In 1964, a woman named Kitty Genovese was brutally murdered outside her apartment. Although many surrounding neighbors had heard her cries and pleas for help, not one of them intervened to save her life. By the time someone called the police it was too late. Why did no one help this poor woman? Out of so many witnesses, how is it possible that it took so long for someone to pick up the phone and call for help?
The example above is a famous event illustrating the bystander effect, the idea that “the greater the number of bystanders who witness an emergency, the less likely any of them is to help the victim” (Aronson, Wilson & Akert, 2010, pg. 339). Two major factors influencing why people don’t help victims in an emergency are pluralistic ignorance and the diffusion of responsibility. Pluralistic ignorance is when in an ambiguous situation, people look to others before deciding whether or not to act. Many times, people will assume nothing is wrong because no one else acts, when in fact, something really is wrong; they misinterpret the situation. In the case of Kitty Genovese, for example, people may have figured everything was all right since no one seemed too concerned. The diffusion of responsibility says that as the number of bystanders increases, each bystander’s sense of responsibility to help decreases (Aronson, Wilson & Akert, 2010, pg. 341). Looking at the case of Kitty Genovese, since there were so many neighbors, people most likely had a decreased sense of individual responsibility, thinking that they didn’t need to help when there were so many others around that could help.
I can remember a time where I fell victim to the bystander effect. When you see a bad situation immediately jump into action to help or rescue a person and never wait for someone else to make the first move, a lot of people have lost their lives due to the "Bystander Effect". In a given situation you are a part of bystander effect if you don't make a move. You alone can break the effect by taking an action, always remember that tomorrow you or someone you love could be in that situation.
Overall, people really are influenced by others, especially when they are unsure of how to react to a given situation. When others are around, it affects the ways in which we act, and we usually fall prey to the bystander effect.
“The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything” -Albert Einstein
US doctors in Philadelphia said they have saved a seven-year-old girl who was close to dying from leukemia with a pioneering use of an unlikely ally: a modified form of the HIV virus.
After fighting her disease with chemotherapy for almost two years and suffering two relapses, the young girl “faced grim prospects,” doctors at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia said.
So in February this year they agreed to take her on in an experimental program that fought fire with fire. Helped by a genetically altered HIV virus — stripped of its devastating properties that cause AIDS — doctors turned the girl’s own immune cells into a superior force able to rout the “aggressive” leukemia. The treatment of Emily Whitehead was one of the very first of its kind and cannot yet be considered “a magic bullet,” the hospital said.
But in Emily’s case, it apparently worked completely. First, millions of the girl’s natural immune system cells were removed. Then the modified HIV virus was used to carry in a new gene that would boost the immune cells and help them spot, then attack cancer cells that had previously been able to sneak in “under the radar,” the hospital said on its website.
Finally the rebooted immune cells were sent back in to do their work. “The researchers have created a guided missile that locks in on and kills B cells, thereby attacking B-cell leukemia,” the hospital said. Pediatric oncologist Stephan Grupp, who cared for the girl, explained Tuesday that there was never any danger of AIDS during the process.
“The way we get the new gene into the T cells (immune cells) is by using a virus. This virus was developed from the HIV virus, however all of the parts of the HIV virus that can cause disease are removed,” he said in an email. “It is impossible to catch HIV or any other infection. What’s left is the property of the HIV virus that allows it to put new genes into cells.”
During the treatment, Emily became very ill and went into the intensive care unit, underlining how risky the procedure can be. However, drugs that partly block the immune reaction were administered, without interfering with the anti-leukemia action, and she recovered, the hospital said. The result was “complete” and best of all, the doctors say, the boosted immune shield continues “to remain in the patient’s body to protect against a recurrence of the cancer.”
“She has no leukemia in her body for any test that we can do — even the most sensitive tests,” Grupp told ABC television. “We need to see that the remission goes on for a couple of years before we think about whether she is cured or not. It is too soon to say.” Grupp said on the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia website that cell therapies might eventually replace the more costly, painful bone marrow transplant treatment, a standard last-ditch defense against cancer.
“I’ve been meeting with families to discuss bone marrow transplant for 20 years,” he said. “In almost every meeting, I say that bone marrow transplant is very hard and that if we had an alternative for children at that point in treatment, I would be delighted to put myself out of business. And for the first time, we’re seeing how that might actually happen.”
People used to log onto Facebook to spy on old flames and check out new crushes. Now it seems like they are more interested in gazing at their own profiles — and that’s a problem. A new study published in the journal Media Psychology found thatwhile looking at one’s profile for just five minutes helped boost self-esteem, the narcissistic exercise also led to a measurable dip in motivation.
In the study of 159 U.S. college students, author Catalina Toma of the University of Wisconsin-Madison notes that, “by affirming the self, Facebook profiles may render additional efforts to prove oneself superficial.” She adds, “the increase in self-worth and self-integrity induced by Facebook profile exposure was shown to backfire by reducing users’ motivation to perform well in subsequent cognitive tasks of moderate difficulty.” The author reached her conclusions by having students answer a set of questions measuring self-esteem and cognitive performance after viewing either their own or someone else’s profile.
Facebook’s social influence has been disparaged lately and not just because it’s an enormous time suck. As TIME’s Healthland reported in January, German researchers found that spending time on Facebook created feelings of loneliness, misery and envy among a third of the 600 people they studied. This was especially true for people who looked at other people’s vacation photos or logged on without posting any of their own content or comments. A separate survey released by Pew Research Center last month found that teenagers were losing interest in the social network, in part because of all the “drama.”
As with all studies, the findings from Toma’s research should be taken with a grain of salt. In an article for the Atlantic, Lindsay Abrams offered an alternative interpretation for the dip in students’ cognitive skills: “Maybe they just resented being torn away from their online social world so much so that they had trouble concentrating on anything else.” In other words, our collective online addiction is showing few signs of subsiding.
Toking up may help marijuana users to stay slim and lower their risk of developing diabetes, according to the latest study, which suggests that cannabis compounds may help in controlling blood sugar.
Although marijuana has a well-deserved reputation for increasing appetite via what stoners call “the munchies,” the new research [PDF], which was published in the American Journal of Medicine, is not the first to find that the drug has a two-faced relationship to weight. Three prior studies have shown that marijuana users are less likely to be obese, have a lower risk for diabetes and have lower body mass index (BMI) measurements. And these trends occurred despite the fact that they seemed to take in more calories.
Why? “The most important finding is that current users of marijuana appeared to have better carbohydrate metabolism than non-users,” says Murray Mittleman, associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and the lead author of the study. “Their fasting insulin levels were lower, and they appeared to be less resistant to the insulin produced by their body to maintain a normal blood sugar level.”
The research included over 4,600 men and women participating in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey between 2005 and 2010. Among them, 48% had smoked marijuana at least once in their lives and 12% were current cannabis smokers. The authors controlled for other factors like age, sex, income, alcohol use, cigarette smoking and physical activity that could also affect diabetes risk.
Even after these adjustments, the current marijuana users showed fasting insulin levels that were 16% lower than those of former or never-users, along with a 17% reduction in another measure of insulin resistance as well. Higher levels on both tests are associated with Type II diabetes, which is linked with obesity. Marijuana users also had higher levels of HDL, the so-called “good” cholesterol, which can protect against heart disease. And the regular smokers also boasted smaller waistlines: on average, they were 1.5 inches slimmer than the former users and those who had never smoked cannabis.
Researchers don’t yet know how to explain these correlations — and since the study was not a controlled trial, it’s not clear whether marijuana or some other factor in marijuana users’ lifestyles actually accounted for the beneficial effects. Studies showed, however, that the cannabinoid brain receptors affected by marijuana are deeply involved in appetite and metabolism. But the exact details of how the compound alters the relationship between appetite, caloric intake and insulin response isn’t obvious yet.
One clue, however, may lie in the effects of a diet drug that was developed to have the opposite effect that marijuana has on the brain. That drug, rimonabant, produced significant weight loss and a drop in fasting insulin levels by affecting certain cannabinoid receptors in in the exact opposite way that THC, marijuana’s main psychoactive ingredient, does. This action is complex: rimonabant doesn’t simply block the receptor and keep the natural cannabinoids from activating it. Instead, while the natural cannabinoids elevate the normal level of activity already going on in the system; rimonabant lowers it so the result is precisely the reverse of activating the receptor naturally. However, due to psychiatric side effects like increasing suicide risk, rimonabant was pulled from the European market and never approved in the U.S.
How could both marijuana and a compound that has the the opposite effect of pot act on the same brain receptors and lead to weight loss? Natural marijuana includes many different potentially active compounds, and one of them— rather than THC— could be responsible for this effect. One potential candidate is a substance called cannabidiol or CBD, which also affects cannabinoid receptors, but in a different way than THC or rimonabant does.
Another possibility involves tolerance: repeated use of a drug can make receptors less sensitive over time. “The most likely explanation is that prolonged cannabis use causes the [receptors] to lose sensitivity and become inactive,” says Daniele Piomelli, a professor of pharmacology at the University of California-Irvine, who was not associated with the new research, “This has been shown to happen in people who smoke marijuana. This weakening of the [these receptors] translates into a lower risk for obesity and diabetes because the inactive receptor would be unable to respond to our own cannabis-like molecules, which we know are important in keeping us chubby.” While marijuana may initially promote appetite and overeating, in the long run it has the opposite effect because it desensitizes cannabinoid receptors and may even protect against obesity.
So don’t skip the gym and break out the bong just yet: there’s still not enough data to tell whether marijuana, like alcohol, could have health benefits in moderation. Mittleman says that the study relied on self-reported use of marijuana, which can be unreliable. However, he points out that since people are more likely to hide drug use than they are to falsely claim it, the findings could even underestimate marijuana’s effects.
But whether that’s true, and whether marijuana might be a window into understanding how to best control glucose and insulin to prevent diabetes, isn’t known yet. “It is much too early to say,” says Mittleman, “We need much more research to better understand the biologic responses to marijuana use. We really need more research to allow physicians and patients to make decisions based on solid evidence.” An editorial [PDF] that accompanied the study also urged government action to reduce barriers to such research.
Even with 18 states now approving marijuana for medical uses, the politics of pot will always shadow research efforts to understand how cannabinoids work in the brain—or affect disease. But, as Piomelli says, “The [new] study suggests that smoking marijuana [may] protect people against obesity and diabetes.” And following up on that finding could yield new insights into how to tackle one of our biggest public health issues.
Nigerian youths are now flocking to Asia to sell their kidneys for US$30K
When they come back less one kidney with a fistful of dollars they don't
remove their under shirts when they make love and you will find them
drinking bottled water while they buy Moet champagne for their friends.
You too may have the opinion as this, "At
least is better ...if they do this without hurting no one ...they use
what they have to get what they don't have...to me is better than money
rituals ...." but before you take to this new venture, you should at least read these:
Got an idea how to come up with the ‘next generation condom’? You may
bag upto one million dollars from the Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation.
The foundation is offering USD 100,000 of initial funding, with up to
USD 1 million of possible continued funding to whoever comes up with a
viable proposal.
Ideas that may prove too expensive for widespread use in the
developing world, or those that doesn’t do the job of preventing
pregnancy or disease transmission will be dismissed right off the bat.
The next-generation condom challenge is part of the Bill &
Melinda Gates Foundation’s “Grand Challenges Explorations,” a continuing
initiative to fund programs geared toward improving the lot of the
world’s poorest citizens.
“To overcome persistent health and development problems, we need new,
game-changing ideas,” said Chris Wilson, Director of Global Health
Discovery & Translational Science at the Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation, in a statement.
“Inspiration can come from anywhere and we are hopeful that this new
round of Grand Challenges Explorations will uncover innovative
approaches to improve lives around the world,” Wilson added.
Through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Microsoft co-founder
Bill Gates and his wife work to eradicate poverty and increase access to
healthcare. Founded in 1994, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is
one of the largest private foundations in the world.
Now, with the USD 100,00 grant offered through the Grand Challenges
in Global Health Program, they are hoping to find anyone – students,
scientists or entrepreneurs – to reinvent the condom.
“The primary drawback from the male perspective is that condoms
decrease pleasure as compared to no condom. So a ‘next-generation’
condom would, perhaps, find some way to increase sensation to get men to
use them more often purely in the name of global health, of course,”
says a statement describing the requirements of the challenge.
“Female condoms, meanwhile, suffer from some of the same liabilities
as male condoms, require proper insertion training and are substantially
more expensive than their male counterparts,” says the foundation.
Thus, the foundation thinks that a cheaper, simpler female condom
might also help reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies and spread of
sexually transmitted diseases, including AIDS.
Grant Details:
October 2008 to
develop the PATH Woman’s Condom, which offers an improvement in
woman-initiated options for prevention of HIV and other sexually
transmitted infections $999,942 27 HIV Global Health Seattle, Washington http://www.path.org If you think you are up-to-the-task, you apply NOW!
A pregnant teen who sued her parents, claiming they were coercing her to have an abortion, will be able to give birth to her baby.
Attorneys representing the 16-year-old girl were granted a long-term
injunction against the girl's parents in Texas family court on Monday,
according to court documents.
The teen is 10 weeks pregnant and the injunction will last for the duration of her pregnancy.
As part of the order, the girl will be able to use her car to go to
school, work and medical appointments. Her parents had taken away the
use of the car as part of their effort to force an abortion, court
papers stated.
The teen's parents will be liable for half of the hospital bill when she
gives birth, unless she is married to the baby's 16-year-old father.
"We are extremely happy with the judge's decision today and we are very
proud of our teenage client for being strong enough to stand against her
parents to save her unborn child's life," Greg Terra, president of the
Texas Center for Defense of Life, said in a blog post on the group's
website.
Attorneys filed a lawsuit on the teen's behalf earlier this month
arguing that her parents "are violating her federal constitutional
rights to carry her child to term by coercing her to have an abortion
with both verbal and physical threats and harassment."
The teen, identified in the lawsuit only as R.E.K. since she is a minor,
was "beside herself" when she called the center for help, her lawyer
Stephen Casey told ABCNews.com last week. The group claims it has
previously represented teens in similar situations and won their cases.
"These girls are in a bind, particularly in a situation where their
parents are forcing them to do something they don't want to do," Casey
said. "Regardless of the [situation], that's her parents and she should
expect support from them in this situation, not resentment and anger."
When the pregnancy was confirmed, the teenager's father allegedly
"became extremely angry, was insistent that R.E.K. was not having the
baby, and that the decision was not up to her, according to the lawsuit.
He stated he was going to take her to have an abortion and that the
decision was his, end of story."
The teen claimed in the lawsuit that her parents had taken away her
phone, pulled her out of school, forced her to get two jobs and took
away her car in an effort to "make her miserable so that she would give
in to the coercion and have the abortion."'
The Nigerian entertainment industry was again jolted by the
sudden, unexpected news of the demise of another popular female singer and
former Big Brother Africa Housemate, Susan Oluwabimpe Harvey, popularly known as
“Goldie”.
The 31-year-old was said to have complained of severe
headache shortly after returning to Nigeria from the United States where she
had attended the music industry’s Grammy Awards.
Though the cause of her death remains prone to speculations,
the only authenticated information from anybody that got close to her before or
shortly after her passing is the one gotten from the hospital where she was
confirmed dead. According to an official statement by the Reddington Hospital,
where she was rushed to, she died of pulmonary embolism.
I know you’ll be saying, “I have heard that before, what
does that mean?” or asking “why her?”, if you’ve asked any of these questions,
heard somebody asked them or you are thinking of them now, you are in the right
place; as I am writing this post to explain what pulmonary embolism means and
what the risk factors are.
A pulmonary embolism (PE) is a blood clot that develops in a
blood vessel elsewhere in the body (most commonly from the leg), travels to an
artery in the lung, and forms an occlusion (blockage) of the artery.
A blood clot (thrombus) that forms in a blood vessel in one
area of the body, breaks off, and travels to another area of the body through
the bloodstream is called an embolus. An embolus can lodge itself in a blood
vessel, blocking the blood supply to a particular organ. This blockage of a
blood vessel by an embolus is called an embolism.
An embolism to the lung may cause serious life-threatening
consequences and, potentially, death. Most commonly, a PE is the result of a
condition called deep vein thrombosis (blood clot in the deep veins of the
leg).
Although anyone can develop blood clots leading to pulmonary
embolism, certain factors can increase your risk. These are some that may have
precipitated pulmonary embolism in her:
Prolonged immobility – Sitting in a cramped position during
lengthy plane or car trips slows the current of blood flow in your veins, which
contributes to the formation of clots in your legs. She was to have had
recently arrived from the United States, though we don’t know if she sat in a
cramped position or not, but there is a possibility this might have
precipitated pulmonary embolism in her.
Family history – Though we are not opportune to know her
detailed family history, this might be a possibility too. You're at higher risk
of experiencing future clots if any of your family members have had blood clots
in the past. This may be due to inherited disorders of your clotting system and
these are usually inherited disorders.
Previous history of clot – If you've experienced DVT or VTE
in the past — for any reason — you're at increased risk of developing the
condition again.
Smoking – Though
I cannot ascertain if or not she smokes, but this is a common practice among
musicians and other entertainment industry players, so it won’t be out of place
to entertain such possibility. For reasons that aren't well understood,
tobacco use predisposes some people to blood clot formation, especially when
combined with other risk factors.
Supplemental estrogen – This is a common cause of pulmonary embolism in ladies of this age group,
especially when you are a star musician like Goldie who may have wanted more
industry exposure without being restrained by pregnancy which can come later. The
estrogen in birth control pills can increase clotting factors in the blood
making the blood to clot more easily.
Valve malfunction – Tiny valves located every few
inches within your larger veins keep your blood moving in the right direction.
However, these valves tend to degrade with age, though it may occur earlier in
patients with congenital cardiovascular diseases. When they don't work
properly, blood pools and sometimes forms clots.
Dehydration – Though this is more common in older
people, it can occur at any age. Dehydration may thicken the blood and make
clots formation more likely.
Intravenous drug use – Though her involvement in drug abuse
has never been confirmed, but it’s one of the early causes attributed to her
death before Reddington Hospital came up with a diagnosis. Besides, just like
smoking, intravenous drug abuse, have been implicated as the cause of death of
numerous popular artists in the recent past.
Blood clotting disorder – Though we are unable to verify
this in her case, it’s a possibility. Certain blood clotting disorders make the
blood clot faster, and thus increase the risk of pulmonary embolism.
Unknown – For a number of cases of pulmonary embolism, the
causes are unknown. The patient just become breathless starts having chest
pains, become sweaty, and start having chest pains and palpitations; and after
thorough investigation, no cause will be found.
The multi-talented Goldie is gone, and we sympathize with her family, friends and fans, but more importantly, you should realize that pulmonary embolism can happen to anybody and it can be so sudden and fatal, so prevention is key.
You can prevent pulmonary embolism with the following tips:
Take
anti-clotting medication. A risk factor for developing a pulmonary embolism is
having surgery especially operations to the legs and hip. Medications such as
heparin may be given after surgery if your physician feels you are at risk.
Wear
compression or pneumatic stockings if on bed rest. People who have prolonged
bed rest due to an illness or recovery from surgery may develop blood clots
which can lead to a pulmonary embolism. Compression and pneumatic stockings
squeeze the legs to help blood flow remain efficient.
Move
around when on a long flight. Inactivity such as sitting on an airplane for
long periods of time can lead to a pulmonary embolism. Get up and move around
every hour, even a short walk up the aisle will help. Rotate your ankles while
you are sitting. The same things are true for driving long distances. Stop and
go for a short walk to get the blood flowing.
Stay well
hydrated when traveling. Dehydration makes it easier for blood clots to form.
Dehydration combined with lack of movement makes a pulmonary embolism more
likely to occur. Drink plenty of water and limit caffeinated beverages and
alcohol which can contribute to dehydration.
Know your
risk factors. People who are overweight tend to develop pulmonary embolisms
more easily. Other risk factors include smoking, pregnancy and family history.
Some risk factors you cannot control. However you can quit smoking and maintain
a healthy weight.
Be aware
taking birth control pills and some hormone replacement therapies can increase
the clotting factor in your blood. Speak with your doctor about other risk
factor you have for developing a pulmonary embolism to determine if you should
continue taking the pills.
Men who do little
exercise and spend much of their spare time watching TV have lower sperm
counts than more active men, a study suggests.
Clocking up 20 hours a week of TV time appears to be
detrimental, the US authors from Harvard say in the British Journal of
Sports Medicine.
Yet 15 hours or more of exercise a week boosts semen quality, according to the results in nearly 200 college students.
The researchers said more studies were needed to explore the possible causes.
And some experts say men wanting to conceive need to be selective about the sport they do as some types may harm sperm.
Too much time riding a bike or doing long-distance running in tight clothing may not be good, other studies suggest.
Similarly, wearing tight underwear rather than boxer shorts has been linked with lower sperm levels.
In the latest study, the researchers from the Harvard School
of Public Health asked 189 young men who were students at a university
in New York to record how many hours they had been spending doing
physical activity and watching TV in a typical week.
The volunteers, all aged between 18 and 22, were also asked to provide a sperm sample for lab analysis.
When the researchers compared the survey findings with the
sperm test results they found the link between sedentary lifestyle and
low sperm count.
Men who were the most physically active, doing 15 hours or
more of moderate to vigorous exercise each week by playing football,
baseball or basketball for example, had sperm counts which were 73%
higher than those who were least physically active.
Those who spent lots of time watching TV or DVDs - at least
20 hours a week - had a sperm count that was 44% lower than men who
spent little time in front of the box.
None of the men had sperm counts so low that doctors would classify them as sub-fertile.
Sperm motility (how well it swims) and shape were unaffected.
The researchers say their findings are not conclusive but
suggest that men who want to improve their fertility might want to look
at increasing the amount of physical exercise they do if they currently
do little.
It is not clear why sitting on the sofa watching TV might
lower sperm count. It might be down to temperature - sperm prefer cooler
conditions and production halts if the scrotum gets too hot.
Obesity may also affect fertility - although most of the men were not overweight.
Dr Audrey Jane Gaskins and colleagues say more studies are
needed to confirm and explore the possible causes behind their findings.
Dr Allan Pacey, senior lecturer in andrology at the
University of Sheffield, said: "It remains to be seen if coaxing a
TV-watching couch potato into doing some regular exercise could actually
improve his sperm count. Or whether there exists an unknown fundamental
difference between men who like exercise and those who do not which
might account for the findings.
"This should be a relatively easy study to perform, but
before all worried men hunt for their sports bag it's important to note
that other research suggests that doing too much exercise can be harmful
to sperm production.
"My advice would be everything in moderation - and that includes time in the gym as well as watching TV."
Rounding off what would have easily passed as one
the toughest days of my life at work, a young beautiful lady was rushed
to the ER. She was obviously in pains and her dressing suggested that
she was either coming from a party or going to one.
I
have had enough for the day and was already seeing my bed in trance and
was just waiting for the doctor on afternoon shift to resume duty.
Since he was nowhere to be found I had to attend to her.
A further inquest revealed that she was wearing an
8-inch high heel shoe. She inadvertently stepped on her flowing gown
and tripped and landed on her side.
A brief examination shows she was stable except for
the pain. I gave her some narcotic analgesics to relieve the pain and
ordered for x-ray of the hip, as that is where she said the pain was
more.
Just as I was suspecting, the x-ray came back revealing a fracture of the neck of the left femur!
I can’t but wonder what disservice this young lady
did to herself by wearing such a mountain (somebody brought the shoes:
Ellie 821: an 8-inch clear high heel shoe) in the name of fashion.
Since we do not have an orthopaedic surgeon at our centre, I promptly refer her to a private one nearby.
The only ambulance at our centre was out on an errand, so I took her there in my car.
I can never forget the change in the mood of the
surgeon after I explained the condition of the young lady to him, he
was obviously happy. His office has all the tell-tale signs that
business is dull.
He quickly examine the x-ray that has been lying on
his table all the while and made some notes in the air, clear his
throat and said, “there is a fracture of the bone that anchors the
thigh to the hip, and it seems to be badly damaged. We will have to do
what they call Austin Moore Hemi-arthroplasty”
He pursed for a good measure, obviously to allow the
message to sink, and then continue, “This means, we will replace the
head of the bone that is broken. This will cost you about N700, 000 for
the surgery besides the drugs, admission and other expenses”
The relatives asked for permission to go out and
discuss. Their options are limited and they will definitely find a way
to pay the money. I then asked the doctor what was going through his
mind when he called such a huge amount. He simple said, “When I heard
the story and confirmed the diagnosis from the x-ray, I simply thanked
my stars for putting food on my table again and I said to myself,
“Thank you for wearing high heels””
Everyone has that one crazy Facebook friend. They
overshare, write cryptic statuses or worse, type in all caps.
Those seemingly annoying posts, or lack thereof, could be more than
just news feed fodder. Facebook profiles could be used as insight into
mental health issues, a new study says.
According to researchers at the University of Missouri, whether you
post once an hour or once a month can be an indicator of your
psychological state. Researchers surveyed more than 200 college students
to gauge their levels of extroversion and support of strange beliefs,
then asked participants to print their Facebook activity. Students had
the option of blacking out portions of their Timeline.
What they chose to conceal revealed information about their
psychological state, study researcher Elizabeth Martin says in a statement.
Some individuals exhibited social anhedonia, a condition
characterized by lack of pleasure from communicating and interacting
with others. Their symptoms ranged from social withdrawal to odd
beliefs, and those same people posted less photos, communicated less
frequently via Facebook and had a lower friend count.
Others showed signs of paranoia based on how much information they
blacked out on their profile.
The idea for the study came through a conversation between Martin and
the second author, Drew Bailey, who doesn't have a Facebook profile. A
discussion arose about profile content and its correlation to
psychology.
"The Internet is novel way to study human psychology because it can
ameliorate some of the self-report biases associated with
paper-and-pencil reports," Martin told Mashable in an email.
"Because of the real or imagined perception of anonymity, the Internet
may allow unique access to the psyche. One’s social networking
information can be understood as an example of one’s naturalistic
behavior."
Though it's unclear whether or not therapists and psychologists can
use social networks for treatment, Martin says the study is a first step
to using the information to possibly provide a more complete clinical
picture.
What do you think your Facebook profile says about you? Do you
believe this may be an effective measure of mental health? Let us know
what you think in the comments.
A Professor in the University of Benin, Isaiah Ibeh on
Tuesday announced the development of a new drug that can allegedly
‘cure’ HIV and AIDS.
Professor Ibeh, who is the Dean of the School of Basic Medical Sciences
of the university, told reporters in Benin that the herbal drug had
undergone “series of successful tests”.
He said “We are at the threshold of making history, in the sense that
we seem to have with us something that will permanently take care of
what over time seems to have defied all solutions. “We are talking
about the latest discovery of an oral drug made from plants extraction
in Nigeria for the possible cure of the pandemic, HIV and AIDS virus.’’
He said the research on the project started in 2010 and culminated
in the development of “Deconcotion X (DX)–Liquid or Bioclean 11 for the
cure of HIV and AIDS”.
“The existing retroviral drugs are intervention drugs for the management of AIDS but our new discovery is a possible cure.
“We have tried to look at the product first; its toxicological
analysis and discovered that it has a large safety margin. “This means
that if animals or human beings are exposed to it, they will not suffer
any serious harm at all from the exposure. “It also helped us to know
the quantity we can conveniently give to animals and will feel secure
that nothing untoward will happen.
“We have also done the bacteriological analysis on it, after which
we looked at its effect on the virus and the result was quite revealing
and refreshing.” Ibeh also said that the drug had been exposed to
series of medical examination both in Nigeria and in the USA. He added
that the drug had performed well on patients with the HIV virus and had
shown evidence of total restoration of damaged tissues.
“The result showed an increase in the body weight of the individual
administered with DX. “The body weight was statistically significant
when compared with the control group.” He said that further tests were
being conducted to determine “at what point will a patient become
negative after being administered the drug?”.
“This verification is necessary because it is what is used to
measure whether infection is still there or not. So we need to know the
siro-convention time. “But preliminary results showed that of the five
latest patients orally administered with the drugs, our findings is
that up to seven months , three of them were siro negative while two
were sill faintly positive.’’
Professor Ibeh appealed for support from the Federal Government and
relevant bodies to assist the university with relevant equipment to
sustain the research.
In 1964, a woman named Kitty Genovese was brutally murdered outside her apartment. Although many surrounding neighbors had heard her cries and pleas for help, not one of them intervened to save her life. By the time someone called the police it was too late. Why did no one help this poor woman? Out of so many witnesses, how is it possible that it took so long for someone to pick up the phone and call for help?
