July has been Minority Mental Health Month since 2008. Back in May we addressed mental health awareness, but there are factors affecting mental health that are particular to minority communities. People of color, immigrants and their families, LGBTQIA people, and other underrepresented groups face unique struggles in regard to mental illness in the United States. Everyone has stress and difficult emotions on occasion, and this is completely normal. Mental illness, however, is any condition that makes it difficult to function in daily life. It can affect relationships or job performance, and is caused by any number of complex interactions […]
Category: Awareness
National Cleft & Craniofacial Awareness & Prevention Month
July is National Cleft & Craniofacial Awareness & Prevention Month. Cleft palate or craniofacial defects affect thousands of infants, children, teens, and adults in the United States each year — 4400 infants are born with a cleft lip with or without a cleft palate and 2650 are born with a cleft palate alone. While some people are born with congenital anomalies, others are burned or otherwise injured in accidents or diagnosed with various diseases that affect the mouth, head, neck, or skin. Craniofacial defects are conditions present at birth that affect the structure and function of a baby’s head […]
The Sun – America’s Leading Cause of Cancer
by Mark A. Kelley, MD This blog that we are sharing for National Stay Out of the Sun Day originally appeared on HealthWebNavigator. Skin cancer is the most common cancer in the United States. Here are some facts: Over 3 million Americans are treated for skin cancer every year. One in five Americans will develop skin cancer during their lifetime. Skin cancer is preventable and easy to detect. When caught early, this cancer is usually curable. Some types of skin cancer can be fatal. Skin cancer is caused by sunlight damage to the skin. The only way to […]
Gun Violence Awareness Month
June is Gun Violence Awareness Month. In 2017, there were 39,773 deaths in the United States involving guns; 23,854 were suicides. This is almost 3,000 more people killed with guns than the previous year — it is an increase of 10,000 from 1999 and the highest it has been since gun mortality data was first recorded in 1979. Nearly 109 people died every single day from gun violence in 2017. For Gun Violence Awareness Month we are highlighting the public health crisis and the barriers that are keeping effective prevention from being implemented. Before 1996 the Center for Disease Control […]
Men’s Health Week 2019
Last month, we had National Women’s Health Week. For the month of June there is Men’s Health Week, designed to encourage men to make their health a priority. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has many tips for men to improve their health, and we at NeedyMeds have resources for a number of conditions that predominantly affect men. The CDC offers many ways to observe National Men’s Health Week, such as taking a bike ride, aim to eat healthier, or quit unhealthy habits. Men can improve their health by getting a good night’s sleep, quitting tobacco and avoiding […]