HIV essays

HIV essays In West- Central Africa people probably been dying of AIDS for Thousands of years. And they contracted HIV-1 virus by hunting chimpanzees for meat. Fend Goo a scientists from The University Of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) theory is that for centuries, HIV infections were limited to Gabon, Cameroon, and Equatorial Guinea which are parts of Africa, because they had little contact with the outside world until after WW2. After 1945, the economy changed which brought more travelers to Africa and the disease may have slowly started to spread around the world. Scientist tried to follow the roots of HIV back to it's source and found evidence of the virus in humans from a serum sample taken in the Congo in 1959. For a lot of years, AIDS researchers have thought that human HIV viruses resulted from cross- species transmission namely from some sort of ape or monkey to humans. HIV2 is linked to a simian immunodeficiency virus found in a monkey. Chimpanzee genetics are more than 98% identical to human genetics. Also chimpanzees are only disease hosts not carriers for a virus similar to HIV1 infects humans. Figuring out would lead to more effective AIDS therapies and perhaps even a vaccine. It may also prevent future cross- species transmissions of other HIV mutations. Scientists have discovered three different groups of HIV1 (Groups M,N,O) that they think have come from separate cross- species transmissions. Group M viruses cause AIDS epidemics around the world and are currently infected about 35 million carriers but groups N and O have been contained to villagers in West Central Africa. The researches at UAB did an experiment on there theory of cross species transmission by putting together chimpanzee conservation groups operating near the epicenter of HIV in Africa. The chimp experts described a trade in "bush meat" for human consumption. If the meat is infected the virus infect humans when they handle th ...

Differences Between Allopathic and Osteopathic Medicine

Differences Between Allopathic and Osteopathic Medicine There are two basic types of medical training: allopathic and osteopathic. The traditional medical degree, the Doctor of Medicine (M.D.), requires training in allopathic medicine while osteopathic medical schools award the Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (D.O.) degree. Students hoping to achieve either degree attend medical schools and receive substantial training (4 years, not including residency), and other than the osteopathic students ability to administer osteopathic medicine, there is no real marked difference between the two programs. Training The curricula of both schools are similar. State licensing agencies and most hospitals and residency programs recognize the degrees as equivalent. In other words, osteopathic doctors are legally and professionally equivalent to allopathic doctors. The important difference between the two types of schools of training is that osteopathic medical schools take a holistic perspective on the practice of medicine based on a belief in treating the whole patient (mind-body-spirit) and the primacy of the musculoskeletal system in human health and the utility of osteopathic manipulative treatment. D.O. recipients emphasize prevention, a historical distinction which is less relevant as all of the medicine increasingly emphasizes prevention. Biomedical and clinical sciences take the forefront of both degrees training programs, requiring students of both fields to complete relatively the same course load (anatomy, microbiology, pathology, etc), but the osteopathic student additionally takes courses focused on hands-on manual medicine, including an additional 300-500 hours of study in manipulating the musculoskeletal system, a practice referred to as osteopathic manipulative medicine (OMM). Admissions and Enrollment There are fewer D.O. programs than M.D. programs in the United States with about 20% of medical students entering D.O. programs each year. As compared with traditional medical school, osteopathic medical schools have a reputation for looking at the applicant, not just his or her statistics, and therefore likely to admit nontraditional applicants who are older, non-science majors or seeking a second career. The average GPA and MCAT scores for incoming students are slightly lower in osteopathic programs, but the difference is rapidly falling. The average age of entering osteopathic students is about 26 years (versus allopathic medical schools 24). Both require an undergraduate degree and basic science coursework before applying. Practicing osteopathic physicians make up seven percent of the United States medical physicians with over 96,000 practicing currently in the country. With enrollment in D.O. programs increasing steadily since 2007, though, it is expected that these numbers will climb in the coming years and more private practices will open that focus on this field of medicine.   The Real Difference The main disadvantage of choosing osteopathic medicine is that that you may find yourself educating patients and colleagues about your degree and credentials (i.e., that a D.O. is the equivalent of an M.D.). Otherwise, both receive the same level of legal benefits and are fully accredited to practice in the United States. Essentially, if you are hoping to choose between the two fields of study, you really just need to evaluate whether or not you believe in a more holistic, hands-on approach to medicine or the more traditional route of becoming a Doctor of Medicine. Either way, though, youll be a physician after completing your medical school degree and residency programs.