CRABZ (Pubic Lice)

This is an advertisement about pubic lice and it states that pubic lice are becoming resistant to chemical applications since 1970s. This advertisement tries to use fear in its message by saying “Did You Know?” in big letters and stating that pubic lice are becoming resistant to chemical applications. I also think the girl kind of looks scary. There might be some false information in this advertisement because I know that pubic lice are just lice in your pubes and lice aren’t very hard to kill. Also as medicine gets more advance, the better it works, but I’m sure there are some cases where pubic lice are hard to kill. From the picture, the age group that this advertisement is aiming for is from guess 18-26 years of age. Advertisements are an effective way of targeting an audience, but the ad is only effective if it’s seen. I happen to stumble upon this ad from Google images. The general advertising and media can play a big role in preventing STIs because every day people see hundreds of advertisements, so if they were to put up more advertisements about STI preventions, eventually the advertisement will stick to them.

Apology to Tuskegee Survivors

The Tuskegee syphilis study was a research project conduct by the American government to observe the natural growth of syphilis in African American men. The study went on for years, and had results, but it was done through trickery and deception. The government told their patients that they were there to cure “bad blood”, and often gave their patients a placebo to trick them to thinking that they were receiving medication. During the treatments, the government doctors just observed and took records of the growth of syphilis on their bodies. The doctors even went as far as spinal injections which is unnecessary and extremely painful. Later on, it was found that the spinal injections cause more harm to their bodies than syphilis!. Eventually the study was noticed and question and stopped.

Many years later, in 1997, President Bill Clinton acknowledge and made a formal apology to the remaining survivors of the Tuskegee syphilis study. Clinton was apologizing because he and the American people both knew that the government had violated the rights and trust of the African American men in the study. In Clinton's speech is he announced several steps to regain the trust that the government broke and so that a project like the Tuskegee study will never happen again. Clinton announced that he will first build a memorial at Tuskegee and the Department of Health and Human services will award grants to the school founded by Booker T. Second he will increase the community involvement to rebuild the trust that was lost. Third, he will commit to strengthen the researchers' training in bioethics. Fourth, Clinton will increase and broaden the understanding of ethical issues and clinical research and finally he will extend the charter of the National Bioethics Advisory Commission to October of 1999.

It seems that an apology to the Tuskegee survivors was needed, but why did the apology happen years after the study was closed? An apology should have been issued the day after the study was closed. Having a late apology can bring back memories long forgotten, but I guess giving an apology is better than not giving one in this situation. I think that building the memorial is a great idea. The memorial symbolizes that the government had made a mistake and is sorry for what it did and it will be there to remind future generations that studies done through trickery and deception is morally wrong and should never happen. Clinton gave an excellent speech, he was able to cover all the important points concerning the issue and made proper amends for the survivors and to make sure this type of study never happens again.

Multidrug Resistant Tuberculosis

In the CDC podcast, it talks about the Multidrug-Resistant tuberculosis or MDR TB for short. Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis is tuberculosis that has survived and evolved into a stronger form. Tuberculosis is a disease caused by germs that are spread through the air. Tuberculosis usually affects the lungs, but it can also affect the brain, the kidneys and or the spine.

People should be very concerned with Multidrug Resistant Tuberculosis. MDR TB is a man made disease due to improper use of medications. MDR TB has resistance to at least 2 of the best anti-tuberculosis drug such as isoniazid and rifampin which are considered to be first line medications. MDR TB takes up to 2 years to treat and treatment cost more and is more toxic. This is very serious because as we use more dangerous drugs, the side effects could be worse and what if MDR TB evolves again? It might get to the point where the medications are too toxic to be used or don’t even work.

I was tested for Tuberculosis when I was a kid, luckily it was negative. The reason I was referred to be tested for TB was because I had asthma. Since TB affects the lungs, people who have asthma that get TB will be in a bad situation because now they have 2 diseases that affect their breathing. This is a very scary thought, because if TB and asthma hits the person at the same time, there is an increase chance that the person will suffocate to death.

Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis has changed the way diseases are treated in today’s society. It has made treatments to be stricter to the point where people come and watch the patients take their medications. I think this treatment process is a positive and effective approach because this way eliminates the odds of patients taking the wrong dose. Hopefully, with proper treatment diseases such as Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis will be less common and eventually eliminated.

My First Blog

My First Blog!!