Stress

A study by UC Irvine researchers could prove that stress is even more harmful to the human body than previously thought — specifically to the brain. The researchers, led by Frank LaFerla, discovered a hormonal connection between stress and Alzheimer's disease. The study shows that increased levels of stress increases acceleration of the disease through the brain. UCI researchers Kim Green and Lauren Billings worked to solve the connection between stress and Alzheimer's using a crew of genetically altered mice.

If you feel like the ping of an email pulls you away from that deadline you're trying to reach, you're not alone. According to a recent UC Irvine study, employees who were constantly plugged in to email were less focused, multitasked more often and had a higher stress levels than their unplugged counterparts. Researchers cut off 13 employees — including a chemical engineer, materials scientist, psychologist, biologist and food technologist — from email for five days after monitoring their normal activity for three.

In his Dec. 8 letter to the Daily Pilot, Tom Egan wrote, "Do we really want to give [the Jim Righeimer-led council] more power [with a charter] to further tear up our low-stress city?" (" Mailbag: I disagree with commentary on C.M. charter"). "Tear up"? "Low-stress city"? If Costa Mesa was low-stress before Righeimer and company, it was because no one was bucking the status-quo folks who didn't want real improvement. And Costa Mesa can use some improvement to compete with other cities to our south for the most productive citizens.

With stress, a little bit goes a long way, UCI researchers report. A new study has found that short-term stress has more of an impact than earlier thought. It has been understood by scientists that long-term stress affects brain cell communication in the areas of learning and memory, but UCI researchers have found that short-term stress — lasting only a few hours — can have the same effect. Researchers discovered the selective molecules called corticotropin-releasing hormones disrupted how the brain collects memories.

Fact: Having a holly, jolly holiday season means eating holly, jolly feasts with family and friends. From crisp apple strudels to schnitzel with noodles, these are a few of everyone's favorite things. But when it comes to funding a feast that can fill up a table of tummies, your wallet quickly becomes far from full. Fear no more, holiday host extraordinaire. With these simple steps, you can feast like royalty with time, money and, as is the case with all holiday meals, yummy food to spare.

Young Chang There's the gift list that sprouts names like a salamander regrows chopped legs. There are the cupcakes you have to bake because your kid promised to bring sweets to her holiday party at school. There's the matter of whether you should eat 500 more daily calories just because co-workers and family keep throwing ginger-spiced temptations your way. There are the lines at the register, lines at the airport and, most infuriatingly, lines snaking out the door of every local post office.

Two weeks into the school year, the hallways of high schools are once again crowded and filled with the aroma of freshly sharpened pencils. Outside, campuses can be heard the echoing footsteps of newly purchased shoes and the slight mumble of intertwining conversations. The sweaty stench from the brutal workings of Hell Week has already masked any new paint smell that may have remained from a summer renovation of the gym rooms, where unwashed PE clothes remain stuffed in lockers.

A program designed to alleviate the mental and physical stress often experienced by women dealing with infertility comes to Newport Beach this month. The Mind Body Institute for Infertility is expanding from the Los Angeles community to Orange County, and is accepting new participants for its 10-week program, beginning Jan. 20. Modeled after the work of Dr. Herbert Benson and Alice Domar in mind/body medicine at Harvard Medical School, the program incorporates relaxation techniques and positive psychology to offer women coping with infertility a way to deal with the associated stresses.

Puppy love struck UC Irvine on Tuesday as dozens of students doled out tummy rubs, receiving a few licks in return. Therapy dogs and their owners visited the university as part of a program aimed at relieving stress and jitters during final exam time. Scott Alburn, a first-year biology student, was happy to see Molly, a 6-year-old golden retriever who bears a resemblance to his own pooch in Visalia. "She acts the same way" too, Alburn said. Alburn made his way to the more than half a dozen dogs during a respite between demanding exams.

Are we raising a generation of anxious, overly stressed, sleep-deprived kids? Or are concerns about how hard we're driving our children misguided and overblown? Those questions are often on my mind, but even more so since last week, when I attended a local screening of the provocative documentary "Race to Nowhere," a film by former Wall Street lawyer and mother of three Vicki Abeles. Through interviews with students, parents, educators and mental-health professionals her film makes the case that pressures on children have grown so much that we've compromised our kids' health, happiness and ability to truly succeed in learning.

Puppy love struck UC Irvine on Tuesday as dozens of students doled out tummy rubs, receiving a few licks in return. Therapy dogs and their owners visited the university as part of a program aimed at relieving stress and jitters during final exam time. Scott Alburn, a first-year biology student, was happy to see Molly, a 6-year-old golden retriever who bears a resemblance to his own pooch in Visalia. "She acts the same way" too, Alburn said. Alburn made his way to the more than half a dozen dogs during a respite between demanding exams.

In his Dec. 8 letter to the Daily Pilot, Tom Egan wrote, "Do we really want to give [the Jim Righeimer-led council] more power [with a charter] to further tear up our low-stress city?" (" Mailbag: I disagree with commentary on C.M. charter"). "Tear up"? "Low-stress city"? If Costa Mesa was low-stress before Righeimer and company, it was because no one was bucking the status-quo folks who didn't want real improvement. And Costa Mesa can use some improvement to compete with other cities to our south for the most productive citizens.

If there is one aspect (defense) that would be considered key (defense) to the success (defense) of this year's boys' water polo team (defense) at Northwood High school, the answer is clear. Ask first-year coach Chris Murin, and you hear it over and over again. That's right, it's defense. Northwood is off to a good start to the season, winning two of its first three games. Murin has come to Northwood to coach both the boys' and girls' teams after coaching previously at Palos Verdes High, and he immediately went to work to change things around, focusing on defense and the counter attack.

If you feel like the ping of an email pulls you away from that deadline you're trying to reach, you're not alone. According to a recent UC Irvine study, employees who were constantly plugged in to email were less focused, multitasked more often and had a higher stress levels than their unplugged counterparts. Researchers cut off 13 employees — including a chemical engineer, materials scientist, psychologist, biologist and food technologist — from email for five days after monitoring their normal activity for three.

Fact: Having a holly, jolly holiday season means eating holly, jolly feasts with family and friends. From crisp apple strudels to schnitzel with noodles, these are a few of everyone's favorite things. But when it comes to funding a feast that can fill up a table of tummies, your wallet quickly becomes far from full. Fear no more, holiday host extraordinaire. With these simple steps, you can feast like royalty with time, money and, as is the case with all holiday meals, yummy food to spare.

NEWPORT BEACH — Walking down Marine Avenue on Balboa Island on Friday, it was hard to tell that this was the busiest shopping day of the year across the country. The shops were open on the morning after Thanksgiving, and store owners had posted signs to lure folks in with sales of 30% off, or 2-for-1 bargains. But there were no frazzled parents elbowing each other for the year's hottest Christmas presents, or penny-pinching young adults and grandparents scurrying in and out trying to hoard the savings.

A Newport Beach-based doctor will discuss her new book about the effects stress has on women's bodies and how to manage it Tuesday. Dr. Stephanie McClellan will also sign copies of "So Stressed: The Ultimate Stress-Relief Plan for Women" at the event at the Newport Beach Central Library, 1000 Avocado Ave. The Newport Beach Public Library Foundation-sponsored event begins at 7 p.m. with a lecture and question-and-answer segment. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. The event is free, but a $10 donation is suggested.

Are we raising a generation of anxious, overly stressed, sleep-deprived kids? Or are concerns about how hard we're driving our children misguided and overblown? Those questions are often on my mind, but even more so since last week, when I attended a local screening of the provocative documentary "Race to Nowhere," a film by former Wall Street lawyer and mother of three Vicki Abeles. Through interviews with students, parents, educators and mental-health professionals her film makes the case that pressures on children have grown so much that we've compromised our kids' health, happiness and ability to truly succeed in learning.

Editor's Note: This corrects an earlier version. COSTA MESA — When patients are zipped into the air-tight Alter G Anti-Gravity Treadmill from the waist-down, it feels like walking on the moon, said Chad Jarrett, co-owner of Jarrett Orthopaedic Rehabilitation in Costa Mesa. The rehabilitation center's recently acquired Alter G anti-gravity treadmill can help physical therapy patients take a giant leap toward total recovery, because movements on the machine are less of a shock to the legs' joints, said Jarrett, a physical therapist.

Nine Orange Coast College students will board the Alaska Eagle Saturday morning, embarking on the first leg of an eight-month trip from Newport Beach to South America. The 65-foot sloop will make its first stop at Easter Island, and then a new crew of sailors will come aboard for the next leg, to Puerto Montt, Chile. From there the trip will continue to Cape Horn, Argentina, South Georgia Island, Uruguay and Brazil. The Alaska Eagle was obtained by the college in 1982 and has notched more than 500,000 miles with OCC's School of Sailing and Seamanship.