Dirt Is Good For Our Health

Recently, an interesting article about the use of belly parasites, viruses and bacteria was published in The New York Times by the correspondent Jane Braudey.

It is widely known that children tend to put into their mouths all that comes into their hands, and that also includes all types of dirt. It is considered that they do it instinctively. "Since instinctive models of behaviour give an evolutionary advantage (on the contrary, they wouldn't have been saved for so many years), there exists the possibility that this one also helped the human beings survive", Braudey says. She also affirms that there exist serious proofs for the hypothesis, according to which dirt is useful for our health.

The mechanism of the useful influence of microorganisms, viruses and parasites on the human organism is the following: being introduced into the organism, they stimulate the development of the healthy immune system. More than that, according to some data of unfinished yet researches, belly worms even help repair some "mistakes" in the immune system, which lead, in their turn, to asthma, allergy and autoimmune diseases.

The microbiologist-immunologist Mary Rubush, who recently published a book called "Why Dirt Is Good", has claimed in an interview in The New York Times that "by introducing different objects into their mouths, children give their immune systems the opportunity to study their surroundings".

This is absolutely necessary for the right functioning of the immune system, because in a newborn "it's similar to an unprogrammed computer. It needs instructions", says Dr. Joel Weinstock from the Medicine Center Tufts in Boston. According to him, "the majority of belly worms are harmless, especially for people who eat well".

Belly worms have a very good influence on the human immune system, according to Dr. David Elliot who's a gastroenterologist at the University of Iowa. Together with Weinstock, they made experiments on mice, during which, with the help of worms, they could not only prevent autoimmune diseases, but also treat them.

Dr. Rubush recommends refusing the use of antibacterial soap, in order not to kill the necessary human bacteria. He advices using common soap, and, in its absence, cleaning the hands with special alcoholic solutions. Dr. Weinstock goes far than that: he advices letting children out barefooted, allowing them playing in the dirt and not to wash their hands before eating, and, for a better effect, living with a pair of dogs and a cat in the same house.

www.infoniac.com

Samy said:

This is amazing. I can't imagine myself with belly worms inside my tummy. I used to hate worms, but not anymore. Thanks to this information

"Want To Live Longer? - Be Positive, Believe And Work"

If you want to prolong your life by 8 full years you must be optimist. This is the advice given by American scientists from a clinic in Mayo.

They have established that optimistic people not only have a more interesting and filled with different positive events lifestyle, but they also get sick less. As it turned out, a person's mood and his attitude towards the surrounding world directly influence the capability of his immune system to overcome and prevent different diseases. This information has been published in "How to add supplementary years to your life", a book which must appear this same year.

In its turn, active faith adds 7 years to human life, as it was counted by specialists from a university in the American state Iowa. They have found out that even if one attends church once a week, it positively influences his/her life length. Attending church can be replaced by individual meditation, but this will add only 3 supplementary years to life, according to researchers.

Recently Western researches have proved that mental activity, including reading newspapers, visiting museums, listening to the radio, solving crosswords, Internet navigation also increase life's length by 7 years. In addition, all these activities decrease the risk of Alzheimer's disease development in an older age. Active sexual life can add up to 4 years and a beautiful view out of the window of your house – up to 2 years. A pet will prolong your life by 2 years. A regular sleep after lunch will prolong it by a year, with the condition that it lasts not more than 30 minutes.

Another theory has been put forward by specialists from California. They have come to the conclusion that hard work is the main cause of a happy and long life. This is due to the fact that hard work guarantees quite useful personality qualities.

People who work too much are usually ambitious, organized and conscientious. These are the qualities that prolong life by 4 years, according to scientists.

Self-discipline also makes many bad human habits disappear and allows one to be more resistant to stress.

Besides, hard-working people are more careful, reliable, rational and polite.

These are the conclusions made on the basis of 20 researches dedicated to the influence of work on the psychological and physical state of health of people, with the participation of more than 8900 volunteers from USA, Canada, Japan, Germany, Norway and Switzerland.

www.infoniac.com

Samy said:

This is great. If I we want to have a long life, all we need to do is to work hard. It adds more years to our life and it gives us motivation to our work to earn more money. Isn't that great?

Why People Yawn

In most cases, yawning is associated with tiredness and boredom. Newly, it has been proved that a yawning person does not try to show lack of interest, but, on the contrary, just tries to catch your attention.

One of the main causes of yawning was established by a group of scientists under the leadership of Andrew Gallup from Binghamton University, Animal Behaviour magazine reports.

The cause was the overheating of the brain –its outrunning of a certain critical temperature.

The American scientists have made a study on a group of parrots, as representatives of vertebrates. These birds have a relatively big brain, they live in Australia where a frequent temperature variation is a normal thing, and the most important fact is that "catching yawning" (characteristic for humans and some animals) is not characteristic for this species of birds.

The parrots were put into 3 different conditions: a raised temperature, high temperature and regulated average temperature. When zoologists started increasing the temperature from its average value, the frequency of birds' yawn increased by two times.

It results that if the human brain is overheated, it's the most probably that, in a very short time, he or she will yawn. This physiological act resembles the work of a fan that cools the overheated processor of a computer.

Now it's clear why people frequently yawn before and after sleeping (the brain needs cooling and recovery), also why sometimes yawning can be a symptom of a disease.

Yawning is usually associated with tiredness. Suppose a person is tired and wants to sleep, in such conditions the temperature of the brain is raised, so is the temperature of the blood that irrigates it.

A frequent yawning is one of the symptoms of diffuse sclerosis and attack of epilepsy. In addition, frequent yawning is characteristic to people suffering from migraines. Insistent yawning can be a sign of problems linked with temperature regulation in the brain. This means that doctors should be more attentive to patients complaining from attacks of groundless yawning.

http://www.infoniac.com/health-fitness/why-people-yawn.html

Samy said:

Now I understand why I yawn every time there is a change of temperature in our classroom. Its clearer to me now that yawning in front of your teacher is not a bad at all. Its just the temperature that makes us yawn.

I wish my principal in high school would know this information. She hates a student who yawns in front of her.

"The Last Leaf"

The Last Leaf by O. Henry (Story)
http://www.online-literature.com/o_henry/1303

The Last Leaf by Oliver Wendell Holmes (Poem)
http://www.ibiblio.org/eldritch/owh/ll.html


Based on my personal understanding, "The Last Leaf" of Oliver Wendell Holmes tells about the process of life.

It tells experiences in life of a human that happened in the past, whether it is successful or not. It also gives the idea of being strong, having faith, and courage to face obstacles in life no matter how hard it could be.

If my understanding is incorrect, well, you better read the poem to understand it with your self. I admit, I am not good in getting the idea of literature written figuratively.

"The Last Leaf" of O. Henry. This story is really nice. Though it makes me feel bored at first. But as I continue reading, I feel the essence of the story. It shows about the sacrifice of an old man just to give hope to a lady to pursue her life.

I love the last part of the story. It tells about how the old man do his sacrifice for the lady. He did a wonderful act by painting an ivy leaf clinging on its branch during a very cold night. But the sad part is, the old man died after doing it.

I like how the story flows. And I love paintings. Maybe its one of the reasons why I like this story.

I advice you to read the story. It is really a good one.

I am a Filipino, and so as YOU!

The Filipino spirit will always be alive and will never die.
The blood of a Filipino will always give hope, life, and wisdom.
It only needs a spark to burst into flame.

We are Filipinos,
be proud of it.
I am a Filipino,
and I am proud of it;
and so as YOU!

Sneezing May Be Triggered by Sexual Fantasy

If you hear someone sneeze you may think about what is on the mind of that someone, since recently researchers unveiled that sneezing in some people can be produced by sexual fantasy. Such a surprising find was made by Dr Mahmood Bhutta, an ear, nose and throat specialist at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford.

The researcher carried out his study after observing a patient who had "uncontrollable" sneezing fits each time he had a sexual thought.

The results of the study were published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. In the article Dr Mahmood Bhutta wrote: "We thought this unusual and performed a literature search of the topic."

Both Dr Mahmood Bhutta and his colleague Dr Harold Maxwell, noticed that Google produced a huge number of results after they typed the keywords "sex", "sneeze" or "sneezing," reported The Independent.

"Although internet reports do not give us an accurate incidence, our findings do suggest that it is much more common than recognized," scientists wrote.

Experts say that sneezing is a result of nasal irritation, which triggers a reflex that pushes out air at speeds of more than 90 miles an hour. Sneezing can also be triggered by eyebrow plucking through the stimulation of the trigeminal nerve.

Scientists said that there are also other puzzling sneezing triggers such as the "photic sneeze reflex," which is an inherited sneezing response to sunlight. Such reaction on sunlight affects about 1/4th of the population. There's also a rare condition when members of the same family sneeze after meals.

According to Dr Bhutta, there is a probability that people from the same family may sneeze if they think about sex. He added that this reflex shows evolutionary remnants in the wiring of a part of the human nervous system.

"Sometimes the signals in this system get crossed, and I think this may be why some people sneeze when they think about sex," said the researcher.

http://www.infoniac.com/science/sneezing-may-be-triggered-by-sexual-fantasy.html

Hmmm... This information makes me wonder. I had a classmate in high school who always sneeze everytime he opens a topic about sex. That catches my attention. Hehehehe

Quotes For Today

Reading quotes is fun. I have never think about it before. Here are some of the quotes that made me laugh, and think deep about them. :)

Laughter is the best medicine; most people said. I agree with it. Enjoy laughing. Hehehe

From: Bertrand Russell

"Most people would die sooner than think; in fact, they do."

From: Mark Twain

"First, God created idiots. That was just for practice. Then He created school boards."

Lets go to quotes of imagination.

I chose these quotes because it reflects my personality. Imagining something is usually what I do most. If I am sitting at the corner, or looking afar, or just sitting on a chair and staring at the ceiling or wall, there is something in my mind that makes another world for me. Those imaginations improve my way of reacting to my ideas or my principles in life. I love imagining things, maybe because one factor is being a painter. I love creating scenes that make others appreciate it or give negative comments on it. I don't care what they say about it, the most important is, I have shown my expression of saying, "Its my world, its mine, not yours."

From: Blaise Pascal

"Imagination disposes of everything; it creates beauty, justice, and happiness, which are everything in this world."

From: Carl Sagan

"Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere."

From: George Bernard Shaw

"You see things; and you say, "Why?" But I dream things that never were; and I say, "Why not?"

From: Gloria Steinem

"Without leaps of imagination, or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning."