TV's most likeable dad, Alan Thicke, died Tuesday at the age of 69. The "Growing Pains" actor was playing hockey with his son when he suffered a heart attack.
The big question I'm getting is, how can a man who seemed so healthy, who was exercising and seemingly fit, suffer a deadly heart attack? And what can you do if you think it's happening to you or a loved one?
As a physician who has treated my share of heart attack patients, there are precautions you should take before or after a workout, especially if you are middle aged.
Read complete source here: http://www.nbcnews.com/health/heart-health/6-things-er-doctor-wants-you-know-about-heart-attacks-n696021
Tuesday, December 20, 2016
Tuesday, April 19, 2016
Prioritizing Wellness: Making Yourself a Priority!
We're
just past a quarter of the way into 2016 and once again we are busy; busy
working, busy playing, busy dreaming, busy achieving, basically we're busy being
busy. Unfortunately, this isn't unusual; in fact it is the "American Way," so I
guess I should be used to the constant pressure to do it all and to be
everything to everyone. Well I'm sorry but I just can't do that, I have to call
a flag on the play. I am at a point where I have never felt more tired, been
more stressed out, and existing at the end of my rope than I do now. Something
has got to give.
As
a working mother of two young children and someone who is notorious for taking
on too much (read not being able to say no), my wellness, health, and overall
well-being is being compromised and it's all (ok not all but mostly) my fault.
So what am I to do? How can I turn things around? If you are like me, you have
the tendency to do everything because you can. You might even take pride in the
feeling of accomplishment you get from ticking items off the to-do list. If you
are at the burnout point like me than it is time for a little introspection,
time to sit back, take stock, and to realize that just because you can do
everything doesn't mean you should. There is always a trade-off. While you may
be able to do a lot, you also need to consider what is being lost/sacrificed? I
know it is gratifying to get things done and to "slay" at work, at home, and in
life, but if you are coming home completely spent, your patience has worn thin,
you've begun to give up doing things you used to love including exercise and
healthy eating, socializing with friends and loved ones, pursuing favorite
hobbies, etc. you will eventually end up feeling bitter, resentful, tired,
unfulfilled, and unhappy.
Wednesday, April 13, 2016
Babies Can Learn Social Behaviors by Observing Others
Neuroscientists
and developmental psychologists have found the first evidence that infants’
brains can process other people’s actions. That is, when infants watch other
people do things, their brains are actively engaged.
Specifically,
the innovative study provides the first evidence that directly links neural
responses from the motor system to overt social behavior in infants (such as
imitation).
The
study involved thirty-six seven month-old infants, who were each tested while
wearing a cap that used electroencephalography (EEG) to measure brain activity.
During the experiment, each infant observed an actor reach for one of two
toys.
Immediately
after, the baby was allowed to select one of the same toys. This procedure was
repeated 12 times.
Babies’
brain activity predicted how they would respond to the actor’s behavior. When
the infants recruited their motor system while observing the actor grasp one of
the toys, they subsequently imitated the actor. When they didn’t imitate the
actor, there was no detectable engagement of the motor system in their brain
activity as they watched the actor.
The
research will appear in Psychological
Science, the peer-reviewed journal of the Association for Psychological
Science.
“Our
research provides initial evidence that motor system recruitment is contingently
linked to infants’ social interactive behavior,” said lead author Courtney
Filippi, a doctoral candidate in developmental psychology at the University of
Chicago.
“It
provides initial evidence that recruiting the motor system during action
encoding predicts infants’ subsequent social interactive behavior.”
The
researchers used EEG to measure a component of brain activity that has been
linked to motor cortex activity in adults. Like adults, infants show this
response when acting themselves and when watching others’ actions, suggesting
that the motor system may play a role in the perception of others’ actions.
Until
the current study, however, this possibility had not been tested in infants.
“This
research tells us that, by the middle of their first year of life, babies are
beginning to be able to understand that people act intentionally — that they
choose one toy over another because they want that toy,” said Helen
Tager-Flusberg, professor of psychological and brain sciences at Boston
University.
“This
understanding on the part of a baby involves not just seeing the other person’s
action, but also involves the baby’s own motor system, which is recruited when
he or she chooses the same toy.”
Fundamentally,
the researchers identified the neural processes that contribute to intelligent
social behavior in infants. And it’s the first evidence that motor system
activation in infants predicts the imitation of others’ actions, as well as an
apparent understanding of others’ goals.
“This
is big news, that babies understand what they are observing, that there is a
direct connection between observing others, understanding what others are doing,
and learning how to act,” said co-author Amanda Woodward, the William S. Gray
Professor of Psychology at University Chicago.
The
researcher’s methodology also broke new ground. “This is the first attempt to
combine the assessment of infants’ behavior — in this case, imitating the
actions of another person — with measuring brain activity in infants,”
Tager-Flusberg said.
The
task was not easy, however.
“Probably
the hardest place to study the relation between brain activity and behavior is
with infants, due to limitations in the methods that can be used, and the fact
that infants are infants,” Woodward noted. “Our methodology represents a
breakthrough and a proof of concept.”
“We’ve
worked hard over the years to develop the methods that allow us to record brain
activity from infants while they are engaged in the social world,” said
co-author Nathan Fox, University of Maryland, College Park.
“The
current research reflects our ability to synchronize brain and behavior in
infants during the first year of life.”
Although
this research will not translate directly into new medical treatments or
therapies, it could contribute to medical advances down the road by helping to
illuminate how the human brain functions and develops, Woodward added.
“One
reason to engage in basic science is to better understand the development of the
brain and mind. Here we looked at the development of social cognition, social
behavior, and the motor system, all of which are critical for human development
and are often disrupted in developmental disabilities, including autism.”
Source: University of
Chicago/EurekAlert
Wednesday, April 6, 2016
How to get organized and stay focused in a modern world?
Getting organized used to be a whole lot easier.
As nomadic hunter-gatherers, we only had to keep track of the things we could carry because that was all we owned. As members of a tribe of extended family members, we could lean upon others for assistance with day-to-day tasks and trust they had equal skin in the game. We didn’t have to shoulder everything ourselves, and the responsibilities necessary for survival were simpler. The accessible world was much smaller, the breadth of available knowledge limited by location. You knew all about the lives and goings-on of your immediate community members and which plants were edible in a 20-mile radius and where to get water and when the antelope grazed and the leopard prowled. But what happened 50 miles away was a total mystery, and a thousand miles away might well have been infinitely vast. Important info was recorded through oral traditions—stories and songs. Anecdote and analogy and parable carry weight to this day because for millennia, they were all we had to go on.
Then agriculture happened, followed by urbanization and markets and trade routes and, suddenly, we had a lot more information to process. So we created a system for organizing and externalizing information: writing. Physical writing soon gave way to telecommunication traveling along physical wires and, later, invisible data streams shooting and bouncing across the atmosphere.
Today, we are roving islands of responsibilities, duties, obligations, tasks, schedules, and information hyperconsumers. We have more “freedom” and everything’s amazing and there’s an app for that and that and that. But that just means we have more things to squeeze in and organize our lives around. It used to be if you wanted to go to Hawaii, you told a travel agent and they booked the plane, the hotel, and the rental car. Now we have the freedom to hunt for the best deal ourselves and travel-hack our way into credit rewards for extra miles and scour AirBNB for an amazing pad on the beach. There are benefits, clearly. We have more opportunities and more options, but we’re busier than ever before with fewer people to help shoulder the load. And unless you turn off notifications, your phone’s always alerting you to the existence of something else to cram into your brain.
That’s the rub: on top of the physical world we’ve laid an entirely novel world of digital information that demands even more of our attention. All those tweets, status updates, texts, emails, and snapchats need to be organized alongside our houses, spouses, closets, jobs, bills, cars, and yards. How can our pre-industrial brains stay organized and focus on the things that matter? Here are a few tips to help.
Monday, April 4, 2016
5-Research-Backed Reasons Eldest Children Are The Best
Eldest
siblings tend to think they're the kings and queens of the family. They were
born first, so it only makes sense that they get the most attention and
affection, right?
Youngest
and middle children would beg to differ, but it turns out science mostly
supports the eldest's bragging rights.
Numerous
studies have shown that birth order plays an important part in development. How much influence it has is a point of contention among experts, but regardless, there is
something to be said about being the oldest one of the bunch.
If
you're an eldest sibling, take a look at the benefits of your birth order below.
If anything they prove first is definitely not the worst.
View complete source here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/benefits-of-being-oldest-sibling_us_56fb4223e4b083f5c6060421
Wednesday, March 30, 2016
Signs that you're not getting enough Proteins.
It gives us energy, helps our bodies
recover, and keeps our tummies satisfied, but are you getting enough?...
Wednesday, March 23, 2016
Improve your diet.
Diet
and nutrition advice tends to get complicated, doesn't it? Eat this, don't eat
that, drink this, don't drink that, try this, avoid that. It sometimes feels
like a healthy diet requires more time, energy and attention than we have to
give. We want to eat well, but we also want to get on with our lives.
Fortunately, those of us who are too busy to sort through complicated nutrition information or follow complex eating plan, can follow one simple healthy eating strategy. I call it the 2 x 3 + 1 Rule. If you follow it, you'll end up following many of the complicated nutrition "rules" and improve your diet without even trying. Are you ready for it? Here it is:
The 2 x 3 + 1 Rule - Eat 2 fruits or vegetables 3 times a day (i.e., at every meal) plus 1 as a snack.
Wednesday, March 9, 2016
Inspirational Quotes - 100 Top Quotes - Motivational Sayings for Success...
Such a wonderful collection of motivational quotes.
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