Alex Haslam of the University of Exeter, said: "We are social animals who live and have evolved to live in social groups. Membership of groups, from football teams to book clubs and voluntary societies, gives us a sense of social identity. This is an indispensable part of who we are and what we need to be in order to lead rich and fulfilling lives. For this reason groups are central to mental functioning, health and well-being".
Researchers at the Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology I of the Heinrich-Heine University, Düsseldorf, Germany, investigated the relationship between fruit and vegetable intake, plasma antioxidant micronutrient status and cognitive performance in healthy subjects aged 45 to 102 years. Their results, published in the August issue of the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, indicated higher cognitive performance in individuals with high daily intake of fruits and vegetables.
Subjects with a high daily intake (about 400 g) of fruits and vegetables had higher antioxidant levels, lower indicators of free radical-induced damage against lipids as well as better cognitive performance compared to healthy subjects of any age consuming low amounts (< 100 g/day) of fruits and vegetables. Modification of nutritional habits aimed at increasing intake of fruits and vegetables, therefore, should be encouraged to lower the prevalence of cognitive impairment.
Subjects with a high daily intake (about 400 g) of fruits and vegetables had higher antioxidant levels, lower indicators of free radical-induced damage against lipids as well as better cognitive performance compared to healthy subjects of any age consuming low amounts (< 100 g/day) of fruits and vegetables. Modification of nutritional habits aimed at increasing intake of fruits and vegetables, therefore, should be encouraged to lower the prevalence of cognitive impairment.
Movement may reveal memories that the brain recalls even when a person isn't aware of them
Eyewitness testimony is notoriously flaky, but new research suggests that eye movements can accurately reveal what a person remembers, even if the person isn't aware of the memory.
In a memory test, participants' eye movements picked the right answer even when the participant failed to, Deborah Hannula and Charan Ranganath, both of the University of California, Davis, report in the Sept. 10 Neuron. The eye movements corresponded to activity in the hippocampus, an important learning and memory center in the brain. The results suggest that eye movements can reveal unconscious memories activated in the hippocampus, the authors say.
Some neuroscientists have believed that the hippocampus is involved only in conscious or "declarative" memories, such as of people, facts or events. People who have damage to the hippocampus aren't able to form or recall declarative memories. These amnesiac patients can, however, learn new skills that require unconscious "procedural" memories, such as riding a bike - leading to the belief that an intact hippocampus is not needed for unconscious recall.
Eyewitness testimony is notoriously flaky, but new research suggests that eye movements can accurately reveal what a person remembers, even if the person isn't aware of the memory.
In a memory test, participants' eye movements picked the right answer even when the participant failed to, Deborah Hannula and Charan Ranganath, both of the University of California, Davis, report in the Sept. 10 Neuron. The eye movements corresponded to activity in the hippocampus, an important learning and memory center in the brain. The results suggest that eye movements can reveal unconscious memories activated in the hippocampus, the authors say.
Some neuroscientists have believed that the hippocampus is involved only in conscious or "declarative" memories, such as of people, facts or events. People who have damage to the hippocampus aren't able to form or recall declarative memories. These amnesiac patients can, however, learn new skills that require unconscious "procedural" memories, such as riding a bike - leading to the belief that an intact hippocampus is not needed for unconscious recall.
It would be difficult to find someone who has never felt shame in their life.
Shame is a common reaction when someone feels that they have fallen below social norms or their own standards. From being intoxicated in front of one's peers and superiors to failing an important test at school or being rejected at the school dance, shame can be an internal alarm that ensures that we know when we are at risk of finding ourselves outside the lines of societal acceptance and desirability.
University of Alberta researcher Jessica Van Vliet's study, published in the British Psychological Society journal, Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, and Practice, indicates that, while it may seem difficult when one is stuck in shame, there is hope for moving beyond this painful emotion.
Shame is a common reaction when someone feels that they have fallen below social norms or their own standards. From being intoxicated in front of one's peers and superiors to failing an important test at school or being rejected at the school dance, shame can be an internal alarm that ensures that we know when we are at risk of finding ourselves outside the lines of societal acceptance and desirability.
University of Alberta researcher Jessica Van Vliet's study, published in the British Psychological Society journal, Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, and Practice, indicates that, while it may seem difficult when one is stuck in shame, there is hope for moving beyond this painful emotion.
Ever wonder why former smokers miss lighting up most when they are in a bar or after a meal with friends?
Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine say nicotine, the addictive component in cigarettes, "tricks" the brain into creating memory associations between environmental cues and smoking behavior. The findings appear in the current issue of the journal Neuron.
"Our brains normally make these associations between things that support our existence and environmental cues so that we conduct behaviors leading to successful lives. The brain sends a reward signal when we act in a way that contributes to our well being," said Dr. John A. Dani, professor of neuroscience at BCM and co-author of the study. "However, nicotine commandeers this subconscious learning process in the brain so we begin to behave as though smoking is a positive action."
Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine say nicotine, the addictive component in cigarettes, "tricks" the brain into creating memory associations between environmental cues and smoking behavior. The findings appear in the current issue of the journal Neuron.
"Our brains normally make these associations between things that support our existence and environmental cues so that we conduct behaviors leading to successful lives. The brain sends a reward signal when we act in a way that contributes to our well being," said Dr. John A. Dani, professor of neuroscience at BCM and co-author of the study. "However, nicotine commandeers this subconscious learning process in the brain so we begin to behave as though smoking is a positive action."
Because I take a large number of nutritional supplements, I've become increasingly concerned over the years about supplement excipients, binders and fillers. One ingredient frequently used in vitamin manufacturing is titanium dioxide, a nanoparticle powder made of fine titanium bits. It's best known as an ingredient in sunscreen, but it's also used in thousands of cosmetic products as well as nutritional products.
Yep, if you take certain vitamins made by GNC or Centrum (as well as hundreds of other companies), you are eating titanium dioxide. And this is an ingredient for which no long-term safety testing on humans has ever been conducted. In fact, according to the Canadian Center for Occupational Health and Safety, titanium dioxide may be a human carcinogen. As explained on the CCOHS website:
Yep, if you take certain vitamins made by GNC or Centrum (as well as hundreds of other companies), you are eating titanium dioxide. And this is an ingredient for which no long-term safety testing on humans has ever been conducted. In fact, according to the Canadian Center for Occupational Health and Safety, titanium dioxide may be a human carcinogen. As explained on the CCOHS website:
Titanium dioxide has recently been classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) as an IARC Group 2B carcinogen ''possibly carcinogen to humans''... This evidence showed that high concentrations of pigment-grade (powdered) and ultrafine titanium dioxide dust caused respiratory tract cancer in rats exposed by inhalation and intratracheal instillation.
Pandemic swine flu can infect cells deeper in the lungs than seasonal flu can, according to a new study published in Nature Biotechnology. The researchers, from Imperial College London, say this may explain why people infected with the pandemic strain of swine-origin H1N1 influenza are more likely to suffer more severe symptoms than those infected with the seasonal strain of H1N1. They also suggest that scientists should monitor the current pandemic H1N1 influenza virus for changes in the way it infects cells that could make infections more serious.
Influenza viruses infect cells by attaching to bead-like molecules on the outside of the cell, called receptors. Different viruses attach to different receptors, and if a virus cannot find its specific receptors, it cannot get into the cell. Once inside the cell, the virus uses the cell's machinery to make thousands more viruses, which then burst out of the cell and infect neighbouring ones, establishing an infection.
Seasonal influenza viruses attach to receptors found on cells in the nose, throat and upper airway, enabling them to infect a person's respiratory tract. Today's research, which was funded by the Wellcome Trust, the Medical Research Council and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, shows that pandemic H1N1 swine flu can also attach to a receptor found on cells deep inside the lungs, which can result in a more severe lung infection.
Influenza viruses infect cells by attaching to bead-like molecules on the outside of the cell, called receptors. Different viruses attach to different receptors, and if a virus cannot find its specific receptors, it cannot get into the cell. Once inside the cell, the virus uses the cell's machinery to make thousands more viruses, which then burst out of the cell and infect neighbouring ones, establishing an infection.
Seasonal influenza viruses attach to receptors found on cells in the nose, throat and upper airway, enabling them to infect a person's respiratory tract. Today's research, which was funded by the Wellcome Trust, the Medical Research Council and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, shows that pandemic H1N1 swine flu can also attach to a receptor found on cells deep inside the lungs, which can result in a more severe lung infection.
These days, it seems like almost everybody does.
Celebrities, athletes, and even former president Clinton's head of Health and Human Services, Donna Shalala, are all proud to wear the white "milk mustache." After all, everyone knows that you need milk to be healthy, right?
Not necessarily!
Sure, dairy is nature's perfect food -- but only if you're a calf.
If that sounds shocking to you, it's because very few people are willing to tell the truth about dairy. In fact, criticizing milk in America is like taking on motherhood, apple pie, or baseball.
But that's just what I'm about to do.
