College Of Veterinary Medicine: Health & Wellness

Hello, I'm back! This week, Liz, Alex, and I all traveled to the University's College Of Veterinary Medicine for a lecture on health and wellness. Here we are. I look like a chic blind man. 

This lecture informed us on marijuana, energy drinks, and technology in today's world. This topic must be pretty interesting because it brought quite the crowd. 

I see some old vets, do you?! Anyways, the first speaker (Photograph Below) is Dan. He informed us on Marijuana. The scientific word for marijuana is cannabis. I think Dan enjoys his weed. He is very pro-cannabis. He starts off his lecture by stating that there has never been an overdose fatality, so cannabis is not dangerous. However, it is considered a gateway drug, and opens one's mind up to trying other hardcore drugs like cocaine. Cannabis isn't dangerous, but the person smoking it can abuse other drugs in the future. 52.6% of people that go to rehab for cannabis are not in rehab because they are addicted to it, but instead are just trying to avoid jail time. Most people would rather be in rehab than jail. Not only is this drug non addictive or dangerous, Dan also informed the group that it helps slow growth of tumors, breast cancers, and leukemia. Cannabis prolonged the lives of 36% of mice being tested for tumor shrinkage. Dan thinks the U.S should legalize weed. Last November, Washington and Colorado legalized it. He has seen the heartbreak of people die of cancer waiting for the states to legalize the harmless drug. 

After Dan, the next speaker stepped up. Her name is Yvette (photograph below). Yvette spoke to us about energy drinks. Consumers spend billions of dollars on energy drinks yearly in the U.S. The first original energy drink was Coca-Cola. Back in the day, it actually used to have cocaine in it. Coca-Cola actually isn't that bad for you. Energy drinks have 3 times more caffeine in them than coke. Energy drinks have positives and negatives. For positives, Yvette explains that they enhance reaction time for drivers, increase alertness, and upper body strength. Negatives include insomnia, anxiety, cardiac issues, and seizures. over the years, E.R. visits have increased in Caffeine Toxicity and Cardiac Arrhythmia. In fact, Monster has been sued for the death of a 14 year old girl who died due to Cardiac Arrhythmia. All in all, there has been 18 deaths: 5 with Monster, 11 with 5-hour energy shots. Yvette then talked about the worst of products: Four Loko. This is an energy drink mixed with alcohol, caffeine, and sugar. This product reduces one's awareness of how intoxicated you are. The caffeine prevents you from passing out, making you think you aren't that drunk and people end up drinking way more than normal alcoholic drinks. In November 2010, due to the deaths of Four Loko, all energy drinks were reformulated without the caffeine or they were taken off the shelf. 

The last speaker (Didn't catch his name) spoke very briefly about the myths of cell phones causing brain cancer. Many believe the radiation from cell phones trigger cancer cells, but it's a myth. Cell phones in the U.S. meet a safe absorbable level. There have been 3 studies where the radiation causes an increase in cancer cells, but there were a contrasting 7 studies that show no increase after 10 years of use. Over the years, people say brain tumors have become more frequent, but that could be due to the fact that cancer technology has drastically improved and doctors are much more successful in finding tumors. 

So all in all, this lecture has taught me that a smoke a day will keep the doctor away, Coca-Cola really isn't that bad and it can continue to be my favorite food, and cell phones are not villains. 

See you next week!!!

MWUAH! <3

  

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Hypnotist Steve Marino

Hi. This is me, Gino Baileau. I look like a floating head, but at least my face is glowing like that of a pregnant woman. I'm a photography major at the University of Illinois, and yesterday I attended a free event hosted by the Illini Union where a well known performer was putting on a show for students.

As you can see, me and my friend Alex were pretty excited about this event, and it drew a pretty large crowd. 

This is Steve Marino. He's from Boston, but performs across the country in places like Hawaii, Las Vegas, the Caribbean, and other major cities. He's also performed on national television. He travels to high school and colleges to entertain young crowds with audiences ranging anywhere from 30-1,000 people per show. He said he first began hypnosis when he was a math teacher in his younger years, and used it as a technique to relax his students before exams. 

After the show, I asked Mr. Marino more about the history of hypnosis to broaden my horizons on the subject. Apparently, the study of hypnosis goes all the way back to the 1700's with psychologists like Franz Mesmer and Sigmund Freud. In the past, a lot of these people believed that hypnosis was caused by magnetic fields from the universe. Some people were thought to have the ability to pick up certain waves that most humans couldn't. Today, hypnosis is simply defined as a psychological state of sleep marked by a functioning individual at a level of awareness other than ordinary conscious state. According to Marino, hypnosis is not a talent of picking up magnetic fields, but rather relaxing an individual so deep into their own mind where all consciousness is heightened.

Now to talk about the show. First, as seen on the photo on the left, Marino called 3 random individuals up on to the stage from the audience. He had one of the individuals shuffle the deck three times in front of everyone. Then each of the three individuals pick a card and think about the card in their mind. He takes a moment and says the color, number, and suit of the card. All three people go back to their seats. Next, he calls up about 30 people from the audience. 

He talks all of the random people into a tranquil, relaxing state of mind with all of their eyes closed (left). That takes about 5 minutes. Then, he goes one by one and taps each person on the shoulder and says "Sleep" (right). The individuals fall into a limp relaxation. 

Now, the people are in a state of unconsciousness, and will do anything hypnotist Steve Marino demands. Marino tells them to do outlandish things, such as making them play a piano that keeps floating up to the sky over your head (seen on the right).

The show then goes on, and he weeds out the people he knows are "faking" the hypnotic state, and only a few people are left on stage. He makes these people perform even crazier things, such as hug the complete stranger next to you intimately, shown on the left, and dance ballet and give lap dances, shown on the right. 

Skeptics, like myself, could obviously beleive that al of these people are faking their state of hypnosis. It seems way too far-fetched to be real. Nonetheless, it was an experience and I learned about something I had no knowledge of before my attendance to the event. For more information on this performer, visit his website at www.SteveMarino.com

Now, let's acknowledge the real topic of the evening: HOW BOMB WAS MY OUTFIT?! 

See you next week

MWUAH! 

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Vote For Linda!!!

Hey followers!!! Please take the time to vote for this Marvelous woman, Linda, by clicking this link and liking this photo on Facebook to help her win this contest!

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