Worldwide Anti-Tobacco Treaty

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/28/health/28tobacco.html
This article talks about a world wide campaign involving 168 countries to try and lower smoking rates and in turn the number of deaths from tobacco-related ilnesses. The campaign involves a treaty requiring countries that ratify it to restrict tobacco advertising and sponsorship, put tougher health warnings on cigarettes and limit use of language like "low tar" and "light."
It is interesting to me to see this type of effort being made internationally. I was under the impression that smoking cigarettes was a habit widely accepted still in foreign countries. Obviosly as the world becomes more educated smoking will and has become less popular, but I didn't really think that internationally there was much concern for it. We all know there should be. This article states that cigarettes kill one smoker every 6.5 seconds.
The good thing though is that the popularity of smoking is definately decreasing. In fact I would have to say that that at least in the U.S. it is no longer a very accepted habit. I think that peer pressure these days leans more towards not participating in the habit. We use to say that teens would pick up smoking in order to "fit in" and be cool and/or to look older. I don't believe that's the case anymore. I think the main reason teens start smoking these days is because they are looking for a "buzz". For this reason we need to change our strategies when teaching tobacco prevention. Instead of targeting the traditional things that led teens to smoking we need to focus on teaching them or helping them to explore alternative and healthy methods of getting buzzed. At the same time we should no longer spend so much time talking about how peers might try to pressure an individual to try smoking. Those were the old days(as far as smoking tobacco goes) and now we should emphasize the fact that smoking is not very accepted anymore. We should try and paint the realistic picture the smoking habit todays world. That picture might be one of a handfull of office employees standing out in the back alley way of a business building on a cold January morning sucking on their coffin nails. Now days the smokers are forced out the back door to do their thing in their little confined area whereas in the past they could be smoking right their at their desk while working. Shoot, I remember my teachers smoking out on the playground while they were supervising our recess in elementary school. That's unheard of in todays world and that is something that we should reemphasize to our students. I think today the smoking habit is widely viewed as just that, a habit and a bad one too. It is no longer a desirous pass-time and our students know that. They see it much differently than we do. Again, I feel that the number one reason causing any teen-ager to start smoking these days is that need for a buzz or an escape from stress. As health educators we still need to touch on the traditional causes, but focus on these ones. That is just my opinion though. Reading this article just really made me ponder on what causes people to start and that's what I narrowed it down to.

troy farnsworth #4 food or terrorism-what's the biggest threat?

The article found at: http://www.newstarget.com/z004781.html provides a unique look at the dangers American's face when it comes to many of the foods we eat regularly. A quote from the article states: "Which ingredients am I talking about? Sodium nitrite (cancer), refined white flour (diabetes), hydrogenated oils (heart disease), aspartame (nervous system disorders), red meat (colon cancer), excess sodium (hypertension), and the list goes on." The food additives and preservatives are literally killing america at a rate much faster than any terrorist group. When you think of things in terms like this, it makes you take a second look at the indgredients lists on the packages of the foods we eat.

--Troy Farnsworth

Trans Fat

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/13/business/13transfat.html?pagewanted=2&ei=5088&en=2695bec46a3d10f9&ex=1266123600&adxnnl=1&partner=rssnyt&adxnnlx=1108533651-oXzRy4U0dsQZBVQh1zSovQ

This article talks about how trans fat, the partially hydrogenated oil that was initially created as a safe and more healthy alternative to saturated fats, is now known to be actually more unhealthy than the regular fat it was meant to replace. Research has proven that while trans fats raise the level of LDL(bad cholesterol) in the blood just the same as saturated fats do, they also lower the level of HDL(good cholesterol) while saturated fats do not. The solution sound simple then don't you think? All we need to do is go back to using the regular fat and we won't be any worse off than we were before. Yes, this is true, but the problem is that the trans fats have improved processing of food as well as texure and taste. For this reason it is very hard for corporations to quit using it. At the same time most consumers these days have heard of the dangers, but rarely shop to avoid it. A 1999 study showed that simply avoiding trans fats could possibly reduce the number of cardiac deaths in the U.S. by nearly 1/3. There is a campaign going on right now pushing to require the amount of trans fats in a product be printed on it's label, but that would not include fast food products. Eventually consumers will catch on and the food industry will be forced to find alternatives. The key is education and that's where we come in.

Green Tea Always Safe??

We often hear about the benefits of green tea, but this article gives a different view by exposing the dangers of the product. Green tea has become a proven cancer fighter with its antioxidants. The article found at http://www.newstarget.com/001426.html describes the environment that many of these herbs are grown in. They are often grown in areas heavily contaminated bey pesticides. This is especially true in China. Herbal teas are not regulated by the government so it is worth the time to find where the materials are found and grown.

Opps!!!

I'm just having a difficult time learning everything. But, I'll get there. I didn't realize I hadn't put a rss feed in my first response. Therefore, I'm responding to share with you the rss feed that I've been using to find some helpful and up to date information for my area of study, health. The rss feed is: http://www.nytimes.com/services/xml/rss/nyt/Health.xml enjoy!!!

Chicken Pox and Shingles

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/03/health/03vaccine.html

There are always new discoveries in Health and the medical world. For example in 1995 a vaccine was created and given to children so that they might prevent and become immune to chicken pox. But, now researchers are saying this could not be a great thing for adults. They are finding that with out the exposure of children with the chicken pox virus more adults are catching shingles which is a type of chicken pox. With exposure they build immunity but without it they are more likely to develop shingles. Researchers are now trying to make a vaccine for the shingles virus that they would be able to administer to adults. This hopefully, decreases the chance of them developing shingles. I found this very interesting and hope that they do find a vaccine.

There is a new Steriod for Drug Doping

Hi my name is Jessica Empey and I, also, am a health education major. I love this subject and find it to be so important in each of our lives. When we are healthy we are happy and being happy is something everyone wants. I decided to use the New York Times health RSS because of the interesting articles it publishes about what is going on today. What are the new discoveries? How is the government helping the health of the U.S. society? etc. One article shared about a new steriod that is unable to be detected in athletes. They call it DMT. They were given a hint through an email from an unknow person about the steriod. Now they are studying it and trying to figure out a way to be able to test it. I find it crazy that athletes will cheat, bascially do anything, to get ahead and be the best. It's crazy!

http://www.nytimes.com/pages/health/index/html