Family Health

• Students, anxious about final exams, seem less stressed and more focused

• Elderly residents in assisted living facilities are less solitary, more engaged and active …

• Alzheimer’s patients find comfort and feel calmer…

• Children, struggling with reading, become more relaxed and receptive…

What’s the common denominator? All of these individuals are benefiting from a visit with a PAWS for People pet therapy team.

PAWS for People is a nonprofit volunteer organization that provides one-on-one animal-assisted therapy to children and adults with physical, social and emotional challenges.

Sarah – she’s feral, the boys love her, and she’s fertile. For several years, she has blessed my backyard with litters of kittens birthed somewhere in the city and presented to me for feeding.
Nine lives go quickly here, but Sarah has beaten all odds, outliving her own broods that have died in traffic or that have simply disappeared. Sarah has been around for a while.

A recent study found that pet dogs provide valuable social support for kids when they’re stressed, according to a study by researchers from the University of Florida, who were among the first to document stress-buffering effects of pets for children.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), outdoor air pollution may be the 9th leading cause of death and disability in the world. Hearing that around 3 million people die from contaminated air worldwide each year makes me want to gasp (or actually avoid gasping). Science clearly links air pollution to many diseases such as cancer, heart disease, stroke, asthma, and liver disease. It even has been shown to increase the risk of diabetes. Since avoiding air is not an option for more than a minute or so, how can you help yourself remain healthy in a polluted world?

As recently as a few years ago, that was the default. But now pretty much everyone agrees it’s a bad idea, because some of the more than $230 billion worth of prescription drugs used by Americans every year will make it through the sewage treatment process and into the waterways. (The FDA still recommends flushing OxyContin, Percocet, morphine, and a couple of dozen other drugs so kids and pets can’t fish them out of the trash.

What is not as commonly known are the cognitive benefits of exercise, especially for those with ADHD. In fact, studies have shown that aerobic activity has provided some with ADHD the same benefits as stimulant medications. Many have been able to work with their physician to adjust their medication when following a consistent fitness routine.

“Welcome. And congratulations. I am delighted that you could make it. Getting here wasn’t easy, I know. In fact, I suspect it was a little tougher than you realize,” writes Bill Bryson in his introduction to A Short History of Nearly Everything (Random House, NY, 2003).


Trillions of Uncomplaining Atoms

“To Begin with, for you to be here now trillions of drifting atoms had somehow to assemble in an intricate and intriguingly obliging manner to create you. It’s an arrangement so specialized and particular that it has never been tried before and will only exist this once. For the next many years (we hope) these tiny ‘particles’ will uncomplainingly engage in all the billions of deft, cooperative efforts necessary to keep you intact and let you experience the supremely agreeable but generally underappreciated state known as existence.”

A National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism review of research studies from at least 20 countries around the world demonstrate a 20- to 40-percent lower coronary heart disease (CHD) incidence among drinkers compared to nondrinkers. It asserts that "The totality of evidence on moderate alcohol and CHD supports a judgment of a cause-effect relationship... There are cardioprotective benefits associated with responsible, moderate alcohol intake."

Technology has worked its way into every aspect of daily life. Technology has impacted everything from health to toys to “Infinity and Beyond.” The researchers of the future may consider our generation as an evolution point where smart phone and person have become one. Through sites like Twitter and Facebook, never ending conversations have been started about everything under the sun, as well as the sun. Trends come and go daily; one thing that was popular a week ago will be lost and forgotten one week later or less. In this article, we are going to be covering a topic that is near and dear to me, Beer. For American’s Friday

Let’s face it. Looking up at the sparkling night sky simply can’t compete with the magnetic draw of looking down at your smartphone. Handheld devices have become so much a part of our lives they may soon be sandwiched somewhere between food and shelter as top human necessities. Unfortunately, there are many negative health consequences resulting from this excessive act of bowing one’s head, especially when it comes to those most addicted: teenagers!
If you fear I am going to declare that everybody needs to stop using smartphones, I will provide an answer in the exotic language of the common American teen: “Seriously? Why are you being SOOO mean? STOP!!! You don’t get it! Leave ME alone... don’t talk to me!” (Followed by the distinct sound of a bedroom door slamming shut.) Two minutes later, “what’s for dinner?”