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Helping adolescents understand the consequences of risky sexual behavior

By Guest PostJanuary 29, 2014Healthadolescents, consequence, deepa camenga, helen dodson, hiv, kimberly hieftje, krzysztof duda, lindsay duncan, lynn fiellin, medicine, pregnancy, risky sexual behavior, sex, sexual activity, sexually transmitted infections, understand, united states, yale school

Both parents and health care providers wonder: What is the best way to get through to adolescents about the dangers of risky sexual behavior? Research by investigators from Yale School of Medicine and the Yale play2PREVENT Lab finds that both positive and negative messaging may influence adolescent behavior. The study is published online in the journal Health Education Research.

The researchers write that 48% of high school students have had sex, and 6% had sex by the age of 13. Beginning sexual activity at an early age increases the risk of multiple partners, unwanted pregnancy, and sexually transmitted infections. A full half of all new sexually transmitted infections in the United States occur in individuals aged 15 to 25. (more…)

Yale Study: How Mitochondrial DNA Defects Cause Inherited Deafness

By Guest PostFebruary 21, 2012Scienceapoptosis, cascade, cell, cellular power plants, cellular respiration, cellular structure, chemical modification, disease, dna mutation, energy, enzyme, gene, gerald s shadel, hearing loss, helen dodson, inherited deafness, justin cotney, lei song, methylation, mitochondria, mitochondrial dna mutation, mitochondrial ribosomes, molecular pathway, mouse model, overexpression, programmed cell death, protein, rna, sharen e mccay, timothy e shutt, yale scientist

Yale scientists have discovered the molecular pathway by which maternally inherited deafness appears to occur: Mitochondrial DNA mutations trigger a signaling cascade, resulting in programmed cell death. The study is in the Feb. 17 issue of Cell.

Mitochondria are cellular structures that function as “cellular power plants” because they generate most of the cell’s supply of energy. They contain DNA inherited from one’s mother. Mitochondria determine whether a cell lives or dies via the process of programmed cell death, or apoptosis. (more…)

Sun Safety: Facts about Skin Cancer and Tips on Preventing It

By Guest PostJune 3, 2011Healthbaseball cap, be sun smart, block ultraviolet (uv), broad-brim hat, crawl under a rock, dr. david leffell, good sun protection, head and neck, helen dodson, hide in the basement, kids ball games, melanoma, physicians of yale, prison uniform, radiation from skin, save your life, skin cancer prevention, squamous cell cancer, sun protective eyeglasses, sun-protective cloth, ultraviolet protective factor-rated, use of sunscreen, yale cancer center, yale medical group, yale university

With summer upon us, Yale Medical Group physicians have an urgent warning: Be sun smart. Practicing good sun protection, including the use of sunscreen, could save your life, they say.

“You don’t want to go crawl under a rock or hide in the basement,” says dermatologist Dr. David Leffell, CEO of Yale Medical Group and a member of Yale Cancer Center. “You want to be active and that usually is best done outdoors — simply use moderation and common sense.” (more…)

Turning the Tide on South Africa’s HIV/AIDS Epidemic

By Guest PostNovember 2, 20102 commentsCulture, Generalafrica, epidemic of aids, fitkin amphitheater, helen dodson, hiv, illnesses, jacob zuma, michael cappello, pepfar, positive, right to care, South Africa, south africans, sub-saharan, tb patients, thabo Mbeki, thembi xulu, yale school of medicine

Dr. Thembi Xulu. Image credit: Yale University

Thirty years after it was given a name, the epidemic of AIDS and its related illnesses continues to kill millions of people around the world. But nowhere are the numbers as high today as in sub-Saharan Africa, and in particular, the nation of South Africa.

Last week, a physician who has watched her country seesaw from denial to resolve delivered the seventh annual C. Davenport Cook Grand Rounds Lecture in International Child Health at Yale School of Medicine, speaking about how things are changing in South Africa and, perhaps, all of sub-Saharan Africa. Some of the changes she described are medical, others, attitudinal.

Dr. Thembi Xulu is medical director of Right to Care, a leading non-profit HIV/AIDS organization based in Johannesburg, as well as one of this year’s Yale World Fellows. Xulu has for many years been a persistent advocate for educating South Africans about the causes of AIDS and ways to prevent it, and for bringing affordable medication to those afflicted with it. She has grappled with governments in denial, unyielding cultural traditions, lack of funding and victims too ashamed to seek help. (more…)

Tag Archives: helen dodson

Helping adolescents understand the consequences of risky sexual behavior

Yale Study: How Mitochondrial DNA Defects Cause Inherited Deafness

Sun Safety: Facts about Skin Cancer and Tips on Preventing It

Turning the Tide on South Africa’s HIV/AIDS Epidemic