Men's Health Workshops

CSULB does not believe in the last part of sex, drugs and rock and roll. The Beach believes in the one thing possibly more American than rock and roll.

According to the Cal State Long Beach health website, the school offers a health workshop to all male students. The website talks about "sex, drugs and cheeseburgers". Health educator Holly Boettner said that this workshop "is geared towards sexual health, drug prevention and nutrition".

The process starts with an appointment, where the patient meets with Boettner, who explains the educational and clinical components of the workshop. Then, the patient can choose what clinical tests to do, which include STI testing, head-to-toe physicals, and body fat tests. 

"We have an outline about what we can do" said Boettner. "But if someone wants need sexual health help, we're not going to make them sit through the nutrition parts. We try to gear to each individual".

This workshop falls in line with the Family Pact program. "The services are cheaper with the Family Pact program." said Boettner. "For example, blood work is $6.45 with the Pact, but STI tests without it are $12."

photo via csulb health website

"We probably average 1-2 people a week" said Boettner. "It is a good program. But we have limited advertising. It comes down to whether the male uses the health care center for his health needs, as opposed to an outside health care professional."

Even though the semester is almost over, this program continues into Winter and Summer Sessions. For more information, call (562)985-4609.

Health and Thanksgiving

With Thanksgiving only three days away, many college students will be going home for their first real meal in almost three months. Thanksgiving is a holiday notorious for family, food and football. Overdoing the food part can be detrimental to your health.

Eating two or three plates of this can be terrible health-wise.
photo from here

The typical Thanksgiving Thursday consists of cooking, football, eating, football, sleeping and football.   And no human person can resist getting second (or even third) plates of turkey and ham with gravy, mashed potatoes, stuffing and rolls. According to livestrong.com, a study from the University of Michigan shows that the average person will eat anywhere from 2,000-3,000 calories at Thanksgiving dinner, not including other meals that day. That meal alone has as many calories as people are supposed to eat in a day.

Along with this insane amount of calories, other common Thanksgiving habits can affect your health. Junior Communication Studies major Amanda Ellis falls in line with this other health risk. "I ordered a Thanksgiving dinner for me and my boyfriend from a local restaurant this year" said Ellis. "Typically after eating big meals I like to sleep".

Many people sleep after eating their Thanksgiving meals. According to the National Wildlife Turkey Federation, eating a big turkey dinner makes people sleepy. Turkey contains a chemical called tryptophan, which does cause drowsiness. This chemical combined with the high number of calories leads to a large number of naps after dinner, which can cause weight gain. Instead of napping, people should partake in as much physical activity before and after eating as possible. Lots of families get together and play football, which for some reason has become immensely popular on Thanksgiving. By doing this, your risk of weight gain goes down. 

Last Call for Flu Shots

With winter rapidly approaching, the time to get flu shots is now. The City of Long Beach is teaming up with the Red Cross to set up a few last flu shot clinics around the city.

photo via http://newspaper.li/flu-shots/

These flu shot clinics are available for people 60 and older, or ages 18-59 with a preexisting condition. These conditions include asthma, diabetes, heart, lung, kidney or liver disease, blood disorders or HIV/AIDS.

The shots will be given without appointments. Medicare part B will be accepted, and/or a two dollar donation.

There are four clinics left through the end of November. The next one is Wednesday, from 9 a.m. to noon at Bixby Park, located at 130 Cherry Ave. The other three are the week after Thanksgiving, November 27-30 at the Health Department from 9 a.m. to noon. The Health Department is located at 2525 Grand Ave.

For more information, visit the Long Beach health department website.

Family Pact

According to the Center of Disease Control and Prevention, sexually active 10-24 year olds are at the most risk for getting a sexually transmitted disease. Nearly half of the 19 million new STD's each year happen to someone aged 15-24. College is generally a time of promiscuity and experimentation, so CSULB offers a family Planning, Access, Care and Treatment program to help combat STD's.

The Family PACT program is offered to low-income, California residents who are either uninsured or insured but want to keep confidentiality from parents. Susie Lopez, family Pact coordinator at CSULB, said that low-income means "under $1800 from the student, not including parents money or financial aid."

Lopez said that the process starts by making an appointment. "You must make an appointment with the Student Health Services, then you come in, fill out a one-page form, and someone will let you know right then if you qualify. If you do, they give you a card that you need for the services. In total this takes about 10 minutes."

Example of the health card via family pact website

According to Lopez, there are about 3,000 students currently using this program. This program provides them with a number of benefits, including birth control, STI testing, Pap-smear testing for women, and STI checkups.

For more information about this program, you can visit the PACT website.

Trick or Drink

Remember when the only health risks surrounding Halloween involved candy? For many students, this Halloween provides an excuse to get drunk on a Wednesday. Some students took care of their partying during the weekend, but this Wednesday still poses health concerns for many Long Beach students and residents.

Festive times pose many different health problems at all colleges. UC Santa Barbara, which was rated by the Princeton Review as the seventh biggest party school in the United States, has implemented a week-long "no guest" policy which ends this Thursday. Isla Vista is a much larger monster than Long Beach, but the health and safety of students is a priority everywhere.

College students generally aren't too interested in candy during Halloween, unless it comes in the form of a gummy bear shot. Whenever drinking is happening, there is a threat of alcohol poisoning. The CSULB health service website has a list of ways to avoid alcohol poisoning, including eating before drinking and alternating between drinking alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks.

Alcohol poisoning is a small danger in comparison to one of the biggest killers in America, drunk driving. According to the Mothers Against Drunk Driving website, California is the 21st ranked drunk driving state in the country. There were 791 drunk driving fatalities last year, which accounted for 29 percent of all traffic deaths.

picture via trafficsafetymarketing.gov/halloween2012

Not only can drunk driving be dangerous for you and for other drivers, but Halloween presents a lot of little kids hyped up on sugar. According to newsroom.dc.gov, drunk drivers killed three times more people nationwide on Halloween than on New Years.

Junior Annie Bolding, a Child Development/Family Studies major, will be going out on Halloween on Wednesday night. She will be going to bars in Venice with her boyfriend, but has a responsible way home. "I always take a cab wherever I go when we party," said Bolding. "I think if everyone would just call a cab we could get the drunk driving numbers down."

Other students aren't so big into the party scene this year. Junior Math Education major Corinne Ingalla said that she remembers going to parties her freshman year, but "I didn't go to any this year. I'm older and working, school is more of a priority now."

Obviously, the most sure-fire way to stay safe this Halloween is to not drink. Everyone knows that's not going to happen on college campuses, so there are other ways to prevent Halloween related health problems. Monitor how much you drink. Make solid plans. If you drink, have a ride home. Make arrangements to stay at a friends house. Use a Long Beach Bus, which is free with a student ID. Get a cab. Stay safe.

Weather Changes

For the better part of the last five months, Southern California residents have been blasting their air conditioners and wearing their Ray-Bans. With the heat wave nearing its end, it is time to break out the hoodies and sweatpants for the dreaded 60 degree California winter. According to webmd.com, the changes in weather can affect many different phases of health.

According to worldweatherpost.com, migraines can be caused by changes in weather. People who have migraines suffer during the summer heat, but relief is not necessarily brought by the cooler weather. Dr. Marcelo E. Bigal, director of research at the New England Center for Headache in Connecticut said that a change in weather can cause migraines. According to this article, a bright day with 12 hours of daylight followed by a cloudy day with less than seven hours of sunlight can be a migraine trigger to some people. If you can feel a migraine coming, taking medicine early can help prevent it from happening.

If you have suffered an injury, colder weather can be terrible for you. Some people think they can predict a storm coming based on pain in their knees or back. There is some truth to this, according to everydayhealth.com. While there is little evidence to support this, there does appear to be a connection between cold weather and aches. To counter this, everyday health advises dressing warmly, working out inside and taking vitamin D supplements.

With the unusual cold California weather approaching, your health could be a bit different. By keeping warm and staying healthy, you can fight the weather until next summer.

Gardasil Vaccine for Men and Women

The CSULB health center is offering free Gardasil Vaccines to low-income people, according to the CSULB health resource center website.

This vaccine helps fight the four most common types of the Human Papilloma Virus, which can cause genital warts and cervical cancer.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, there are 40 total types of HPV. HPV is a sexually transmitted infection. 90 percent of people who have it fight it off within two years, but those who do not can develop warts and in more serious cases, cervical, vaginal or penis cancers.

Student Health Service educator Heidi Burkey said these shots will be provided on campus for uninsured, low income people age 19-26. These shots are being provided by Merck, a company that makes these vaccines. "We've been doing these shots for about three years now" said Burkey. "It starts with a one hour appointment where you will meet with myself or another counselor and we will answer any and all questions we can. They we give you a handout from the CDC because they are an unbiased third party. Then we have you fill out the paperwork, fax it to Merck, they get it back to us and we start the vaccination. You get three shots over six months. If you don't qualify for the free vaccines, we charge $145 per shot, but you can get it elsewhere if you have health insurance."

Photo via instinctmagazine.com

For more information, go to the student health services website.