So…coffee. The drink most people say starts their day off right. Most people drink regular, caffeinated coffee – the primary reason being that it elevates their mood and energy in the mornings. But for some of us, it’s against medical … Continue reading Substances: Decaf Coffee and Teens
Recently, I watched a documentary on Netflix called Human Nature. It talked about a gene modification tool called CRISPR, which stands for Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats. Now, how does that gene editing tool work? Here’s a brief synopsis: … Continue reading CRISPR and Netflix’s Human Nature Documentary
Hey! Welcome to the next entry…let’s talk about teens and caffeinated drinks. Now, I feel like a lot of us wouldn’t think of caffeine as a traditional substance, because it isn’t thought of as something that usually harms people. But recently, I learned in Driver’s Ed that caffeine is a stimulant, so it can raise your blood pressure/epinephrine level and make you feel lightheaded or dizzy (which can be harmful while driving). But I was curious to learn whether there are any, possibly more harmful side effects to drinking caffeine (for both adults and teens)…and it turns out that unfortunately, … Continue reading Substances: Caffeine and Teens
Hi there! As we know, our world in 2021 is in a crazy, chaotic state. Yes, we’ve gotten vaccines to help prevent the spread of COVID-19, but with that there are also many new concerns arising (questions from parents asking, should I get my children vaccinated? Are the vaccines safe? What are possible harmful side effects my family could get from the vaccines? Which vaccine has been shown to have the least number of side effects?). And these are all valid questions to be asking! I myself have been vaccinated, but I understand why a lot of people could be … Continue reading COVID Series
Hey there – in this series, I hope to explore the different substances teenagers are known to be using, and dive into the big question of why. The past 20 years have seen massive growth; with the boom of the tech industry, to the rise of social media. While these changes have definitely brought numerous benefits to people around the world, allowing us to connect in a way that we couldn’t before (namely stay in touch during a global pandemic this year) like anything, they also have their downsides. Social media has brought increased pressure on teens, to look and … Continue reading Substances Series
Hello again! I’ll be continuing my substances series here by talking about the effects of alcohol on teens. Here’s the TED Ed video I watched to get a quick intro into the topic: Now, the CDC says that underage drinking is a serious health problem in the US – where overdrinking is responsible for 3,500+ deaths in people under 21 per year. In 2013, there were about 119,000 visits to the emergency room made by people ages 12 – 21 for conditions linked to alcohol consumption. In the US, Alcohol is the most commonly used substance in minors. Historically, underage … Continue reading Substances: Alcohol and Teens
Happy Thursday! I’m starting a new series called Substances. In this series, I plan to tackle all different types of substances, specifically targeting their effects on teens. As a teenager myself, I think educating myself about all of the substances out there is definitely important – and my hope is that for all of the readers out there, these short blog posts will help them learn a little more about substances too. The video linked above will give you a brief overview of possible side effects of marijuana in teenagers. For more information, this article by the CDC goes more … Continue reading Substances: Marijuana and Teens
Recently, I found myself walking around the city with my mom, and I noticed an asbestos danger sign near a construction site. I had no idea what asbestos was, so my mom told me an interesting story about her time in college, and how there was construction going on in her dorm. She remembered that the air began getting really thick and dusty until one of her worried dorm-mates asked the construction workers to test the air for asbestos. The test came back positive and over the regular safety levels, and my mom and her friends had to evacuate the … Continue reading Asbestos – Beneficial or Belligerent?
I had my annual doctor’s check up recently, and they requested that I get a blood draw. The lady that took my blood used multiple bottles (seems like to me I got a full work up) and I was wondering what those bottles meant. How does isolating different parts of my blood check for liver and kidney function, when the doctors will be looking at my blood – and not the actual organs? How do doctors diagnose diseases/conditions based on my blood, and are there certain conditions that are more prevalent in mixed racial communities? Being mixed racial, I’d certainly … Continue reading Blood Draw Bottles – How are they Categorized?
During my research on myocarditis and its correlation to the COVID-19 vaccine and teens, I noticed that pericarditis was also on the CDC’s list of possible COVID-19 mRNA vaccine complications. Please feel free to read my previous blog post about myocarditis – but here, we’re going to jump into learning about what pericarditis is and danger signs to look out for that might tell you that you have it. Slight detour here – but I think it’s pretty fascinating that increased rates of myocarditis and pericarditis have only been found with mRNA vaccines. I wonder what the composition of the … Continue reading Pericarditis and COVID – Another Possible Concern
History/Philosophy of Science with Gabi 