A Picture Can Narrate One Thousand Words

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A reality from Hawler

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Add caption This photo was taken in 2004 in Hawler. Please note the sign behind him.   A man his age should be telling stories to grand kids at home, not sell rosaries on some sidewalk :( This photo taken in 2010 of the same guy in the same exact spot in Hawler I asked if he remembered me buying rosaries from him in 2004? After a long conversation, I learned more about his personal life.  I decided to buy a few more rosaries, however, he refused to accept anything in return despite his poverty!
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Healthcare with no Limits

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Bekhal was fading fast. The 25-year old woman, trapped in her native Kurdistan in northern Iraq, had unknowingly taken counterfeit medications, given to her by doctors, and as a result the Leukemia in her bones continued to spread. Standing frailly in a doorway of her family home, Bekhal listened as her father told me about the investigation into the phony drugs. Now, only days after being given the medication in a government hospital, doctors informed Bekhal that recovery within Kurdistan was impossible. Facing few options, the father outlined his plan to sell his modest house to travel with Bekhal to India in search of a last chance to save his only daughter. When I returned to my native Kurdistan to administer heath aid to refugees, I encountered countless individuals like Bekhal who were suffering unnecessarily because of a lack of government quality control and drug safety. In Kurdistan, years of war, oppression and sanctions imposed on...
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Pharmacists Should Understand Trauma, the Stress Response to Provide Effective Care

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To understand trauma, we must first understand the complex structure of the brain. The human brain develops from the bottom up, starting with the part of the brain that is responsible for our survival. Next, we have the emotional center or the limbic system, which is responsible for memory, emotions, and encoding of pleasant and unpleasant experiences. The limbic brain also scans the environment for danger based on past experiences that have been encoded. The neocortex is the last part of the brain to develop because it is the least essential to survival. The neocortex is responsible for keeping the 2 other parts of the brain in check by applying rational thought and reasoning to our decisions. In times of distress, the neocortex is overtaken by the overactive limbic system and survival instincts, putting the body into the fight-or-flight response, a function of the autonomic nervous system (ANS). When responding to stress, the brain uses 2 roads. The first is what neuroscientist Josep...
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