The Myth: Peeing On A Jellyfish Sting Will Relieve Pain.

It is a safe bet to say that about 70% of people today have heard the myth that if they were to get stung by a jellyfish, they should have someone pee on it to relieve symptoms of stinging and swelling. Opposite to popular belief, peeing on a jellyfish sting does not relieve stinging or swelling, yet has been shown to increase such symptoms and worsen the severity of the jellyfish sting (Fact or Fiction).

  

           It is unclear as to the point in which peeing on a jellyfish sting became a popular belief, yet several factors in history aided in the vast following of such belief. The term “urine therapy” is a common form of alternative medicine in which human urine is used for medical or cosmetic application. The use of urine for medicinal purposes dates back to ancient times, reportedly used in Rome, Christianity, Hinduism, and France, to whiten teeth, cure sores, cancer and disease, and strep throat.

Though urine therapy may have supported the belief that peeing on a jellyfish sting is beneficial, nothing influenced its vast following than the television show FRIENDS. In 1997, FRIENDS, a television show that grossed over 15 million viewers aired an episode in which one of the characters, Monica, got stung by a jellyfish on a beach trip. Joey, another character mentioned watching a documentary in which peeing on a jellyfish sting would lessen the pain. In the episode, Joey and Chandler urinate on her jellyfish sting, and Monica was cured (Curtin, C. 2007). Since television is such an influential source of media in today’s era, society took this episode as fact, thus the myth was created.

Skewed Science Backing

               There are some scientific truths about urine that may positively influence the belief of peeing on a jellyfish sting as a remedy, thus continuing its popular belief. According to wiseGeek, urine is ph-balanced, non-toxic, anti-viral and anti-bacterial. This allows it to be the perfect remedy for acne, cuts, abrasions, wounds, and infections of the skin. Another scientific reason, by which people believe this myth, yet lack proper interpretation, is due to urine containing uric acid. People believe that uric acid is used to neutralize pain since other acids such as baking soda, alcohol, and vinegar do so. Urine is mostly freshwater regardless of how much uric acid it contains. Freshwater on a jellyfish sting will disrupt the ph-balance, causing the nematocysts to flare and release more venom (aquaviews.net). These true, yet misrepresented facts about urine are suggested to be the basis for why people believed this myth to be true in the past as well as in today’s society.

                 Jellyfish stings are a common occurrence estimating at 150 million cases every year. The symptoms range from skin inflammation, itching, burning sensation, rash, and erythematic wheals. When a jellyfish stings, cells release venom containing neurotoxic peptides, bioactive lipids, and pore forming toxins (Tibballs, et al, 2011). These cells contain nematocysts, which are distributed throughout the entire tentacle. After the initial sting from a jellyfish, nematocysts can still be on the skin. Pressure from pulling them off can induce more venom to be secreted causing more pain (Curtin, C, 2007). Urinating on the sting will also cause more venom to be released because; urine will disrupt the ph-balance between the inside and outside of the cell. Since nematocysts are accustomed to salt water, urine being freshwater will only agitate the nematocysts resulting in further discharge of venom. Another complication occurred by peeing on a jellyfish sting suggest bacteria from the urethra as urine leaves the body can cause infection.

                                      Photo credit: iStock

             With research and proper utilization of scientific evidence, one can deem peeing on a jellyfish sting, a myth that if followed, can cause more damage than believed. Suggested treatment for jellyfish stings involve rising with salt water, which does not disrupt the ph-balance of the nematocysts, and the use of vinegar which has been proven to inhibit nematocysts discharge. Fortunately many sources online have disputed the myth, giving scientific evidence suggesting alternate beneficial forms of treatment. Even with suggestions leading away from peeing on jellyfish stings, many people who have experienced the occurrence first hand report feeling relief from urine on the sting. Thus, continuing the myth’s common popular following.

 Curtin, C. (Jan, 4, 2007). Fact or Fiction? Urinating on a Jellyfish Sting is an Effective Treatment. Scientific American. Retrieved from

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=fact-or-fiction-urinating

Tibballs, J., A Yanagihara, Angel, C Turner, Helen, & Winkel, K. (2011).

Immunological and Toxinological Responses to Jellyfish Stings. Inflammation And Allergy- Drug Targets, 10(5), 438-446.

Doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.2174/187152811797200650

Is soda really good?

Do you drink soda? What is your favorite? Do you know the negative effects of it? A research shows that in the U.S, about 25,000 deaths in 2010 were linked to drinking sugar sweetened beverages. Most people don't know how dangerous drinking soda can actually be. In most families soda is the norm. It tastes good, therefore it is good. Knowing some side effects of soda can help you live a healthy life.

Image from  gethealthysmc.org

Kidney

The kidneys are important excretory organs of the body. Carbonated soft drinks always include an amount of minerals, additives, colorants , preservatives ... these substances go into the body causing damage to the kidneys , and increase the risk of kidney stones . In an article published on Health.com, Dr. Anil Agarwal, a kidney specialist at the Ohio State University stated, “The new study suggests that even individuals with normal kidney function are at risk for damage if they drink too much soda".

Diabetes

Researchers studied diet and drinking habits of about 28,500 people from different countries over a period of 15 years discovered that people who consumed a 12 oz serving of a sugared-beverage on average daily — about the size of a soda can — had a greater risk of developing diabetes compared to people who drank a can once a month or less (Time).

Teeth damage

Sugar isn't the only thing in soda that is bad for teeth, but the acids included in many soft drinks eat away enamel and make teeth more vulnerable. Adults who drink three or more sodas a day have worse dental health, says a University of Michigan analysis of dental checkup data. Soda drinkers had far greater decay, more missing teeth, and more fillings.

Obesity

You may think that “I drink diet coke with no sugar or calories. That’s the perfect way to lose weight.” Not really true. According to a lifehack.org article, artificial sweeteners trigger insulin, which sends your body into fat storage mode and leads to weight gain. One study found that for each additional 12-ounce soda children consumed each day, the odds of becoming obese increased by 60% during 1½ years of follow-up.

Heart

According to University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and at Columbia University Medical Center, individuals who drink diet soft drinks on a daily basis may be at increased risk of suffering vascular events such as stroke, heart attack, and vascular death. Their study found that diet soda devotees were 43 percent more likely to have experienced a vascular event than those who drank none.

Bones

According to the National Osteoporosis Foundation, roughly 55 percent of Americans, mostly women, are at risk of developing the brittle-bone disease, which leaves bones dry, weak, and more likely to fracture. "The more cola that women drank, the lower their bone mineral density was," said Katherine Tucker, study author and director of the Epidemiology and Dietary Assessment Program at Tufts University (abcnews.com).

Of course, soda has become a popular drink and it's unlikely that you are going to quit drinking it altogether. But you can decrease your chances of suffering from those damages by limiting the amount of soda that you drink every day. I'm not sure if i ever drank coke with milk together in the past, but after watching the video below I swear that I will never do it.

                                

Drinking Tea. Why not?

Drinking tea has existed for thousands years, and yet this practice still continues today. There are many kinds of tea, but in this blog I would like to talk about three main types: white, green, and black. Different teas have different health benefits. People should drink a specific type of tea according to their own specific needs.

White tea is the least oxidized of all types of tea; this makes it possible to drink in large quantity without getting the jitters, fast heartbeat, and stomach upset that coffee usually causes (Edgar, n.d.). In humans, bone growth starts to decrease with age, so it is a good idea to start drinking white tea to help strengthening the bones. White tea has a high level of calcium and fluoride, so “people who drank white tea regularly shown to have a greater bone density and strength compared to non-drinker” ("Health Benefits of White Tea”, n.d). The fluoride in white tea may help people maintain healthy teeth and gums. For many women, wrinkles come with aging. Drinking white tea also helps slow down the aging process. According to Professor Declan Naughton, many researches have showed that white tea had anti-ageing potential and prevented activities of the enzymes which breakdown elastin and collagen. Elastin supports the body’s natural elasticity which helps skin from sagging while collagen is important for skin, strength and elasticity (“White Tea Could Keep You Healthy and Looking Young”, 2009). 

Green tea is made from un-oxidized leaves and is the least processed type of tea and therefore contains the most antioxidants and beneficial polyphenols. When green tea is brewed without adding any additives, it contains no calories (Nordqvist, 2014). According to Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, green tea appears to help control glucose and insulin and keep the gastrointestinal system well running (Ungar, 2013). Even though all teas come from the same plant, Camellia sinensis, green tea has the most catechins, and therefore, green tea should be consumed if one needs help with weight loss. Green tea is also effective against eliminating free radicals. “The anti-oxidants in green tea helps protect against damage cause by ultraviolet UVB radiation” (Ungar, 2013). In 2006 study published in Journal of the American Medical association concluded that green tea consumption is associated with reduced morality due to all causes, including cardiovascular. The study followed over 40,000 Japanese participants starting in 1994. The participants who drank at least 5 cups of green tea per day had a significantly lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease than those who drank less than one cup of tea per day (Ungar, 2013). 

Besides white tea and green tea, black tea also has its own health benefits. Black tea is the most oxidized tea which makes it have high levels of caffeine to provide a boost of energy, raising a person’s alertness (Edgar, n.d.). Another benefit of black tea is that it can protect lungs from damage caused by inhaling cigarette smoke. A study from England showed that a group of guinea pigs that were exposed to cigarette smoke, the ones that were given black tea were prevented from the side-effects of smoking (Edgar, n.d.). Black tea can also help lower the risk of ovarian cancer. Researchers in Sweden studied tea consumption and ovarian cancer in more than 60 thousand women over a 15 year period. They found out that women had 46 percent lower risk of ovarian cancer if drank two or more cups of tea a day than those who did not drink tea (Dakss, 2005). 

It’s obvious that drinking tea brings a lot of advantages. A cup of tea every morning helps us improve our body's resistance, enhance vitality and prevent diseases. I think I should switch over to tea from coffee from now on. 

Reference

Dakss, Brian. (2005). Tea May Cut Ovarian Cancer Risk. CBSNews. Retrieved from http://www.cbsnews.com/news/tea-may-cut-ovarian-cancer-risk/

Edgar, Julie. Types of Teas and Their Health Benefits. WebMD. Retrieved from http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/tea-types-and-their-health-benefits

Health Benefits Of White Tea. N.d. Retrieved from http://www.whiteteaguide.com/whiteteahealthbenefits.htm

Kingston University. (2009). White Tea Could Keep You Healthy And Looking Young. ScienceDaily. Retrieved April 25, 2014 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090810085312.htm

Nordqvist, Joseph. (2014). What are the health benefits of green tea?. Medical News Today. MediLexicon, Intl. Retrieved from http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/269538

Ungar, Laura. (2013). Tea’s health benefits boost its popularity. The Washington Post. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/teas-health-benefits-boost-its-popularity/2013/04/01/be818cfe-6ef5-11e2-aa58-243de81040ba_story.html

Canned Foods Cause Cancer

         

          After interviewing friends and family members, the most common myth that attracted the most interest and brought about uncertainty was whether eating canned goods was a health hazard to consumers, specifically, if it causes cancer.  Health has always been one of the top priorities of everyone’s daily lives.  Therefore, it is important to know the health benefits available as well as the health risks exposed.  An insight on the possible health issues that may be comprised in canned goods could provide valuable information to consumers to allow them to make the proper decision when deciding whether to cook a fresh meal or opt on eating something out of a can that does not require much cooking.

            The canning industry started as far back as around 1814, when a navy Admiral requested to test preserved meat on sick sailors.  However, canned foods were not publicly accepted until around 1830, when canned foods such as tomatoes, peas and sardines were available (Rees, page 10).  During the beginning of the canning industry, botulism was a serious issue that obstructed the business of canning.  Botulism is a disease due to an enterotoxin formed by the growth of botulinum micro-organisms.  Later on, safety factors were used in commercial canning which removed the implication of botulism in commercial canned foods (Fitzgerald, page 697-698).  Although, home canned foods, in contrast to commercially canned foods, were continuing to cause sickness and death, at the time, due to non-standardized techniques in canning.  As time passed, health regulations are formed and further safety factors are drawn to improve canned foods to abide by the regulations to prevent health risk issues.

            There are mixed beliefs and information provided for canned foods and the effects that canned foods have on human health.  Researchers are ongoing to determine the possible health issues available in canned goods.  The current debate regarding food packaging is in the use of an epoxy-based resin containing bisphenol A (BPA) in metal can liners.  The National Toxicology Program released evidence that BPA possibly possesses toxicity that affects the brain and prostate gland in fetuses, infants and children who are exposed to levels that are documented as an average exposure for the general population of the U.S.  The Federal Drug and Administration did not pass a regulation on BPA because they believed that further research is needed (Environmental Health Perspectives).

            With health being one of the top priorities, if there are any signs of possible health risks, one would think that a temporary ban of the substance should be passed until further research is done to consider if the substance is in fact safe or hazardous to humans or any other life forms.  In the present case, BPA has been shown by some researchers to possibly have severe health issues.

            BPA has been linked to a variety of health problems that include prostate cancer (Main, page 1).  Further, animal model experiments have shown that BPA may have a long-term effect on endocrine systems which in turn influence tumor development later in life (Moral, page 102).  These possible risks should definitely raise a red flag and cause action of at least temporarily banning BPA until further researches are available to definitively show that BPA is safe or at least at what specific amounts would be safe.

            After some throughout research, it is still uncertain whether canned foods would in fact cause cancer but there are definitely possible health risks in each canned food product.  Many researchers have been done, specifically on BPA, which have shown mixed results of the effects of BPA on the health of model organisms and humans.   While further researches are continually being performed, caution should be taken when deciding whether to purchase canned foods or preparing a fresh home cooked meal. 

Environmental Health Perspectives, volume 120, number 6, A222-A237, June 2012

Fitzgerald, Gerald A., American Journal of Public Health, Volume 37, 695-701, 1947.

Main, Emily. "We Recommend." Canned Food Carries a Hidden Health Risk. N.p., n.d. Retrieved from http://www.rodalenews.com/plastic-chemicals-and-canned-products

Moral, Raquel, Wang, Richard, Russo Irma H, Coral A Lamartiniere1, Julia Pereira and Jose Russo, “Effect of prenatal exposure to the endocrine disruptor bisphenol A on mammary gland morphology and gene expression signature” Journal of Endocrinology (2008) 196, 101–112.

Rees, J.A.G., “Processing and Packaging Heat Preserved Foods”, edited by J.A.G. Rees, J. Bettison, 9-10, 1991

Five- Second Rule for Dropped Food

     

     Food safety has always been a concern for our daily lives since the beginning of scientific researching and awareness of health risks. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 76 million Americans are sickened, 325,000 are hospitalized, and 5,000 die each year because of something they ate (Schlosser). Part of the problem is that the food is not clean, therefore, there are many rules and regulations that are applied food provided to the general public nowadays. One of the most popular rules is the “five-second rule” for dropped food. Lots of mothers know this five-second rule, a common superstition, which says that food dropped on the ground will not be contaminated with bacteria if it is picked up within five seconds of being dropped. Yet, many scientists have proved that peoples’ beliefs have a lack of science.

     As to the true origin of the rule no one really knows; many believe the rule has been around as long as the Golden Rule. Virtually unchanged since olden days, the rule has indeed been around for thousands of years. The farther we look back into history the longer duration the Five Second Rule has. For example: Historians have traced the Five Second Rule all the way back to the time of Barbarians and the great Genghis Khan. Back then, the Five Second Rule was known as the Khan Rule. As his army marched across Europe and Asia, he would present his generals with a great banquet after each victory. At the banquet, Khan made sure there was plenty of food and drinks for everyone and informed his generals of his only banquet rule. Any food fallen on the floor could stay on the floor as long as The Great Khan said it could stay on the floor,  it would still be safe to eat. (Ryckeley).

     In May 2007, scientists at Clemson University in South Carolina decided to find out just how much bacteria stick to food as well as to various floor surfaces. By applying a salmonella soup to tile, wood and nylon carpet, the researchers were able to not only see how long the germs lived in those environments, but also how many of the micromenaces transferred to slices of bread and bologna. The researchers discovered that salmonella could survive on all three surfaces for up to four weeks and that they thrived particularly well on the carpet. As experiencing how quickly the germs climbed aboard the bologna and bread, it was found that the longer the contact with the floor, no matter what the surface, the higher the transfer of germs. So, when left on the floor for just five seconds, both foods picked up between 150 and 8,000 bacteria. But if they were left for a full minute, the rate was magnified 10 times. (Franco).

     Even though many scientists have warned people that five second rule is just the myth,  in this high-tech life, the majority of people still believe that the five second rule is truth. They are not only following it, they also tell their kids to apply it as a science rule. This rule is totally fiction. People just want to follow this rule because they try to give an excuse to salvage expensive food, or as an incantation to ward off sickness. Yet, the five-second rule probably should become the zero-second rule. Eating dropped food poses a risk for ingestion of bacteria and subsequent gastrointestinal disease, and the time the food sits on the floor does not change the risk.

Franco, Michael. Does the Five Second Rule Really Work? Retrieved from http://science.howstuffworks.com/science-vs-myth/everyday-myths/five-second-rule.htm

Ryckeley, Rick. (2002 September). About the Five-second Rule and Genghis Khan. Retrieved from http://www.thecitizen.com/archive/main/archive-020927/opinion/op-03.html

Scholosser, Eric. (2006 December). Has Politics Contaminated the Food Supply?.The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/11/opinion/11schlosser.html?pagewanted=all