Not All Screens Are Equally Evil?

As you may know Television time is bad for all but more for children because it takes time away from being active and they tend to eat more junk food and soda while watching television can cause health problems like excess weight and high blood pressure.

As I was reading this article I was amazed into what I was reading regarding playing video games or on computers and how it effects a child less by doing so than watching television. Although it is bad to do regardless researchers from the University of Michigan found that six graders who watch television tend to eat more junk food and soda versus their peers that spent the same amount on playing video games or on the computer. They also mentioned that obviously being active and playing outside is much better than doing otherwise but the reason they believe one is worse than the other is for the reason that watching TV advertises junk food and soda and their hands aren’t occupied so they tend to occupy them by eating unhealthy. When playing video games and computers they are using their hands so they have a less chance of eating more and games do not have advertisements or commercials regarding food.

Overall this is good information to take in for everyone since our lives consist of technology at all times. It is still not a good idea to let children be on any technology devices for a long period of time but I am glad they made a study and we are more aware of what technology can do and how it is effecting us.

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Parents And Teens Aren’t Up To Speed On HPV Risks, Doctors Say

The news article, Parents And Teens Aren’t Up To Speed On HPV Risks, Doctors Say, by NPR focuses on the importance of being vaccinated against Human Papillomavirus at a early age. This article not only emphasizes on the importance of being vaccinated but as well as vaccinating at an early age. Most Human Papillomavirus are harmless but some can cause cervical, anal, and penile cancer as well as genital warts. According to this article parents are not fully educated on HPV vaccination and the outcome of it all.

Researchers have found that it is better to be vaccinated at an early age such as 11-12. The reason why is because it is much more effective if they are vaccinated before they are sexually active versus being vaccinated while your sexually active. While being sexually active and receiving the HPV vaccine doesn’t necessarily mean it won’t be as effective but it would be best if they receive the vaccine before even being sexually active and exposed to infections. People mistaken this vaccination to be only for teenagers who are being sexually active and for the reason it is to protect from sexually transmitted diseases.

Although this is one of the main reasons why it is encouraged to be vaccinated, it is also a health issue that in order to decrease vaccination should be consider for a healthier life style. This article also discusses how it is important for parents to increase their knowledge about this particular topic since and HPV is widespread issue. This vaccination is not to encourage anyone to be sexually active; this vaccination has the purpose to protect before they get infected just like any other vaccine. I understand the concerns of a parent by allowing their child/teenager to receive this vaccine but we have to look at it as an opportunity to increase our health for the better. No one has control of someone else’s sexually active life and for that reason as a parent, family, and friends should encourage the HPV vaccination so there is no health risk.

Sexually Transmitted Food Poisoning?

An Article published in NPR caught my attention regarding sexually transmitted food poisoning that is caused by ingested potent fish toxin. This toxin causes foodborne illness, known as ciguatera, ciguatera is new for most people but this particular toxin is more common in tropical and subtropical regions. According to this article, “ciguatoxin is produced by a single-celled Protozoan that sticks to algae on tropical reefs. The poison then moves up the food chain and eventually accumulates in large, predator fish such as a red snapper grouper, amberjack and barracuda.” Most people eat these type of fish unaware the possible effects it might have in your health as well affecting your significant other through sexual intercourse.

This toxin causes Dyspareunia (painful sex) to the other partner. If a man has this toxin it can be passed through their semen affecting their partner and then developing side effects as well. Those side effects include terrible abdominal pain and burning in the penis for men. This is an interesting subject since not everyone is aware of this situation especially if you do not live or eat fish that come from the pacific or Indian oceans. It is even more interesting it can be passed through sexual contact giving the partner right away disturbing pain.

To inform more about the can and cant’s regarding this nasty toxin, this article discuss the importance of keeping an eye out for this particular fish such as; do not order red snapper or grouper caught in areas associated with ciguatera outbreaks. Be aware that one cannot defect the toxin by smell or sight, you cannot cook, clean or freeze the toxin away from the fish. If you still want to eat the fish it would be more on the safe side if you go for smaller fish, less than about three pounds or simply eating limited portion.

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HPV Has Cut Infections In Teenage Girls

This article, “Vaccine Against HPV Has Cut Infections In Teenage Girls” published by NPR attracted my attention since the information they provided was shocking to read regarding the increase of HPV if teenage girls are not vaccinated. The HPV vaccine has been effective and decreasing the infection in teenage girls but The Center for Disease Control and Prevention has set a goal of 80 percent of adolescents fully vaccinated. The reason behind this goal is to have tens of thousands of fewer cases of cervical cancers and deaths.

Reading this article has provided information I was not aware of and even more shocking realizing what could happen if teenage girls are not fully vaccinated. Frieden provided information regarding what can happen if not being fully vaccinated especially if not reaching their goal of 80 percent. Frieden mentioned, “Of girls alive today between the ages of zero and 13, there will be 50,000 more cases of cancer if we don’t increase the rates to 80 percent, And for every single year we delay in getting to 80 percent, another 4,400 women are going to develop cervical cancer in their lifetimes — even with good screening programs.” Basing from what Frieden statistically mentioned this is a serious health problem that can be easily prevented if vaccinated. Parents need to be aware, educated and open more the HPV vaccine in order to realize the vaccine does not have any negative side effects and ultimately it will protect their teenage girls from having cervical cancer.

One of the issues there seems to be in order for teenage girls to receive this vaccine, is cost and parents. Having this vaccination could cost a great amount of money, most insurance cover to receive this vaccination. But for the ones that are not insured it can cost $128 and $135 a dose, or 400 dollars for a full course on a private market. Most parents believe by providing this vaccination to their teens it can increase sexual activity, because of this reason most parents are not encouraging or supporting the HPV vaccine.

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Urine or Urthera infection?

As I reviewed this article published in the NPR called “Common Test For Bladder Infections Misses Too Many Cases “I came across some interesting findings regarding urine track infection. Urine track infection lead to “8 million doctor’s visit a year” according to the Center Of Disease Control and Prevention, this adds to a great amount of expense and unnecessary trouble. When going to the doctor the common testing they might do for a urine track infection is the dipstick test and the urine culture. The dipstick test is the most common used for the reason it detect the infection right away especially for instant decision making.

What I found interesting was that when doing these tests they came across infections with other bacteria’s such as E.Coli. Although it was shown to be low the bacteria is still strong enough to make a women sick. The issue was that many labs were disregarding the showing of the results which Dr. Thomas Hooten disagreed since it can be a possible solution of why there is many “urine track infection”. Dr. Thomas Hooten who was the lead of a study involving 226 women ages 18-49 and took samples both from the midstream test and by putting a catheter in the bladder, Comparing the samples he found some interesting findings.

One quarter of the women although they all had the classic symptoms of infection had no bacteria in the bladder what’s so ever. And a few of those women did have a lot of bacteria. They assumed because there was a high numbers in the midstream culture is because they had high numbers in the bladder. An assumption was made by Donnenberg and mentioned how “Maybe those women have an infection of the urethra rather than the bladder “although it is a statement it is still in the process of figuring out what it really is and what is it caused by. This article also mentions how there might be something else going on that doctors are not aware of. For that reason they’re not fully sure if the women are benefiting from the treatment because they bacterial Urethritis or if it is even necessary to be exposed to the urine track infection antibiotics.

Finding this health issue I am more conscious and knowledgeable regarding this topic and considering if I would to have common “urine track infections” after receiving antibiotics then I can ask a doctor to examine in the urethra to see what exactly I might have.

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Cervical Cancer Vaccine, Prevention For Genital Warts?

In the article “Cervical Cancer Vaccine Also Helps Prevent Genital Warts” published by NPR mentioned some interesting discussion regarding the vaccine Human Papillomavirus and the importance of having the vaccination. This article in particular discussed not only the importance of having the vaccine but as well taking all three vaccinations. This vaccine has been affective not only to protect from cervical cancer but as well from genital warts caused from the same virus.

According to this article it has been a struggle to provide these services and to see if they are as effective with one or three vaccines as recommended. One of the subjects the article discussed was age being important. Doctors recommend ages 11 or 12 to be vaccinated in order for the vaccination to be as effective as it can be. By doing so you are protecting yourself but as well preventing the virus from spreading. There has been a bit of controversy since parents are concern of their children’s safety and potential effects on sexual activity. Cost is another issue why they do not have all three vaccinations.

HPV vaccination has been effective so far and I personally believe it is a good idea to be protected and give the protection that your children needs for the future. I can see why parents do not want to provide this vaccine to their children having the fear it can open doors such as, becoming sexually active or having multiple partners. The reality of all is that we do not really know when it is the right time to be protected or protect others and it would be better to be safe than sorry.

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Doctors And Teens Both Avoid Talking About Sex And Sexuality

In this article, it is mentioned several times the necessity of a doctor to have a one on one conversations regarding sex and sexuality with teenagers. One of the issues regarding the lack of conversations between a doctor and a teenager is, teenagers mainly female tend to not go as often to the doctor. If they do so the conversation about sex education is about 36 seconds long, not enough to go through the checklist doctors have. Thirty six seconds is not enough to even cover the basics such as: birth control methods, sexually transmitted diseases or even just plain sexual orientation.

This article also mentioned when they do have teenagers in it is still difficult to discuss these topics when the parent or guarding is present. Teenagers do not feel comfortable discussing or questioning these topics in front of their parents or legal guardians. In these cases it is very important for the doctors to kindly remove the parents from the consultation or even providing them an explanation of why they need to do so, so when it does happen they are not taken by surprised. Most importantly for the doctors to break the ice and discuss these topics so the patient (teenager) will be comfortable enough to where they can ask questions if needed. Overall a doctor having a confidential conversation with a teenager seems to work as well if the parent converse with their teenager it is just a matter of consistency and making time to do so.

Interesting Facts

As I have further my research regarding Monterey County sexually transmitted diseases spike in young adults I have come across many interesting factors of why STDs have been increasing and one of them being insurance/cost. Because we lack insurance and it is costly to go to the doctor and have regular check-ups young adults will not go to the doctor for general let alone for some “suspension” that they might think they have a sexually transmitted disease.

Because of these choices I further my research on Planned Parenthood to see if it is being used as an option and taken full advantage since it is a reliable and useful source. If not aware Planned Parenthood is a non-profit organization that provides services and advice to the community such as; contraception, family planning, and reproductive problems besides providing this services and more they also help you with something that is important to all of us, which is money. If you do not have the funds to pay for the services they ask to give as much as you’re able too, donations or nothing at all, they have their own type of insurance to help you receive these services. What Planned Parenthood is mainly known for is abortions, contraception’s and STD/STI testing and treatment, although there is other services provided outside of these.

What I found interesting is that when scanning through the annual report for Planned Parenthood I found a chart that described what this nonprofit organization was mainly providing to the community and where their money is going too, the number one was for STD/STI testing and treatment being 45%, right behind it was contraception 34%, I was shocked and glad in a way because we are using Planned Parenthood for STD/STI testing and treatment and if young adults use this source more it can potentially decrease the STDs in Monterey County.

Now that I see Planned Parenthood is being used for STD/STI testing and treatment I have come to a realization that as The Monterey County Health Department has mentioned lack of education, knowledge and awareness has a great amount to do with the increase of STDs spike. By informing and providing details of such services like this can not only increase the knowledge but as well as using this services and most importantly protecting the human body from STDs that can possibly cause short, long-term effects.

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What To Do With Your Smartphone While You’re Having Dinner

I came across this article discussing what we do with our smartphone while at dinner and I was curious to see what do us as society has accepted to be “okay” when it involves smartphone usage. As I look back to my Childhood phone usage while at dinner was extremely offensive and rude, dinner time was for the family as a whole to come together and share their good and bad experiences throughout the day. Especially when gathering with friends, co-workers etc.

I have asked myself why do I personally gather with other people such as dinner and my reason simply was to enjoy each other’s company and catch up on our day to day life’s of friends, family or co-workers. I have realized that half the time we do the opposite, were all there physically but mentally we are into our technology devices. So what happened? Who made it okay? As technology increases and “betters” we isolate ourselves from personal face to face interaction leaving behind what for some at some point was important. I do it as well instead of taking a break from all technology devices since my work and school consists of that while I eat whether it is breakfast, lunch or dinner I rather either watch television, be on my phone or my laptop. Technology alone has taken over us having no control of when to say enough and let go of our smartphones and other devices. This article made me question what she Elise Hu (the author) questioned herself… Where are the boundaries? Do we even have any?

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Adressing the Solutions of Monterey County

Monterey County Health Department has stated that they believe why there is a spike in Monterey County is because there is lack of knowledge, awareness and prevention, specifically talking about young adults from ages 14-24. The Monterey County Health Department believe young adults lack knowledge of what is an STD and how serious they are therefore, it is increasing the rates of Sexually transmitted disease. Young Adults are not as aware as they should be of this health issue and by not being fully aware it increase the chances of having a sexually transmitted disease and not taking care of their body causing long-term effects.

Over the years there has not been frequent “hands-on” education about STDs and how it can be reduced and prevented. There are sources where they inform and educate like online information but the young adults from Monterey seem careless to educate themselves more about the issue. This has been a big impact on why Monterey County has a spike as the Monterey County Health department mentioned several times if young adults increase their knowledge, awareness and education of STDs it will substantially decrease. I personally believe that as well but I think it would have a greater effect if professional educators go out to the community and inform specifically on statistics (how rapidly it is increasing), what is an STD, what you can do to prevent and treat. There are organizations that do so but it makes a difference on how often they go out to the community and share their knowledge and facts about the health issue. Maybe considering options like mandatory informative classes for students that can be beneficial to decrease sexually transmitted diseases.