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Prescribing Guns: The Role of Doctors in Gun Background Checks

April 22, 2013 by credmond Leave a Comment

The debate over expanding background checks on guns has largely been seen as an issue of 2nd Amendment Rights vs. Safer, more-regulated gun ownership, but a completely different debate about the background checks is taking place in the healthcare community. In a recent article in the New England Journal of Medicine, Dr. Adam Goldstein and his colleagues addressed some of the concerns doctors may have when determining if someone should be allowed to own a firearm. Dr. Goldstein points out that there is currently no criteria or guidelines for … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog, Featured Less Tagged With: background checks, Gun Control, healthcare

Inside The Arms Trade Treaty

March 21, 2013 by credmond Leave a Comment

By Chris Redmond The school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut this past December has sparked a vigorous debate about gun regulation that has enveloped the entire nation, but what many don't realize is that the gun violence debate extends far beyond the United States borders. The international trade of small firearms is a multi-billlion dollar industry that provides much of the firepower for human rights violations around the world. These conflicts were responsible for displacing millions of people from their homes, and has caused hundreds of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog, Featured Less Tagged With: Arms Trade Treaty, Gun Violence, United Nations

Baby Steps Toward an AIDS Free World

March 6, 2013 by credmond Leave a Comment

A study presented at the 2013 Conference of Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections this week described how a child in rural Mississippi diagnosed as HIV-positive at birth has been cured. The child's mother became infected with the HIV virus while she was pregnant and was unaware of her HIV-status at the time of her delivery. After her delivery, a routine HIV test on the mother indicated she was HIV-positive and tests were immediately ordered on the newborn, showing that the child too was infected. Typically, HIV-positive newborns are immediately … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog, Featured Less Tagged With: AIDS, Cure, HIV

Sequestercare: How The Spending Cuts Will Affect Healthcare

February 25, 2013 by credmond Leave a Comment

Th President and United States Congress seen determined to match drama of last night's Oscar Awards with a performance of their own, the sequester. Actually the sequester is the sequel to the 2011 budget debate where Republican lawmakers demanded budget cuts in exchange for raising the debt ceiling. While an agreement was never reached, Congress decided to raise the debt ceiling and have the budget cuts automatically take place in 2013 if a budget was not agreed upon. Two years of gridlocked government later, $85 billion in cuts are set to start on … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog, Featured Less Tagged With: Affordable Care Act, healthcare, Sequester

The Positive Side of Cycling

January 18, 2013 by credmond Leave a Comment

Lance Armstrong’s admission to Oprah Winfrey that he used performance enhancing drugs during his 7 Tour De France wins has left a black mark on his career and the entire sport of cycling. Armstrong’s confession is one in a line of cyclists that have admitted to lying and cheating to reach the top of their sport. However, the silver lining is that these professional cyclists are a small portion of the cycling community, and the majority of cyclists are using their two wheels for far better reasons. The World Bicycle Relief is an … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog, Featured Less Tagged With: Africa, Bicycles, Doping, Lance Armstrong

How Tweeting Could Prevent the Flu

January 11, 2013 by credmond 1 Comment

We are currently in the midst of one of the worst influenza epidemics in recent years. The flu has caused over 2,000 hospitalizations and 18 deaths. Dehydration from having the flu is even to blame for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's recent collapse, hospitalization and resulting blood clot. So how do we avoid the same fate as Hillary? While the most tried-and-true methods of staying healthy are still washing your hands frequently and getting your flu vaccine, researchers at the University of Rochester have shown that the Twittersphere could … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog, Featured Less Tagged With: Epidemic, flu, Influenza, twitter

An Epidemic of Gun Violence

December 19, 2012 by credmond Leave a Comment

When our Nation experiences a tragedy like the recent shooting in Newton, Connecticut, we are left with an empty heart and a head full of questions. One questions that I know I share with every American this past week is why. Why did this innocent group of school children and their teachers meet such a violent and unnecessary end. This question of why has lead to a heated debate over stricter gun regulations in the United States. Many frame the gun control debate as a struggle between individual liberties and government regulation, but I see this more … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog, Featured Less Tagged With: Gun Control, public health, Sandy Hook

Kate Plus 287,000: The Global Need for Improved Maternal Care

December 10, 2012 by credmond Leave a Comment

There has been a whirlwind of news around the recent hospitalization and pregnancy announcement of the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton. The Duchess was reportedly hospitalized for three days with acute morning sickness. Kate received prompt treatment with intravenous fluids and anti-nausea medications and is reportedly doing well. Unfortunately, this simple, low-cost treatment is not available for all pregnant women. In 2010, 287,000 women died during or as a result of pregnancy and childbirth, with 99% of these deaths occurring in developing … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog, Featured Less Tagged With: Kate, maternal health, Pregnancy

The AIDS-Free Generation: In the Distance or Over the Cliff?

November 30, 2012 by credmond Leave a Comment

December 1st is World AIDS Day, an international remembrance of those who lost their battle with HIV and to reflect on our progress in treating and preventing HIV infection. According to the 2012 UNAIDS report, nearly 2.5 million people were infected with HIV in 2011 and 1.7 million people died this year from AIDS-related deaths. There are some optimistic figures in this years UNAIDS report. Since 2005, the number of AIDS-related deaths in Sub-saharan Africa have dropped by one-third. Also, the number of HIV-positive people with access to Antiretroviral … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog, Featured Less Tagged With: AIDS, Fiscal Cliff, World AIDS Day

The Healing Power of Education

November 20, 2012 by credmond Leave a Comment

In March of this year, the Global Health Service Partnership (GHSP) was launched as a partnership between the Global Health Service Corps and the Peace Corps to establish large, didactic, and sustainable medical education programs in areas of dire need of medical aid. Through the GHSP, nurses, doctors, and other healthcare professionals will travel to developing nations and work with local governments to establish curriculum to train citizens to become independent healthcare leaders in their towns and villages. The hope is that by having each GHSP … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog, Featured Less Tagged With: education, global health, Peace Corp