Month: January 2018

BROUGHT TO AN END: WILL WE EVENTUALLY DEFEAT THE AIDS VIRUS

Image result for hiv

“Living with it is better than the past, but ending it would be better.”

WHAT IS IT?

HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) is what we call a lentivirus that causes and HIV infection, which over time becomes AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome). The immune system is viciously attacked, which allows for infections to set in causing cancers and other sicknesses that the immune system generally thwarts off. Now, HIV doesn’t kill you, and neither does AIDS, it’s usually pneumonia or a serious cold flu. AIDS brings your T-Cell count below a certain number then you can get seriously ill. But if you are not able to still follow, look below at the pictorial explanation.

ILLUSTRATION

The video above is how HIV becomes AIDS. ©Created by Mitchell Moffit (twitter @mitchellmoffit) and Gregory Brown (twitter @whalewatchmeplz).

LOOK AT THE NUMBERS

Let’s observe the statistics below to better understand the HIV lentivirus that leads to AIDS.

Ethnicity
  • African Americans are the highest proportion of cases in America compared to other groups. African Americans account for 45% of AIDS in America, though African Americans make up on 12% of the country. → CDC

  • Deaths for African Americans as stated by the CDC account for 53% of all deaths that year. (The closest year of accurate data.)

AGE
  • When observing the age of people, we know that the higher group are those in their mid to late twenties. Information is based most accurate from year 2015. The graph below shows the ages of people at a high risk. CLICK CDC

GENDER
  • Some of the most recent data on women living with HIV/AIDS, that only 19% of the cases that were new were women. (2015) CLICK CDC.

IS THERE A CURE

Right now, there is no cure for the HIV virus leading to AIDS. But in the future hopefully there will be something that can turn around the virus. It’s almost as if the virus is learning it’s surroundings at a higher rate than ourselves as people. As ell as the idea that this virus is actually a virus which has been around for a much longer time than we know. Who knows, we may never cure the disease. But as for now, the majority of cases are contracted through sexual intercourse without protection. So the goal has always been the same for years, make sure you wear protection.

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MAKING UP YOUR MIND: ARE YOU AN INDECISIVE PERSON

choices, decision, doors

“What to do, what to do.”

DECISIONS, DECISIONS, DECISIONS!

Trying to make your mind up when choosing one over the other can be very difficult. I have stood for up to 10 minutes in front of a vending machine once when trying to make a decision regarding what to eat. And sometimes I choose an item that is so mundane, that I wonder what took me so long to make the purchase. So, where does it come from in the mind? Is there a deeper reason why someone would be so indecisive, or is it just a thing we do? Well, you could look at this topic from multiple perspectives.

MAKING THE RIGHT DECISION

We often stand around, not able to make a decision because we want to make a decision that we are able to live with afterward. We don’t want to make a fast decision, then it comes back to haunt us later. Those are what we call impulse decisions; decisions that are made without much thought into the decision. And making an impulse choice is fine if you’re buying a bag of chips or cookies. But when you buy a house or car, this is most often the most indecisive decision because it is more long-term. But how come we are this way as humans? Is there a deeper implication into the lack of decision making.

EVOLUTION

Throughout history, humanity has found means of surviving on this planet. And one of the ways we have lived for so long is the idea that we make rationale decisions. And from these decisions over time, we can now understand what is good and bad for us. So the inability to make a decision is from a very long time ago. A time when we didn’t quite understand the world around us. A time when making the wrong move could render us extinct. And yes, believe it or not, there are families that died off for whatever reason because somewhere along the way the wrong decision was made that cost the family to stop. So, not only is the indecisiveness a short term and long term reaction, but it plays a vital role in our human evolution.

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PREDISPOSITIONS GONE: WILL DNA EVER BE MANIPULATED TO WIPE OUT HEREDITARY DISEASES

Related image

“Re-engineering Humanity.”

WHAT IS DNA?

DNA stands for deoxyribonucleic acid, which is the hereditary strands of material that can be found in humans and most of all organisms. There is information that is stored inside that is code made up of chemical bases: Adenine (A), Guanine (G), Cytosine (C), and Thymine (T). There are 3 billion bases in the human DNA chain, and 99% of those are in all human beings. Now the bases pair up with each other for base pairs; A with T and C with G. Now each of the bases are attached to a sugar and phosphate molecule. Then you have a nucleotide that comprises of a base, sugar, and phosphate. There are two strands that comprise of this nucleotide that move in a spiral motion called a double helix. DNA has the ability to replicate itself.

HEREDITARY DISEASES

These are typically diseases that are caused because there is an abnormality in the genome. Meaning there is something off with the entire genetic makeup of the person. You can inherit the abnormality from a parent or there could be a mutations issue in the gene or gene group. Many different illnesses include: cystic fibrosis, sickle cell anemia, heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer’s , and high blood pressure. Now my question is, will there ever come a time scientist will be able to go within the human DNA chain and restructure certain components so that we can eliminate hereditary diseases? That would mean making adjustments that may on some level effect other aspects of the human DNA chain.

DRAWBACKS

Humanity has evolved into what we are today for a reason. And that reason is forever unknown, but there is one thing for certain. Removing certain elements from the DNA could ultimately leave us susceptible to other diseases that are unknown to man. As interesting as it may seem to want to remove the sicknesses from the human body, we have to remain cautious abut all the drawbacks. Because there is no such thing as all good and no bad. Every aspect of life has a drawback, so what would the drawback be for altering DNA. Another issues may not be diseases, but the characteristics that make us what we are as people could be altered. Altered in a way that may effect how we look or communicate as humans.

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MONTH OF MENTAL/HEALTH ENDING: THE END OF MY MONTH IS HERE, ON TO THE NEXT TOPIC

Planner

“A month of the mind and month for health.”

JANUARY

In the month of January, I dedicated the entire month to the mind and our health. Our perceptions and perspective of the world, and what we must do to focus on our health. Now, next month will be a new topic that will cover something different. This is the beginning for what hopefully will be a major year for my blog growth. So follow along with me as we take the journey through the year of 2018 together. This post will be very short considering it is just a wrap up for the month. I have two three more days for posting so stay close to your devices. Next month will be focused on science. I have twelve key topical post that will be given to you with a video before the blog read. And the other days will consist of free-write ideas. So, enjoy, and see you next month. Continue to like, share, follow, and comment!!!!!!

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SMILING OUTSIDE, FROWNING OUTSIDE: HOW WE TRICK SOCIETY MENTALLY TO THICK WE’RE HAPPY

drink, girl, glass

“How we hide our pain in plain sight.”

WHY WE HURT

People have all sorts of reasons why they smile every single day. There are the obvious people who do so because they are truly happy, then there are the other group. This other group are the ones who don’t want you to know what really goes on behind closed doors. They smile and grin, but little do you know, they are torn on the inside. So how do we know who these people are; we don’t know them. We usually don’t know them until they say something or tragically, until something bad happens.

BAD BEHAVIOR

Hurting on the inside, they might resort to engaging in bad activities to take their minds off of the hurt. You might see them as fun loving and outgoing, but little do you know, they are the an emotional wreck. Or not even just the parties, what about the drugs they use. When looking at the way Marijuana is seen as this recreational drug, it becomes so much easier to disappear in this drug than any other time before. That doesn’t mean all people who smoke Marijuana are depressed, but that it can serve as an easy escape without outside social ridicule.

COMING TO TERMS

Reaching out and seeking help is so hard for so many people. But in order to be able to reach out for help, you first need to be able to admit that you have a problem. Too often people try to ignore the issues, but they want help. Only problem is that you can’t run from yourself. You can try to run from everything else in life but self. For me, reaching out for help didn’t aid in my mental coping. I turned to writing and it has become my strength ever since.

My Personal Website: www.faheemjackson.squarespace.com

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ZZZZ’S: THE IMPORTANCE OF NECESSARY SLEEP

adult, attractive, beautiful

“Good for your health.”

INTRODUCTION

A lot of don’t acknowledge the importance of not only a well balanced diet, but some good sleep as well. People go to sleep, and set their alarm clocks for a certain time. Then when the alarm blares in the morning, they hop up and get ready for work. Only problem is that we are not sitting back for a second saying to ourselves, “Am I really getting adequate sleep ate night?” So I have decided to breakdown what an adequate night of sleep should look like the average person. So look below at the the numbers I have found through researching.

STATS ON SLEEP

On the website of the (→) National Sleep Foundation, they found adequate sleep ranges for humans of all age groups. So the graphs below will show the numbers they crunched together.

NEW BORNS 
  • This is the age where you need to sleep the longest per day in your life. At this age of 0 – 3 months you need 14 to 17 hours of sleep. Sleeping 18 to 19 hours may be too long, and 11 – 13 hours is too short. Anything less than 11 hours is bad, but 19 hours or more is too long.

INFANTS
  • The second most important aspect of sleep of in your life. This is the second growth stage of life where the recommended sleep for 4 – 11 months is 12 – 15 hours, maybe recommended is 10 – 11 hours and no longer than 16 – 18 hours. But the inappropriate is less than 10 and more than 18 hours.

TODDLERS
  • At this stage of life you are 1 – 2 years of age and need 11 – 14 hours of sleep. For the maybe appropriate sleep time you may sleep 9 – 10 hours minimum and no longer than 15 to 16 hours. Now, anything less than 9 hours is too short and more than 16 hours is too long.

PRE-SCHOOL
  • By this time, you are headed to school in your life for the very first time. So we are talking ages 3 – 5 years of age. During this time you would need 10 – 13 hours of sleep, maybe recommended 8 to 9 hours minimum and maximum 14 hours. And when looking too short of sleep, that would be less than 8 hours, and too long is more than 14 hours.

SCHOOL AGE
  • The ages of 6 to 13 years old is when you need a little less sleep. For age 9 – 11 hours of sleep is fine, but a maybe appropriate time-frame is 7 – 8 hours, or 12 hours maximum. And too short would be less than 7 hours and more than 12 hours is too long.

TEENAGERS
  • Now you’re at the moment you need sleep close to the average adult. The ages of 14 – 17 years would require for about 8 to 10 hours as recommended. Now for the maybe category, 7 min. and 11 hours max. But less than 7 hours is too little, and more than 11 hours is too much.

YOUNG ADULTS
  • You are now a young adult between ages of 18 and 25 years. Here is the adequate breakdown for young adults, 7 to 9 hours of sleep; while a moderate sleep time is 6 hours min., but no more than 10 or 11 hours. And bad sleep is anything less than 6 yet more than 11 hours.

ADULTS
  • During adulthood, you need the same amount of sleep as the young adult needs. You are the ages of 25 – 64 years old, and need 7 to 9 hours of sleep. But an amount of sleep that is sometimes alright is 6 hours min. and 10 hours max. But a less desirable time is less than 6 hours and more than 10 hours.

OLDER ADULTS
  • At this age you need just a slight less sleep than other adults. As a matter of act, you need less time to sleep than any time in your life. Once over the age of 65 years, you need about 7 – 8 hours of sleep. A moderate sleep time is 5 to 6 hours, or max. 9 hours. But sleep that is too short is less than 5, and too long is more than 9 hours.

SOCIETAL CONTRIBUTION

Making a formidable contribution to society is the overall goal of your sleep. Because if you are not getting adequate sleep, you are not being productive on the job. And if you are not being productive on the job, you are getting work accomplished. That effects the company/organization, and as a result, job cuts because of performance. So the moral of the story is, get good sleep because it not only hurts you, but the world at large.

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BODILY SHIFT: HOW THE BODY SHOWS YOU HOW TO CHANGE YOUR LIFESTYLE

appetizer, close-up, cucumber

“Nourishment for our bodies.”

CREATURES OF THE EARTH

Throughout history humans have found means of feeding ourselves that could aid in our continued existence on this planet. And eating animals were one of those means because there were so many people to feed. But as time progress, do we still need to eat the animals that we have always eaten? Maybe not as much as we think because everything is so enhanced. The enhancement has made eating certain foods unhealthy for the human body. Even some of our plants and fruits are genetically modified for our liking. But still, the plants we eat are more healthy for us than the meat we consume. So we have to find ways of getting the most in us that contribute to our health.

TASTE GOOD TO US, NOT GOOD FOR US

When your body gives you signs you have to listen to the signals that your body gives you. So for example, when you are starting to have health related problems due to certain food and beverage choices, then you have to make a shift. And trust me, I know; coming from an African American community, we love our foods. But it’s these same foods that put our ethnic group at such a high risk for illnesses: (Click the listed items below to view the website stats.)

  1. High Blood Pressure
  2. Hypertension
  3. Sickle Cell Anemia (not directly associated with food, but we’re at higher risk)
  4. Diabetes
  5. Stroke

So with the listed above sicknesses you can attain, you have to work overtime, especially if you are of an ethnic group prone to certain sicknesses. That means settling for baked over fried foods, and drinking more water over acidic beverages.

WHAT SHALL WE BE DOING

As for our meals, the daily intake should consist of something fresh in the morning: eggs, cereal, sometimes bacon, oatmeal, and apple or orange juice. The lunch should consist of a salad, and if it has chicken in it, baked Caesar Salad. And when you eat dinner, that entree shall be something alone the lines of rice, beans, cabbage, cornbread, collard greens (with less salt and sugars), corn (no pepper or salt), and some form of meat, but baked. Frying your food can be hard to digest through the system. Now, don’t forget to try to incorporate some type of exercise in your daily activities. For me, I will walk to work when the temperature allows me, which in a day can easily be 10 miles. So for me, I am turning a new leaf in 2018, how about you.

My Personal Website: www.faheemjackson.squarespace.com

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