In 2015, the CDC published a report that attributed a variety of negative heath related characteristics to the prevalence of severe joint pain.  The percentage of poor health related issues varied substantially by state. The percentage of arthritis among adults attributing to severe joint pain was 29.7%.  States in the highest quartile of prevalence for adults with arthritis also had the highest percentages of all 7 of the negative health-related characteristics. These included arthrit...

The tragedies of the COVID-19 pandemic have devastated the lives of millions around the world. Although social distancing is necessary to stop the spread of COVID-19, on-going social distancing and extended isolation have increased people's feelings of loneliness and alienation. These public health measures have resulted in an increased number of patients experiencing mental health issues. In an annual study by Mental Health America, the number of people looking for help with anxie...

Over the last two decades, the coronavirus family has been identified as the source of several highly pathogenic global outbreaks. The recent coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) has been identified as the culprit of the recent, highly infectious outbreak. As the COVID-19 exhibits similar to the 2003 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), clinical manifestation most commonly presents in the pulmonary system. Treatment can vary depending on the infected individuals symptoms which range from mild to seve...

Medical knowledge is continuously evolving. Staying current on the latest developments and studies outlined in medical journals can be challenging for clinicians with time constraints and professional demands. This can be especially true for the primary care physician because of the large clinical variations in their patient population. This primary care conference will offer a 2019-2020 literature review and summary of research trends for six sub-specialties of internal medicine; Infectious Dis...

There are an estimated 1.4 million transgender adults in the U.S. and Illinois alone has an estimated population of 50,000. Transgender individuals are commonly described as those individuals who have a gender identity not fully congruent with their assigned sex at birth. Because of expectations of discrimination or misunderstanding in medical settings, many transgender persons avoid or delay seeing a health care provider. But even when transgender individuals do access care, they have difficult...

During 2015–2016, according to the CDC, the prevalence of hypertension was 29.0% and increased with age: age group 18–39, 7.5%; 40–59, 33.2%; and 60 and over, 63.1%. High blood pressure, is a common medical problem that can increase the risk for heart disease and stroke. Hypertension is also a culturally based issue. Hypertension prevalence was higher among non-Hispanic black (40.3%) than non-Hispanic white (27.8%), non-Hispanic Asian (25.0%), or Hispanic (27.8%) adults. Controlling high blood p...

On January 31, 2020, Health and Human Services Secretary, Alex M. Azar II, declared a public health emergency (PHE) for the United States to aid the nation’s healthcare community in responding to COVID-19. The outbreak of respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus, COVID19, from Wuhan City, Hubei Province in China has caused high morbidity and mortality rates. The beginning of the outbreak was linked to a large seafood and live animal market, suggesting animal-to-person spread. Later, a...

Leukemia is a cancer of the early blood-forming cells. Most often, leukemia is a cancer of the white blood cells, but some forms of leukemia start in other blood cell types. There are several types of leukemia, which are divided based mainly on whether the leukemia is acute (fast growing) or chronic (slower growing), and whether it starts in myeloid cells or lymphoid cells. Different types of leukemia have different treatment options and outlooks. Leukemia was a deadly condition for many years. ...