Emotions and Cancer

The want to be immortal,

My fate is not certain.

The desire for the "Forever",

My end is not near.

The aspiration to multiply,

I spread my spy.

The ambition to last,

Makes me the outcast.

The dream to reach,

Has left me no peace.

The hope to win,

Not sparing my kin,

Leaves me remorse.

I am the crooked,

I am the wicked,

I am - the cancer cell!

This is a self written verse, describes the complexities of emotions and the plethora of illness that can be caused when we either neglect our emotional needs, suppress it or over express it! Phew!!The world goes around and around emotions...Love, dating, breakups, marriages, children, friends, family, job, fun, sex, friends, heartbreaks, betrayals, dejection,etc are very very powerful emotions or situations which we come across on a daily basis. The emotions create experiences which shape our personalities. I would like to research what are the impact of the so called negative emotions on cell cycle, aging, mitosis,etc. I believe that cancer in a form of manifestation of negative energy or any kind of resentment that we have in us. It could be a failed marriage, unhappy family, bad parenting, break ups, annoying people, I hate my job and so on and so forth. The idea of preventive medicine is to detect any cause which can measure conditions which predispose a disease. I want to find tools, methods or systems to map out emotional intelligence, emotional make up and emotional personality of a person and relate it to types of diseases that they suffer. For example, angry people have high blood pressure. Now no doctor will ever write Rx anger management. It is essential from public health practitioners point of view that we view certain varieties of cancer as built on repressed emotions and seriously start directing programs and research in that aspect!

Geriatric Health

This blog is about my experiences of working as a Community/Preventive medicine intern at Seth G.S. Medical and K.E.M. Hospital. Three times a week we have a geriatric OPD at Naigaon which is an area adjacent to the hospital. The idea is to give care to old age patients in the outpatient department.

When I entered that room on my first day, I was shocked. Cobwebs, broken tube lights,non working fans, dusty tables, rocking chairs,rusty window panes, foul smelling air and so on. But what shocked me even more was the queue of people waiting outside the room for medications for chronic conditions like blood pressure, diabetes, backache, etc. As I entered the room, their brows lit up in anticipation that they shall be "cured" of their illness while others were just happy that they shall receive their free quota of medications.

In a narrow span of 1 hour, a team of 4 doctors quickly rushed over 20 patients!!!! Overwhelming, isn't it? Now you may wonder how did you see all those patients so quickly? The answer is the sad system of prescribing medicines and quickly writing a prescription of tablets and pushing it down the gullet of the old age patients.

Regardless to say we obviously didn't care for the failing kidneys or deteriorating depression because we are doctors who are very busy. But my question is, Can we substitute heath with pills? Can we bring back the mental peace in the minds of depressed by antidepressants? Can we control the blood pressure and the failing hearts by popping up losartan? Is it ethical? Or listening to a patients is just too much what they are asking for?

The answer is simple.

As physicians we commit to serve our patients and devote ourselves to the fullest to save lives and protect life. If we can achieve our goals just by talking or listening to patients instead of intoxicating them with unnecessary medications and tests, we are truly dedicating ourselves to the service of mankind. We have unfortunately befriended the pharmaceutical industry to such an extent that now patient care is replaced by pills and prescriptions, healing is replaced by treating, caring is replaced by curing. In true sense of it, if we all physicians lend an ear to our patients, address their problems as emotional symptoms rather than physical entities, we can reduce the number of visits at the same time increase the compliance.

The lady in this picture is facing her back reminding me of how we choose to face back at real problems and prefer to label them with fancy medical terms!

On My Way to Work...

I step out of the house and walk towards the main road to board my morning matatu (local public transporation in Kenya). I am prepared for work but unprepared for the unavoidable road sightings that await me. My heart often skips a beat or two as I stare out the matatu window in anticipation of what I am about to witness yet again.

I watch as men and women of all ages head towards their destination. The most fortunate are driving or been driven in their air conditioned automobiles, the more fortunate silently utter prayers of safety on the rickety public transportation while the least fortunate line the sidewalks trekking (barefoot in some cases) to their destination. I pay the most attention to those people on the sidewalks. I watch them closely, trying hard to study their faces and I wonder about the source of their strength; the how’s and why’s they wake up every morning to continue their journeys on these side walks. For some people I see a determination with every step, with the hope of a better tomorrow. Others cannot hide a lost hope; they seem to have walked too far to turn around and without much strength to walk any further but knowing fully well that they cannot remain still. There are those who remain still of course and just seat on the sidewalks begging for alms; handicapped or not.

I continue to wonder about these people, about their situation and that of generations to come. The condition reinforces a harsh fact about life which can be summed up in one word, “unfair.” Growing up in Nigeria, I would hear the elderly remark that, "fingers are not equal" to emphasize this brutal fact of life. Although we cannot out-live life itself, we can outlive such principles of life. I believe that this is where we, as public health officials play a major role; to fight for the well-being of those people who suffer the unkind consequences of life’s unfairness. During my first year at the school of public health, I kept hearing the phrase “reduce inequity” almost everywhere from professors and students alike. And I hope that we will continue to work hard to translate this phrase into actions that can be felt by the unfortunate, not only in Kenya but across the globe.

Bolanle Bukoye

ScM Candidate, 2010

Global Health & Population

Harvard School of Public Health

bolanlebukoye@gmail.com

Fighting Sex Trafficking in Central America: A student's summer experience

Photo of me with the Viceminister of Governance and Police, Ana Durán
in her office in San Jose, Costa Rica

I am excited to write my first post for the HSPH eConnection blog. I am going into my second year of the ScM program in Society, Human Development, and Health and had the amazing opportunity to travel to Central America this summer to meet with organizations who are helping women and girls who have been sexually exploited or trafficked into sex work. The goal was to understand what data exists on the prevalence of this problem, the activities being done to combat it, and improve our understanding of the age and vulnerabilities of victims. The final product? A feasibility assessment to be submitted to the US Department of State, Global Trafficking in Persons Office. (This is just one exploratory aspect of a larger multi-regional study into sex trafficking vulnerabilities around the globe).

I began my 4-week journey at a small non-profit on the outskirts of Managua, Nicaragua, House of Hope (a.k.a. Casa Esperanza). It is a faith-based organization that houses families of women and children, as well as girls who have been involved with sex work. Some entered sex work voluntarily, others were coerced or forced by neighbors, strangers, even their own family. I wrote a few posts on my experience staying, living, and meeting the women and girls with incredible stories at House of Hope in my public health blog, Veritas Health. Check out my posts if you are interested in learning more about them.

House of Hope relies primarily on donations from churches and individuals to keep their programs running. They finance education for the children of women who live at and participate in House of Hope activities (including the weekly card-making), which includes buying uniforms and school supplies and paying monthly school fees. Health care is provided to women that reside at House of Hope. Additionally, throughout the year House of Hope has teams of people who come (mostly from the US) to provide counseling, do construction, and provided needed medical services (such as screening for infectious and chronic diseases).

The next few weeks were spent interviewing and visiting organizations that were working in the area of trafficking and/or sexual exploitation of women and girls. I was able to speak with leaders at the International Organization for Migration in Nicaragua and Costa Rica, the Viceminister of Governance and Police of Costa Rica, US Embassy officials, as well as directors of other non-profits of varying sizes, including Grethel Lopez M. at Casa Alianza in Managua and Mariliana Morales Berries founder of Fundación Rahab in San Jose.

What amazed me most about my trip was the bright, joyful spirit of many of the girls and women that I met. Nearly all of them had been through severe trauma (physical abuse, incest, rape) and been brought up in such difficult circumstances, yet they show signs of hope in their future. The education and vocational training aspects of the organizations, and also the spiritual and emotional healing, seemed to inspire this positive perspective. This is not to say there weren't many difficulties for the organizations working with these women and girls -- it is not easy to build trust, when trust has been broken over and over, and to provide a sense of security, when violence and violation have been a fact of life.

The experience also taught me about self-determination and tested my courage. I was nervous that my Spanish (which I hadn't spoken in about 2 years) would not be sufficient for meeting with these high-level executives who, for the most part, spoke little or no English. I also was concerned that I would have trouble getting people to sit down and speak with me. Thankfully, my supervisor (SHDH Professor Jay Silverman) gave me some great advice and helped me prepare for my trip. Nonetheless I had to dot the i's and cross the t's myself. It took some time to muster up the courage to cold call the organizations from my lodging in Managua and San Jose. But each time I did, I was reassured -- meeting after meeting was scheduled, without fail.

I returned at the end of June, excited to share all that I had learned and experienced with the rest of my team (this project is part of Jay Silverman's work on sex trafficking with the US DOS) and family. My time at House of Hope will make its way into my presentation on sex trafficking, violence victimization, and condom use at the APHA Anual Meeting this November. Notes and data that I collected will be shared with the US DOS in a feasibility assessment that I have already begun. Finally, I will be developing an Access database for one of the NGOs I met with in San Jose in order to transition them from paper records to a digital database.

There is so much more I could write about, but this will have to do for now. If you have questions or want to know more about my experience feel free to contact me at email address below.

Also, if you would like to write about your summer practicum or employment let us know!

Katelyn Mack
ScM Candidate
Society, Human Development, and Health
Co-Editor in Chief, The Public Health eConnection
kmack@hsph.harvard.edu

Greetings!

Greetings from Aamchi Mumbai!
My name is Dr. Namrata Bagaria. I have graduated from med school in February this year. This blog is a little introduction about me and about what I am doing this summer.

Summers in the USA are essentially monsoon time in Mumbai. It rains and pours. A typical Mumbaite like me goes for a walk at Marine Drive and enjoys long conversations by the sea side with friends. Add to that some hot coffee and getting drenched by the waves. The monsoons also bring a sentiment of irritation because of traffic jams and potholes. This summer I mainly spent my time brushing up my writing skills. I also took a trip to New Delhi, the Capital of India to meet my extended family and friends and to wish them a adieu before I leave for the US of A for my higher studies.

A little about me-
At HSPH I will be pursuing an MPH in Family and Community Health. I will be taking electives in Women's Health and I look forward to completing the Women, Gender and Health and the Maternal and Child Health certificates. I intend to continue at HSPH for a DPH in SHDH with a major in WGH and a minor in MCH.

Namrata Bagaria
MPH Student
Family and Community Health

[letter from the editor]

Greetings HSPH Community!

In 2004, a college friend invited me to become one of the first Carls to join the small facebook community thriving online. Five years later, the world and your Mother are on facebook—a virtual society that boasts of more than 250 million people. And now, in this same digital world, we can even follow Presidential thoughts by the minute through twitter, and are loaded with more online news than you could shake a DAG at. Oh, and let’s not forget good ol’ youtube—watching your favorite comedian at two in the morning could not be made easier. Regardless of where you are on the planet, the internet is simply changing the way we communicate, socialize, see, hear, and think.

It’s literally the world at your fingertips.

As I was reflecting on my first year here at HSPH, amid the hustle and bustle of graduate life, I had the suspicious feeling that something was glaringly missing in my experience. From discussions with my fellow classmates and friends, we came to realize that we were missing that good old fashion debate outside of class on whether Obama’s health care plan would really fly, or that conversation on what people think really went down during the Gates-Crowley exchange. We were missing the chance to share our experiences as students hopping across the globe—learning about health, promoting health, and living health. We were missing that critical dialogue with people outside of our inner circle—with whom we eat lunch and dinner with everyday, compare SAS code with for the same course, and with whom we share the same political views. So, I thought, why not take it to this so-called free “world at your fingertips?”

Hence, the eConnections blog was birthed. The Student Advisory Committee for the Health Communications Concentration (SAC-HCC) has developed this space to provide you—members of the HSPH community—a platform to voice perspectives on public health topics, experiences at HSPH, internships, opinions on public health news events and policy, and to creatively use media (through video, podcasts, photos, music, and digital art) to promote health. We believe promoting health communication is critical to progress in the health arena, and we believe this virtual exchange will be an essential part of the HSPH experience.

So here it is. Your spot in the digital world to voice your opinions. To be real. Honest. And upfront. With friends, allies, opponents, and strangers. If not now, when?

Amenah A. Babar, MPH

SD Student

Society, Human Development, and Health

Co-Editor in Chief

[boston eyes]