Well, the world didn’t end on December 21st and another year now approaches. It seems an appropriate time to round up a few travel health posts from blogs and news sources that we found interesting in the past several months. We hope you enjoy these articles as much as we did. In any case, Happy New Year – we hope that your 2013 will be free of travel health calamities!
Blog posts
Sandflies, ankle sprains, vomiting and more!
Lauren’s monthly round-ups typically re-cap her incredible travel experiences and her cost of living expenses. This particular round-up for the month of October was “all about being cursed.” A little bit of everything goes wrong for Lauren during this month and it sounds like she would be a great candidate for our next piece in the travel health disasters series. Check out her post here.
Paris, France: I Have the PLAGUE
Erica was not expecting her trip to Paris to feature bronchitis, but sometimes that’s just what travel entails. Thankfully, she was with her husband and they profited from an apartment that allowed for a good recuperation space. When it was all said and done, she still got out to explore a bit of Paris and she was still able to appreciate the city. Check it out here.
Why the worst thing about travelling solo is getting sick
Oneika articulates a sentiment that I’m sure many of us already feel: being sick and alone is no picnic. In fact, it’s pretty far up there on the misery index. In this case, Oneika came down with a bout of food poisoning in Guatemala – unfortunate as her post does begin with a number of appetizing food photos. Check out her post here and learn why you may want to avoid cream of celery and carrot soup!Travel health news stories
Mice Study Indicates Cholesterol Drug Might Help Treat Serious Malaria Cases
In this piece from Voice of America, there are some encouraging signs that a cholesterol drug may actually help treat some of the more serious consequences of cerebral malaria. The drug works by limiting the body’s inflammation (inflammation being the key culprit in a lot of the cognitive problems that are caused by severe malaria). While there is more research to be done, this initial study is encouraging.
Trojan-horse therapy ‘completely eliminates’ cancer in mice
Not travel health related, but an important health story nonetheless. Scientists have been able to eliminate prostate cancer in mice by launching a trojan horse style attack on cancerous tumors. The idea is to send in a rogue virus that once inside the tumor will attack and destroy cancerous cells, but will not affect other healthy cells nearby. Check out the BBC piece on this story.
When You Swallow A Grenade
Ever wondered what happens when you take an antibiotic? This piece of from National Geographic does a good job in explaining the limited information we know about antibiotic effects on the body. In short, antibiotics do more than just rid our bodies of infection — there are plenty of other secondary consequences. We talked about this in our piece on cipro. In fact, I think we described that drug as an atomic bomb for gut flora. In this case, the author uses “grenade,” but you get the idea.
If you have any interesting travel health stories to share, please include them in the comments or send them along to us on our contact page. We will feature them in the next version of our travel health round-up!
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