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Why is Weed Killer in My Child’s Food?
Late January 2020, Kellogg’s, the multinational food manufacturer, announced the company’s commitment to phase out wheat and oats treated with glyphosate (as a drying agent) by 2025. Kellogg’s Company is not unique. Major food companies like General Mills and Pepsi Company (owner of Quaker Brand Products) also sell popular children’s breakfast cereals and other foods…
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The Relationship Between Trauma and Resiliency in Children
Children are forced to face things every day that are hard to imagine; death of a loved one, incarceration of a caregiver, living with an addicted parent, enduring incest or sexual abuse by the hands of a family member, and the list can go on and on. Research on Aversive Childhood Experiences (ACE’s) have brought…
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Can Baby Teeth Predict Neurodevelopmental Disorders?
Most humans have two sets of teeth: a set of 20 primary teeth that are shed and replaced by 32 permanent teeth. Primary teeth begin to mineralize at approximately the fourth fetal month, begin to erupt at approximately 6 months of age, and are completely formed by 2 to 3 years of age. These time…
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Thoughts on Income Inequality
I read “Blink” by Malcolm Gladwell and it describes how a Chicago attorney, Ian Ayres, did an experiment on racism and auto selling. Participants (18 white men, 7 white women, 8 black women, and 5 black men) were trained to go into car dealerships in Chicago and negotiate in a standard way for a car…
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Weathering and its Affects on Marginalized Communities
The Appalachian Mountains on the Eastern coast of the United States once stood taller than the Himalayan mountains do today. A geological process called weathering reduced the Appalachians to their current stature. “Weathering” refers to the slow erosion of rock over time by rain and snow. The phenomenon is imperceptible on a short-term scale. Each…
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Domestic Child Sex Trafficking
In all industries, market demand is the dominant driver of the business. So, when we think about the commercial sex industry (pornography, sex workers, strippers), we must remind ourselves that this industry is like all others; it exists because of demand. In the United States, young girls are a commodity, and sex trafficking is the…
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Preventing Cognitive Decline as We Age
In 2016 people age 65 and over represented 15.2% of the population but that number is expected to grow to 21.7% by 2040. Those 85 and older are projected to more than double (6.4 million in 2016 to 14.6 million in 2040). Many have labeled this trend the “Aging Tsunami” and they speculate about the…
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Common Drugs that May Increase Dementia Risks
Over the past few years dementia has skyrocketed to become the 6th leading cause of death in the United States. Dementia is a general term for a decline in memory, reasoning or other thinking skills severe enough to interfere with daily life. Alzheimer’s on the other hand is a degenerative brain disease that is caused…
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Trauma-Informed OB/GYN Care for Sexual Abuse Survivors
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends that physicians elicit a sexual abuse and rape trauma history for every patient. Yet in practice, physicians may still struggle to understand how best to obtain this history and what clinical obligations arise when a physician inquires, and a woman discloses a remote history of childhood or…
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When Sexual Abuse Survivors Give Birth
When we undergo an experience that is upsetting or traumatic, people typically have various reactions. Take for example, a person who is in a car accident. It is common for them to have a strong reaction when they think of the accident, begin driving again, or drive past the spot of the accident. The triggers…
