Category Archives
Fast Facts
New Instagram Account
I’m pleased to say that this picture of mine recently appeared twice on Live! with Kelly and Michael to showcase the beauty of San Diego. If you would like to see more of my photos you can follow me on Instagram @solidlightphoto https://www.instagram.com/solidlightphoto/
Think About It…
In 2013 the following question was posted on reddit; If somebody from the 1950’s suddenly appeared today, what would be the most difficult thing to explain to them about life today? The answer is not surprising, but it is a little unsettling. Continue Reading
Just Say You’re Sorry!
Currently, 36 states have passed “I’m Sorry” legislation preventing physician’s expression of compassion or sympathy for medical errors to be used against them by a patient in litigation. According to the AMA, 25 percent of medical malpractice suits are the result of patients feeling intentionally misled or dismissed by their physician following a medical procedure that did not go well. Continue Reading
You’re Stressing Me Out!
From 1970 to 1980 there were 2,326 academic publications in social sciences with the word “stress” in the title. Between 2000 and 2010 there were 21,750. The enormous rise in “stress related” citations coincides with our current immersion in the health movement that tends to see us as both the cause and solution of our problems. Continue Reading
Graduate to Elevate
The current findings on high school dropout rates and their effect on quality of life and social issues cannot be ignored. Consider that:
*Every 9 seconds there’s a dropout in America
*A 1% increase in high school graduation would save $1.4 billion in incarceration costs
*High school dropouts earn $500,000 less over their lifetime Continue Reading
Faster Acting Drugs For Depression
Ketamine, known by the street name Special K, is one of the new fast acting drugs being tested for the treatment of depression. Because Ketamine interacts more directly with the receptors that are responsible for normal electrical signal transfer between neurons, it is an appealing alternative to the slower acting SSRI’s, such as Prozac and Zoloft, as well as SNRI’s like Effexor and Cymbalta. Continue Reading
Stress Linked to Aging Chromosomes
New research shows that the length of the protective end buffers of our chromosomes (like the plastic tips on shoelaces), called telomeres, are linked to chronic stress and depression. A study in the Journal of Biological Psychiatry (2012) concluded that subjects who reported chronic stress in their lives had significantly shorter telomeres than those who reported normal stress. Continue Reading
Our Elusive Memory
Greg Markus, from the University of Michigan, conducted a ten year study by asking close to 900 parents and their children their points of view on issues like gender equality, marijuana legislation and civil rights. A decade later he asked them the same questions again. Unanimously, they wrote down that their current beliefs were consistent with what they believed ten years prior, even when they weren’t. In other words, the subjects rewrote their history using the brush of their present-day beliefs to paint over any previous contradictions. Continue Reading