Category Archives: Human Health

Health and Wellness v. Medicine

There is a great deal of conversation happening these days surrounding health and medicine, thanks to a new faction of influencers who have rooted themselves in the MAHA movement (a Trumpian health campaign, Make America Healthy Again). Much like the MAGA movement, it is fueled by misinformation and emotions. As someone who believes in the power of blending eastern and western medicine together, I find someone like RFK Jr. to be a danger, as he seems to prefer blending science with pseudoscience to sell his ideas, so…let’s talk about some of these spaces of health and wellness (and since it is a bit longer of a post, I’ll break it out into four sections).

Continue reading Health and Wellness v. Medicine

A One Health Take on Halloween

This is a reboot of a post I made a year ago when I first started my blog. It is no less relevant today – maybe even more so with our current political leadership obstinately ignoring environmental health concerns and families struggling with a government shutdown. That said, here is a piece on Halloween!

Continue reading A One Health Take on Halloween

A Funny Fight Against Tyranny

It was a place where history and our current political crisis met for the afternoon to have a chat and a few laughs over a drink and (for me) some noisy pizza.

Continue reading A Funny Fight Against Tyranny

Silence of the Swallowtail

“It’s easier to run down the mountain than to walk it!” my partner shouted to me as we were descending Humpback Rock. Except, he wasn’t the one carrying the backpack with our waters and half-eaten charcuterie box from the day before (precariously wrapped in a cup and some napkins).

Continue reading Silence of the Swallowtail

After Virtue, After Invasion

“Imagine that the natural sciences were to suffer the effects of a catastrophe. A series of environmental disasters are blamed by the general public on the scientists. Widespread riots occur, laboratories are burnt down, physicists are lynched, books and instruments are destroyed. Finally a Know-Nothing political movement takes power and successfully abolishes science teaching in schools and universities, imprisoning and executing the remaining scientists.”

Continue reading After Virtue, After Invasion

Cheers, to all of the Women Out There (and Piss on the Men Who Wish to Hold us Down)

My right to vote is a spritely gal of 105. August 26, 1920 was sincerely a day to be celebrated, yet often gets overlooked.

In honor of the anniversary of the 19th Amendment, I’d like to note a few things about the women of our past and honor who they were and what they accomplished.

Continue reading Cheers, to all of the Women Out There (and Piss on the Men Who Wish to Hold us Down)

Influenza and Zoonosis

In my last post I used a photo of an old (positive) test result for COVID (this is also an old photo of my sweet baby, hence the grainy appearance) and I noticed it included Influenza A and B as possible results as well, which got me thinking about the flu and wondering how much people know what the flu even is. The question also ties into vaccines and how experts decide on which “strain” to use – and do people even know what they mean by strain?!

Ok, that’s a LOT to cover, so I’ll try to keep it all simple. First, let’s define what zoonosis is – this is a hot topic for One Health.

Continue reading Influenza and Zoonosis