Category: Health

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Amazon Employees Are Suspiciously Tweeting About Their Amazing Work Conditions

In years past, Amazon has been in the news for having unfit working conditions for many of their employees, especially employees working in their call and fulfillment centers (FC).

According to NewsWeek, “An undercover investigation in the United Kingdom revealed that warehouse employees resort to urinating in bottles and trash cans around the warehouse so that they won’t miss their strict time targets.”

Photo Credit: Unsplash, Daniel Eledut

Insane.

For obvious reason, Amazon has been on a mission to squash these so-called rumors, so they turned to their “FC Ambassadors” for help. These employees are on a team that posts on Twitter and social media about how much they enjoy working with Amazon.

While the retail juggernaut insists these people are real and speaking their true minds, Twitter followers smelled something fishy. Many were curious about the strangely stilted language being used. This FC Ambassador mission started over a year ago, and since then there has been some serious backlash.

One Twitter user wrote:

Here are some Amazon FC Ambassadors doing their thing…or not…who knows?

Are these people even real?

An Amazon spokesperson said,

“FC ambassadors are employees who work in our FCs and share facts based on their personal experience. It’s important that we do a good job educating people about the actual environment inside our fulfillment centers, and the FC ambassador program is a big part of that along with the FC tours we provide.

Thousands of guests across the world have come to see for themselves what it’s like to work inside one of our FCs. If you haven’t visited, we recommend it.”

But Twitter folks aren’t having it.

You get the point. As a way to combat this further, Amazon has been offering FC tours for anyone who would like to check it out. You can follow #AmazonFCTour for more on that. In the meantime, we can all sit back and watch this unfold.

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Students Are Overdosing from Eating Too Much…Tuna

We live in strange times – college kids eating so much of the cheapest food they can find that they’re winding up needing medical intervention they can’t afford.

Tuna, in case you fall into this category of unaware, contains the heavy metal mercury, which is toxic in fairly small quantities. It also accumulates in the body, which means that eating too much, too close together can result in mercury poisoning, which shows up as poor cognitive function, blindness, and impaired lung function.

Researchers out of the University of California, Santa Cruz published a study in Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry that revealed many collage students are unaware of the issues with eating too much tuna – and they’re eating a lot, based on the mercury levels in their bodies.

54% of students reported eating tuna at least three times per week, a frequency that exceeds the maximum dose of methylmercury that the EPA calls “safe.” 7% of students surveyed reported eating more than 20 meals a week that contained tuna, and the tests on their hair revealed mercury that rose to “a level of concern.”

Wow. I mean, that’s a lot of tuna.

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The lead researcher was inspired to conduct the study after hearing her students talk about how much tuna they ate.

“I’ve been dumbfounded when students have told me they eat tuna every day. Their lack of knowledge about the risk of exposure to mercury is surprising.”

Over 99% of the study participants reported low knowledge and low confidence in their survey answers regarding the potential danger and toxicity of tuna – they thought it was safe to eat 2 or 3 times the amount of tuna deemed “safe” (which is just two to three servings per week).

“It’s not a large sample size, but only 1 out of 107 students surveyed had a high level of knowledge as well as confidence in that knowledge.”

The kids in the study hadn’t yet reached alarming levels of mercury exposure, but they were at a point where it was recommended that they limit what they were eating.

The team worked with UCSC administrators and the dining hall to put up signs that will hopefully educate students about how much tuna to eat in the future.

And now you know.

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Scientists Are Starting to Understand the Real Dangers of Vaping

It’s hard, even in places that have banned cigarettes, to make it through a meal or a movie without a fruity-smelling cloud emanating from somewhere in the room. Have you noticed that?

And it’s very hard to convince anyone who loves vaping (or is addicted) that they should be more cautious with a technology that’s too new to have been thoroughly studied by health professionals in the field.

Smoking during the teen years is especially harmful to a still-growing brain – studies have previously shown that if a person can hold off smoking until they’re in their 20s, the chances of getting addicted reduce drastically. And while fewer teens than ever are trying traditional cigarettes, a disturbingly high – and growing – number of kids are vaping.

“Nicotine mimics the chemicals that brain cells use to communicate with each other and causes the brain to reconfigure itself. The nicotine molecule is shaped a lot like acetylcholine, which the nervous system uses to communicate, so it fakes out and overstimulates the nervous system. This rewiring of the brain is bad for adults, but it’s especially bad for young people because until around age 26, the brain is still developing. When you start messing up normal communication between nerves as the system is still being built, the adaptations are a lot more permanent.”

21% of high schoolers report using e-cigarettes. In 2011, that number was only 1.5%.

4.9% of middle schoolers are vaping, up from just .6% in 2011.

So, the problem is not only growing at an alarming rate, but levels of kids who are addicted to nicotine are reaching levels that should concern everyone, says Dr. Stanton Glantz.

“Our understanding of e-cigarettes is still accumulating, but at this point, we are pretty confident that e-cigarettes are at least two-thirds to three-fourths as bad as cigarettes. And remember, cigarettes are pretty horrible. Vaping is like, instead of jumping out the 40th story of a building, you’re jumping out of the 30th story.”

We’re starting to see evidence of this showing up in the news from around the country, too.

This summer, 8 Wisconsin teens were hospitalized with serious lung damage – some of whom found themselves on ventilators in the ICU – due to their vaping habits. A few weeks later, 4 Minnesota kids spent weeks in the hospital battling vaping-related lung troubles, after which the state’s public health department issued an official warning against the use of e-cigs.

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Then, an 18-year-old Florida student’s lung collapsed after regular JUUL use, and the FDA reports that they’ve received 127 reports of seizures and other neurological symptoms also related to vaping over the past 10 years. And there has now officially been a death caused by lung illness linked to vaping.

None of these types of issues were seen with traditional cigarettes – so what’s different about vaporized nicotine?

Cigarettes contain 69 known carcinogens, but the juice needed to get a nicotine buzz from an e-cig isn’t harmless – it also contains an assortment of chemicals that go straight into your lungs (and then into the air) that scientists are starting to realize can be as harmful (if not more).

The fact that kids are getting “nic sick” – experiencing nausea, headaches, lightheadedness, and vomiting, none of which was a side effect of traditional cigarettes – seems to point to the fact that the nicotine in e-cigs is ultra concentrated.

Stantz explains how and why these findings are possible – and super concerning.

“Free-base nicotine, which you get in a cigarette and an older-generation e-cigarette, is very alkaline and hard to inhale, so it triggers a gag reflex, which limits the amount of nicotine per puff. Juul transitioned to nicotine salt and added some acid to the e-liquid to make it less alkaline, as well as adding flavors. When you put all that together, it is much easier to inhale, so Juul devices deliver a much higher dose per puff.”

Setting aside the increased nicotine content there are more reasons that, even though they contain fewer known carcinogens than regular cigs, the e-cig vapor is just as dangerous.

“It consists of ultrafine particles that are about 100 times smaller than a human hair. These particles include acrolein and formaldehyde, as well as diacetyl, cinnamaldehyde, and other flavorants that are fine to eat but not to inhale as fine particles.”

In fact, Harvard researchers have discovered that diacetyl and its chemical cousin 2,3-pentanedione – found in 90 percent of e-cigarettes tested – do damage to the cilia lining the lungs and airways, which increases the risks of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

“E-cigarettes also include heavy metals like lead and silica. Their wicks often have silica, and when they wear out, you can get little particles of silica in the lungs, which is very harmful. Additionally, e-cigarettes disable normal functioning of macrophages, cells within the lungs that gobble up bacteria and other infectious agents we breathe in. When you disable them, you are more prone to infections.”

Like smoking old-school cigarettes, vaping also puts people at risk for cardiovascular issues, like heart disease, heart attacks, and strokes.

So, even though Glantz estimated that e-cigs are around 75% as harmful as smoking regular cigs, even he doesn’t think that number will stay the same as more research surfaces.

“With the data we should have about 3 or 4 years from now, I think we’ll find that e-cigarettes are equally as bad or worse in terms of overall health risks.”

Just say no, y’all, and if your kids are vaping or think it’s cool, please step in. It’s not harmless, and as with everything this big, bad world throws at your teen, it’s your job to help them mitigate as many risks as possible.

And vaping is a big one.

The post Scientists Are Starting to Understand the Real Dangers of Vaping appeared first on UberFacts.

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5 Tips to Be the Healthiest You

Everyone wants to be living their best life, which usually entails living their healthiest life. The key to having consistently good health is by practicing “lifestyle medicine.” Lifestyle medicine can encompass everything from regular exercise, stress management, and simple changes to your diet. By making simple adjustments to your day-to-day life, you can make significant improvements to your overall health. Here are 5 tips to help you get started. 1. Focus on the Positive Sometimes life can get you down. A series of unfortunate events can pile relentlessly on top of each other. When this happens, a good habit to

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A Man Karaoked so Hard He Collapsed His Lung

You really have to admire people who put themselves out there on karaoke night. I mean, what’s the point of grabbing the mic and getting up there if you’re not going to give it your all, right?

Right.

Buuuttttt, that said, you probably want to avoid collapsing your lung in the process, eh?

Image Credit: Pixabay

Apparently, a 65-year-old Chinese man named Wang managed to do just that after attempting to hit a particularly intense high note, reports the South China Morning Post.

This came after singing 10 high-pitched songs in a row, so perhaps that was a contributing factor? Although I’ve honestly never heard of anyone collapsing their lungs from singing before.

The man experienced chest pains and breathlessness before deciding to take a trip to the ER.

Image Credit: Pixabay

“I was very excited in the heat of the moment and after singing a few songs with very high notes, I found myself having breathing difficulties,” he confessed.

The doctor in the emergency room said that the collapsed lung was due to “high lung pressure caused by singing high notes.”

A collapsed lung occurs when a hole or a puncture in the lunch results in air leaking into the space between the lung and chest wall. The air can build up and increase pressure in the chest cavity, which obviously causes some serious problems.

Though it’s unusual, collapsed lungs can occur basically out of the blue, but chest injuries are most often to blame.

No word on whether his age or physical condition had anything to do with the incident, but you might want to take it easy during your next karaoke session.

Just in case…

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This Non-Profit Recycles the Soap from Hotels You Leave Behind When You Check out

Every time you check out of a hotel, you leave behind a mostly-unused bar of soap. It may even be untouched, if you’re the type of person who has strong soap preferences. So what happens to it?

The answer is pretty disappointing: hotels generally just throw the soap away for sanitary reasons. And all that soap adds up; about one million bars of soap are thrown out every day in the U.S., between travelers and hotels.

One traveler was unhappy to discover this wasteful practice, so he decided to do something about it. Shawn Seipler, a former tech employee who used to travel five months out of the year, thought that he could make better use of all those slivers of soap, so he started Clean The World. The Orlando-based company collects unwanted hotel soap, sanitizes it, melts it down, and redistributes it around the world.

Just last year, Clean The World made over 7 million bars of recycled soap, which were then donated to people in need. Thousands of children die from diseases that are preventable with basic hygiene — or, as Clean The World puts it, “Soap saves lives.” The organization also recycles shampoo, conditioner and body wash for homeless shelters around the world.

Clean The World partners with hotels for the modest price of 50 cents per room per month. There are operating centers in Orlando, Las Vegas, Montreal, India and Hong Kong.

“There’s a whole world of hotels out there we can get to start donating,” Shawn told Thrillist. “Right now we’ve got 20 percent of all hotels in the US. That’s a lot of room to grow, and a lot of soap to make.”

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Psychologists Say That Baking Improves Your Mood – Here’s Why

A lot of folks out there who innately understand that the act of measuring ingredients, kneading dough, licking spoons, and dropping cookies, cakes, muffins, bread, or all of the above into a hot oven is a quick fix for a bad day, a fight with your spouse, or a general funk that’s proving hard to escape.

But it turns out that there is psychology behind the fact that baking – for yourself or others – possesses a therapeutic element.

Studies have shown that creative practices, like baking and knitting, have the ability to contribute to a person’s overall sense of well-being, a fact that Boston University’s Donna Pincus says  is due to how baking allows “the benefit of allowing people creative expression.”

“There’s a lot of literature for connection between creative expression and overall wellbeing,” Pincus continues. “Whether it’s painting or it’s making music [or baking], there is a stress relief that people get from having some kind of outlet and a way to express themselves.”

Stress, of course, is linked to a variety of mental and physical problems, which means finding ways to cope is an important step in leading a healthy life.

Baking also helps people practice mindfulness, as it allows you to focus on straightforward directions listed in a specific order – the fact that you’re just following along lets your mind grab onto something other than the stress and anxiety that might exist outside the kitchen.

Julie Ohana, a clinical social worker and culinary art therapist, claims that baking helps you practice the “balance of the moment and the bigger picture.” When you’re baking, you’re measuring ingredients and mixing them together, all while imagining how they’ll come together in the end and how someone else might be pleased to enjoy that final product, too.

Which brings us to another psychological benefit – sharing your baked goods with others. Doing something good without expecting anything in return is a proven mood-booster, confirms Pincus.

“You feel like you’ve done something good for the world, which perhaps increases your meaning in life and connection with other people.”

Food can also function as a mode of communication, says psychology and brain science professor Susan Whitbourne.

“It can be helpful for people who have difficulty expressing their feelings in words to show thanks, appreciation, or sympathy with baked goods.”

In a world where it can be hard to find ways to communicate our feelings to others, being able to say it with baked goods (or a quilt, or a cross-stitch) is as easy as it is satisfying.

So get out there and bake, people – it’s good for your body, your mind, your community and your belly, too.

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Drinking Water All Day IS NOT the Best Way to Stay Hydrated — Learn the Best Methods

I’ve heard my fair share of the advice “make sure you drink a lot of water!”

I’m guilty of worrying over whether my nieces and nephews are hydrating well enough, too, especially on these hot summer days. Dehydration causes fatigue, saps endurance, and can interfere with your mood and ability to concentrate.

And while the National Academy of Medicine does recommend adults drink between 91 and 125 fl oz of water every day, guzzling the stuff morning, noon, and night may not be the optimal way to keep hydrated.

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Especially, says professor of public health David Nieman, if you’re not drinking it with a meal.

“If you’re drinking water and then, within two hours, your urine output is really high and is clear, that means the water is not staying in well…plain water has a tendency to slip right through the human digestive system when not accompanied by food or nutrients.”

In fact, if you think your clear urine is a sign you’re doing something right, that’s not exactly the case, either, according to the Cleveland Clinic – it’s a sign of “overhydration” in most cases.

A 2015 study found that many kinds of drinks help you rehydrate – some as efficiently as water – and that several different elements come into play when considering how much H2O is absorbed in the process. Their research found that if you ingest water along with animo acids, fats and other minerals, it seems to help the body retain the much needed hydration.

For that reason, orange juice, milk, tea, and sports drinks were all good options when hydration is your goal.

“People who are drinking bottles and bottles of water in between meals and with no food, they’re probably just peeing most of that out,” Neiman confirms.

Also? Drinking too much water can actually be harmful.

“In athletes or people who are exercising for hours, if they’re only drinking water, they can throw out too much sodium in their urine, which leads to an imbalance in the body’s sodium levels,” Nieman adds.

The result can be a potentially deadly condition called “hyponatremia,” and in those cases, sports drinks and other beverages that contain nutrients are a better option.

Even if you’re not an athlete, there are better ways than pounding water all day to keep your body and your brain running at optimal levels. Sipping water prevents an overload in the kidneys and helps your body retain and use the water you’ve drank.

Another good tip is to drink water before, during, and immediately after a meal or snack.

“Drinking water with amino acids or fats or vitamins or minerals helps the body take up more of the water, which is why beverages like milk and fruit juice tend to look pretty good in these hydration studies.”

Some of Neiman’s own research suggests that even eating a banana would be a better way to recover from a workout than drinking a bunch of water.

The long and short seems to be that you can and should keep drinking water, but it’s not a bad idea exercise more discretion in the whens and hows – not so much all at once, and taken with food whenever possible.

“Water is good for you,” Neiman cracks, “but you can drown in it, too.”

Words to live by.

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All Nurses Wish Their Patients Would Stop Doing These 12 Things

When it comes to jobs where serving the public is at the heart of your duties, the pet peeves can really pile up.

Nurses are the unsung heroes of the medical world, and they take more than their fair share of crap – which is why, for the love of god, please stop doing these 12 things immediately.

12. What if it’s a male patient, though?

11. They can’t handle it, and they won’t remember it.

10. Wash your hands, heathens.

9. The internet doesn’t actually know more than your medical staff.

8. It’s like they can smell the chaos.

7. A common misconception.

6. Yeah, even I know you’re supposed to hold your breath.

5. It’s so much less exciting, though!

4. They need eyes on that.

3. I’m pretty sure they’re not sanitary or practical.

2. Seriously everyone needs a break!

1. Understandable.

The more you know!

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If You Have These Tiny Bumps on Your Skin, They’re Called Milia and You Should Leave Them Alone

Listen up, this is important.

Have you ever looked in the mirror and noticed small white bumps on your skin? Have you been tempted to squeeze them? Except then you do, and they don’t anything like normal pimples.

Because they aren’t pimples.

These little irritations are called milium cysts, which, when they’re in a group, are called milia.

Photo Credit: Pexels, Dhyamis Kleber

Healthline says, “Milia occur when keratin becomes trapped beneath the surface of the skin. Keratin is a strong protein that’s typically found in skin tissues, hair, and nail cells.”

But milia are nothing to worry about in most cases – they are more nuisance than something serious. However, if they do appear, don’t pick them! That could cause scarring, especially if you have quite a few. I know, it is tempting, but you do not want to risk it.

How do you get rid of them?

In most cases, milia will go away on its own. And they really are unnoticeable to others unless they are super close to your face, which really isn’t a big deal. But some people may experience milia that can cause slight pain or irritation, in which they should talk to a dermatologist if it worsens. Doctors will use treatments to eliminate them, such as:

  • Deroofing. A sterile needle picks out the contents of the cyst.
  • Topical retinoids. These vitamin A-containing creams help exfoliate your skin.
  • Chemical peels. Chemical peels cause the first layer of skin to peel off, unearthing new skin.
  • Laser ablation: A small laser focuses on the affected areas to remove the cysts.

Prevention

Photo Credit: Pexels, Vitória Santos

The great news is you can prevent these annoying bumps! Healthline shares a few home remedies:

  • Clean and exfoliate the skin. Milia occur under the eyes due to an excess of keratin. Gently exfoliating the area with a warm washcloth may get rid of dead skin cells and help bring trapped keratin to the surface.
  • Steam. Spending some time in your bathroom with the door closed and a hot shower running creates an easy at-home steam treatment for your face.
  • Rose water or manuka honey. Spritz a bit of rose water or use a manuka honey mask on your face. Research has found anti-inflammatory properties in roses and honey.
  • Avoid picking or poking. It may seem counterintuitive, but leaving milia bumps alone helps them heal faster. If you pick milia bumps to the point where they become irritated, infection and scarring become more likely.

So there you go.

But, just to be clear, always go to a doctor if you’re worried about your health. They can help you out better than the internet.

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