This article run on the New America media website, entitled “Pregnancy-related deaths rise in California,” was written by Nathanael Johnson. This article discusses the shocking new information that the amount of women in California that are dying from a pregnancy-related cause is actually growing. This is shocking information because in society where we have so many new technologies, it is hard to imagine that this rate would grow. In fact, this is the largest spike in pregnancy-related death since the 1930’s, as it is now at about 95 in 500,000 women will die. Although this story does mention that black women have held a higher rate of pregnancy mortality in the past, it also states that this new rise has actually ... More »

This article in the New America Media, entitled, “Women Hotel Workers Suffer High Injury Rates,” was written by Seth Sandronsky. This article discusses how women, especially those who are Hispanic, are becoming injured while they work in hotels. The study conducted for the article followed several hotels, such as the Hilton, between the years 2003 and 2005. The data collected showed that nearly 3,000 workers were injured in those years. However, the concerning point of this article is that Hispanic women are being injured extraordinarily more often in comparison with white workers. Furthermore, women who work for hotels that are not unionized are often not even claiming their injury. This story is generally framing the ... More »

In the article, “For Many Latina Teens, Gang Life Adds to Stress” written by Meribah Knight, the causes and effects of stress, but more importantly depression, in teens is discussed. As the article states, an extremely high number of Latin teenage girls, approximately 42%, are experiencing symptoms of depression. The author tries to pinpoint the reason for such a high rate of depression in young Latina girls by using a narrative of a young girl from Chicago, named April. April, like many young Latina girls is trapped in a world of the Latino gang the Latin Kings. Because of the rough life-style of the gang, many of the girls suffer depression. This story frames medical and social aspects of this issue by describing the ... More »

In the question and answer article run on the New America Media website by author Viji Sundaram, entitled, “Obesity Leveled Off in U.S., Except Among Boys,” topics such as what are common trends with obesity and why is it happening were covered. Although the article was very clear to state that the initial CDC study is still vague, the author did draw some very clear conclusions. For example, it was stated that African American and Latino children are more prone to suffer from obesity, and that factors such as financial status are to possibly blame. Although the article makes some valid points in stating that many poorer neighborhoods have less access to fresh produce, which could be a cause of the rise in obesity, the ... More »

In the article run in the LA Times, “Chronic health conditions increasing in children, study finds”, written by Shari Roan, the issue of decreasing childhood health is discussed. The study found that the amount of children who are battling chronic conditions, such as asthma, diabetes, and obesity, has been growing in the past decades. For example, the amount of children in 1994 with a chronic condition was 12.8% as compared with 26.6% in 2006, which were predominantly black and male. As the article states, it is not simply that children today are less healthy, but that “cultural, lifestyle and environmental conditions appear to be the root cause of many pediatric illnesses.” This article, I believe very strategically, ... More »

In the article, “Surgery for Obese Children?” written by Laura Beil, the concept of children receiving gastric bypass surgery was discussed. The article gives specific example of overweight young teens who have undergone the surgery; however, it is clear throughout the article that this type of surgery is not recommended for people of such as oung age because of their immature minds and bodies. Because after the surgery a very specific diet needs to be followed, teens who apply for the surgery must undergo month long counseling to ensure that they are ready to take on this type of responsibility and only 1 out of 10 passes. Because of the many factors in this article, blame is not easily placed on one person or group. Blame ... More »

The article, “Lumping Ethnic Groups in Mental Health Research Leaves Many Untreated” by author Paul Kleyman, speaks about the disadvantages that certain ethic groups face when dealing with mental health issues, such as depression. Kleyman claims that because treatment for depression is not being tailored to those who are Mexican American, Puerto Rican, African American, and Caribbean black, it is ultimately putting these groups at a disadvantage all around. Because the article claims that when these groups are suffering depression they are more likely to suffer physical pain as well, it is vital to have this problem fixed. However, this article does not present any solution. I believe this article is taking complete ... More »

In the article, “New Rules Promise Better Mental Health Coverage”, the author, Robert Pear, reveals the new rules President Obama has set in order to improve insurance coverage for mental health. In general, the rules state that group health plans (for companies with more than 50 employees) must provide the same coverage for mental conditions as for physical conditions. For the most part, I believe that this article did not employ stereotypes and generally tried to avoid them. Because I believe mental issues such as drug abuse are stereotypically a lower class problem, while problems such as depression are more upper class, I believe the article was careful not to speak about any one particular group (especially because ... More »

The article “In Labor, a Snack or a Sip?” written by Roni Caryn Rabin, published January 25, 2010, speaks about the unnecessary precautions that are being taken during labor for women. As the article states, using general anesthesia during pregnancy labor was extremely common during the 1940’s. Because of this, Mendelson’s syndrome (when the contents of the stomach are drawn into the lungs while the patient is under general anesthesia) was a very possible harmful/fatal risk. To prevent this, since the 1940’s to present day women have not been able to eat or drink during labor, despite many women complaining of thirst. However, presently general anesthesia is only used in 1-2% of deliveries (regional anesthesia is being ... More »

This story, “Race Takes Lead Role in New Orleans Contest” speaks about the effects Ed Murray had on New Orleans when he dropped out of his campaign for mayor, which left only white candidates for the people to choose from. Though originally this would not seem like a shocking concept, the almost inevitable idea of having a white mayor in New Orleans has angered many people in the black population. Though this article does not speak about any type of physical health, it greatly deals with social health. In a current times, when concepts such as race are making such amazing strides to be excluded from politics, especially since having a black president, it seems that as a society we are trying to improve our social health by ... More »

The story, “Children Don’t have Strokes? Just Ask Jared” form the New York Times tells the story of a 7 year-old boy who suffers a stroke, told from the perspective of his father. The anticipated reaction to this storyline is disbelief that a child this young could have a stroke – the same reaction as the boy’s parents. The central point that his article was trying to get across is that the medical world, as well as the public/social world need to be more informed about children having strokes as they are actually much more common than people realize, and their frequency is climbing. Because strokes become more damaging with time, the longer doctors take to figure out that a child has had a stroke, the more damage it ... More »