Communicating With Your Teenager
Monday, March 1st, 2010Improving the channel of communication between yourself and your teenager is essential to a respectable and loving parent-child relationship. Just as a radio channel signal must to be clear in order for listeners to hear and understand the voices communication between a parent and their teenager must be clear. There are some essential communication tools that can improve the quality of Communication With Teenagers;
1. Listen
2. Set boundaries that reflect your values and provide appropriate punishment
3. Ask and value their opinions
4. Give them privacy
5. Develop an interest in their life
6. Let them know you believe in their potential as a human being and that they are of precious value to you and to the world
Listen
Listening is different to hearing. Often people are having a conversation that consists of them sharing their opinion and then while the other person speaks they are thinking about what they are going to respond without listening. Listening is not a natural quality a lot of people posses rather it is cultivated and developed through constant effort. Listening means that when someone else is talking you are listening to their words, focused on their countenance and sensitive to their emotions. When a person truly listens to another they pick up signals the other person is sending out such as body language. Body language is a huge tool to help one understand the feelings of another. By focusing on another person that person will feel important and therefore are more likely to respect your opinion.
With your teenager they might use phrases such as, “you just don’t understand” or “fine, whatever.” These phrases are closed and basically say “you don’t care about my opinion so I’m not going to listen to you.” If you teenager is constantly repeating “you just don’t understand” then ask her to explain what is so important to her and listen. Now just because you listen and focus all you attentions on your teenager doesn’t mean that you need to agree with then. But it will provide them with an opportunity to evaluate their own feelings and values. Teenagers don’t think that their parents were ever teenagers. Sometimes sharing appropriate stories of being a teenager and making decisions can make you more tangible and real to you teenager.
Boundaries
Purely being your teenager’s best friend will do them no favors. Teenagers Need Structure. Without rules and consequences they will never be prepared for the wide world which awaits them. With this said there must be a balance. Too many rules and not enough freedom will only cause your teenager to rebel. Decide what is must important to you, what do you value must about life. Avoid giving them set rules and provide them with principles. A principle is an accepted code of conduct that may apply in many facets of life. Here are some examples:
Don’t yell – Be respectful
Don’t make a mess – Take care of your possessions
You must clean your room – cleanliness of next to Godliness
Use your manners – Acknowledge your blessings through an attitude of gratitude
The only way that your teenagers will integrate these principles into their life is if they see them exemplified through your actions.
When deciding an appropriate consequence to bad behavior involves your teenager. Have family discussions and ask them what they think would be an appropriate consequence. This way when they are disobedient they can not moan about the consequence because they helped create it. Also involving your teenager in the discipline process is a manifestation that you care about what they think and that elevates them with a sense of maturity.
Ask
Teenagers are developing their ideas and opinions about the world in which they live and although those with evolve throughout their life they thrive on sharing their present thoughts. Ask you teenager what they think about smoking, teenage pregnancy, sex, underage drinking, higher education, work ethics etc… By asking then the questions they will be thinking about those topics and will be more likely to make logical and smart choices.
Privacy
Everyone enjoys some privacy especially teenagers who’s body is changing with soaring hormones. The emotional rollercoaster that accompanies the teen years often calls for some well need privacy.
Be interested
If your teenager knows you are interested in their life and their hobbies they will feel more comfortable in sharing things with you.
Importance
If you can try to always discipline with love your teenagers will soon learn that you do all you do because you love them. Tell them that they have great potential because of who they are rather than because they were captain of the football team or received an “A” in an exam. This doesn’t that these things are not accomplishments but make sure you are praising your teenagers for the choices they make and person they are becoming.
By:
Light, Photosynthesis Harmful to Fresh Produce
Thursday, November 19th, 2009TEL-AVIV – A study conducted by Israeli researchers suggests that exposure to light, and possibly photosynthesis, may help disease-causing bacteria to invade fresh produce, making them impervious to washing.
According to background information in a report published in journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology, past studies have already shown that salmonella enterica attaches to the surface of fresh produce, and finds its way below the surface of the skin through pores called stomata, where it can hide from and resist washing and food sanitizers.
In the new study, researchers from the Agricultural Research Organization at the Volcani Center in Israel and Tel-Aviv University examined the role that light and photosynthesis might play on the ability of salmonella bacteria to infiltrate lettuce leaves via stomata.
They exposed sterile iceberg lettuce leaves to bacteria either in the light, in the dark, or in the dark after 30 minutes of exposure to light.
Incubation in the light or pre-exposure to light resulted in aggregation of bacteria around open stomata and invasion into the inner leaf tissue.
Incubation in the dark, on the other hand, resulted in a scattered attachment pattern and very little internalization.
According to the researchers, the increased propensity for internalization in the light may be due to several factors.
First, they say, in the absence of light plants enter a period of dormancy, where stomata are closed and no photosynthesis takes place. In the light, the stomata are open.
Additional findings also suggest that the bacteria are attracted to the open stomata by the nutrients produced during photosynthesis, which are not present in the dark.
“The elucidation of the mechanism by which Salmonella invades intact leaves has important implications for both pre- and postharvest handling of lettuce and probably other leafy vegetables. The capacity to inhibit internalization should limit bacterial colonization to the phylloplane and consequently might enhance the effectiveness of surface sanitizers,” say the researchers.
Facebook May Boost your Brain’s Working Memory
Thursday, November 19th, 2009LONDON – Some social networking sites, like Facebook, could help improve a person’s working memory, according to an expert.
Dr. Tracy Alloway, a psychologist at Stirling University, says that working memory – the ability to recall things over a short period of time – could be the key to success.
She believes that it may be possible to train the brain’s working memory just like an athlete trains muscles, reports the Independent.
Alloway said that some technological inventions, such as Facebook, might actually improve working memory because they require people to hold a lot of information in their heads.
However, other such websites, like spell-checks and Twitter, which requires only small bite-sized phrases, may work against improving working memory.
Instead, these websites could be contributing to some people’s lack of success, she suggested.
Alloway said that she had devised an on-line game that can improve working memory, which may help the young develop working memory skills as well helping to combat memory loss in the elderly.
Animals Using One Side of their Brains are More Successful
Thursday, November 19th, 2009According to a report by ABC News, the study suggests the brain operates like a dual processor in a computer, with each of the brain’s two sides kicking into action depending on the content or context of the information.
Dr Culum Brown of the Department of Biological Sciences at Macquarie University in Sydney, and colleague Maria Magat, focused their research on several different types of Australian birds, such as gang-gangs, sulfur-crested cockatoos and Australian king parrots.
All of the birds participated in two tests designed to test their cerebral lateralisation, meaning how strongly each bird preferentially processes information using either hemisphere of the brain.
The first task was a simple pebble-seed discrimination test, where the birds had to pick seeds out of a background of similar sized pebbles.
The second task was more demanding.
The researchers attached food to the end of a suspended string that the birds had to manipulate with their beaks and feet in order to get the tasty reward.
Birds with a preference for using either of their eyes or either of their legs did better than birds that used both eyes and both legs equally.
This means that the most successful birds have a very strong cerebral lateralisation, which “is influenced by both genes and experience,” according to Brown.
He and Magat found that the pattern of lateralisation, left or right bias, did not predict success as much as the strength of the particular bias did.
Carrying the findings over to humans, this suggests, in part, that a right-handed person isn’t more successful than a left-handed one, and vice-versa.
But people who always favour a certain hand, foot or eye for certain tasks will likely perform better than those who don’t exhibit obvious preferences.
“Firstly, it means that a given hemisphere can become increasingly specialized at processing certain types of information,” he said.
According to Brown, assigning particular tasks to each side of the brain avoids conflict between the two hemispheres, and allows “multiple sources of information to be processed simultaneously, that is to say, animals can multitask like a dual processor in a computer.”
Frequent Nasal Irrigation May Increase Infections
Wednesday, November 18th, 2009NEW YORK – New evidence suggests that daily nasal irrigation may increase the risk of sinus infections.
Nasal irrigation with warm saline has been promoted as way to cleanse the sinuses and help prevent infections. However, using this therapy too often may not be beneficial.
The latest study, presented at the American College of Allergy, Asthma, & Immunology (ACAAI) annual meeting, included 68 adults who used nasal irrigation frequently for one year and then stopped therapy for one year. The patients were compared to 24 control patients who did not discontinue nasal irrigation.
The researchers found that number of sinus infections decreased by 62.5 percent after the participants stopped using nasal irrigation. Additionally, after stopping nasal irrigation, they were 50 percent less likely to develop sinus infections than those who continued with daily therapy.
Mucus in the nose contains important immune system molecules that help the body fight against infections. Because nasal irrigation eliminates this mucus, the authors suspect that it may lead to an increased risk of infection.
Egyptian Mummies Had Clogged Arteries
Wednesday, November 18th, 2009CAIRO – Rich Egyptians living 3,500 years ago may have been walking around with the same clogged arteries that modern Americans now battle, according to a presentation Monday at the American Heart Association’s annual meeting.
A group of scientists said that, on a whim, they performed a computerized tomography (CT) scan on a collection of 22 mummies housed at the Egyptian National Museum of Antiquities in Cairo to see if they too suffered from the plaque build-up in arteries that lead to coronary artery disease.
“We didn’t believe it was going to be so intense,” said
The plaque was, of course, long gone. The mummies lived between 1981 B.C. and 364 A.D., and only 16 of the mummies had heart tissue left. However, doctors could see evidence of advanced atherosclerosis (plaque build-up that causes hardening of the arteries) by looking for calcium deposits in a CT scan used to diagnose people today.
Which Diet Makes You Happy?
Tuesday, November 17th, 2009A new study, surprisingly, indicates that when it comes to elevating your mood, not all diets are created equal.
After a year, both groups had lost about the same amount of weight–an average of about 30 pounds per person. Both groups also scored about the same on tests that measure general thinking abilities. And both groups reported feeling an improvement in mood after the first eight weeks.
But only those on the low-fat diet continued to feel better after that. The moods of those on the high-fat diet fell back to where they were before their diets, the researchers reported in the Nov. 9 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.
The findings suggest that something about the low-carb diet negates the positive effects of losing weight on mood. They’re not sure what that might be. They speculate that it’s just too difficult to eat a low-carb diet in a culture full of pasta and bread. But maybe there is something about the effects of protein and fat on brain chemicals such as serotonin.
Gene Therapy Raises Hope for the Color Blind
Monday, November 16th, 2009Using gene therapy, the boffins successfully treated a pair of squirrel monkeys that could not differentiate between red and green.
The development could bring new treatments for a variety of different diseases that are triggered by faulty cone cells at the back of the eye. The problem can lead to diseases such as macular degeneration, which often causes complete blindness.
The research, which was led by
“Beyond that, we hope this technology will be useful in correcting lots of different vision disorders.”
Trouble Thinking? Better See the Dentist
Friday, November 13th, 2009NEW YORK – A new study hints that good oral care – regular brushing and flossing and trips to the dentist — may help aging adults keep their thinking skills intact.
In a study, researchers found that adults aged 60 and older with the highest versus the lowest levels of the gum disease-causing pathogen Porphyromonas gingivalis were three times more likely to have trouble recalling a three-word sequence after a period of time.
The findings, reported in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry this month, are based on more than 2300 men and women who were tested for periodontitis and completed numerous thinking skills tests as part of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III conducted between 1991 and 1994.
Overall 5.7 percent of the adults had trouble completing certain memory tasks and 6.5 percent failed reverse subtraction tests. Participants with the highest (greater than 119 units) versus the lowest (57 units or lower) pathogen levels were most likely to do poorly in these tests.
Research has already established a strong association between poor oral health and heart disease, stroke and diabetes, as well as Alzheimer’s disease. Gum disease could influence brain function through several mechanisms, the researchers note; for example, gum disease can cause inflammation throughout the body, a risk factor for loss of mental function.
In a related commentary,
SOURCE: Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry, November 2009
Male and Female Chromosomes do Communicate with Each Other
Thursday, November 12th, 2009LONDON – Scientists in the University of Leicester’s Department of Genetics have for the first time revealed that the male and female do truly communicate -at least at the fundamental genetic level.
The research counters scientific theory that the X and Y chromosomes – that define the sexes – do not communicate at all.
In the study,
“Recently it was shown that the Y chromosome can talk to itself – swapping bits of DNA from one region to another, and potentially giving it a way to fix mutations that might affect male fertility. In this new research we’ve now shown that it actually maintains a genetic conversation with the X chromosome, potentially giving it a way to fix other kinds of mutations, too. So, maybe it’s not quite the dysfunctional loner we have always imagined it to be,” said
It is the Y chromosome in men that determines maleness by triggering development of testes rather than ovaries in the early embryo.
“These days the X and Y are a very odd couple, but long ago, before mammals evolved, they were an ordinary pair of identical chromosomes, exchanging DNA in a companionable way through the process of genetic recombination. However, once the Y chromosome took on the job of determining maleness, they stopped talking to each other. The X remained much the same, but the Y set out on a path of degeneration that saw it lose many of its genes and shrink to about one third the size of the X. Some scientists have predicted that it will eventually vanish altogether,” said Jobling.
“These new findings from the Department of Genetics of the University of Leicester now challenge this interpretation of the Y chromosome’s fate,” he added.
The researchers discovered that the conversation between the X and Y chromosome goes both ways, and it is also clear that mutations arising on a decaying Y chromosome can perhaps be passed to the X – the Y chromosome’s revenge.
In future, the researchers will assess how widespread X-Y exchanges have been during evolution, and what the likely functional effects might be.
The study has been published in the American Journal of Human Genetics.
War Talks Can Boost Older Adults’ Mental Health
Thursday, November 12th, 2009EXETER, UK – Encouraging elderly to talk about old times can actually improve their memory and limit effects of dementia, finds a new study.
The research team led by
During the study, the researchers recruited 73 people – aged between 70 and 90 and some with dementia – and split them into three groups.
The first group was made to sit around once a week in sets of five and reminisce about the old days such as childhood, weddings and family holidays, as well objects that could spark memories such as old-fashioned ink pots and hats.
After six weeks, the standard cognitive tests showed that the memory had improved by 12 per cent. Those suffering dementia saw an improvement of about eight per cent.
In contrast, the two other groups – one that was encouraged to play skittles – and another that was encouraged to have one on one chats showed very little improvement in their brain power.
“The people we were talking to were more than happy to bring up the war. It emerged as a very important part of their lives. As well as it improving their memory some people found it incredibly enjoyable,” the Telegraph quoted
“It doesn’t actually reverse dementia but it seems to make the most of their residual abilities,” she added.
“If you had a drug that could do that you would that you would make a lot of money. The drug in this case is the social group,” he said.
Sudoku Can Make You Fat
Thursday, November 12th, 2009QUEBEC – Filling in a Sudoku grid or doing a crossword can make you fat, claims a new study.
The study conducted by Canadian researchers, reported in the journal Psychology and Health, claims that any person who taxes his or her brain on word games uses up energy needed to exercise.
To reach the conclusion, two groups of volunteers were sent for evening gym exercises for eight weeks but one were set a series of mental tests needing concentration by day, reports The Daily Express.
They did not exercise as hard, said
She added: “They were more likely to skip their exercise sessions. You only have so much willpower.”
The professor said: “Willpower is like a muscle. It needs to be challenged to build itself.”
Measles Vaccine Inhaler Shows Promise
Thursday, November 12th, 2009DENVER – Scientists from University of Colorado have revealed that inhaling measles vaccine can be more effective in combating the disease that causes 197,000 deaths each year globally.
While a liquid vaccine using a hypodermic needle is presently the only way to prevent the disease, they are often difficult to store, costly to transport and may be prone to contamination when shipped to developing countries.
The study led by
In order to produce the inhalant, the weakened measles virus must be mixed with high-pressure carbon dioxide to produce microscopic bubbles and droplets, which are then gently dried to produce an inhalable powder.
The powder is then puffed into a small inhaler-like device and administered.
The aerosol vaccine was shown effective in test animals, and human trials are expected to begin next year in India, where more than half of the world’s measles cases occur.
Aridis Pharmaceuticals have been working to develop a room temperature stable measles formulation that can be easily inhaled using cost-effective dry-powder inhalers in collaboration with the non-profit foundation PATH.
“There is a need for technologies that could stabilize the measles vaccine, as this would facilitate mass vaccination in developing world countries where transport, storage, administration costs and other complexities have limited vaccine coverage by 70 percent,” said Dr Satoshi Ohtake, from Aridis and the study’s principal investigator.
Ohtake’s study used a combination of mild spray drying process conditions and unique stabilizers to produce stable dry powders with excellent preservation of vaccine activity.
The potency of the dried vaccine was then tested while being stored at different Temperatures over several week-long periods.
The results found that the dry-powdered aerosol was stable for at least eight weeks at 37 degrees Celsius.
“This new method could potentially offer safer, more affordable and effective treatments to patients that need them the most,” Ohtake added.
Pituitary Tumor Caused World’s Tallest Man’s Gigantism
Thursday, November 12th, 2009ISTANBUL – The Turkish man crowned as the world’s tallest man suffers from a pituitary tumor which has resulted in his gigantic height.
Sultan Kosen stands eight-foot-one-inch tall and was unveiled as the tallest man in the world by the Guinness World Records. Kosen’s height is a result of a tumor in his pituitary gland, which has led to an over production of growth hormones, reports the National Geographic News.
The condition called pituitary gigantism has also led his feet to grow to almost 15 inches, while his hands are larger than 10 inches. It was only after the tumor was removed last year, that Kosen stopped growing.
The 27-year old is forced to use crutches as his height has weakened his knee joints.
The now-famous Kosen wants to travel around the world and meet a woman who would like to marry him.
Experts Map the Body’s Bacteria
Friday, November 6th, 2009|
|
BOULDER – Scientists have developed an atlas of the bacteria that live in different regions of the human body.
Some of the microbes help keep us healthy by playing a key role in physiological functions.
The University of Colorado at Boulder team found unexpectedly wide variations in bacterial communities from person to person.
The researchers hope their work, published in Science Express, will eventually aid clinical research.
They say that it might one day be possible to identify sites on the human body where transplants of specific microbes could benefit health.
The study was based on an intensive analysis of the bacteria found at 27 separate sites on the bodies of nine healthy volunteers.
|
|
BODY SITES ANALYZED Forehead Armpits Head hair Ear canal Forearm Palm Index finger Navel Back of the knee Soles of the feet Nostrils Mouth Gut |
Not only did the bacterial communities vary from person to person, they also varied considerably from one site on the body to another, and from test to test – but some patterns did emerge.
What is healthy?
Lead researcher
“The goal is to find out what is normal for a healthy person, which will provide a baseline for further studies to look at people with diseased states.”
There are an estimated 100 trillion microbes living on or inside the human body.
They are thought to play a key role in many physiological functions, including the development of the immune system, digestion of key foods and helping to deter potentially disease-causing pathogens.
The researchers took four samples from each volunteer over a three-month period – usually one to two hours after they had showered.
They used the latest gene sequencing and computer techniques to draw up a profile of the microbes found at each specific site.
Most sites showed big variations in the bacteria they harboured from test to test even within the same individual.
However, there was less variation in the bacteria found in the armpits and soles of the feet – possibly because they provide a dark, moist environment.
The least variation of all was found in the mouth cavity.
Skin sites in the head area, including the forehead, nose, ear and hair, were dominated by one specific type of bacteria.
Sites on the trunk and legs were dominated by a different group.
“Why do healthy people have such different microbial communities?
“Do we each have distinct microbial signatures at birth, or do they evolve as we age? And how much do they matter?”
Transplant test
The researchers disinfected the forearms and foreheads of some volunteers, and “inoculated” both sides with bacterial communities from the tongue.
The tongue bacteria lasted longer on the forearms than foreheads.
A previous study by the same examined the bacteria on 102 human hands.
In total, they identified more than 4,200 species of bacteria, but only about five were shared by all 51 participants.
“If we can better understand this variation, we may be able to begin searching for genetic biomarkers for disease,” he said.
“Because our human genomes vary so little but our repertoire of microbial genes vary so much, it makes sense to look for variations that correlate with disease at specific locations.”
Teen-Age Good at Reasoning but Lack Emotional Maturity
Thursday, November 5th, 2009“Adolescents likely possess the necessary intellectual skills to make informed choices about terminating a pregnancy but may lack the social and emotional maturity to control impulses,” said
“It is very difficult for a 16-year-old to resist peer pressure in a heated, volatile situation,”
The participants took different tests measuring psychosocial (emotional) maturity and cognitive ability to examine age patterns in numerous factors that affect judgment and decision-making.
The maturity measures included tests of impulse control, sensation-seeking, resistance to peer influence, future orientation and risk perception. The cognitive battery included measures of basic intellectual abilities.
There were no differences among the youngest four age groups (10-11, 12-13, 14-15 and 16-17) on the measures of psychosocial maturity.
But significant differences in maturity, favouring adults, were found between the 16- to 17-year-olds and those 22 years and older, and between the 18- to 21-year-olds and those 26 and older. Results were the same for males and females, the authors said.
In contrast, differences in cognitive capacity measures increased from ages 11 to 16 and then showed no improvements after age 16 – exactly the opposite of the pattern found in the psychosocial measures.
The findings appeared in the October issue of American Psychologist.
White Wine, Beer Can Ruin Appetite
Thursday, November 5th, 2009“However, alcohol is a drug that is abused and the repercussion of alcohol abuse over a long time can seriously affect most of the major organs of the body,” says
Kokavec and colleague
Alcoholics often seek treatment in a highly malnourished condition, “an issue that can lead to health problems like Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome (condition that can lead to forms of amnesia and hallucinations),” says Kokavec.
This malnourishment was often attributed to the ‘poor dietary habits’ of alcoholics, but now Kokavec has uncovered another reason to explain malnourishment in heavy drinkers and the results speak for themselves, according to a La Trobe release.
“We confirmed that certain biochemical processes associated with appetite regulation do change when alcohol was consumed,” says Kokavec.
“The research provides enough evidence to question whether malnutrition and poor dietary behaviour of alcoholics is the fault of the individual or whether it’s the consequences of alcohol and the role it plays in suppressing appetite,” says Kokavec.
No Pain, No Gain Applies to Happiness too
Thursday, November 5th, 2009SAN FRANCISCO – ‘No pain, no gain’ adage applies to happiness too, according to new research.
People who work hard at improving a skill or ability, such as mastering a math problem or learning to drive, may experience stress in the moment, but experience greater happiness on a daily basis and longer term, a study suggests.
“No pain, no gain is the rule when it comes to gaining happiness from increasing our competence at something,” said
“People often give up their goals because they are stressful, but we found that there is benefit at the end of the day from learning to do something well. And what’s striking is that you don’t have to reach your goal to see the benefits to your happiness and well-being.”
Contrary to previous research, the study found that people who engage in behaviors that increase competency, for example at work, school or the gym, experience decreased happiness in the moment, lower levels of enjoy