National Teen Dating Violence and Prevention Month!

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!

http://www.loveisrespect.org/

http://www.teendvmonth.org/

Quote of the Week!

"Costco polish sausages was why Germany invaded Poland!"

Senator Barack Obama on Afro-Latinos!

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. 

Golden Showers....Why are they Yellow?

Ever wonder why your pee is yellow?

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! 

P.S. I hope y'all liked the title! ;-)

Afro-Latinos Stand Up!

Happy Black History Month!

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!

Lymphoma and Their Tie to Breast Implants

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!

Quote of the Week!

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!"

Gender Discrimination on my Back Porch!

During my Sunday ritual of morning tea and news, I came across an alarming article in the Huffington Post titled, "UC Davis Professor asked Students How to Grade New Mother." I was excited to see my school in the news, but the title seemed quite red flaggish. Apparently a third year student at the UC Davis Vet School had recently given birth and "would be out for an unknown period of time." The article was mainly focused on an email that a professor sent the rest of the third year class asking for their help in grading this unnamed student. 

Yes, you read that right. A professor sent the ENTIRE third year class an email asking for their help in deciding how this new mother should be graded. Here were the options:

a) automatic A final grade
b) automatic B final grade
c) automatic C final grade
d) graded the same as everyone else: best 6 quiz scores out of a possible 7 quiz scores (each quiz only given only once in class with no repeats)
e) just take a % of quiz scores (for example: your classmate takes 4 quizzes, averages 9/10 points = 90% = A)
f) give that student a single final exam at the end of the quarter (however this option is only available to this one student, all others are graded on the best 6 quiz scores and the % that results)

The biggest problem I have with this, which someone kindly planted into my head, was that there was clearly NO pre-plan for this new student mother. Her academic advisors, and the institution itself have completely failed her. I mean having a baby isn't something that happens overnight! Both parties had 8-9 months to plan a new restructured academic plan for her so that they wouldn't be running around like chickens with their head's cut off (which is what this email insinuates). 

Now the reason for both parties not reaching a mutual agreement is the second problem. Was this student scared to contact the administration at her school? Or maybe, just maybe she plans on continuing on, regardless of the situation? It is hard to know the exact situation, but it is very clear that such an email is gender discrimination. It is an attack on this student's welfare and dignity. 

What is most scary is that it is happening in my own back yard. Thumbs down Davis Vet School...thumbs down... :-(

Quote of the Week!

While studying digestion...


"So when starving, is it more effective to cut off a part of your body and eat it? Or is it better to let your body eat itself?"

"Corrective Rape" for "Curing Lesbianism?!?"

So i've thought a lot about whether or not to share information about some of the campaigns I'm involved with, here on my blog. Other than helping raise money for our student-run clinics, i've pretty much held my tongue. However, over the past week i've received THREE emails regarding an issue that apparently has been making international headlines. Anyone who is also a member of Change.org may know that they NEVER send out more than one email per issue. So ya'll know I HAD to go get the dirty deetz!

Apparently the "Declare 'Corrective Rape' a Hate Crime" (in S. Africa) campaign has officially become the MOST successful campaign ever launched on Change.org (and lemme tell you, they have tons of campaigns to support on their site). To KISS (keep it simple stupid) the issue, the campaign is calling to put an end to "corrective rape." This term literally means to cure lesbians of their disease by having a male rape them. DISGUSTING, I know. The website can give you more information but here are some facts that caught my eye:


In the last 10 years:
 -31 lesbian women have been murdered because of their sexuality
 -More than 10 lesbians a week are raped or gang raped in Cape Town alone
 -150 women are raped every day in South Africa
 -For every 25 men accused of rape in South Africa, 24 walk free


Sign the petition if your heart desires....

                                     Petitions by Change.org|Start a Petition »

UCD-SOM Investing in Primary Care Physicians!

My school was recently (well back in November) featured on PBS in its series on Health Reform. This video was about the shortage of primary care physicians in California, and what our school is doing to inspire medical students like me to go into primary care! It's actually very interesting...check it out!

PBS: In California, UCD-SOM Faces Down a Shortage of Primary Care Physicians

P.S. Sorry I couldn't embed the video :-/

Megavitamin Therapy?!?

A recent reader left me a comment asking me about "megavitamin" therapy. Although I have only heard of it briefly, here are the things I know about it. Megavitamin therapy has been proposed to be successful in treating depression, gout, and even cancer. However, I don't exactly know if there exists any HARD evidence to support this.

In the US, drugs/treatments need to go through an extensive list of tests before being put on the market. This incudes a wide array of clinical trials on a rodent, non-rodent, and than of course, humans. I am almost 100% certain that many of these megavitamin therapies are currently undergoing these tests, but as far as I am concerned, I don't beleive any of them have passed.

I think the biggest criticism of megavitamin therapy came with an array of clinical trials proving that megadoses of Vit C did nothing to help prevent or alleviate the common cold.

Once again, I have only briefly heard of this, and would love the input of someone with more knowledge! There is also a documentary my reader mentioned about this, and hopefully we can get that link out soon!

Check back for more deetz!