by Team GHEP | Jun 27, 2021 | Archive, Blog, Blog & News
In the United States and around the world, the month of April each year is celebrated as Stress Awareness Month. Interestingly, April is also well known for its spring weather. With April now behind us, I wanted to take a few minutes to reflect on stress and share some tips on how we can untangle ourselves from stress and live a stress-free life.
The stress awareness month is a month when health professionals show the statistics and percentages of people who reported stress-related mental or physical illnesses. The American Family Care notes that it is important to learn how to cope with stress and to deal with stressful situations in order to live a long and healthy life. The health professionals had joined forces every April to have the country be aware of the causes of stress and the treatments for stress.
During the past year, no thanks to COVID-19 that ravaged the world, there had been an increased percentage of depression or anxiety disorder caused by stress, which suddenly increased from 36.4% to 41.5%, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The age group that had the largest increase in stress is 18-29 years old. At the beginning of 2020, it increased to 8%. This includes those who do not have a high school diploma. Mental health treatments also increased during this time. During the past year, it has increased from 22.4% to 24.8%. Mental health needs also suddenly increased from 9.2% to 11.7%; this includes people that were in the age group from 18-59. During the past year, the percentage of mental health needs increased by 23.8% and increased by 2.8% says the CDC.
There are three types of stress, including acute stress, episodic acute stress, and chronic stress, says the Mind Body Green (MBG) Health. Acute stress is when the individual is burdened by high stress by fleeting moments such as public speaking or meeting in the boss’s office. The signs of acute stress are high heart rate, tense muscles, strong emotions, and shortness of breath. Episodic acute stress is similar to acute stress, but due to increased frequency, it takes its toll on the body. It is from intensely stressful events such as tight deadlines or moving on from one crisis to another. Chronic stress is a constant experience over a long period of time, such as finances, trauma, or racism. It is when the body is flooded with stress hormones causing sleep trouble, reduced immune function, and a negative effect on cardiovascular health, according to MBG experts.
There are many ways to help with stress, such as exercising. The Mayo Clinic asserts that exercises can lower stress hormones and release endorphins, which improve your mood and a natural pain reliever. It can also improve your sleep and boosts your self-confidence. There are many exercises that you can try out that can be a good fit for you. There is yoga, zumba, walking, cycling, or dancing, adds experts from Mayo Clinic.
Stress relief can also include spending time with friends and family, spending time with your pets, laughing, reducing your caffeine intake, deep breathing (meditation), listen to soothing music, practicing mindfulness (be optimistic), avoid procrastination, avoid watching television, write your thoughts and feelings down, and take a bubble bath, according to Mayo Clinic experts.
Every person in the world, including me, sometimes goes through a stress point in their lives. I used to be a “stress-eater” due to my anxiety and stress situations. This has led me to exercises for at least 30 minutes and meditation for 10 minutes a day. These gradually increased my positive outlook in my life and boosts my self-confidence.
My last point for you all is to try not to make stress take over your life, learn how to sit back and relax even if it’s for a couple of minutes. Life is too short to worry over something that’s not going to last forever. People should take hikes with loved ones and learn to think positively.
Written By Chelsea Whittington is a volunteer with the Global Health and Education Projects, Inc. working under the mentorship of Kanisha Blake, BS, MPH.
References
https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/stress-management/basics/stress-relief/hlv-20049495
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7013e2.htm
https://www.therecoveryvillage.com/mental-health/stress/related/stress-statistics/
https://www.verywellmind.com/what-kind-of-stress-is-good-for-you-3145055
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/16-ways-relieve-stress-anxiety
by Team GHEP | Jun 5, 2021 | Archive, Blog, Blog & News
President Joseph R. Biden commemorates 40 years of work to address HIV/AIDS.
Forty years ago today, five young men in Los Angeles, USA, were confirmed as the first known patients stricken with an illness that the world would later come to know as AIDS. In the decades since, more than 700,000 Americans and 32.7 million people worldwide have been lost to AIDS-related illnesses – a heartbreaking human toll that has disproportionately devastated LGBTQ+ communities, communities of color, and underserved and marginalized people around the world.
40 years after, the war against HIV/AIDS may be over in developed countries but not so in developing countries. GHEP is doing its part through our work advancing science and engaging researchers from across the global North and South to conduct meaningful research aimed at preventing the toll, salvaging human lives, communities and lives shattered.
Through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief – and as the largest donor to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria – the U.S. has invested more than $85 billion since 2002 to support HIV programs around the world. Read More
“I keep asking myself: What does it mean to be a “long-term survivor” of HIV? My feelings, words, and thoughts have been telling me: It’s complex. I am grateful for surviving.”
“It’s been nearly 35 years since I was diagnosed with HIV. I was infected in 1981 or 1982 before we knew anything about HIV, or how to protect ourselves. When I tested HIV positive in 1988, I was told I had less than two years to live and to “go home and start making.”
On June 5, 1981, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) described the first cases of rare pneumonia.
by Neha Ramjuttun | May 4, 2020 | Blog
As medical and public health professionals, we always try to ensure that every parent follows the routine vaccination schedule for their child as required. However, we always hear in the news of an outbreak of a preventable disease such as measles. As health professionals, we need to emphasize why it is important to vaccinate your child. Just as a refresher, here are a few tips on why your child’s vaccination is as important as it has ever been:
- Practicing good hygiene and sanitation habit and utilizing safe and clean water alone does not prevent a plethora of diseases. Vaccination plays a role in preventing diseases.
- If you do not vaccinate your child at the right time, many diseases that were once uncommon will start spreading. We start to lose the community herd immunity, and this leads to a widespread of diseases.
- The most obvious reason is to save your child’s life. Every day your child comes in contact with various diseases whether indoors or outdoors. An unvaccinated baby or child does not have matured immunity to fight a lot of diseases that they will in contact with. Immune system takes time to mature, and the vaccines helps protect the kids until their immune systems fully mature. Vaccines help to fight off the diseases and to strengthen the immune system.
- Vaccinating your child helps in protecting the health of other children and the community. So, you are actually helping the entire of your community, be it your city or in your school or circle of loved friends.
- Last but not the least, immunization saves time and money. Imagine missing out on a vaccine that leads to a disease and ultimately the treatment of the disease becomes very expensive. These costs come from our collective purse and everyone loses. Hence, prevention is better than treatment and again, vaccination is the key to prevention.
Parental Concerns
There are a number of common concerns parents have with vaccination.
- Do vaccines cause autism?
No research has proven the association to date so it does not cause autism.
- Do vaccines have side effects?
In general, vaccines can cause minor side effects such as low-grade fever and soreness at the injection site which ultimately subsides within a few days but it may vary individually according to the child.
To wrap up, it is extremely important for parents to know and stay updated with childhood vaccinations. CDC has an updated vaccination schedule for children and adolescents.
And as always remember: Vaccination = Prevention
For more information, take a look at what we are doing at the Health, Environmental Education and Awareness (HEEA) program. At the HEEA day, we educate members of our community on the relationship between the environment and public health. Experts share nuggets of life-saving health and environment information in a joyful and entertaining atmosphere. And this includes information on support for children with autism and how we can help them to live fulfilled lives within our communities. You and your family and friends can join us.
Obtaining and empowering ourselves with the latest information and research on different health conditions is important for protecting your health. I can tell you that human health is truly complex. But there is hope. There is a lot of valuable information published by health care providers, researchers and other experts from around the world. You can read these articles free and updated information on health issues affecting mothers, women, children and families and other health issues such as HIV/AIDS online at the International Journal of Maternal and Child Health and HIV/AIDS. You can also read other interesting articles on public health, medical research, and how research is changing our lives at IJTRansmed.
Useful links:
https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/schedules/index.html
https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/schedules/hcp/imz/child-adolescent.html
*Dr. Neha Ramjuttan is a Medical Doctor and public health volunteer at the Global Health and Education Projects, Washington, DC, USA, under the mentorship and supervision of Dr. Romuladus E. Azuine.
by Kanisha Blake | Apr 6, 2020 | Blog, Featured
Many people often have trouble carrying on with their day-to-day exposure to lead. Over the past years, there has been some progress on reducing exposure to lead. However, there are some people that have to deal with lead in their communities. I took it upon myself to do a little more research on lead and I came across this article from the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) that discusses the association between exposure to lead and poor health. After reading this article, I have learned a lot on how lead can impact our human health. The findings are intriguing and so I wanted to share widely.
Lead is a metal that is found deep in the ground and is found in small amounts, like silver, zinc, or copper. Lead can be identified in the soil, old homes, household dust, drinking water, pottery, airplane fuels, toys, and inexpensive metal jewelry. Lead can enter the body through inhaling or eating it. As we may all know, children are mostly to get exposed to lead because they like to put anything in their mouths. Currently, there is an approximately 4 million households that have children that are exposed to high levels of lead. There are half a million U.S. children between the ages of 1 and 5 with blood lead levels above 5 micrograms per deciliter, which is the government-prescribed minimum lead level.
Being exposed to lead can cause numerous health issues, such as nerve disorders, decreased kidney function, cardiovascular issues, and fertility issues. The magnitude of these health issues is a more reason why I think we should all try to stay clear of lead at our homes or any other building. There are medications that can help people have lead in their bodies, but are not recommended to children that have a blood lead level lower than 45 micrograms per deciliter.
Nonetheless, there are many ways that you can use to prevent your family from being exposed to lead. These include:
- Avoid storing food in imported pottery and dishware;
- Observe any recall toys and jewelry by visiting the consumer product safety commission; and
- Call the local health department about any lead that may be in the paint, dust, or drinking water that may be in your home.
Learning about lead and the impact it can have on a person’s health is important because it can create awareness of this issue and teach people on how to handle these types of situations when it occurs. This article was informative. I hope you find it informative too and may have learned one or two ways in which you can protect lead exposure and protection from its effects.
For more information, take a look at what we are doing at the Health, Environmental Education and Awareness (HEEA) program. At the HEEA day, we educate members of our community on the relationship between the environment and public health. Experts share nuggets of life-saving health and environment information in a joyful and entertaining atmosphere.
While doing the research for this article, I can tell you one thing: human health is rather truly complex. But there is hope. One way to achieve hope is to obtain and empower ourselves with the latest information and research on different health conditions is important for protecting your health. There are a lot of valuable information published by health care providers, researchers and other experts from around the world. You can read this free and updated information on health issues affecting mothers, women, children and families online at the International Journal of Maternal and Child Health and HIV/AIDS. You can also read other interesting articles on public health, medical research, and how research is changing our lives at IJTRansmed.
You can read more at www.niehs.nih.gov; here at https://globalhealthprojects.org/programs/environment/heea-program/ or at https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/lead/default.htm or https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls
*At the time of writing, Ms. Kanisha Blake, MPH (Epidemiology) was a public health intern at the Global Health and Education Projects, Washington, DC, USA, under the mentorship and supervision of Dr. Romuladus E. Azuine.
by Jesse Harris | Mar 23, 2020 | Blog
Coronavirus (COVID-19) is reaching epidemic levels across the world, with thousands of cases in the United States, China, Italy and Iran. The numbers are increasing in new countries while china reports that the virus is ebbing within its shores. There are early reports that vaccine candidates are making progress through the approval process. However, it is unlikely that a vaccine will be ready for at least a year. While we do not yet know how this disease will spread over the coming months and years, it is timely to look back at efforts to eliminate other viruses to understand what makes an immunization campaign effective. There are potential take-away from those efforts that can inform efforts to address coronavirus pandemic.
A recent article published in the International Journal of Translation Medial Research and Public Health studied polio eradication efforts in Nigeria and India. Polio is an infectious disease caused by a virus, which can cause permanent disability in those who are infected. An original polio vaccine was developed in the 1950s. While the vaccine has led to a dramatic reduction in the rates of polio over the following decades, public health officials have not been able to entirely eradicate the disease, as was the case with smallpox. Currently, there are still a handful of cases reported world-wide, concentrated in impoverished countries with limited health infrastructure.
The article focuses on comparing the eradication of Polio in India and Nigeria. Nigeria has not had any cases of wild polio since 2017, while India was declared polio-free in 2012. These two countries are useful contrasts, as India is viewed as a success story, while Nigeria experienced more challenges. The authors of the review screened over 3,000 research papers to find the articles that most directly addressed the eradication of polio in Nigeria and India. From the papers that remained, the reviewers distilled the most important themes in an attempt to address why India fared better than Nigeria.
One of the clearest findings is the importance of vaccine choice. There are several versions of the polio vaccine, though some have been found to be less effective than others. Particularly, the vaccine used in Nigeria was shown to be less effective, particularly in communities that are struggling with malnutrition or poor sanitation. In comparison, India began using a more effective vaccine earlier, leading to better rates of immunization. Nigeria eventually switched to a more effective version of the vaccine, but this lag represents lost time and resources.
While technical challenges did present a barrier for Nigeria, non-technical issues like poor health infrastructure also played a role in a less effective polio eradication effort. The government did not have the ability to plan and implement this program, leading to misused resources or shortages of vaccines. This led to public health workers having poor motivation and poor training, meaning that implementation of the anti-polio campaign was less effective.
India, on the other hand, developed a multi-layered campaign that included international aid organizations, government agencies, and local officials. Ultimately, they we are able to staff teams that would make multiple visits to communities to maximize rates of immunization.
This lack of proper institutional capacity in Nigeria was amplified by public attitude about vaccinations. The populace was suspicious of vaccines as a result of false rumors claiming that vaccines cause infertility. This is related to a general mistrust of government institutions, which is common in Nigeria according to the review. By contrast, India effectively mobilized community and religious leaders to become invested in the anti-polio campaign. This type of community buy-in is essential in countries that are ethnically and religiously mixed. While intangible factors such as “trust in government” may be difficult to address, they make a real difference in fighting disease.
Coronavirus and polio are very different diseases, but there are lessons that can be learned from the experience of public health officials in Nigeria and India combatting polio. While cutting-edge medicine is an essential component of an eradication campaign, it is tempting to view vaccines as the end of the story. Interestingly, this research shows that qualities such as institutional capacity and public perceptions play vital roles in implementing an immunization program. The article serves as an important reminder that work must be done now to prepare public health agencies and educate the public so that the when eventually a Coronavirus vaccine becomes available, that it is as effective as possible once it is ready for distribution.
You can read more about the new study here.
For more information on these and other health topics, take a look at what we are doing at the Health, Environmental Education and Awareness (HEEA) program. HEEA day is an opportunity to educate members of our community on the relationship between the environment and public health. Experts share nuggets of life-saving health and environment information in a joyful and entertaining atmosphere.
Human health is truly complex. But there is hope. Obtaining and empowering ourselves with the latest information and research on different health conditions is important for protecting your health. Health care providers, researchers and other experts from around the world publish curated and reviewed information on health issues affecting mothers, women, children and families and other health issues at the International Journal of Translational Medical Research and Public Health. On this journal’s website, you can also read updated and interesting articles on public health, medical research, and how research is changing our lives all online and at no cost to you.
*Jesse Harris, MSc, MASc (Chemistry & Chemical Engineering), a scientist, educator, and leader based in Espanola, Ontario, Canada, volunteers for the Global Health and Education Projects, Inc., Washington, DC, USA, working in collaboration with Dr. Romuladus E. Azuine
by Kanisha Blake | Mar 23, 2020 | Blog, Blog & News
For most women, performing a regular self-examination on their breast and not feeling a lump can cause a sense of relief. However, not every woman has that same reaction and experience. A few years back, a close family friend of mine was diagnosed with breast cancer. It took a toll on my family and left us truly worried. At the end of her journey, she became a breast cancer survivor and we all thank God for that. Nonetheless, throughout her journey, I wanted to do some research on breast cancer and understand the different solution that was forming to help eliminate this issue. As I dig deeper and make some important findings, I wanted to share my findings with you all. I hope that you guys can also understand the current research that is being done to stem breast cancer.
Routine breast self-examination (BSE) is necessary because it can help control the cancer from spreading by identifying it and seeking help early. Since 1994, experts say that many women have been affected by breast cancer. In fact, 1 in 8 women will have invasive breast cancer during their lifetime. There are many risk factors that can contribute to breast cancer, such as the environment and genetics.
There are studies that have shown an association between breast cancer and genetics. One study that showed the correlation is the sister study. The sister study, showed how genetics and environmental exposures of sisters who do not have the cancer compared to those that do. This study will help us understand why some people develop cancer and why others do not. As children are growing up, their breast tissue is developing and maturing, environmental exposures such as chemicals, diet, and social factors can increase the risk of developing breast cancer later on in life. Understanding how environmental and genetic factors contribute to developing breast cancer is important to identify and design programs that can treat and eliminate this cancer that had impacted people that have it and their families.
For more information on topics such as breast cancer, I invite you to take a look at what we are doing at the Health, Environmental Education and Awareness (HEEA) program. On HEEA day, we educate members of our community on the relationship between the environment and public health. Experts share nuggets of life-saving health and environment information in a joyful and entertaining atmosphere. You too and your family and friends can on us.
I can tell you that human health is truly complex. But there is hope. Obtaining and empowering ourselves with the latest information and research on different health conditions is important for protecting your health. There are a lot of valuable information published by health care providers, researchers and other experts from around the world. You can read these articles for free and get updated information on health issues affecting mothers, women, children and families and other health issues online at the International Journal of Maternal and Child Health and HIV/AIDS. You can also read other interesting articles on public health, medical research, and how research is changing our lives at IJTRansmed.
You can also read more at
www.niehs.nih.gov;
www.globalhealthprojects.org/programs/environment/heea-program/; and
www.sisterstudy.niehs.nih.gov/English/about.htm
*At the time of writing, Ms. Kanisha Blake, MPH (Epidemiology) was a public health intern at the Global Health and Education Projects, Washington, DC, USA, under the mentorship and supervision of Dr. Romuladus E. Azuine.
