A common myth is that more suicides occur around the holidays. This is totally false. The majority of suicides occur during the spring months. Something that is not a complete farce, however, is the fact that there are more traffic accidents around holiday time due to more people being on the road, whether alcohol is involved or not.
Sadly, a lot of these accidents are fatal. People are rendered in comas and families are devastated, but the one thing illuminated in this ill-set light is hope. Not of the family of a brain-dead person, but of the family of someone waiting for an organ.
There are roughly 82K people waiting for an organ this very minute. There are 74 organ transplants done a day, while 19 die waiting for one. This is every day. In 2004, around 27,000 people received organ donations.
Why should you donate your or your family member's organs?
Because one body can help up to 50 people.
Organ donaters declared 'deceased' with viable organs are immediately entered into a national database. Their blood type, weight, height, and location are all inputted and it immediately spits out a list of the best possible matches for their heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, and pancreas. Shortly thereafter, matches are found for their corneas, skin, and bones.
Donating your organs normally doesn't delay funeral arrangements nor does it make open-casket funerals impossible.
After organs are donated, your family is kept in the loop. You find out where your organs have gone and who they helped, minus personal contact info. You are able to receive updates on those who's life you have gifted.
Another possibility, aside from death, is life. Donating umbilical cord blood after your baby is born can save lives. In recent years, 20K people were saved due to umbilical cord blood donations. The blood is used to help treat people with leukemia, lymphoma, sickle cell anemia, and a host of other diseases. There is no centralized database for umbilical cord donations, but more and more hospitals are doing it, so please contact yours for more info.
So, in short, giving during the holidays doesn't stop at Macy's. Remember to check that box the next time you renew your license or make sure your family knows you want to give, even after you are gone.
Other reads:
Organ Donor
Life Gift
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Monday, December 18, 2006
20 something and invincible? I think not.
I have become more and more alarmed by the trend 20 something people seem to be living. The unstated feeling of invincibility is crazy and unfounded, yet we seem to have an outbreak of it. A pandemic, if you will.
Well, with probably too much glee, let me burst their, and perhaps your, bubble.
500 young people, defined as being 35 years old or less, die every year from something called Sudden Arrhythmia Death Syndrome(SADS), or Sudden Adult Death Syndrome depending on who you ask. This is a syndrome thought to be related to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome(SIDS), but in the 18-35 age group. SADS is a non-traumatic, non-violent, and often undiagnosed cause of death. Due to current law, many deaths caused by SADS are determined "natural causes" because the heart wasn't sent on from the coroner to a specialist for further investigation or simply because SADS has to do with the electric abnormalities that occur in heartbeats and are no longer present as a telltale sign after death. Duh.
What, you are begging to know, are the causes, signs, and everything else you need to know so you don't suddenly keel over, dead?
SADS is caused by cardiac arrhythmia. A-say what, you ask? Cardiac arrhythmia is when your heartbeat is funky. It cha-chas or waltzes instead of foxtrots. CA's, let's shorten that up as it is a lot to type, are caused by heart disease, coronary artery disease, valve disorders, and congenital heart defects. There are a few genetic disorders that cause CA's as well. The main genetic disorders are Long QT Syndrome, Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome, and Brugada Syndrome. These all are present at birth and affect the heartbeat.
So, now you know what causes SADS, but how do you recognize it? Sometimes the symptoms of SADS is...nothing. That's right. You just die. Lucky ones will get syncope(fainting spells), blackouts, dizziness, shortness or breath, or chest pain. These symptoms typically occur during times of physical exertion or emotional upset. These should serve as a huge warning sign that something is NOT right. The twinge in your chest from hiking that Ikea desk up your 5th floor walk-up is not normal. You are not 80, you are 20-something.
Diagnosing a heart problem can be the first step to preventing SADS. As I said earlier, a lot of the causes of arrhythmias are genetic. These are present at birth, caused by autosomal dominant or recessive genes. Sometimes arrhythmias can be caused by medication, so it is a good idea to tell your doctor if you experience any of the symptoms I listed, even if they have never happened before and you have been on the same medication for years. To diagnose these heart problems is fairly simple and painless. You can have an electrocardiogram(ECG) or an echo cardiogram(ECHO), which will help define what exactly is wrong with your heart, where, and in what patterns.
Once a heart problem is diagnosed, 90% of the disorders can be treated by use of beta blockers. Yes, I said treated, not cured. Sometimes surgery can help.
Aside from SADS, some 700,000 young people suffer from some sort of arrhythmia, ranging from mild to severe. Some know, some don't.
To break it down for you, 1 person from 18-35 dies every week from SADS. It hits them and they are gone, leaving family and a whole life ahead of them behind, without warning.
So, don your cape and mask, hit Macy's during the holidays like there's no tomorrow. When you feel faint and your chest hurts after you walk the 12 blocks home with bags in hand, just remember it probably isn't from your triple espresso cafe au lait mocha calorie-laden-accino. Call your doctor.
Other reads:
BBC Health
SADS UK
C.R.Y.
Well, with probably too much glee, let me burst their, and perhaps your, bubble.
500 young people, defined as being 35 years old or less, die every year from something called Sudden Arrhythmia Death Syndrome(SADS), or Sudden Adult Death Syndrome depending on who you ask. This is a syndrome thought to be related to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome(SIDS), but in the 18-35 age group. SADS is a non-traumatic, non-violent, and often undiagnosed cause of death. Due to current law, many deaths caused by SADS are determined "natural causes" because the heart wasn't sent on from the coroner to a specialist for further investigation or simply because SADS has to do with the electric abnormalities that occur in heartbeats and are no longer present as a telltale sign after death. Duh.
What, you are begging to know, are the causes, signs, and everything else you need to know so you don't suddenly keel over, dead?
SADS is caused by cardiac arrhythmia. A-say what, you ask? Cardiac arrhythmia is when your heartbeat is funky. It cha-chas or waltzes instead of foxtrots. CA's, let's shorten that up as it is a lot to type, are caused by heart disease, coronary artery disease, valve disorders, and congenital heart defects. There are a few genetic disorders that cause CA's as well. The main genetic disorders are Long QT Syndrome, Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome, and Brugada Syndrome. These all are present at birth and affect the heartbeat.
So, now you know what causes SADS, but how do you recognize it? Sometimes the symptoms of SADS is...nothing. That's right. You just die. Lucky ones will get syncope(fainting spells), blackouts, dizziness, shortness or breath, or chest pain. These symptoms typically occur during times of physical exertion or emotional upset. These should serve as a huge warning sign that something is NOT right. The twinge in your chest from hiking that Ikea desk up your 5th floor walk-up is not normal. You are not 80, you are 20-something.
Diagnosing a heart problem can be the first step to preventing SADS. As I said earlier, a lot of the causes of arrhythmias are genetic. These are present at birth, caused by autosomal dominant or recessive genes. Sometimes arrhythmias can be caused by medication, so it is a good idea to tell your doctor if you experience any of the symptoms I listed, even if they have never happened before and you have been on the same medication for years. To diagnose these heart problems is fairly simple and painless. You can have an electrocardiogram(ECG) or an echo cardiogram(ECHO), which will help define what exactly is wrong with your heart, where, and in what patterns.
Once a heart problem is diagnosed, 90% of the disorders can be treated by use of beta blockers. Yes, I said treated, not cured. Sometimes surgery can help.
Aside from SADS, some 700,000 young people suffer from some sort of arrhythmia, ranging from mild to severe. Some know, some don't.
To break it down for you, 1 person from 18-35 dies every week from SADS. It hits them and they are gone, leaving family and a whole life ahead of them behind, without warning.
So, don your cape and mask, hit Macy's during the holidays like there's no tomorrow. When you feel faint and your chest hurts after you walk the 12 blocks home with bags in hand, just remember it probably isn't from your triple espresso cafe au lait mocha calorie-laden-accino. Call your doctor.
Other reads:
BBC Health
SADS UK
C.R.Y.
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Why Lee Smolin is an Idiot.
Lee Smolin is the author of what some consider to be a "hot" book, in that it has provided some great debate and mud slinging within the scientific community. Smolin has taken a stance that string theory will not pan out and is pretty much a waste of time in his book, The Trouble with Physics. He has come under fire for giving the impression that he thinks the study of string theory, which is the belief that everything is unified and consistent in this universe, is a pointless task. The truth is, there have been too many breakthroughs in ST to deny that it is a viable possibility. Smolin supports the idea that we should question any theory that we are studying today, which I also completely agree with, but he doesn't really apply it in this case. "I'll believe it when I see it, but not until." What's up, Thomas? Haven't seen you since...sheesh..the BIBLE. If everyone who ever tried to prove anything listened to idiots like Smolin, we'd have nothing. We'd still be living on a flat earth. We'd never have been on the moon. We wouldn't know the joy of Twinkies.
Now, it is one thing to go against something and speak out against it. It is another to speak out and then backtrack after you are fired upon by the subject's supporters. Smolin, sadly, is a great mind, but apparently not a great debater. The book makes some "esoteric" claims that I simply cannot believe aren't just downright derogatory towards ST. The point of his book, he states, is to merely say that String Theory isn't the ONLY answer to the great question of how everything is connected, but just one. Trying to play it down, I believe. Well, that sure isn't how it reads, Mr. Smolin. For someone who's written numerous technical papers, some even on String Theory itself, you seem to need to go back and take a few English classes and learn what some of us call "tone".
He has even stated that some of his closest friends are string theorists. To me, that is a claim similar to a person accused of racism stating they have "lots of black friends".
Now, it is one thing to go against something and speak out against it. It is another to speak out and then backtrack after you are fired upon by the subject's supporters. Smolin, sadly, is a great mind, but apparently not a great debater. The book makes some "esoteric" claims that I simply cannot believe aren't just downright derogatory towards ST. The point of his book, he states, is to merely say that String Theory isn't the ONLY answer to the great question of how everything is connected, but just one. Trying to play it down, I believe. Well, that sure isn't how it reads, Mr. Smolin. For someone who's written numerous technical papers, some even on String Theory itself, you seem to need to go back and take a few English classes and learn what some of us call "tone".
He has even stated that some of his closest friends are string theorists. To me, that is a claim similar to a person accused of racism stating they have "lots of black friends".
An Albatross
No, not the band.
The bird.
You know, the bird that scientists are using to get data on the weather and water conditions for the North Pacific Ocean?
Yes, it is true. Scientists have decided, that out of all the birds around the Pacific ocean, the albatross is the best choice. Why, you might ask? They are great in the air, using wind gusts and the like to fling their bodies across wind currents with ease. The albatross makes flying look like a piece of cake. The albatross is also excellent in the water, feet being webbed like that of a duck, and are pretty solid on land as well. That said, they usually live and nest around water, preferring to call islands home as they hunt the pelagic for food. The perfect specimen to do an oceanographer's dirty work for him, collect the dirty facts that satellites cannot achieve or collect.
The number of species of Albatross is of constant debate. The common number you hear for number of species is 21, but it ranges from 13 to 24. Who knows. Scientists disagreeing, now that's a new one. They are also thought(Sibley-Ahlquist) to have descended second in line from a Cretaceous creature known as a Tytthostonyx.
The funny thing is, while the albatross is seemingly a golden candidate to act as vessel for this research, the cold hard fact is that almost all of the species of this particular bird are currently threatened with extinction. Now, I ask you, when a scientist says "Well, if we use the actual bird in question," this same oceanographer collecting data on the Pacific, "that is endangered, we can better determine how to stop the extinction of the species by monitoring its contact with fishing boats and other human threats."
Excuse me, isn't that kind of a cop-out? Is that like saying, "hey, let's do genetic research on the last 2 hippos on earth so that we can better determine why their life expectancy is so short and they're not reproducing?"
Seems to defeat the purpose, does it not? Interfering with these birds is probably the last thing they need in order to survive. Less commercial fishing? Yes. Duh. The entire ocean needs that. Over-fishing the Gulf has caused a population overflow of jellyfish, thus killing a ton of the fish population there(look it up). We definitely do not need John Q Researcher to tell us commercial fishing of our oceans is killing species.
We might be human, but we aren't complete idiots.
As for the band, rock on. An Albatross's "We are the lazer viking" was a great one.
The bird.
You know, the bird that scientists are using to get data on the weather and water conditions for the North Pacific Ocean?
Yes, it is true. Scientists have decided, that out of all the birds around the Pacific ocean, the albatross is the best choice. Why, you might ask? They are great in the air, using wind gusts and the like to fling their bodies across wind currents with ease. The albatross makes flying look like a piece of cake. The albatross is also excellent in the water, feet being webbed like that of a duck, and are pretty solid on land as well. That said, they usually live and nest around water, preferring to call islands home as they hunt the pelagic for food. The perfect specimen to do an oceanographer's dirty work for him, collect the dirty facts that satellites cannot achieve or collect.
The number of species of Albatross is of constant debate. The common number you hear for number of species is 21, but it ranges from 13 to 24. Who knows. Scientists disagreeing, now that's a new one. They are also thought(Sibley-Ahlquist) to have descended second in line from a Cretaceous creature known as a Tytthostonyx.
The funny thing is, while the albatross is seemingly a golden candidate to act as vessel for this research, the cold hard fact is that almost all of the species of this particular bird are currently threatened with extinction. Now, I ask you, when a scientist says "Well, if we use the actual bird in question," this same oceanographer collecting data on the Pacific, "that is endangered, we can better determine how to stop the extinction of the species by monitoring its contact with fishing boats and other human threats."
Excuse me, isn't that kind of a cop-out? Is that like saying, "hey, let's do genetic research on the last 2 hippos on earth so that we can better determine why their life expectancy is so short and they're not reproducing?"
Seems to defeat the purpose, does it not? Interfering with these birds is probably the last thing they need in order to survive. Less commercial fishing? Yes. Duh. The entire ocean needs that. Over-fishing the Gulf has caused a population overflow of jellyfish, thus killing a ton of the fish population there(look it up). We definitely do not need John Q Researcher to tell us commercial fishing of our oceans is killing species.
We might be human, but we aren't complete idiots.
As for the band, rock on. An Albatross's "We are the lazer viking" was a great one.
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