Chronic hypertension is a common illness in the general population. However, hypertension is frequently never be diagnosed because those who have it usually have no symptoms. It is also undertreated because hypertensive people may not understand its importance, do not have the funds to purchase the medication, do not remember to take their medication or […]
As a student, my professors emphasized the importance of routinely ascultating a patient’s carotid arteries with my stethoscope for detection of bruits that could indicate life-threatening stenosis. Research on the reliability of this exam demonstrates it to be only moderate. If there’s any question a carotid artery stenosis exists, the physician requests an ultrasound exam
Onchocerciasis, also known as river blindness, is caused by Onchocerca volvulus, a tissue nematode transmitted to humans by the bite of black fly inhabiting the banks of fast-moving streams in equatorial Africa. This nematode produces microfilariae that cause inflammatory damage to the cornea and optic nerve. Some 270,000 people are living with blindness caused
Polio first appears in recorded human history in 1580 BC. Before widespread use of polio vaccine, polio continued endemic in virtually all low- and middle-income countries. My precious cousin, Roger Hubble, acquired polio in Missouri in the 1950s, and walked with a limp his entire life. Today, polio treatment remains simply symptomatic and
One of the greatest challenges in public health is forgetfulness. We forget that just until the 1960s, measles was consistently one of the leading causes of death among children worldwide, accounting for an estimated 20 to 30 percent of such deaths. Today, measles nevertheless continues to be a leading cause of vaccine-preventable childhood mortality,
Would administering a routine dose of azithromycin (a common antibiotic) to large numbers of children, regardless of whether they were ill or not, improve child survival? This rather unorthodox question was actually tested in a massive research initiative, whose results were announced this month. The journal The Lancet Infectious Diseases published this research
In the United States and Europe, not so long ago the words TB were interpreted similarly to the way AIDS and cancer often are today. TB meant fear, suffering and death. And no wonder. This aggressive lung infection caused people to cough up blood, alienate their friends and family over fear of transmission, and
I am not a surgeon. Yes, I can readily perform some of the most urgent and lifesaving procedures, like colostomy and Cesarean section. But a surgeon, I am not. In this light, allow me to make some observation about North American surgeons in an international, low-resource context. Surgical needs and resources in such
Senhor Miguel has suffered increasing shortness of breath for one year. When he arrived here at CEML Hospital last week his heart exam revealed a loud systolic murmur, along with swollen legs and signs of fluid in his lungs. The potential causes are myriad, and important to distinguish in order to select the most
You and I and most of our international neighbors share a common passion: increase people’s healthy years of life. But so very many factors are involved: cultural differences, low resources, economic interests, political disagreement, armed conflicts, profiteering… All this weighed heavily upon me as I labored to identify a simple but effective model for