Student Loan Blog : health

Cornell Medical School in Qatar Makes History with Inaugural Class

Student Loan Girl — Fri, 09 May 2008 23:08:00 GMT

Cornell University’s medical school in Qatar graduated its inaugural class on May 8, marking the first time a U.S.-based medical school has awarded degrees outside the United States.

The 15 graduates of the Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar will participate in a second commencement ceremony later this month in New York’s Carnegie Hall, along with the rest of Cornell’s graduating medical class, according to an article in The Chronicle of Higher Education (“Cornell Graduates Its Inaugural Class at Its Medical College in Qatar,” May 7, 2008).

Eleven of the 15 graduates will enter medical-residency programs in the United States, one will pursue research in the United States, and three will continue their studies and training in Qatar.

The Qatari branch of Weill Cornell, located in Qatar’s Education City, is one of several U.S. medical schools forming partnerships with hospitals and universities overseas, The Chronicle reports, although none of these partnerships is as extensive as Cornell’s arrangement.

Weill Cornell’s six-year Qatari program includes two years of premedical study and four years of medical education. Students perform clinical rotations at the hospitals and clinics of Hamad Medical Corporation in Qatar’s capital, Doha.

In 2011, the school plans to add a 382-bed medical and research center that will focus on women’s and children’s health.

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Malls and Retail Stores a No-Go for Depressed Shoppers

Student Loan Girl — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 06:33:00 GMT

Signs of depression:

Loss of appetite
Loss of interest in daily activities
Loss of energy
Hopelessness
Self-loathing

Recommendations for treatment:

Don’t go shopping.

Primed for Sadness, People Spend More

A recent research experiment shows that people who exhibit signs of depression tend to be more willing to cough up the dough, according to a TIME Magazine article by Barbara Kiviat (“Depressed? Don’t Go to the Mall,” Feb. 8, 2008).

Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University, Harvard, Stanford, and the University of Pittsburgh split up their experiment participants into two groups: one that watched a sad video clip involving the death of a boy’s mentor and one that watched an emotionally-neutral video clip about the Great Barrier Reef.

The two groups were then asked how much of the $10 they were getting paid for the experiment they would be willing to pay for a water bottle. Participants in the sad video group were willing to spend about four times more than those in the Great Barrier Reef video group ($2 on average, compared to 50 cents).

Researchers say the results from their experiment indicate that people who are unhappy tend to overcompensate by buying new things.

“Feeling blue causes people to have a devalued sense of self, so spending more money on a new object — which people may identify, in a way, as an extension of themselves — starts to undo that deflation,” Kiviat writes.

This “emotional hunger,” as the researchers call it, may also contribute to other acquisitive behaviors, like looking for a new relationship or trading big on the stock market.

Shift Gears and Step Outside Yourself

The study’s findings, the researchers say, hinge on self-focus: When researchers looked at how much the participants were dwelling on themselves, they found that those who were sad but not self-focused didn’t spend as much.

Cynthia Cryder, a Carnegie Mellon doctoral candidate and co-author of the study, says that spending is a common way for people to try to breathe value into their lives, but that there are alternatives for cheering yourself up besides doling out cash.

“If you’re sad, maybe you should seek out something other than shopping. A new book to read, a new friendship. Something that’s novel and attractive to fill the need you’re seeking to fill,” Cryder told TIME.

Or, she added, break the cycle of self-focus by shifting your mindset outward and thinking about other people.

“You could try to think about others by rehearsing a series of sentences that involve others as the subject,” she said.

Or try calling a friend, Kiviat offers, “and instead of suggesting a trip to the mall, ask how her day is.”

5 Ways to Get Happy Without Spending

Next time you come down with a case of the blues, instead of throwing the credit cards in your wallet and speeding off to the mall, try some of these activities instead, that cost nothing and feel great.

Go for a walk. Sometimes just getting some fresh air and experiencing a natural environment can boost your mood. And exercise produces endorphins, which serve as natural uppers. Plan your route to go through your neighborhood or a nearby park to reduce your chances of coming across a spending opportunity.

Volunteer. As Cryder points out, shifting your thoughts from yourself to someone else can do wonders for your mood and self-esteem. Instead of buying another pair of shoes you don’t need, more downloads for your iPod, or the latest Xbox game, donate your time to someone really in need.

Get rid of clutter. Sifting through old belongings you’ve outgrown or no longer need can help you appreciate all the things you have in your life. You might even discover items you forgot you had, turning a tedious task into a home shopping spree.

Trade with friends. Gather up a group of friends and swap your give-away clothing, CDs, or anything else. You’re killing three birds with one stone: socializing, shopping, and saving.

Plant a garden. Taking responsibility for something living can feel extremely rewarding and uplifting. Gardening not only provides you with a daily activity to keep your hands — and mind — busy, but it’s good for you. The American Horticultural Therapy Association says gardens have healing capabilities, improving health and well-being.

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OrgaNOT: Natural Beauty Products May Be Deceiving

Student Loan Girl — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 20:17:00 GMT

Just because something is green doesn’t mean it’s good for you and just because a product uses “all natural” ingredients doesn’t mean it can’t harm you. Yet we eagerly buy into these marketing myths, filling our overloaded bathroom cabinets and drawers with natural and organic personal care items with the intention of protecting ourselves against the effects of harsh chemicals.

Natural cosmetics are marketed as those that claim to be made from plant or mineral products and organic products are supposed to be made with agricultural ingredients and not grown with pesticides.

What most consumers don’t realize is that although products are required to pass certain safety standards and protocols, “natural” labels are not substantiated by the Federal Drug Administration. And there has been no conclusive research to prove that these natural and organic products are safer or healthier for us, according to a New York Times article by Natasha Singer (“Natural, Organic Beauty,” Nov. 1, 2007).

“We’re seeing an increased consciousness that what you put on your body is as important as what goes in your body. The biggest impetus for buying natural or organic body care is the perceived health benefit,” the senior coordinator in charge of personal care at Whole Foods, Jeremiah McElwee, tells The New York Times.

In today’s health-conscious world, these clever marketing campaigns are luring us in. During the last year alone, American’s spent $150 million on the three top selling health beauty products, Burt’s Bees, Jason Natural Cosmetics and Tom’s of Maine, which is an annual increase of $51 billion. Organic personal care item sales increased $68 million, totaling $350 million last year, based on Information Resources, Inc statistics from the article.

Playing the Name Game

It is purely perception that’s leading some consumers astray.

Flavia Kawaja, an interior designer from New York, tells the Times she is not a blind consumer. She spends more time perusing product labels for synthetic ingredients to avoid, than creating her grocery list. But she knows that her efforts may not be entirely fruitful.

“I don’t assume that organic automatically means good for you,” she said in the article. “I mean, if you fry an organic potato, it’s still a French fry.”

Based on the numbers, marketers for these natural products have done their job convincing consumers not to question the product’s health benefits. Jane Houlihan, Vice President for Research of the Environmental Working Group says in the Times article, this confusion over what constitutes a “healthy” cosmetic product can be attributed to the lack of federal standards imposed on the personal care products industry.

Houlihan is also concerned for consumers because product companies have free range to use relatively unknown agricultural ingredients in their natural and organic goods that have yet to establish credibility in the beauty business. Also there is no standardization for safety tests on these products; the manufacturers are left to decide which tests to perform and what type of results will receive passing grades.

Physicians warn that the natural ingredients used in these products, whether tested or not, can still potentially cause harm to consumers. Ingredients like chamomile, green tea and tea tree oil in organic and natural products have been found to cause skin irritations according to the Times article.

Safety is in the Eye of the Beholder

For marketing purposes, individual companies have created their own definitions for their natural-based products. Sephora, the beauty product company, has written its own descriptions for its botanical, natural, and organic brands. The company states that its organic brands are plant based, its natural brands are made without synthetic and chemical additives and its botanical brand’s formulas include naturally derived ingredients.

But Sephora is not one of the few companies that has been officially certified organic by the National Organic Program. Origins’ and Nature’s Gate’s products are two of those printed with the official program seal, certifying that they contain at least 95 organic certified ingredients.

According to the Times article, Joan Shaffer, U.S.D.A. Organic department spokesperson, says consumers should not even trust that the federal government’s own organic seal.

She makes the distinction plain and simple.

“The National Organic Program is a marketing program, not a safety program.”

The next time you find yourself getting carried away with a cart full of new personal products, you may want to take a second and really think about your choices. You can’t judge a book by its cover the same way that you can’t judge a “natural” product by its label. Not only will your overflowing bathroom thank you, but so will your wallet.

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Meningitis Puts College Students at Risk

Student Loan Girl — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 21:46:00 GMT

The close quarters, the shared drinks, the all-nighters that weaken your immune system, and other aspects of your college lifestyle can make you more susceptible to meningitis, a virulent disease that, in its bacterial form, can kill you within days and sometimes even hours. If you’re lucky enough to survive, you still stand a 20 percent chance of suffering brain damage, arm and leg amputations, deafness, and vision loss.

Meningitis, an inflammation of the membranes and cerebrospinal fluid near the brain and spinal cord, can strike in both bacterial and viral form. The disease is transmitted by direct contact and through your saliva when you sneeze, cough or kiss.

It’s often difficult to diagnose because its symptoms are similar to the flu: high fever, severe headaches, stiff neck, rash, nausea, vomiting and sensitivity to light.

Reported cases of meningitis are rare but more common on college campuses, where the cramped quarters of shared dorms are ideal breeding grounds for potential outbreaks. States are split on whether to make the vaccination voluntary or mandatory for college students.

Onset of Disease Looks Innocent but Quickly Turns Deadly

Do a quick Google search, and you’ll find numerous accounts of otherwise healthy college students who have died or barely escaped death after contracting meningitis.

ABC News tells the story of Evan Bozof, a baseball player and pre-med student at Georgia Southwestern University. One day in 1998, he thought he was suffering from a migraine; 26 days later, the 20-year-old died after meningococcal meningitis ravaged his body. Both of his legs and arms had been amputated, he had lost all liver and kidney function and seizures led to irreversible brain damage (“For Parents, College Meningitis Deaths Still Evoke Pain,” Sep. 6, 2007).

Then there’s the MSNBC article on Ashley Lee, an 18-year-old at Indiana University Bloomington, who thought she was coming down with the flu (“Killer at College: Meningitis Threatens Students,” Sep. 5, 2007). After vomiting every half hour while at a frat party, she went home to rest. The next day, she collapsed and her family rushed her to the hospital, where she was diagnosed with meningococcal meningitis. Two years later, Lee’s still alive, but she’s undergone multiple surgeries, had a foot and three fingers amputated, and she lives with severe and permanent skin damage.

In Bozof’s case, his parents weren’t aware of the meningitis risks or that a simple vaccine could have saved their son. Hoping to spare others the same fate, Bozof’s mother went on to found the National Meningitis Association, which promotes education of the disease and universal vaccination.

In Lee’s case, her mother had taken her to get the vaccine before she left for college, six weeks prior to her contracting the disease, but the vaccine was out of stock at her doctor’s office. Lee, like Bozof’s parents, was unaware of the viciousness of meningitis and kept putting off getting the vaccine once she got to school—and then it was too late.

“I just didn’t know the severity of it,” Lee said in her MSNBC interview. “I thought it was just, like, another vaccination.”

Debating the Need for Mandated Vaccines

ABC News reports that there are 1,400 to 2,800 cases of bacterial meningitis in the United States each year. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the death rate for bacterial meningitis—around 13 percent—is more than 20 times higher than that for the measles, the number one childhood killer worldwide.

While some 10 to 20 percent of the population can carry the meningococcal bacteria in their nose or throat, 99.9 percent develop antibodies and never get sick, according to a CDC official quoted by ABC.

Increased awareness of the risks posed by meningitis as well as of the readily available vaccine has ignited a national debate, much of it centered on college campuses.

MSNBC reports that:

20 states currently require college students to either get the meningitis vaccination or sign a waiver that says they’ve read about the disease.
3 more states mandate the vaccination for college students but allow exemptions for religious or medical reasons.
11 states require only that information about the vaccine and the disease be provided on campus.

But a growing grassroots movement, led mainly by parents who have lost or nearly lost a child to the disease, want to see more states require the vaccination. The CDC recommends the meningitis vaccine, Menactra, for young people ages 11 to 18, but only 12 percent got the vaccine last year.

The vaccine is covered by some insurance companies and costs about $120 on college campuses.

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