Student BMJ subscription

I've just paid for the printed student BMJ to be delivered to my house, I also get access to all BMJ articles and blogs :)

I enjoy reading the online articles, particularly the monthly 'eyespy' pages. After studying stess and memory in AS psychology, I found an interesting article on stress hormones (cortisol and adrenaline). A British neuroscience review has concluded that these hormones help the brain store memories more effectively by a process called epigenetic modification. This is where the hormones alter the function of genes in neurones to enhance learning ability. However extreme stress can be damaging and can lead to persistent, traumatic memories which can contribute to mental illnesses.
Maybe this could explain why nerves before a drama performance or an exam can make you feel more alert. Sometimes when you're in exams you can think of things that you didn't think you knew, this could be due to the stress triggering your active neurones involved with memory? This could link to EWT too, about how a moderate level of fear can heighten the accuracy of people's accounts of an event to a certain level (I remember looking at a correlation between fear and memory).

It's nice being able to read articles about subjects I have studied because it adds a real life perspective to the topic. Also I understand how cortisol and adrenaline affect the body in stress pathways (fight or flight responses) and how fear can enhance memory. This has allow me to piece the article together around my prior knowledge to make good sense.

http://student.bmj.com/student/view-article.html?id=sbmj.d3639

Gay men can now give blood!

The ban since 1980 preventing men who have sex with men (MSM) from donating blood will be lifted in November. The Department of Health has announced that men can give blood as long as they have not had anal or oral sex with a man in the past 12 months and meet the other general donor selection criteria.This ban had been put in place to stop the spread of blood-borne viruses, it has now been considered safe to reduce the regulation. There is still a 12 month ban because sexually active gay men are at a higher risk of accumulating sexually acquired viruses. NHS blood and transplant hope that this will increase the number of blood donors in the future.
Article information and photo sourced from BBC News

'Time to Change' Survey shows our fathers are the last people we talk to about mental health

The 'Time to Change' campaign about the discrimination and stigma against people with mental health found that we are less likely to talk to our dads about mental health problems we suffer from. 26% talked to their GP first before telling their families and 37% of people talked to their partner before sharing their problems with parents and siblings. Only 1% of people would tell their dad first.
Charities 'Mind' and 'Rethink' are promoting a discussion of mental health to try and get people talking more openly about their problems. This is a national campaign which is touring up and down the country to try and reduce the stigma. The campaign, 'It's time to talk, it's time to change' aims to "break down those barriers and empower families to speak out so that people’s attitudes change towards mental health.”
I have ordered the annual review from the website so I can learn about the progress which has been made towards ending the discrimination of those suffering from mental illnesses. I am hoping to attend a lecture on mental health provided by SEPT at the end of the month (providing I get the day off work!).