WELLNESS
NOTES provided by the Office of Human Resources
August
25, 2003
Loosening your necktie may help save your eyes. If your shirt
collars, ties, or scarves are worn too tightly around your neck, it could have
an impact on your eyesight, research suggests. In a recent study, a necktie
that was tied too tightly increased the pressure of fluid within the wearer's
eyes. Over time, such increases in fluid pressure could raise a person's risk
of glaucoma.
RealAge.com, August 2003
It's usually not too hard to tell when a wound requires medical
attention. Here are some signs that you need to head to the emergency room:
- Bleeding comes in spurts, or you cannot stop
the bleeding. The former indicates that an artery may have been cut. Apply
pressure using compresses (sterile gauze or a clean, folded washcloth or towel)
on your way to get help. Don't attempt to apply a tourniquet.
- A cut is very deep, jagged, or gaping. A cut
from broken glass, in particular, may require stitches.
- Deep animal bites, deep puncture wounds, a deep facial cut,
and eye wounds need medical attention.
- A scrape is very large and has dirt in it.
- You have a deep wound, especially a puncture
wound or animal bite, and have not had a tetanus shot within the past 5 to 10
years, or cannot recall having had one.
- You notice increased redness, swelling, or
fever - or experience numbness or loss of mobility.
University of California, Berkeley Wellness Letter; September 2003
An upbeat, positive nature seems to foster good health, and new
evidence suggests that a happy, relaxed emotional style may even protect you
from the common cold. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh
recently tested 334 healthy people to see whether their emotional
"style" influenced how readily they became infected by germs that
cause colds. After assessing the volunteers' emotional states, the researchers
exposed them (via a squirt in the nose) to a virus that causes colds and then
kept their subjects under observation for five days to see whether they became
infected and, if they did, what symptoms they developed. The research team
found that the "positive" volunteers had greater resistance to
catching colds and that those who did pick up the bug had fewer signs and
symptoms than did volunteers with a negative feelings such as depression,
anxiety and hostility. Results of the study were published in the July 2003
issue of Psychosomatic Medicine
DrWeil.com, July 2003
Eating a piece of fruit before each meal may help to melt pounds
away. In a recent study, women who ate a small apple or pear before each meal
lost more weight than women who skipped the fruit but followed the same
reduced-calorie diet. Fiber-filled fruits help to satiate hunger, which
probably results in lower calorie intake from the meal, researchers speculate.
RealAge.com, August 2003
Researchers at Drexel University in Philadelphia believe they
have solved the mystery of contagious yawning. Yawning gives the body a quick
burst of oxygen, which is why people yawn when theyıre tired. But why do we
yawn when we see somebody else doing it? It may come down to human empathy.
Researchers subjected 65 students to a video of a person yawning. Almost half
of them yawned back and those who did scored higher on tests measuring empathy
- suggesting that their yawning was an unconscious expression of solidarity.
Dr. Steven Platek, who led the study, says some people are so tuned in to what
others are feeling that they mimic their behavior. These are the same people,
Platek tells the Queensland, Australia, Courier-Mail, who say ouch when
somebody else stubs their toe.
Contagious yawning, Platek, says, could be an evolutionary trait that benefits
the species by helping people bond.
THE WEEK; August 8, 2003
Special bed covers that supposedly reduce exposure to dust mites
(a common allergy trigger) do nothing to allay symptoms of asthma or nasal
allergies, suggest two year-long studies in the July 17 New England Journal
of Medicine. In the first study, roughly
1,100 asthmatics aged 18 to 50 used either allergen-impermeable or regular
covers for mattresses, pillows, and quilts. Regardless of which type of
bedding they used, the participantsı force of exhalation improved during the
study. The second study, involving roughly 230 people with nasal allergies,
found that people using allergen-impermeable bed covers had the same severity
of allergy symptoms as those using regular covers. If you have asthma or
allergies, you may have better luck reducing your symptoms by washing bedding
in hot water and using a high-efficiency vacuum cleaner to keep dust mites at
bay.
HealthNews, September 2003
To get less mercury from canned tuna, choose chunk light tuna
instead of albacore (solid white) - this is especially important for pregnant women.
A recent study of canned tuna found that albacore has, on average, about four
times moremercury than chunk light, and that one-third of cans of albacore
exceed the maximum mercury levels set for women of childbearing age. Light
tuna, which actually is darker than albacore, comes from smaller varieties of
tuna, and smaller fish tend to have less mercury. It is also lower in fat,
which unfortunately means it has less of the heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids
than albacore.
University
of California, Berkeley Wellness Letter September 2003
Your tattoo may be toxic. Many chemicals used in tattoo parlors
are industrial pigments found in car paints and writing inks, says a study by
the European Commission. Little information is available on the safety of
these dyes on the skin, although tattooing and body piercing are known to cause
a numbers of health problems, including hepatitis, melanoma, and acute
infections. More research into the chemicals and more monitoring of tattoo
parlors is needed to make the body art safer, says commission spokesman Fabio
Fabbi. "Everybody has a right to tattoos and piercing," he tells the
Associated Press, "but under the best health and safety conditions." In the
U.S., the Food and Drug Administration warns that it has no authority over
tattoo parlors, and that tattooing often brings nasty complications. The most
common: A change of mind, leading to painful and partially effective removal
procedures.
THE WEEK; August 1, 2003
Frequent hand-washing in health-care facilities may be a thing of
the past. No, hygiene hasnıt gone by the wayside. Instead, doctors, nurses,
and others in health-care settings often will be substituting alcohol-based
rubs to clean their hands. Studies have shown that alcohol-based rubs are fast
and convenient - making it more likely that workers will disinfect their hands
more often. Alcohol-based rubs are also more effective than soap at removing
bacteria from the hands, says the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, which is recommending this new hand hygiene. There still are many
situations, however, where thorough hand-washing is required (e.g., surgery).
Hope
Healthletter, August 2003
"If you never condemned, you would never need to forgive." Anthony
de Mello (1931-1987), Spiritual counselor
"You can't solve a problem on the same level that it was
created. You have to rise above it to the next level." - Albert Einstein
"How can we ever hope to grasp the deeper possibilities of life,
and lead invigorated or meaningful days, if we're all dashing around nonstop
like water bugs on the surface of a swirling river?" Robert K. Cooper, Leadership
consultant
"Words are but pictures of our thoughts." John Dryden
(1631-1700), Poet and critic