Well I love science and now I guess I must love medicine, so why not write about it?!?
My wish is to educate you through these interesting and random facts, as well as make these next three years a little more fun!
Today in 1945, the US dropped a nuclear bomb in Hiroshima killing 166,000 people and then another in Nagasaki which would kill another 90,000 innocent people.
Also, last weekend marked one year that SB1070 was signed into law in Arizona.
Ironically enough, last night I was reminded of the beginning of the Black Panther Movement, in which I recalled the recitation of the poem "Uncle Sammy." Bobby Seale recited this anti-draft poem into a crowd of about 30 spectators and was later arrested after policemen attacked him and Mr. Newton for using anti-American verbage. Anyway, I thought it would be very fitting to recall this poem in light of the anniversary of the these recent events.
"Uncle Sammy Called me Fulla Lucifer"
Uncle Sammy don’t shuck and jive me,
I’m hip the popcorn jazz changes you blow,
You know damn well what I mean,
You school my naive heart to sing
red-white-and-blue-stars-and-stripes songs and to pledge eternal allegiance to all things blue, true, blue-eyed blond, blond-haired, white chalk white skin with U.S.A. tattooed all over,
When my soul trusted Uncle Sammy,
Loved Uncle Sammy,
I died in dreams for you Uncle Sammy,
Died in dreams playing war for you Uncle Sammy,
No, I don’t want to hear that crap,
You jam your emasculate manhood symbol, puff with Gonorrhea,
Gonorrhea of corrupt un-realty myths into my ungreased, nigger ghetto, black-ass, my Jewish-Cappy-Hindu-Islamic-Sioux-sure, free public health penicillin cured me,
But Uncle Sammy if you want to stay a freak-show strongman god,
Fuck your motherfucking self,
I will not serve.
Now I know many of you will think negatively upon me for posting such Anti-American literature, but the truth is you are right, but you are also wrong. Truth is you need my people here. You need us to clean your houses, to take care of your families, to make sure your next generation grows up to take your place, and of course you need us to pick your food. But the truth also is you don't want us here. The minute we begin asking something of you, even if it is the right to basic human services you want to run us out. When in reality, this is OUR land....but don't let me get started on that.
Also, don't tell me I don't love this country when I live, work, and organize in neighborhoods you would NEVER dare to step into. You don't know the true America like we do....Yet it is easy for you to vote for wars and anti-immigration and make backwards ass policy for people you know nothing about. "America" is changing, when will you notice?
By now many of you have heard/seen Beyonce's new song "Run the World (Girls). And for those of you who know me, y'all know how much I LOVE Beyonce....but this song....not so much! I had a problem with it when I first heard it, and now, I just had to come out of hiding to share a WONDERFUL response to it. The video is by youtuber: NineteenPercent. The video is below the transcript!
"Hey, Beyonce! Guess what? You’re a liar, and I’m calling you out!
Beyonce is selling you a bill of goods, and I’m here to tell you not to buy it. Her new song is called “Girls Who Run the World”. I don’t think it’s right that she’s out there promulgating historical inaccuracies to impressionable young women, imparting the false belief that they “run the world”, thereby lulling them into a false sense of achievement and distracting them from doing the work it takes to actually run the world. Which, by the way, I don’t think female domination is actually the goal. I think the endgame should be a socially egalitarian society.
[Do] Girls really run the world? First of all, women are universally dominated. There is not a society known where women, as a group, have decision-making power over men as a group. “Who’ll run the world? Girls!” A better question would be, “Name the only American minority group that actually constitutes a majority of the population. Girls!” 50.7 percent of the US population is female, but sociologists consider women a minority group because of their position relative to men, the dominant group.
There are things called “women’s issues” which, apparently, are a “special interest”. A problem that affects half the population of your country is not a “special interest”, okay? It’s a big interest; it’s a regular interest.
So, Beyonce, you really want to try to convince me that girls run the world? Is that why 90 percent of rape victims are female? And, similarly, 95 percent of domestic abuse victims are female. According to that statistic, we’re not even running our domiciles, let alone the globe. You’d agree that something should be done about that, right? So let me tell you: In South Carolina, in 2005, cock-fighting became a felony. That same year, there was a bill to make domestic violence a felony; it didn’t pass. So, apparently, if you let two chickens peck at each other for your entertainment, you’re a felon. But if you punch your wife in the teeth, not so much.
If women have such power and influence, then why are female fetuses in China and India selectively aborted? And before ultrasound was widely available for sex detection, you just had to have the baby, and then if it was a girl, you’d just kill it. So… girl power! I wish I were making this up.
Let’s examine some of the lyrics.
“Make your check, come at they neck.”
Indeed. Go to work, and make your check, but be aware that your check is going to be significantly smaller than your male counterparts’, because at all ages, at all education levels, American women are paid only 78 percent of what a man is paid for doing the same work. And that is a huge improvement from 1980 when it was only 60 percent.
“Some of them men think they freak this like we do, but no they don’t.”
I actually agree with you there, Beyonce. Men certainly do not “freak this” the way our culture demands that women do. Men aren’t objectified the same way or to the same magnitude that women are, if at all. Female sexuality is for sale; it’s profitable. And another thing, anecdotally, every issue of Cosmopolitan magazine is about “freakin’ it”. Women are sent messages like, “First take off his pants”, but don’t sleep with him ’cause if you do, then you’re skanky. What am I to do? The message that the media sends women is like, “Be really really sexy, but not too sexy!” It’s a phenomenon known as the Virgin-Whore Dichotomy; go briefly read about it if you want to. Link in my pants.
So, indeed, Beyonce, women have a very unique and contradictory course to navigate when it comes to “freaking it” in this country.
“Disrespect us? No, they won’t!”
Yes, they will, and they do, often.
I’d like to defer to a very famous doctor on this subject — Dr. Dre. He says, and I quote, “Bitches ain’t shit but hos and tricks.” There you have it. Listen, Mrs. Carter, you should know this firsthand: When your husband isn’t busy with his money, cash, or ho(s), you’ve still got 99 problems, and a bitch ain’t one. Of the most popular rap songs in recent memory, I am hard-pressed to think of one that doesn’t have any reference to women as some derogatory name. Not to mention, like, workplace sexual harassment or cat-calling, and all other manner of disrespectful things.
“I think I need a barber. None of these [censored]* can fade me.”
Don’t call me a bitch; it doesn’t make me feel empowered.
We have this thing in our society whereby it’s somehow okay to do and say sexist things because, somehow, they’re not sexist anymore since women have so much power, and I think the media is partially to blame for this.
Yes, it’s nice to see female doctors and lawyers on TV, and Geena Davis even played a female president in that one show that got cancelled. And yes, lady humans can vote and work outside the home, and all sorts of other things that weren’t part of the status quo in past eras. But a simple survey of reality will reveal that we don’t run anything, and pretending we do will get us nowhere. I think, not only is it not helpful; it’s actually harmful. Like, these messages of “girl power” in art and music, in movies and all other sorts of media are useless unless there’s actual work being done behind them. A shift in values, policy changes, and changes in perception; there just needs to be a huge shift, and that’s gonna take some time. These sporadic campaigns of “girl power” aren’t really gettin’ the job done. Remember the late ’90s era of “girl power” circa Spice Girls? A group of ladies who told us we could be sporty, or we could be scary. We could be posh, or we could dye our hair red like Ginger. Or, we could be babies. Awesome, ’cause that’s just what women need more of: infantilization.
Women have made great strides towards equality, but we’re not there yet, so it’s a little premature to be making victory anthems.
If you’re at all interested by anything I said in this video, or realize that some of the stuff that I talked about isn’t really fair, then you should look into it for yourself, and if you want to do it the old-fashioned way, I highly recommend this book. It’s called ‘Full Frontal Feminism’ by Jessica Valenti — an excellent, excellent book. Or you could just go to her website, which is called feministing.com, which is dangerously close to the word “fisting” which makes me feel, frankly, uncomfortable to say it.
"American girls do not have sex earlier or more often. They just don’t use and have access to birth control. Using birth control does not increase frequency of having sex or initiating sex earlier. Things that reduce teenage pregnancies are access to birth control, education about sex, protection, and communication with a trusted adult" -thoughts about the increasing numbers of teenage pregnancy in the US.
And don't even get me started on how this is exacerbated in Latino communities!
One of the most popular questions I have received from my readers is on how to choose the right birth control.
Believe it or not, but my fancy shmancy med school education does not give us a formal lecture(s) on contraception. Thankfully, our Med Students for Choice Chapter at UCD, has arranged 4 hours worth of contraception education. Tomorrow will be our second lecture. I will promise to try and provide the most accurate information on it as soon as all four lectures have been given for all of you to enjoy.
In the meantime, I came across this really great article on contraception methods in women who have chronic medical problems. I will try to summarize the information below... (If you have any of these medical problems, I urge you to talk to your physician about how your condition/medications will interact with your choice of contraception).
Anticonvulsants:
Check if a drug interaction exists between your meds and your choice contraception!
If you do have a drug interaction recommendations suggest using DMPA (levenorgestrel intrauterine system/LNG-IUS) or a copper IUD.
Not recommended: implants and progestin-only pills
Migraines:
Women with migraines AND focal neurologic symptoms (or other risks for stroke) are recommended to use intrauterine contraception, barrier methods, or progestin-only pills.
Obesity:
Women who are obese automatically decrease the efficacy of their contraception. They are recommended to use LNG/IUS to protect against pregnancy and obesity-associated endometrial hyperplasia
Diabetics:
Women are recommended to use intrauterine methods and progestin-only pills. Although there has been no negative effects associated with any other oral contraception.
HIV: IUDs are very efficacious and do not increase risks to women or their partners to HIV.
Use caution when taking oral contraception if also taking antiretroviral meds.
Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: Oral contraception and IUDs are both safe for women with SLE.
Ref: Teal, S.B. et al, "Contraception for Women with Chronic Medical Conditions," Obstet Gynecol Clin N Am 34 (2007) 113-126.
Look for more about contraception in my next few blogs!
Check out the Latino Medical Student Association at UCDavis-SOM talk about Health Care Access and the burden of being an underrepresented minority who feels the responsibility of "giving back" to our communities!
Did you all know February is also National Teen Dating Violence and Prevention Month?!? This special month was started by President Obama in 2010.
Also, did you know that youth ages 16-24 experience the highest rates of intimate partner violence of any age group?
This past weekend I was fortunate enough to participate in the "Power of Know" Youth Conference here in Sacramento. I was trained to facilitate three workshops for youth ages 13-18. What I liked most about this conference was that not only were we able to fully define a health relationship and the cycle of power and control in an unhealthy relationship, we were also able to educate the teens on how to recognize and STOP teen dating violence, or prevent it from the very beginning.
This was such a great learning experience for me as it allowed me to learn right along with our youth. It's sad to admit but this is something that is very relevant in my life and in our communities! I am also very lucky to have mentors like Dr. Miller (read a snippet about her in todays NYTs article) and organizations like WEAVE setting great examples on education and support for this issue.
So Be Educated and take a further step by educating others! ;-)
P.S. Here is are two other great links I found. The first one has an interesting article on the Bystander Effect that apparently took place in the show The Jersey Shore!
Came across this letter Sen. Obama sent to the President in 2005. I'd like to point out that more than 5 years later, nothing profound has been done to decrease the marginalization of our Afro-Latino hermanos y hermanas. BUT we will press on....
P.S. Thanks for sharing Meli-Poo!
STATEMENT OF SEN. BARACK OBAMA
ON AFRO-LATINOS
MAY 25, 2005
Mr. President, I rise today to bring attention to the situation of
Afro-Latinos throughout Latin America, in the hopes that we can encourage
more action on this issue. From Colombia to Brazil to the Dominican
Republic to Ecuador, persons of African descent continue to experience
racial discrimination and remain among the poorest and most marginalized
groups in the entire region. While recent positive steps have been taken
in some areas-- for example, giving land titles to Afro-Colombians and
passing explicit anti-discrimination legislation in Brazil-- much work
still needs to be done to ensure that this is the beginning of an ongoing
process of reform, not the end.
In places where civil conflict has taken hold, Afro-Latinos are much more
likely to become victims of violence or refugees in their own countries.
In many areas, Afro-Latinos are also subject to aggression by local police
forces at far greater rates than those perceived to be white. Access to
health services is another serious concern, and recent studies have shown
that Afro-Latino communities are at greater risk of contracting HIV/AIDS.
In the last Congress, there was not one mention in the Senate of the
millions of Afro-Latinos who continue to experience this widespread
discrimination and socioeconomic marginalization. Now is the time for more
action on this issue, not less. Emerging civil society groups are growing
stronger throughout many countries in Latin America, and this growth
should be encouraged as it presents important opportunities for
partnerships and collaboration. I look forward to working with my
colleagues in the Senate and House on this critical concern in the coming
months, and I believe that together we can and will make a difference.
Thank you.
Let’s start with some science! Hemoglobin is the wagon in our blood that carries oxygen to our organs. Heme can be thought of as the wheels of this wagon. Iron is part Heme, and can be thought of the screws that hold the wheels to the wagon (this is why we need iron in our diets…to transport oxygen to our organs!)
So after 120 days, our immune system will kill recycle/breakdown Heme to eventually make Bile. You may or may not know that Bile is used to help us digest our food in our intestines! Anyway, the bacteria in our intestines (yes we have “good” bacteria everywhere in our bodies) breakdown the Bile and transport it to our kidney. The kidney allows us to excrete whatever is left of the Bile into our urine, and in the process it converts it from green Bile into yellow. Hence. The yellow tinge of our urine! So to recap, the yellow color comes from the breakdown of the wagon that carries oxygen in our blood!
I thought this was sooo cool…I know im super sexy4science. Fun facts are…..F-U-N!
If you didn’t know that February is BHM, well you better get on it! Our UCDavis chapter of SNMA is hosting month long events to celebrate the contributions of African Americans in history.
In honor if BHM I wanted to remind everyone to not forgot about our beautiful Afro-Latinos! They often go unrecognized, or are pushed into one category. But, ask one Afro-Latino to pick a side...and they can’t. Choosing to identify as African American over Latino or vice versa is basically like giving up one of their arms. Lol….ok maybe not that serious, but you get the drift.
As a Latin@, it is important to recognize and celebrate our African heritage. Whether you identify as Afro-Latin@ or Afro-Caribbean, we honor you for enriching our culture with intelligence, strength, and beauty. Real quickly, here are two amazing Afro-Latin@s that have done just that!
Marion Jones: World champion track and field athlete. I don’t care what anyone says about her steroid use, she is still a fierce Afro-Latina. Her mother is Belizian and her father is African American.
Maria de Soledad Teresa O’Brien: You know, the lady from CNN! Her father is Irish and her mama es Afro-Cubana! She is yet another fierce Afro-Latina spreading her diversity on national TV!
Of course there are many more people who can fall under this list, and I hope to post another in depth piece later in the month. Until then, I hope you all enjoy BHM with local events happening in your city!
Cheers to mestizaje, bridge-building, and a diverse and vibrant community!
A reader recently emailed me asking me to write a peice on lymphoma (a type of breast cancer). Ironically I recently read a peice on the NYTs or maybe NPR about the link between breast implants and large cell lymphoma. So, I'll try my best to explain the little bit I know.
Lymphoma is a type of cancer that develops in our lymph cells, which are part of our immune system. Lymph cells/lymphocytes are a type of white blood cell that travel in our circulation and whose primary function is to catch any foreign invaders (aka germs). These lymph cells party in different "clubs" in our bodies, and these are called lymph nodes. These sexy nodes can be found all throughout our body. In the top half of our body, these nodes are found under our tongue, under our jaw, around our ears, under our clavicle, and in our arm pits (this is the reason we must also rub in our arm pit during self breast exams).
Anyway, lymphomas are usually found as solid masses in these nodes. However, these nodes regularly become enlarged when we are fighting an infection (ie. like a throat infection) but can also be associated with cancer.
The NYTs article I came across was linking breast implants with an increased risk of developing a type of lymphoma. It is not breast cancer but a type if lymphoma that begins at the scar tissue that forms around the implant. The article also said that there was not enough data to completely link the lymphoma with breast implants, but one thing was clear, the risk for developing lymphoma was greater for women with breast implants than without.
I also beleive that in the future, we will begin seeing more and more nasty side effects linked to breast implants. But of course we will have to wait years and years until we have all the proper data to start mandating tons of rules for their usage.
Moral of the story....love the boobs momma gave you, and remember to give yourself a proper breast exam (get into all those arm pit nodes) once a month!
I overlooked this one while studying for finals....enjoy!
"Studying for finals is like being pregnant, you have this constant need to eat but nothing seems to fill you up. You have cravings, but don't quite know what it is. There's 20lb pounds of weight gain....except none of it is the baby. It sucks everything out of you, "like a parasit." And of course you can't wait to be done with it!"
