Verbalization Therapy : Write Away Your Negative Emotions!

By Camille Texier

When I was transitioning into my teens, I was as temperamental as anyone whose hormones were being tampered with would be.  Whilst not necessarily aware I was more than oft being irrationally argumentative, I had to find a way to release my recurrent indignation in a manner that wouldn’t result in my consequently being grounded for being impolite at best.  I began an anger journal of sorts in which I’d embark on diatribes detailing every last ounce of aggravation I would have otherwise shouted at my parents and instead returned to them relieved of anger and composed, to both our betterments.

Now, years later, I resort to the same methodology in dealing with unpleasant emotions of equal magnitude, however different in nature.  In our fast-paced university-based lifestyles, we regularly overextend ourselves and consequently come to accept feeling overwhelmed as an ever-present background to our daily activities.  Rarely do we allot ourselves the time to recognize just how we feel, but acknowledge from afar the general malaise that results from running from responsibility to responsibility, and rushing the roles we play in each.

Taking the time to address the negative feelings that accumulate and collectively overwhelm us, concretizing them with words, allows us to see them for what they really are: just thoughts, that unattended may dominate your emotional reactivity, but that clearly perceived, dissipate in their capacity to affect you.  Indeed, I recently encountered a study entitled ‘Putting feelings into words: affect labeling disrupts amygdala activity in response to affective stimuli,’ whose results documented precisely this therapeutic phenomenon.  The very pathways that regulate your emotional responses will alter their activity when you lend your attention to what’s bothering you and verbalize it.

Take the time to vent and honestly listen to yourself – you can crumple and/or burn (and/or recycle) your negativity-packed paper afterwards for additional catharsis.

Wouldn’t it be better if we had no pain?

By Claudia Secara

Pain? …What is pain? … As the word describes it, is an uncomfortable feeling, sensation that every individual has experienced or will in his or her life. I am sure you already had a headache when midterms came or something was bothering you.  Pain is subjective, each person describes pain in their own way and some may have more resistance to it while others are more sensitive due to the person’s beliefs, attitudes, culture and past experience.  Have you ever heard about good pain and bad pain? … Well good pain can be described as pain that is there for a shorter period and it prevents individuals from severe illnesses. However, bad pain is defined as intense pain that last for a longer period of time and affects an individual’s physical, psychological well being as well as causing social implications. When severe unexpected pain happens to anybody, it is important to be assessed by a healthcare provider as soon as possible before complications arrive.

So how does pain affect one’s psychological wellbeing? Well most of the time when people experience pain it puts them in a bad mood and it disconnects them from their work and their daily activities because all they can think about is, of course, pain.  Especially when individuals go through a type of pain that they never had before; it makes them anxious and stressed, which are factors that affect the wellbeing of a person. Too much stress and anxiety can cause a decrease in the immune system and therefore it is much easier to catch a cold or any other disease. Besides mood, stress and anxiety pain can also affect the sleep patterns of the individual, which can lead to fatigue, weakness, anger increase and inability to think properly.

And how does pain cause social implications?  Due to all the factors that pain gives rise to, individuals tend to become isolated or to be unable to socialise since they are weaker, tired and much more irritated. Therefore, it is important to help people that are experiencing any type of pain by being around them and supporting them. Communicating, making them laugh a little bit and doing things that the person with pain likes to do; it will all make their pain journey much easier.

From my experience with pain, I can say that I get very alert when I have it and I always wonder: What is wrong? Now, of course, it depends on the type of pain and where it comes from. I know that when I am having headaches it indicates that I might have caught a cold or I have lack of sleep and my brain is too tired to function well. I guess it helps me realize that something is not well with my body and I need to fix it either by drinking tea, taking vitamin C, and having a good sleep to prevent me from the cold or to boost my energy. I haven’t really experienced a severe pain, but I know myself so, I would probably be very stressed and I would seek for an evaluation as soon as possible.

Now what happens when we feel no pain?  Congenital Insensitivity to Pain with Anhidrosis (CIPA) is a rare disease where individuals who have it cannot feel pain, heat, or cold at all and they lack sweat glands, too. It is a disease that is present at birth and other illnesses are associated with it such as hyperthermia (high body temperature), mental retardation, bone fractures etc. People with this disease are able to injure themselves in ways that people who feel pain would not do, because we would have sensed the bad body posture or the stove burning our finger. So is a body system without pain efficient? No, because there is no alertness, no signs to let you know that there might be something wrong in your body that requires prevention or treatment.

So I guess after all pain is an important factor that helps us investigate our bodies, but it can also destroy our bodies. So, don’t wait to react to any pain you feel; your body is trying to tell you something important!

Recognizing and Overcoming Decision Fatigue in Your Daily Life

By Emily Sun

“The more choices you make throughout the day, the harder each one becomes for your brain, and eventually it looks for shortcuts, usually in either of two very different ways. One shortcut is to become reckless: to act impulsively instead of expending the energy to first think through the consequences. (Sure, tweet that photo! What could go wrong?) The other shortcut is the ultimate energy saver: do nothing. Instead of agonizing over decisions, avoid any choice.” – New York Times

When the alarm goes off in the morning, it takes a certain amount of willpower not to hit the snooze button. After deciding to get up, I ask myself whether I have enough energy for a run, briefly weighing the pros and cons. After a quick shower, I decide what to wear, factoring in the weather and the temperatures of the classrooms I’ll be in for the day. I decide what time to leave, what notes to take, how much homework to finish between classes and where to do it, and make several other, almost unnoticed, little decisions throughout the day.

In a recent study, researchers from Stanford University in the United States and Ben Gurion University in Israel analyzed more than 1000 parole decisions made by eight experienced judges in Israel over the course of 50 days. Prisoners receiving parole are released before the completion of their sentence on the promise of good behavior. In granting parole, judges consistently fell into an intriguing pattern. During each session separated by food breaks, the proportion of favorable rulings fell from about 70% to nearly 0%. Favorable rulings immediately jumped back up to 70% just after the 30-50 minute breaks, the timing of which was decided by the judges themselves. The pattern was shown to be unrelated to the prisoners’ ethnic or religious backgrounds, crimes, or sentences. It simply depended on the time of day.

These results indicate nothing malevolent or unusual about the judges’ behavior, the results show that even experts are susceptible to psychological factors in their occupation. The mental work of making decision after decision wears us down, no matter our individual merits. Granting a prisoner parole would effectively open the possibility of them committing another crime, while denying parole would retain the option of paroling them again at a future date without sacrificing any security. After a number of rulings, the judges began to avoid any risky decisions and stick with the status quo.

It turns out decision fatigue, a term coined by social psychologist Roy F. Baumeister, extends to any activity that might require some form of self-control. Experiments demonstrated that there is a finite store of mental energy for exerting self-control. Though it differs from physical fatigue because you’re not consciously aware of being tired, you become low on mental energy. Participants in an experiment were given a classic test of self-control: holding your hand under ice water for as long as possible. In the experiment, one group was asked to look at a series of choices without making any decisions and then endure the ice water test for as long as possible. Another group was presented with the same series of choices and asked to make decisions between them beforehand (no pun intended). On average, the group asked to simply look at the choices could hold their hand underwater for more than twice the time that the group making decisions could endure.

Then an accidental discovery was made that showed a dose of glucose could mitigate the depletion of mental energy and willpower. Further research proved that, in fact, glucose completely reverses the brain changes wrought by depletion. In fact, executive function can be restored and mental fatigue overcome, in part, by interventions such as viewing scenes of nature, short rest, experiencing positive mood, and increasing glucose levels in the body.

These results are applicable to a wide array of areas, but most importantly for us as students, we need to learn to identify the times in the day when we are low on energy and self-discipline, and to effectively take breaks instead of resisting our desires. Personally, every time I’m tempted to give up on making an important decision or tempted at work to play online games, I’ll take a well-deserved and nutritious snack break. As Baumeister puts it, “Even the wisest people won’t make good choices when they’re not rested and their glucose is low.” The best decision-makers are the ones who know when not to trust themselves.

References

Danziger, Shai, Jonathan Levav, and Liora Avnaim-Pesso. 2011. “Extraneous factors in judicial decisions.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1018033108.

Tierney, John. 2011. “Do You Suffer from Decision Fatigue.” New York Times, August 17, 2011.

Navigating Quebec’s Healthcare System: Seeing a Physiotherapist

By: Jenny Song

If you have ever felt the pain of a sprained ankle, the chronic discomfort of premature arthritis, the dull, throbbing ache of the back and neck due to stress, or  the “breathing through a straw sensation” of asthma, you’d probably agree that physical mobility isn’t always a piece of cake. While you deplore the incompetence of the endorphins in your body and their losing battle against substance P (the neurotransmitter responsible for causing pain), it would be wise to get some professional help. Physiotherapists are the first line of help for individuals seeking physical rehabilitation and pain relief from dysfunction of nerves, muscles, and joints, as well as restoring functional movement.

Physiotherapists address a broad scope of issues- orthopedic (musculoskeletal), neurological, cardiac, and cardiopulmonary problems. Orthopedic physiotherapy usually takes place in a clinical setting, where physiotherapists address sports injuries, fractures, joint disorders, amputation, back and neck pain, arthritis and post-operative conditions. Neurological disorders covered include strokes, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, cerebral palsy and spinal cord injury. Cardiopulmonary problems such as asthma and shortness of breathe due to lack of endurance also adds to a physiotherapist’s caseload.

If you are squeamish about needles and display phobia toward anyone clad in a white cloak, do not fear! Physiotherapy is generally non-penetrating and does not involve needles (unless you agree to receive acupuncture treatment by a registered acupuncturist). When you see a physiotherapist, he or she will first give a consult to examine your problem and ask you questions before giving you a diagnosis and suggesting a treatment plan. Sometimes, your problem may require a closer look, in which case x-rays and bone scans are probable. Physiotherapists will ensure that your recovery is expedited and the process as painless as possible, as well as educate you on how to prevent the re-occurrence of your problem in the future. Typical treatments employed by physiotherapists include exercise programs to enhance muscle strength and mobility (such as hydrotherapy, or exercise in water), massage and manipulation of mobilization so to relieve pain and stiffness, and electrotherapy such as ultrasound to accelerate the healing process.

Many physiotherapists specialize in specific practices including senior’s health, women’s health, and oncology, rheumatology, orthopedics, children’s health, or sports injuries. It is therefore important to identify the physiotherapist whose expertise is best suited to your specific needs. In order to work as a physiotherapist in Canada, one must complete a bachelor’s physiology program at an accredited university and achieve a Master’s level. In Quebec, high standards are achieved because the Ordre des Physiotherapeutes du Quebec, the professional body representing physiotherapists, propose strict research guidelines on all its members to ensure that physiotherapy techniques are effective.  Moreover, all physiotherapists must pass a French examination, so they are bilingual. Therefore, you can be sure that as a patient, you will be in good hands.

When selecting a physiotherapist for the first time, remember to ask for credentials and area of specialization (if applicable). Make sure to always ask for clarification until you have fully understood your problem and the treatment protocol. Referrals from a friend or family member, if possible, are the best idea (conditional syllogism- if your best friend loved a physiotherapist, then you would most likely love him too). You may want to try the McGill Sport Medicine Clinic, as it is located right in the Currie Gymnasium/McGill Athletics Complex. Plus, they offer a discount for students, and treatment is covered by your McGill insurance.

1. Physio RVH: (514-843-1565) ext: 31565, A3.17 Royal Victoria Hospital
2. Phys Med And Rehab LACH (514-843-1565) ext: 77170,  1D1 Lachine Hospital
3. Physio MGH (514-843-1565) ext: 42900, C2 144 Montreal General Hospital
4. Physio MCI (514-843-1565) ext: 32323,  K2.04 Montreal Chest Institute

If you have decided to hunt for a private clinic, here are some nearby suggestions:

1. McGill Sport Medicine Clinic

475 Pine Avenue West

Montreal, QC H2W 1S4

Tel:  (514) 398-7007

          Practices: Physiotherapy, Sports Medicine, dietary consultation, aqua therapy

2. Les Cours Medical Center

Les Cours Mont Royal, 1455 Peel Street Suite# 111 (metro Level)
Montreal, QC H3A 1T5

Tel:  514-905-1234

          Practices: Physiotherapy, Sports Medicine, dietary consultation, aqua therapy

3. MAA Sports Medicine Clinic

2070 Peel St., 3rd floor

Montreal, QC H1P-1L8

Tel: 514-845-6023 #234

Practices: Physiotherapy, Sports medicine, acupuncture, aqua therapy, pain relief, fertility problems, osteopathy, orthopaedics

4. Bois-Franc Medical Clinic
   2555 rue des Nations, Bur 200
   Saint-Laurent, QC H4R 3C8
   Tel: 514-504-9010

Practices: More than just physiotherapy! This clinic is also great for preventive medical examinations as well as well as family medicine.

6. Medi-Club Physiotherapy & Medical Wellness Centre (West-Island of Montreal)
   205 Alton Drive
   Beaconsfield, Quebec
   Canada H9W 2Z5
   Tel: 514-695-9152

Practices: Physiotherapy, Sports Medicine, Natural Medicine, Health and Wellness

Referral by a doctor is not necessary in order to see a physiotherapist. In some cases, doctors may collaborate with physiotherapists in the patient’s treatment regime. However, if you plan on claiming your injury through an insurance company, it may be conducive to see your general practitioner to get referral to see a physiotherapist. This facilitates the management of your claim and may avoid claim disputes.

That being said, please be aware that governmental coverage for physiotherapy treatment costs differ by province, and has specific restrictions and conditions set by individual provinces. It is important to contact your provincial healthcare agency to explore to what extent your healthcare is covered. Quebec Healthcare does not cover personal acquisition of physiotherapy for things like managing stress, enhancing athletic endurance, and relieving anxiety. However, it does cover physiotherapy if required after overnight hospitalization as recommended by a doctor, as required by people with disabilities, or as rehabilitation after surgery.

Resources/Info:
1. http://www.ramq.gouv.qc.ca/en/citoyens/assurancemaladie/serv_couv_queb/serv_med_sc.shtml for a complete list of what is covered by the health insurance of Quebec for Quebec residents.
2. ihaveaplan.ca
3. Look into whether you are eligible for private insurance coverage of physiotherapy treatments as set forth by your employer, or the employers of family members.
4. International students at McGiill are required to purchase a McGill Blue Cross Health Insurance coverage, which normally covers basic physiotherapy treatments.

It’s the small things that count

By Alison Brown

You know those days when you roll out of bed in a rotten mood and nothing seems to help? It’s still dark outside, probably snowing, your roommate/mom got out of bed three times during the night because they were drunk and/or sick, you only have a rotting banana and three tins of ice cream left in your fridge and you have a vile combination of work, class, assignments, and other responsibilities lined up for the day? Doesn’t matter that you happen to have the best friends and family you could possibly imagine, live in a nice place, and are studying a subject that you are madly passionate about; it’s just one of those days.

I was having one of those days a couple of weeks ago. Not quite as extreme, I won’t exaggerate (I had at least two bananas that were perfectly ripe!), but I definitely wasn’t looking at life with rose-tinted glasses. Even so (and with a little bit of feet dragging) I still managed to get my act together for my 8:30 class. Class didn’t help my mood one little bit since my professor had sweetly informed us about the content of our upcoming midterm (read- brutally hard and finicky).

On my way to the library though, something happened that completely turned my day around. Nothing huge- I didn’t win the lottery or get an amazing job offer- but it was enough to make me glow a little bit inside. I had paused at the T-junction to pick up a pen I’d dropped when a random guy came up to me and said “Hey, how are you doing?” Being a little skeptical about his intentions, I responded “Pretty good, pretty good, how about you?”, to which he replied “Not bad, I just wanted to say hi and tell you to have a nice day” and stuck out his hand. I shook his hand, marveled at his confidence, and walked away smiling. I haven’t seen him since, but if I did, I would thank him.

Like I said, this wasn’t some huge event that completely revolutionized my day. I still had the same responsibilities on my lap and a lot of work ahead, two facts which weren’t going to change any time soon. But this one little action, something so simple and quick, had made me realize that someone cared about my well-being, and had made the effort to make my day a little brighter.

So smile the next time you see someone looking down. Buy your friend a hot chocolate, give your mom a call, or leave a note for your roommate if you know they’re going through a stressful time. It doesn’t have to be a big action; it doesn’t have to take long- but trust me, it will count.

The Life of a Pre-Med: A Doctor in the Making

By Julia Zhu

As a pre-med student, you might feel that you have a significant amount more to worry about than your peers in different faculties. While most undergraduate students concentrate on their classes just as much as they do on their social lives, those with medical ambitions are forced to think about much more than just that – medical schools (I’m sure many are already well informed) expect more than just a stellar GPA as med schools love to see a strong record of extracurricular activities such as time spent volunteering and experience(s) in a medical-related job. So while many of your McGill peers can spend Friday evenings (or any other evening) playing video games and the weekend (or any other day) partying, life is definitely not so relaxed or “easy” for you, unfortunately. However, I do have some good news for you! While life will always be demanding for pre-med students, you honestly don’t have to give up on your social life and completely dedicated yourself to working, studying, or stressing over that 1% on your exam. The key to achieving a good balance between your career preparation and your social life lies in prioritizing and scheduling.

1. Prioritize. It’s impossible to structure your life and your time if you haven’t determined your priorities. So that’s definitely the first step to take – if you’re absolutely serious about getting into medical school, you know that academics and extracurricular activities should be high on that list. Having said that, it doesn’t mean your social life or athletics can’t make it on that list.  In fact, it’s really important that they do.
2. Schedule. After you’ve made your list of priorities, create an action plan by budgeting your time on a calendar. Start with your top weekly priorities and schedule the time to accomplish it. Then, move down your priority list and schedule sufficient time to accomplish those as well.
3. Stick to the schedule. The schedule isn’t there to decorate your wall. The time you’ve spent prioritizing and scheduling is meaningless if you don’t have the discipline to stick to it.
4. Efficiency. Look for time-wasters and try to cut them out (watching Jersey Shore is one of them). If you can manage to cut this out, I’m positive that you can save at least a couple of hours each week – valuable time that you could use to relax.

Life as a pre-med student is, no doubt, hectic; but it is possible to achieve a balance between academics, extracurricular activities, and your long-neglected social life. Doing so requires intentional prioritizing, scheduling, and a tremendous amount of discipline.

To all of our McGill pre-meds – you can do it!

No Phone November

By Rikki Gotthelf

This month I have not been growing facial hair, but I have been making an effort to grow apart from technology.  As a result of a back pocket malfunction on Halloween night that left me cell phone-less, I made a conscious decision not to replace the lost device to see if my daily life would change without it.  My frustration with my phone company, combined with my interest in becoming more technologically detached made this decision an easy one: I declared this month “No Phone November.”  Thus far, my experience in a phone-less existence has been quite a positive one. Here’s why:

I am less distracted. Whenever I had any down time I would whip out my cell phone and send meaningless text messages to my closest friends. This was highly distracting and unnecessary, and I was often complaining about difficult assignments and tough work schedules, prolonging the experiences and involving other people in my agony.  Without the outlet I am forced to sit down, shut up, and start writing/studying/working… it’s awesome!  Also, instead of using impersonal text messages to update my friends on run-ins, people watching experiences, funny comments from my previous class, new crushes, and what I ate for lunch, I focus on my actual surroundings, talk to the people I see, and actually taste, see, feel, hear, smell the world around me rather than damage my vision focusing on a small cell phone screen.  This is not only good for my eyes but also great for my social skills, which leads me to my next point.

I am more socially assertive. If I want to see somebody I have to make it happen and if I say I’ll make it happen, I have to follow through. 

I am less likely to make excuses.  How often do people bail on plains last minute via text message?  Not I.  Without a direct line that allows others to contact me 24/7

I am making more of an effort to be in touch with the people I care about.  Things like Skype, long informative emails, and real face-time interactions are replacing casual text messages that used to give me the impression that I was spending a lot of time talking to people. That was not the case, we all know texting is not really talking.  I feel more connected, more present, and more focused than ever.

I am saving money, I am becoming less dependent on material things.  Being disconnected from my mobile world has been an awesome opportunity for me to engage more deeply with the present and appreciate what is happening around me.

Many of my peers think they can’t live without their phones, but it is much easier than it seems.  Think of it this way: when I told my parents not to worry about me, that I was actually kind of enjoying not having a cell phone, they responded with, “Of course you’re just fine, honey, we lived without them for years.”

We are Master Jugglers

By: Jessie Tong

What does living a balanced lifestyle mean to you?

Study on the weekdays and party on the weekends?

But, it is so much more than that, isn’t it? Balance in our lives encompasses the achievement of physical, mental, spiritual and emotional equilibrium. It is the key to living a satisfied, happy and fulfilled life. Take studying for an exam (an always very relevant issue) for example: what is the best way to get that A? In other words, how do you prepare to give the best performance you can on the exam? Of course we all have our own study habits, but there are universal themes that everyone tries to follow. That is to say, no one encourages you to cram all day prior to the test date and no one pushes you to sleep the day away either. Personally, my best scores on exams are dependent not only on what I studied, but also on my overall physical, mental, and emotional states. I must be well fed before the exam, but not too well to feel bloated. I remember there was a biology exam in the morning, where I had gone in with no breakfast. The 3 hours that followed were filled with desperate attempts to ignore the pangs of hungers interspersed by random food daydreams starring omelettes. Needless to say, I never remembered the details of the arthropod respiratory system.

Consecutive exams on the same day or consecutive days are disasters because I just know that studying for the second exam will really begin after finishing the first one: I could never multi-study well. On those days, cramming the entire semester course work is done just a few hours before the exam and I’ll be on energy drinks with jittery limbs and a fried brain. During one particular exam—for some inexplicable reason, the chorus of Rihanna’s What’s My Name was stuck in my head. I like Rihanna and I like What’s My Name, but it doesn’t explain why I keep sporadically repeating “Oh na na, what’s my name?” over and over again. And just that particular line too. Over and over again.

So, what does this all mean besides the fact that I need better study skills? It comes down to how essential balance is for us to live as healthy human beings in all facets of our lives. If we devote ourselves too much to a specific need (i.e. 4.0 GPA), then the giant scale tips and we spend that much more time trying to restore its equilibrium. We must have things in moderation and all of these things, too. Therefore, it takes more than just good grades, good relationships, good food to satisfy and fulfill us.

It takes everything. In balance.

We are master jugglers.

Sleep deprivation

By Sonia Michaelsen

With heavy workloads, all-nighters, crazy parties, and early morning classes, it’s not surprising that sleep deprivation is an all too common phenomenon amongst undergraduates. While the recommended amount of sleep for young adults is at least 8.5 hours per night, university students typically only sleep about 6-7 hours per night. Many people may believe that sleeping a mere hour or two less than the suggested amount won’t have a noticeable or drastic effect on our day to day life, aside from perhaps some excessive yawning. However, this lack of sleep does indeed have a less obvious effect on the internal workings of our bodily systems, including our central nervous, metabolic, and immune system.

For instance, an area of the brain known as the prefrontal cortex is extremely sensitive to sleep deprivation. Functioning of the prefrontal cortex, the region of the brain that is responsible for complex cognitive functions, can be impaired following a single night of insufficient sleep. The resulting effects include shorter attention span, slower reaction times, impaired memory, poor mood, lack of behavioural inhibition, and decreased creativity and problem solving abilities. As you may have noticed, several of these cognitive processes are important and necessary in order to achieve academically – it’s difficult to do well in school if we cannot stay focused long enough on a math problem to actually be able to solve it, or if we cannot remember what we just read in our text book. Thus, when we pull an all-nighter in order to finish a paper or cram for an exam, we’re not actually doing ourselves any favours. We may successfully complete the paper or the exam, but we may not do as well as we would have otherwise, after a good night’s sleep.

In addition to its effects on our brain and cognitive functions, a lack of sleep results in several hormonal and metabolic changes, such as induced insulin resistance. Insulin, a hormone released by the pancreas, helps cells take in glucose from the bloodstream and use it for energy. However, when people are insulin resistant, their bodies are no longer able to properly use insulin, and glucose builds up in the bloodstream. So, when you don’t sleep enough, your body cannot break down the glucose as efficiently, so your metabolism slows.

Sleep deprivation also alters levels of growth hormone, responsible for our growth and cell reproduction, and cortisol, a hormone that is released in response to stress and works to increase blood sugar levels, which may further increase the risk of insulin resistance. Finally, lack of sleep reduces our levels of leptin and increases our levels of ghrelin. Leptin is a hormone that suppresses appetite, whereas ghrelin is a hormone that stimulates appetite, meaning that when we are low on sleep, we may experience an increase in hunger and may be more likely to eat more. In fact, studies have shown that individuals who undergo sleep deprivation don’t just crave more food; they tend to crave high-caloric foods rich in sugar or carbohydrates.

Lack of sleep can make you sick, too. For example, one night of partial sleep deprivation is enough to suppress the activity of natural killer cells. Natural killer cells are an important part of our immune system and are responsible for destroying tumours and cells that are infected or cancerous. Shortened sleep may also decrease levels of a protein known as Interleukin-6. Interleukin-6 is produced by certain cells of our immune system and plays a role in immune responses that result in inflammation, like responding to burns or other types of tissue damage. The reverse is also true, where increased sleep is beneficial for our immune system. Longer sleep duration has been associated with a higher white blood cell count, which are important in defending the body against foreign micro-organisms, such as viruses. Given these facts, perhaps it is not surprising that during exam time, a period of high stress and little sleep, many of us end up getting sick with a bad cold. (Could also be all those germs in the library).
And what does all of this complicated, fancy terminology mean? Basically, if we continuously get an insufficient amount of sleep, all of the described physiological changes that occur will be exacerbated and can impact our long-term health and well-being. If we are chronically sleep deprived, this will not only affect our school or work performance but will also increase our likelihood of getting injured, because we are less able to navigate the world as carefully.

It’s one thing to lose sleep for a short period of time. It’s another to make sleep deprivation a habit. The hormonal and metabolic changes that follow sleep deprivation, if sustained over time, increase our risk for obesity, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. If our immune system activity is constantly being suppressed, this not only makes us more susceptible to developing common illnesses like a cold or flu, but also increases our risk for other infectious diseases and even cancer. Obviously, this does not mean that if we do not sleep a lot we are automatically destined to have terrible things happen to us. Everyone has their own sleep needs, where some people need less or more than other people. Other factors are involved as well, including genetics and other lifestyle factors. However, it does mean that if we want to try to live a healthy lifestyle, it may be beneficial to think about our sleep habits, in addition to our diet and physical activity.

Still not convinced? Why not sleep on it?

The Science of Yoga

By Camille Texier

Yoga is an eight-step path to harmonizing mind, body and spirit, of which in the West we have primarily come to practice two steps: Asanas, the body postures, and Pranayama, the breathing exercises.  We are all are acquainted with the anecdotal commendation of the benefits of balance, both external and internal, but scientific substantiation of said effects is less commonplace.

The strength and flexibility the musculoskeletal system develops equates to the macro manifestation of the physical gain associated with holding any series of the plethora of postures.  In key coordination with controlled breathing, however, the notion of ‘balance’ acquires new depth: accessing the autonomic nervous system for enhanced internal regulation allows for advantages beyond the outwardly visible increased control of the somatic nervous system that enables seasoned practitioners to stand on one leg for indefinite periods of time.

The autonomic nervous system accounts for all automatic, involuntary actions taken by the body.  It is divided into the sympathetic system, which fuels flight-or-fight responses, and into the parasympathetic system, responsible for ‘rest & digest’ mechanisms.  While acute activation of the former proved extremely evolutionarily advantageous, its present-day over-activation resultant of regularly elevated stress levels is detrimental to overall wellbeing.  The long, deep breaths that accompany asanas actuate the otherwise insufficiently roused parasympathetic system, resulting in a reduction in heart rate and blood pressure, improved digestion and sleep, and increased endorphin release for a blissfully relaxing experience.  Keeping the sympathetic system in check is thus excellent preventative practice against today’s leading cause of death, cardiovascular disease.  All this explains why some view practicing yoga as one step towards maintaining better life balance in this stressful world.