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A new children’s book shows them what real bodies look like

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Photography Avery/Cherise Richards

Today’s youth are bombarded with a continuing stream of toxic details about their bodies. Suggestions to cover flaws are in every single place, from social media to altered celebrity silhouettes and the rise of ads featuring artificial people. The “if you want it, buy it” culture offers a normal body and appearance before most young people learn proper body functions. Body awareness and, more broadly, health literacy are invaluable as we age. However, as schools, health clinics and other providers of essential information change into battlegrounds, ensuring that each one people, especially children, have the resources they need to grasp their bodies becomes an increasing number of difficult.

Nancy Redd, best-selling creator, health journalist, TV host and mother of two says current attempts to politicize accurate health information are impacting our children’s knowledge of how their bodies work, shaping their self-esteem and contributing to reduced health literacy in maturity. (The data confirms this.) Her last work, goals to offer a visible guide for young adults of all genders.

Even though she graduated from Harvard with a level in women’s studies, she is crowned Miss Virginia in 2003 and competing within the Miss America pageantRedd was not free from negative bodily feelings. “I grew up with a whole lot of body shame. I used to be a lady living within the south where your vagina was like “hoo-ha” and you only didn’t speak about anything. There wasn’t a whole lot of information available,” she says, reflecting on how a lack of awareness shaped her relationship together with her body.

She wrote the book to supply an image-based “playbook” to assist young people change into acquainted with their bodies during adolescence and beyond. Chapters cover lighter topics and activities, from the function of the skin, the most important organ, to the impact of mental health on bathing and in search of help.

“I would like children to know the names of all parts of the body, whether it is the septum or the scrotum,” she says. “I want people to talk about discharge the same way they talk about a runny nose – just matter-of-factly.” Some lessons are rarely discussed aloud, equivalent to the variability of sizes and appearances of healthy genitalia, what it means to be intersex, and an unbiased explanation of gender identity. Others, equivalent to tips on how to perform a breast or testicular examination, several types of discharge and descriptions of medical conditions, e.g premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), can support young people after they are too embarrassed to begin a conversation.

“It starts with rooting out shame from the very beginning and being as direct and informative as possible,” she says, noting the importance of teaching young people about many conditions, from benign ones like freckles to life-threatening ones like cancer , manifests itself in another way depending on the complexion.

Redd remembers how difficult it was to make use of health resources for diagnostic purposes after they didn’t look like her body. To be sure that the photos were representative, she commissioned a photographer for the web site , which covers a wide range of topics based on body size, gender and race, and rejects the “perfect body” in favor of an comprehensible one.

The handbook supports young people in developing body skills and agency and prepares them to advertise themselves in sexuality, health care and life.

“If only we could improve body education, health literacy is so low given the amount of information we have access to, and it’s because people are scared,” he says, noting that he wants everyone to talked truthfully with their doctors about pain and confusion without worrying about being judged. “Providing authenticity in a safe, medically accurate environment helps us prepare to talk honestly about pain and confusion without fear of judgment.”

The impact of that is immeasurable in Black families where medical interactions have left a scar on the community. Redd hopes to encourage open, intergenerational and non-judgmental conversations between parents and kids. In conjunction with the agency, he sees these exchanges as tools to eliminate health disparities by including diverse representation and medically relevant information.

“Body neutralization” away from good/bad binaries starts with talking to our kids in easy language. “When kids come to you with their innocent questions, respond with understanding and see where it leads,” Redd says. “If more people tried to do this, you would be amazed at the child’s reaction and how we can all act in a more harmonious community.”

This article was originally published on : www.essence.com
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Health and Wellness

Scurvy is largely a historical disease, but there are signs it is making a comeback

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Scurvy is often considered a historical disease, evoking images of sailors on long sea voyages affected by a lack of fresh vegatables and fruits.

However, doctors in developed countries, including Australian doctors, have recently reported treating cases of scurvy reported their findings today within the diary BMJ Case Reports.

What is scurvy?

Scurvy is a disease brought on by a severe deficiency of vitamin C (ascorbic acid), which is mandatory for the production of collagen. This protein helps maintain the health of skin, blood vessels, bones and connective tissue.

Without enough vitamin C, the body cannot properly regenerate tissues, heal wounds or fight infections. This can result in a row symptoms including:

  • fatigue and weakness
  • swollen, bleeding gums or loose teeth
  • pain and tenderness in joints and muscles
  • bruises easily
  • dry, rough or discolored skin (reddish or purple spots brought on by bleeding under the skin)
  • cuts and wounds take longer to heal
  • anemia (lack of red blood cells resulting in further fatigue and weakness)
  • increased susceptibility to infections.

This has affected sailors up to now

There was scurvy common from the fifteenth to 18th centuries, when naval sailors and other explorers lived on rations or went for long periods without fresh food. You can have heard about a number of the milestones within the history of this disease:

  • within the years 1497-1499Vasco da Gama’s crew he suffered seriously from scurvy during an expedition to India, as a results of which a large a part of the crew died

  • from the sixteenth to the 18th centuryscurvy spread amongst European navies and explorers, affecting notable figures corresponding to Ferdinand Magellan and Sir Francis Drake. It was considered certainly one of the best threats to the health of sailors during long voyages

  • in 1747British naval surgeon James Lind He is believed to have conducted certainly one of the primary clinical trials to indicate that citrus fruits could prevent and treat scurvy. However, it took several a long time before his discoveries were widely implemented

  • in 1795the British Royal Navy officially adopted the practice of giving sailors lemon or lime juicedramatically reducing the variety of cases of scurvy.

Evidence of re-emergence of scurvy

In a latest case report, doctors from Western Australia reported treatment of a middle-aged man with this disease. In a separate case report, doctors in Canada reported treats a 65-year-old woman.

There is loads of vitamin C in our food, but some people still do not get enough of it.
Rebecca Kate/Pexels

Both patients had leg weakness and broken skin, although doctors didn’t initially consider scurvy. This was based on premise that there is a lot of vitamin C in our modern food, so deficiencies shouldn’t occur.

In each cases, treatment with high doses of vitamin C (1,000 mg day by day for no less than seven days) resulted in symptom relief and eventual complete recovery.

The authors of each case reports fear that untreated scurvy may result in inflammation of blood vessels (vasculitis) and potentially cause fatal bleeding.

Last yr, a large hospital in New South Wales undertook: chart reviewduring which patient records are reviewed to reply research questions.

Vitamin C deficiency has been found to be common. More than 50% of patients whose vitamin C levels were tested were either moderately deficient (29.9%) or severely deficient (24.5%). Deficiencies were more common in patients from rural areas and lower socioeconomic status.

Now they are doctors he insisted consider vitamin C deficiency and scurvy as a potential diagnosis and seek support from a dietitian.

Why might scurvy come back?

Obtaining and consuming nutritious foods that contain enough vitamin C is unfortunately a problem is still a problem for some people. Factors that increase the chance of vitamin C deficiency include:

  • bad weight loss plan. People on restricted diets – as a result of poverty, food insecurity or dietary decisions – might not be enough vitamin C. This also applies to individuals who rely heavily on processed, nutrient-poor foods relatively than fresh produce

  • food deserts. In areas where access to fresh, inexpensive vegatables and fruits is limited (often called food deserts), people can inadvertently suffer from vitamin C deficiency. In some parts of developing countries, corresponding to India, lack of access to fresh food is a problem considered a risk for scurvy

  • cost of living crisis. With more people is unable to pay for fresh producePeople who limit their fruit and vegetable intake may experience nutrient deficiencies, including scurvy

A couple buys peppers at the supermarket
Peppers are a good source of vitamin C, but they are not low-cost.
Pexels/Jack Sparrow
  • Weight loss procedures and medications. Restricted food intake as a result of weight reduction surgery or weight reduction medications may result in nutrient deficienciesas on this one case report of scurvy from Denmark

  • mental illnesses and eating disorders. Conditions corresponding to depression and anorexia nervosa can result in severely restrictive diets, increasing the chance of scurvy, e.g. case report as of 2020 in Canada

  • insulation. Older people, especially those living alone or in nursing homes, can have this difficulty preparing balanced meals with the suitable amount of vitamin C

  • specific diseases. People with digestive disorders, malabsorption disorders, or on restrictive medical diets (as a result of severe allergies or intolerances) may develop scurvy if: is unable to soak up or devour enough vitamin C.

How much vitamin C do we want?

Australian Dietary Guidelines recommend adults devour 45 mg of vitamin C (more if pregnant or breastfeeding) every day. This is about as much as you’ll find in half an orange or half a cup of strawberries.

When there is more vitamin C digested than required, the surplus is excreted from the body within the urine.

Symptoms of scurvy may appear inside a month of consuming lower than 10 mg of vitamin C day by day.

Eating foods wealthy in vitamin C – corresponding to oranges, strawberries, kiwi, plums, pineapple, mango, peppers, broccoli and Brussels sprouts – may improve symptoms inside a few weeks.

Vitamin C is also available as a complement if there are the explanation why your dietary intake could also be in danger. Typically, supplements contain 1000 mg per tablet, a recommended upper limit day by day intake of vitamin C is 2000 mg.

This article was originally published on : theconversation.com
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Health and Wellness

WATCH: Paint the polls black – Fr. Al Sharpton – Essence

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“; } }); // Drag and scroll functionality const playlistContainer = document.getElementById(‘playlist’); let isDown = false; let startY; let scrollTop; playlistContainer.addEventListener(‘mousedown’, (e) => { isDown = true; playlistContainer.classList.add(‘active’); startY = e.pageY – playlistContainer.offsetTop = playlistContainer.addEventListener(‘mouseleave’; playlistContainer.classList.remove(‘active’); playlistContainer.addEventListener(‘mouseup’, () => { isDown = false; playlistContainer.classList.remove(‘active’); }); mousemove’, (e) => { if (!isDown) return; e.preventDefault(); const y = e.pageY – playlistContainer.offsetTop; const walk = (y – startY) * 3; .scrollTop = scrollTop – walk; }); } } if (” !== ‘efoc24’) { // Check DoubleVerify Quality Targeting signals before rendering the player if ( ‘unknown’ !== typeof PQ ) { PQ.cmd. push(function() { // If DVQT signals are not available after 500 ms, render the player anyway. const timeout_id = setTimeout( jwPlayerRender, 500 ); // Get “Authentic Direct” signals. 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This article was originally published on : www.essence.com
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Health and Wellness

The goal of this new children’s program is to promote diversity in medicine

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A Black medical student-turned-content creator has created a new animated children’s show to encourage diverse youth interested in medicine.

Joel Bervell stays well-known on the Internet as a “medical myth buster.” Continuing her mission to raise diversity in medicine, she’s going to now accomplish that together with her new children’s show.

Bervell goals to teach children about opportunities in the medical field while encouraging them to pursue this profession path. In September, Bervell shared on social media his intentions for the project, in addition to the Kickstarter fundraiser.

“I’m creating an animated digital television show to inspire the next generation of doctors, and I need your help,” the Ghanaian-American influencer explained. “For the past few years, I actually have been working on a project that I wish I had after I was growing up: *The Doctor Is In!* It is a mixed live-action/animated series for youngsters ages 3-5 in which Leland, a 5-year-old boy who he loves going to the doctor’s office, and I explore medical topics with Sammie’s stethoscope, Zada’s x-ray, and Otto’s bag.

The series will deal with a five-year-old black boy named Little Leland. His curiosity about medicine will lead him to discover new features of the sphere, including infections, body parts, and more. The show will teach science through animation and mixed reality to provide children of all backgrounds with an academic yet engaging program.

Other characters also appear in the series, comparable to “Zada” – the X-ray machine, “Sammie” – the stethoscope, and “Otto” – the doctor’s bag. Together they assist Little Leland learn more concerning the body and health in general.

The program hopes to help address the systemic problem of diversity in the medical field. Association of American Medical Colleges 2022 Physician Specialty Data Report revealed that only 5.7% of physicians discover as black. Although the number of black medical students has also increased, they still constitute only 10% of the overall cohort in the US.

Bervell is currently raising money on Kickstarter to produce the series. So far this has been the case he reached out 20% of its $60,000 goal, with a deadline of October thirty first.


This article was originally published on : www.blackenterprise.com
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