“Doctor, I feel awful: burning up, terrible chills, aching throughout my body, vomiting, massive fatigue. I can’t care for my children. Going to work is unthinkable. How did this happen?” When I am not at INMED, I practice emergency medicine. On a 12-hour shift this week I saw 18 patients, and seven – like this […]
This month in Angola, a nation in southern Africa, our team cared for a 10-year-old boy. He was confused, spitting constantly, and several times each minute his arms and legs suddenly contracted in spasms for a few seconds before relaxing again. His mother explained that eight days earlier, he underwent a traditional rite that involved
“I have malaria!” shouted a young mother. “I as well,” declared a shivering elderly man. “My children, they all have malaria,” confirmed a distraught father, “and one died this morning!” In response to my question, “Who has malaria?”, over 100 hands raised among the crowd of patients waiting to see me. Adding to their urgency
Few of us reading this post have experienced hunger beyond the occasional pang from a missed breakfast or delayed lunch. Yet half of our brothers and sisters in countries like Afghanistan, Haiti, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Venezuela and Yemen, endure such hunger pangs very day. And what about their children? Just imagine how you would
Out of sight, out of mind – until it’s too late. This phenomenon is a sad fact of human psyche. Measles was eliminated in the United States in 2000. Then, complacency and skepticism set in – call it out-of-sightness. In these first two months of 2025, 164 measles cases and the death of at least
In spite of great progress in technology and economic growth, some communities around the globe continue to be deeply disadvantaged. Envision locations in Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, India, or Tanzania. In light this situation, 5-10-day international healthcare service trips continue to be popular. Post-pandemic, some 5,000 teams are traveling outside of North America each year for
Temperature on the earth’s surface has been rising steadily for at least 140 years. Summer 2024 in the northern hemisphere is especially concerning, with mercury-popping thermostat measurements and record-breaking emergency department admissions. Understanding the impact of extreme heat on human health and implementing strategies to mitigate these risks is crucial – especially for the world’s
With no measles nearby, the vaccine is not necessary. The Spanish flu began in Spain. Healthy adults must drink eight glasses of water per day. You can catch a cold by being cold. Drinking the beverage Vitamin Water will make you healthy. What do each of these statements have in common? First, they are all
Intuitively, we think of sharks and bears. Snakes, scorpions, dogs, and crocodiles also score among perceived deadly animals. But deaths from such creatures are minuscule compared to the number of humans who die from mosquito-transmitted diseases. Chief among these is malaria, killing about 750,000 people per year – almost twice the number of homicides worldwide.
Diseases of poverty? Very familiar. Diseases of affluence? Quite conventional. But what do we know about diseases of war? And, what is the key to controlling them? For two years I worked in the nation of Angola, suffering the longest running war in modern African history. Villagers with traumatic amputation from land mines arrived almost daily at