EARTHQUAKES and Public Health

By Mara Constantine

In light of the large number of earthquakes in Berkeley this past Fall, as well the fairly large one in Oklahoma, we may be thinking seriously for the first time about an earthquake plan.  When living in more or less temporary housing, as students often do, it’s easy to tell yourself the “Big One” won’t come while you’re living there and to put off taking appropriate precautions.  According to the USGS, there is a 63% probability of a magnitude 6.7 or greater earthquake striking the greater San Francisco Bay Region in the next 30 years.  In other words, there is a chance that a strong earthquake could hit this year.  

While it’s impossible to know the exact probability of an earthquake occurring during a more specific time range, there are simple and easy steps we can all take to help us prepare for the aftermath of an earthquake.  The first step is awareness – it is important to know what risks you face in the event of a strong trembler.  Do you live in a soft story apartment building?  A soft story building is typically a several-story apartment building located over a parking garage or a series of retail businesses (with large windows).  The consequences of the soft story design were dramatically illustrated in the 1994 Northridge, CA earthquake: “Upper floors were suspended above long, open areas instead of rigid walls. The spindly posts often propping up the lower floors proved to be no match against heavy, swaying upper stories.”  According to the City of Berkeley, soft story buildings “have performed poorly in recent earthquakes with some buildings collapsing and causing serious injury and death.”  So, if you live in this type of building it is important to be aware of the risk.  Since 2005, the City of Berkeley has required landlords to notify tenants if they live in a soft story building, the second phase of the Soft Story Program requires landlords to retrofit their buildings to improve their safety.  As of October, however, “only 66 out of the 269 landlords who own soft story buildings in the city have retrofitted.”  If you feel comfortable discussing this and taking a bit of a stand, talking to your landlord about your concerns about building safety may help encourage him or her to begin retrofits.  Because retrofits have been so slow, it is important to consider whether a building is soft story when looking for your next place to live.  

Building safety issues are also present on campus.  Please visit website of UC Berkeley’s Seismic Action Plan for Facilities Enhancement and Renewal to see if the buildings where you spend time are seismically fit: http://berkeley.edu/administration/facilities/safer/rating.html/.  Despite years of retrofit and in some cases seismically unfit buildings being knocked down and entirely rebuilt, there are still an alarmingly large number of buildings on campus that are rated seismically poor.  While efforts to remedy this continue, such as the upcoming demolition of Campbell Hall, progress is frustrating slow because of lack of funding.  

In case of an earthquake, the US government recommends to keep in mind the mantra DROP, COVER, AND HOLD:  “DROP to the ground; take COVER by getting under a sturdy table or other piece of furniture; and HOLD ON until the shaking stops. If there isn’t a table or desk near you, cover your face and head with your arms and crouch in an inside corner of the building.”  The website ready.gov, published by the Federal Agency for Emergency Management, has information about what to do before, during, and after an earthquake in order to best stay safe.  Check out the website here: http://www.ready.gov/earthquakes!  

I’d like to leave you all with a few tips that are easy enough for even the busiest college student.  First, because fires are the most common hazard after an earthquake, make sure you have a fire extinguisher, know where it is, and know how to use it.  Second, have a supply of bottled water at all times.  During an earthquake, water pipes may rupture and local stores could quickly run out of water.  It is also recommended to keep a supply of canned food (with a can opener) in case an earthquake of very large magnitude has long lasting effects making it impossible to cook or to buy supplies.  Finally, phone service is known not to function properly when many people are making calls or sending texts at the same time, as would happen in the event of an earthquake.  Therefore, it’s a good idea to make a plan with your best friend or significant other of where to meet in case you cannot contact each other after an earthquake.  

About the Author: Mara Constantine is a 4th year sociology major and California native. She is currently a research assistant for Professor Kristin Luker. In addition to writing for the Public Health Advocate blog, Mara is also an active member of the Cal Cooking Club and a tutor in the YWCA’s English-in-Action program. Her public health interests include maternal and child health, health of immigrant populations, and health disparities.Ab

Vinegar and Cervical Cancer?

I’d heard from the Turkish manager of my apartment that drinking a tablespoon of vinegar could cure any cold or flu, but I was not aware that it could also detect cervical cancer.  Better yet, it’s actually true!  The New York Times article “Fighting Cervical Cancer with Vinegar and Ingenuity” explains how the acetic acid in common household vinegar turns cancerous lesions in the cervix white, allowing them to be frozen off.  The whole procedure, both detection and removal, can be accomplished by a nurse in just one visit.  For women in developing countries, who may be hindered by both distance and finance from larger medical centers, this technology is an important and effective way to reduce deaths cervical cancer.  http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/27/health/27cancer.html 

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About the Author: Mara Constantine is a 4th year sociology major and California native. She is currently a research assistant for Professor Kristin Luker. In addition to writing for the Public Health Advocate blog, Mara is also an active member of the Cal Cooking Club and a tutor in the YWCA’s English-in-Action program. Her public health interests include maternal and child health, health of immigrant populations, and health disparities.Abou

Breastfeeding at Home and Abroad

Can you imagine a readily available medicine that increases immunity to all kinds of diseases and decreases intestinal problems and obesity? If it sounds like the kind of miracle drug that can’t possibly exist, think again - it’s breast milk! While the WHO recommends that babies be fed breast milk exclusively for the first six months of their life, there are, unfortunately, many obstacles to breastfeeding both at home and abroad. In the heartbreaking and frustrating New York Times article “The Breast Milk Cure,” the author discusses the common misconception that babies need to be given water on hot days. In developing countries, this is extremely dangerous to the babies’ health because of the high risk of contaminated water that can quickly cause death in an infant. And when formula is used in developing countries, the risk of illness is again high due to improperly sanitized baby bottles and the probability of contaminated water being mixed with the formula. A third problem relating to breastfeeding is the cultural practice of colostrum denial. Colostrum is the yellow substance produced during the first days after delivery; it contains many antibodies to build the immunity of infants. When women delay nursing for even a few days, they may have increased difficultly in establishing breastfeeding, in addition to forgoing the opportunity to provide critical antibodies to the infant. New mothers that deny their infants colostrum are also more likely to feed their babies contaminated water until milk is produced. If more women practiced ideal breastfeeding, a substantial amount of infant mortality could be prevented – 1.4 million deaths per year, according to The Lancet.

While “The Breast Milk Cure” focuses on Africa, the state of breastfeeding in the US also shows considerable room for improvement. For example, the CDC released a report this summer stating that US hospitals fail to adequately support mothers in breastfeeding. This article discusses the CDC report and explains that hospitals can actually support formula use, as opposed to breastfeeding, through the use of free formula samples for new parents. An Associated Press article published last week explained the reasons why free formula samples undermine breastfeeding: because samples are given to the new mothers by the hospital, people really think it must be good for their babies. Formula industry representatives defend the practice of the free samples by saying that they provide an important source of nutrition to have available for the baby if needed for any reason, and that the information included with the sample instructs parents in how to use formula safely, such as making it clear that formula cannot safely be watered down. It is my opinion that hospitals should not be allowed to distribute free formula samples because they are obviously intended to encourage formula use, which goes against the WHO recommendation that exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life is the healthiest way to nourish a baby.

Returning to the CDC report, I was astounded to read that only about 1/3 of US hospitals keep the mother and baby together at all times. Having a separate nursery for babies seems like something from a movie that belongs in another era, but it is still the circumstance in which many American babies begin their lives. This harmful and easily changeable practice makes it much more difficult for mothers to establish breastfeeding and to receive help for any problems they have with it while they are still in the hospital. As we can see, there is much work to be done both at home and abroad to increase the prevalence of breastfeeding.

If you would like to read more on this important public health issue, here is a selection of other articles on the topic:

The Wall Street Journal

The Center For Disease Control

The Huffington Post

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About the Author: Mara Constantine is a 4th year sociology major and California native. She is currently a research assistant for Professor Kristin Luker. In addition to writing for the Public Health Advocate blog, Mara is also an active member of the Cal Cooking Club and a tutor in the YWCA’s English-in-Action program. Her public health interests include maternal and child health, health of immigrant populations, and health disparities.About the Author: Mara Constantine is a 4th year sociology

About the Author: Mara Constantine is a 4th year sociology major and California native. She is currently a research assistant for Professor Kristin Luker. In addition to writing for the Public Health Advocate blog, Mara is also an active member of the Cal Cooking Club and a tutor in the YWCA’s English-in-Action program. Her public health interests include maternal and child health, health of immigrant populations, and health disparities.About the Author: Mara Constantine is a 4th year sociology major and California native. She is currently a research assistant for Professor Kristin Luker. In addition to writing for the Public Health Advocate blog, Mara is also an active member of the Cal Cooking Club and a tutor in the YWCA’s English-in-Action program. Her public health interests include maternal and child health, health of immigrant populations, and health disparities. major and California native. She is currently a research assistant for Professor Kristin Luker. In addition to writing for the Public Health Advocate blog, Mara is also an active member of the Cal Cooking Club and a tutor in the YWCA’s English-in-Action program. Her public health interests include maternal and child health, health of immigrant populations, and health disparities.