Saturday, March 27, 2010

Manage Your Voice



Ever seen our very own nutritionists giving speeches on the stage in the company? Ever seen the crowned managers giving incredible motivational talks on the podium? These people, not only do they use their creativity to the full extent in order to make audience on the floor to be attentive, they also fully use their attractive voice to win over the listeners.

In conjunction with the upcoming World Voice Day which will be held on 14th April, today we're having an article all about voice. From giving lectures in schools to yelling and cheering for your favorite team in the upcoming World Cup Finals which will be held in South Africa very soon, all these mentioned activities involve the usage of your voice. And according to Lee M. Akst, M.D., assistant professor in the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, he mentioned that these activities or other normal forms of activities such as talking on the phone would harm and damage our voices.

With that, several occupations, are deemed to cause occupational hazards on the involved worker. Not only singers, but other occupations such as coaches, teachers, broadcasting journalists, attorneys and other occupations which require to use voice a lot are all in danger in encountering damaging with voice.

If speaking discomfort such as hoarseness occurred for about two weeks, and it accompanies with ear pain, swallowing and breathing difficulties, that might indicate a serious vocal cord condition. When this really happens, you should be get your feet off and go for ear-nose-throat specialist as immediately as you could.

Let us give credits to those who use their voice in their occupations and pay tribute to them alongside with the upcoming World Voice Day!

Friday, March 26, 2010

Optimistic Immune System



Is optimistic a really important attitude to be applied in our daily lives? Though sometimes, when we appear to be optimistic, hoping for the best from something in progress, it does not guarantee that your expected outcome would appear before you. But at least, there's something which you can take heart from this optimistic attitude.

In a recent study, it suggests that being an optimistic person, it enhances your immune system. One study, which was published in the journal of Psychological Science had been carried out based on such postulation. Researchers whom participated in this study had recruited some 124 first year law students for a 6-month period. During this period, the students would be studied for five times.

Here's how it goes, each time these students were studied, they were asked questions pertaining to what extent they are actually behaving optimistically. Those questions were specifically about the law school which they were studying in, and also some questions concerning about how they would fare in the near future.

Each time after the students were examined, they were then injected some material which would stimulate immune response within their body. When immune response is strong, larger bump in the skin would appear. Whenever the students answered the questions optimistically. In other words, when they answered with positive as well as assertive answers, larger bumps were observed in their skins compared to those who gave relatively pessimistic answers.

Although immune system of different individuals is of course, different by nature as well, and such study does not appear to be too convincing in the field of science. But positively, this leaves some traces to future researches. We now understand that at least, immune responses in our body are somehow closely related to how we think about ourselves either presently or in the future.