Health Archives - Page 2 of 5

Persevering through vaginismus

Written on June 27, 2016. Posted in Lifestyle.

This past spring, I was diagnosed with a condition I wasn’t aware existed: vaginismus. The six months that followed my diagnosis were filled with confusion, distress, tears and pain. I had been trying to have sex with my partner for several months, but every time we tried it was like he hit an impenetrable...

Fats are friends, and food

Written on June 6, 2016. Posted in Lifestyle.

What if we were to tell you fats are your friends! Wait, what? That doesn’t make sense. Are you confused yet? Well, the science around fats sure is. Between old studies being retracted, new studies constantly being published and Dr. Oz announcing another super food every week, keeping up with dietary...

The realities of juicing

Written on March 11, 2016. Posted in Lifestyle.

Google “juicing” and the great health debate of 2016 will hit your laptop. To make sense of the juicing craze, it’s best to think of this health trend as existing on a spectrum of anti-juicing to extreme-juicing. At one end, you’ll find extreme-juicing, or in other words, juice cleanses. These usually...

Mental recovery equally important for concussion patients

Written on March 1, 2016. Posted in Editorials.

Minimize light. Turn your phone and computer off. No screens, no noise. No more than a few hours of visitors every day, at least for the first little while. This was the matter-of-fact, clinical advice I was given after a severe blow to the head resulted in a lengthy hospital stay and a serious concussion. For...

Do you even lift, bro?

Written on February 5, 2016. Posted in Lifestyle.

An out-of-shape university student walks into a CrossFit gym for a lesson. That sounds like the beginning of a joke, right? Normally, that’s something I’d laugh at, but I was that out-of-shape student. Let’s just say, I felt every slice of pizza, every bag of chips and every day where my iPhone pedometer...

How to flush your toilet and other tips for germ-free living

Written on January 22, 2016. Posted in Lifestyle.

Microorganisms, as a whole, get a bad rep. The majority of these little critters are harmless, but we tend to focus on the minority that are out to get us — the germs of the world. There are four major types of germs: viruses, bacteria, fungi and protozoa (parasites). The ones that we hear the most...

Being celiac in a sea of gluten-free dieters

Written on January 12, 2016. Posted in Lifestyle.

With New Year’s just behind us, gym goers are increasing in number — and so are users of fad diets. A ‘new year, new me’ mantra is trending on campus and everyone is putting down the pizza for a healthier alternative. But for those of us with celiac disease, this time of year is frustrating. I want...

An attempt at a one-week juice cleanse

Written on November 27, 2015. Posted in Lifestyle.

It’s a warm November morning and I’m staying in bed as long as possible to avoid my first of multiple juices that I will be solely sipping on for the next week. As I drink my beet, apple, carrot, ginger liquid breakfast, I reflect on why I keep falling for health trends and put myself through this...

The psychology of stress

Written on November 27, 2015. Posted in Lifestyle.

Muscle tension, headaches, heart palpitations, trouble sleeping — the physical symptoms of stress are familiar to far too many university students. But what we’re often unaware of are the underlying physiological processes that contribute to stress. Stress, in biological terms, is when an organism...

Online Psychology Network announced by AMS

Written on November 6, 2015. Posted in News.

Queen’s students seeking mental health services can now bypass long wait times, complex booking systems and extensive commutes with a few clicks of a mouse. On Oct. 30, 2015, the AMS announced the opening of the Online Psychology Network in a mass email to Queen’s students. The network allows students...

Fill up that menstrual cup

Written on October 30, 2015. Posted in Lifestyle.

I got my period on the fourth of July when I was 11. Happy Independence Day to my uterus, I guess. Since then, I’ve spent hundreds of dollars on pads, panty liners and tampons. I accepted these costs as an unquestionable obligation. That was until this summer, when there was a movement against the...

Cheers to healthier drinking

Written on October 30, 2015. Posted in Lifestyle.

With the peak drinking season upon us — Homecoming and Halloween are a week apart — our livers aren’t in the best condition. But it doesn’t have to be that way. There’s this amazing thing called “balance”, which we students should look for in our academic and social lives. It allows you to engage...

Cancer prevention: small changes make a big difference

Written on October 23, 2015. Posted in Lifestyle.

When we consider the alarming statistic that two out of five Canadians are expected to develop cancer during their lifetimes, it’s not hard to see why so many people view cancer as an inevitable fate. Yet, this perception couldn’t be further from the truth. Advances in cancer research have revealed...

Ménage à what?

Written on October 20, 2015. Posted in Lifestyle.

Q: I have always fantasized about having a threesome…how can I talk to my partner about trying? Explain why It’s important to first communicate with your partner why you want to try a threesome. Is it because you want to voyeuristically appreciate someone else ravishing your partner? Do you want to...

How to be your own masseuse

Written on October 16, 2015. Posted in Lifestyle.

Who doesn’t love a good massage? The candles, the sensual lighting and the zen waterfall music that every single spa seems to play — it’s relaxing just thinking about it. Unfortunately, us university students have a slim budget and, let’s face it, can’t afford to hit up a spa for a weekly massage...

The battle against mental illness

Written on October 8, 2015. Posted in Lifestyle.

The writer’s name was omitted due to the sensitivity of the content. I can’t remember a time when mental illness wasn’t a part of my life. From a young age, depression and anxiety permeated almost every aspect of it. My play dates with friends regularly turned into crying fits; my younger sister...

Tabata who?

Written on October 6, 2015. Posted in Lifestyle.

Tabata is one of those fitness culture words that some of us are throwing around now — but have you ever stopped to wonder where it comes from? Tabata workouts get their name from Dr. Izumi Tabata, a Japanese physician who specialized in fitness research. He conducted a study to determine the efficiency...

Swipe right on condoms

Written on October 2, 2015. Posted in Editorials.

Swiping right on a sexy picture won’t give you an STI, but having sex without protection certainly might. From Tinder to Grindr, Craiglist to Salaam Swipe — a dating app for Muslims looking for love — hooking up has become so simple that the AIDS Health Foundation (AHF) is worried it’s leading to...

How to balance stress with health

Written on September 25, 2015. Posted in Lifestyle.

We’ve all been there: the readings are piling up, the assignments are coming at you, exams are just around the corner, and on top of that, you haven’t done your laundry in weeks. You’re overwhelmed with stress, so you do what seems logical – eat. Soon one cookie becomes a row of cookies, which...

The balancing act of self-love and healthy living

Written on June 30, 2015. Posted in Lifestyle.

When it comes to body image, we’re told to either embrace our curves or shave off a couple of pounds to reach our health goals. While it’s hard to commit to one movement, I found a happy medium between both: practicing self-love while leading a healthy lifestyle. Traditionally, we believe skinny is...

Students help students during PSC Cares Week

Written on March 13, 2015. Posted in News.

The first event of the Peer Support Centre’s (PSC) Cares Week, a “wall of self-love”, asked people to write down something they love about themselves. Most found this difficult. Educating students on self-care and self-love is the overarching theme of Cares Week, which began last year. The PSC — a...

Recommendations for HCDS released

Written on February 11, 2015. Posted in News.

A report on the external review of Health, Counselling and Disability Services (HCDS) conducted in October has been released, and will serve as HCDS’s guide to improving its services. The report tasks the University with the implementation of select changes, including the creation of a Student Wellness...

QJ Health: The side effects of sitting

Written on February 6, 2015. Posted in Lifestyle.

You won’t want to sit down when I tell you the latest health scare, because that’s exactly the problem — sitting. This unhealthy habit hits close to home for university students who spend many hours a day sitting in lectures or studying at the library. According to an Oct. 2014 report by The Conference...

Anti-pot ad just fear mongering

Written on February 6, 2015. Posted in Editorials.

Health Canada’s anti-marijuana campaign was little more than a poorly disguised political ploy. The Conservative government’s 12-week advertising campaign launched in October and cost over $7 million — significantly more than what Health Canada has spent advertising other health and safety issues. One...

QJ Health: New Year, New Goals

Written on January 16, 2015. Posted in Lifestyle.

If done properly, the beginning of a new year offers a great opportunity for a fresh, successful start. Remember that you define success. If your resolution is to improve your grade point average from a 3.0 to a 3.7, does a 3.5 count as a success? I think it does. Here are some tips to help you have...

Mental illness initiatives healthy at Queen’s

Written on January 16, 2015. Posted in News.

As the conversation around mental illness and stigma continues, Queen’s is part of two initiatives designed to help identify sufferers of and combat stigma around mental illness. In early December, a Queen’s-specific website was launched to help students, faculty and staff recognize, respond and refer...

The danger of deprivation

Written on November 27, 2014. Posted in Lifestyle.

With only a few days left before exams kick off and final papers are due, sleep is the last thing on many students’ minds. It’s a time-honoured tradition on campus, as many forgo sleep to cram for an exam or finish up that last essay before classes wrap up. I’m just as guilty of this as any other...

Calorie count not enough

Written on November 27, 2014. Posted in Editorials.

The Ontario government’s efforts to include nutrition data on menus is worthwhile, but encouraging healthy choices can’t stop there. A proposed bill would make Ontario the first province to require all restaurants, fast-food outlets, supermarkets and convenience stores with 20 or more locations province-wide...

Flu season and the savvy student

Written on November 14, 2014. Posted in Lifestyle.

Overwhelmed lecture halls, communal living spaces and high amounts of social activity make university campuses a perfect breeding ground for the seasonal flu virus. Despite the increased exposure associated with student life, the United States Centre for Disease Control (CDC) estimated only about...

Grad students raise concerns

Written on November 7, 2014. Posted in News.

An SGPS student advisor proposed changes to the location of their graduate counsellor among administrative offices at an open review of Health, Counselling and Disability Services (HCDS) held last Wednesday. At the open meeting, part of a larger review of HCDS, Becky Pero suggested that the office...

Tag: Health

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