Air pollution has been related to a variety of diseases that can cause premature death including: heart disease, strokes, lung cancer, and COPD. Air pollution is composed of a variety of gases (carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, etc) and particulate matter. Particulate matter is often grouped into two categories; PM2.5 which is less than 2.5 micros…
Second-hand smoke is associated with many negative health outcomes for both children and adults. In children, second-hand smoke can cause era infections, more frequent and severe asthma exacerbations, and respiratory infections. As adults, exposure to second-hand smoke has been linked to heart disease, lung cancer, and stroke. In recent year second-hand smoke exposure has been…
Type-1 diabetes affects approximately 200,000 people under the age of 20 in the US and around 18,000 youths are diagnosed each year. Type-1 diabetes happens when the pancreas doesn’t produce enough insulin which then causes blood sugar levels to rise. There is no known cause for type-1 diabetes although it is likely caused by both…
Obesity is a rising epidemic that is associated with a number of chronic diseases including diabetes, cancer, and heart disease but a growing body of evidence shows that it is also associated with worse outcomes from infectious diseases including influenza. Obesity is associated with increased risk of severe complications from influenza virus infections including hospitalization. We…
Dietary supplements including multivitamins are a multi-billion dollar a year industry that is rapidly growing. Multivitamins and supplements are important for people with nutrient deficits or at risk for nutrient related diseases but for most people who eat regular meals, multivitamins have no beneficial effects on health. Additionally, because most multivitamins and supplements are classified…
Aging is something that happens to everyone and is associated with a great number of disabilities and diseases including: cardiovascular disease, dementia, cancer, arthritis, and osteoporosis. You might consider aging to just be a part of life but there is very real evidence that changes within your cell are responsible for your aging. These can…
Restrictive lung disease (RLD) is a group of disorders that prevent normal expansion of the lung, primarily due to hardening of the lung tissue. RLD can include: pulmonary fibrosis, respiratory distress syndrome, sarcoidosis, and radiation fibrosis, among others. These are rare and often lethal disease that in some instances, like pulmonary fibrosis, require a lung…
Pulmonary fibrosis is a group of diseases that result in fibrosis of the lung causing it to become stiff and making it progressively harder to breath. There can be many causes of pulmonary fibrosis including radiation, severe infection, environmental exposures, or the cause can be unknown in which case it is dubbed idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis…
Antibiotic resistance is a major threat to public health with the evolution of antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria. These bacteria cause 2 million infections a year in the US that are difficult and in some cases deadly. Our over use of antibiotics in medicine, agriculture, and commercial uses has contributed to this rise in resistance.…
Dementia affects nearly 47 million people worldwide and it is likely that this number will rise to 150 million people worldwide by 2050. In order to prevent a future epidemic, we need to understand the risk factors associated with the disease and come up with new interventions that can treat existing dementia and help prevent…
