Word: stressful
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...effects reported: the placebo and nocebo responses were just as robust before 1997 as after. That leaves scientists still looking for an answer. The Wired story suggested that the act of merely doing something good for yourself may stimulate the body's "endogenous health-care system," perhaps by inhibiting stress hormones. But that wouldn't explain why the same act might lead to phantom nocebo aches and pains...
...stress theory is still just a theory. There is only epidemiological evidence to support it; a clinical trial measuring the effects of flu-induced maternal stress would, of course, be unethical. And the link could involve any number of unknown variables: in the new study co-authored by Finch, it's not even clear which of the survey respondents' mothers actually caught the flu, because that information was not available...
Researchers' best guess is that a flu infection causes stress in the mother, which might in turn affect fetal development. During pregnancy, a woman's heart and lungs are working substantially harder than usual, and her immune system is compromised, so a few infections (like influenza) may potentially become more intense. Although most pregnant women who get the flu survive with no serious problems, they are still more likely than other healthy adults to also develop respiratory failure and secondary bacterial infections like pneumonia - potentially fatal conditions that may require hospitalization and mechanical ventilation. "It is these severe cases that...
...Part of the thinking was wanting to change the dynamic a little bit,” said MIT Dean of Admissions Stu Schmill. “The 500-word essay has become the piece that students stress about and overwrite. We’ve had shorter essays along with the long essay and we feel that we’ve gotten better information off of the shorter answers...
...think students don’t stress as much about short answer questions—they don’t worry about making it as literary. Shorter answers are more about content than style...