Advancements in medicine and an increase in capitalism in the world as well as other factors all contributed to the development of the field of sports nutrition.As scientists learned more and more about our bodies and the optimum level of strength and physical fitness they can harbor, businessmen jumped the gun and manufactured products and services that actually help athletes meet these optimum levels. The media joined in the ruckus and published materials leading to the promotion of both the scientific and the commercial side of the field.Sports nutrition has been changing through the years around the world. It’s not just that the topics are different – the emphasis and approach have also changed.Peak Performance, a sports magazine carried an article on dehydration in runners on October 1990, its maiden issue. This article compared the benefits of plain water with those of dilute glucose solutions, which are more isotonic and therefore absorbed more rapidly.Today, go into almost any supermarket, convenience stores and even school cafeterias and you’ll find a ready supply of sports drinks aimed at maintaining hydration just like glucose solutions.The difference is that by using soluble long-chain glucose polymers instead of simple glucose, it’s now possible to create an isotonic drink that hydrates and also supplies significant amounts of carbohydrate to working muscles. And, the good thing is, sports drinks also taste better.More than 10 years ago, it was made public that muscle damage brought about by free-radicals may be reduced by having supplements of antioxidant vitamins A; C and E. Years after, antioxidant supplementation became a norm in the world of sports nutrition.Now, researchers are also beginning to understand that muscle damage is a more complex subject. It is difficult to assess free radical damage in athletes and it has been found out those large amounts of antioxidant nutrients may actually cause cellular damage and impair performance.The carb loading technique has been widely used over the years by athletes all over the world. A carbohydrate-rich diet is important in maintaining muscle glycogen stores thus ensuring high endurance levels.However, in the 1990′s it became clear that the glycemic index and release rate of different carbohydrates had important influence on when they should best be consumed in relation to physical activity.The relationship of carbohydrates and proteins were also discovered namely that carbohydrates promote protein-sparing in the body. It was also discovered recently that consuming carbohydrates before and during prolonged bouts of strenuous exercise can help protect the immune system.One of the most exciting recent developments in sports nutrition has been the rise of creatine supplementation. The use of creatine is now very common. Creatine renews the muscles essential energy source, ATP or adenosine triphosphate. Increased levels in muscles optimizes energy turnover meaning you’ll more energy for high power exercise and faster recovery during and after workouts. Creatine also increases the athlete’s maximum effort, delays fatigue and therefore prolongs endurance.New wisdom and therefore new products have definitely enabled athletes to fuel themselves better, work harder, train longer and recover more rapidly. However, as in any kind of innovation there will always be downsides.Nutritional supplements available to most athletes in the 80′s were very straightforward. Some athletes took drugs but the boundaries between nutritional supplements and drugs clear. Today, the race to find new formulas to boost performance has resulted to the availability of sports nutrition supplements which do not really occur naturally. The result is that the distinction between a nutrient and a performance-enhancing substance has become increasingly blurred.Some of these supplements contain ingredients that can cause athletes to violate the rules and regulations governing their sport because of unintentional contamination by other, ‘exotic’, substances present in the supplement manufacturing environment.More developments will be created in the world of sports nutrition and these will definitely spawn ethical questions. “Nutrigenomics”-the relationship between genetics and nutrition-will be more researched upon.As scientists become more skilled at discovering the processes of our genes, it will be possible that rather than adopting a general approach for sports nutrition, athletes around the world will be genetically tested to help them determine precise individual requirements for optimum health.The next years will predictably be more exciting for the world of sports nutrition.
What Are the Key Contributors of the Growing Demand For Pharmacy Technicians?
There are quite a number of positive developments which affect the increase of pharmacist Technicians in the past decades, some of them are:1. The gain of national certification on pharmacy Technician career and job has opened up a lot of opportunities for those who have the interest to become assistant to a pharmacist.2. The development of model curriculums for Pharmacy Technician training and a higher and greater level of recognition of pharmacy technicians in the State and Nation wide on pharmacy practice Acts have encouraged many potentials to seek for new employment opportunities as well as to seek for pharmacy technician’s courses in colleges or online.3. The roles and responsibilities of Pharmacy technicians have been more clearly defined in hospital, community centre, clinics and wherever the skill sets of pharmacy technicians are needed.
4. Increasingly, hospital pharmacies are encouraged to develop pharmacy technician programs and the increase changes being called out to ensure the roles of these technicians was appropriately articulated in state laws and regulations.5. The responsibilities of this professions have increased over the years from initially they are responsible for most of the clerical work only in the pharmacy ( similar to a clerk) … until they start to play the governance role for the state pharmacy association as well as the state board of pharmacy.6. The enablement of pharmacy asistants across multiple settings today, including community pharmacy, hospitals and health systems, long term care facilities, clinic pharmacies, health insurance companies, pharmaceutical whole-salers etc signify that this is a profession which is largely needed in a good wide spread of industry.7. In the recent years, pharmacists have become more receptive to pharmacy technicians compared to 15 years back where the latter is given the task of dispensing medicine only. However much has changed over the last few years in the potential increased in job scopes of pharmacy technicians.8. The enhancement in medical field has enabled new medications, antidotes to be invented across the world by the medical experts. This has significantly reduced non fatal deaths, reduce or eliminate significant pain of patients with this invention. With the prolonged age of the population in the society today, the demand for pharmacy technicians have significantly being increased as well.9. On the other hand, with the increase invention of of new medications invested and become available today, the pharmacists are faced with a greater number of prescriptions to dispense. This has directly reduced the bandwidth of the pharmacists, leaving them with lesser time for counseling patients. At the same time, their working conditions and schedules have deteriorated with an increase in job stress. This is where the importance of the pharmacy technicians comes into picture and they presence has helped to take over the tasks of dispensing the prescriptions to the patients.Pharmacy assistants as such has gained it popularity increasing nowadays and it is by no mistake on the increased demand of pharmacy technicians in many health sectors in the society today.
Mathematics at University
High school mathematics classes are very different than those at university. Yes, mathematics classes at university are more difficult, but it is more than just that. When you learn mathematics at high school, all of the classes are about solving problems. The students are presented with the theory, the teacher demonstrates how to solve the problem using the theory and then the students try it for themselves.
What happens at university? Firstly, the classes are now lectures and so mathematics is now presented to the student rather than co-created with the student. Some problems are demonstrated, but often the lecture is mostly theory. The drawback is that the student must choose to put in the time in doing the problems outside of the class.
Some universities provide one hour of tutorial time per week or per two weeks. In these tutorials, often a postgraduate at the university will help the students in solving problems from a problem set. While this is welcomed, often the postgraduate is not as approachable as a high school teacher. The same can be said about the lecturer. Yes, you will find some lecturers who are only too happy to offer one-to-one time helping the students but this is not the norm. Most lecturers have their time taken up by research and they view classes as a secondary role of their job. This, of course, is not true for all third level institutes.
In addition to this, the mathematics courses themselves vary. For example, a student taking a course in statistics would be solving many more problems than a student taking pure algebra. Most questions in pure algebra are not “problem based” but rather “proof based”. That is, in statistical classes the student will need to solve a problem and in pure mathematical classes students would mostly be proving a result. The former is more reminiscent of high school mathematics classes.
My advice for students entering a mathematics course at a university would be to stay on top of the questions or problems the lecturer assigns. You will not have the same time in class you would have had at high school for solving problems. Mathematics is not a spectator sport; you must work at it. Mathematics is presented to students as something to “watch” but it is something to work at. And of course, if you find yourself having trouble in your course, then seek help straight away!