Research going back to the 1990's has determined that adolescents later sleep and wake habits is biologically determined. A recent poll by the National Sleep Foundation found that 60% of adolescents are sleep deprived. Typical high school start times conflicts with the natural cycles of adolescent sleep. Studies show that adjusting high school start times to 8:30 or later has positive changes such as...

Serotonin Production: Researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel have succeeded in identifying traces of a microRNA molecule (miR135) that acts on serotonin producing nerve cells. This finding is important as they were able to manipulate serotonin levels in mice by altering levels of the molecule. When this idea was tested on humans, subjects known to suffer from depression had unusually low miR135 levels. The researchers are confident this will lead to the development of a blood test for depression.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/278565.php

    According to Lisa Firestone, Ph.D., our relationship and attachment style is heavily influenced by our childhood family environment. She addresses three attachment styles and how the effect our adult relationships. Those styles are: secure, preoccupied and dismissing.

The College Board's Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) is about to undergo a significant revision which will be introduced in 2016.The most significant of these changes are:
 - a perfect score moved from 2400 back to 1600 (as it was before 2005 when it was changed to 2400).
 - test takers will no longer be penalized for incorrect answers.
 - the test will include three sections: evidenced based reading, writing and math.
 - the essay is now optional.

Below is a short video on how social networking may be contributing to loneliness and deterioration of intimacy.

Florida is only one of two states that do not allow Nurse Practitioners to prescribe controlled substances which include psychotropic drugs and painkillers. For years, bills have been introduced (unsuccessfully) to expand their role in health care and current legislation seeks to give them the authority to Baker Act.

In the U.S., there are:
 - Roughly 1.1 million people over the age of 13 living with HIV. 
 -190,000 (about 16%) are unaware of their infection.
 - Rates of new infections has remained stable for the past decade at about 50K cases per year.
 - With early detection and the beginning of ART (antiretroviral therapy), life expectancy is now comparable to those living without HIV.
 - Male to male sex accounts for 78% of new infections.
 - I.V. drug users account for 8% of new HIV infections.

For the full article, please visit:
 - www.cdc.gov -

Some highlights of the report include:
 
 - Alcohol use among 8th, 10th and 12th graders is at an all time low.
 - Marijuana use has increased among 8th and 10th graders and held steady among 12th             graders at an all time high.
 - Cigarette use continues to decline in all age groups and more young people smoke pot               than tobacco.
 - Among 12th graders, 46% report lifetime use, 36% report past year use, 23% report past         month use and 7% report daily use.
 - There is a general decline in use across drug type categories and age groups save for                 marijuana.
 - The perceived risk of marijuana use among our youth continues to decline.

For all of the report data, please visit:
 - www.drugabuse.org -

Researchers the the University of Pittsburgh have learned that drug cravings can be stopped at the synaptic level. More specifically, a chemical receptor known as CP-AMPAR has been shown to be essential in the maturation process of synapses which send drug cravings (cocaine in this study) in the brain. The researchers have shown that cravings can be eliminated or greatly reduced by the removal of this chemical which stops the growth of these synapses thus rendering them 'silent'.