Second hand smoke causes hearing loss?

Secondhand Smoke Associated with Hearing Loss in Teens – TIME Healthland

Adolescents between the ages of 12 and 19 exposed to second hand smoke had greater high and low frequency hearing loss.

Click on the link above for the lowdown.

I am so glad I quit smoking 25 years ago.  For those of you who still smoke; seriously, quitting is the best thing you can do for you and those around you.

When I was a smoker and people would try to get me to quit I used to feel pressured or nagged and would go light up a smoke in protest.  Dumb, dumb, dumb.  Smoking was the most illogical and stupid thing I've done.  I tried and failed a few times before I quit for good so don't worry about not succeeding the first time, just keep at it.

There is nothing good about smoking, nothing neutral either.  Smoking really is all bad all the time, even in tiny amounts.  Getting rid of the smoking ball and chain is a great relief and makes you finally start feeling healthy.

If nobody smoked we'd all be better off.

Eat fat get less sad

Fatty 'Comfort' Foods May Alter Brain's Response to Sadness - US News and World Report

Study subject fed fat directly to their stomachs via a tube experienced less sadness than those fed a saline solution.

So yeah, there's something to the comfort food theory. Use causation though, the researchers suggest that the more overeat fat to get the feel good response the more fat we have to consume to make the comfort feeling occur.

Same as usual; overeating not good!

Banana's disappearing?

The Beginning of the End for Bananas? | The Scientist

A fungal pathogen is wiping out the worlds banana crops.  Should we worry?

This has happened before.  A different variety of banana was mostly wiped out by the same fungus years ago and we had the same dire warnings that the pleasure of eating tasty bananas would only be a memory.

Didn't happen.

The researchers are saying, "yeah, but this time it's for real".  Might be, but for now we can still buy bananas, and before the banana dooms day prediction of no banana's by 2015, the problem may be averted by growing a new strain of bananas, eradicating the fungus, or the prediction simply not coming true.

Do you really need 8 cups of water every day?

Advice to drink 8 cups of water a day 'nonsense': doc - CTV News

After reading the article from the link above, one might be confused as to how know if they're getting enough water intake.

Here are a few simple tips for hydration during exercise:

Weigh yourself before and after exercise.  If you weigh more than when you started you drank more water than you needed.

If you weight more than half a kilogram less than when you started you didn't quite drink enough.  If you weigh 1-2 kg less then you're definitely dehydrated and need to consume more fluids during exercise.

If your urine stream is always dark yellow then you're consistently not consuming enough fluids.  If you have to pee several times per day and your urine stream is constantly fairly clear to lightly yellow, you're most likely reasonably well hydrated.

The problem with the 8 cups a day recommendation is that depending on physical activity, temperature and  your physical stature, 8 cups may not be enough water.  8 Cups of water every day would rarely be too much water so don't worry about consuming too much if you do the 8.

Hyponatremia a serious condition that occurs when you drink way too much water, serious enough to potentially cause death, doesn't happen unless you pound back lot's of fluids; 2 or more litres over 20-30 minutes, or enough to cause a weigh gain of 2+ kg in body weight from fluids consumed.  It's a good idea to be wary of not chugging back water excessively on hot days, rather, be thoughtful about getting enough, not too much, not too little.