HIV: Risk and Probablility

New information from the CDC says ‘blacks’ and ‘gays’ are more likely to be newly infected with HIV. At least this is how it is worded by a CNN article. However, HIV is mostly a lifestyle infection, and so they are only more likely to partake in a risky lifestyle than to actually be infected. A young ‘black,’ ‘gay’ male who does not partake in risky behavior would have the same chances of being infected as any ‘straight,’ ‘white’ male. They are trying to attribute HIV to a group of people rather than to a lifestyle of which those people do not have to be involved. This is futher evidenced by claims such as “AIDS in America continues to be a black disease.” Doing so is a hindrance to society, and to the ‘black’ and ‘gay’ community. If HIV is attributed to lifestyle, maybe they would come to see the unnecessary risks rather than accept the risks. If HIV were to be attributed to lifestyle maybe society as a whole would come to better accept the ‘gay’ community and the ‘black’ community (Citation: CNN).

Smoking

To stop smoking is the single most important thing a smoker can do to improve their health. To never smoke is one of the most important things a non-smoker can do to maintain their health. Yet, over 45 million people in the U.S. alone still smoke. People use excuses like stress and coolness to justify their choice to start or continue smoking. But there is no reason that justify destroying your own lungs, and many people will suffer in the future because of their decision to smoke. Even those who say they only smoke a little, or only socially, are putting themselves at risk.

AIDS Battle

The United Nations has reported that the number of people killed by AIDS has gone down for the second striaght year. This is, itself, incorrect since AIDS is an “immune deficiency” and other health issues actually cause death. Nonetheless, it shows that the lives of people living with AIDS has been extended, or rather their deaths have been postponed. While this is happening, the total number of infections is still rising. It is good that we are improving medications and treatments, but we are losing the battle that is most important; prevention (citation: reuters). Even in the United States, there are some areas that have been reported to be as bad as some places in Africa. With all the money going towards the AIDS fight, it seems our approach is not working.

Exercise & Alzheimers’s Disease

The benefits of exercise are innumerable. Reseachers have discovered that, in patients with early Alzheimer’s disease, exercise helped minimize the progression of the disease. I was not surprised by the findings since exercise seems to keep the mind clear and sharp, but for physically fit Alzheimer’s patients to actually have less brain shrinkage is interesting. It appears that the increased flow of blood to the brain during exercise allows for a healthier brain by delivering more oxygen & nutrients. The connection between exercise and the function of the brain may also point to a future increase of dementia that corresponds with an increase in obesity (citation: WebMD, BBC)

Seizures

What I Learned From My First Reading Session about Seizures

• More than 2 million people in the U.S. have had seizures and/or been diagnosed with epilepsy
• The term seizure is a symptom
• If a seizure is not epileptic, or if a diagnosis is uncertain, it should be described as paroxysmal
• There are about 32 types of seizures
• aprox. 50% of seizures never have an identified cause; the other 50% are usually due to underlying diseases or injury of the brain
• Seizures limited to one portion of the brain are called partial seizures
• Most seizures last from 30 seconds to 2 minutes

For a fairly common ‘symptom’ very little is known about seizures. Understanding seizures better could improve the lifestyle of thousands of people. Equally important, it could decrease the amount of fear in people who suffer a seizure and are unsure of why it happened, if it will happen again, or when it could happen. Tests to search for underlying causes can also be quite time consuming and expensive, often including an EEG, CT scan, and an MRI. Each test can be very important in indentifying problems, but the quality of the tests do not seem to meet the needs of epilepsy/seizure patients since only 50% of the time a cause is identified.