Health & Science

A fight for planet earth

Connie Tomasino Health & Science , , , , , ,

earth.gifBOSTON- Bill McKibben, an American environmentalist and author who frequently writes about global warming, alternative energy, and the risks associated with human genetic engineering, spoke at the Institute of Contemporary Art in downtown Boston on Saturday, Nov. 22, 2008, stating that our generation is the last hope for the planet regarding global warming.

Formerly president of the Harvard Crimson newspaper at Harvard University, McKibben joined the New Yorker magazine as a staff writer after graduating, and wrote much of the “Talk of the Town” column from 1982 to early 1987. Continue reading →

My journey as a diabetic

Katlyn Murray Health & Science , , , , ,

BOSTON — I was 13 years old in November 1999 when I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes,  a hereditary disease that consists of only 5-10 percent of all cases of diabetes.  It is also something I will live with for the rest of my life.

Coming off the bus that day in the beginning of my seventh grade year, I was ready to go to a doctor’s appointment with my mother, but didn’t know exactly why I was going.  I had been complaining for the previous couple weeks about always being thirsty, constantly going to the bathroom, and not being able to see the board in school as well.  I also lost a little weight, but I wasn’t complaining about that! I didn’t think I was sick, but my mother insisted I see the doctor anyway.  Continue reading →

College induced stress with body image

Alison Mulholland Health & Science, Opinion , , ,

BOSTON — Many college students fear the dreaded “freshman 15” and will go to extreme measures to keep their comfortable, youthful image.  Eating disorders, obsessive gym habits and stresses over body image are all too common with college students.  I, myself, struggled with maintaining my desired physique.

Beer and pizza…Need I say more?  The late night call to Dominos is definitely a popular event in the world of college students; especially those living in dormitories.  The food at my university’s dining hall is repulsive.  Often those cravings for a good delivery pizza take over and afterward I wonder why I gave in to such temptation?

Continue reading →

Renowned women’s health scholar lectures on media falsities

Alison Mulholland Health & Science , ,

4913.jpgBOSTON–Judy Norsigian, a prominent women’s health scholar, visited Suffolk University on Oct. 30, 2008, to present a Lowell Lecture, “The Media and Women’s Health: Sorting Fact from Fiction,” exploring numerous women’s health topics from childbirth to cosmetic surgery.  Norsigian has been an advocate for the education of factual information dealing with women’s health.

Norsigian graduated from Radcliffe College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1970.  In 1971, she wrote the book Our Bodies, Ourselves with a group of liberated women destined to raise the awareness of women’s health.  The rise of this book led to the creation of Our Bodies Ourselves, a non-profit organization dedicated to the education, advocacy and awareness of women’s well being.  Continue reading →

Hair-pullers: Suffering in silence

Jess Huckins Features, Health & Science , , , , ,

BOSTON — When I was in high school, I never left the house without a pair of tweezers nestled comfortably in my purse. The fear that I would need them but that they wouldn’t be there greatly outweighed any anxiety or embarrassment I felt regarding the reason for carrying them; all that mattered was that they were easily-accessible when I felt the urge to pull.

In tenth grade, I was diagnosed with an impulse-control disorder called trichotillomania, commonly referred to as “TTM” or “trich.” This psychological condition is described by the American Psychiatric Association as “the recurrent pulling of one’s own hair with the potential for considerable hair loss.” As a 15-year-old struggling with depression, social anxiety, and a group of friends who related to and supported her destructive behavior, a diagnosis like this was not particularly surprising – I actually sort of wanted there to be something wrong with me so that I would have a reason, an excuse, to feel what I felt and do what I did. Continue reading →

Radical transformation

Brooks Barnard Features, Health & Science , , , , ,

BOSTON — Most college students live in fear of the dreaded ‘freshman 15’; however, during my sophomore year of college, I experienced the opposite with my ‘sophomore 110’.

RT1 The most popular unhealthy college activities include excessive drinking, late night junk food, pizzas, fast food, and ‘café runs.’ Despite the common misconceptions about gaining weight in college, there are ways to avoid temptations and maintain, and even create, a healthy lifestyle.

The majority of college students experience anxiety over exams, all-night drinking binges, and trepidation about classes, but I experienced euphoria in a form I had never known before. In my first month of sophomore year, I weighed in at 260.5 pounds. By second semester, I had transformed my life by dropping 110 pounds in a mere five months. Continue reading →