Women's Heart Health

I know that most people posting about February being Heart Health month did so in the beginning of the month.  But, better late than never right??  Besides, I've been working on this post pretty much all month.  The last day of January, one of my best friend's younger sister died of a sudden massive heart attack. I think she is still somewhat in shock about it, but also going through the why her, why not me, the OMG I have a pain, is it a heart attack.  So in my head I keep reworking this post.  I'm going to look at it as a recap post for the month.

First of all, I am going to say that my mom had breast cancer - and has been cancer free for over 5 years now, so in no way shape or form am I saying that breast cancer awareness and research are not important.  However, for many women, breast cancer is the "big health scare".  It's what many of us worry about when we consider our long term health and mortality.  The media makes sure each and every day - not just in October - we are aware of our self exams, our boob squishing appointments, the need for more research.  But in a way this makes us lose focus on other female health and mortality issues.

In 2009 (the latest year I could find CDC statistics) 24% of women who died, died of heart disease.  That's almost one quarter!!  22.2% died of cancer - but lung cancer surpassed breast cancer has the most frequent cancer women die of over ten years ago.  And before you all start commenting that breast cancer directly affects females and heart disease affects everyone and research $ etc etc etc.  Men get breast cancer too. Ok not enough to affect research $$ ( male research goes to erectile dysfunction - we know their priorities) Female heart disease is different than male heart disease.

Yes.  Female heart disease is different than male heart disease.  Yes, much of the causes - diet, exercise, stress - are the same.  Cholesterol, sodium and saturated fats are a dietary issue for both sexes. Weight, and activity levels are risks for both sexes.  And since neither sex can't stop aging, no matter how hard the cosmetics industry tries, this is a risk for both sexes.  And all those risks are fairly well disseminated by the medical community and the media.
Research is done every day on those risks.

But. Women have a whole different set of risks.  And women have a different set of symptoms.  Many women do not realize they are having a heart attack.  Thus they do not reach out for medical help.  As women, we tend to do a great job of making sure the children and the men (ok when it comes to their health - they can be lumped in with the children)  are taken care of from a medical standpoint.  We tend not to do so for ourselves.


So stay tuned tomorrow, for our risks and what we can do to prevent heart disease as women.  And please definitely check back on Wednesday, for the symptoms for female heart attacks.

 

I Need To Know All The Things!!!

Or at the very least most of them... ok, the things that penetrate my attention span into my brain, sorry Curt - bowling & computers just don't penetrate.
 I know I mentioned coursera a few times before. 

 The list above are classes I'm signed up for.  2 are ones I'm currently taking, 5 are scheduled for this year.  How sad is it that I'm already signed up for 3 classes next year, plus 6 unscheduled classes as well??  (Keep in mind, I have dropped 2 classes, so if these classes are boring, or un-interesting, or the work to learning ration is too steep - I may not finish them either)  Does anyone want to come play with me??  ( One of my "boss"es girlfriends is taking one of the Nutrition classes but we only really communicate when she asks him to ask me something)

 I'm currently taking 3 classes - that together don't take as much time or brainpower as the one astronomy class I finished.  This is the last week for my Astrobiology class - I think my avg there is 99.  I'm just over halfway in my Nutrition for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention.  I'm acing this class as well (feeling less like the dummy the Astronomy class made  me feel like) I'm also learning a ton of good info - about managing my diabetes, Curt's High Blood Pressure.  Tomorrow the topic posted will be about obesity - so even though I dropped my BMI from 42 to 32.6; I need to lose another 18 pounds just to make it to overweight. Sigh.  So again a week of high interest to me.  I'm also acing  Fundamentals of Human Nutrition.  Holy crap, this class is in such detail!!!  i feel like I'm in med school!  Just finished week 5 of 10, and my brain is full!  Seriously though I am also learning a ton - and the extra detail helps me understand more of the why's that the other nutrition class glosses over.  The only annoying thing is an ongoing "mind Map" assignment that I don't see how is helpful.  Plus it's unweildy!

 

For everyone on St Valentine's Day!

NGC4038

yes, it actually looks like this.

after the worlds hardest class I know why.

but, I still see it as the universe's Valentine to us  all.

For my Muppety Friends

For my fast friends

I passed my class!

As some of you may remember - back oh about a hundred years when I was blogging, I took a class that started at the end of November and ended on Sunday.  The class was somewhat mis-named "Intro to Astronomy"  HAH!!  it also said that prior Physics experience was helpful, but not necessary.  HAH! HAH!  and that only basic algebra skills were required.  HAH!  HAH!  HAH!!

The class should have been called  "The Physics of the Universe - buckle your seatbelts, keep hands and feet inside the ride at all times"  It should have said brush up on Physics I & II before the class starts, or be prepared to learn Physics and Astronomy simultaneously.  It should have said - can you ace the AP Algebra test??  No?? start now or jump in the deep end.

 I "thought"  this class would be about constellations, and some basics of stars, nebula, planets, galaxies, black holes.  It was about the EVERYTHING of the Universe!!  The first week of understanding ascension and declination and meridians etc, to navigate the stars you see while looking up was what I expected.  At the end of that week?  my graded homework?  100.  YAY!

Second week, basic Physics  of orbits of planets and stuff.  100 great.

Then the hammer dropped.  I took algebra in high school.  8th & 9th grade to be exact.  I took the AP test and aced it in Calculus my Junior Year in High School.  Seriously people, I wasn't good, I was great at math.  Physics??  I took physics I & II in High School.  Then I took 5 semesters of it in college - not to mention that in ME most things are really applied Physics.  I always saw Physics as an easy A!!  I guess the thing I forgot was the 25 years between college and now.  And the fact that I can do my job without that much cranial exertion.  (it's sad - I rarely use a calculator at work, it's too much of a pain in the ass to pull out my phone, turn it on, get the calc app ... I can do arithmetic in my head faster... and this impresses the crap out of people)

Week 3 - 1. derive an expression....  2.  Use the expression from problem one to calculate...  3.  Use the data calculated in 2 to determine.....
Yeah, get one wrong, the rest are just totally screwed... my grade?? 60.

Then I did great week 4 & 5 100's both weeks.  

Week 6.  Subatomic Physics.  stuff ME's really don't play with much.  Brain hurt from the exercise.  My score... 15.


By the end of week 4, I was spending about 30 hours a week on a class I didn't need, and wouldn't get me anything.  Fortunately, the professor gave a 2 week extension on all homeworks, because people were struggling with week 2's homework and he really wanted people to keep on it until they understood what was going on.  That and the week we had "off" for Christmas.  So that gave me 3 extra weeks time to struggle through.  I even got the Angie to help me with some math - took her like 3 seconds to solve - while she was home for the Holidaze.

I finished my last set of graded homework with 2 hours to spare - and an 2 hours past my bedtime on Sunday night.  I needed a 40 to pass and get a completion certificate.  I got a 53!! I was never so happy to fail a quiz before.

Why did I stick it out?? Why did I let this class basically take over my entire life for 13 weeks??  I had already dropped 2 previous classes in different topics.  First, Astronomy has changed a lot since I used to hang out at an observatory in HS and college.  Black holes were a theory, we couldn't see them or have proof until we launched xray telescope satellites, Can't see this stuff from the ground.  The first planet around another star was discovered in 1992.. Angie was born that January, I was playing Mommy.  SO I had a real passion for a science when I was younger that pretty much  was obsolete.  I wanted to KNOW!!!


The second, biggest reason??  The professor who taught the class was phenomenal!!  Dr. Plesser from Duke University's Physics Dept.  He's not an astrophysicist.  He loves astronomy, and discovered he enjoyed teaching about it when his kids were young in school. so he taught the Intro to AStronomy class at Duke, and enjoyed it, and teaches it whenever he can work it in.  And really?  It shows.  He was always talking to the camera like it was a class, you could hear the enthusiasm and passion as he talked waving his hands around.  He didn't read from a prompter or a tablet or notes like other on line teachers do.  He just talked from his head/heart.  He'd pick up a stylus and show us how a formula was derived, usually I had to watch those pieces a couple times, even when the finished formula was right on the next power point slide.  He really made me  want to finish , want to understand everything he was saying.  Duke is lucky to have a teacher like him, a true teacher.  One of my friend's kids is considering Duke, I told him if he ever got a chance to take this guy in person he must!!