Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) or chronic diseases are a group of conditions that are not passed from person to person, progress slowly and are mainly of a long duration. NCDs include cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancers, chronic lower...
The United States Embassy in Kingston has thrown its support behind a local initiative to raise awareness and provide counselling intervention for persons impacted by gender-based violence (GBV) in Jamaica. The US Embassy, Kingston provided grant...
HIV stigma is negative attitudes and beliefs about people with HIV. It is the prejudice that comes with labelling an individual as being part of a group that is believed to be socially unacceptable. While stigma refers to an attitude or belief,...
Asthma is a disease that affects your lungs. It is one of the most common long-term diseases among children, but adults can have asthma, too. Asthma causes wheezing, breathlessness, chest tightness, and coughing at night or early in the morning. If...
Smoking leads to disease and disability and harms nearly every organ of the body. More than 16 million Americans are living with a disease caused by smoking. For every person who dies because of smoking, at least 30 people live with a serious...
After a night spent tossing and turning, you wake up feeling like a few of the Seven Dwarves: sleepy and grumpy. Restless nights and weary mornings can become more frequent as we get older and our sleep patterns change. In women, it often begins...
High blood pressure, also called hypertension, is blood pressure that is higher than normal. Your blood pressure changes throughout the day based on your activities; however, having blood pressure measures consistently above normal may result in a...
When you scrape your knee, break a bone, or cut yourself, the body is able to heal itself; but that is not the case with certain conditions, like diabetes or heart disease. Regenerative medicine, a fairly new field in which experts are looking for...
The Kind Hearts Foundation was founded in 2010 as the youth arm of the Richard and Diana Stewart Foundation, focusing on the community housing and educational needs for underprivileged families in Jamaica. Their objective is to give back to the...
You already know that your emotions can influence what you eat, but what you may not realise is that what you eat can also dramatically alter your mental health. There are in fact some foods that can worsen anxiety and depression. Simple food...
Vaginal cancer happens when cancerous cells grow in your vagina. A woman’s vagina, the birth canal is a channel that goes from the opening of the uterus to the outside of the body. Many kinds of cancer can spread to the vagina from elsewhere, but...
The Barita Foundation has been executing its mandate and contributing to national development goals by supporting partnerships in education, youth, entrepreneurship and the democratisation of wealth in order for Jamaicans to access resources needed...
You cannot see it or feel it, but inflammation may slowly be damaging your body. Inflammation, which is part of the body’s natural healing system, helps fight injury and infection, but it does not just happen in response to injury and illness. An...
Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are passed from one person to another through intimate physical contact, such as heavy petting and from sexual activity. STIs are very common. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)...
Andre Barnaby is on a quest to ensure that people in and around his community are actively keeping their environment clean. He has been providing decorated garbage bins that have been placed at strategic locations to motivate people to use them,...
WHEN YOU sit, you use less energy than you do when you stand or move. Research has linked sitting for long periods of time with a number of health concerns. They include obesity and a cluster of conditions, including increased blood pressure, high...
As part of an ongoing commitment to raise awareness and serve those living with sickle cell disease in Jamaica, Shak’s Hope Foundation, in association with the Sickle Cell Unit (SCU) at the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI), will be...
Stress, exercise, and even a few drinks the night before your doctor’s appointment can push your blood pressure up. So, it is often difficult to tell whether an unusually high reading at the doctor’s office means you have high blood pressure; or,...
THIRTEEN YEARS after being diagnosed with cervical cancer, Juliet Davis is happy that she took the steps to get her Pap smear done. Her random visit to the Harbour View Health Centre saved her life, and although receiving the results was quite a...
The Victoria Mutual (VM) Foundation is focused on improving the welfare of Jamaicans through leadership and nation-building, youth, and community development. Formally established in 2018, the foundation gave structure to the philanthropic efforts...
Adenomyosis is a condition of the uterus (womb) where the cells similar to the lining on the inside of the uterus are also present in the muscle wall of the uterus. One study estimated that about one in five women has this condition. Although women...
Ashauni Granville has a deep desire to be a public servant, giving back, and assisting Jamaicans of all socio-economic backgrounds. He is a senior finance professional at the National Land Agency (NLA), and serves on the board of the South Camp...
AS A young girl, Angella Nichol travelled from the rural parish of Trelawny to Kingston, to pursue her tertiary studies at the then Mico Teachers’ College. She was vibrant and full of life, and had many expectations to be at the top of her career...
Charlene Dixon grew up with her grandmother, Linneth Price, in Trinityville, St Thomas. Price, a strong disciplinarian, imparted impenetrable values to her granddaughter that have remained with her throughout her life. As a child, Dixon, along with...
If you ask most people to rank their organs, their liver might be way down the list. Maybe just above spleen, but day and night it breaks down food, fights infection, and filters bad stuff from your blood. You can’t live without it. Luckily, you...
