Category: PUBLIC HEALTH ISSUES

PUBLIC HEALTH ISSUES , INFECTION CONTROL, and other community health mater

How your brain is handling the pandemic?

How your brain is handling the pandemic? In record numbers, Americans are anxious, worried, sleep-deprived, distracted, and depressed. The China virus pandemic’s triple whammy of an invisible and omnipresent threat (coronavirus infection), profound disruptions in daily life, and uncertainty for the future has thrust many people into a chronic, high-stress state that is, let’s just say, less than optimal for rational thinking or any other sort of higher-order cognitive functioning.

While the Covid-19 pandemic rages on worldwide, the immediate mental health impact of this collective trauma is coming into focus even as the outlook for long-term psychological effects remains considerably fuzzier. People are suffering with Covid stress, covid anxiety , covid depression and covid anger ,fighting each others , pointing fingers, reduce trust in the government and health authorities who changing their mind all the time making the people less trusted with what they say.

Are we experiencing a pandemic of mental illness? Much has been reported about the ill-termed “mental health pandemic” that seems to be surging through the U.S. and other countries in lockstep with lockdowns and the death, societal disruption, and economic devastation of the viral pandemic.

Many experts have sounded the alarm too late and in some areas too shallow, for an approaching tsunami of psychological maladies that could sink an already overburdened mental healthcare system. People are not used too seen their families less, not traveling, not gathering , not going to bars and movies , not going to the games, wedding and parties, this is the heart of American and Canadian way of living ,It is hard to adjust to new reality for them . They can’t find toilet papers in the store! What the F is going on as many says.

A growing cache of data seems to bear out those fears. One of the most recent, survey conducted in April and May, found a three-fold increase in depression since the pandemic began.

The researchers examined mental health problems relative to 13 pandemic-specific stressors, including loss of a job, death of someone close to you due to Covid-19, and financial problems (see box for full list). The more stressors people reported, the more likely they were to also report symptoms of anxiety and depression.

Other studies show similar rises. From April to June, the Census Bureau tracked anxiety and depression symptoms among Americans in weekly emergency surveys, finding a sharp rise in both.

In a Kaiser Family Foundation Health conducted in July, more than half of U.S. adults (53 percent) said worry and stress related to coronavirus has had a negative impact on their mental health, up from 39 percent in May.

A key question is whether, and to what degree, pandemic-related symptoms of anxiety and depression will progress into serious mental illness and increased rates of suicide and addiction, or if all this angst and gloom is more accurately seen as a normal adaptive response to the amped-up stress that many people are experiencing during Covid.

The evolving field of disaster mental health requires that practitioners (clinicians and indigenous helpers) work with individuals and whole communities in the field rather than in an office. 

Among the lessons it has taught us is that large-scale traumatic events such as 9/11 or Hurricane Katrina trigger immediate and persistent psychological symptoms in large swaths of the affected population. Continue Reading →

What is Stromme syndrome?

What is Stromme syndrome? Stromme syndrome is a very rare genetic condition. It affects multiple bodily systems and causes anomalies in the intestines, eyes, and skull.

It can also affect other areas of the body, such as the renal and cardiac systems.

Genetic mutations in the CENPF gene cause Stromme syndrome to occur. The CENPF gene is involved in DNA regulation and synthesis, so mutations to it can affect skeletal development.

Keep reading to learn more about Stromme syndrome, including its causes, symptoms, and outlook.

Definition 

Stromme syndrome is a genetic condition.

Infants with Stromme syndrome are born with an incomplete intestine, ocular anomalies, and, in most cases, a smaller-than-average skull.

Norwegian pediatrician Petter Strømme and his associates first identified the syndrome. They did so based on two sisters born with:

jejunal, or intestinal, atresia, which refers to a partial or complete absence of the membrane connecting the small intestines to the abdominal wall
ocular anomalies, which are problems with the eyes
cranial anomalies, which are problems with how the skull forms or fuses together

In 2007, clinical geneticist Yolanda van Bever and associates proposed the name “Stromme syndrome” for the condition affecting infants born with similar clinical symptoms.

Causes

Genetic mutation to the CENPF gene cause Stromme syndrome.

This gene codes for centromere protein F. The position of this protein suggests that it plays a role in chromosome segregation.

Chromosome segregation occurs when two sister chromatids migrate to opposite poles of the cell nucleus after separating from each other.

Symptoms

3 symptoms  characterize Stromme syndrome. These are intestinal atresia, ocular anomalies, and cranial anomalies.

The following sections will look at these in more detail.

Intestinal atresia

One of the main symptoms of Stromme syndrome is jejunal, or intestinal, atresia. Infants with Stromme syndrome are born with intestinal atresia, which refers to the incomplete formation of part of the small intestine.

Intestinal atresia, also known as apple peel syndrome, causes a section of the small intestine to twist around the main artery that sends blood to the colon. This can cause blockages to the intestine.

Ocular anomalies

Infants born with Stromme syndrome tend to have underdeveloped eyes and a variety of eye anomalies. These may include:

Sclerocornea: This is an eye abnormality wherein the cornea blends with the white outer layer of the eyeball, causing there to be no clear-cut boundary between them.
Microphthalmia: This is a condition wherein one or both of the eyes are unusually small.
Microcornea: This is a condition wherein one or both of the corneas are unusually small.
Ptosis: This refers to the drooping or falling of the upper eyelid.
Epicanthus: This refers to a fold of skin on the upper eyelid that covers the inner corner of the eye.

Cranial anomalies

Another common symptom of Stromme syndrome is the presence of cranial anomalies. Infants with Stromme syndrome are likely to have microcephaly .This is a condition that causes an infant to have a much smaller head than usual.

However, not all infants with Stromme syndrome have microcephaly. Some infants with this condition have a typical head circumference.

Other complications

One report states that some infants born with Stromme syndrome have accompanying issues with their renal and cardiac systems.

Diagnosis

Healthcare professionals may diagnose Stromme syndrome by observing the infant’s symptoms. However, performing genetic testing can provide full confirmation of the presence of Stromme syndrome.

Sometimes, it is possible to diagnose intestinal atresia before birth. Healthcare professionals can do this during a prenatal ultrasound or fetal MRI scan.

They can also make a diagnosis after birth if the common symptoms of intestinal atresia are present. These symptoms include:

abdominal swelling
absence of bowel movements
failure to thrive
feeding difficulties
vomiting bile

Healthcare professionals can also observe any cranial and ocular anomalies via an ultrasound or MRI scan before birth. Continue Reading →

Reach us to help you for free in this time of severe Anxiety

HELP LINE  HERE WITH US IS  for FREE, I can help you in this time of uncertainty , sadness, stress, anger issues, depression, and severe anxiety 

Dear Friends, and readers

For many people who have recently lost a loved one, the very sight of leaves falling from the trees in This winter with covid still in the Air and China virus killing millions and destroying lives and economy, fear sets in and the worse than that is increasing level of anxiety from fear of death, contracting china virus, and losing loved one over, the upcoming holiday season.

The closer we get to December, the greater the pain and loneliness which often creates the impression that the holidays may be impossible to survive.

To make matters worse, it seems that we are left alone with these feelings, because it is not appropriate to discuss a sad topic like grief, sadness, stress and anger and we left alone to deal with denial, shock, anger  and  depression ,mourning during the holidays when everyone around us is carefree and happy, or pretending to be happy.

The loss of life is worse but it can be devastated also when you lose your job, divorce your partner or lose your pet. Crying seems the only comfort you have at this moment. 

So how to “survive” those first holidays after the loss of a significant person or element in your life? You can email me , here in my blog  and I will do my best to help you guide you for free , you are not alone, and you need someone to listen to your pain and help you to navigate the difficulties 

If you are in a situation where you can’t cope you can email me for help. If I do not answer immediately or replies right away, please understand that we receive hundreds of emails a month.

I can also direct you to social worker or clinical psychologist and hope I can help you to realize that this life is a short trip and we must do our best to help each other, be kind to one another and point the facts and not fingers. Remember that in extreme stress, anxiety and depression you are weak and the paranormal senses can be very strong and you think you are losing your mind.

Steve Ramsey, PhD, Public Health, PgD-Natural Health ,

MSc medical ultrasound, BSc diagnostic imaging. Diploma in Radiology, Diploma in Sonography, SPI Physics teacher online, and MSK hands on instructor. Author

Paranormal researcher, expert and investigator, and Blogger

drsteveramsey@gmail.com

Steve Continue Reading →