MaksZycinskiBlog

 Those who drink excessively for a long period of time have an increased risk of having various complications. Long-term health risks of chronic alcohol use include heart, liver, and digestion problems, cancer, immune system weakening, also mood and sleep disturbances. Moreover, it increases the risk of other mental health problems, including depression and anxiety. Alcohol can also result in shrinkage of the brain region known as the hippocampus, which is responsible for our memory. In the study by the University of Oxford, researchers tracked participants' drinking patterns and their brain health for 30 years. People in the study who drank 4 or more drinks a day had almost 6 times the risk of hippocampus shrinkage compared to non-drinkers. Researchers found out that brain shrinkage was proportional to the amount of alcohol a person drank. Excessive drinkers are exposed to "wet brain" syndrome. This condition can cause persisting mental confusion, eye movement disturbanc...

 By data collected from 193 countries, we can make a conclusion that people who live in colder climates and areas with less sunlight are more likely to drink heavily. Why is that happening? The main reason is that alcohol is a vasodilator, which is a substance that relaxes blood vessels and increases the flow of warm blood to the skin. Another cause is linked to depression, which is more likely to occur when sunlight is scarce. The simpler explanation is that when there is little sunlight we just look for ways to lift our mood. Although the link is unquestionable there are some exceptions that conflict with this research.  As the expert Prof Jurgen Rehm from WHO said that research in Europe had found the highest rates of alcohol consumption in countries such as Ireland, the UK, Germany and Poland. While the lower alcohol use was found in countries to the north - such as Norway, Sweden and Finland - and further south: Italy, Malta and Greece. Profesor said: "Basically, we have ...

People who want to know if the amount of alcohol they drink is likely to have negative health effects, often rely on governmental guidelines. But Stanford University School of Medicine researchers have found that many countries give different definitions of low-risk drinking, which is the amount of alcohol that a person can consume without having a bad influence on our health.  Some countries, like the US, assign different daily or weekly limits for men and women, while others, like Australia, don’t differentiate by gender. People in Australia are told that they shouldn't drink more than 20 grams each day, while American women are allowed to drink 42 grams per day but no more than 98 grams per week. In contrast, men in the US are told that they can safely drink 56 grams per day and up to 196 per week. Meanwhile, the upper weekly limit for men in Poland is much higher, which is 280 grams per week.  Moreover, the definition of a standard drink in each country is different, altho...

 In the forest near the Polish-Belarussian border, a network of Polish volunteers gives support, food and medical help to the people who achieved to cross the border. Michal, who is one of them, every night puts a green light in his house in the woods to sign that refugees can try to ask for help. Many of the refugees are in the bad condition, some of them claimed that they were beaten by Belarussian soldiers. At least 8 people have died in the woods in recent days.  No matter of opinion about the Polish-Belarussian conflict saving life is always good. What is even more admirable about volunteers is that they help regardless of the consequences. It is also very heart-warming to read something positive about Poland in the respected foreign media. link:  https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-59289999

 Recently I have read that minister of education Przemysław Czarnek "will take a look" at Squid Game TV series, because he thinks that such content is harmful and shouldn't take place. He also admitted that he hasn't watched the series. Squid Game is the latest Netflix hit and it is the most popular show in this platform history. It is very brutal but it deals with important aspects of human nature and our society.  Reaction of our minister is really shocking especially that he hasn't watched it. This show has an age restriction for people 16+, but of course, a lot of children don't respect it. I am very curious what the ministry is going to do about that. I doubt that they will ban the show from polish Netflix. All they can do is educate parents about what kind of content they are showing to their kids, but it is probably the last thing they will do. 

 My reflection this week is about procrastination. My last blog post was published a long time ago and I was willing to do this for two weeks, but I didn't. First excuse was the school trip and rest after it. Then a week full of important tests and training.  Almost every day I told myself that I will write my post today but then I procrastinated it and here I am two weeks later.  This situation reminded me of the TedTalk we watched last year. Procrastination in a student's life is a very common feature. Our brains got tricked by new excuses every day and learning projects have to compete with them. It is extremely difficult to fight with this, especially when there is no exact deadline and you have to mobilize yourself. It takes an incredible amount of perseverance, that I am trying to learn. Of course, this is only my fault(although some of the reasons were pretty good).