"The Practice of Breast Ironing" -Female Genital Mutilation

          Breast ironing is the practice of using various objects to massage or press on developing girls’ breasts to discourage growth. It is traditional in several areas of Africa, but notably in Cameroon, affecting 1 in 4 girls, according to a study by the development group Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ).

Tools used in "Breast Ironing"

       Usually mothers or elders carry on this tradition meant to delay the appearance of sexual maturity and thus, delay sexual predation. The GTZ reports that the devastating psychological and physical health effects include “damaged tissue, open wounds, abscesses, infections, an elevated cancer risk,…difficulties with breastfeeding and trauma.”

   Video:

• As breast ironing is a burgeoning issue, current policy suggestions focus on education and awareness. The United Nation Population Fund (UNFPA) recommends that “governments in affected countries should raise public awareness of the dangers of breast ironing and why it needs to be stopped,” including “frank discussions of sexuality.” RENATA: National Network of Aunties Association (unwed young mothers trained in sexual health) and GTZ have set forth similar policy positions.

While the World Health Organization has strongly recommended against female genital mutilation, it has yet to recognize the related health and human rights violations of breast ironing. Likewise, the Cameroonian Ministry of Health has not acknowledged the practice.

Breast ironing should be acknowledged as a violation of women’s health and human rights, while addressing its deep cultural roots. Government and NGOs concerned with women’s rights must recognize it and support public awareness and education campaigns to discourage Cameroonian breast ironing.











 Sources:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5107360.stm
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/23/teenage-girls-undergo-bre_n_656965.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/04/AR2010030404489.html

Stanford School of Medicine equipping students with Apple's iPad

           

 










      Looks like Stanford School of Medicine’s incoming class of first years will have an innovate study tool to help ease the pain from the countless hours of studying – Apple’s iPad.

Apple Insider is reporting that each incoming student in the Stanford School of Medicine.
Class of 2014 will be getting the iPad as part of their welcome kit.

• The school cited four reasons behind the new program, including student readiness, noting that iPad "creates opportunities for efficient, mobile, and innovative learning."
  
  • Stanford also noted "the flexibility of iPad technology," noting that "iPad allows students to view and annotate course content electronically, facilitating advance preparation as well as in-class note-taking in a highly portable, sharable and searchable format."
  
  
  • Access to information and "information literacy" was also a consideration, with the school pointing out that "students will be able to easily access high-quality information at any place, at any time (for example, images from textbooks on digital course reserve, image databases, journal articles, Lane Library’s various search tools, etc.)"
  
  
  • A fourth rationale was Stanford's intent to go green, "replacing printed syllabi with PDFs is in line with the Sustainable Stanford initiative, which aims to build sustainable practices into every aspect of campus life."

       This would really only work for medical literature, where the dynamic screen on the iPad can enhance medical images and tables that populate medical text. I thought about a fantastic article written by one of our editors, Felasfa Wodajo, where he lays out exactly how the iPad would be fantastic for medical literature.


It’ll be interesting to see what apps the school’s IT department will be putting on the iPad for the medical students.  My guess is you’ll seeing lots of anatomy apps and PDF reading apps.  This is going to be a fantastic story to follow and we’d love to hear from some Stanford medical students when they start using the iPad for studying.  Either way, learning gross anatomy just got a whole lot more fun.

• So basically, Stanford appears to be leaving it up to their students on how to use their iPad. It appears the UC Irvine School of Medicine (recent article) is taking a more direct approach and actually implementing the iPad into their curriculum. Either way, it appears the iPad has firmly gained a presence as a key tool for medical education.

Source:

•   http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/10/07/30/stanford_school_of_medicine_equipping_students_with_apples_ipad.html 

•   http://www.imedicalapps.com/2010/07/stanford-school-of-medicine-ipad-incoming-class/

Positive talents that give rise to DYSLEXIA

Table of Contents:

• What is Dyslexia?
• Is there any treatment?
• What is the prognosis?
• What research is being done?
• Videos 
• Clinical Trials
• Organizations

 

 

• What is Dyslexia?

 Dyslexia is a brain-based type of learning disability that specifically impairs a person's ability to read. These individuals typically read at levels significantly lower than expected despite having normal intelligence. Although the disorder varies from person to person, common characteristics among people with dyslexia are :

*difficulty with spelling,  

*phonological processing (the manipulation of sounds),

*and/or rapid visual-verbal responding.

  In adults, dyslexia usually occurs after a brain injury or in the context of dementia. It can also be inherited in some families, and recent studies have identified a number of genes that may predispose an individual to developing dyslexia.

 Positive aspects of dyslexia:  Most books and web sites on dyslexia focus on difficulties with reading, writing and memory tasks. Dyslexic people often have strengths as well, such as:

• Creativity
• 3 dimensional thinking
• Seeing the 'whole picture'
• Pictorial thinking
• Divergent thinking
• Problem solving

• Is there any treatment?



http://mountainviewacademy.net/media/images/Dyslexia_Comp.jpg

• Making unexpected connections

            The main focus of treatment should be on the specific learning problems of affected individuals. The usual course is to modify teaching methods and the educational environment to meet the specific needs of the individual with dyslexia.

• What is the prognosis?

For those with dyslexia, the prognosis is mixed. The disability affects such a wide range of people and produces such different symptoms and varying degrees of severity that predictions are hard to make. The prognosis is generally good, however, for individuals whose dyslexia is identified early, who have supportive family and friends and a strong self-image, and who are involved in a proper remediation program.

• What research is being done?

The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) and other institutes of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) support dyslexia research through grants to major medical institutions across the country. Current research avenues focus on developing techniques to diagnose and treat dyslexia and other learning disabilities, increasing the understanding of the biological basis of learning disabilities, and exploring the relationship between neurophysiological processes and cognitive functions with regard to reading ability.

• Videos

 

• NIH Patient Recruitment for Dyslexia Clinical Trials

• At NIH Clinical Center
• Throughout the U.S. and Worldwide
• NINDS Clinical Research Collaboration Trials

Organizations:

International Dyslexia Association 40 York Road 4th Floor Baltimore, MD   21204 info@interdys.org http://www.interdys.org Tel: 410-296-0232 800-ABCD123 Fax: 410-321-5069	Learning Disabilities Association of America 4156 Library Road Suite 1 Pittsburgh, PA   15234-1349 info@ldaamerica.org http://www.ldaamerica.org Tel: 412-341-1515 Fax: 412-344-0224
National Center for Learning Disabilities 381 Park Avenue South Suite 1401 New York, NY   10016 ncld@ncld.org http://www.ld.org Tel: 212-545-7510 888-575-7373 Fax: 212-545-9665	National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) National Institutes of Health, DHHS 31 Center Drive, Rm. 2A32 MSC 2425 Bethesda, MD   20892-2425 http://www.nichd.nih.gov Tel: 301-496-5133 Fax: 301-496-7101
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) National Institutes of Health, DHHS 6001 Executive Blvd. Rm. 8184, MSC 9663 Bethesda, MD   20892-9663 nimhinfo@nih.gov http://www.nimh.nih.gov Tel: 301-443-4513/866-415-8051 301-443-8431 (TTY) Fax: 301-443-4279

Related NINDS Publications and Information

• NINDS Learning Disabilities Information Page Learning disabilities information sheet compiled by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS).

       NINDS health-related material is provided for information purposes only and does not necessarily represent endorsement by or an official position of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke or any other Federal agency. Advice on the treatment or care of an individual patient should be obtained through consultation with a physician who has examined that patient or is familiar with that patient's medical history.

All NINDS-prepared information is in the public domain and may be freely copied. Credit to the NINDS or the NIH is appreciated.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Symptoms of Dyslexia in Preschoolers (brighthub.com)
• Making sense of dyslexia (telegraph.co.uk)
• Reading Tips for Children with Dyslexia : An Easy Guide for Parents and Teachers! (brighthub.com)
• Adults with dyslexia have problems with non-speech sounds too (physorg.com)
• Dyslexia and Visual Learning Strategies (brighthub.com)

International Number Ones -Because every country is good at something

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