Cancer is something that humans still do not fully understand, which is why it can be fascinating, terrifying, and often deadly. Because it is so powerful and frightening to us, scientists are constantly trying to learn more about it. The peer-reviewed Journal article “Positive and Negative Health Behavior Changes in Cancer Survivors” does a good job at discussing the changes in people after surviving cancer.
The journal article is about a study that’s based on behavioral changes and coping perspectives of cancer survivors. I believe that the independent variable is surviving cancer, and the dependent variable is lifestyle change. For their study, researchers mailed out 600 questioners to cancer survivors, and 250 were completed and returned. The participants were about two-thirds women, and one-third men. The mean age was of the participants was 45 years. The journal article has many interesting facts and is very informative.
The article “Positive and Negative Health Behavior Changes in Cancer Survivors” says that after surviving cancer, many people feel vulnerable. Feelings of vulnerability in cancer survivors often result in a new respect for their body and good health, which lead to positive health changes. The most common health change that cancer survivors make is an improved diet. Other healthy changes that were often observed were increased amounts of exercise and sometimes more sleep. Although the majority of the cancer survivors experience healthy changes, many used negative coping mechanisms and therefore experienced negative health changes. The article says, “In a study done on young adult survivors, higher levels of life stress were related to higher levels of risky behaviors”. Another common negative health change in cancer survivors is lack of sleep. These changes are due to positive and negative coping mechanisms, which are discussed in chapter 12 of the textbook (Weiten. Psyshology themes & variations, 7th edition, briefer version).
The study focused on the “reports of actual change rather than intentions to make change”, which is something that no one has done before. They found that more survivors reported positive changes than negative changes. The researchers hypothesized that “approach coping would be related to adaptive health behavior, while avoidant coping would be related more to negative health behavior changes”, which has recently been supported by studies described in the article.
There are so many people that are suffering from cancer these days. Several people in my life have suffered from cancer, and I have noticed positive lifestyle changes in all of them after diagnosis. I choose this to read and write this report on “Positive and Negative Health Behavior Changes in Cancer Survivors” because I wanted to learn more about what people with cancer go through and why they make the lifestyle changes that they do. Now that I have read this article I feel that I can understand cancer survivors much better, which may allow me to help them better if I am ever put in that position as caregiver.
“Positive and Negative Health Behavior Changes in Cancer Survivors” is a very interesting and enlighten article on a topic that anyone can learn more about. It is very different from the Popular Press article, “In Health: Strength in Numbers” by Margret Farley Steele, because it is written in a scientific way, it’s not as biases, and is very factual. Because it is peer reviewed, has great references, and from the Journal of Health and Psychology, I believe that it is a very creditable article. It makes some great points and I recommend it for others to read.
Crystal L. Park, Donald Edmondson, Juliane R. Fenster, & Thomas O. Blank. (2008). Positive and Negative Health Behavior Changes in Cancer Survivors. Journal of Health Psychology. Retrieved February third, 2009 from hpq.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/13/8/1198.pdf
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Popular Press Article Analysis: Strength in Numbers
It is not always easy to find the motivation to workout, or eat a healthy diet. I know from experience that it is even more difficult to get in shape when recovering from an illness or injury. I have found for myself that it is much easier and more enjoyable to workout with friends than it is alone, and the cancer survivors in the magazine article, “In Health: Strength in Numbers” by Margret Farley Steele, agree with me.
The main point of the article is to share how several women, who have survived cancer, found their strength to exercise and improve their health with the help of a cancer survivor’s exercise group. I learned that in our modern society there are many more cancer survivors, and there are an increasing number of workout programs being formed specifically for them. The study concluded that women in cancer surviving exercise groups are more likely to stick to their workout routine.
I have found that magazine articles like this are much easier and enjoyable to read than the peer-reviewed articles, but not as factual. This article is biases, because keeping a regular exercise routine is difficult for everyone with our busy modern lifestyles, not just people that are in recovery. Another flaw of this article is that is based more on option that actual fact, which is the opposite of the Peer-reviewed article on cancer survivors. The study described in the article doesn’t seem to very accurate, but that is okay because magazine articles aren’t expected to be nearly as accurate as peer-reviewed articles.
The magazine article, “In Health: Strength in Numbers” by Margret Farley Steele, I found to be an enjoyable and inspiring article. The theme of the magazine article is very similar to the theme of the peer-reviewed article that I picked: cancer survivor making their lifestyles healthier. If women that just went through cemotherapy can jump on a treadmills and exercise on a regular basis, young healthy people like me certainly should be able to find some motivation to do that too!
Steele, M.F. (2006, October). In Health: Strength in Numbers. Connect Magazine [online]. Available: http://www.connecticutmag.com/site/printerFriendly.cfm?brd=2329&dept_id=571885&newsid=17521342 [2009, March 24].
The main point of the article is to share how several women, who have survived cancer, found their strength to exercise and improve their health with the help of a cancer survivor’s exercise group. I learned that in our modern society there are many more cancer survivors, and there are an increasing number of workout programs being formed specifically for them. The study concluded that women in cancer surviving exercise groups are more likely to stick to their workout routine.
I have found that magazine articles like this are much easier and enjoyable to read than the peer-reviewed articles, but not as factual. This article is biases, because keeping a regular exercise routine is difficult for everyone with our busy modern lifestyles, not just people that are in recovery. Another flaw of this article is that is based more on option that actual fact, which is the opposite of the Peer-reviewed article on cancer survivors. The study described in the article doesn’t seem to very accurate, but that is okay because magazine articles aren’t expected to be nearly as accurate as peer-reviewed articles.
The magazine article, “In Health: Strength in Numbers” by Margret Farley Steele, I found to be an enjoyable and inspiring article. The theme of the magazine article is very similar to the theme of the peer-reviewed article that I picked: cancer survivor making their lifestyles healthier. If women that just went through cemotherapy can jump on a treadmills and exercise on a regular basis, young healthy people like me certainly should be able to find some motivation to do that too!
Steele, M.F. (2006, October). In Health: Strength in Numbers. Connect Magazine [online]. Available: http://www.connecticutmag.com/site/printerFriendly.cfm?brd=2329&dept_id=571885&newsid=17521342 [2009, March 24].
Friday, February 20, 2009
Hindsight Bias
Humans have a natural tendency to mix the facts so that they can make themselves look and feel like they know more than they really do. The Critical thinking application “Hindsight in everyday analysis of Personality” is a very informative piece of writing that describes and analyzes hindsight bias. Hindsight bias very can be bad; they can cause big problems, especially in some professional fields. It is important to know how to recognize hindsight bias to prevent problems from occurring.
Hindsight bias are accretions made after a event has occurred; The psychology textbook (Wayne Weiten. Psychology, themes & variations, briefer version) describes it as “the tendency to mold one’s interpretation of the past events to fit how the events actually turned out”. Most people do this on a regular basis. It’s easy to come up with possible explanations why something happened, or why someone we know well has a certain personality trait. Hindsight bias make everyone seem like an expert on personality or a situation.
Hindsight bias can be harmful in a variety of professional fields. In the medical field, when patients go to another doctor to obtain a second opinion, if the doctor knows the original diagnosis they are much more likely to have the same diagnosis. Hindsight bias can also be a issue in politics, games, evolutionary theories, and many other things.
Hindsight bias are a much too common thing these days. If we were to be more careful about our everyday assumptions, it would prevent a large number of problems. People need to be critical thinkers that, as the book says, “understand that knowing the outcomes of events biases our recall and interpretation of the events”.
Hindsight bias are accretions made after a event has occurred; The psychology textbook (Wayne Weiten. Psychology, themes & variations, briefer version) describes it as “the tendency to mold one’s interpretation of the past events to fit how the events actually turned out”. Most people do this on a regular basis. It’s easy to come up with possible explanations why something happened, or why someone we know well has a certain personality trait. Hindsight bias make everyone seem like an expert on personality or a situation.
Hindsight bias can be harmful in a variety of professional fields. In the medical field, when patients go to another doctor to obtain a second opinion, if the doctor knows the original diagnosis they are much more likely to have the same diagnosis. Hindsight bias can also be a issue in politics, games, evolutionary theories, and many other things.
Hindsight bias are a much too common thing these days. If we were to be more careful about our everyday assumptions, it would prevent a large number of problems. People need to be critical thinkers that, as the book says, “understand that knowing the outcomes of events biases our recall and interpretation of the events”.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Article Analysis: When children with bipolar disorder grow up
Out of all the psychological disorders, childhood bipolar disorder is one of the most controversial. The article, “When children with bipolar disorder grow up”, is very informative about bipolar disorder, which is something that I knew little about before this assignment. The main points of this article is to inform its readers about bipolar disorder and the findings of a resent NIMH study done on children with bipolar disorder type 1.
This article is contains many interesting facts about bipolar disorder. Childhood bipolar disorder, known as type 1, has many similarities, and some differences to adult bipolar disorder. Both of the disorders share the symptoms of “severely elevated or depressed moods”. The main difference is that adults tend to suffer from abnormal moods for weeks or months, and children change moods much more often, as much as several times a day. Because of these manic episodes of childhood bipolar disorder, the child can suddenly become depressed or suicidal. The study described in the article found that; children with type 1 bipolar disorder experience manic episodes after they reach 18 years old much more often than previously thought to. One more difference between childhood and adult bipolar disorder is that about twice the amount of bipolar children also experience ADHD than bipolar adults. The NIMH study from the article provided additional support that ‘classic” bipolar disorder can begin in childhood.
The article “When children with bipolar disorder grow up” is interesting and its information seems creditable because it comes from a reliable source and has good references. It is for the general public, which means that it is easy to read and understand, unlike some journal articles. I learned much from this article and would recommend it for others to read.
This article is contains many interesting facts about bipolar disorder. Childhood bipolar disorder, known as type 1, has many similarities, and some differences to adult bipolar disorder. Both of the disorders share the symptoms of “severely elevated or depressed moods”. The main difference is that adults tend to suffer from abnormal moods for weeks or months, and children change moods much more often, as much as several times a day. Because of these manic episodes of childhood bipolar disorder, the child can suddenly become depressed or suicidal. The study described in the article found that; children with type 1 bipolar disorder experience manic episodes after they reach 18 years old much more often than previously thought to. One more difference between childhood and adult bipolar disorder is that about twice the amount of bipolar children also experience ADHD than bipolar adults. The NIMH study from the article provided additional support that ‘classic” bipolar disorder can begin in childhood.
The article “When children with bipolar disorder grow up” is interesting and its information seems creditable because it comes from a reliable source and has good references. It is for the general public, which means that it is easy to read and understand, unlike some journal articles. I learned much from this article and would recommend it for others to read.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Fatherlessness
I’ve never been able to imagine what it would be like to be raised by a single parent or homosexual parents, even though I have grown up with many friends that have done so. None of my friends ever complained, but I had often felt bad for them, thinking that it must be difficult living with their parental situation. I grew up with a wonderful mother and father and I didn’t think that any parental situation without a mother or father could be as good. Throughout the years, after hearing many different perspectives on the issue, my views have changed. Although it would be very different living without a father or without a mother, I think that it could be okay.
The Critical Thinking Application: Are Fathers Essential to Children’s Well-being? from the textbook Psychology themes & Variations is a interesting article that gives many facts and perspectives and made me think about the issue in a new way. David Blankenhorn (1995) gives a very different view on this topic in the Critical Thinking Application article, than I have; “fatherlessness is the most harmful demographic trend of this generation. It is the leading cause of declining child well-being in our society”. The idea that fatherlessness is the worst trend in our generation’s society is a far-fetched theory.
Apart from growing up with friends that have only one parent and friends with homosexual parents, I have also grown up with a couple friends that had far worse parental situations. It is much more important to NOT have a father that: gets drunk all the time and that beats his family, or is a workaholic and never shows signs of affection and never spends time with his children, than it is to have a father at all. It doesn’t matter how many, or what sex the parents are, as long as there are good people around to love, take care of and provide quality male and female role models for the children.
A father can be very good to have around because he provides the children with a male role model. My father has taught me many things such as: how to fish, shot a gun, cut and stack firewood, do math problems, and many other thing that females often aren’t as skilled at as males are. Also, fathers often bring in an income or do chores around the house, which helps reduce stress in the family. Homosexual parents can be capable of doing all of these things, but many of them don’t. Studies have been done, which are discussed in the Critical Thinking Application, that show children without fathers have more developmental problems and get into bad situations during adolescence more than children with fathers. I believe that this happens because the children become stressed when they have a stressed single parent, they don’t have a good male role model, or they have to experience their parents going though the rough process of divorce.
Children just need to have a non-stressful environment and people around to provide quality role models, love and take care of them; it doesn’t matter if their parents are male or female. My friend that grew up with lesbian parents and my friends that grew up single parents, have all have grown up to be great people. I believe that having a traditional family with a father may be the best way to raise children, but it is certainly not the only way that can work well.
The Critical Thinking Application: Are Fathers Essential to Children’s Well-being? from the textbook Psychology themes & Variations is a interesting article that gives many facts and perspectives and made me think about the issue in a new way. David Blankenhorn (1995) gives a very different view on this topic in the Critical Thinking Application article, than I have; “fatherlessness is the most harmful demographic trend of this generation. It is the leading cause of declining child well-being in our society”. The idea that fatherlessness is the worst trend in our generation’s society is a far-fetched theory.
Apart from growing up with friends that have only one parent and friends with homosexual parents, I have also grown up with a couple friends that had far worse parental situations. It is much more important to NOT have a father that: gets drunk all the time and that beats his family, or is a workaholic and never shows signs of affection and never spends time with his children, than it is to have a father at all. It doesn’t matter how many, or what sex the parents are, as long as there are good people around to love, take care of and provide quality male and female role models for the children.
A father can be very good to have around because he provides the children with a male role model. My father has taught me many things such as: how to fish, shot a gun, cut and stack firewood, do math problems, and many other thing that females often aren’t as skilled at as males are. Also, fathers often bring in an income or do chores around the house, which helps reduce stress in the family. Homosexual parents can be capable of doing all of these things, but many of them don’t. Studies have been done, which are discussed in the Critical Thinking Application, that show children without fathers have more developmental problems and get into bad situations during adolescence more than children with fathers. I believe that this happens because the children become stressed when they have a stressed single parent, they don’t have a good male role model, or they have to experience their parents going though the rough process of divorce.
Children just need to have a non-stressful environment and people around to provide quality role models, love and take care of them; it doesn’t matter if their parents are male or female. My friend that grew up with lesbian parents and my friends that grew up single parents, have all have grown up to be great people. I believe that having a traditional family with a father may be the best way to raise children, but it is certainly not the only way that can work well.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Scientists have been studying genes for a long time. There have been many discoveries since they began studying them, and we now have a much better idea of their structure and functions. The article Scientists and Philosophers Find That ‘Gene’ Has a Multitude of Meanings, by Natalie Angier, illustrates that the word gene, and other genetic vocabulary, is often misleading. Angler makes some good points in this article, but her article is misleading, and I don’t know understand all of it because the writing was wordy and complicated.
As scientists have learned about genes and started looking into the details more, gene research has become more complicated. In Angler’s article it says that “genes” only account for a very small part of the human genome. That possibility befuddles me because I have always thought that the definition of genome is simply the entire set of the organism’s genes. I believe that what Angler wrote in her article is true because she is a well known educated science journalist, but I think that it could have been explained much better.
As scientists have learned about genes and started looking into the details more, gene research has become more complicated. In Angler’s article it says that “genes” only account for a very small part of the human genome. That possibility befuddles me because I have always thought that the definition of genome is simply the entire set of the organism’s genes. I believe that what Angler wrote in her article is true because she is a well known educated science journalist, but I think that it could have been explained much better.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Laziness
There may be genetic reasons that cause people to be lazy and not exercise.
Although we all know there’s overwhelming health benefits physical activity, many people still choose to not exercise.
-Staying fit helps prevent numerous major diseases and health problems.
-In the study, some of the sedentary mice devised ingenious ways to avoid activity.
Some people have “activity-prone” genes, while others don’t.
-Lightfoot identified 20 different genomic locations that work in tandom to influence activity levels.
-If mice have a gene, humans probably also have it.
-In the study, mice who’s parents were active, were much more likely to also be active.
The “active” genes could either affect how the muscles work or the amounts of neurotransmitters in the brain, but it’s probably the neurotransmitters being affected.
-A study suggests that there is no difference in the function of the muscle of the active and not active mice.
-The study hasn’t been published yet so it can’t rule out the hypothesis that the active genes directly affect the muscles efficiency.
-The neurotransmitters dopamine and serotonin play important roles in several human drives and behaviors, so it would be a reasonable hypothesis that they are what the activity gene directly affect.
Although we all know there’s overwhelming health benefits physical activity, many people still choose to not exercise.
-Staying fit helps prevent numerous major diseases and health problems.
-In the study, some of the sedentary mice devised ingenious ways to avoid activity.
Some people have “activity-prone” genes, while others don’t.
-Lightfoot identified 20 different genomic locations that work in tandom to influence activity levels.
-If mice have a gene, humans probably also have it.
-In the study, mice who’s parents were active, were much more likely to also be active.
The “active” genes could either affect how the muscles work or the amounts of neurotransmitters in the brain, but it’s probably the neurotransmitters being affected.
-A study suggests that there is no difference in the function of the muscle of the active and not active mice.
-The study hasn’t been published yet so it can’t rule out the hypothesis that the active genes directly affect the muscles efficiency.
-The neurotransmitters dopamine and serotonin play important roles in several human drives and behaviors, so it would be a reasonable hypothesis that they are what the activity gene directly affect.
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