(10) I Knew Americans Were Unhealthy But...

Wow, it amazes me that as one of the world's wealthiest industrialized nations, America is currently facing such a huge health epidemic among its citizens. Paul Krugman says that Americans, "spend much more per person on health care than any other nation, yet we have lower life expectancy and higher infant mortality" (2006, para. 2). Compared other modernized nations (Canada, Japan, and most of Europe) America ranks very low in health of its citizens. For example, "middle-age Americans are twice as likely to suffer from diabetes as their English counterparts," says Krugman. A fact that is now baffling researchers who discovered the statistics. Those researchers have come to a conlusion that "being American seems to damage your health."

This was news to me. I knew Americans in general had a poor diet which led to high obesity rates and a myriad of other healthcare issues, but I didn't realize it was pretty much only us scoring this badly.

I think Krugman makes a good point to address the average American's work schedule. Noting that full-time American workers average 46 weeks a year versus their counterparts oversees working only 41. Krugman makes a point to mention that this added stress could be a major reason Americans are having so many problems with their health.

BUT most importantly (and I think this needs more research) is the way healthcare is conducted in the United States. Krugman mention this as well in his article. Healthcare providers in the United States are out to make as much money as they can, they are businesses after all and rely on profits to succeed and grow. Now, the way that healthcare providers make money is by treating sick people. So I would say that their goal is to treat as many sick people as they possibly can.

My point is that if an American doctor had a cure to your disease and had the option to treat the symptoms or the cause of the disease he/she would choose to treat the symptoms. This way you would feel better for a while, but that you would come back, needing their services again.  I think this is why Americans are so sick all the time, because of the billion dollar a year healthcare industry.


Source:
Paul Krugman, “Our Sick Society,” NYT, May 5, 2006 (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/05/opinion/05krugman.html?_r=0)

(9) What a Saturday Night!

Last night was undoubtedly one of the best Saturday nights I've had in a while; I got to sleep 11 hours and it was amazing all the way through.

But I've started my story too far in. Last week was crazy busy for me. I buckled down and finished all of my homework for a little while. Friday night was the icing on the cake. I stayed up until about 2am doing homework that wasn't due for a week or so, it felt so good. The next morning I woke at 7am for some intense birding with Dr. Pyeatt (y'all missed out btw). We saw a barn owl, ladder backed woodpecker, and all the doves. And a lot of other stuff that Dr. Pyeatt was spotting before I could think. Of yeah, a kestral, that was a falcon we saw. Anyways, after that I headed to do some odd jobs, painting for a few hours. Then off to the football game to sell some Kenyan jewelry to the rowdy Wayland fans. Below, a pic. of our awesome handmade jewlery! After that it was back to odd jobs until dark.

I ended the day a little while after sunset. When I climbed into bed I was too tired to even want to look at my phone. The next thing I knew I was waking up at 10am and feeling amazing. Best. Sleep. Ever.

(8) A Weekend of Camping

This past weekend I got to go on an AWESOME geology trip to northern New Mexico. Before the trip I was looking forward to seeing the mountains, enjoying the sunlight, and the long nights of sleep away from any city lights. However, only most of my wishes camp true. Maybe I had inflated my expectations of the trip just a little bit.

It's been so long since I've been camping I forgot a lot of the struggles sleeping outside can bring. On almost every night of the trip I woke up cold or in pain from the hard ground. I realized it's not quite the same as the low altitude Texas camping I grew up on. I plan on conducting a little research about how to stay warm at high altitudes before I return to New Mexico next month for a fishing trip.

Another thing I'll have to avoid is outdoorsy thriller movies. I had recently watched a movie call Backcountry on Netflix. The gist of the movie was that a hungry black bear terrorizes two hikers. Since I was in bear country, I couldn't help thinking there was a bear lurking in the dark waiting to come get me... not fun at night.

(7) I'm Going to Get in my Vacations Now!

In the article Please Don't Make Me Go on Vacation, author Rosenbloom stated that the "American vacation is dying." Frankly, that worries me. In a few years I will be entering the workforce, and a few years after that I hope to have the discretionary income to sustain all of my vacation wishes.

What happens when my dreams are clouted by my fears of falling behind my peers? What will I decide? I know that I am very competitive when it comes to accomplishing a goal. The article has me thinking that I will be one of the late-nighters, fighting for the next promotion. In fact, I know I will be. Assuming I will always be looking for upward growth, it's likely I won't be taking my vacation until I begin my midlife crisis, realizing I never took the time to do what I wanted to do.

In order to mitigate my impending regret, I think I will take as many vacations as I can now. During a time when I can't move upward any faster by working longer hours. For the next two years, my class schedule has been predetermined. I know what I've accomplished and where I plan on going, up until I walk across that stage. So, I think I'm going to enjoy my free time while I have it. I will use college as a time to take advantage of the freedom of adulthood and the blessing of three day weekends.

Rosenbloom, S. (2006). Please Don’t Make Me Go on Vacation. Retrieved from The New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/10/fashion/10vacation.html?_r=0&ex=1155960000&pagewanted=all

 

I Don't Want Heart Issues

Recently, a Russian study found that "men who sleep badly are twice as likely to suffer a heart attack and up to four times as likely to have a stroke compared with those who slept well." Historically, sleep disorders have been related to cardiovascular diseases, but this study was the first the first to reveal the strong correlation between sleep disorders and the development of heart failures. While sleep is only one of the factors that can contribute to cardiovascular diseases, it is thought to be a crucial one.

The evidence presented by this research is convincing enough to me that I will continue to get a good night's rest for the rest of my life if I want it to be a very long one. The best explanation for this is that my body needs that time in NREM sleep in order to restore its physical self. Without that time my body will slowly wear down over time, similar to what happens to an engine without oil.


References:

Minerd, J. (n.d.). Sleeplessness Bad for the Heart. Retrieved from MedPage Today: http://www.medpagetoday.com/Cardiology/MyocardialInfraction/52154

My Roommate's Alarm

Imagine this, you doze off eager about the night's rest ahead because tomorrow will be a day of the week that you get to sleep in for and extra hour or two! When you wake, however, you don't wake up to your alarm but your roommates. An annoying little ding that has been dinging for what seems like forever. You become hot and bothered while pulling a pillow over your head, but the person who the alarm was intended for is either fast asleep or too lazy to turn it off.

This is how I start many of my mornings. While I am usually able to go back to sleep, my roommates alarm is no doubt interrupting my sleep cycles. Time after time his alarm wakes me up before himself. I can't express how frustrating this is!

The only solution I could think of would be to have him put his phone on the other side of the bed, further away from me. Maybe this will be enough to allow me to sleep through his early morning wake ups.

Any other suggestions?

Sleep patterns of college students.

I knew before starting this article that college students generally don't set the best example for ideal sleep patterns. But reading about some of the detrimental effects of sleep deprivation is making me re-think my own sleep patterns.

Most often when I drive at night I become very dreary and end up swerving all over the road. I try and try to wake myself up, usually to no avail. I learned that some aren't as lucky as I have been to avoid an accident while driving tired. Forquer reports that nearly "55% of sleep-related accidents involve individuals younger than 25 years" (2008, para. 2).

I do find it interesting that they measured bedtimes and rise times, finding that "bedtimes on weekends were more than 1 hour later and rise times were more that 2 hours later"(Forquer, 2008, para.7). I would think this is a pretty common archetype among college students around the nation (private and public). I would have like to see a comparison of what the average adults' bedtime and rise times are. I doubt it is only public college students who follow this pattern of increased weekend activity.

I found myself relating to many of this major sleep issues listed as common among the students including: hearing a noise from someone else, needing to use the restroom, and stressing about something. I also wake frequently throughout the night like 21% of other college students.

Lastly, the author offers some advice on how to achieve a better night's sleep. One method being creating a consistent circadian rhythm (falling asleep at the same time each night). The also mentioned that naps should be kept to less than 1 hour, beds should only be used for sleeping, and that a bedroom should be a comfortable place.

Reference:
Forquer, LeAnne. Camden, Adrian. Gabriau, Krista, Johnson, C. (2008) Sleep Patterns of College Students at a Public University. Journal of American College Health Print, Volume 56, 563-565.

Labor Day Weekend

Well, Labor Day weekend was extremely fun to say the least, but I am so glad to be back at school so that I can catch up on my sleep! I averaged about 5 hours a night over the holiday weekend and it's catching up with me. I would say it was worth it though. Missed sleep can be made up but you don't get a second chance at a missed adventure.

Day after day I could feel myself getting tired and grumpy more easily during the day. Now that the weekend is over, I plan to restore my sleep reserves because I am operating with a semi-large sleep deficit. I am definitely not 100% today; I was dozing off on the way back to Plainview this morning, I struggled through my wrestling workout, and I am dreading a night class that I have enjoyed in past weeks.

All I know is that tonight should be a glorious night of sleep, assuming I get all my homework done at a decent time!

No One Fully Understands Sleep!?

If you spent a third of your life doing something, wouldn't you be able to explain why you were doing it? Of course you would!! As it turns out, we all do something for nearly a third of our lives and cannot truly explain why, sleep.

Yes we know that we need sleep because of how we feel when we don't get it. We also know that sleep is good for us because of the way it makes us feel when we finally tuck into the covers at night. We know sleep is good because sometimes just the thought of it can bring that nostalgic feeling of the night before.

This intrinsic knowledge of sleep is what drives the science and research of our slumber today. Even the experts admit that they do not have a good answer for why we need to sleep. They have measured brain waves and studied test subjects but there is still no widley accepted answer for sleep. Maybe our class will have a break-though this semester and finally be able to explain sleep to the world!