“I will say that I have done many things I am proud of as a doctor, but one of the things that I am proudest of is just happening to be a person carrying Narcan when another person is literally dying on the sidewalk. I was able to give them Narcan, they survived it, and came back to life. It was not because I was a doctor, but because I was carrying Narcan.” Dr Joe Wright, Boston Healthcare for the […]
Dr. Ritu Raman is passionate about promoting the diversification of STEM fields. As an immigrant from India who earned her citizenship half a decade ago, Dr. Raman embodies the essence of what it means to truly embrace the power of possibility. Her story is textbook immigrant success: “You come to the United States and dream of anything you want.” For Dr. Raman, this included writing children’s novels, becoming the captain of the Indian national cricket team, and joining the priesthood. […]
Autism Spectrum Disorder is for the first time more frequently diagnosed in Black and Hispanic children than in White children in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But the numbers may reveal better screening of those populations — and not necessarily a higher risk for the disorder, which can affect communication abilities, social skills and other areas of development. In the CDC’s report Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, which studied 11 states across the U.S., […]
Tuberculosis (TB) has been responsible for killing more people than any other infectious disease throughout history. In the early 20th century and before the discovery of antibiotics, TB was essentially a death sentence with incredibly high mortality rates. Patients were quarantined in sanatoriums, where they were given fresh air, sunshine, and rest, but few survived. In 2021, 151 cases of TB were reported to, and verified by, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, and in 2022, 153 cases were confirmed. […]
According to the CDC on March 1, 2023, H5N1 Bird Flu has been detected across the United States: 6,284 wild birds detected, 50 States affected and 968 counties affected. Epidemics can happen anywhere. From the Americas to Africa to Asia, every continent – even Antarctica – has featured an outbreak of infectious disease at some point in history. A more connected world makes it easier for these epidemics to become pandemics, as we have witnessed over the past century. No doubt the […]
Take a look at a timeline graph of polio or measles cases over the past 100 years and you’ll notice a striking trend – right around the mid-20th century, the zig-zagging peaks representing the number of infected persons suddenly crash to zero, and the line from there on out is nearly flat. These moments on the graphs correlate with the introduction of vaccines targeting those particular diseases. Vaccines are up there with the automobile and the computer on lists of […]
You may still remember the omicron surge last winter. As the temperature drops, experts warn us of another winter wave of COVID. While COVID-19 cases and deaths in the U.S. have stayed relatively low since September, with about 37,000 new cases per day, it is hard to forget that more than 1 million Americans have died since the beginning of the pandemic. COVID-19 is still very present. The omicron subvariants have waned away, but the subvariant BA.5, dominant through October, […]
With the coming of winter, the joys of holidays and travel to family and friends are happily anticipated. However, if you will be spending time at crowded events, it is important to be aware of the impact of COVID-19 and other viruses during these months. We can still recall how we spent the past three years: masks, social distancing, and even the shutting down of public spaces. Many of us are still trying to overcome the stress and loss brought […]
You’ve probably had respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) at some point in your life. Just a few years ago, RSV was nothing much to worry about: a common virus that nearly all children are exposed to before the age of two, RSV presents as a mild cold in healthy people. Over the past few months, however, RSV has surged, and pediatric care units are at or over capacity in the United States. Cases in both children and adults are nearly three […]
This is the third is a series of articles on cardiovascular health and risk factors for heart disease. We need to drop a few pounds. Most of us, after all, are now overweight or obese. Nearly 74% of adults in the United States have BMIs above the healthy weight range. 42% are considered obese. America is one of the fattest nations on the planet, and data from the CDC suggest the numbers will only continue to grow in the near […]
