Callie's passion is spreading awareness of public health issues through various communication channels. Her work helps mitigate health disparities while promoting positive, healthy changes in communities.
Rapamycin is a medication approved by the US Food and Drug Administration as an immunosuppressant drug, making it helpful in preventing rejection in organ transplantation. The medication has also been tested in prior studies — like clinical trials, which help researchers learn how to better slow, manage, and treat diseases — as a treatment for cancer and to evaluate its effects on physical and cognitive function and immune health. Now, researchers at UT Health San Antonio are recruiting participants for a study to evaluate Rapamycin’s effects on heart function, heart muscle stiffening, and circulation. Participants will be compensated up to $300 for study completion, which involves five study visits over the course of about two months.
Who Can Participate in the Rapamycin ...
Clinical trials are the most safe, rigorous way of testing for new and more effective disease treatments. Although Latinos comprise 18.9% of the US population, they make up just 10% of participants in clinical trials run by the National Cancer Institute and 4% of drug trials run by the FDA. This massive underrepresentation of Latinos in clinical trials makes it hard for researchers to develop new treatments for this group, which suffers a heavy burden of cancer, Alzheimer’s, and other diseases. Further, diseases present differently in Latinos than White populations – who traditionally make up most clinical trial participants. For example, Latinos on average present symptoms of Alzheimer’s approximately seven years earlier than other racial and ethnic groups, and are ...
It’s easy to take breathing for granted. But we should know exactly what the respiratory system is and how it can play a role in germs spreading in healthcare. This part of the body can be separated into two parts: the upper airway, including the mouth, nose, throat, and windpipe, and the lower airway, including the lungs.
Germs in The Upper and Lower Airways
Many germs live in the upper airway. Like with the skin and the digestive system, most of the germs that are commonly found in the nose, mouth, throat, and windpipe keep those parts of the body healthy. But sometimes those germs can cause harm when they get into the lungs. This can happen when they’re breathed in and get past the lungs’ natural defenses, or because something we do in healthcare, like ...
We’re all busy with the hustle and bustle of life. It’s tempting to grab fast food or buy ready-to-eat food to avoid cooking after a long day. But choosing those ultra-processed foods may cost you more than the money in your wallet. We already know that processed food is bad for your health, but an August 2022 study in The BMJ suggests that consuming ultra-processed food may increase risk for a serious disease – colorectal cancer. Let’s unpack these study results and what they mean for Latinos.
What Are Ultra-Processed Foods?
Ultra-processed foods – industrial ready-to-eat or ready-to-heat formulations made of little or no whole foods – now contribute 57% of total daily calories consumed by American adults, according to the study. These foods are usually rich ...
Infection control keeps germs from spreading and making people sick. Infection control actions are based on recognizing the risks for germs to spread. But what is that risk? We know that germs are found in certain places, and need a way, or a pathway, to spread to other places and people. They also need the opportunity to spread. That’s where “risk” is, and where you can keep germs from spreading with infection control actions.
Identifying Risk
You, your patients, and the environment can be pathways for germs to spread. Understanding how germs spread and where they live and thrive can help you understand “Standard Precautions,” which are infection control actions you perform every day for all patients to keep germs from spreading. For example, an important part ...
US food and beverage companies disproportionately target Black and Latino consumers with advertising for high-calorie, low-nutrient products, including candy, sugary drinks, and snacks, according to a new study by the Rudd Center for Food Policy & Health at the University of Connecticut. This targeted advertising has been a problem for years and is consistent with findings from other studies and reports, including the recent US Access to Nutrition Index 2022. The millions of dollars companies spend on targeted marketing contributes to inequities in diet-related diseases in communities of color, including heart disease, obesity, and diabetes. “Companies express how much they respect the culture and concerns of Black and Hispanic communities, but at the same time, they appear ...
In 2021, nearly 1 in 5 adults in the US with diabetes either skipped, delayed, or used less insulin than was needed to save money, according to a recent study in the Annals of Internal Medicine. Not taking the proper amount of insulin is dangerous, and can lead to diabetic ketoacidosis, which can be fatal. If six million Americans, including Latinos, need insulin to survive, why are they struggling to afford it?
The Cost of Living with Diabetes
Unfortunately, insulin has been unaffordable in the US for years. The cost of insulin in the past decade alone has tripled, with minimal improvements or changes to the drug. Those without health insurance are the most affected by insulin costs, such as Latinos, who remain the largest uninsured racial and ethnic group in the US. The ...
COVID-19. Monkeypox. Inflation. The housing crisis. Student debt. Climate change. There’s a lot going on. It’s understandable why young people are stressed “basically at all times.” Unfortunately, many believe the future may not be much better for young people. More than half of Americans agree that young people today are unlikely to have a better standard of living than their parents, according to a new poll from the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. A better standard of living includes having the financial means to comfortably raise a family and own a home, but these goals have gotten harder to achieve with the rising cost of living and housing. Add the student loan debt crisis, ...
Many germs, especially bacteria, normally live and grow on healthy skin and usually do not cause harm. In fact, our skin is a reservoir for germs – a place where germs live and thrive. However, some germs on your skin, such as certain types of Strep and Staph bacteria, can cause bad infections if they enter the body. Because germs are everywhere, it’s important to understand the ways that germs can spread from our skin and cause infections.
Germs Spread Through Touch
Your skin interacts with the environment around you every day, mostly through your hands, because we use them so much. Germs on your skin, especially on your hands, can spread to surfaces and patients through touch. In the same way, you can pick up germs from contaminated surfaces and patients and spread ...
