Written by Luiza Ghazaryan Neurosurgery is a medical discipline that explores disorders of the brain, peripheral nerves, and the spinal cord. Becoming a neurosurgeon in the United States is a lengthy process, requiring four years of medical school education and 7-8 years of residency training. After completing the residency program, some surgeons choose to get board certified by the American Board of Neurological Surgery (ABNS), receiving the highest level neurosurgical qualification in the country. Compellingly, statistics convey that in the US, there are approximately 3500 board-certified ne ..read more

Written by Kranti Kaur Alzheimer’s disease is a brain disease, a type of dementia, a term that means memory loss severe enough to hinder daily life experiences. The greatest risk factor for Alzheimer’s is aging. Usually those with Alzheimer’s tend to be 65 years of age or older: those who develop the disease prior to reaching 65 years old are considered to be people with early-onset Alzheimer’s. Those suffering from this disease get progressively worse as time goes on. Symptoms start off with mild memory loss and escalate until a conversation cannot be carried on and environmental responses ar ..read more

Written by Luiza Ghazaryan and Ambika Nair Each year, the first week of October is marked as National Mental Health Awareness Month and October 10th is World Mental Health Day. In developed countries such as France, there are Medical Psychological Centers that provide mostly free services covered by state health insurance. The situation drastically changes when we look at other parts of the world.  In Lebanon, many individuals are struggling with high inflation: an economic crisis aggravated by COVID-19 pandemic and the 2020 Beirut port explosion. These economic issues have resulted in a ..read more

Written by Kranti Kaur The search for a cure to cancer has been ongoing for decades now, but no “cure” that can effectively eradicate the disease has been found. Currently, surgery is used to remove cancerous tumors, chemotherapy uses a mix of different drugs to kill off cancerous cells throughout the body, and radiation treatment kills cancer cells. There are many other treatments, but no treatment can be considered a “cure”, as they don’t exclusively target cancer cells or simply are not effective for different types of cancer. However, the results of a new study on a modified herpes virus a ..read more

Written by Ambika Nair “You are what you eat”, but how about when it comes to your mental health: is your mental health truly an impression of ‘what you eat’?  For a while now, we have correlated healthier eating to a more positive and overall improved mental health. However, only very recently have we begun to understand the science behind this phenomenon known as ‘nutritional psychiatry’, where nutritional interventions are studied for the treatment of mental health issues. In 2020, a team of scientists in the Harvard Review of Psychiatry wrote that: “a growing body of literature shows ..read more

Written by Madison Dietl According to a Pew Research survey, 1 in 7 US adults has used a mail-in genetic test, such as those from 23&Me, AncestryDNA, or FamilyTreeDNA. These companies advertise their test’s abilities to tell you where your ancestors are from, or if you’re at risk for any inheritable diseases. According to 23&Me’s trait report, your DNA can even tell you if you are likely to have misophonia (hatred of the sound of chewing), a fear of public speaking, or predict your favorite flavor of ice cream. This technology seems futuristic, like something from a science fiction nov ..read more

Written by Anushka Angle and Reese Spicer Cover Design from Hemophilia Foundation of Michigan In light of the highly esteemed International Day of the Girl Child that occurred on October 11, 2022, more awareness must be spread through society to address the stigma behind menstruation and period poverty – the lack of access to sanitary products, menstrual hygiene education, toilets, and waste management. A common misconception among people is that period poverty and menstrual stigma exists only in third-world countries; however, nearly 1 in 5 girls in the United States have missed school due t ..read more

Written by Andrea Eleazar This past October marked the 30th annual Filipino American History Month (FAHM), recognizing the contributions and challenges of Filipinos in America since the landing of the first Filipinos in what is now California back in 1587. Over the centuries, waves of Filipinos have flocked across the ocean in pursuit of new opportunities while carrying their experiences and culture along with them.  Fast-forward to 2022 – we live in the midst of a remorseless virus that infects and kills indiscriminately. But while the virus may not consciously choose its victims, we’ve ..read more

Written by Anushka Angle There has been a presence of increased anxiety and depression among children, along with a decrease in the time youth spend being physically active, which is an integral part of a child’s health and development. Even just a few years prior to the pandemic, a team found that between 2016-2019, childhood anxiety rose by 27% while depression risk rose by 24%. However, behavioral issues seemed to worsen when the pandemic struck. More than ever, the United States is seemingly unprepared to provide necessary pediatric preventive care and discuss the pressing problem of child ..read more

Written by Victoria Van Drost The United States of America was founded on the basis of religious freedom, in a time when religion was subjected to individuals. This freedom was secured in the First Amendment of the Constitution, which stated that Congress shall not make any law respecting one specific religion. At the time of the writing of the Constitution, in the late 18th century, many countries were dominated by one religion, for example, Christianity in many parts of Europe. After fighting for their independence from Great Britain, Americans intensely despised tyranny of any form, and thi ..read more