Food allergies increasing in US kids, study says

Name: Jane Liu (49712038)
Reaction Article#5
Date: 10/31/2008
From: Newsweek

Food allergies increasing in US kids, study says
(http://www.newsweek.com/id/165087/page/1)

My Reactions:
I think it is a big problem. People don’t know the reason why it happened and also cannot find the way to treat it, but only children become more vulnerable from generation to generation. Maybe it is because people nowadays pay too much on their children and forbid them to eat this, forbid them to eat that; in the end, they become more and more vulnerable because they don’t have any chance to touch many things, maybe good, maybe bad, and the body do not know how to deal with it. And when the body meets something bad one day, children get sick easier.
One of my friends is allergic to shrimps. Whenever she eats some shrimps accidentally, she feels itchy everywhere of her body and her body swells. She told me that once her face swelled like a balloon and she even couldn’t see anything. I think it was very terrible and not feel good at all. I think I am so lucky because I don’t have allergies to any kind of food.
So, I think doctors should keep trying and do their best to find the reason why food allergies increase in US kids so fast. Not only in America, people all over the world have problems with food allergies, so if someone can think up some way to solve these problems, he can save a lot of people around the world. And we hope that day will come soon.(263 words)

Brain Region for Overcoming Fear, Anxiety Found

Name: Jane Liu (49712038)
Reaction Article#4
Date: 10/24/2008
From: International Herald Tribune

Brain Region for Overcoming Fear, Anxiety Found
(http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/07/080709-brain-fear.html)

My Reactions:
I think it would be a great discovery, because with this discovery, doctors can treat many sick people. Knowing which part of the brain controls the feeling of fear helps doctors choose which kind of medicine should be used. In so doing, it can help people recover from the disease more quickly and more efficiently, especially for soldiers who just came back from the battlefield. Many soldiers feel tense or have unsafe feelings toward everything because they think themselves still in the battlefield. And they may have difficulties in adapting the general lives and even cannot come back work, for they always feel they are in the dangerous situations. And with this new discovery, those people can accept useful treatments and after recovery, they live lives just like general people.
As for me, if this kind of medicine is really released, I want to try some. Because I am such a timid girl that I am afraid of many things, like darkness and ghosts, I want to take this medicine to cure my timidity. I consider maybe the medicine can help me not feel scared when being alone in the darkness or make me not too scared to sleep after seeing a scary movie. I think I really need the medicine to let me overcome my fear inside my mind. Although I know the fear in my mind only can be cured by myself, however, I just want to depend some medicine and make me feel better, if that really works.(273 words)

HIV spreads in China

Name: Jane Liu (49712038)
Reaction Article#3
Date: 10/17/2008
From: International Herald Tribune

HIV spreads in China
(http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/10/07/healthscience/aids.php)

My Reactions:
When hearing AIDS, people will feel uncomfortable for it has become one of the toughest diseases to deal with by doctors all around the world. It has taken uncountable lives from everywhere. People cannot be cured and what we can do is only to prevent ourselves from it. The spread of AIDS is quite fast, especially in the populated places.
In Taiwan, there are also many people infected with AIDS. Some are just babies who get AIDS from their mothers. They might not live long because they will easily die of some diseases that general people can recover soon by themselves but due to the AIDS, maybe they will just die of a slight cold.
Others are adults, and perhaps they used drugs with many people but only using one pinhead or maybe they are homosexual so they are infected with AIDS. Many people feel regretful while it is too late. All they could do now is to make their lives more meaningful and make themselves more happy. People around them also should help them, accompany them, and cheer for them. They are not scared and we have to makes friends with them.
However, we all still should protect ourselves well from AIDS. AIDS has become a big problem in every country in the world. Governments spend a lot of money every year to help people keep away from AIDS and to take care of the people infected with AIDS. So, we need to help us and others stay away from AIDS. (273 words)

In poverty and strife, Afghan women test limits

Name: Jane Liu (49712038)
Reaction Article#2
Date: 10/10/2008
From: International Herald Tribune

In poverty and strife, Afghan women test limits
(http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/10/06/asia/06bamian.php?page=1)

My Reactions:
I think that women living in conservative society are very poor because they don’t have any freedom to decide or choose what they want. They are deprived from accepting education and the freedom to choose who they want to marry. Women’s lives there are miserable. They are always forced to marry to someone they even never see before or have a under-age marriage. They often die when young because of the pregnancy. The life expectancy of women is only 45 years. Men there can live longer than women. However, in Taiwan, the situation is opposite.
It’s not fair at all. Women have done many things for men, but they cannot get anything in return. I think I am so lucky that we all live in a fairer country and we don’t have that much gender discrimination. We girls can choose what lives we want to live, what kinds of education we want to accept, opt what kinds of jobs we want to have, and select who we want to spend our rest lives with. We have much more freedom than those women do. And most important of all, we won’t be regarded as goods. In our country, regardless of men or women, we all will be looked upon as human beings. Everyone has the same importance.
After reading this article, I think that women should not look down upon themselves. Instead, they need try their best to do what they want and get what they desire for. Women should not still be housekeepers, and they should go out looking for jobs then working with men, helping each other. Only we find a balance between men and women can we together create a greater world .(308 words)

Smells Influence Dreams, Study Says

Name: Jane Liu (49712038)
Reaction Article#1
Date: 10/08/2008
From: National Geographic News

Smells Influence Dreams, Study Says
(http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/09/080923-smell-sleep.html)

My Reactions:
What you smell may influence emotions in your dreams, according to a new study.

In my opinion, I think that if it is true ,it would be a great news to everyone although the findings have not been published .If I get up with a positive dream at night ,I would feel happier and more confident in the morning-the beginning of a day .I think it is important to have a positive dream at night because if I do so, I would have a good mood in the morning then starting a new day with happiness .If so ,I would try my best to do everything I am afraid of originally .So, if everyone has a positive dream at night, I believe that everyone would feel the same as I do.

So, if smells can really influence dreams, people will all benefit from it. If one wants to have a good mood tomorrow, all he needs to do is smell some pleasant odor. And the truth is people all want to have a good mood ,so they will also smell some odors they like before sleep . If people feel happy ,they would work harder ,faster, and more efficient, and people would be more progressive ,so does the world. People would be more friendly because they all feel delightful for their sweet dreams. And it also can be used on patients of melancholia, maybe by this therapy, patients would think more positive and then recover from it.(267 words)