In 2016, at the request of anti-violence coalitions in Texas, University of Texas Medical Branch associate professor Leila Wood undertook a study of job-related stress among advocates. The resulting survey of hundreds of movement workers in the state found that 30 percent reported experiencing or witnessing racial microaggressions at work. Those incidents were associated with high rates of “compassion fatigue”—the toxic mix of burnout and secondary traumatic stress that often drives people to quit their jobs. Black advocates, who reported experiencing or witnessing microaggressions at some of the highest rates, were also the most likely to be planning to leave their agencies.

Tsola Efejuku, a UTMB medical student, was raised by a family of health care professionals. His mom is a pharmacist, one of his uncles is a physician and another is a physical therapist. This early exposure piqued his interest in the field. But outside of his family, he found little reinforcement. “I didn’t see too many [other] Black physicians,” he said. In 2020, 6.3% of active physicians in Texas identified as Black or African American, compared with 13.4% of the state population.

According to podiatrist Chanel Perkins, DMP, an assistant professor at the University of Texas Medical Branch, what’s happening in the body when someone gets a toe cramp depends on the exact cause. One common reason according to Perkins is dehydration. Also, the lack of movement could be causing your toe cramping. “Lack of blood flow leads to low oxygenation and nutrition in the tissues, causing them to cramp,” she said.

The mumps cases in vaccinated individuals are mild. Therefore, most cases go unrecognized because few individuals have the classic chipmunk face or suffer complications like testicular swelling or brain inflammation that trigger diagnostic investigations.

Most people have never seen a case of measles, mumps or rubella nor have they seen the side effects of these viruses because our vaccination rates are high, writes Dr. Sally Robinson in her regular column.

Undergoing physical and mental stimulation that creates the stress response in the brain for a short period of time (minutes to hours) has been shown to improve physical, mental and emotional health. “Do hard things,” Dr. Samuel Mathis writes. “Do something that will challenge you.”

A recent study from the “Journal of Nutrition” showed that the addition of pecans can dramatically improve your cholesterol levels. Drs. Norbert Herzog and David Niesel discuss the benefits in their Medical Discovery News column. This doesn’t mean, however, that you should eat that extra piece of pecan pie.

"COVID-19 orphanhood confronts us at a time nearing resource exhaustion across multiple systems,” said Dr. Michael Goodman of the University of Texas Medical Branch. “The consequences of orphanhood linger throughout the course of a lifetime, affecting the futures of families, communities and societies. We determine how long our communities will suffer the effects of COVID-19 by urgently determining the quality and force of our concern for orphaned young people.”