Name: Wilnise, aka "Wilnise Jasmin"
Email:
Web Site: http://www.globalpulsejournal.com
Bio: Wilnise Jasmin is a third year attending the American University of Antigua College of Medicine. She is a graduate of Barnard College, Columbia University where she studied Biology concentrating in plant science. She was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY and is interested in reducing health disparities found there. She has gained knowledge of the many different aspects concerning this issue by participating in New York City Mayor’s Office Health Literacy Fellowship, the Mentoring Minority Medical Students Advisory Committee in Mentoring in Medicine, Inc., the steering committee for the Black Women's Health Symposium and shares this knowledge through her writings.
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- An undated file picture taken with electronic microscope shows EHEC bacteria (enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli) in Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research in Brunswick. The deadliest outbreak of its type on record has so far killed 23 people — 22 in Germany and one in Sweden. Striking suddenly in the middle of a hot and sunny May, the crisis has doctors struggling to explain the outbreak and public health authorities in one of Europe’s most famously organised countries stumped as to how to manage it and how to stop it happening again. REUTERS/Manfred Rohde/Helmholtz-Zentrum fur Infektionsforschung (HZI)/Handout/Files
Vinegar’s Potential to Save Lives in Low-Income Countries
December 23rd, 2011Did you know that cervical cancer is the second most common cancer in women worldwide? Cervical cancer is newly diagnosed in 500,000 women 
and kills 250.000 women every year. Last year, the World Health Organization endorsed an inexpensive procedure called, VIA/cryo, to detect and treat precancerous lesions of the cervix. This procedure was developed by specialists at Johns Hopkins Medical School in Maryland 20 years ago. VIA/cryo stands for visualization of the cervix with acetic acid (vinegar) and treatment with cryotherapy and it involves applying vinegar onto the cervix. If any precancerous lesions are present, the vinegar causes them to turn white, making them easier to distinguish form the healthy parts of the cervix. Carbon dioxide is then used to freeze a metal probe, which is then applied to the lesion to freeze it off.
The Pap smear is the most widely known method of screening cervical cancer, but pathologists are needed to diagnose precancerous cells from the smear samples. Many low-income countries lack the resources to interpret the results of the smear and have to outsource this test, leading to delays in making a diagnosis. These delays are problematic for women who must travel from distant areas to get screened.
This newly approved procedure avoids the delay found with Pap smears and uses supplies that are readily available. Another added bonus is that it can be performed by trained nurses and it requires only one office visit.
The Global Pulse’s Fall Issue features one medical student’s experience in implementing a cervical cancer screening program in Haiti. To read her account, click here.
Diabetes Prevalence Now Over 300 Million Worldwide
June 27th, 2011
From Washington D.C.'s Department of Health Page
According to a recent study, the estimated number of people living with Diabetes is now at 347 million worldwide. This figure shows that the prevalence of this chronic condition has doubled since 1980. With 2.7 million participants, this study was the largest of its kind for diabetes. It was led by Majid Ezzati, from Britain’s Imperial College London, and Goodarz Danaei from the Harvard School of Public Health and the results were published in the Lancet. Diabetes is a progressive condition that can affect all the organ systems of the body leading to serious complications like heart disease, stroke, kidney failure, nerve damage, and blindness. It is as a metabolic ailment in which the body fails to adequately move sugar from the blood stream into tissues. Diabetes comes in two forms. Type 1 is an autoimmune disease that is usually acquired in childhood to early adulthood and requires the person with type I to take insulin for their rest of their life in order to survive. Type 2 accounts for 90 percent of diabetic cases and is more common to develop after the age of 25, even though it is becoming more common for those younger than 25 to develop the metabolic disease. It is controlled by insulin, oral medication and, for some people, it can be controlled with weight loss and exercise.
E. coli Outbreak in Germany
June 19th, 2011
Food Safety News recently published an article about the lessons learned from the E. coli O104:H4 outbreak in Germany that began on May 1st and is the deadliest in recorded history. The culprit behind this outbreak is believed to be bean and seed sprouts. This article discusses the need for closer surveillance on growing fruits and vegetables.
Bright Hope for Shortening the Length of Treatment for Latent TB
May 19th, 2011
The results of a ten year study called the Prevent TB trial showed that a once weekly dose of rifapentine and isoniazid for 3 months was just as effective as the current standard treatment regimen consisting of daily doses of isoniazid taken for 9 months in individuals with latent TB infections who have an increased risk of progressing to active TB infection. This shorter regimen required 12 doses over 3 months compared to the standard regimen of 270 doses over 9 months. I am pretty sure this greatly contributed to the higher adherence rate of the new regimen, 82% compared to 69% of the standard therapy. Since the results of this study are only applicable to countries that have low to medium TB incidence and one-third of the world’s total population are infected with TB, I am looking forward to see if this regimen will have a great impact in countries with high TB Incidence.
For more information:
TBTC Study 26: Weekly Rifapentine+INH for 3 mo. vs. Daily INH for 9 mo. for the Treatment of LTBI
Glutamate Poisoning is a New Candidate Mechanism for Beta Cell Destruction in Diabetes
February 28th, 2011The latest issue of The Journal of Biological Chemistry reports a surprising new mechanism of beta cell destruction. Beta cells are the cells in the pancreas responsible for producing the insulin needed to keep the body’s blood glucose levels within a normal range by decreasing excess levels of glucose throughout the day; their destruction is a core defect in Diabetes. Alpha cells are also found in the pancreas and also play a role in keeping the blood glucose levels normal by producing glucagon. Glucagon counteracts the action of insulin by raising the blood glucose levels when glucose levels fall below the normal range. Alpha cells also secrete another substance, glutamate, which acts as a signaling molecule in both the pancreas and brain. The results of this study showed that glutamate is toxic to the beta cell. The study also found the presence of a key regulator of glutamate concentration near the beta cells called the glial glutamate transporter 1 (GLT1). GLT1 is located on the plasma membrane of beta cells and is integral in protecting the beta cells from the toxic effects of glutamate. The authors are presently working on developing a diagnostic test for glutamate toxicity in the pancreas. The hope is to eventually develop an intervention that will slow or completely stop the further destruction of beta cells in diabetic patients. This study was a collaborative effort between researchers in Milan, Italy and the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio, TX.
The Practice of Female Genital Mutilation Across the Globe
September 6th, 2010The World Health Organization (WHO) classifies female genital mutilation (FGM) into four types, ranging from partial to total removal of the 
external female genitalia. The first type is known as clitoridectomy and involves the partial or total removal of the clitoris. The second type is referred to as excision and involves the partial or total removal of the clitoris, labia minora, with or without the excision of the labia majora. The third type is called infibulation, requiring the narrowing of the vaginal opening through the creation of a covering seal by cutting and repositioning the inner or outer labia with or without removal of the clitoris. The fourth type has no official designation and involves all other harmful procedures to the female genitalia for non-medical purposes such as pricking, piercing, incising, scraping and cauterizing the genital area.
It is estimated that about 140 million women worldwide have been subjected to FGM and a further two million are at risk every year. FGM takes place in about 40 countries (28 of them in Africa) such as Egypt, Democratic Republic of Congo, Yemen, Kurdistan, the United States, Saudi Arabia, Australia and Canada.
The procedure is not limited to a single religion and is heavily influenced by the desire to conform to tradition. Many girls are compliant with the procedure because they believe they will be outcasts if they are not circumcised. In Sudan for example, it is prevalent in Muslim communities while in Kenya, it is common among Christians. Neither the Qu’ran nor the Bible endorse the practice. FGM predates both the Qu’ran and the Bible and possibly Judaism, appearing in the 2nd century BC.
Typically, it is the parents of girls aged 5-14 who initiate the FGM process because they believe that it will preserve virginity, communicate status, and even protect them from rape. Despite the medical implications involved, many mothers believe that they are doing the best for their daughters. It is also believed that FGM will decrease sexual desire in women, increase male pleasure during intercourse and maintain fidelity within a marriage.
The procedure is often done on the pretense that the child will be receiving a special gift, going on a vacation or will be “becoming a woman”. A young girl would visit a trusted older female relative who lacks medical training in a different town or distant village. One day during that visit, she would be taken to a location where she would be restrained by adults who would hold her down to the ground as she endures the extremely painful procedure that is carried out using a knife or some other cutting tool. In some cases, instruments such as tin can lids are used to cut and thorns are used to stitch the victims up. Only in rare cases is this carried out with anesthetic or in a clinical environment.
Microbicide Effective in Preventing HIV Infection
July 20th, 2010
Figure 1.
For the first time in the 15 year-long search for an HIV prevention method that women can control, a vaginal microbicide gel called Viread has been shown to decrease the risk of HIV infection by as much as 54%. Even though the microbicide does not prevent transmission in every woman who uses it, this is the first promising tool that women are able to use without the cooperation of the male partner. This is an important consideration most of the new HIV infections in women living in Africa were acquired through forced sex with infected men who refuse to wear condoms. Women and girls represent 60 percent of the 22 million people infected with HIV living in Africa.
Antibodies Effective Against the AIDS Virus
July 9th, 2010Researchers at the Vaccine Research Center at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases have identified three naturally occurring monoclonal antibodies that are able to kill 91% of strains of the HIV virus. One of these antibodies, named VRC01, has a high affinity for the virus and works by mimicking the HIV receptor. This discovery makes the development of an effective vaccine against the virus a real possibility.
Spanish Government Teams up with Bill Gates and Carlos Slim to form the Salud Mesoamerica 2015 Initiative
July 6th, 2010The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Health Institute of Carlos Slim Foundation and the government of Spain have each contributed $50 million to fund the Salud Mesoamerica 2015 Initiative. The Inter-American Development Bank will coordinate and commission independent evaluations as w
ell as manage the combined contributions of the donors. The project’s primary aim is to reduce health inequities by fighting dengue fever and malaria and improving nutrition and maternal health in Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Panama. The funding amount received by each country will be based on their poverty and health inequity status. While each government will determine what programs to finance with the Initiative, incentives will be placed for more equitable allocation of domestic funding and for policy that improves the health of the poor. This project is expected to generate globally-relevant knowledge of how to scale up cost-effective health interventions in poor communities.
This is not the first time that Slim and Gates have partnered up. They have been working together at Prodigy MSN, which has just celebrated its 10th anniversary.
Afghanistan’s Seeds of False Hope
June 15th, 2010In an anti-drug conference held in Moscow recently, Russian President Dmitri Medvedev called for an a more globally unified effort to end the drug trafficking of opium from Afghanistan and the social problems that are a direct result from its trafficking. With over 90% of the world’s opium originating from Afghanistan, President Medvedev believes that that current efforts by international organizations such as the United Nations, NATO and Shanghai Cooperation Organization, are not enough. Opium poppies are the raw material used to make heroin. According to the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime, heroin has created a market worth $65 billion and caters to 15 million addicts world-wide.
The effects of Afghanistan’s 375 ton per year opium and heroin export are also felt at home through direct use and passive exposure such as second-hand and third-hand exposure. A new study that will be finalized this summer is expected to show that in Afghanistan 1.5 million people out of a total population of 30 million are addicts and that a quarter of those users are thought to be women and children.