04-20-2017 – It takes remarkable drive and ambition for a young boy from the small east Nepalese village of Olangchungola with no running water or electricity to become one of the leading eye surgeons in Asia. Especially considering this village is a long four day walk away from the nearest school. But after losing his 17 year old sister to the tuberculosis, Ruit decided to focus on medicine to so other peoples lives are not destroyed by easily preventable and…

A 27 year old Florida mother has returned home to her 2 year old daughter and Air Force husband with so much hope after being told less than three months ago that she had about a year to live due to an inoperable brain tumor. Stephanie, whose last name has not been disclosed, started blogging about her medical battle shortly after receiving a stage 4 gliobastoma diagnosis.

The Swedish word uppgivenhetssyndrom sounds like what it is a syndrome in which kids have given up on life. That is what several hundred children and adolescents have done, literally checked out of the world for months or years. They go to bed and don not get up. They are unable to move, eat, drink, speak or respond. All of the victims of the disorder, sometimes called resignation syndrome, have been youngsters seeking asylum after a traumatic migration, mostly from…

The pharmaceutical company Mylan NV announced a recall of some brand name EpiPen and EpiPen Jr. auto injectors on Friday. The announcement followed a separate recall of about 80,000 EpiPens from the Australian market, which the company announced in March. Mylan did not immediately respond to a request for information about how many EpiPens are affected by the latest recall. Select the link below to read more. Website: www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2017/04/03/522450779/recall-of-some-epipens-extends-to-u-s

The world is doing a much better job of keeping babies alive long enough to become children, children alive long enough to become teens and teens alive long enough to fully grow up, according to a report in today JAMA Pediatrics. I think that the overall highlight of the report is good news, says Dr. Nicholas J. Kassebaum, an author of the report by members of the Global Burden of Disease Child and Adolescent Health Collaboration. Without exception child mortality…

02-15-2017 – Repeated headers during a footballers professional career may be linked to long term brain damage, according to tentative evidence from UK scientists. The research follows anecdotal reports that players who head balls may be more prone to developing dementia later in life. The Football Association says it will look at this area more closely. Select the link below to read more. Website: www.bbc.com/news/health-38971750

In the Florida Keys on Election Day, along with the presidential race, one of the most controversial items on the ballot dealt with Zika. In a nonbinding vote countywide, residents in the Florida Keys approved a measure allowing a British company to begin a trial release of genetically modified mosquitoes. Armed with that approval, local officials voted Saturday to try out what they hope will be a new tool in the fight against Zika. Select the link below to read…

Ebola experts are in Sierra Leone’s Kambia district investigating a case that emerged less than a week after the country’s last known patient was discharged from a hospital, a World Health Organization spokeswoman said Monday. Once the source of transmission is found and contacts are traced, a vaccination trial will also begin in the northern Sierra Leone area, WHO spokeswoman Dr. Margaret Harris said. “It’s a step back and a disappointment, but it wasn’t a surprise as it’s near the…

Katherine Sanchez, , Ph.D., L.C.S.W., Rick Ybarra, , M.A., Teresa Chapa, , Ph.D., M.P.A., Octavio N. Martinez, , M.D., M.P.H. Integrated care holds promise for reducing mental health disparities for racial and ethnic minority groups, but studies are lacking. The authors consider critical components of effective integrated models for minority populations, including cultural and linguistic competence and a diverse workforce, and describe emerging best practices. To successfully implement integrated models into practice with minority populations will require guidance from communities,…

Health officials admit they are worried by the timing, as the kingdom prepares to welcome around two million Muslims for the Hajj next month. Mers infections have been recorded in countries across the Middle East, Europe and Asia. The virus first emerged in Saudi Arabia in 2012. The World Health Organization (WHO) says many of the recent cases are associated with an outbreak at a hospital in Riyadh. Mers is caused by a coronavirus, a type of virus which includes…