Issue 5.1 – Winter 2018

Global Health Efforts Poised to Take Off with Novel Drone Technology

BY ROHAN GARG Drones have long been associated with violence and destruction. Used frequently as a tool for surveillance and bombings in military conflicts, drones have inadvertently killed countless civilians and deteriorated mental health in warzone populations. Recent technological developments in healthcare, however, suggest that drones may soon serve the polar opposite purpose: saving lives.…

The Yemen Civil War and its Effects on Civilians

BY KRISTI WHARTON In a country plagued by civilian casualties, potential famine, and a cholera outbreak, the Yemeni civil war rages on between the Houthi rebels and government forces, with the citizens of Yemen stuck in the middle. The Houthis goal is to end government corruption, and to end Western influence, while ultimately creating a…

Cultural Interpretation of Somatic Symptoms: The Mexican American Explanatory Model of Type II Diabetes

BY DEBBIE DADA INTRODUCTION Type II diabetes is a leading health concern that is often viewed as a “disease of modernization” because of its prevalence in developed countries, most notably, the United States of America.1 This illness is particularly prevalent among Mexican immigrants living in America: over one in every ten Mexican-Americans is diagnosed with…

A Malnutrition Crisis: Its Past, Present, and Future

BY HANNAH VERMA In early 2010, a massive earthquake decimated the Republic of Haiti. As one of the most poverty stricken nations in the world, it lacks the resources both to prepare for natural disasters and deal with the aftermath. The result? 1 in 5 children are malnourished. Approximately 50% of the population lives on…

Latin America: Understanding Teenage Pregnancy

BY ELANOR COOK Currently, over one tenth of births worldwide are to girls aged 15 to 19 years old.1  Although this number has been decreasing globally for the past few decades, there is one region in which fertility, meaning the number of births per women, has remained stagnant or even increased among teenage girls.  In…

Women’s Health: The Basis for Global Health

BY RACHEL JABER CHEHAYEB The diversity of biological, environmental, social and governmental factors that contribute to shaping overall population health, and the extent of interconnectedness of these factors make trade-offs between interventions and decisions of resource and fund allocation exceedingly difficult. Nevertheless, women’s health perseveres as an accurate indicator of and contributor to overall health…

Relief: Is there a Difference in How We Rise?: A comparison of the medical relief efforts among areas recently affected by natural disasters

BY TOMEKA FRIESON August 25, 2017, was a day of unanticipated shock and grief for many Americans. Texas had been struck by Category Four Hurricane Harvey and, during those next four days, would experience extensive damage to its people, places, and infrastructure all across its southern region.1 On August 29, 2017, when the torrential rains…

Turing Pharmaceuticals: A Price Raise, a Name Change, and an Outrage

BY INDIRA FLORES As of September 2017, notorious ‘pharma bro’ Martin Shkreli has taken up residence in a federal prison in Brooklyn, New York.12 After bragging that he would only ever be sent to a luxurious, low-security ‘Club-Fed’ for his earlier convictions of fraud, he was sent to a federal prison for a completely separate…

Stigma and the Opioid Epidemic

BY YASHEEN GAO When Victoria, a young woman from San Antonio, went to her doctor, she thought back pain was the extent of her medical problems. Her doctor prescribed  Vicodin® to cope with the pain1. Victoria realized Vicodin could be addictive, but she never imagined that fact would impact her. That was something that happened…

Water Security: Novel Techniques in Increasing Access to Clean Water Around the World

BY JENESIS DURAN The necessity of water cannot be denied. Consisting of over 60% of the human body by mass, it is the sustainer of life and vitality. As ubiquitous as water seems, in today’s world over 40% of the global population suffers from water scarcity, with around 783 million individuals worldwide lacking access to…