Inveja da tiazinha.. hehe

Oxitocina, a química do amor

MUITO INTERESSANTE...

O oxitocina estimula a união entre as pessoas, a criação de laços estreitos. Ao mesmo tempo, está presente e influi em momentos tão importantes de nossa vida como o processo de se apaixonar, o ato sexual e a chegada ao orgasmo, o parto e a lactação materna.
Ao contrário do que se costuma pensar, os sentimentos não são gerados no coração, mas no cérebro, e com a oxitocina os sentimentos mais duráveis e estáveis do amor e compromisso são fortalecidos, tanto entre o casal como no estreito vínculo que surge entre a mãe e o bebê.
Segundo um estudo realizado por uma equipe de cientistas da universidade de Pisa (Itália) em 2006, enquanto nos primeiros momentos do relacionamento abunda um elemento químico chamado neurotrofina, que provoca o desejo, com o passar do tempo essa substância cede espaço ao hormônio chamado oxitocina.

Hormônios influentes

O frio no estômago, o pulso disparado, o coração que quer sair do peito... todas estas sensações têm uma explicação muito racional.
O psiquiatra José Miguel Gaona explicou à Efe que o amor, embora não soe "especialmente romântico", não deixa de ser uma conjunção de reações químicas, ligadas a outros estímulos como a alimentação, a atividade sexual e as afeições similares.
Esse tipo de reações químicas, que se dão nos momentos de envolvimento e prazerosos, sofre a intervenção da norepinefrina, da dopamina e da feniletilamina. Além disso, elas possuem uma função determinada, como criar vínculos que permitam cuidar da descendência.
Além disso, Joaquín "Vea", professor de Etologia da Universidade de Barcelona, disse à Efe que "as endorfinas estão presentes em maior quantidade no começo do relacionamento e que a oxitocina, produzida depois do orgasmo e quando as mães amamentam seus filhos, cria um vínculo de afeto".
Segundo ele, a relação entre hormônios e relacionamentos não é tão conhecida. "Não existe uma relação clara entre o comportamento e como os humanos vivem esta resposta emocional em nível consciente", ou seja, sabemos que aumenta a produção de endorfinas, mas não o que provoca esse aumento.

A ciência, criadora de amor?

A ciência estuda os mecanismos biológicos do amor e do desamor, problemas que "no futuro poderão ser resolvidos por meio da química", assegurou em julho à EFE o médico e escritor Federico Ortiz Quezada.
O especialista indica em sua obra "Amor e desamor" que "quando duas pessoas se atraem sexualmente, uma cascata de neurotransmissores percorre seu cérebro e seu corpo. Tais agentes são oxitocina, feniletilamina, adrenalina, noradrenalina, serotonina, dopamina, vasopressina e endorfina, assim como os hormônios sexuais testosterona e estrogênios".
Ortiz Quezada explicou que existe "toda uma série de hormônios relacionada ao relacionamento que está sendo investigada, e eles contribuem para que determinado tipo de animal seja fiel".
Além disso, lembrou que a química pode contribuir para solucionar problemas vinculados com a sexualidade, com medicamentos que resolvem problemas de disfunção erétil e menopausa, como a diminuição do desejo sexual, que é solucionada com a testosterona.
Existirá um elixir para a paixão? Será possível no futuro estimular quimicamente a atração? O amor, a confiança e o carinho parecem ter muita relação com os hormônios e são muito mais cerebrais e intelectuais do que imaginamos.
Por Marina Villén

Volta do ABCD

Ontem fui assistir a Volta do ABCD. Fazia muuuito tempo que não via uma corrida. Foi muito legal rever os amigos, ver todo o pessoal na qual convive por uns bons 4 anos.
Fiquei super feliz em conhecer meu "sobrinho" Giovanni, rever minha Friend Forever Carla e conhecer mais uma ciclista dos USA, Kristen Lasasso, que deu show durante a prova. :))
Aqui estão dois vídeos, um é a chegada dela e o outro a chegada do pelotão.

VISA

Endor wrote:
"I have spent a good amount of time at the Consulate in NYC this week and thought I would post my experience in the hopes it might help someone. It's a NIGHTMARE.

I am going to Iguazu, and after hemming and hawing, decided to suck it up and get the Visa in advance, although I will be staying at the Sheraton in Argentina. There is a lot of conflicting info out there on whether i need the Visa to see the Brazil side of the falls.

So I emailed the Consulate in advance, but for some reason, I didn't realize they would want to see my Argentina flight itinerary. So I brought with me the money order, app, pix, and passport.

First I had to wait in a line to go up the 21st floor, then there is a lengthy line in the hallway, and only after that do you get a numbered ticket, based on the window you need to go to. On Tuesday I arrived at 1030, and left at 12. On Wednesday, I arrived at 1015 and left at 1115. There is only one window open for Visas, and the woman who was responsible for it (at least this week) is unbelieveabley harsh.

There are no signs posted in the consulate about the forms you need (although when you obtain a number they rapidly list the items). I saw countless people get denied and told to come back tomorrow for a variety of reasons: no itinerary, wrong form of payment, missing their number when called, etc, etc.

If you blow your 10 seconds at the window, you're basically hosed and have to come back the next day, so make sure you have your ducks in a row: postal money order, completed application, picture, and passport. If you aren't flying into Brazil, have your international AND domestic flight itineraries with you.

Tomorrow, I have to to go back and pick up the passport and Visa. Hope it doesn't take it long. Of course, after all this, I am sure I won't even need the Visa.

On a happier note, I saw numerous people who were flying out THAT day that were being accomodated with same day Visas (although they had to come back that afternoon, not received them straight away)."

BillScann wrote:
"As a US citizen who has spent most of his adult life living and working overseas, I can only chuckle when Americans get annoyed at the occasional shabby treatment meted-out by foreign consular officials.

Foreigners wishing to vist or transit the US are treated like garbage by US officials every step of the way. The humiliations endured -- from the long, slow lines at consulates, the disdain in which they are treated once inside, to the fingerprinting and mugshots taken at US ports of entry -- make me wonder why anyone in their right mind would want to spend their hard-earned money visiting the USA.

The short answer is, they're not. The 48 million foreign visitors to the USA last year was 9% below 2000. In the same period, worldwide foreign travel soared 17%.

So the next time you're stuck waiting for a visa to visit Brazil (or anywhere else) remember that what you experience is several orders of magnitude better than what our government does to foreigners"

GUWonder wrote:
"As said above, getting a visa to Brazil is a piece of cake in comparison to what we subject people wishing to visit or even merely transit America. In some places, it can take two or three months of waiting to even have a chance to have an interview to try to get a visa. And if they don't get it, they are out the money paid."

andrzej wrote:
"We see this discussion around here from time to time and it has some validity, but let's be honest.

How many US citizens try to stay in Brazil, Russia, China, etc. once they get there?

OTOH, many citizens of the above countries DO try to stay in the US, so I'm sorry that the process has to be the way it is, but it's the REALITY, and if you have a hard time seeing it then I'm sorry for you or anybody that agrees with you.

At the same time I respect any country's demand for something similar, whether done in retaliation or just because. It's up to me if I want to go through the trouble of actually doing it."


GUWonder wrote:
"Let's not be dishonest either. There is also a large number of Americans who violate Brazilian law, including Brazilian immigration law. (The same can be said for a number of Americans in Europe too.) Americans enter Brazil illegally -- routinely and far more easily than Brazilians enter America illegally. None of this excuses giving a hard time to visitors who have their bona fides present.

It's not too hard to find Americans violating the terms of their entry in all of the countries you mention. And Americans overstaying? It happens routinely with a segment in those countries too.
__________________
This game is not as much fun as it used to be."


I write:
This getting-VISA-situation SUCKSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!

Hanhep iyuha mi ihanbla ohinni yelo

So cute...

Miss You! - Amazing videos are here

Myspace Funny Picture Comments & Graphics

The Heavy Healthy Heart

New research shows you don't have to be waif thin to slash your risk of a heart attack. By Arthur Agatston, MD, Prevention

In my practice, I've seen a number of overweight patients virtually eliminate their heart disease risk by losing just a few pounds. This is, of course, wonderful news. I believe that most of us, by employing a few simple lifestyle changes, can avoid having a heart attack, and I intend to help you do that. But while I delight in my patients' successes, some of them are dissatisfied by minimal weight loss and tell me they "just want to be thin." In reaching for that goal, they often inadvertently sabotage the newfound cardiovascular fitness that losing just a little weight can provide.

Fitter in 10 minutes

Are you surprised to learn that you can be fit and, to put it indelicately, fat? Many doctors I know are startled to hear this, too. But the latest research, out of Louisiana State University, shows that overweight women can improve their heart health by adding just 10 minutes of activity a day.

In that study, researchers asked more than 400 sedentary women with high or borderline-high blood pressure to add a short bout of moderately intense activity, such as brisk walking, to their daily routines for 6 months. Although the women as a group neither lost weight nor lowered their blood pressure, they ended up fitter, as measured by their oxygen intake, and—this is the really important part—their waistlines got smaller. That's significant because belly, or visceral, fat is linked to insulin resistance, a contributor to heart disease. You can reach this level of fitness without losing a pound.

The Classic Yo-Yo Diet

The trouble, at least for some of my patients, is that they are more concerned about slimness than heart health. No matter what I tell them, they go on a drastic diet. As the pounds fall off, so does some muscle mass, lowering their metabolism, so that when they resume eating normally they burn off calories more slowly. It's not long before the weight—and the nasty belly fat—comes back.

Fitness Redefined

Metabolism is the key player here, dictated in large part by your genes. Canadian researchers have shown, for instance, that when they have total control of identical twins' diets and overfeed them, siblings gain nearly the same amount, while there is wide variation among the sets of twins. Given the same food, one pair might gain 10 pounds, another pair 29.

Bottom line: Everyone burns calories at a different rate, which is why some of you will have to struggle mightily to lose weight. But remember: There is more than one way to be healthy. Your ideal weight should be determined by what's going on in the inside—with your HDL, triglycerides, and blood sugar—not only by how you look in the mirror. You should be delighted to know that even if the perfect figure is outside your grasp, a fit and healthy body is still within reach.

Arthur Agatston, MD, a preventive cardiologist and an associate professor of medicine at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, conducted several groundbreaking studies on heart disease and wrote the international bestseller "The South Beach Diet." He maintains a cardiology practice and research foundation in Miami Beach, FL.