Teeth Brighteners

A Dim Report about Teeth Brighteners

Using your brush with teeth brighteners, you may be getting more than just a flashy smile.

When you brush with teeth brighteners, you may be getting more than just a flashy smile. Teeth brightener sales topped $52 million in 1993, up 25 percent over 1992. But the American Dental Association has raised serious concerns about the safety of teeth brighteners. Prompted by the ADA, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is now investigating whether the over-the counter products should be regulated as cosmetics or drugs. None of the products currently on the market are accepted by the ADA.

Although dentists have used hydrogen peroxide as bleaching agents for years, the ADA worries that commercially available at-home kits involve hours of unsupervised exposure to hydrogen peroxide and that users may leave the product on their teeth longer than directed, thinking their teeth will be made even whiter the longer the product is applied. The brighteners often contain acids that can damage enamel, they say, and overuse can also cause tooth sensitivity, gum irritation, and throat and stomach problems. In some cases, oxygenating agents can damage mouth tissues, delay healing, harm the interior of teeth, cause cell changes, and enhance the effects of other cancerogenics, they claim.

Bright teeth. Photo by Elena

One study published in the Journal of Periodontology found that hamsters given hydrogen peroxide orally developed precancerous growths. When hydrogen peroxide was combined with cancer-causing products, such as cigarettes, the likelihood of cancer increased greatly.

FDA safely regulations are more stringent for drugs than for cosmetics. According to the FDA, a drug is intended to affect the structure and function of the body while a cosmetic is defined as anything “introduced into or otherwise applied to the human body for promoting attractiveness or altering appearances.”

At prices that can be twice as high as regular toothpaste, teeth brighteners carry a healthy profit margin. The FDA will have to determine if they are also as safe.

Straight Talk About Braces

Straight Talk About Braces

An early trip to the orthodontist can spare you a fearsome dental bill

Dr. Tom Graber has been in the forefront of orthodontic research since he began practicing in 1945. He authored several textbooks on the subject and has edited The American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics since 1985. Though he’s never worn braces himself, three of his children have.

What does an orthodontist do?

Just as an orthopedic surgeon guides the growth of an abnormally forming leg or arm, an orthodontist guides the growth of the jaw and face, particularly for children with underdeveloped jaws or when the upper and lower jaw don’t fit together.

What are the tip-offs that preventative measures like an appliance might be needed?

The most obvious problems are the inherited ones, such as when a child inherits a small jaw from one parent and large teeth from another, leading to jaw disorders. Also, the upper jaw can be deformed by finger sucking or, more likely, compensatory tongue-swallowing habits. This happens when kids continue natural back and forth tongue-thrusting when they stop nursing, which pushes the front teeth out. Kids whose front teeth stick out tend to get their lower lip under them every time they swallow, which pushes the teeth even further out. Mouth-breathing or enlarged adenoids and tonsils can also cause compensatory problems.

Starbucks. Photo by Elena

What can be done to prevent such problems?

Children should be seen by a qualified orthodontist by the time they are six. A pediatric dentist may not have the training to recognize the early developmental problems that can be solved with simple interceptive orthodontics, and recognizing these problems can save a lot of trouble down the road. By the time your girl hits 11 or 12 or your boy hits 13 or 14, all you can really do is shove teeth around. Better to start with simple appliance procedures than to go in there later with an expensive long-term procedure.

A simple appliance, for instance, can be used to expand a narrow jaw or to prevent the deleterious effects of bad habits. You probably will want to use a simple fixed appliance which is cemented to the child’s upper teeth. A removable appliance relies too much on patient cooperation, which is hard to come by with very young children.

What about braces? What are some of the reasons one would get them?

Mostly for cosmetic reasons, but braces also help to correct abnormal jaw growth and function. The cause of real dental health problems is not necessarily crooked teeth but the way the teeth fit together, so you use braces to get a handle on the jaw. When the jaws are not in the right relationship, it places abnormal stress on the jaw joint, and that may cause pain and improper functions.

Are there any new technologies that can make wearing braces a less traumatic experience for a self-conscious young person?

Lingual braces, which are hidden behind the teeth, are fine for purely cosmetic reasons, but they are much harder to adjust and make eating and talking difficult. And they aren’t as effective because you can’t get the same kind of control over them.

The alternative is ceramic braces. The brackets are made out of the same sort of material as coffee cups and are nearly invisible against the teeth. Ceramic brackets are bonded to the tooth instead of being glued around it like the old metal bands were. They make very cosmetically acceptable brackets for the wires, which have also come a long way. The new thin nickel titanium wires are light and they need less adjustment. They work so well that you don’t need them as long.

In some specialized cases, small magnets can be used to speed up and simplify treatment, for example with growth guidance appliances and the eruption of teeth embedded in the jaw, but this is very unusual.

How can a parent know if a price quoted by an orthodontist is reasonable?

Early interceptive work with appliances may run you hundreds of dollars, but if it’s a difficult case that requires braces and a lot of treatment, it may be thousands and thousands of dollars. Of course, prices vary geographically, but in most cases, braces will run from around $2,000 up for involved programs.

In a lot of cases you have to rely on the integrity of your orthodontist. Make sure he is board certified, which only about 30 percent of orthodontists are. You can also call one of the dental schools in your town to get an idea of what the going rate for a specific procedure is. And, of course, you should always get a second opinion.

When does is make sense for adults to undergo an orthodontic procedure?

About 25% of the orthodontic work done today is on adults, mostly for cosmetic reasons. There is also a relationship between some gum problems and jaw problems that braces can help. You put up to 350 pounds of pressure on your jaw when you chew, and that can really affect your gums. A lot of adults tend to grind or clench their teeth at night, which, if your bite is wrong, can lead to a popped disc in the jaw joint. Orthodontists can make a splint that will help relieve that pressure.

Tinkering with Mother Nature

Tinkering with Mother Nature

Facial implants and chemical peels have joined tummy tucks and nose jobs in the panoply of cosmetic procedures that appearance-conscious Americans are resorting to in increasing numbers. The American Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons provides this guide to today’s most-elected interventions with nature.

Breast enlargement: Augmentation Mammoplasty. Enhances the size and shape of breasts using artificial implants.

Procedure: Lasts 1 to 2 hours. Local anesthesia with sedation, or general. Usually outpatient.

Side effects: Temporary pain. Swelling, soreness, numbness of abdominal skin, bruising, tiredness for several weeks or months.

Recovery: Back to work in 2 to 4 weeks. More strenuous activity after 4 to 6 weeks or more. Fading and flattening of scars: 3 months to 2 years.

Risks: Blood clots. Infection. Bleeding under the skin flap. Poor healing resulting in conspicuous scarring or skin loss. Need for a second operation.

Duration: Permanent.

Breast Lift: Mastopexy. Raises and reshapes sagging breasts by removing excess skin and repositioning remaining tissue and nipples.

Procedure: Lasts 1 1/2 to 3 1/2 hours. Local anesthesia with sedation, or general. Usually outpatient. Sometimes inpatient. 1 to 2 days.

Elvis and Priscilla. Photo by Elena

Side effects: Temporary bruising, swelling, discomfort, numbness, dry breast skin. Permanent scars.

Recovery: Feeling better, back to work in a week.

Risks: Thick, wide scars; skin loss; infection. Unevenly positioned nipples. Permanent loss of feeling in nipples and breast.

Duration: Variable; Gravity, pregnancy, aging, and weight changes may cause new sagging. May last longer when combined with implants.

Chemical Peel: Phenol, trichloracetic acid (TCA). Restore wrinkled, blemished, unevenly pigmented or sun-damaged facial skin, using a chemical solution to peel away skin’s top layers. Works best on fair, thin skin with superficial wrinkles.

Procedure: Takes 1 to 2 hours for full face. No anesthesia – sedation and EKG monitoring may be used. Usually outpatient. Full-face phenol peel may require admission for 1 to 2 days.

Side effects: Both: Temporary throbbing, tingling, swelling redness; acute sensitivity to sun. Phenol: Permanent lightening of treated skin; permanent loss of ability to tan.

Recovery: Phenols: Formation of new skin in 7 to 21 days. Normal activities in 2 to 4 weeks. Full healing and fading of redness in 3 to 6 months: New skin within 5 to 10 days.

Risks: Both: Tiny whiteheads (temporary); infection; scarring; flare-up of skin allergies, fever blisters, cold sores. Phenol: Abnormal color changes (permanent); heart irregularities (rare).

Duration: Phenol is permanent, although new wrinkles may form as skin ages. TCA is variable (temporary).

Collagen/Fat injections: Plump up creased, furrowed, or sunken facial skin; add fullness to lips and backs of hands. Works best on thin, dry, light-colored skin.

Procedure: Lasts 15 minutes to 1 hour per session. Collagen: usually no anesthesia; local may be included with the injection. Fat requires local anesthesia. Outpatient.

Side effects: Temporary stinging, throbbing, or burning sensation. Faint redness, swelling excess fullness.

Risks: Collagen: allergic reactions including rash, hives, swelling, or flu-like symptoms; possible triggering of connective-tissue or autoimmune diseases. Both: contour irregularities; infection.

Duration: Variable, from a few months to as long as a year.

Dermabrasion: Mechanical scraping of the top layers of skin using a high-speed rotary wheel. Softens sharp edges of surface irregularities, including acne and other scars and fine wrinkles, especially around mouth.

Procedure: Lasts a few minutes to 1 1/2 hours. May require more sessions. Anesthesia: Local, numbing spray, or general. Usually outpatient.

Side effects: Temporary tingling, burning, itching, swelling, redness. Lightening of treated skin, acute sensitivity to sun; loss of ability to tan.

Recovery: Back to work in 2 weeks. More strenuous activities in 4 to 6 weeks. Fading of redness in about 3 months. Return of pigmentation/sun exposure in 6 to 12 months.

Risks: Abnormal color changes (permanent). Tiny whiteheads (temporary). Infection. Scarring. Flare-up of skin allergies, fever blisters, cold sores.

Duration: Permanent, but new wrinkles may form as skin ages.

Eyelid Surgery: Blepharoplasty. Corrects drooping upper eyelids and puffy bags below the eyes by removing excess fat, skin, and muscle. (May be covered by insurance if used to improve vision).

Procedure: Lasts 1 to 3 hours. Usually, local anesthesia with sedation, occasionally general. Usually outpatient.

Side effects: Temporary discomfort, tightness of lids, swelling, bruising. Temporary dryness, burning, itching of eyes. Excessive tearing, sensitivity to light for first few weeks.

Risks: Temporary blurred or double vision; blindness (extremely rare). Infection. Swelling at corners of eyelids; tiny whiteheads. Slight asymmetry in healing or scarring. Difficulty in closing eyes completely (rarely permanent). Pulling down of the lower lids may require further surgery).

Recovery: Reading in 2 or 3 days Back to work in 7 to 10 days. Contact lenses in 2 weeks or more. Strenuous activities, alcohol in about 3 weeks. Bruising and swelling gone in several weeks.

Duration: Several years to permanent.

Facelift: Rhytidectomy: Improve sagging facial skin, jowls, and loose neck skin by removing excess, tightening muscles, redraping skin. Most often done on men and women over 40.

Procedure: Lasts several hours. Anesthesia: Local with sedation, or general. Usually outpatient. Some patients may require short inpatient stay.

Side effects: Temporary bruising, swelling, numbness, and tenderness of skin; tight feeling, dry skin. For men, permanent need to shave behind ears, where beard-growing skin is repositioned.

Recovery: Back to work in 10 to 14 days. More strenuous activity in 2 weeks or more. Bruising gone in 2 to 3 weeks. Must limit exposure to sun for several months.

Risks: Injury to the nerves that control facial muscles, loss of feeling (usually temporary but may be permanent). Infection. Poor healing, excessive scarring. Change in hairline.

Duration: Usually about 5 to 10 years.

Facial implants: Change the basic shape and balance of the face using carefully styled implants to build up a receding chin, add prominence to cheekbones, or reshape the jawline. Implants may be natural or artificial.

Procedure: Lasts 30 minutes to 2 hours. Anesthesia: Local with sedation, or general. Usually outpatient.

Occasionally requires overnight stay.

Side effects: Temporary discomfort, swelling, bruising, numbness and/or stiffness. In jaw surgery, inability to open mouth fully for several weeks.

Recovery: Back to work in about a week. Normal appearance in 2 to 4 weeks. Activity that could jar or bump face after 6 weeks or more.

Risks: Shifting or imprecise positioning of implant, or infection around it, requiring a second operation or removal. Excess tightening and hardening of scar tissue around an artificial implant (“capsular contracture”), causing an unnatural shape.

Duration: Permanent.

Forehead lift: Browlift. Minimize forehead creases, drooping eyebrows, hooding over eyes, furrowed forehead, and frown lines by removing excess tissue and redraping skin. Most often done on people over 40.

Procedure: Length: 1 to 2 hours. Anesthesia: Local with sedation, or general. Usually outpatient.

Side effects: Temporary swelling, numbness, headaches, bruising. Possible itching and hair loss for several months. Change of hairline.

Recovery: Back to work in 7 to 10 days. More strenuous activity after several weeks. Bruising gone after 2 to 3 weeks. Limited exposure to sun for everal months.

Risks: Injury to facial nerve, causing loss of motion, muscle weakness, or asymmetrical look. Infection. Broad or excessive scarring.

Duration: Usually about 5 to 10 years.

Hair replacement surgery: Fill in balding areas with the patient’s own hair using a variety of techniques including scalp reduction, tissue expansion, strip grafts, scalp flaps, or clusters of punch grafts (plugs, miniplugs, and microplugs). Works best on men with male pattern baldness after hair loss has stopped.

Procedure: Lasts 1 to 3 hours. Some techniques may require multiple procedures over 18 months or more. Anesthesia: Usually local with sedation. Flaps and tissue expansion may be done with general anesthesia. Usually outpatient.

Side effects: Temporary aching, tight scalp. An unnatural look in early stages.

Recovery: Back to work: usually in 2 to 5 days. More strenuous activities after 10 days to 3 weeks. Final look: may be 18 months or more, depending on procedure.

Risks: Unnatural look. Infection. Excessive scarring. Failure to “take.” Loss of scalp tissue and/or transplanted hair.

Duration: Permanent.

Liposuction: Suction-assisted lipectomy. Improve body shape using tube and vacuum device to remove unwanted fat deposits that don’t respond to dieting and exercise. Locations include chin, cheeks, neck, upper arms, above breasts, abdomen, buttocks, hips, thighs, knees, calves, ankles.

Procedure: Lasts 1 to 2 hours or more, depending on extent of surgery. Anesthesia: Local, epidural, or general. Usually outpatient. Extensive procedures may require short inpatient stay.

Side effects: Temporary bruising, swelling, numbness, burning sensation.

Recovery: Back to work in 3 to 7 days. More strenuous activity after 2 to 3 weeks. Swelling and bruising subsides in 3 to 6 months.

Risks: Infection. Excessive fluid loss leading to shock. Fluid accumulation. Injury to the skin. Rippling or bagginess of skin. Pigmentation changes (may become permanent if exposed to sun). Excessive scarring if tissue was cut away. Need for second procedure to remove additional tissue.

Duration: Permanent.

Nose surgery: Rhinoplasty. Reshape nose by reducing or increasing size, removing hump, changing shape of tip or bridge, narrowing span of nostrils, or changing angle between nose and upper lip. May relieve some breathing problems.

Procedure: Length: 1 to 2 hours or more. Anesthesia: Local with sedation, or general. Usually outpatient.

Side effects: Temporary swelling, bruising around eyes and nose, and headaches. Some bleeding and stuffiness.

Recovery: Back to work or school in 1 to 2 weeks. Avoid hitting nose or sunburn for 8 weeks. Fina appearance after a year or more.

Risks: Infection. Small burst blood vesselss resulting in tiny, permanent red spots. Incomplete improvement, requiring additional surgery.

Duration: Permanent.

Tummy tuck: Abdominoplasty. Flatten abdomen by removing excess fat and skin and tightening muscles of abdominal wall.

Procedure: Lasts 2 to 5 hours. Anesthesia: General or local with sedation. In- or outpatient, depending on individual circumstances.

Side effects: Temporary pain. Swelling, soreness, numbness of abdominal skin, bruising, tiredness for weeks or months.

Recovery: Back to work in 2 to 4 weeks. More strenuous activity after 4 to 6 weeks or more. Fading and flattening of scars in 3 months to 2 years.

Risks: Blood clots. Infection. Bleeding under the skin flap. Poor healing resulting in conspicuous scarring or skin loss. Need for a second operation.

Duration: Permanent.

In aesthetic procedures, eyelid surgery is most popular among women, but men prefer to have their noses altered.

Ryerson University

Ryerson University

Ryerson University is a public research university located in downtown Toronto. Its urban campus surrounds the Yonge-Dundas Square. The university has a focus on applied, career-oriented education.

Ryerson University is home to Canada’s largest undergraduate business school, the Ted Rogers School of Management, and Canada’s third largest undergraduate engineering school, the George Vari Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Science, as well as the Faculty of Arts, Faculty of Communication & Design, Faculty of Community Services, and the Faculty of Science.

In addition to offering full-time and part-time undergraduate and graduate programs leading to Bachelor’s, Master’s and Doctoral degrees, the university also offers part-time degrees, distance education and certificates through the G. Raymond Chang School of Continuing Education.

The Ryerson Institute of Technology was founded in 1948, inheriting the staff and facilities of the Toronto Training and Re-establishment Institute. In 1966, it became the Ryerson Polytechnical Institute.

The Toronto Training and Re-establishment Institute was created in 1945 on the former site of the Toronto Normal School at St James Square, bounded by Gerrard, Church, Yonge and Gould. The Gothic-Romanesque building was designed by architects Thomas Ridout and Frederick William Cumberland in 1852.

In 1992, Ryerson became Toronto’s second school of engineering to receive accreditation from the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board (CEAB).

In 1993, Ryerson formally became a University, via an Act of the Ontario Legislature. That year, Ryerson received approval to grant graduate degrees (master’s and doctorates). The same year, the Board of Governors changed the institution’s name to Ryerson Polytechnic University to reflect a stronger emphasis on research associated with graduate programs and its expansion from being a university offering undergraduate degrees.

In 1971, provincial legislation was amended to permit Ryerson to grant university degrees accredited by both provincial government legislation and by the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC).

In June 2001, the school assumed its current name as Ryerson University. Today, Ryerson University offers programs in chemical, civil, mechanical, industrial, electrical, biomedical and computer engineering. Ryerson is Canada’s leader in innovative, career-focused education and a university clearly on the move. It is a distinctly urban university with a focus on innovation and entrepreneurship. Ryerson has a mission to serve societal need and a long-standing commitment to engaging its community. It offers more than 100 undergraduate and graduate programs.

Ryerson University. The John Craig Eaton Garden. Chancellor 1999 - 2006

A sculpture of a bird in a court of the university. In 1971, the university became a member of the Council of Ontario Universities (COU).

Egerton Ryerson, founder of the university. Egerton Ryerson was a leading educator, politician, and Methodist minister. He is known as the father of Ontario's public school system. In 1852 at the core of the present main campus, the historic St. James Square, Egerton Ryerson founded Ontario's first teacher training facility, the Toronto Normal School.

Ryerson University urban campus, central area.

Ryerson University theatre.

Ryerson University Tower. Motto of the Ryerson University: Mente et Artificio (Mind and Skill)

This coat of arms in Ohio sandstone is a composite of a design by Governor John Graves Simcoe (1791 - 1796) to which were added the motto (religio, scientia, libertas) and the beaver by Dr. Egerton Ryerson, Ontario's first superintendent of education. Governor Simcoe's design served as the seal of Upper Canada, and Dr. Ryerson used the composite as the insignia of the Department of Education.

The university is named after the Reverend Egerton Ryerson, founder of the procince’s education system, the Ryerson Institute of Technology was established in 1948 to provide technological education for post-secondary school students.

Established in 1948, Ryerson University is a public research university located in Toronto, Ontario. Its urban campus is in downtown Toronto.

The majority of the buildings of the university are in the blocks northeast of the Yonge-Dundas Square in Toronto’s Garden District. Ryerson’s business school, Ted Rogers School of Management (Canada`s largest undergraduate business school) is on the southwest end of the Yonge-Dundas Square, on Bay Street, north of Toronto’s Financial District. It is attached to the Toronto Eaton Centre.

The Mattamy Athletic Centre, is located in the Maple Leaf Gardens arena, formerly home of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Ryerson has Canada’s third largest undergraduate engineering school, the George Vari Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Science. In addition to offering full-time and part-time undergraduate and graduate programs leading to Bachelor’s, Master’s and Doctoral degrees, the university offers part-time degrees, distance education and certificates through the G. Raymond Chang School of Continuing Education.

In 1852 at the core of the present main campus, the St. James Square, Egerton Ryerson founded Ontario’s first teacher training facility, the Toronto Normal School. Mr. Ryerson was an educator, politician, and Methodist minister. He is known as the father of Ontario’s public school system.

Egerton Ryerson is also a founder of the first publishing company in Canada in 1829, The Methodist Book and Publishing House, which is today is part of McGraw-Hill Ryerson.

The Toronto Training and Re-establishment Institute was created in 1945 on the former site of the Toronto Normal School at St James Square, bounded by Gerrard, Church, Yonge and Gould. The Gothic-Romanesque building was designed by architects Thomas Ridout and Frederick William Cumberland in 1852.

The Ryerson Institute of Technology was founded in 1948, inheriting the staff and facilities of the Toronto Training and Re-establishment Institute. In 1966, this institution became the Ryerson Polytechnical Institute.

Today, Ryerson University offers programs in chemical, civil, mechanical, industrial, electrical, biomedical and computer engineering. The university is also one of only two Canadian universities to offer a program in aerospace engineering accredited by the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board (CEAB). In total, Ryerson offers more than hundred undergraduate and graduate programs.

The Toronto Normal School. The Toronto Normal School, the first provincial institution for the systematic training of elementary school-teachers, was established in 1847 through the initiative of the Reverend Egerton Ryerson, Chief Superintendent of Schools for Canada West. In 1852 the School was located in Classical Revival style buildings designed for this site by F.W. Cumberland and Thomas Ridout. At first the Normal School had to provide academic instruction for some poorly educated student-teachers, but, increasingly, emphasis was placed on professional training. As a result the Toronto Normal School contributed significantly to the gradual improvement of teaching standards throughout Ontario and became a leading centre for teacher-training. In 1941 the Normal School was moved to a different site and renamed Toronto Teachers’ College in 1952.

The Automotive Guessing Game

The Automotive Guessing Game

Reading your insurer’s mind can save your money

If you’re a 22-year-old male driving a souped-up Porsche, you may want to think about getting married. There’s nothing cheap about a high performance sports car, including insurance premiums, but insurers do give a discount to married sports car enthusiasts under the assumption – based on hard data – that they will get into fewer accidents.

That doesn’t mean you should get married just to get a lower rate, of course, just that auto insurers know more about you than you think. Like anyone that makes a living by gambling, insurance companies make it a point to know the odds. Years of accumulating data on the kinds of people who will get into accidents have allowed them to play the percentages with increasing accuracy.

You can’t change who you are, but it helps to know how insurers make their calculations – that way, you can make a few calculations yourself about how to save on your bill when you, say, buy your next car. Here are some of the basics that insurance companies consider when setting rates.

Prior accident and conviction rate: Most insurers will give a break of 20 percent to 40 percent for maintaining a clean driving record. In California, a 20 percent “good driver” discount is even mandatory.

Your age: According to insurers’ bell curves, drivers between 50 and 64 have the fewest accidents. The peak accident rates are after 75 and (no surprise) at about 16. Marriage, of course, can throw you into an entirely different part of the bell curve.

A car. Illustration by Elena

Choice of car: Insurers tend to charge more for pricey, high-performance vehicles. State Farm and Allstate both publish rankings of cars by their risk category. The Acura Legend, the Ford Explorer SPW, and the GMC Safari van are included on both lists as vehicles with lower-than-standard collision and comprehensive premiums. The BMW 325 and Camaro Z-28, on the other hand, are ranked by Allstate as “much worse than average risks” and rates are higher.

Where you live: The higher the density of vehicles, the more likely you are to have an accident, so cities can be more expensive than suburbs.

Safety devices: Air bags and anti-lock brakes can bring down the cost of insurance by more than 10 percent. Some states, like Florida and New York, require discounts on collision coverage for cars equipped with anti-lock brakes and other safety devices.

Multi-car discounts: When you insure more than one car with the same company, you can sometimes qualify for a 10 percent to 25 percent discount.

Annual mileage: Less time on the road and shorter commutes mean less of a chance of getting into accident.

Good grades: Student who keep a B average can win themselves or their parents a 10 percent to 20 percent discount.

Anti-theft devices: Devices that set themselves automatically are likely to win bigger discounts since insurers know that people sometimes forget to set car alarms. (Do your neighbors a favor, though: don’t set the sensitivity too high. Heavy trucks passing by often can set off the device).

Defensive-driving courses: Most insurance companies will give you a discount for taking a state-approved defensive driving course. Check first; sometimes the discount only applies to drivers over 55.

Playing the Rating Game

Playing the Rating Game

How you can tell which insurance companies have staying power

The financial strength of your insurance company is all the insurance you have that the firm will be around when it’s time for you to collect on a policy. But how can you tell if any one company is financially strong or weak?

Fortunately, you don’t need to spend hours poring over financial statements. Several independent organizations specialize in issuing “ratings” of life insurance companies. You should check a few best-known rating agencies.

Playing the Rating Game. Illustration : Elena

They will analyze a company’s financial strength and overall operations considering factors such as control of expenses, investment performance, claims experience, and management philosophy. They will also focus on the company’s claim-paying ability. They will publish a great deal of data, some of which can be difficult to interpret. They also will issue a simpler overall rating for each company.

It’s often difficult to compare the results of different company’s ratings. The A category alone may include several gradations.

What’s a smart consumer to do? One clue that trouble’s brewing is a drop of two or more ratings over a short period of time. And some experts recommend choosing an insurer that gets A or top B grades from four of the five raters. That’s pretty good insurance that your insurer will be around when needed.

Eyesight by a Thousand Cuts

Eyesight by a Thousand Cuts

A cure for nearsightedness may leave you farsighted

The technique was discovered by a Russian doctor by accident in 1971. Treating a man whose cornea had been cut when his glasses were smashed in a fight, the surgeon Svjatoslav Fyodorov discovered that the patient’s sight had improved.

Fyodorov hypothesized that the scoring of the man’s eye by the shattered glass had flattened the cornea, which is the transparent dome about the thickness of a credit card that covers the front of the eyeball. When a person is nearsighted, or myopic, the eyeball becomes too long, which causes light rays to focus short of the retina, resulting in blurred distant vision.

By flattening the cornea, Fyodorov realized, an eyeball could be restored to a rounder shape, thereby altering its local length so that light focused on the retina itself, eliminating the myopia.

Over the next several years, Fyodorov carefully developed the surgical technique now known as radial keratotomy, in which a series of tiny but deliberate incisions are made in the surface of a patient’s cornea to flatten the eyeball and reduce the nearsightedness.

American surgeons trained by Fyodorov performed the first radial keratotomies here in 1978, and today hundreds of thousands of such operations are performed in the United States annually, at a rather accessible cost. According to a study sponsored by the National Institutes of Health over a 10-year period, the technique successfully eliminated nearsightedness in 70 percent of patients, “with a reasonable level of safety.”

Eyesight. Photo by Elena

Of the several hundred patients followed by a decade, about 70 percent had no need for eyeglasses of contact lenses to correct for nearsightedness, 53 percent of the eyes studied had uncorrected vision of 20/20 or better, and 85 percent of the patients could see at 20/40 or better, which is what is required for a driver’s license in most places. Vision-threatening complications occurred in only 3 percent of the cases, and in all but three cases, the eyes could be corrected to 20/25 vision with glasses.

Farsightedness was another matter, however. Ten years after surgery, 43 percent of those whose eyes were studied had become farsighted bu 1.00 D or more. (D stands for diopter, a measure of lens power indicating the need for a new prescription.) In many cases, the study found, the onset of symptomatic presbyopia – a condition where the eye loses natural flexibility – appear to have been accelerated by radial keratotomy, often leading to the need for reading glasses.

One way to offset this drift toward farsightedness is to shorten the lengths of the incisions made in the cornea, the study group concluded. Most of the vision gain from radial keratotomy comes from the incision’s middle portion and not from the edge, and the longer the incisions, the more pronounced the farsightedness is, according to the NIH study.

The shift to farsightedness can be at least partly compensated for by intentionally undercorrecting for myopia in the initial radial keratotomy operation. Over time, the shift toward farsightedness and the undercorrecting for nearsightedness sometimes balance one another out, resulting in virtually normal vision.

Before deciding to get a vision overhaul with radial keratotomy, consider this, however: Once your corneas are slit in the procedure, wearing contact lenses comfortably can be very difficult. That means that if your nearsightedness is not adequately corrected or if you develop complications from the surgery, you are likely to be stuck wearing eyeglasses all the time.

A new treatment also is on the horizon for the nearsighted that leaps into the world of laser surgery. The process, known as photorefractive keratoktemy, uses an excimer laser to flatten the cornea’s contours and erase nearsightedness, the same way radial keratotomy does. The procedure takes 15 to 30 seconds and is appealing because it removes very little tissue – typically less than 10 percent of the cornea’s thickness – and relies more on automation than on the skill of individual surgeons. Approved for use in 35 countries, photorefractive keratectomy was recommended for approval in the United States by an FDA advisory panel late in 1994. The use of laser surgery to treat mild to moderate nearsightedness was approved a year later.

A Shift to Farsighted

A diopter is the unit of measurement of change in one’s vision. A one-diopter change indicates the need for a new eye-wear prescription in the immediate future.

Beware Extended-Wear Contacts

Sleeping with your lenses in can lead to corneal damage

Extended-wear contact lenses, touted for their ability to be worn as long as a week without removal or cleaning, aren’t so carefree, after all, according to several studies. Researches have found that the risks of an infection known as ulcerative keratitis, which causes severe inflammation of the cornea and can lead to permanent vision loss, were twice as great for conventional soft extended-wear users as for daily-wear users. Wearers of disposable lenses, which are designed to be worn without removal for up to two weeks and then thrown out before dirt and debris build up, were 13 times as likely to develop a corneal infection as those who regularly removed their contacts for cleaning.

Researchers writing in Archives of Ophthalmology found that most of the increased risk was the result of extended-wear users keeping their lenses in overnight and not following proper cleaning procedures. From a half to three-quarters of the corneal infections that now develop could be stopped by not wearing disposable lenses overnight, the group argued.

“Even adequate lens care, although recommended, does not protect against the excess risk of overnight wear,” says Dr. Oliver Schein, an ophthalmologist at John Hopkins University and co-author of the study. The message for the five million Americans who now favor the convenience of extended-wear lenses: Remove your lenses and disinfect them while you give your eyes a rest each night.

A Warning to Sunbathers

A Warning to Sunbathers

Being sun smart means knowing your SPFs

It’s hard to pinpoint when America went around the bend in worshiping the bronzed god, but Hollywood no doubt bears a large measure of blame. Even before the movies went Technicolor and George Hamilton and Annette Funicello could prove by their antics that the suntanned really had more fun, moviegoers had already been subjected to years of glamorous Hollywood palm-tree and fun-in-the-sun imagery.

That cinematic fantasy, happily perpetuated by suntan lotion advertising, remains very alive today. According. According to a recent survey for the American Academy of Dermatology, 59 percent of Americans view a tan as a sign of health and find that it enhances appearances.

Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, a tan is your skin’s way of showing that it’s been damaged by the sun’s ultraviolet rays. Over the years, that damage will not only “age” your skin visibly – causing wrinkles, sags, an the kind of pigmentation changes associated with growing old – but it may even lead to skin cancer.

The key to being “sun smart” is to use a sunscreen on exposed skin whenever you’re outside. To help you choose the appropriate level of protection, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration now requires all sunscreen makers to rate the protective power of each of their products. A sunscreen with a sun-protection factor, or SPF, of two, allows you to stay in the sun without getting burned for twice as long as would otherwise be possible without a screen. An SPF of eight gives you eight times the protection.

In choosing a sunscreen, keep in mind the answers to the following questions:

Is there any difference between a sunscreen and a sunblock?

Yes, there is. Sunscreens are chemically based an allow some ultraviolet light to penetrate the sim no matter what their SPF. True sunblocks use mineral like zinc oxide or titanium dioxide in an opaque cream or paste. They do not carry SPFs because their reflective powers are so complete that they do not allow any light to reach the screen.

Unfortunately, such products leave an unattractive chalky film on your skin. A few manufacturers now market hybrid products that a titanium dioxide to chemically based screens to give them reflective properties that they would not otherwise possess.

How high an SPF should I choose?

Dermatologists advise that use a sunscreen with an SPF of at least 15. This will ensure the filtering out of most UV-B rays, the part of the ultraviolet light spectrum most responsible for sunburn and skin cancer.

Is a sunscreen’s SPF all that I need to worry about?

No. SPF only addresses a sunscreen’s ability to guard against UV-B radiation. Researchers have recently discovered that another kind of ultraviolet radiation, known as UV-A radiation, harms the skin’s connective tissue, resulting in visible aging and contributing to skin cancer in some cases.

What can be done to protect against UV-A radiation?

The best protection comes from sunscreens containing a chemical compound known as avobenzone. Some protection can also be gotten from products that contain oxybenzone, a common ingredient in many sunscreens.

Do I need sunscreen if I’m swimming?

Sunscreen is especially important if you’re swimming. Water magnifies the power of ultraviolet rays, ensuring that you will burn even more quickly in the water than on the beach unless the sunscreen you use is water-resistant. Even if it is, it’s a good idea to reapply it after leaving the water to ensure full protection.

What if I have an allergic reaction to sunscreens?

You should avoid sunscreens that contain that contain PABA (para-aminobenzoic acid). Many people are allergic to PABA, and many sunscreens now state on their package that they’re PABA-free (see How Sunscreens Stack Up, below). If you continue to get an allergic reaction, try the new titanium dioxide-based hybrid screens. They are the least likely to cause irritation.

Heidi Kum. Photo by Elena

How Sunscreens Stack Up

These leading brands of sunscreen are all waterproof

Product – Type – Protection provided – Contains RABA? Other features

Bain de Soleil Tropical Deluxe – Suntan lotion – UV-A – No – Retains its sun protection for at least 80 minutes in the water.

Oppertone Suntan lotion – Suntan lotion – UV-A, UV-B – No – Contains aloe and vitamin E.

Hawai’ian Tropic Sport – Sunblock – UV-A, UV-B – No – Waterproof and sweatproof, lasts 8 hours in the water.

Johnson & Johnson Sundown – Sunblock – UV-A, UV-B – No – Waterproof, lasts 80 minutes in the water. Schering Plough Shade – Sunscreen – UV-A, UV-B – No – Contains Parsol 1789; company claims it gives extra UVA protection.

Solar Suncare N-Ad – Sunscreen – No – Contains aloe, cocoa butter, and vitamin E.

The Many Uses of Retin-A

The Many Uses of Retin-A

It helps fight acne, but the returns aren’t in on cancer treatment

Unlike Dorian Gray’s temporarily flattering yet ultimately gruesome portrait, Retin-A has been shown in many tests to offset the effects of aging without causing diabolic side effects. Here, Dr. Wilma Bergfeld, who heads the Clinical Research Department of Dermatology of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation an is a past president of the American Academy of Dermatologists, answers questions about the currently accepted uses of tretinoin in the medical community.

What is Retin-A?

Based on a vitamin A derivative known generically as tretinoin, the drug was originally developed as a treatment for acne in the late 1960s. Doctors could prescribe it at their discretion, and many dermatologists have put people on tretinoin-based programs to treat light wrinkles, liver spots, freckles, pre-cancerous skin lesions.

How effective is Retina-A in treating acne?

Tretinoin is most effective in treating acne when it is combined with a tropical antibiotic. The antibiotic works in tandem with the tretinoin to reduce the blackheads, whiteheads, and pimples that are the primary lesions of acne by reducing inflammation and killing yeast and bacteria microorganisms. Cream-based tretinoin applications moisturize, while gels and the lotions dry out skin, which can lead to scaling. Both vehicles, however, aid in the healing process. Tretinoin itself may produce some redness and scaling, but that is a sign of the agent at work.

Atelier Barbie. Photo by Elena

Can it help with warts?

Warts are viral skin tumors, and it appears that tretinoin may have the ability to kill the wart virus, basically by destroying its cell walls. It has also been used to promote the healing of blisters and scars with some success.

Does Retin-A really make wrinkles disappear?

Actually, the best way to get rid of wrinkles is to not get them in the first place. You should always keep your skin well hydrated and as pale as possible. In fact, simply hydrating the skin with simple over-the-counter moisturizers can reduce wrinkles up to 30 percent. What makes tretinoin more effective from a cosmetic perspective, however, is that it not only removes light wrinkles, but it also bleaches some of the yellow in the skin to a more youthful pink by thickening the epidermis and peeling away the layers of skin in which small wrinkles and irregular pigmentation reside.

Who can prescribe it?

Any physician can prescribe tretinoin, but a dermatologist will be better able to help you because he or she will be aware of some of the adverse effects of the drug such as blotchiness and scaling. The treatment should extend two years for maximum effectiveness, and follow-up treatments can last indefinitely.

Can Retin-A help treat cancer?

Though some research has shown promise for the use of a vitamin A derivative similar to tretinoin in the treatment of cervical cancer and melanoma (a potentially deadly form of skin cancer), these conditions are far too serious to be dealt with by an unproven treatment. Tretinoin can help prevent melanoma, however, if it is used to bleach very flat lesions like freckles.

Germ Warfare

Germ Warfare

Cooking by the Book

Use temperature to kill bacteria before they make you sick:

• 240º – Canning temperature for low-acid vegetables, meat, and poultry in pressure canner.
• 212 – Canning temperature for fruits, tomatoes, and pickles in water bath canner. Cooking temperatures destroy most bacteria. Time required to kill bacteria is decreased as temperature is increased.
• 165 – Warning temperatures prevent growth but allow survival of some bacteria.
• 140 – Some bacterial growth may occur. Many bacteria survive.
• Danger zone: Temperatures in this zone allow rapid growth of bacteria and production of toxins by some bacteria.
• 60 – Some growth of food-poisoning bacteria may occur. (Do not store meats, poultry, or seafoods for more than one week in the refrigerator.)
• 40 – Cold temperatures permit slow growth of some bacteria that cause spoilage.
• 32 – Freezing temperatures stop growth of bacteria, but may allow bacteria to survive. (Do not store food above 10 degrees F for more than a few weeks).

Germ Warfare. Photo: Elena

To Cook Shellfish

Simmer in boiling water: Shrimp (5 minutes); Crab (20 minutes); Lobster (30 to 40 minutes).

Cooking shellfish thoroughly or to an internal temperature of 140 degrees F is required to help avoid the threat of food poisoning. Shrimp, scallops, clams, and oysters can be deep-fried at 370 F for about three minutes. Shrimp and scallops can also be sauteed. Other shellfish are best boiled or steamed. 

Boil for three to five minutes after the shells have opened. Steam shellfish four to nine minutes from the start of steaming. Use small pots for boiling or steaming. If too many shells are cooking in the same pot, it’s possible that the ones in the middle won’t be thoroughly cooked. Discard any clams, mussels, or oysters that do not open during cooking. If the shells remain closed, it may mean they have not received adequate heat.

Glutamate: Learning and Memory

Glutamate: Learning and Memory

The full name of glutamate is monosodium glutamate. As far as neurotransmitters are concerned, serotonin and dopamine are studied more frequently than glutamate. Glutamate is a powerful excitatory neurotransmitter (major neurotransmitter in the mammalian central system), it plays an important role in learning and memory.

Neurons are brain cells, which release chemicals (neurotransmitters) in the brain; it is a form of communication within the brain, as well as, between the brain and the organism as a whole. Thus, glutamate is the primary excitatory neurotransmitter. In this short essay, we discuss the subject.

Certain medications, such as Lamotrigine (mood stabilizer and the actual medicinal ingredient of the generic version, while the brand names are numerous, including Lamictal) inhibit the release of glutamate into the brain. Glutamate is also a precursor to epinephrine. Other medications also alter brain chemistry, such as antidepressants (increase serotonin) and antipsychotics (decrease dopamine).

Among other roles, neurotransmitters have been linked to mental and physical ailments. For example, too much dopamine can result in psychosis and schizophrenia, while a lack of serotonin is responsible for depression. Also too little dopamine results in Parkinson’s disease. Thus, the brain needs normal function and the proper amount of neurotransmitters.

The brain is very complex, and thus, it is quite difficult to study. Interestingly, the belief that we only use 5-7% of our brain is false. All the brain is active all the time, even when we sleep. Hence, there is a concept in Neuroscience called the subtraction method. The usual brain’s activity is compared with localized activity in the brain to determine which part(s) respond(s) to the stimulus/stimuli.

Learning and Memory. Photo be Elena

Furthermore, glutamate underlies such processes as spatial learning and hippocampus-dependent-memory. However, some individuals have some form of mental illness (1 in 5 people across in Canada are affected). Therefore, these individuals are prescribed medications that lower the amount of glutamate in the brain. Thus, their ability to learn and their memory are affected.

Also, some believe that other prescriptions, such as Clonazepam, cause irreversible brain damage. Others live happily on such medications and experience far better results than without the medications.

On the topic of mental health:

Many persons with schizophrenia refuse to take their medication altogether. One of the problems with schizophrenia is that persons stop taking their prescribed medications, because of the difficult side effects. But, if they are seen by a Psychiatrist at the onset, they could have worked together as a team and find the dose and medication that is both efficient and has either mild side effects, or at least undetectable to the person taking the medication.

Moreover, some pathologies are brought about when the glutamatergic pathway is dysregulated. Again, neural (brain) cells must be in balance, and many (mental health) prescriptions target respective causes of the disorder. Glutamate has been linked to neurodegenerative, psychiatric, neurodevelopmental and other disorders.

What is more, compared to other disciplines, little is known on a variety of subjects focusing on the brain, as neuroscience is a fairly new science. Glutamate is a also a precursor to GABA, which is the main inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain.

Psychology Students

Psychology Students

The purpose of this essay is simply to cover some of the main questions psychology students try to answer during their undergraduate careers. Psychology students are often faced with the question “are you trying to analyse me?” Indeed, when you study a subject like psychology, upon meeting, a majority of people assume (or at least make it look like they do), that you’ll analyse them. Interestingly enough, what undergraduate psychology programs actually teach could not be further from the truth, in a way. For example, introductory level psychology textbooks are mostly filled with descriptions of experiments, statistics and names of psychologists who made important contributions to the social science. In addition, psychoanalysis, pioneered by Sigmund Freud, is no longer in use today in clinical and academic settings.

Conversely, branches of the discipline, such as interpersonal or social psychology and personality psychology, as well as courses on specialized topics such as genes and behaviour do influence how students of psychology interact with other people, since such subdivisions do shed substantial light on the thoughts, emotions, motivations and reactions of one’s peers and other people in one’s social environment.

University of Toronto. Photo: Megan Jorgensen (Elena)

For instance, the famous Asch experiments on conformity demonstrated that most people would prefer to agree with the wrong opinion, despite going against their own intuition, to remain in agreement with others. In Asch’s experiments, confederates (paid actors) pretended to be participants in an experiment testing an hypothesis unrelated to the one truly being tested. When asked to compare the length of two lines, they consistently deemed the shorter line as the longest. Then, when the real subjects’ turn came, they made the same choice, rationalized by the researchers as trying to conform. In fact, as many parents afraid that their children or, even more so, teenagers, give into peer pressure and take part in dubious activities know, the need and want to belong is a strong human motivator.

Furthermore, to go back to the first paragraph of the present short entry, psychology students may analyse human behaviour, to an extent. For instance, a psychology undergraduate student may infer that someone jealous is simply slightly insecure, or assume that the beauty queen who always gets her way with everybody has a particularly well developed Theory of Mind (ToM – the array of mental schemas representing other people’s thoughts, intentions, emotions and motivations, lacking in such developmental disorders as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) – and diagnosed by such paradigms as Sally’s Hidden Marble).

The purpose of the present essay was to go over some of the ways psychology students learn about the academic world, particularly as it relates to their field. Alternatively, even after taking Introduction to Psychology or Psychology 101 (a prerequisite for admission in most university psychology programs), a student may likewise infer that his or her friend may be lacking serotonin (a neurotransmitter regulating mood) if he or she seems depressed all the time. Similarly, whereas other friends may simply attempt to interest the popular, but dangerously emaciated, cheerleader to join them for dinner, the psychology student may suspect that she has developed an eating disorder, such as anorexia or bulimia nervosa. Notwithstanding, a lot of studying psychology has to do with reading, reviewing and analysing existent research and looking at theoretical convergence in the general population, rather than analysing a particular person per se.

Poignant Reminders

Poignant Reminders

Many moments have meanings related to your togetherness: one weekend at the cottage, the family reunion... anytime when activities were shared can be poignant reminder of happy days gone by. All are special reminders of the absence of someone in your life.

(All the pictures were taken by Elena).

Often the grief attack may not come on the actual anniversary. Perhaps we anticipate the difficult day and our defenses are up. Yet our unconscious does not want to miss the opportunity to deal with the grief, so we feel the pain a week or a few days earlier.

Sometimes we have a bad day and do not even remember the specific occasion. We may discover that our unconscious has set off an alarm around an event we thought was forgotten.

When you're having a bad day or a grief attack, try to pause and think for a moment. Could you be having a response to an significant happening you have forgotten? Plan to do something meaningful on that special day - something that you want to do that will provide you with the support you need.

When you're having a bad day or a grief attack, try to pause and think for a moment. Could you be having a response to an significant happening you have forgotten?

Plan to do something meaningful on that special day - something that you want to do that will provide you with the support you need.

The road to recovery leads toward the pain. We must experience the pain of loss - we can't avoid it, go around it, over nit, or under it. Tranquilizers or alcohol don't end the pain; they merely mask it or provide a temporary escape. Anything that encourages us to avoid or suppress the pain merely delays coming to terms with our loss.

After a time, the intensity of the pain will not be as severe. Grief has a way of simply easing off. But just when you think you have finally recovered, you may have a sudden grief attack.

No matter what has shattered our dreams, our expectations, our hopes or even our lives, we are not beyond repair. Pain is a gift. It is one you wish you could exchange for something else, but it warns your body, mind and spirit of danger. Because pain is our teacher, we must never ignore or suppress it.

This hurt needs to be tended, this wound needs to be bound. Your pain is telling you that you cared about someone. It shows you that you need to attend to the healing of your broken heart.

The best pain is shared pain. Share it with someone who simply accepts you as you are. You don't have to do it alone.

Hold on to hope. Hope brings us comfort. While we must not minimize the pain and difficulty of grief, we need to trust that someday this pain will subside and life will have meaning again. There is a purpose, even though we may not see it right now.

As you are given the grace and the strength to carry on, the feelings of grief will become less painful and occur less often. You will begin to pick up the threads of your life. You will look toward the future with hope.

When our pain seems so great, we may question whether others know how we feel. To see the possibility of recovery will provide that first glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel.

Sometimes, hope is not so much for getting through the entire process as for getting through one more day. Can I get through one day or overcome one more challenge.

Remember, even the smallest victory can be a major triumph.