HEALTH AND WELLNESS

A newborn baby shrieks in a hospital in Madrid, Spain. A nurse frantically tries to pacify him but to no avail. The baby is suffering the agony of heroin withdrawal. Worse still, he is HIV positive. His mother was hooked on heroin. A Los Angeles mother inadvertently drives her car onto a street controlled by a gang of drug dealer. She is greeted by a barrage of bullets, which kill her infant daughter. Thousands of kilometers away, in Afghanistan, a peasant cultivates a field of poppies. It has been a good year; production is up 25 percent. Opium poppies pay well, and the peasant’s family is struggling to survive. But these pretty poppies will be converted into heroin, and heroin destroys lives. A shy teenage girl in Sydney, Australia, goes to a discotheque every Saturday night. She used to find it hard to mix with the crowd, but recently a pill called ECSTASY has given her new confidence. The pills she takes were smuggled into Australia from the Netherlands, although local laborator

  I was overcome by feelings of hopelessness. I felt as if the ground beneath my feet had given way. I began to experience feelings of grief, as if my little girl were already dead.”-Jason, when he discovered that his daughter had cancer. Learning that your child has cancer can be an overwhelming, even terrifying, experience. How often does it occur? According to the International Union Against Cancer, although “childhood cancers represent a small percentage of all cancers, each year more than 160,000 children [worldwide] are diagnosed and cancer is the second most common cause of death, after accidents, among children in developed countries.” For example, “there are an estimated 9,000 new cases of childhood cancer each year” in Brazil, states the National Institute of Cancer. Childhood cancer strikes “a terrible blow that afflicts, without exception, all the members of the family,” says the book A margem do leito –A mae e o cancer infantile [At the bedside- The Mother and Child Cancer

                            A VIRUS THAT SHOULD CONCERN WOMEN                              After a year and a half of marriage, Lucy had her first gynecologic exam, including a Pap smear. The gynecologist found something that worries her and recommended that Lucy undergo a procedure called a COLPOSCOPY. The doctor found a lesion on the cervix and performed a biopsy, which is the removal of a sample of the damaged tissue for diagnosis. “Two weeks later, “comments Lucy, “the doctor had my husband and me come in for the results. She told us that the lesion was due to an infection with human papillomavirus and that it was in an advanced stage. She explained that the risk of the infection becoming cervical cancer and the need to begin treatment immediately. “Upon hearing the diagnosis, I began to cry. It was a shock to both my husband and me. A small surgery was scheduled for the following day. That afternoon I felt very sad and worried. I asked myself, ‘Why me?’”

                                               The sun is the greatest source of energy you can think of and it can also be a source of great concern to the health of an individual. It is also a vital ingredient in beauty tips.   Cancer is overwhelmingly caused by where you are, what you do, and what happens to you in life, rather than by what you are that is your genetic makeup.   Environmental factors are more important than gene factors, smoking causes about 35 percent of cancer, while another 30 percent appear to be related to diet and another fraction caused by exposure to sunlight.   Genetic factors play a part in prostate, colorectal, and breast cancer, even if you have a family history of    cancer what you do with your life is much more important.   Vitamin D is needed for absorption of calcium so that the mineral can take its place in bone and shore up the skeleton against fractures. 90 percent of our vitamin D is made in our skin upon exposure to s

                               I was overcome by feelings of hopelessness. I felt as if the ground beneath my feet had given way. I began to experience feelings of grief, as if my little girl were already dead.”-Jason, when he discovered that his daughter had cancer. Learning that your child has cancer can be an overwhelming, even terrifying, experience. How often does it occur? According to the International Union Against Cancer, although “childhood cancers represent a small percentage of all cancers, each year more than 160,000 children [worldwide] are diagnosed and cancer is the second most common cause of death, after accidents, among children in developed countries.” For example, “there are an estimated 9,000 new cases of childhood cancer each year” in Brazil, states the National Institute of Cancer. Childhood cancer strikes “a terrible blow that afflicts, without exception, all the members of the family,” says the book A margem do leito –A mae e o cancer infant