How many hours of sleep is too few? — Midterms are on our doorstep, UTBabies, and so is the lack of sleep that comes with. Penn researcher Michael Grandner, Ph.D., says if you're gonna get sub-4 hours, it's better to just power through with an all-nighter. Peep the deets from our bros at the HuffPo.
Meddik Makes Self-Diagnosis Easy
Introducing Meddik, the fun, new and easy startup for all your hypochondriac needs. Founded by Tim Soo (of invisible instrument fame) and Benjamin Shyong (of Boba Bros and µWave), this site gathers medical information from all over the web to give users better and more personalized access to understanding their health.
The site’s already nabbed $750 grand in its developing stages, and Soo tells TechCrunch that he hopes the site will cater “personalized, aggregated public and academic information, traditional and alternative remedies, in an effort to not just find a good answer to your health questions, but find the right answer.” Basically, it’s like an improved WebMD that aggregates information from across various health media instead of writing its own.
So no more mistaking your headaches for brain cancer.
You Talkin’ To Me?
Penn researchers have teamed up with their pals over at the University of Wisconsin-Madison to let you know that talking to yourself is not only totally normal, but also totally healthy, because “self-directed speech” has been shown to stimulate your brain, and particularly, your memory.
“Phew! Thank goodness!” says everyone to themselves.
In other news, talking in third person is still not okay and certainly detrimental to your health.
SPEC Connaissance Presents: Dr. Sanjay Gupta
Sanjay Gupta, M.D., both neurosurgeon and Emmy-award winning chief medical correspondent for CNN, is coming to Penn on April 3rd to speak in Irvine Auditorium at 8 p.m. Reason you should go: Dr. Gupta can do no wrong. In addition to the aforementioned positions he holds, President Obama offered Gupta the position of Surgeon General and he was named on People‘s 2003 list of sexiest men. And the list goes on. Mother of pearl this man is an HSOC major’s wet dream.
Tickets for the presentation go on sale today for $5 apiece. They can be found online here.
Future IBankers, Remember That Your Body Is A Temple—The Wall Street Journal reports on a study set to be published in Administrative Science Quarterly that claims insomnia, heart palpitations, eating disorders and substance abuse are among the health problems faced by young investment bankers who average 80- to 120-hour work weeks. After 6 years on the job, 60% of research subjects remained "at war" with their bodies for the sake of work, while 40% began prioritizing their health. Take from it what you will.
Dr. UTB Tells You How To Not Get Meningitis
Not to cause mass panic or anything, but we’ve heard of several people who’ve had viral meningitis (not to be confused with the more contagious bacterial kind) lately. Maybe we’re just being paranoid, but that seems like a lot to us considering we swore we faked turned in our immunization forms on time.
We really don’t want to end up in some I Am Legend situation, so we asked our friends at the Student Health Advisory Board to give us the low-low on whether or not we’re all gonna die from what we’re definitely going to mislabel as an epidemic. They sent us some very useful information on how to stay meningitis-free; we’d like to share it with you!
What are the symptoms? How can you protect yourself? Hypochondriacs, do NOT click after the jump. Everyone else, grab some Purel and dive in.
Ditch The Gym For Gin And Tonics
Have you ever been torn between Pilates and piña coladas? Stuck in a mental war with weights and whiskey? Don’t know whether you want down dog or Dogfish Head? Annoying alliteration aside (ha ha), ignoring the Ivy League guilt of productivity–both academically and physically–for the sake of happy hour can be difficult. However, a recent study could make that choice much easier.
Don’t Forget Your Carabiner!
We noticed this picture today when we logged on to Penn Portal. While we appreciate Penn’s concern, we have to admit we’re a little offended. We realize it’s important to “fling safe” and all, but what do they think fling is? A hike up Kilimanjaro? And what’s with the explanatory pictures – what are we, kindergardeners? Or worse, state schoolers? (But really, who measures with a solo cup?) In sum: check yo’self, before you wreck yo’self…and keep your paper doll chain buddies handy.
Infectious Diseases Brought To You By The Letter M
"But Elmo, you told me it wasn't contagious!"
After riding out the meningitis wave of last week, prepare yourselves for yet another University Health Advisory. Yesterday was meningitis; today is measles. Never has the letter M been so unfriendly to innocent university students. E-mail to follow after the jump!
Health Advisories Scare The Bejesus Out Of Us
As the DP and your inbox have probably already informed you, Penn is not yet in the clear when it comes to this week’s meningitis scare. With three Penn students now being treated in the hospital, official university events and parties (including Feb Club) have been canceled for the weekend, and Student Health is holding a clinic tomorrow to provide screening and antibiotics. Not the way we’d hoped to spend Valentine’s Day, but better safe than sorry.