Tanja Reutelingsperger This time of year, the temperature drops below zero and together with the bleak wind this results in a freezing cold winter. However, these temperatures are nothing compared to the temperatures people are voluntarily exposing themselves to in whole body cryotherapy (WBC). They even pay big bucks for three minutes in -110 degrees of Celsius in wellness centers. Is this something we should all try or should we leave these crazy colds up to Wim Hof, the … [Read more...]

Jamie Hulzebos I was browsing the website of the BMJ Christmas editions, and my attention was caught by an article about ‘The science behind man flu’ written by Kyle Sue [1]. Recently, this article was in the Dutch papers NRC and Volkskrant and called unscientific [2, 3]. However, I was curious about the concept of the “man flu” and did some research. I think every woman in a relationship with a man can relate to the concept of the “man flu”. The Oxford dictionary defines it as: “A … [Read more...]

By Mylène Gorissen When being tense about a presentation or the coming Christmas holidays, many children experience abdominal pain as an expression of stress. Once the presentation is over or the gifts have finally been received, this belly pain has vanished. In some of these children however, the abdominal pains take the form of functional abdominal pain (FAP) or irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Unfortunately, these types of pain can not be treated by opening a present. Abdominal pain is … [Read more...]

By Nena Rokx Last summer I visited Bangkok, where I noticed many people wear mouth caps. I wondered why and downloaded the application AirVisual to check the United-States Air Quality Index (AQI). The AQI value was 137 at that moment and marked as orange and unhealthy for sensitive groups. This value was more than twice as high as the highest value in the Netherlands, which was 63 in Amsterdam. This value was marked as yellow and moderate. In some other cities around the world, the AQI value … [Read more...]

By Lia Goltstein   When you ask a group of students how they feel about group assignments, most will state that they are not too fond of them. They will remember that most of the work was placed on their shoulders. Looking back at my own experiences with group projects, I can confirm this statement. However, it cannot be true that the majority of students feel this way. Do some students lie about putting a lot of time and effort into a group project or do they simply remember the … [Read more...]

By Maaike Plug When you think of summer, the following thoughts will probably cross your mind: swimming, sunbathing, eating ice cream, drinking cocktails until late in the evening and chilling with friends in the park. There is, however, a silent killer that could cause a horrible disease with several symptoms. I am talking about Lyme disease, caused by a tick. Well, it is actually not the tick that causes Lyme disease, but the bacteria Borrelia Burgdorferi. This bacteria can occur in the … [Read more...]