The Likely Expansion of AIDS in India

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/25/world/asia/indian-prostitutes-new-autonomy-imperils-aids-fight.html?ref=health

In this article from the New York Times, India is about to have a large increase in the number of people that are afflicted with HIV/AIDS. Over the years, India has made excellent progress with their anti-AIDS efforts, mostly by shutting down brothels that could potentially infect people in the future. However, prostitutes in India are finding new ways to find money with the help of cheap cell phones. Cell phones allow them to keep in contact with customers from many different areas, as opposed to having the same customers come to the same brothel each time. This is dangerous because it increases the chances that people contract HIV/AIDS.

In addition, the Gates Foundation is about to cut funding to this program. It is critical to maintain this assistance because it is so important to the nation's growth and development. This is the wrong time to drop funding with this issue because there is an impending outbreak that can ruin many people's lives. A potential outbreak of this magnitude could catch us off guard and it could end up costing more resources to maintain properly.

Pregnancy Test Identifies Testicular Cancer

http://blogs.webmd.com/breaking-news/2012/11/pregnancy-test-reveals-testicular-cancer.html

In this article posted on WebMD, a regular pregnancy test can be used to test for testicular cancer. Both tests share a protein that triggers the test kit to indicate a positive result. That protein is hCG.

This was discovered by a user on the website Reddit. A man used his wife's pregnancy test kit as a joke, but it ended up being positive. After Reddit users indicated that hCG could possibly lead to testicular cancer, he checked for it and learned that he in fact tested positive for testicular cancer as the pregnancy test had indicated.

This is very beneficial because it is a cheap and easy way of finding cancer in men. These are tests that we should continue to improve upon in the future: cheap and easy to use.

SARS Strikes Again

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2012/11/05/saudi-arabia-virus/1683151/

In Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, a Coronavirus has been discovered in three patients in recent weeks which has been linked to the SARS virus (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome). Patients afflicted with SARS initially appear to have a cold, but later on the disease develops similarly to influenza.

This is a major issue because this virus has not made an appearance since 2003 when it nearly grew into a global pandemic. During that time, it infected roughly 800 people in 37 different countries and had an average mortality rate of 10.9%. Extreme measures had to be taken quickly in order to ensure that the disease would not spread to more patients. Patients were isolated in "bubble rooms" designed to contain the virus. Medicine/other treatment would be administered through the safety barrier so that they might better protect other people from getting SARS.

Had we not implemented our current health policies, we could be living in a very different situation. Many lives would be lost. The reemergence of SARS should not last very long if we act quickly. A quick response would save many people's lives.

DNA Sequencing

http://healthland.time.com/2012/10/26/why-cheaper-genetic-testing-could-cost-us-a-fortune/

Modern medicine has allowed us to cure many people of a variety of diseases and illnesses. However, there is still a lot that we do not understand and have not been able to treat properly. Some of these health issues are genetic, and significant progress is being made in these areas by promoting the development of sequencing a patient's DNA. 

The first human genome sequencing cost roughly $3 billion and took 10 years to complete. Today, it can cost less than $10,000 and results can come up within 1 day. Efficiency continues to improve each day due to the potential breakthroughs that may be achieved in modern medicine. Sequencing a person's DNA could allow health professionals to get a better grasp of how certain genetic conditions occur and how they can prepare in advance to save a patient's life in the future by predicting dangerous health conditions in the future.

Despite the low cost and increasing popularity of DNA sequencing, many scientists are skeptical as to whether or not this will actually drive down medical costs in general. If an individual finds out that they have a high-risk condition, they are likely to spend whatever money they have on the expensive medicine that is required to keep them alive longer.

Do you think that it is worth knowing your DNA sequence so that you can properly take care of yourself, or should you not know it so as to not spend too much money on potentially lifesaving medication?

A Closer Look at Autism

http://www.clinicalepigeneticsjournal.com/content/4/1/6

Despite the overall decrease of special education services to students between between 6 and 21 year olds by 5% from 2005 to 2010, assistance for individuals diagnosed with autism has increased by 91%.This article by the Clinical Epigenetics Journal takes a comprehensive look at the increasing rate of autism and what may be causing it. 

In the past, certain studies have indicated the possibility that a cause of autism in children comes from the presence of mercury, which can be found in fish, coal-fired power plants, thimerosal in vaccines, or dental amalgam.

Despite the apparent connection, it is not absolutely clear that these actually result in the recent increase of autism. However, this particular article notes that the spike in autism is related to the increase of high fructose corn syrup. The study highlights the increased consumption of HFCS, in sugars and sweeteners, found in the food and drinks that we consume each day. HFCS has been known to be associated with mercury. Since HFCS has a greater prevalence than ever before, this is exposing more people to mercury. Although there may not be immediate effects when it is consumed by an individual, it can affect the prevalence of autism in future generations.

This study has shed some light on the current Hg-Autism crisis that we have had difficulty identifying for a long time. Investigating further will allow us to find how we can change our efforts and reduce the prevalence of autism so that people can live healthy, and safe lives in the future.

UnitedHealth to Expand Globally

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444897304578044390351511894.html

In this new development, UnitedHealth Inc. is buying ninety percent of Brazil-based Amil for $4.3 billion. This is a major advancement in the international future of health care. "The UnitedHealth deal is just the latest sign of the globalization of the U.S. health-care sector. It's a demand for U.S. expertise on both the health-care provider and the health-plan side." 

The deal was put into action because investors feel that there is a great opportunity for financial growth and medical dependability for families in Brazil. The middle class will benefit from the option of having another insurance provider and the deal will also allow better health care and technology to be provided.

After Amil acquires the proposed $4.3 billion from the deal, the CEO of Amil, Edson Bueno said that it would stay in Brazil. "The money will stay here [in Brazil], we will invest here and generate jobs here." This is great for the nation because it allows for further growth and development of the nation and it will help many people living in Brazil by providing jobs and boosting the economy.

Solving of Shortages of Health Care Workers Overseas

http://healthland.time.com/2012/09/27/a-peace-corps-for-doctors-solving-shortages-of-medical-workers-abroad/

In this article posted by Time, a new effort is being made to get more medical workers to help developing countries and in the United States. The program, called the Global Health Service Partnership in conjunction with the Peace Corps, is being led by Vanessa Kerry, daughter of U.S. Senator John Kerry. One of the main draws about the program is that for each year an individual participates in the program $30,000 will be given to pay for outstanding college tuition loans. Kerry says, "There’s evidence people come back with better clinical skills, better appreciation of needs, more likely to work in underserved specialties." She also noted that the program is very efficient at sending workers and aid in the past 50 years in a "sensitive, integrated way" by becoming more efficient with workers, food, medicine, and other resources that people may need.

One of the important things about this program is that it specifically sends doctors and nurses overseas. The Peace Corps does not do this. This seems like a very good way to help underdeveloped areas of the world by getting better medical assistance than they currently have; students that just graduated from medical school also get valuable experience dealing with people from foreign countries while simultaneously paying off their college loans. This program could lead to better practice here in the United States as well.

A Doctor’s Dilemma: When Crucial New-Drug Data Is Hidden

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/sep/21/drugs-industry-scandal-ben-goldacre

This recent article from the guardian uncovers the truth behind the trials for drug testing, and new evidence supports the idea that many drugs that are released to the general public in the United Kingdom do not actually do what they are meant to do. Researchers and scientists support the supposed success of their drugs by providing false information. Their false claims are then interpreted to be true and then the medicine is produced in mass quantities for people to use. 

The first of these drugs that was busted was reboxetine, an antidepressant drug. A trial was done with 254 patients, comparing the effectiveness of reboxetine with a placebo. There was virtually no difference between them, except for one random success story (which was later used as evidence by scientists to be effective and allowed them to release it to the market). After that, reboxetine was compared to other antidepressant drugs on the market. This time, 507 patients were tested in three trials. The results of those studies found that those similar dugs were just as ineffective as reboxetine. 

This is a major issue because the patients taking the medication and the doctors relying on the statistics are actually getting poor information. The information that we absolutely rely on to be true on a day to day basis is provided by health care regulators, but if these drugs aren't doing what they were allegedly supposed do then how can we rely on the effectiveness of other drugs that we use?

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs101/en/index.html This article listed on the website of the World Health Organization has highlighted the decline of leprosy. Medications to counter the disease have been implemented since the 1940s, but the disease has slowly become more resistant to certain types of drugs. Today, we have a strong multi-drug therapy that can successfully counteracted the progression of leprosy. Initially, leprosy had been affecting millions of people around the world. Advances in science have allowed us to expand our research and capabilities to fighting diseases, and studies show that progress is being made. Over 14 million people have been cured of leprosy in the last 20 years, but this is due largely in part of the organization of the World Health Assembly (by setting the goal of eliminating leprosy) and the World Health Organization (by providing the proper MDT treatment to everyone for free). This is just one example of how advancements in the health world can be beneficial in keeping the world's population healthy. I think that it is great that long-standing illnesses like leprosy are being managed and eradicated on a global scale. This is certainly evidence that our work is coming through and, if our current efforts progress, we can see more helpful changes in international health policy.

SOC 162 Journal entry for September 11, 2012 http://healthland.time.com/2012/09/10/private-school-parents-are-more-likely-to-opt-out-of-vaccines/?iid=hl-main-lede In this article from the Associated Press, there has been a large increase in the number of parents that have decided to opt out of having their children receive their vaccinations. Parents cited several reasons including “religious values, concerns the shots themselves could cause illness and a belief that allowing children to get sick helps them to build a stronger immune system.” Public health officials are worried by these beliefs because it not only puts the individual at risk, but it also puts the entire community at risk for allowing an outbreak or epidemic to occur. Their studies indicate that receiving the proper inoculations at the right times will allow the community to live a healthy life. To counter act this, some representatives are pushing for the approval of forcing parents to sit with a health official so that they may be properly informed on the type of vaccine that they are receiving and the good that it will do to keep people healthy. Despite these facts, many families have been unable to be dissuaded. In some cases, they took their healthy child to receive his or her required shots, but they developed certain illnesses days after their medical appointment. Parents think that the vaccine that was administered to their child caused them to grow extremely ill. Many parents attribute their children’s autism to vaccines.