Tag: disease

The Development of Lock Hospitals Within England for Female Sex Workers During the 19th Century

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Due to the fact that sexually transmitted infections and diseases were rampant among English soldiers, in 1864 novel legislation entitled the Contagious Diseases Act was passed which permitted any woman suspected of prostitution as young as 13 years of age, to be forcibly examined by a physician. Institutions referred to as “lock hospitals” were established and setup so that women suspected of spreading disease could be detained and examined, and if they were positive in their evaluation, they could then be incarcerated for up to 3 months. It never occurred however to the English government that men could also spread sexually transmitted infections and diseases which is why men were immune from this legislation and a key reason as to why the problem was never resolved. Because of this, in 1886, this legislation was repealed

The Correlation Between Cats and the Bubonic Plague of Europe

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During the Middle Ages and up until the Salem Witch Trials, cats were killed alongside their owners who were believed to be practicing the dark arts of magic, sorcery, and witchcraft. Typically cats were burned alive in ceremonial bonfires. Ironically, had this not occurred, the Bubonic Plague probably wouldn’t have been as prolific as it was as the fleas found upon the rats who carried the disease, would have been killed alongside their host by the very cats which were killed in droves by human beings. Cats are partially resistant to the Bubonic Plague but with few to keep the rat population in check, the plague was able to wash over Europe and kill 25,000,000 (25 million) people which was 25% of the European population

The Argument Against Private Corporation Umbilical Cord Blood Storage

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Canadian Blood and Tissue Bank Insception Life Blood claims that 80 life threatening diseases (e.g. various cancers, metabolic diseases, immune diseases etc.) can be treated with umbilical cord blood, and that these diseases have been treated with success for over 2 decades, with over 45,000 pediatric transfusions worldwide. The majority of these transfusions however were accomplished due to public cord blood banks. Physicians can tap into worldwide public registries with nearly 1,000,000 (1 million) donors to find a match for a patient and this service is free. In the setting of leukemia or a genetic defect, physicians would want to use cord blood which is not biologically related to the patient to avoid having the problem continue. The American Academy of Pediatrics states, “private storage of cord blood as biological insurance should be discouraged”. There is a caveat to this however, in the case of a child having a genetic defect, it is recommended that the family save the cord blood of the next child, if another child is born. It is believed that private cord blood corporations leverage fear, uncertainty, and timed pressure to cajole families into deciding to privately store cord blood. Insception Life Blood has stored cord blood from 70,000 infants yet only 14 were released for transplant, a value of 1 in 5000

The First U.S. Presidential Vaccine Mandate

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U.S. President George Washington issued the first presidential vaccine mandate, requiring all soldiers within the continental army to become vaccinated against smallpox on February 5, 1777. 90% of deaths during the American Revolution were due to disease, with smallpox being the most prevalent and difficult pathogen for the military to control. Immunization was viewed as an achievable solution to a virtually insurmountable problem as death from smallpox plunged from 30% to 2% after a becomming immunized. Vaccination, or “variolation” as it was referred to during the era, was achieved by taking a small piece of an active smallpox sore from an infected person, and then introducing it to the person being inoculated via inhalation or by scratching their arm and introducing the virus by touch. The mandate, although initially detested, became highly successful in its pursuit of lowering soldier mortality rate, with 40,000 soldiers vaccinated by the end of 1777

The Lifetime Imprisonment of Typhoid Mary for the Spread of Disease Via Food Preparation

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Mary Mallon was an Irish cook who was imprisoned for life for not washing her hands properly prior to preparing food. Mallon, an immigrant often referred to as “Typhoid Mary” unknowingly spread typhoid as she did not see a need to wash her hands frequently. Everywhere Mallon worked, people became sick or died which eventually lead to her apprehension. In 1882, the German physician Robert Koch had published a paper proving that microorganisms transmit disease. This discovery gave birth to microbiology. In 1907, New York City, United States of America sanitary expert George Soper had tracked the typhoid outbreak down to Mallon. Suspecting Mallon was immune to the disease but still a carrier, Soper pleaded with Mallon to be tested, however Mallon refused, and angrily chased Soper off with a dining fork. After being visited by the health board of New York City, Mallon found herself under quarantine where she remained for 3 years until she swore an affidavit to never work as a cook again. 5 years afterwards, another outbreak of typhoid occurred, this time traced back to Mary Brown, however Brown was Mallon working under an assumed identity. Mallon was quarantined once again, never being let out and dying from pneumonia while imprisoned

Preventable Death Caused by Poor Life Choices

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The World Health Organization has declared that over 60% of deaths worldwide are caused by non-communicable, preventable disease. These diseases include asthma, diabetes, celiac disease, obesity, cardiovascular disease, some cancers, and select mental disorders. These specific illnesses have continued to rise on an upward trajectory throughout the 21st century with no current sign of leveling off. The World Health Organization estimates that these particular disease processes will increase by a rate of 17% within the next decade and that the cost of treatment has the potential ability to bankrupt the entire global healthcare system by the year 2030, a cost which could topple over $47,000,000,000,000 ($47 trillion). To provide frame of reference, most countries have a total output of less than $1,000,000,000,000 ($1 trillion) per year, a measurement which includes every citizen, business, and system designed to stimulate trade and generate income. The main causative factors for the above mentioned diseases are smoking, consumption of alcohol, adherence to a poor diet, and lack of exercise

The Reason Why Genetic Diseases Remain Undetected 

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Every human being carries 10 – 20 faulty mutated genes which if matched with another person who carries the same mutation can cause hereditary disease processes. The reason these genes stay dormant and continue to be passed along without any particular generation noticing is because they have not been synchronized with a copy of that same mutation due to two people coming together to procreate. When this does occur however, the chance of inheriting the disease jumps from 0% to 50% automatically. The human genome is akin to a book with 3,000,000,000 (3 billion) letters, therefore small changes on any level is an immensely complex process and can lead to drastic changes under the right conditions

Quarantine During the Bubonic Plague

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The Bubonic Plague killed off approximately 66% of Europe during the 1350’s with the exception of Milan, Italy and Kraków, Poland. This was due to the people of Milan understanding that quarantining the city was a necessary requirement to help aide in the cessation of disease proliferation. Quarantining was performed despite physicians not properly and/or fully understanding the mechanics of viral and bacterial infection. The citizens of Milan also burned down the home of any person or family suspected of having recently contracted the Black Plague. Kraków was a prominent refuge for people of Jewish descent, as Jewish people were used as scapegoats as to the reason why the Black Plague occurred in Europe in the first place. Due to the fact that Jews frequently bathed as it was not in conflict with their religious beliefs, unlike most others in Europe, the Black Plague was barred from having as great of an effect as it did across the rest of Europe. Milan and Kraków were left virtually unscathed with most of their populations surviving the catastrophic epidemic

The Meaning of Comets and Asteroids Throughout History and the Fallacy of Patterns

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Comets and asteroids meant different things to different cultures throughout history. To the Masai of East Africa they meant famine, to the Zulu of South Africa they meant war, to the Ighat* of West Africa they meant disease, to the Jaga of Sier* they meant smallpox, and to their neighbors the Luba, they foretold the death of a leader. The Chinese tracked and cataloged comets and asteroids starting in 1400 B.C. In Chinese mythology, a 3 tailed comet or asteroid meant calamity for the state, and a 4 tailed comet or asteroid signaled an epidemic was coming. The human being ability to recognize patterns can be a double edged sword as it can lead us to believe a pattern exists when really there is no correlation between the before scenario and after event. This phenomena is referred to as “post hoc ergo propter hoc” which is Latin for “after this, therefore because of this”. Post hoc ergo propter hoc explains a logical fallacy which states “since event Y followed event X, event Y must have been caused by event X.” This theory of thought is often shortened to simply “post hoc fallacy”. An example of this incorrect theory of thought would be “the rooster crows immediately before sunrise; therefore the rooster causes the sun to rise”. Oddly enough, the reason roosters crow at sunrise is because they actually believe they are prompting the sun to rise into the sky due to their limited brain capacity and ability to utilize logic and/or reason

*spelling may be slightly inaccurate for the indigenous people listed

Bisphenol A, Health, and Hormone Disruption

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Bisphenol A is a compound used to manufacture many types of plastic, including bottles, the lining of canned food, household electronics etc. which are known to contain endocrine disrupting properties which can cause hormones to misfire and cause a myriad of diseases processes including diabetes, brain disorders, and cancers. It is suspected that Bisphenol A is the primary cause of early onset puberty in adolescents. Bisphenol A was initially designed to be a hormonal therapy for women, specifically as birth control as it has estrogen analogs, being that it is classified as a “xenoestrogen”. Because it was not quite powerful enough to be used in medicine, it was shelved until scientists figured out that Bisphenol A could make plastics more firm. 93% of Americans test positive for Bisphenol A within their bodies. Bisphenol A is found in thermal paper, which is used to create receipts for customers after the point of purchase. It is been scientifically studied and verified that Bisphenol A is absorbed rapidly by the skin in massive quantities after touching thermal paper, and that it does absorb into the various organ systems of the body