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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