Health Science

How one veteran empowered a generation of soldiers to heal from PTSD After serving in Rwanda during the 1994 genocide and civil war, Lieutenant Colonel Stéphane Grenier returned home haunted by his experiences. Facing post-traumatic stress disorder and an archaic establishment, he spent ten years confronting--and changing--the military mental health system from within. Coining the term "Operational Stress Injury" to allow the military to see mental injury in the same light as a physical wound, he founded the Operational Stress Injury Social Support program that provides help for mentally injured soldiers and veterans. Since retiring from the military in 2012, his ground breaking approach has been adopted by civilian society. Through his social enterprise Mental Health Innovations, Grenier delivers his direct "walk the talk" method to improve mental well being in government and business.

The ceasing of a member's ability to reason, function and respond is a family tragedy. With major increases in dementia predicted for the coming decade, a book like Dementia and Alzheimer's is needed more than ever to cut through clutter. It explains governmental and private entities' benefit programs for dementia patients, and how government and insurers do and should respond, while integrating sophisticated medical tactics with vital family cooperative responses to their loved one's mental health crisis.

Suicide is a serious problem, hallmarked by complexity and ranked as a leading cause of death worldwide. International studies of suicide epidemiology show that suicide rates are generally greater in males than females and increase with age, with the elderly having the highest suicide rates (WHO, 2002). The prevention of suicide is, in part, contingent on the ability to identify individuals and populations at high risk and to offer prompt, effective interventions. However, evidence exists that suicidal individuals remain commonly undetected, rendering appropriate intervention unlikely. This encyclopedia presents important research on suicide.

This book examines the health outcomes and risk factors that gender and sexual minority groups face while simultaneously providing evidence-based clinical recommendations and resources for meeting their health needs. Drawing from leading scholars and practitioners of LGBT health, this holistic, centralized text synthesizes epidemiologic, medical, psychological, sociological, and public health research related to the origins of, current state of, and ways to improve LGBT health. The award-winning editors have assembled LGBT health experts who have conducted extensive research into diverse areas of LGBT health. Sections guide the reader through the entire spectrum of LGBT health, from the historical roots of LGBT health research all the way to modern, emerging lines of inquiry to improve health among diverse gender and sexual minority groups. Specific groundbreaking coverage includes such populations as LGBT veterans; reproductive health and parenting; sexual minority persons living with chronic illness and disability, and more. This encompassing volume serves as a go-to reference, a call to action, and a guide for anyone involved in researching and improving the health of LGBT populations.

Non-communicable diseases are currently the leading cause of mortality in the world. It is noteworthy that many cases of these complex diseases can be prevented through the consumption of a healthy diet. The Mediterranean diet (MD) is frequently considered as the dietary elixir that is effective in reducing the risk of non-communicable diseases and in improving longevity. In Chapter One, the authors review studies that have revealed interactions between MD and specific genetic variants that effectively reduce the risk of complex diseases. In Chapter Two, the Mediterranean diet in relation to its role in the prevention and management of cardiovascular disease is discussed. Chapter Three focuses on the nutrient and phytochemical profile of the Mediterranean diet and its effectiveness in the prevention and management cancer with details on mechanisms of actions. Chapter Four profiles the chemical characteristics and nutritive value of seafood caught in the Ionian Sea that is of high commercial interest in Mediterranean countries. To conclude, Chapter Five discusses the relationship of several different Mediterranean dietary patterns to the incidence of metabolic, cardio-vascular (including stroke), and the most frequent cancers. Beside the expected importance of plant foods and the necessary moderation of animal foods, this comparison unravels the peculiar effect of specific foods, either beneficial foods such as whole grains and olive oil, or detrimental foods such as energy-dense and nutrient-poor foods.

Pediatric Collections offers what you need to know - original, focused research in a snapshot approach. The opioid crisis, fueled by too many prescriptions and too little oversight, has become far more serious than some of the other epidemics the country has faced. The articles in this collection focus on the manifestations of the opioid epidemic in children and adolescents, such as the increased rate of neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS), teens increased risk of opioid abuse after legitimate opioid use, and the hopeful evidence that sports and exercise participation by adolescents lowers their risk of abusing opioids or heroin. This collection of timely AAP journal articles, blog posts, and policy explores the risks and possible solutions. The collection is structured with the articles grouped under these major topic headings: Exposure Prescribed Use and Misuse Treatment and Prevention

Born into a tenant farming family in North Carolina in 1946, Mary Louise, Mary Ann, Mary Alice, and Mary Catherine were medical miracles. Annie Mae Fultz, a Black-Cherokee woman who lost her ability to hear and speak in childhood, became the mother of America's first surviving set of identical quadruplets. They were instant celebrities. Their White doctor named them after his own family members. He sold the rights to use the sisters for marketing purposes to the highest-bidding formula company. The girls lived in poverty, while Pet Milk's profits from a previously untapped market of Black families skyrocketed. Over half a century later, baby formula is a seventy-billion-dollar industry and Black mothers have the lowest breastfeeding rates in the country. Since slavery, legal, political, and societal factors have routinely denied Black women the ability to choose how to feed their babies. In Skimmed, Andrea Freeman tells the riveting story of the Fultz quadruplets while uncovering how feeding America's youngest citizens is awash in social, legal, and cultural inequalities. This book highlights the making of a modern public health crisis, the four extraordinary girls whose stories encapsulate a nationwide injustice, and how we can fight for a healthier future.