People serving prison sentences have much higher rates of HIV, Hepatitis C, and tuberculosis than the general population. Unfortunately, competent HIV screening and care is inconsistently available. They also have higher rates of substance abuse and mental health concerns. Once released, health care can continue to be inconsistent or inaccessible with all the life activities…
Being healthy is expensive. There are the clearly established barriers in a lack of resources (access to nutritious food, treatment and medication costs, inconsistent insurance, etc) and lack of preventative services (dental, health, etc) which can result in more costly after-the-fact treatment. These expenses resulting in poor health and lack of treatment are crucial when…
Leading Health Indicator A health objective of the Healthy People 2020 plan that is considered high priority, and in need of focused solutions to address.
We have presented some statistics on several health disparities faced by Black Americans this month. The people working to reduce these disparities are working towards health equity. Health equity, according to the American Public Health Association, is the opportunity for all people to achieve their best health. In order to do this, some factors that…
Social Determinants of Health Factors of an individual’s social and environmental interactions that have an impact on health risks and outcomes.
The CDC keeps track of many different health data sets. One of these is called potentially preventable deaths. This is something of a confusing public health term. The number of these potentially preventable deaths can be thought of as a public health goal. If all people received appropriate and timely treatment or effective public health…
Metabolic syndrome Metabolic syndrome is a group of risk factors which, when present, greatly increase an individual’s risk of developing coronary heart disease or type-2 diabetes. They are: insulin resistance (or high blood glucose levels), hypertension, abnormal blood lipids, and obesity. As with pre-cancer, the presence of these risk factors DO NOT mean you will…
Perinatal The period of time immediately before and after birth. Can describe from 5 months before birth to 4 weeks after.
Health Disparity was our Word Wednesday this week. When a group of people is more impacted by illness than another, it is called a health disparity. This can look differently depending on the specific illness. The number of people affected, the quality of life impact, and the access to treatment are all factors to consider…
Health disparity A heavier burden of illness experienced by one group, when compared to another Most often, racial and ethnic group health disparities are reported. However, there are also health disparities between income groups, gender groups, sexuality groups, and other populations of people. To learn about health disparities here in Philadelphia, join us for our…
Taking breaks is an important part of being healthy! Briefly disengaging from your work, whether it is physically strenuous, mentally intense or simply continuous, is a way to keep your brain and body active and able to perform what you need it to. From 20 seconds to 5 minutes, breaks can help reboot your brain…
Cortisol The body’s primary stress hormone Cortisol levels in the blood affect the regulation of many parts of the body, like blood pressure, sleep cycles, and blood-sugar levels. Continuous stress, and therefore chronically higher levels of cortisol, can lead to headaches, weight gain, sleep disturbances, depression and anxiety, and heart disease.
Chronic pain is usually defined as pain that lasts longer than 3 months, or that lasts past the expected time for healing. Chronic pain occurs for many reasons. Sometimes the pain is because of an underlying condition that does not heal, like arthritis pain that is caused by inflammation repeatedly. This pain serves the function…
Thoracic Between the neck and the abdomen. The thoracic cavity is where the heart and lungs are in humans and other mammals
It’s Cervical Health Awareness Month! A 2019 CDC study showed that the HPV vaccine that has become widely available is reducing cervical pre-cancer. Women who had received the HPV vaccine had the most drastic decrease in pre-cancers, but unvaccinated women showed a decline as well. Without further study, the cause of decline in unvaccinated women…
Pre-Cancer Cells are present that have grown abnormally It is important to note that pre-cancer DOES NOT mean you will develop cancer. It means a higher risk of cancer developing at some point. It is a sign that closer monitoring is needed to catch any cancer development early, or even to prevent it from developing…
Nutrition and teeth go hand in hand. We often hear about the foods to avoid for healthy teeth: sugary and sticky foods. Avoiding these foods, and practicing oral hygiene help teeth stay functional and pain-free. It is also important to keep in mind that healthy teeth are necessary for proper nutrition. Many of the nutrient…
Co-morbidity: two or more chronic conditions occurring at the same time to a single person.
December 3rd is the International Day for People with Disabilities. 61 million adults in the United States live with disabilities, which is 1 in 4 people. Adults older than 65, non-Hispanic Native Americans/Alaskan Natives, and women are more likely to have at least one disability. Americans with disabilities are more likely to smoke, have heart…
Major life activity: caring for oneself, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, learning, working, and participating in community activities. Impairment in one or more is the ADA definition for disability.
Some exciting developments in HIV prevention were presented this past July at the IAS Conference on HIV Science. Initially, prevention of HIV transmission was only safe sex practices. Then in 2012 the drugs we know as PrEP and PEP were approved to prevent the transmission of HIV. PrEP is a prevention drug that can be…
Relative Contraindication When two medicines or treatments may cause negative outcomes if used together. Caution must be used when two medicines are relatively contraindicated.
The first treatment for HIV, Azidothymidine (AZT) or the generic name zidovudine was introduced in 1987. Though initially developed as a potential cancer therapy, it was included in a screening program to identify drugs that could treat HIV. Though AZT was an exciting medical development, there were serious side effects, so further testing and trials…
HAART Highly Active Anti-Retroviral Therapy became the standard of HIV care in 1997 because it is a customized cocktail of medications that controls viral load and delays or prevents progression to AIDS.
