Day 90 - Environmentally Healthy

A huge topic in the media these days is about being environmentally friendly and keeping the earth green. Businesses advertise their products as "being green" or "environmentally friendly" or "Made from recycled materials." Conscientious people are looking for more organic products, provided without the use of pesticides or hormone-enhancement or harsh chemicals.
In this evening's Pathology class, we discussed "Environmental Health" - basically things in our environment, whether by choice or involuntary exposure - and their effects on the body. Things like radon, carbon monoxide, smoking, alcohol, cocaine, and even delved into substance addiction. Quite eye-opening. We heard statistics like Baltimore has the highest heroin-addiction ratio in the US, with one out of ten people being addicted. I'm so naive when it comes to that stuff. I've never even seen anything "harder" than marijuana, "the gateway drug" - and I haven't even seen that for almost 20 years!
We also discussed some aspects of Pharmacology that we may need to know as Massage Therapists, as we need to understand what medications our clients are taking and the potential harmful effects massage may have on them.

Yes, your medications may affect your reaction to massage, so be careful and let your Massage Therapist know everything you're taking!

*Stepping down off soap-box now*
In other news, WGH has asked me what I want for a graduation present. I told him, "A Vacation."