It's Janeya!

Hi, my name is Janeya, but I generally go by "Ney." I'm sixteen years old and I attend King College Prep. Between school, school, more school, and merely two hours of sleep a day,  I'm constantly trying to find a happy medium. I'm always researching for what something is or why something is, and lately journalism has been one of my favorite things to do. One of my many inquiries is the awareness of teenage depression/anxiety. Many of our youth suffer from this disorder and fall through the cracks, primarily because we simply are oblivious. It'll be my goal to educate myself and my peers about this issue through my weeks in ASM.

I have a passion for health science, specifically mental health and epidemiology. Mental health is significant to me because I have more than one anxiety disorder. The most common types of anxiety come in the form of '-phobias', and I have social phobias and agoraphobia. This affects the way I am able to interact with other people and also how I react in certain situations. Often times mental health is taken for granted, however, on this blog it won't be. I hope to further my education within the health medical field. I'll be sharing blogs periodically, so please keep up with my posts. You'll have as much fun reading them as I do writing them!

Was it fast FOOD, or was it fast DEATH? hmm...

by Gonzalo Higuero



Picture from cartoonday.com

Food Mirage, food deserts have been on the horizon, creating health issues like a mirage.  They all look so tasty and good yum, yum!  Under closer examination, they're dumb, dumb, dumb! Available nutritious food  has been  fading in the U.S but, the concerns are new, and real.  Health issues arising from eating The Big Mac, more like a big slap, or  The Whopper, like a whopper of a lie. These products, not food, are on every corner, and in every mall, leaving in it's wake a trail of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and strokes.  These are a few from a continually growing list of diseases that root back to poor diet, and mainly fast food. According to Weight-control Information Network (WIN) more than 33% of the USA's adolescent population is considered obese. That number has stabilized thanks to several people like First Lady, Michelle Obama.




Picture from franklincountryvapatriots.com

Where in the world is the FDA? Fast food chains are partly to blame, parents, you and the FDA are just as well. Their food is stuffed with some of the worst chemicals and additives that not only are unhealthy but they are also addicting, and mommie and daddy keep taking all the little tikes to the slaughter. If the FDA knows, why don't they stop it, I call it tummy crack. The scientists in the fast food chains are trying to target the reward center of the brain by making their products melt in your mouth, salty and sweet. Those are three factors of a food that makes them addictive. If that last comment made your mouth water, here is where it actually gets juicy. MCDONALDS MEAT IS NOT REAL MEAT! What do I mean? Here you are (see left). The pink slime called lean finely textured beef (LFTB) is used as a filler for real meat. According to Wikiipedia, it consists of low grade meats and their byproducts. The effects on the body are almost instant. Huffington post states that Arteries are damaged almost immediately after consumption of the food. The arteries are contracted so less blood pumps through he body. That means that bodily functions are not done well and less oxygen flows through the body. This process could reduce your life span by 1.36%, and  completely ruin your quality of life.
According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Asthma, Eczema, and Chronic Rhinitis can be caused by fast food. Asthma is a disease where airways are inflamed which makes it hard to breath. Eczema is the inflammation of skin that creates rashes. Lastly, Rhinitis is a stuffy nose full of snot. This can effect daily activities like sports. ENOUGH!

Looks like Fast death would be the proper term for the unhealthy food stuffed into the mouth of our nation's children.


References:
nihnews.com
Huffington Post
Harvard Health







Sex Health Matters

Picture is a courtesy of : http://www.smsna.org/

by Daveon D.

As Teens mature they prepare for adulthood. They face many academic and social challenges. They deal also with their developing bodies, sexual pressures from peers, and alluring sexual messages from the media. When your body reaches a certain age, your brain releases a special hormone that starts the changes of puberty, called gonadotropin-releasing hormone or GnRH for short. If teens become sexually active at puberty, they are at risk for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. In sexual active teens and young adults, sexually transmitted diseases/infections are problematic.

Chlamydia is the most common (STD) in the U.S. and chlamydia rates have increased among 15-19 old's. HPV (human papillomavirus), another STD has been linked to cervical cancer risk. The strongest predictor for an STD diagnosis was an disorderly family; a family that is fatherless and misguided. Adolescents in these families were four times more likely to report being diagnosed with an STD. Young people who received no sex education tended to be black from low-income non-intact families and rural areas. Despite a continuous effort by many agencies to spread information about sexually transmitted diseases, they continue to affect a large percentage of the population in the U.S. And a lot of those affected is of the young population.

HIV is the virus associated with AIDS . It can only be transmitted by an exchange of bodily fluids including semen, vaginal secretions, breast milk, and blood. It cannot be transmitted by casual contact. Most people with HIV are treated with a combination of drugs known as highly active anti-retroviral therapy or HAART. Even though this cannot cure the disease, it can reduce the chances that it will progress into AIDS. HIV is no longer a death sentence because many people with the virus are living long and productive lives.

Condoms are highly effective against the most dangerous of sexually transmitted infections—HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. They are also effective against unintended pregnancy as well as against gonorrhea, chlamydia, and trichomoniasis. Condoms also help with a lower rate of cervical cancer, an HPV-associated disease. It's important that sexually active youth have access to condoms to protect their health and their lives. America we must wake up . Use protection!!  Condoms HELP ! All you got to do is use it.  Simple.

Greasy Foods, NOT COOL! (original poem)

by Daveon D.

Greasy foods are not cool
They'll make you full
I promise you

But are these foods good for you ?
You'll become obese
That's promised to you
Stomach disease's
That's promised too
Are you ready to take this unhealthy move ?
Losing the weight will be hard to do
Do you know what these foods can do too you ?
Obesity, Diabetes, Salmonella
They're all true
They'll hurt you
But eating healthy can help and protect you 
From processed foods 
With the expiration dates overdue
I'll give you a  food choice
Between produce and noodles
Now you tell me
Which one you will do?