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.

West Nile Virus in Long Beach

There have been seven cases of the West Nile Virus in Long Beach since August, although only one of these cases was found in a human.

This information is from the City of Long Beach Health and Human Services website, which reports three cases of the Virus in dead birds, three in sentinel animals and one in humans. According to biologyonline.org, a sentinel animal is an animal placed into an environment to detect the presence of an infectious agent like a virus.

City Health Officer Mitchell Kushner sent out a press release in September in regards to the first confirmed human West Nile Virus case since 2009. "As of September 14, 114 human cases have been reported in 23 California counties, including 12 in Los Angeles and 5 in Orange County." You can read the full press release here.

According to the Center of Disease Control and Prevention, there have been 3,969 cases in the United States this year as of October 2. They advise using insect repellant, closing screen doors, and wearing long sleeves at night when mosquitos are most active. They also advise frequently changing out still water, which is where mosquitos like to lay eggs.

Dr. Richard Besser from ABC News said that 80 percent of people who contract the virus will show no symptoms at all. The other 20 percent will appear to just have the flu. However, this virus lasts much longer than the flu. The neurologic form of the flu is by far the most serious. This form occurs in about one out of every 150 patients. In addition to the flu, they have stiff necks, confusion, weakness, vision problems, seizures and in some cases, this can be fatal.

There is no cure for the West Nile Virus, so prevention is the key. Along with avoiding mosquitos, if you see a dead bird or a green pool, they should be reported.

Flu Shot Clinic on campus

With flu season on the horizon, Cal State Long Beach will be conducting a Flu Shot Clinic this Tuesday (10-2-2012) and Thursday (10-4-2012).

Both clinics will be held at the University Student Union Ballroom. Tuesdays clinic will be from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday's will be from 9 a.m to 1 p.m.

Flu shots will be administered to students, teachers and faculty. They will cost $15 and all forms of payment will be accepted.

According to the College of American Pathologists, influenza outbreaks can occur as early as October, but are more common in January.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advises all people to get vaccinated yearly. As of Sept. 21, approximately 96.8 million doses of the influenza vaccine have been distributed. 135 million doses are projected to be produced this flu season.

For more information about the influenza virus, click here or here.