Cynical Activities - H
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HEELS, HIGH
Women who wear stilettos or (even worse) broad high heels such as court shoes risk developing crippling osteoarthritis in the knee. Then again, short women can only see the top half of concerts, and they never get served in crowded bars. Your call. |
HERBAL REMEDIES
Sure, they're natural, but Mother Nature is not a nice lady. If taken before surgery, St. John's wort and kava-kava could prolong the sedative effect of anesthesia; ginkgo biloba, garlic, ginger, and ginseng may prevent blood clots from forming and therefore lead to excess bleeding; ephedra can result in cardiovascular instability; ginseng can result in hypoglycemia; and you can injure your liver through high doses of germander, chaparral leaf, comfrey, jin bu huan, ma huang, valerian, mistletoe, or pennyroyal, as well as kava-kava, which has been linked with cases of liver failure in Europe. |
HERPES
Children of mothers with genital herpes may be at greater risk of schizophrenia and other psychotic illnesses when they grow up.That could be due to the lingering presence of the guy who gave her herpes in the first place. |
HIGH CHAIRS
During 1999, 6,600 children under the age of five were injured in the U.S. when they fell out of high chairs. You can try superglu-ing the kid to the seat, but this often leads to technical difficulties in changing diapers. |
HIGH SCHOOL
This won't come as news to anyone over fourteen: high school sucks. In a recent study, half of high school students who belonged to organized groups said they'd been subjected to hazing, including being yelled or cursed at, told to miss school, forced to drink alcohol or use illegal drugs, or made to vandalize property, cheat, or engage in sexual acts. (Back when we were in high school, we didn't need to be forced to drink alcohol, engage in sexual acts, and the rest of it, but maybe times have changed.) |
HOCKEY
Playing ice hockey can lead to fracture or dislocation of the spine, head injuries resulting in neurological deficit (particularly among sixteen- to twenty-year-old players), and injuries to the medial and lateral collateral ligaments. |
HOLIDAYS
Never mind "'tis the season to be jolly": holidays can actually depress you. Unrealistic expectations, too much commercialization, stress, and fatigue from shopping, parties, family reunions, or houseguest. All these can trigger sadness and depression. If you've lost a loved one, holidays can make you feel even worse. To add injury to insult, summer holiday cottages have high concentrations of molds, which can cause nasal stuffiness, eye irritation, wheezing, or (through prolonged exposure) more severe reactions such as fever, shortness of breath, or mold infections in the lungs. |
HOLY WATER
And now, today's test of faith: students who analyzed holy water in church fonts for a Young Scientist contest in Ireland found dirt, coliforms, staphylococcus, yeasts, molds, and tiny green worms. So, does the holiness neutralize the nasty things, or not? |
HOMELESSNESS
Suicide rates are unusually high among the homeless. The scientific term for this kind of observation is 'duh.' |
HOMES
If you're reading this at home, maybe you should take a deep breath or not. The air in homes may be polluted by gas, tobacco smoke, carbon monoxide, asbestos, cleaning materials, radon, pesticides, and substances from damp carpets or pressed wood products, leading to a wide range of health problems. Exposure to carcinogens is likely to be much greater than outside the home: for example, average levels of exposureto benzene, a known carcinogen, are three times as high indoors as outdoors. Home sweet home. |
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