• A Look Back: Our July Issue

• Using Cell Phones Excessively May Cause Cancer
• The Learning Blues

Welcome Friends,

 Summer time is coming to an end and those returning to work or school will be faced with the return of stress. What they don't realize is that this stress is harming the way that they learn. Find out more below.

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In today's world, the use of cellular phones is becoming increasing popular. It isn’t uncommon to see adults, teens, and even children spending hours on their mobile devices; in fact it is rare to not see. A new study  revealed that there may be a link between cell phones and cancer. The study, conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO), found that long term use of cell phones and other similar electronic devices that use frequency electromagnetic fields could possibly cause brain cancer. WHO claims that more research and evidence is needed to understand how much of a role cell phone usage plays in causing cancer. Currently, WHO has categorized cell phones under Group 2B, the group under which other possible cancer causing substances are classified under. Chloroform and lead is amongst the substances in Group 2B.

The study found that cell phone users are exposed most to radiation when responding to voice calls. Cell phone users are recommended to text or use a hands-free device such as a Bluetooth for voice calls in order to reduce the risk. Although there are more investigations to be done, adults are generally encouraged to keep their calls short and are recommended to limit cellular use in children in order to minimize the health risks of cell phones . A healthy diet consisting of cancer fighting foods and exercises are also great methods of preventing all health conditions and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

The cancers associated with this study include glioma, and acoustic nueroma; glioma being cancer of the brain, and acoustic nueroma being cancer of the inner ear. The link between another cancer occurring in the salivary gland has been found to be connected to heavy cell phone usage, was discovered previously in an Israeli study. Dr. Sadetzki and her colleagues found an increased risk of up to fifty percent in heavy cell phone users. Unlike the previous WHO study, this study was only conducted in Israel where the population had quickly adapted to cellular technology.

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If you have difficulty learning you can blame it on your troubles, but only if you are middle aged or older. US researchers have recently concluded that as the brain ages it is not able to recover from the degenerative effects of stress. It is well known that stress can cause brain damage however this is the first study of its kind that links the effects of stress to the inability to learn.

Stress inhibits the brains ability to grow. In a flight-or-fight situation the brain becomes more focused on survival rather than growth. This is where the concept of brain growth, which is called nuerogenesis, applies. Twenty years ago there was much debate on whether the brain renewed its cells; it was believed that a person was born with only a limited number of brain cells, and as a person lived, he or she would steadily lose those brain cells over time. However with many experiments and research done, evidence found of the brain generating new cells confirmed the occurrence of nuerogenesis. Neurons created by nuerogenesis usually die within weeks unless they are utilized in the process of learning or if other factors such as an active lifestyle prolong their survival.

In this study, it was found that not only does stress work against the production of new brain cells, it also decreases one's competency in learning. Researchers found that the brains of the younger animals were able to recover from the detrimental effects of the induced stress when in a non-stressful situation. Moreover, closer examination of the brains of the younger animals found that they were able to adapt to the stimulated stress. In contrast, middle aged animals were less adaptive to the stimulation and there were no changes in the brains of the older animals. How does this relate to learning? The adaptations, which the researchers observed, occurred in the spine of the nerves found in the brain. Spines are generally modified when learning occurs. Under stress, these spines shrink and essentially become damaged. As mentioned, younger animals were capable from recovering from this damage, but the older ones were not. The researchers reasoned that as the aged brain has already lost a number of spines, the ones remaining are less able to respond to stress and undergo the damaging effects.

What to do to increase your learning ability? Finding way to eliminate stress is important, no matter the age of the individual, to promote better learning. Furthermore, exercise is also good for the brain as it increases the survival of brain cells. A nutritious diet including foods containing omega 3 fatty acids is especially important as these fatty acids are vital for proper brain development.