Germs hide even from doctors

According to researchers in the United Kingdom, doctors that wear wristwatches while seeing patients provide a hiding place for germs. The good news was that even doctors with wristwatches had clean hands.

The researches concluded, “Wearing a wristwatch results in an increase in bacterial contamination of the wrist but excess hand contamination does not occur unless the watch is manipulated.”

Other studies have found that neckties, rings, and stethoscopes help germs move around the hospital.

Quiz yourself

Your goal is to make a hospital or medical clinic as-safe-as-possible from bacterial cross contamination. What has research shown to be disinfected only 10% of the time by nurses and doctors?

Want a few hints?
This item is becoming common in elementary schools across the United States.
Michael Douglas has had one since the The Streets of San Francisco.
You probably have one.

Germs hide - Answer

Cell Phones.

According to the researchers, “Mobile phones have become veritable reservoirs of pathogens as they touch faces, ears, lips and hands of different users with different health conditions. This infection could be reduced through identification, and control of predisposing factors, education and microbial surveillance. Most people do not understand the inherent danger in sharing phones. Sharing phones undoubtedly means cross sharing. Effective means of disinfecting cell phone should be established to reduce its potential biological hazards.”

Want to read the whole journal article? http://www.sciencepub.net/rural/0102/wro09_0102_10_69_72.pdf

Psychologist “honored” on toilet paper

Every introduction to psychology text of the last 50 years explains the groundbreaking work of John Ridley Stroop who, for his doctoral dissertation in 1933, described the phenomena of cognitive interference. First published in 1935, Stoop showed that the human brain has a tendency to be “tricked” and that this tendency is measurable.

In Stroop’s experiment, subjects were shown words that were printed in color. When the ink color did not match the word, the subject tended to read the word incorrectly.

For example, if you are asked to name the ink color of the following words:

Red

Blue

Your confusion when answering the question of color is noticeable while your brain sorts out the printed word “red” from the color “green.”

Cognitive tests based on Stroop’s work are still used today. The amount of time it takes to answer the question of ink color versus written printed word can be used as a measure of mental fitness. As our society ages, this non invasive mental evaluation is being used increasingly as part of mental status exams.

On the assumption that mental exercises can help stave off mental aliments, game manufacturers have incorporated Stroop’s research in to modern electronic games. Nintendo sells "Brain Age" with the slogan "Train your brain in minutes a day!" It features a version a Stroop test.
            

A novelty company in England has added the Stroop test to toilet paper called, Mind Trainer Toilet Paper. Their slogan is “Train your brain as you drain."

Quitting Smoking Tips from the CDC

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offer these tips to stop smoking.


Are you one of many smokers who want to quit? Then try following this advice.


1. Don’t smoke any number or any kind of cigarette. Smoking even a few cigarettes a day can hurt your health. If you try to smoke fewer cigarettes, but do not stop completely, you’ll soon be smoking the same amount again.


Smoking "low-tar, low-nicotine" cigarettes usually does little good either. Because nicotine is so addictive, if you switch to lower-nicotine brands you'll likely just puff harder, longer, and more often on each cigarette. The only safe choice is to quit completely.


2. Write down why you want to quit. Do you want to— 


Feel in control of you life?


Have better health?


Set a good example for your children?


Protect your family from breathing other people’s smoke?


Really wanting to quit smoking is key to how much success you will have in quitting. Smokers who survive a heart attack are the most likely to quit for good—they're very motivated. Find a reason for quitting before you have no choice.


3. Know that it will take effort to quit smoking. Nicotine is habit forming. Half of the battle in quitting is knowing you need to quit. This knowledge will help you be more able to deal with the symptoms of withdrawal that can occur, such as bad moods and really wanting to smoke. There are many ways smokers quit, including using nicotine replacement products (gum and patches), but there is no easy way. Nearly all smokers have some feelings of nicotine withdrawal when they try to quit. Give yourself a month to get over these feelings. Take quitting one day at a time, even one minute at a time—whatever you need to succeed.


4. Half of all adult smokers have quit, so you can too. That’s the good news. There are millions of people alive today who have learned to face life without a cigarette. For staying healthy, quitting smoking is the best step you can take.


5. Get help if you need it. Many groups offer written materials, programs, and advice to help smokers quit for good. Your doctor or dentist is also a good source of help and support.


Lots more info at: http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/quit_smoking/how_to_quit/index.htm

Tobacco Use in the United States

Current* Smokers

19.8% of U.S. adults (43.4 million people 18 years of age and older)¹

20.0% of high school students²

36.4% of American Indian/Alaska Native adults¹

21.4% of white adults¹

19.8% of African American adults¹

13.3% of Hispanic adults¹

9.6%   of Asian American adults (excluding Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders)1

*Current smokers are defined as persons who reported smoking at least 100 cigarettes during their lifetime and who, at the time of interview, reported smoking every day or some days.

1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Cigarette Smoking Among Adults—United States, 2007. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report [serial online]. 2008;57(45):1221–1226 [accessed 2009 Mar 31].

2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Cigarette Use Among High School Students—United States, 1991–2007. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report [serial online]. 2008;57(25):689–691 [accessed 2009 Mar 31].

How To Study The Right Way

Geri Copitch, guest blogger & veteran teacher

School has been back in session now for close to two months. Many parents have received first quarter or trimester grades for their children and they’re wondering how they can help them get better grades.

The common wisdom is that you should provide a quiet workspace, stick to a homework routine, and have your child immerse themselves in a subject. By now you’ve noticed I used the phrase ‘common wisdom’ and are no doubt wondering why.

There is growing evidence that this ‘common wisdom’ is a fallacy. New York Times reporter Benedict Carey* reviewed a number of studies and found the following guidelines increase study effectiveness:

• Move around. I don’t mean dance while you’re studying, but rather change locations. One day study your spelling words in the living room, another day perhaps sitting on the porch. It appears that this change of scene helps the brain form multiple associations or triggers, with the information, causing it to become better anchored.

• Mix it up. Instead of focusing intently on memorizing verb forms in Spanish or multiplication tables in math for an hour, spend the hour studying different facets of the same subject. So maybe 20 minutes on the memorizing of verb forms, another 20 practicing speaking, and then 20 doing some reading. In math, do mixed problem sets, work on word problems, and memorize facts. This helps force the brain to pick up on similarities and differences, which is how it will encounter information in the real world.

• Test yourself. Studies have shown that self tests help you to refocus on specifics and slows down forgetting. When you ‘miss’ an answer you have to go back and revisit the material  reinforcing it in your brain.

• Space it out. While you can get by by ‘cramming’ for a test, the information is quickly lost. Multiple studies have shown that studying the material, getting a night’s sleep, restudying the material, and then even reviewing it again two days later, makes for more of the information being retained. It’s sort of like layering a cake. Who among you wouldn’t agree that a three layer cake is much better than a single layer one?

No one seems to refute the wisdom of establishing set ‘homework time.” All children should have a well organized set location for their materials. This avoids time and study energy being used to find a sharp pencil, or figuring out where they left their vocabulary list. And true, one should try to keep the distractions down, especially the electronic ones. Children with ADHD will need more structure and an environment (or several varied environments) free from any kind of distraction.


It would seem that for most students, whether they're in elementary school or post graduate school, the phrase, “Variety is the spice of life,” seems to show results in the realm of study and retention. 

* (Forget What You Know About Good Study Habits, NYT, Sept 6 2010)

What is the Single Biggest "Gift" We Can Give Our Children?

Hold on. Take a minute to think about this question. If you could give one and only one gift to your child, what would it be? Would you give your child financial riches? Would you give her beauty? Would you give him intelligence? If you could give only one thing that would give your child a leg up in life, what would it be? 

I frequently read in the newspaper about the movie star who finds fame and fortune, only to end up in a drug treatment hospital. Or, the business money mogul who has three ex-wives and a few estranged children. We have heard of generals indicted for being stupid, presidents shamed into retirement, or the religious leaders who lead two different life-styles.

So, what is the best thing we can give our children? What “gift” can help a child in good and bad times? What one “gift” will help our children to avoid the horrors of drugs, stay level headed when good times roll in and keep perspective during life’s pitfalls?

I propose that the best gift a parent can give a child is the home environment that allows their child to build a high self esteem. Research has shown us that children who possess a healthy self esteem deal with life in the safest ways.

If we as parents help our children to build a strong self esteem we give them the best internal tool to deal with their world. With the internal awareness of their own self worth, our children interact with the world with inner contentment and self assuredness. The side effect of our children having high self esteem is that they view the world through this high self esteem. As I will discuss later, high self esteem is an emotional force field protecting our children in the chaos we call life.

How is self esteem built?

Let’s start off by defining what we are talking about. Self esteem goes by many names. Some call it self worth, others self-confidence. The high brow academic set use words like, “the sense of self “ or “ego identity.” Shakespeare said it best, “A rose, is a rose, is a rose,” or something like that. The reality is that we all know what high self esteem or low self esteem look like, but it is hard to put it into words. 

In a nut shell, self esteem is the internal belief we hold about ourselves. What makes it hard to understand and put into words is that it is ever changing. We hold different internal beliefs about our abilities dependent on the situation. 

For example, my five year old son informed me that he couldn’t pick up a hat in the side yard because of spiders. He hadn’t seen any spiders but he was obviously uncomfortable. When he was reminded that he had touched spiders before, he said, “Yeah, but that spider was not hiding to get me!” Is this a self esteem issue? In a way. If, at five, Joshua felt comfortable enough within himself to handle the fears that he pictured, I would not have had to pick up the hat. But, is it a self esteem problem? Definitely not. Josh was not saying to himself, “I’m not able to pick up the hat.” He was saying, “I’m afraid of spiders hiding under the hat and attacking me.” Often parents confuse low self esteem with fear.

The internal belief we hold about ourselves is somewhat situational. Your child may feel that she is the best baseball player since Babe Ruth, but be uncomfortable about joining the team because she doesn’t know any of the other players. When we talk about self esteem, it is important to listen to the child’s words. If we focus too much on the child’s behavior we often miss the true picture.

So, when we talk about self esteem we are really talking about the internal balance of our beliefs of self worth. 

When we are born we enter the world with a personal makeup. This personal makeup is usually called our temperament. The newborn interacts with his world through his temperament. 

Newborns seem to be “pre-wired” to investigate their world. Part of their temperament is to investigate and eventually build relationships with their new world. 

Infant research has shown that newborns have the ability to “interact” with their caregivers from the first moments of birth. Their eyes are developed enough to focus on their mother’s face during the first breast feedings. Infants are able to smell and remember their caregivers.

The individual’s temperament is influential in the formation of the feeling of self worth. We take this sense of self with us throughout our life. For example, a sixty year old can truly say that they are the same, but still a different person than they were when they were six. Our feelings of self worth are with us for a lifetime.

Visit Dr. Copitch's website          excerpted from my book: Basic Parenting 101

Stages of Early Reading - up to age six

Geri Copitch, guest blogger and veteran teacher

I was speaking with a young man the other day who was telling me about his four year old daughter’s attempt to read him her favorite book. When he asked her to point to the word she was reading, she told him she didn’t want to. He later told his wife that he thought his daughter was “lying” about being able to read. He was surprised to find out that this is a normal stage in the reading process.

Learning to read, like anything else we take on, is a process, one that needs time and lots of practice to develop. No one would expect their child to hop out of the crib one day and start running marathons. We all seem to know that at first a baby needs to master standing, then they take one or two hesitant, tottering steps, working their way up to several steps and a lot of plopping down on their bottoms, and eventually they’re running around Sears hiding from you in the clothes racks.

Reading occurs much the same way. The first most important step in your child learning to read is actually dependent upon you. The children who become the most successful readers are those whose parents read to them everyday - even if it’s the same book, day after day, for three months straight! During this time they are picking up important information on the rhythm of language. By watching you, they are learning that books begin in one place and end in another, and that stories have a beginning and an end. When you point to the pictures as you read, they start to get the concept that our written language progresses from left to right. In time, they start to grasp the concept that print has meaning: that those black squiggles on the page represent language. As an adult these concepts seem like ‘no brainers’, but they are important concepts that children need to learn before they can become readers. A child isn’t born knowing this anymore than they are born knowing how to walk.

As children become emergent readers they begin to repeat words or phrases from familiar books. As time goes on, they start to become aware of print in their environment, such as on signs or cereal boxes. They begin to recognize their own name. They may start to point out other words that begin with the same letter as their name. This gives them ‘ownership’, they feel more ‘connected’ to these words because they share something important with them.

Next, young children will move on to re-telling a story by looking at the pictures. This is not cheating. This is an important part of the process. We use cues in our environment everyday to help us figure things out. The same is true for reading. Adult readers are often drawn to a picture in an advertisement before they actually read the words.

Early readers move on to re-enacting reading. They memorize familiar texts and ‘read’ them, turning the pages in the places they have learned from watching you, progressing through the book from left to right. They begin to show directionality of print by running their finger along the text from left to right. At this point they are probably only accidentally touching the actual word they are reading, but they are building up to the concept. As they begin to learn that each symbol (letter) represents a sound and what that sound is, they will start to use the initial sound (first letter) to help them identify words. This usually begins to happen in kindergarten to early first grade. Children who go to pre-school tend to pick up on this sooner.

Usually around the ages of 6-7 children begin to be able to pick out recurring sight words, and decoding - sounding out - words that follow phonetic rules, e.g. words where the letters make predicable sounds and there are no silent letters. As with any new skill, some children will grasp these concepts sooner, while others will need more time to grow the needed connections in their brains. The important thing to remember in all of this is that process counts! It takes time, and lots and lots of mimicry (copying) and practice before children become true readers. Read when you are around them - the more often that they see that reading is important to you, it becomes increasingly important to them. Have patience, encourage the baby steps, read lots and lots with your children - and - don’t stop reading to them just because they begin to read themselves. After all, did you stop walking with your kids once they started?