Infectious causes of chronic disease
Category archives for Infectious causes of chronic disease
Student guest post: Seasonal Flu Vaccine: Why we need it
Posted by Tara C. Smith on April 27, 2013 It’s time for this year’s second installment of student guest posts for my class on infectious causes of chronic disease. Fifth one this year is by Nai-Chung Chang. Of the many health problems that everyone is bound to have at some point, influenza, or just “the flu,” is one of the most prominent. In fact, we call…
Student guest post: Cholesterol, a bacterium, and gallbladder cancer
Posted by Tara C. Smith on April 26, 2013 It’s time for this year’s second installment of student guest posts for my class on infectious causes of chronic disease. Fourth one this round is by Kristen Coleman. If you are anything like me, you have been told countless reasons over the years why we must watch what we eat, keep our cholesterol intake down, and try…
Student guest post: Challenges and Progresses in HIV Vaccine Research
Posted by Tara C. Smith on April 26, 2013 It’s time for this year’s second installment of student guest posts for my class on infectious causes of chronic disease. Third one this round is by Jack Walsh. The Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection is one of the most significant global health challenges of this 21st century. Since the isolation of the virus in 1983, it has…
Student Guest Post: Arsenic, Benzene, and Now Clostridium? Smokers are Inhaling More Than Just Chemicals in Their Cigarettes
Posted by Tara C. Smith on April 24, 2013 It’s time for this year’s second installment of student guest posts for my class on infectious causes of chronic disease. Second one this round is by Jonathan Yuska. If you happen to be one of the 46 million individuals who have not been swayed to quit smoking by the countless anti-cigarette ads in print and on television,…
Student guest post: The Fallacious Fad of Foregoing Vaccinations
Posted by Tara C. Smith on April 23, 2013 It’s time for this year’s second installment of student guest posts for my class on infectious causes of chronic disease. First one this year is by Dana Lowry. Humans have a long history of illness and death from infectious diseases. It wasn’t until the 1790s that we had a solution. Edward Jenner recognized that milkmaids…
HIV In-Home Testing Kits: Increased Awareness or Increased Problems?
Posted by Tara C. Smith on March 1, 2013 Fifth of five student guest posts by Jonathan Yuska The saying, “The more you know, the more you can control,” is no more meaningful than when used in the context of HIV detection and prevention. Public health advocates endlessly stress the need for knowing one’s status; and one would assume that any way in which the most…
Can we “catch” breast cancer?
Posted by Tara C. Smith on February 27, 2013 Third of five student guest posts by Dana Lowry In 1911, Peyton Rous first discovered viruses can cause cancer. A chicken with a lump in her breast had been brought to Rous by a farmer. Rous prepared an extract that eliminated bacteria and tumor cells and injected this extract into other chickens—tumors grew. Rous suggested “a minute…
The impact of HIV on Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis
Posted by Tara C. Smith on February 26, 2013 Second of five student guest posts by Nai-Chung N. Chang Tuberculosis (TB) is a major disease burden in many areas of the world. As such, it was declared a global public health emergency in 1993 by the World Health Organization (WHO). It is a bacterial disease that is transmitted through the air when an infected…
Treatment of Chronic Otitis Media: Guidelines versus Practice
Posted by Tara C. Smith on February 25, 2013 First of five student guest posts by Kristen Coleman Every morning as I prepare for class, I go through the same internal dialogue, “to wear or not to wear my hearing aide.” I am forced to do this because when I was a child I, like most American children (about 80% by age 3 as…
Student guest posts: infectious causes of chronic disease
Posted by Tara C. Smith on February 25, 2013 It’s that time again. I teach a class every other year on infectious causes of chronic disease, looking at the role various infections play in cancer, autoimmune disease, mental illness, and other chronic conditions. Each year, the students are assigned two writing assignments-–to be posted here on the blog. Over the next week or so,…