The sexting phenomena increases as the days go by. According to a recent survey done by the University of Rhode Island faculty in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies, 56 percent of 204 college students have received sexually suggestive images by text messaging; nearly 80 percent have received suggestive messages.

The survey investigates the impact of technology use on physical and mental health, as well as interpersonal relationships in college students. It has revealed that while most of the messages (73 percent) were sent to a relationship partner, 10 percent were sent without the permission of the person who originally sent the message.

Nowadays for most of the students, texting is a primary communication tool used both for maintaining existing friendships and establishing new ones. However, using it in a bad way can lead to some negative effects.

As Tiffany S. Kisler, one of the professors who led the study, pointed out, “the danger for many students is that they don’t realize the lack of control they have over who is seeing their messages.”

Kisler thinks that it is vital to help students, understand the importance of using technology in moderation.

The issue of younger people sending explicit suggestive images and messages via cell-phone is getting worse every day.  In March, the New York Times about covered the story of a student named Margarite, who sent a message to her boyfriend with a picture of her naked. In in less than 24 hours, the picture spread through the rest of her colleagues and unknown people.

Everyday, hundreds of thousands of kids unconsciously open themselves up to not only ridicule, but also the threat of being labeled a sex offender.

On the other hand, the research has found that texting and cell phone usage is affecting important aspects of students’ physical health.

Out of the 236 colleges junior and seniors sample, 47 percent always answered the text messages even when they receive them while they were sleeping. In addition a 40 percent of students answered phone calls while sleeping.

The research stands out because all students who use their phone during the night lost around 44 minutes of sleep per week. These night interruptions can affect the sleep quality and also cause some serious issues such as depression and anxiety.

As a consequence, Sue K. Adams, another professor that participated in this survey, said “more often than not, the interruptions caused by texting come with the first few hours of sleep, which is the most important time for restorative sleep. If students are constantly interrupting their sleep cycle, they place themselves at risk for sleep debt, which can impact multiple areas of their life, including academic performance.”

Texting while driving

Text messaging while driving is banned throughout 34 states in U.S. However, many students have passed their own distracted driving bans. According to this survey more than 93 percent of students surveyed reported texting while driving, and more than 82 percent reported they had sent messages while at the wheel since the state law banning texting and driving was passed. In addition, as Adam stated “it is possible that students do not believe that they will get caught, or that the penalty is minimal enough to risk texting while driving. Many students are also confused about the definition of the law. They are unclear if it includes sending or reading a text while driving or stopped.”

In today´s society texting has converted in a fundamental tool to communicate with each other not only among young people but also among adults. Accordin to the online media outlet AARP plenty of older adults also send spicy messages on their cell phones, but it´s usually a private matter.

Transmission of sexually explicit images of individuals under age 18 is also a serious legal issue that may subject those who are guilty to child pornography charges. Regarding this aspect Kisler pointed out the importance of setting boundaries around technology, both in terms of what people share and how often they are sharing it.

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The research on the positive impact of human-canine relationships on health is extensive. For nearly 25 years, research had indicated that living with pets can have a positive influence on a person’s health.  Although all pets to some degree improve an individual’s health, dogs in particular have been studied.

Dogs allow improved independence and mobility for the blind.  They are used as service dogs with people that suffer from epilepsy because they are able to detect seizures before they come.  Dogs lower their owner’s blood pressure, significantly reduce anxiety, and boost immunity.

A growing number of studies suggest that children who grow up with animals will have less risk of asthma and allergies.  In a recent study, researcher James E. Gern, MD, a pediatrician at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, analyzed the blood of babies immediately after birth and one year later. He was looking for evidence of an allergic reaction, immunity changes, and for reactions to bacteria in the environment.   The results may surprise you.  If a dog lived in the home, infants were less likely to show evidence of pet allergies – 19 percent vs. 33 percent. They also were less likely to have eczema, a common allergy skin condition that causes red patches and itching. In addition, they had higher levels of some immune system chemicals — a sign of stronger immune system activation.

Studies have also shown that people with Alzheimer’s disease have fewer anxious outbursts if there is an animal in the home.  Walking a dog or just caring for a pet — for elderly people who are able — can provide exercise and companionship.  Elderly that have a pet are less likely to feel depressed and are more likely to have fewer hospital stays than their petless counterparts.

Although, not as studied as some other areas, research also suggests that owning a dog can help prevent diabetes.  According to research by exercise scientist Cindy Lentino, dog owners who regularly walk their dogs had about one-third of the risk of diabetes in comparison to non-dog walkers. Dog owners also had additional signs of good health not seen in the non-dog walking group, like lower rates of depression.

Pet owners are likely to have better mental health than those who don’t own a pet.  In one study, stockbrokers with high blood pressure who adopted a cat or dog had lower blood pressure readings in stressful situations than did people without pets.

Studies show a link between these stressful chemicals, Cortisol and norepinephrine, and plaque buildup in arteries, the red flag for heart disease, says Blair Justice, PhD, a psychology professor at the University of Texas School of Public Health and author of Who Gets Sick: How Beliefs, Moods, and Thoughts Affect Your Health.

Like any enjoyable activity, playing with a dog can elevate levels of serotonin and dopamine — nerve transmitters that are known to have pleasurable and calming properties, Justice said.  “People take drugs like heroin and cocaine to raise serotonin and dopamine, but the healthy way to do it is to pet your dog, or hug your spouse, watch sunsets, or get around something beautiful in nature,” says Justice, who recently hiked the Colorado Rockies with his wife and two dogs.

Heart attack patients who have pets survive longer than those without, according to several studies. Male pet owners have less sign of heart disease — lower triglyceride and cholesterol levels — than non-owners, researchers say.  According to preventive cardiologist Barry Franklin, Ph.D., of William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan, patients with heart disease who have dogs and walk them have a better prognosis.

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A study published in the journal Current Biology examined how certain parts of the brain respond to fear.  The study, published in December, specifically investigated one woman, known as S.M., because she is one of very few people known to have damage to the amygdala on both sides of her brain.  The amygdala is a portion of the brain thought to play a role in processing fear and other emotions.

S.M. suffers from a rare condition, Urbach-Wiethe disease, which caused calcium deposits to form and cause lesions on the amygdala.  The researchers exposed S.M. to fear-inducing stimuli and used questionnaires to assess whether she experienced the symptoms of fear over a three-year period.  They also asked her to rate the level of different emotions at random times for a three-month period.  S.M. reported little-to-no symptoms of fear on the questionnaires and also rated herself as fearless most often during the emotional experience sampling. However, she did experience other emotions, such as joy, happiness and sadness normally, the researchers said.

S.M.’s lack of fear has created some risky situations for her.  She was held at knifepoint in a park at one point.  Her fearlessness may have contributed to that incident.  She was in the park by herself when, what she described as, a “drugged out” man called her over to a bench.  She went.  While he held her at knifepoint, she calmly responded that if he was going to kill her, he would have to go through her angels.  The man let her go.  She walked, not ran, home.  S.M. has also been held at gunpoint and was also almost killed in a domestic incident.

“It’s very striking that she has only a rational response, not a physiological one,” said Dr. Jon Shaw, professor of psychiatry at the University of Miami School of Medicine. “The body is not prepared for a physiological response because the amygdala has been taken out of the loop.”

Although it certainly appears that the amygdale is critical to fear response, some experts caution against drawing too many conclusions from one study.  This study’s findings, however, may be very significant in treating Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.  “[This] puts us in a position to design treatments to target that structure to treat conditions marked by pathological fear reactions,” said Daniel Tranel, one of the study authors and professor of neurology and psychology at the University of Iowa. “Probably the most well-known such condition is PTSD.”

S.M.’s case also underscores that fear is essential to human’s survival. The researchers believe that because she could not detect threats to her safety and avoid them, she wound up in numerous life-threatening situations. “Indeed, it appears that without the amygdala, the evolutionary value of fear is lost,” the authors wrote.

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