Correlation-Causation Assignment

     

      Nate klutz & Jared wiig 1. What are the major conclusions of this article regarding the relationship between coffee drinking, type 2 diabetes and Alzheimer's. The more coffee you consume the less likely you are to get type 2 diabetes and alzheimers. Researchers found that antioxidants and magnesium in coffee may counter diabetes by improving insulins ability to control blood sugar. There is also a negative side to the excess coffee drinking such as anxiety, headaches, heartburn and high blood pressure. 2. What kind of evidence is offered in support to those conclusions? The Harvard researchers proved that the more coffee a person drinks the higher the percent rate of not getting the disease. But still not with everyone coffee has its downsides and can cause other major problems with to much consumption. 3. Are you convinced? Why or why not? NO, by drinking up to 6 cups of coffee a day you are putting your body in danger. Yes you are increasing your chance to not get type 2 diabetes, and Alzheimer’s. But you are putting your body at risk with other major health issues. That we think you have a greater risk of obtaining.   7 
     

      Flor Johnson, Drew Rempp & Michael Sly. 1.What are the major conclusions of this article regarding the relationship between coffee drinking, type II diabetes and Alzheimer's? According to the article the more coffee you drink a day the less likely you are to get type II diabetes and Alzheimers. 2.What kind of evidence is offered in support of those conclusions? Havard reseachers reported that men who drank 6 cups of coffee or more a day were 50% less likely to get type II diabetes. Women who drank 6 or more cups of coffee a day were 30% less likely to get type II diabetes. If they were drinking decaf coffee at the same rate the men would be 25% less likely to get type II diabetes and women would be 15% less likely to get type II diabetes. University of Toronto research tied low risk of Alzheimers to coffee drinking. 3.Are we convinced? Yes, if all of the facts are correct it shows that coffee drinkers are less likely to develop Alzheimer and type II diabetes. But there are also down falls to the coffee that put your body in danger of other diseases. Some of the downfalls are anxiety, high blood pressure, and in some case even heart attacks  7 
     

      Maurita Gholston & Elizabeth Kennedy 1.The major conclusions are that coffee drinking will lower your chances of develping diabete type 2, Parkinson's Disease, and Alzheimer's Disease. 2.There is no real evidence, but they they theorize that the antioxidants and magnesium found in coffee may improve the insulin's ability in controlling blood sugar. 3.We are not convinced because there is no real evidence to support the theory. We would agree if there was more research to confirm this finding.  9
     

      Brian Fricke and Amanda Pearson: 1.) This article concludes that the excessive drinking of coffee can reduce your risk of developing type II diabetes compared to those non-coffee drinkers. While, in other research it showed that there was a tie between drinking coffee and a lower risk of developing Alzheimer’s. 2.) Evidence shows that people who drank more than six cups of coffee a day reduced their risk of developing type II diabetes bye 50% (men) and 30% (women). The people who drank more than four cups a day of decaf also reduced their risk by 25% (men) and 15% (women). 3.) These numbers are high which lead us to believe that it actually does help in the reduction of type II diabetes, but however, we are not convinced that this holds true. It does not give the type of people they surveyed. For who knows if they were actually all coffee drinkers. They also gave research results from other universities without giving any back up information. Then, it is not reassuring at the end that they give all the downsides to drinking coffee.  8 
     

      Derek Christie, Alex Kutz -What are the major conclusions of this article regarding the relationship between coffee drinking, type II diabetes and Alzheimer's? This article points out that by drinking coffee it lowers the risk of getting type EE diabetes and Alzheimer's. Harvard, University of Toronto and a group of Norwegian’s all conducted these experiments and came out with some sort of benefit that comes with coffee drinking. -What kind of evidence is offered in support of those conclusions? Harvard University stated that by men and women drinking more than 6 cups of coffee a day men were 50% and women were 30% less likely to develop type II diabetes than non-coffee drinkers. The University also tied in coffee drinking with lowering a person's chance of developing Alzheimer's. -Are you convinced? Why or why not? No we are not. After reading through this article it is apparent that they have come across a tie between coffee drinking and these diseases, but they tell us nothing about their sample groups, where they are from, who they are, what ages they are or even how many were sampled. Was this sample a group bias group or not? We don't know because they told us nothing about them. Most coffee drinkers we see put some type of condiment in their coffee. The article says nothing about this. Does putting sugar or crème in one's coffee have any affect on these diseases and experiments? Or had the sample group strictly been drinking straight black coffee their whole lives? These were not covered in the article therefore we are not convinced by the findings.

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      Mitch Winkels and Shawn Roling: What are the major conclusions of this article regarding the relationship between coffee drinking, type II diabetes and Alzheimer's? It concludes that drinking coffee will reduce a person's chances of developing both diseases. What kind of evidence is offered in support of those conclusions? There were research studies done by various institutions which found that people who frequently drank abundant amounts coffee everyday were not developing type II diabetes and Alzheimer's as often as those who do not. Are you convinced? Why or why not? No, there are many other factors to be considered in these diseases. There is no way coffee can have that big of an influence on determining whether or not a person is going to get the disease. There has to be further studies done to prove that coffee is the sole reason these people are not developing type II diabetes and Alzheimer's. Just because the two seem to be correlated does not mean they are directly related.   10 
     

      Nic Behrens, & Sara Larson 1. The article is saying that “Coffee Drinkers are less likely to develop diabetes, Alzheimer’s and/or Parkinson's Disease than non-coffee drinkers. 2. Various studies show different things like 6-cup-a-day male coffee drinkers were 50% less likely to get Type 2 diabetes and women were 30% less likely than non-coffee drinkers. Also, 40% of 2-cup-a-day drinkers in a Norwegian study were less likely to die from cirrhosis of the liver. Finally, a Harvard study claims that coffee drinkers had 1/3 less chance of getting Parkinson’s disease. 3. No. It doesn’t appear that lifestyles were taken into account, exercise, medications, also the amount of coffee consumed was very specific in the study but isn't measured as closely in real life. It also didn't take into account if they already had high blood pressure, heartburn or other symptoms. There were too many variables that were not taken into account. The correlation wasn't concrete enough to be valid in our opinion.  10
     

      Mackenzie and Kayla 1. What are the major conclusions of this article regarding the relationship between coffee drinking, type II diabetes and Alzheimer's? Researchers have found that the more coffee you drink over a long period of time, the less likely you are to have type II diabetes or Alzheimer's. 2. What kind of evidence is offered in support of those conclusions? If a person drinks more than 6 cups of coffee then, if male, will have the risk of type II diabetes lowered by 50%, and if female, the risk is lowered by 30%, if the coffee is regular. If the coffee is decaf the, for men, the risk is lowered to 25%, and to 15% for women. One cause of this could be the antioxidents and the magnesium found in the coffee may improve insulin's ability to regulate blood sugar. Research at the University of Toronto has found that it also lowers the risk of Alzheimer's. 3. Are you convinced? Why or why not? No, we are not convinced because in the last paragraph it states that coffee drinking may also cause headaches, anxiety, etc. There is not enough research to prove that coffee drinking acutally lowers these risks because there could be some other outside factors that the researchers didn't consider.  7 
     

      Betsy Behrens, Megan Schettler. Coffee has shown to significatnly reduce the risk of alzheimers, parkinsons, and diabetes. The evidence thats offered is basically the statistics that are shown in the article, the percentages. We believe that there could be some type of correleation, but the evidence lack of details cannot convince us completely.   7 
     

      Toya Lorenzen~ What are the major conclusions of this article regarding the relationship between coffee drinking, type II diabetes and Alzheimer's? Harvard scientists have found that coffee drinking reduces the of type 2 diabetes and alzheimer's.They reported that men who drink 6 cups of coffee a day reduce the risk by 50% and women by 30%. If drinking decaf it reduces the risk in men by 25% and women by 15%. They say that there are antioxidants and magneium in coffee that improve insulins ability to control blood sugar. What kind of evidence is offered in support of those conclusions? the people at harvard and the university of toronto have shown that the more coffee people drink it reduces the risk of Alzheimer's and diabetes. Are you convinced? Why or why not? No, because many factors and come into play when talking about diabete's and alzheimer's. Plus, that much caffine is not good for the body and can cause fluid retention.  7 
     

      Joe Kuefler and Tim Schieber. This article states that those who drink multiple cups of coffee day have a smaller risk of developing Type II Diabetes and Alzheimer’s. Men coffee drinkers have an even smaller risk of developing these diseases than do women coffee drinkers. This applies to decaf coffee as well, but in smaller percentages. The article uses research reported by Harvard researchers. They cited specific risk percentages and amounts of coffee needed to be consumed, both regular and decaf, and by both men and women. We are not convinced by these conclusions for the following reasons. First of all, this article does not state by which means this research was gathered. This is very important to the integrity of the conclusions. We also do not know the sample population that was used. How large was the sample? In which regions was the sample conducted? Was a variety of genetic backgrounds surveyed? There is simply not enough background evidence to support a final conclusion.   8 
     

      Shaun Arnold 1. What are the major conclusions of this article regarding the relationship beween coffee drinking, type II diabetes and alzheimer's?drinking coffee is linked to lower rates of developing: type II diabetes, parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's 2. What kind of evidence is offered in support of those conclusions?tests performed by Harvard, University of Toronto, and some Norwegian researchers indicate coffee drinkers have a significantly lower rate of these diseases 3. Are you convinced? Why or why not?i am not convinced. i dont think this article has provided any "proof" of their claims, so it is just a ruse as far as i can tell   6 
     

      D. Scott Bell-What are the major conclusions of this article regarding the relationship between coffee drinking, type II diabetes and Alzheimer’s? Harvard researchers concluded that male coffee drinkers had the risk of type II diabetes reduced by 50% and women coffee drinkers 30%. Decaf coffee drinkers had a reduction of 25% men and 15% women. What kind of evidence is offered to support the conclusion? The percentage statistics are the evidence but researchers theorize that the magnesium and antioxidants in the coffee caused a reduction in the risk of type diabetes and Alzheimer’s. Am I convinced? I’m not at all convinced. There just happens to be a correlation and there is not enough evidence for coffee to be the causation for the risk reduction for diabetes and Alzheimer's.  10 
     

      Ryan Mason, Pat Lusmann and Erik Mickels. 1. What are the major conclusions of this article regarding the relationship between coffee drinking, Type 2 diabetes and alzheimers? The coffee drinkers are less likely to develop these diseases. 2. What kind of evidence is offered in support of those conclusions? Harvard did a study that men who drink more than six cups of coffee a day cut their risk of developing type 2 diabetes by more than 50% and women by more than 30%. Another Harvard study showed that coffee drinkers had 1/3rd the risk of developing parkansins. 3. Are you convinced why or why not? No, we are not convinced because their may be outside factors that are not being looked at like how much they excercise.  9
     

      Tyler Lyon and Jeannette Miranda 1) The major conclusion in the article regarding the relationship between coffee drinking, type II diabetes and Alzheimer’s is the prevention coffee will have on them. According to the article, consuming six cups of coffee a day will reduce the chance of developing these diseases. In males research has shown a decrease of risk up to 50 percent and in females, up to 30 percent. And drinking more than four cups of decaf coffee a day will decrease males risk by 25 and females by 15 percent. 2) The article offers evidence to support these conclusions by using several research experiments that have come to these results. For instance, in regards to diabetes, some researchers think that antioxidants and magnesium in coffee may counter diabetes by controlling blood sugar. As far as Alzheimer’s is concerned, University of Toronto has found connection between the decrease risk of Alzheimer’s and coffee. 3) We are not convinced because so far it is simply a theory. It could be wrong and be just a coincidence. I would also not promote a product that can increase the risk of having a heart attack as well as other negative side-effects.  7  
     

      Katie Rowe and Molly Kappos: 1.What are the major conclusions of this article regarding the relationship between coffee drinking, type II diabetes and Alzheimer's? Basically it says that the more coffee you drink, the less likely you will be to develop type II diabetes and/or Alzheimers. 2.What kind of evidence is offered in support of those conclusions? There have been tests done by Harvard reseachers. These tests have reported that the risk of developing type II diabetes is cut by 50% in men and 30% in women. Even if they drink decaf coffe, the rates are still decreased. It's 25% less likely for men to develop type II diabetes and 15% less likely that women would. Another research group has found that drinking all this coffee is also tied to the decrease risk of Alzheimers. 3.Are we convinced? If all the facts that are given in this article are correct, then I don't see why we wouldn't be convinced. The facts all say that the risk is lowered for developing Alzheimer's or type II diabetes, and that would be a good thing. However, most good things do have some bad things too. Drinking lots of coffee does sometimes cause anxiety, high blood pressure, and sometimes heart attacks.   7 

Neurotransmitters and Medicine Assignment

      Mitch Winkels and Joe Kuefler: http://www.chclibrary.org/micromed/00037780.html Our web page talks about many different anti depression drugs. It describes how each drug helps treat the condition and how each one affects the neurotransmitters to help fix the problem. It also gives specific examples of different conditions and how they might be treated. ~30 Points   13
     

      Katie Rowe & Elizabeth Kennedy <http://www.news-medical.net/?id=4073> This website got a score of 21. This site would have received a higher score had they listed their sources, which would have increased its credibility. This website discusses the relationship between glutamate, a neurotransmitter, and Schizophrenia. It was found that there is a gene that is accountable for this neurotransmitter that can be used to determine the amount of risk for the schizophrenia a person can have. The study was written by Dr. Michael Egan, and Dr. Daniel Weinberger. It was then published in August of 2004 in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.   15
     

      Maurita Gholston Sara Larson Matt Tietsort http://www.ultimate.org/neuro.html Checklist for Evaluating the Credibility of Online Information* INSTRUCTIONS: Circle a score for each criterion and then add the total score for each category. Criteria Yes No Category Score AUTHORITY (12 pts) 1. Does the page make it clear what organization or individual is responsible for the contents of the page and what their purpose was in creating the page? 3 2. Does the page provide you with any evidence that the creator of the site actually has expertise in the field? (Be careful here…the fact that a site is well designed and attractive doesn't tell you much.) 3 3. If it is an academic page, has it been posted by a professor as a part of a course? (Figuring this out the "authority" of academic pages sometimes takes a bit of detective work, but it's important to know. Just because a URL ends in ".edu" does not mean that it is offering good information.) Does not apply 4. Is the page sponsored by an advocacy organization (NRA, ACLU, etc) that has a political or other agenda that it is trying to advance? (Note: this doesn't necessarily mean that the information on the page isn't good, but it should alert you to possible biases) Does not apply ACCURACY (8 pts) 1. Are the sources for any factual information listed so they can be verified? (If not, the page may still be useful to you as an example of the ideas of the organization, but it is not useful as a source of factual information) 3 2. Is the information free of grammatical, spelling, and typographical errors? (These kinds of errors not only indicate a lack of quality control, but can actually produce inaccuracies in information.) 2 3. Does the page make it easy for you to find high-quality sites from other organizations or individuals containing information on the same subject? 3 OBJECTIVITY (4 pts) 1. Are the organization's or individual's biases clearly stated? (Having a point of view is OK, but the page should acknowledge it.) 2 2. Are there any advertising banners on the page? 0 3. Is the website itself trying to sell you something? 0 CURRENCY (3 pts) 1. Does the page make it clear when it was created and/or last updated? 0 2. Is there clear evidence on the page that the information is current? 0 COVERAGE & TONE (4 pts) 1. Does the page appear to be an attempt to deal objectively and comprehensively with the issues? 3 2. Does it appear that the page has been completed, and is not still under construction? 1 Total of 20 points This web-site had about all the information you’d need to know about neurotransmitters. It included four transmitters and four drugs that could be used for each to stabilize it incase of and imbalance. We chose Norepinephrine, this neurotransmitter triggers arousal, energy and your physical drive. Four different drugs that can help balance this problem are cocaine, speed, caffine, and tobacco (nicotine). Some symptoms of this are lack of drive, depression, and severe lack of energy.   14
     

 **     Jeannette Miranda Timothy Schieber This website is a very good website. Everything mentioned is sited. The ending is “edu” which is good, but better than that is backed up by a certain Dr. Michael King, PhD. He provided a link to view a picture of him and his work, as well as awards. He updates the website frequently and has been running it since 1996. It also provides bountiful information on plenty of terms in relation with science. He does not seem biased about things and simply states the facts. He also has a link to his e-mail so you may contact him with questions. We can tell he must have put a lot of time into it from how the site is decorated and all the links there is to the links, very well done. We give it 28 points. http://web.indstate.edu/thcme/mwking/nerves.html   15
     

      Travis Anderson Patrick Lussman Erich Mikles The website did experiment to tell about the transmitters how they work from the terminal buttons. They related information from one neutron to another. It used actual examples to prove that that’s the way the nervous system works. 28 points.   10
     

      Nic Behrens & Shawn Roling http://my.webmd.com/content/article/90/100759.htm The article talks about the uses of drugs for healthy patients. The main question is, if these drugs make sick people healthy why can’t it make healthy people healthier. The disease they focus on primarily is Alzheimer’s and the effects it plays on the mind, especially memory. The increased medicine in a person’s brain will play an effect on long and short term memory, as it does for Alzheimer’s patients. Rating: 27   14
     

      Ryan Mason, Brian Kempfert This site discussed the role neurotransmitters play in diseases such as parkinson's and alzheimer's. It states that the symptoms found with both diseases are linked to the depletion of neurotransmitters that control that particular activity. Some medications are avaliable to treat these diseases, they force the remaining neurons to over-produce; compensating for the lost neurotransmiters. http://www.thehormoneshop.com/neurotransmitters.htm (24)  14
     

      Tyler Lafler, Jarred Wiig, Mike Sly http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/D/Drugs.html The web page scored a 28 according to the scoring system provided. The web page was factual and was based on the original text book. The only negative aspect regarding the web page was its lack of external links to other research. The web page clearing defines the relationship between many forms of drugs and there effects on the human brain. A clear example that the web page gives regards amphetamines and cocaine. The page explains that amphetamines and cocaine bind to, or block, transporters used for the reuptake of dopamine. The blocking of the reuptake causes the level of dopamine to rise in the synapses resulting in high levels of dopamine in the area of the brain called the nucleus accumbens. Furthermore causing a pleasurable effect associated with psychoactive drugs. The publisher of this text was John W. Kimball retired biology teacher and Harvard graduate. The web page was published the 13 of July 2004. The web page is also the recipient of the 2001 Science/Tech Web Award. (Scientificamerican.com)   15
     

      Tyler Lafler, Jarred Wiig, Mike Sly http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/D/Drugs.html The web page scored a 28 according to the scoring system provided. The web page was factual and was based on the original text book. The only negative aspect regarding the web page was its lack of external links to other research. The web page clearing defines the relationship between many forms of drugs and there effects on the human brain. A clear example that the web page gives regards amphetamines and cocaine. The page explains that amphetamines and cocaine bind to, or block, transporters used for the reuptake of dopamine. The blocking of the reuptake causes the level of dopamine to rise in the synapses resulting in high levels of dopamine in the area of the brain called the nucleus accumbens. Furthermore causing a pleasurable effect associated with psychoactive drugs. The publisher of this text was John W. Kimball retired biology teacher and Harvard graduate. The web page was published the 13 of July 2004. The web page is also the recipient of the 2001 Science/Tech Web Award. (Scientificamerican.com)
     

      Shaun Arnold, Nathan Klutz, Drew Rempp http://www.adderallxr.com/default.asp?cat=14&aid=338 This website is focused on the drug Adderall XR (extended release). Adderall XR is a neurotransmitter agonist. This particular page is from a link available from the main page. –main page to ADHD information -ADHD information to Causes of ADHD Other links on this site take you to more information dealing with Adderall XR or ADHD, such as: causes of ADHD, treatment of ADHD, symptoms of ADHD, or links to company sites that deal with ADD, ADHD, or medication (eg. Adderall XR.) This site scored 23.5 out of 31 points, according to the evaluation rubric provided. This site also was very informative about its center of focus, which was Adderall XR. Some of the weak points of this page were; most links lead to another part of the same host site. This site seems to be reliable.   14
     

      Kayla Puhrmann. http://www.eparent.com/resources/associations/pediatricNeuro.htm I thought this web site would be credible because it is a on-line source for parents. The site works with many researchers that are doctors trying to find cures for the diseases. The website talked about Pediatric Neurotransmitter Diseases (PNDs). The website's main purpose is to raise awareness about nerotransmitter diseases in children. The site explains what neurotransmitters are and what disorders are included in pedriatric neurotransmitter diseases. It also talks about diagnosis. There are a couple negatives in the website. The first is that it is not too easy to find more outside links to more of the same information. Also the copyright is 2002, so the website has not been updated lately. Overall, I ranked this web site at 23.   14
     

**      http://www.medicinenet.com/bupropion/article.htm This sites contents contained information on the drug bupropion. It also explains what the drug does in order to help out the person and it also has drug facts on it, as in where you can get it, what it is used for and how to take it. It basicly tells in a shorter version what the pharmacy gives you when they give you your medication as in how to take it and what is in it. This site scored a 26 out of 31, so I think that this site is credable. Its strong points are that it goes through everything clearly and does not confuse its readers very easly. Its weak points are that it could go in to more on what it does inside the brain and with the neurotransmitters. Liz Geoghegan  12
     

      Mark Sohn http://health.yahoo.com/centers/addiction/1437 This site contains general information about how neurotransmitters work. It goes through the process of neurotransmitters attaching to receptors and carrying the signal to the next cell. It explains the process of reuptake and how some substances (drugs) block the reuptake of neurotransmitters and some block the release of neurotransmitters. The site listed heroin, morphine, barbiturates, tranquilizers, and alcohol as depressants that slow down processes in the brain. Cocaine, amphetamines, nicotine, and marijuana were classified as stimulants that excite processes of the brain. A strong point of this website was that the information was published in Psychology Today. It also gave references and links to other information concerning the topic. A weakness of this site was that the information was originally published in 1994. The overall score of the website was a 24.   15
     

      Chris Petersen: http://www.pallidotomy.com/neurotransmitters.html This website tells what exactly a neurotransmitter is and also shows the 4 different types chemical neurotransmitters. The website also tells how a neurotransmitter works and what they do. A strength of this site is that it has many links for you to search to gain more information about this topic. The site was constructed by an MD. A weakness of this site is that it doesn't show a date on when it was created. I figured a score of a 26 for this site.    15
     

***      D. Scott Bell- http://www.cem.msu.edu/~cem181h/projects/96/lsd/drug.html This site talks about how neurotransmitters work and explains how neurons fire. Then the site goes on to talk about what affect LSD has on neurons and serotonin that is found in the spinal cord. The remaining portion of the site talks about research that is going on regarding LSD and its psychological effects regarding the brain. This site’s strong points include its unbiased information and many links, but its weakest point is that this appears to look like a submitted paper from four students and this makes it less credible. 21 points  15

     

      Molly Kappos Website: http://courses.bvu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab=courses&url=/bin/common/course.pl?course_id=_1282_1 Summary: The site I found was about how drugs affect neurotransmitters. The website talks about imitating and blocking. I thought it had a lot to do with the chapter and things in the book because it talks about how substances imitate and create more, and it talks about how substances block, and then it gives examples, but this is all stuff that we have already talked about it class. It then goes in to opiates, gives examples of what they are, and gives a detailed description of it. I thought it was a good website for examples, but not so good for in-depth description. Overall Grade of website: 17  13
     

      Alex Kutz Megan Schettler Flordeliza Johnsen Basically, this website is the description of one particular drug, its interactions with neurotransmitters, its effects on a person (both intended and side effects) and the usage instructions for the drug. It gives all the information about the drug, and how it acts with a neurotransmitter, serotonin, to affect a person’s mood. This drug interferes with the uptake of serotonin by nerve cells after it is released and results in leaving more serotonin free for uptake in the brain. Serotonin is an important neurotransmitter and when its normal use and function are disrupted, depression can result. Thus, increased levels of serotonin help counter depression. The web site itself is more of a facts page and is not cited very well. This site would be better as a place to find generic information on this product and what it is suposed to do. http://www.medicinenet.com/citalopram/article.htm 13 points    15
     

Extra Credit: White vs gray matter

  
  
     

      Gray matter refers to the neuronal cell bodies and their dendrites, the short protrusions that communicate with immediately neighboring neurons in the brain. White matter refers to the longer axons, sheathed in a white fat called myelin, that reach out from neurons to more distant regions of the brain. In women may have more of the white fat which may slow down their processes. Derek Christie, science daily   5