Do women’s menstrual cycles sync up over time if they are in close proximity to each other? Being someone who lives with 4 girls and 1 other boy, this knowledge would be very beneficial. I feel like I should know if the estrogen ocean I’m swimming in will have very stormy seas every 28 days. The belief that this occurs […]
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Myth: Cracking your knuckles throughout your lifetime will eventually cause you to have arthritis. Have you ever cracked your knuckles and had someone yell at you to stop because it causes arthritis? 25-54% of the world’s population cracks their knuckles, men more so than women. Does this mean up to 54% of us will get arthritis? The short answer is […]
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Mark asks: What are some good ways to lower my blood pressure without drugs? Over the past few decades, controlling high blood pressure has been one of the priorities for health care professionals and organizations worldwide. “High blood pressure” is defined as any systolic pressure (the top number) above 140 or diastolic (the bottom number) higher than 90. (See: What […]
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Myth: Caffeine will stunt your growth We all remember being 12 years old and seeing your mom guzzling down her 3rd cup of coffee and really wanting some. When we asked if we could have a cup, the response was always the same: “No, caffeine will stunt your growth…” As if being tall was a necessary element in survival! It […]
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Matt asks: Does cranberry juice really help with urinary tract infections? The short answer is probably not according to recent research on the subject, though of course there are certainly many who swear by this method of getting rid of / preventing urinary tract infections (UTI’s) and there are good theories behind why cranberry juice could potentially help. In the […]
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Karla asks: How do pregnancy tests work? Ah, the pregnancy test. Karla, I can only hope the reason you might be wondering is you’re taking one in a joyous scenario, and you’re trying to have a child, rather than the other way with a little more sweat on your forehead! 😉 Either way, pregnancy tests that use urine samples have […]
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Amanda asks: How exactly do penises become erect? Well Amanda, the physical response causing a flaccid penis to become hard can be mediated by both physical stimulation (known as somatic) or autonomic (involuntary) processes like arousal from an attractive person, or a combination of both. We’ll first look at the anatomy behind the erection and then talk about how the […]
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Michael S. asks: Why does testosterone cause more body hair? Testosterone is a steroid hormone from a group called androgen. Androgen affects many characteristics in our bodies, like the development of the male sex organs, the deepening of the voice during puberty, muscle and bone strength, and hair growth. Interestingly, the same circulating androgen, like testosterone, can increase hair growth […]
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Matt asks: Why does salt raise blood pressure? Well, Matt, it turns out a high sodium diet might not raise blood pressure, nor have any sort of adverse effect on cardiovascular health at all. But I’ll cover the theory on why salt raises blood pressure below- just realize it is just a theory and one not backed up by much […]
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Steven asks: Does eye-black do anything or do people just think it does? For those that don’t know “eye black” is the substance used to make the dark markings athletes place under their eyes that are supposed to prevent glare from outside light sources, such as stadium lights and the Sun. It’s also supposed to help with contrast recognition (being […]
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(Editor’s note: this is a continuation of the “Top 5 First Aid Tricks Everyone Should Know” series written by our resident paramedic/firefighter, Scott. For the other parts of this series: Part 1: Direct Pressure; Part 2: Temperature Control; Part 3: Recovery Position; Part 4: CPR) First Aid Trick #1 Defibrillation. Unlike the other items on this list, this one requires […]
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(Editor’s note: this is a continuation of the “Top 5 First Aid Tricks Everyone Should Know” series written by our resident paramedic/firefighter, Scott. For the other parts of this series: Part 1: Direct Pressure; Part 2: Temperature Control; Part 3: Recovery Position; and Part 5: Defibrillation) First Aid Trick #2: CPR Coming in at #2 on our top 5 first […]
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(Editor’s note: this is a continuation of the “Top 5 First Aid Tricks Everyone Should Know” series written by our resident paramedic/firefighter, Scott. For the other parts of this series: Part 1: Direct Pressure; Part 2: Temperature Control; Part 4: CPR; and Part 5: Defibrillation) First Aid Trick #3- Recovery Position: The recovery position is just that. The position you […]
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(Editor’s note: this is a continuation of the “Top 5 First Aid Tricks Everyone Should Know” series written by our resident paramedic/firefighter, Scott. For the other parts of this series: Part 1: Direct Pressure; Part 3: Recovery Position; Part 4: CPR; and Part 5: Defibrillation) #4 Temperature control: This one seems like a no-brainier, but outside of temperature being the […]
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In my profession as a paramedic / firefighter one question repeatedly gets asked of me- “What are some simple first aid tricks to know in case of an emergency?” As such, I thought it would be a good idea to do a little article series on the subject. This will be a 5 part series published throughout this week on […]
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Byron H. asks: What causes dandruff? Ah, dandruff! That white flaky stuff we see on the shoulders of homeless people everywhere. We’ve all seen that guy in front of us at the supermarket who looks like he just came out of a snow storm. Ever wonder what causes this embarrassing blemish on our hygiene? Dandruff is simply dead skin cells […]
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Have you ever looked at the shiny dome of your grandfather and wondered, “Should I start stocking up on head wax soon?” Statistically at age 30 you will have a 30% chance of going bald. This increases by 10% every 10 years. So someone 50 years old will have a 50% chance of being bald. Due to the genetic factors […]
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Aaron asks: Why don’t fingernails grow at the same rate? The short answer is that there is no 100% definitive known reason as to why nails grow at different rates. However, there is a really good theory (which also covers why fingernails and toenails grow at drastically different rates) that is backed up by an awful lot of ancillary evidence. […]
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