a dream or a song: In Good Health

Is that a corny and cliched enough title for a post about health related links that I've found over the past week?

This is kind of a sad study. A new report suggests that women who have breast enhancement surgeries are 3 times more likely to commit suicide. Maybe its because these women realize that its not their breast size that will take away their low self esteem and feelings of worthlessness. Maybe they have begun to understand happiness can not be found at the point of a surgeon's incision. Maybe they finally realize outer beauty does not equal inner harmony. Maybe they are tired of living to make others happy, but don't know any other way to be. Over 329,000 of these surgeries were performed last year which is a really staggering number; that many women are that unsatisfied with themselves. It's sad really. I blame society.
Scientists have isolated the gene for left handedness. Finally! now we have the power to rid the Earth of these abominations and unnatural people. Since only about 10% of people are left handed it is obvious that it's not the way man was intended to be. Look at guitars and notebooks or even a manual transmission stick in your car These left handers can change and become normal; it is their choice to continue in that way of being. (did I lay that on a bit too thickly?)

Another study is hypthosizing (sp) that listening to mp3s and other compressed files can change our brain chemistry and "turn you into an observer"

"It could be that mp3s actually reach the receptors in our brains in entirely different ways than analog phonograph records. The difference could be as fundamental as which brain hemisphere the music engages.

"Poorer-fidelity music stimulates the brain in different ways," says Dr. Robert Sweetow, head of UCSF audiology department. "With different neurons, perhaps lesser neurons, stimulated, there are fewer cortical neurons connected back to the limbic system, where the emotions are stored."

Yup I wonder if the record industry possibly funded this story. But if it's true I guess I can get used to the high quality sound of an 8- Track (were they only capable of holding 8 songs?), or maybe I'll just listen to my mom's 45s.

So many scientific studies in the world. You mean you actually needed a study to show that drinking and smoking causes mouth cancer and that our modern lives are rubbish and increasing the rates of cancer? Here's a quick primer; smoking=bad, drinking too much= bad, stress=bad, too much sun= bad, being fat=bad. There go and live in peace.

Adult binge drinkers are more likely to choose beer as their "weapon" of choice, while teens prefer the hard stuff. I guess it makes sense because teens always have to worry about getting caught underage and so they want to get fucked up faster, where as adults can take their time. But there is something vaguely romantic about the image of an old alcoholic alone in a bar with a half empty bottle of bourbon in his right hand and a shot glass in his left. Seems so film noirish and cinematic, while a guy drinking beer I just see fat, in a recliner, angry and from a sitcom. Also someone who looks like John Goodman. Something like that. And does this make me immature that I still enjoy shots, and relaxing with a nice jug of some mixed cocktail? Plus beer makes me have to go to the potty too often and is fattening (a wise sage of a woman, far more experienced in alcohol than I, once told me about a friend that always drank diet coke and vodka because it had few calories. It is probably a myth but you gotta believe in something)
But apparently if you want to lose weight diet foods are the worst for you because they don't fool your body but rather the more low calorie food you consume, a new Canadian study shows, the more your body will demand the missing calorie be made up, thus perpetuating a cycle which can lead to weight gain.Theoretically.
Don't worry too much about that however, because, according to the New York Times "our fat is doing us a favor." It's storing all of the excess calories and energy that we don't use and puts it away instead of if you didn't have fat tissue and "dumps its energy overruns in that jack-of-all-organs, the liver, causing extreme liver swelling, liver failure and sometimes liver-bearer death." Even so it doesn't address the aesthetic appeal, and the issues with that, and I know I still have a hate hate relationship with mine. But it's still good to know, though I wish I had read that before I started fasting for "spiritual" purposes (god knows that dress is heavenly)
The New York Times has another article on a trend where women order steaks and hamburgers on dates to show that they don't have issues with food and that they're not high maintenance. The article starts with quite a romantic anecdote, because as I always say all Love should be based around meat, because who doesn't love meat, or something like that. Finally I don't have to feel guilty about ordering a new york strip, what the Times says must be the way it is. No all I have to do is find a nice gentleman (I'd settle for moderate jerk) who wants to take me out (and hopefully wants to wine dine and recline me). Ugh; I guess this is the hard part.