#physical symptoms of syphilis

[leebird-simmer]

Psychopathology, ch 1 pt. 2

Could you describe the medical model of abnormal behavior?

- German physician Wilhelm Griesinger (1817-1868) argued that abnormal behavior was rooted in diseases of the brain.

- His views influenced another German physician named Emil Kraepelin (1856-1926), who wrote an influential textbook on psychiatry in 1883.

- According to the medical model, people behaving abnormally suffer from mental illnesses or disorders that can be classified (like physical illnesses) according to their distinctive causes and symptoms.

- Proponents of the medical model don’t necessarily believe that every mental disorder is a product of “defective” biology, but they do maintain that it’s useful to classify patterns of abnormal behavior as disorders that can be identified on the basis of their distinctive features or symptoms.

- Kraepelin specified two main groups of mental disorders:

dementia praecox (from roots meaning “precocious [premature] insanity”) which we now call schizophrenia. Kraepelin believed this was caused by a biochemical imbalance.

manic-depressive insanity, which we now call bipolar disorder. Kraepelin believed this was caused by an abnormality in the body’s metabolism.

- The medical model gained support in the late 19th century with the discovery that advanced syphilis (in which the bacterium that causes the disease directly invades the brain) led to a form of disturbed behavior called general paresis.

- General paresis is associated with physical symptoms and psychological impairment, including personality and mood changes, and with progressive deterioration of memory and judgment. Now that we have antibiotics to treat syphilis, this disorder has become extremely uncommon.

- The discovery of this connection between general paresis and syphilis inspired optimism in the scientific community, who believed that other biological causes would soon be discovered for many types of disturbed behavior. When Alzheimer’s was discovered, that lent further support to the medical model. However, an overwhelming majority of psychological disorders are more complex than scientists once thought, and we are still struggling to understand what factors are relevant, how influential they are, etc.

syndromes: clusters of symptoms that may be indicative of a particular disease or condition.

What is the major psychological model of abnormal behavior?

- Even as the medical model was gaining influence in the 19th century, some scientists argued that abnormal behavior could not have completely biological origins.

- In Paris, respected neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot (1825-1893) experimented with hypnosis as a treatment for hysteria, a condition characterized by paralysis or numbness that cannot be explained by any underlying physical cause. Hysteria was a common diagnosis in the Victorian era, but it’s quite rare today.

- Charcot’s teaching clinic was attended by a young Austrian physician named Sigmund Freud (1856-1939). Freud reasoned that if hysterical symptoms could be made to disappear or appear through hypnosis - the mere “suggestion of ideas” - then they must be psychological, not biological, in origin.

- Freud was also influenced by Viennese physician Joseph Breuer (1842-19125). He had used hypnosis to treat a 21 yr. old woman (Anna O.) for hysterical complaints which had no apparent medical basis. He encouraged her to talk about her symptoms, sometimes under hypnosis. The hysterical symptoms were taken to represent the transformation of these blocked-up emotions - forgotten but not lost - into physical complaints.

- In Anna’s case, the symptoms disappeared once the emotions were brought to the surface. Breuer labeled the therapeutic effect catharsis, or emotional discharge of feelings.

psychodynamic model: the theoretical model of Freud and his followers, in which abnormal behavior is viewed as the product of clashing forces within the personality.

What is the sociocultural perspective on abnormal behavior?

- Sociocultural theorists believe the causes of abnormal behavior may be found in the failures of society, rather than in the person. Psychological problems may be rooted in poverty, unemployment, ignorance, injustice, and lack of opportunity.

- Sociocultural theorists also focus on relationships between mental health and social factors such as gender, social class, ethnicity, and lifestyle. The social consequences of being labeled as a “mental patient” are emphasized.

- Sociocultural theorists argue that people with long-term mental health problems should have access to meaningful societal roles, rather than being stigmatized and marginalized.

What is the biopsychosocial perspective on abnormal behavior?

- Many mental health professionals take the view that abnormal behavior patterns are too complex to be understand from any single perspective, so they take into account biological, psychological, AND sociocultural causes. This is known as the biopsychosocial model or interactionist model.

What are the four major objectives of science?

Description

Explanation

Prediction

Control

theory: a formulation of the relationships underlying observed events.

What are the four major steps in the scientific method?

Formulating a research question

Framing the research question in the form of a hypothesis

Testing the hypothesis

Drawing conclusions about the hypothesis

What are the ethical principles that guide psychology research?

informed consent: research participants should receive enough information about an experiment beforehand to decide freely whether or not to participate.

confidentiality: protection of research participants by keeping records secure and not disclosing their identities.

What is the role of naturalistic research and what are its key features?

naturalistic observation method: researcher observes behavior in the field, where it happens.

- Scientists try to minimize interference with the behavior they observe, but the mere presence of an observer can cause distortion, and this must be taken into consideration.

- Naturalistic observation tells us *how* people behave, but doesn’t explain *why* people behave a certain way. Cause-and-effect is better determined through controlled experiments.

What is the role of correlational research and what are its key features?

correlational method: the use of statistical methods to examine relationships between two or more variables.

correlational coefficient: a statistical measure of the strength of the relationship between two variables expressed along a continuum that ranges between -1.00 and +1.00.

CORRELATION IS NOT CAUSALITY!

longitudinal study: a type of correlational study in which individuals are periodically tested or evaluated over lengthy periods of time.

What is the role of experimental research and what are its key features?

experimental method: allows scientists to demonstrate causal relationships by manipulating the (suspected) causal variable and measuring its effects under controlled conditions that minimize the risk of other variables explaining the results.

independent variables: factors hypothesized to play a causal role; manipulated or controlled by the investigator.

dependent variables: factors observed in order to determine the effects of manipulating the independent variable; measured but not manipulated by the experimenter.

experimental group: in an experiment, the group that receives the experimental treatment.

control group: in an experiment, a group that does not receive the experimental treatment.

random assignment: a method of assigning research subjects at random to experimental or control groups to balance the characteristics of people who comprise them.

selection factor: differences in the types of people who would select to be in one group or the other.

blind: research participants are uninformed about the treatments they are receiving in order to control for their expectations.

placebo: an inert drug that physically resembles the active drug.

- In a single-blind placebo-control study, research participants are randomly assigned to treatment conditions in which they receive either an active drug or an inert placebo, but are not told which drug they receive.

- In a double-blind placebo control design, neither the researcher nor the subject knows who is receiving the active drug or the placebo.

internal validity: the degree to which manipulation of the independent variables can be causally related to changes in the dependent variables.

external validity: the degree to which experimental results can be generalized to other settings and conditions.

construct validity: (1) in experimentation, the degree to which treatment effects can be accounted for by the theoretical mechanisms (constructs) represented in the independent variables; (2) in measurement, the degree to which a test measures the hypothetical construct that it purports to measure.

What is the role of epidemiological research and what are its key features?

epidemiological method: examines rates of occurrence of abnormal behavior in various settings or population groups.

survey method: a research method in which samples of people are questioned by means of a survey instrument such as a questionnaire or interview protocol.

incidence: the number of new cases occurring during a specific period of time.

prevalence: the overall number of cases of a disorder existing in the population during a given period of time.

random sample: a sample that is drawn in such a way that every member of a population has an equal chance of being included.

- Random sampling refers to the process of randomly choosing individuals within a target population to participate in a survey or research study.

- Random assignment refers to the process by which members of a research sample are assigned at random to different experimental conditions or treatments.

What is the role of kinship studies? What are their key features?

- Kinship studies attempt to disentangle the roles of heredity and environment in determining behavior.

genotype: set of traits specified by our genetic code.

People who possess genotypes for particular psychological disorders have a genetic predisposition that makes them more likely to develop the disorders in response to stressful life events, physical or psychological trauma, or other environmental factors.

phenotype: constellation of observable or expressed traits.

represents the interaction of genetic and environmental influences

proband, AKA index case: the case first diagnosed with a given disorder.

concordance rate: percentage of cases in which both twins have the same trait or disorder.

Researchers prefer to use monozygotic twins, but they also study dizygotic twins.

adoptee studies: studies that compare the traits and behavior patterns of adopted children to those of their biological parents and their adoptive parents.

What is the role of case studies? What are their limitations?

case studies: intensive studies of individuals.

can be based on historical material and involve subjects who passed long ago

More commonly, case studies reflect an in-depth analysis of an individual’s course of treatment. They typically include detailed histories of the subject’s background and response to treatment.

Unfortunately, they can’t be generalized, and the accuracy of the material varies.

single-case experimental design: a type of case study in which the subject is used as their own control.

reversal design: an experimental design that consists of repeated measurement of a subject’s behavior through a sequence of alternating baseline and treatment phases.

critical thinking: adoption of a questioning attitude and careful scrutiny of claims and arguments in light of evidence.

Maintain a skeptical attitude.

Consider the definitions of terms.

Weigh the assumptions or premises on which arguments are based.

Bear in mind that correlation is not causation.

Consider the kinds of evidence on which conclusions are based.

Do not oversimplify.

Do not overgeneralize.

[coochiequeens]

Even in a medical study concerning how monkeypox impacted women they first discuss trans identified males.

By Apoorva Mandavilli

Nov. 21, 2022

In the monkeypox outbreak that unspooled this summer in the United States and dozens of other countries, men who have sex with men were the most at risk. But thousands of women were also infected, and many more cases were probably missed, according to the first ever study of women and nonbinary people who had contracted the disease.

As in men, sexual contact was most likely to be the source of infection among transgender women, accounting for 89 percent of cases, according to the case series, published on Thursday in the journal Lancet. But among cisgender women and nonbinary individuals who were assigned female at birth, only 61 percent of cases could be connected to sexual contact.

Nearly one-quarter of cisgender women in the study might have been infected without sexual interaction with an infected person, said Dr. Chloe Orkin, a physician and researcher at Queen Mary University of London. The women were thought to have been infected through exposure at their jobs or homes or through other types of close contact.

“The lesson here is that everybody needs to know about this,” Dr. Orkin said. While it’s appropriate that public health messages have mostly been directed at men who have sex with men, she added, “it’s important to recognize this is not the only group.”

After several months of rapidly escalating case numbers, the monkeypox outbreak in the United States has slowed, thanks in part to a vaccination campaign and changes in the behavior of many high-risk individuals. Since May, there have been just over 29,000 cases in the United States, but only about a thousand cases have been diagnosed in the last month.

Yet as the disease fades from public attention, scientists are just beginning to understand when and how it spreads and who is at risk.

In the new study, Dr. Orkin and her colleagues found genetic material from the monkeypox virus in all 14 of the vaginal swabs they tested, suggesting that the virus can be transmitted through genital secretions. Studies in men have similarly found the virus in seminal fluid.

Still, public health authorities have hesitated to call monkeypox a sexually transmitted infection, arguing that the virus can spread through close physical contact of any kind.

But some experts disagree: The fact that monkeypox can be transmitted in other ways should not preclude its classification as a sexually transmitted disease, because other diseases like herpes and syphilis can also spread through nonsexual close contact, some have said.

Last month, New York State added monkeypox to its list of sexually transmitted infections, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has not made that change. The agency will leave that categorization up to individual states, said Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, deputy coordinator of the White House’s monkeypox response. But it’s clear that sexual behavior drives cases, he said.

“If you took sex away, would we have had a monkeypox outbreak? Probably not,” he added. Even if the primary reason for the spread is skin-to-skin contact during sexual activity, “it’s definitely a sexually associated transmission.”

This year, Dr. Orkin led an international collaboration to characterize monkeypox symptoms in 500 patients. The findings led Britain, the United States and other countries to refine their case definitions of the disease.

And last month, the U.K. Health Security Agency published a studysuggesting that between about 40 percent and 60 percent of monkeypox transmission may occur before infected people develop symptoms.

This makes sense intuitively because once patients develop the painful blisters, they would be unlikely to have sex, noted Tom Ward, an infectious disease modeler for the agency. Some small percentage of infected people may never develop symptoms, he said.

Tracing contacts in a monkeypox outbreak is extremely challenging because of the sensitive and often anonymous nature of spread; there are no tests that can detect monkeypox before the characteristic skin rash appears.

“What it essentially highlights is that we still need a lot of research into the nature of asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic transmission of monkeypox,” Dr. Ward said.

Some people may have mild, generic symptoms like a sore throat before developing the rash.

Those individuals should stay home to protect others, Dr. Daskalakis said. But ultimately, he said, the possibility of pre-symptomatic spread doesn’t change the public health message to people at risk: immunization against monkeypox.

“Probably the strongest guidance is that if there is past history that would make you think that you’re at risk for monkeypox, it’s important to get vaccinated, and if there’s a potential for future risk, it’s important to get vaccinated,” he added.

The new study is the first to describe monkeypox in transgender or nonbinary people, who often have little access to quality health care and are rarely included in research studies.

“It’s very, very important that we report on both sex and gender differences, because both are important, and in some cases, they intersect,” Dr. Orkin said.

In the study, researchers from 15 countries contributed clinical information from 69 cisgender women, 62 transgender women and five nonbinary individuals who were diagnosed with monkeypox between May 11 and Oct. 4. About 45 percent of the women were Latino, 29 percent were white and 21 percent were Black.

More than half the patients in the study had sores in their anus, genitals, mouth or eyes. But some women — especially cisgender women — were initially misdiagnosed with other sexually transmitted infections.

Experts had anticipated that monkeypox “would have probably a slightly different pattern of transmission depending on social behaviors and norms within certain groups,” said Dr. Abraar Karan, an infectious diseases physician at Stanford University.

The new study supported that inference. In contrast with male monkeypox patients who have sex with men, only 7 percent of the patients in the study reported having attended a Pride event or other similar gatherings. While the transgender women in the study had had about 10 partners on average over the previous month, the cisgender women had one, and 7 percent of the cisgender women said they had no sexual partners in the previous month.

“So the driver was not the same,” Dr. Karan said.

Many of the transgender women in the study had other risk factors for monkeypox, including undiagnosed and untreated H.I.V., homelessness and injection drug use. Half of the transgender women in the study had H.I.V. compared with 8 percent of the cisgender women, and more than half of the transgender women were engaged in commercial sex work compared with 3 percent of cisgender women.

“Even though the absolute number of people who are trans and engaged in sex work may not be very large, the extremely high prevalence of H.I.V. and now monkeypox and other sexually transmitted infections means that public health agencies need to be thinking of ways to do outreach in this population,” said Dr. Jay Varma, director of the Cornell Center for Pandemic Prevention and Response.

While many of the transgender women sought care at sexual health clinics, the cisgender women in the study went to primary care providers or to emergency departments, where doctors were more likely to be unfamiliar with monkeypox symptoms. About one in three cisgender women were diagnosed late or with another disease; some were probably never diagnosed.

“It’s very likely that infections have been missed and not picked up at all,” Dr. Orkin said.

About one in four of the cisgender women in the study lived with children, but the doctors identified only two cases of monkeypox among them. The C.D.C.’s observations jibe with that finding.

But Dr. Karan cautioned that cases in children might be under reported because of the stigma associated with monkeypox. More studies are needed to understand how symptoms may vary in different populations, particularly in countries where the virus has caused outbreaks for years, he said.

[mypinkparables]

The Disproportionately High Mortality Rate of Black Mothers and Babies :Facts, Factors, and Fatalities - Cheyenne Adderley

Throughout the history of the world, the loss of a child has always been a traumatic experience. In the past, losing children in their first year of life was a disturbingly common occurrence in the lives of many parents. Contributions that are majorly responsible for this phenomenon of post-neonatal death are diseases/infections, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), malnutrition, low birth weight, home environment issues, and troubled pregnancy. To combat this, pioneers in obstetrics/gynecology and medicine researched and developed ways in which to solve these issues. Immunizations and vaccines were developed to fight infectious diseases, education and emphasis was placed around the need for proper prenatal care, and awareness was brought to a good amount of the known dangers surrounding pregnancy. Many issues that had once plagued parenthood and pregnancies were solved. One problem that was never solved, though, would be the disproportionately high mortality rate of black mothers and babies compared to their white counterparts. Unlike the aforementioned contributions listed above, this high mortality rate is caused by a pervasive structure of systematic and societal racism that is to be explored further in the remainder of this essay. The disproportionately high mortality rate of black mothers and babies is caused by a combination of disadvantages created by societal and systematic racism, the empathy gap, and lack of access to proper prenatal medical treatment.

  The United States of America is a country that was built on the agony, anguish, and affliction of African Americans. Since it’s beginning, black lives and bodies have always been seen as being worth less than everyone else’s in economic, humanitarian, and even educational ways. There is evidence of this in slavery, Jim Crow laws, police brutality, the school-to-prison pipeline, and much, much more. There is no doubt about it, racism in the United States is an unfortunately prevalent part of our society. In terms of racial discrimination in the medical industry, the proof remains plentiful and certified. The Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male was a secret experiment conducted by the U.S. Public Health Service to study the progression of syphilis without treatment. This experiment was advertised as a treatment for bad blood for colored people. Participants were promised free food, medical examinations, and burial insurance. Hundreds of poor black men signed up. The problem and unethicality within this research is that the men were not fully informed about the truth of the research. There were 600 men in total, 399 diagnosed with Syphilis and 201 did not have this deadly venereal disease. The participants who had been diagnosed with Syphilis were not given any treatment, but were instead essentially left to die so that their bodies could be examined for medical research post-mortem (Brown). This atrocity of a medical experiment is important to one’s understanding of the disproportionately high mortality rate of black mothers and babies because it proves that there exists and has existed, a racial bias in the pain assessment and medical treatment of black people. This bias is the foundation for creating serious health problems in black mothers and babies, specifically, because it is an error in the systematic structure of the lives of one particular group. Problems in systematic structures are especially dangerous because they can impact a group of already previously disadvantaged people on different levels from different angles. In the context of the topics being analyzed, it would be something in close relation to the dismissal of legitimate concerns and symptoms turning into a failure of empathy which perpetuates racial disparities, leading furthermore into wide scale issues similar to,”The United States’ African-American population [being] disproportionately poor. African Americans do not tend to hold employment positions that provide medical benefits” (Fauci 77). Seemingly “small” issues or biases in things that are of major importance to people’s health and livelihood creates room for large discrepancies that become dangerous as things advance and become more serious. These large discrepancies are part of the reason why black mothers are at a higher risk for pregnancies resulting in conditions (i.e. hypertension and pre-eclampsia) that cause higher rates of infant and maternal death. 

  In order to understand how these large discrepancies create and relate to lack of access, the topics of lack of access due to racial bias and their subsequent effects on the pregnancies specifically of black mothers, must be discussed. In the duration of a pregnancy, a woman’s body goes through countless transformations, whether they be physical, emotional, or in the form of something else that is a discomfort. Important necessities in order to help refrain from or stop these changes from disturbing one’s pregnancy include,” exercise and activity, maintaining a healthy weight, caring for your mental health, nutrition, and caring for your oral health” (Omama). This means that one has to have access to the time and resources required in order to maintain the necessities needed for a healthy pregnancy. Racial bias on all levels is partly responsible for perpetuating the higher mortality rate of black mothers and babies because it is what creates the lack of access gap that impacts minority mothers. It, being racial bias, is created when an obstacle is purposefully placed between a person and a thing that they need. In the past, these obstacles existed in the form of slavery or Jim Crow Laws. They were rules that were created in order to preserve the generational  downfall of black people. After the criminalization of segregation, oppressors had to become more creative with the ways in which they oppressed minority groups. This is where lack of access becomes more relevant. Despite the tremendous and widespread need for medical treatment,” many African Americans cannot effectively access medical care. This inaccessibility is due to a variety of factors, including a lack of health insurance, an inadequate number of healthcare facilities, “patient dumping,” difficulty in obtaining prescription drugs and an insufficient number of African-American doctors.” ( Fauci 71). Instead of being upfront with racism and racial bias, oppressors began to create lack of access to the resources minority groups needed to survive and exist comfortably. Once those resources were taken away, it had the same negative impact as slavery and Jim Crow laws, without actually having to be as boldly open and directly wrong. Oppressors succeeded in using lack of access as an updated form of segregation because it was subtle yet effective and able to be made to feel “normal”.  Racial bias being so deeply ingrained into the systematic design of this country to the point where it is seen as normal, is what creates widespread phenomenons such as black mothers and babies being negatively impacted in an unfortunate plethora of ways. The seemingly harmless and minute parts of racial bias all have the ability to exalt oppression. 

The creation and perpetuation of discrimination against the black race on systematic levels causes the trickle down effect that is responsible for certain phenomenons in the medical industry. Racial bias is what gives birth to negative discrepancies between races. When a person begins to look at one group of people as “the other”, they will begin to act differently towards “the other”, consciously or not. The widespread belief that somehow black people are stronger and able to withstand more struggle than others comes from “...an underlying belief that there is a single black experience of the world. Because this belief assumes blacks are already hardened by racism, people believe black people are less sensitive to pain. Because they are believed to be less sensitive to pain, black people are forced to endure more pain” (Silverstein). This may include showing favoritism to other races because of their racial background, using slurs to describe certain races, or even just seemingly harmless jokes. Racial bias is an attitude that can take place and be reflected in many different forms. Bias is not something that can be turned off or hidden. Bias will always find a way to make itself known, but unconscious bias is especially dangerous because it gives people the illusion of not having done anything wrong. It is similar to how a big portion of the general population believes that vaping is somehow a healthier and safer option compared to real cigarette smoking. In both situations, damage is still being done no matter what the appearance of the danger is because the root of the problem still exists in both situations. Unconscious bias is able to explain why things may appear to be equal even though there are still several unfair aspects to society. Implicit biases are so powerful because they have the power to impact almost every facet of life. This means unconscious bias can range from affecting the decision of a police officer choosing whether or not to pull someone over, a hiring manager deciding on who to hire for a new position, or a doctor choosing which method of care to give to a patient. All of these situations can end up being dire and life-altering situations depending on the circumstances, as is. Adding in a bias toward a certain kind of civilian, employee, or patient only ensures that an issue will arise more in that group. Racial bias is what creates the circumstances that allow for black mothers and babies to suffer medically on such a broad and undeniable scale. Implicit bias is what makes the conditions that much worse between black and white mothers. Relating back to the topic of black mothers and babies, implicit bias is a subdivision of the empathy gap. The empathy gap is a phenomenon in which people are not able to emphasize with or fully understand one’s situation because they are cognitively unaware of how to account for the decision making process and mental state of others. There are certain careers in this world that require more empathy than others. For example, doctors and nurses should be able to empathize with patients because of the considerable difference between each one and their case. Situations vary greatly and not everyone comes from the same background with the same knowledge of healthcare and how to get help. This is something that needs to be empathized with and understood because a misunderstanding of this fact is what can lead to a widening of the empathy gap. When a doctor looks at a patient and sees someone from a certain background dealing with a persistent medical condition, that is not the time to begin creating assumptions or premature judgment because when enough doctors begin to view enough of the same negative things in patients of similar backgrounds through a pessimistic lens, people begin to slip through the cracks. Doctors may unknowingly begin to dismiss what a patient feels or doubt how much pain they are truly in because they are desensitized to their humane existence due to the creation of racist or all around negative idealizations. The empathy gap creates a culture of dismissive attitudes and unfair treatment from doctors because they will not take certain cases as seriously if they do not empathize with the patient. This is why it is beyond important for doctors to equally assess, understand, listen to, and treat every patient the same way. Allowing for stereotypes and pessimistic views about a certain group of people only creates a space for those people to suffer. These stereotypes hold no real truth in society and cannot offer any real medical answer to assist a doctor in treating a patient. Empathy is a required skill when people’s lives are at risk. 

     Black mothers and babies have a disproportionately high mortality rate because of the way that society dehumanizes and downplays their existence. There are several reasons as to why and how the mortality rate became what it is, but the main reason is centered around the fact that there is a specific disadvantage placed so harshly onto black women, that it stunts their growth and progression away from phenomenons that should have already been understood and solved due to the updated society that exists in today’s world. These problems still exist because there are people that exist in today’s world, but live and acknowledge the world with the views of someone living seventy years ago. The age old stereotypes, jokes, idealizations, theories, and customs must come to an end in order for black women, mothers, and children to be able progress past the impact racial bias has already made on them. Discrimination on every level plays a part in as to why this mortality rate has been so popularly perpetuated.

  Works Cited

“America Is Failing Its Black Mothers.” Harvard Public Health Magazine, 21 Dec. 2018,                        SSSCCwww.hsph.harvard.edu/magazine/magazine_article/america-is-failing-its-black-motRRRRRhers/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf.

Brown, DeNeen L. “'You've Got Bad Blood': The Horror of the Tuskegee Syphilis  RRRRRExperiment.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 16 May 2017, RRRRRwww.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2017/05/16/youve-got-bad-blood-thRRRRRe-horror-of-the-tuskegee-syphilis-experiment/.

Fauci, Cara A.” RACISM AND HEALTH CARE IN AMERICA: LEGAL RESPONSES RRRRRTO RACIAL DISPARITIES IN THE ALLOCATION OF KIDNEYS, RRRRRwww.bc.edu/content/dam/files/schools/law/lawreviews/journals/bctwj/21_1/02_TRRRRRXT.htm.

“Healthy Living.” OMama, www.omama.com/en/pre-pregnancy/healthy-living.asp.

Howard, Jacqueline. “Childbirth Is Killing Black Women, and Here's Why.” CNN, Cable RRRRRNews Network, 15 Nov. 2017, RRRRRwww.cnn.com/2017/11/15/health/black-women-maternal-mortality/index.html?utRRRRRRm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf.

Silverstein, Jason. “Why White People Don't Feel Black People's Pain.” Slate Magazine, RRRRRSlate, 27 June 2013, RRRRRslate.com/technology/2013/06/racial-empathy-gap-people-dont-perceive-pain-in-otRRRRRher-races.html.

Villarosa, Linda. “Why America's Black Mothers and Babies Are in a Life-or-Death RRRRRCrisis.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 11 Apr. 2018, RRRRRwww.nytimes.com/2018/04/11/magazine/black-mothers-babies-death-maternal-moRRRRRrtality.html?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf.

[whatiwillsay]

Allegedly Britney has late-stage syphilis that is genuinely causing physical and mental symptoms, and this is why they’re having such a difficult time making any real moves in court.

uhhh source? i kind of doubt this.

[fillyreports]

well, IM curious abt what you learned abt history today!!!! tell me abt it 👀

Thank you :’) 

Well first, I watched a film about the Radium Girls (with the same name) that was not good, but it implored me to learn more! So I did! 

(I’d sugguest fact checking this if you’re interested tho cause I’m typing this out from memory and I only learned about it today)

SO in the early 1920s, basically, they used a substance called Radium to paint stuff because it was this radical ore that glowed in the dark! The women who painted with Radium paint were called dial painters (they would paint glow in the dark numbers on clocks and got paid 1 1/2 pennies per dial). They would also paint their nails, face, and teeth with the paint for funzies, and to save on material, they were encouraged to wipe their brushes on their lips to straighten them out while painting. 

Around this time, a LOT of dial painters would get sick. I’m talking burns on their skin, teeth falling out, joints getting too pained to move, and in extreme cases, jaws literally falling off. Company hired doctors were assigned to these cases, and the women they treated were told that they had syphilis (and because at the time they only knew that to be contracted sexually, it conveniently created a situation where the victims wouldn’t talk about their symptoms for fear of their reputation being tarnished).

Whoops! Here comes a corporation-wide conspiracy! So the US Radium company totally knew that Radium was harmful. They’d hired a team to test it to see, and when the results came back, they covered it all up and insisted that no one say a word to the public. Flash forward to 1928, a woman named Grace Fryer sued the company (after spending two years finding a lawyer because no one wanted to tangle with US Radium they were very powerful), and some of her witnesses were so damaged that they physically couldn’t raise their arms to take an oath. 

Essentially, they won the case, after fighting for a long long time and proving that the company lied to their workers by telling them that a radioactive paint was perfectly safe to use, when in fact it was slowly killing them and filling their bones with radioactivity. US Radium did however, repeal the case eight separate times, before finally properly compensating the women they essentially killed. 

This case was not only a hugely important lesson (corporations run by bad people do exist, and it’s important to watch out for them because they will literally put money above you and your well being) but it also set in motion many really important laws we have today! For example, you have to compensate people who get injured in their line of work, and you legally have to inform them of the dangers that may occur while under your employ.   

It’s super interesting!!! :0 

[cai5-stories-blog]

Crime Against Humanity: The U.S. Syphilis Experiment

Crime Against Humanity: The U.S. Syphilis Experiment

In the 1930s, the United States was ravaged by syphilis.

Syphilis is a sexually transmitted disease, which at that point in time, afflicted nearly 1 in 10 Americans, and produced physical symptoms, such as painful sores and rashes that persisted for around two years!

If left uncured, syphilis would progress through the body and could cause organ damage, heart disorders, brain disorders, and even blindness.

It was incredibly difficult to slow the spread of the disease. Experts cautioned against unprotected sex, but the infection could also be passed during childbirth.

Worse still, existing treatments at that point in time, like mercury and bismuth were considered unreliable at best, and potentially harmful at worst.

Today these heavy metals are classified as toxic chemicals, but at the time, doctors were still uncovering their dangerous side effects.

During this time period, the medical fraternity wanted an answer to one key question and that was,

Did the symptoms and effects of syphilis, change on the basis of an individual’s racial profile?

[mhmulticarehomeopathy]

6 Best Homeopathic Medicines for HAIR LOSS, DANDRUFF, SPLIT HAIR Treatment

Hair fall issues, also known technically as Alopecia primarily refers to any kind of loss of hair, though, it also includes issues like thinning of hair or baldness. There can be various reasons for this, including the natural or the age-related. Hair fall can’t be considered as a disease; in fact, fall of hair up to a certain extent is pretty natural.

It becomes an issue or concern when the rate of hair fall goes beyond the normal rate. In general cases, around 100 hairs can fall on a day, of the hundred thousand or hundred fifty thousand hairs. However, more than 150 hair falls in a day is certainly a case of concern.

Causes of hair fall

Among the prominent reasons, stress is referred to be the foremost of all causing rapid loss of hair. Pregnancy is also one of the reasons behind the rapid hair loss among women. People who get exposed to excessive sun rays also become the victims of hair loss issues. Vitamin B deficiency in the body can lead to hair fall.

People suffering from diseases like autoimmune disorder or who have taken chemotherapy treatment also have to deal with hair fall issues. Women taking birth control pills hold possibilities of suffering from hair fall issues as well. Hormonal imbalance during pregnancy can be a prominent reason behind hair loss.

Infections in the scalp, specifically the fungal infections lead to hair fall. Lack of protein and nutrient in the diet can lead to hair fall issues. Smoking has been one of the prime reasons behind hair fall issues. Among others, the male pattern baldness and female pattern baldness are quite common.

People should avoid doing excessive hair styling or treatments as well, which leads to hair fall issues. Those who take excessive Vitamin A also become the victims of hair fall issues. Physical trauma leading to shocking weight loss can indeed be a factor causing hair fall. Therapeutic conditions like a deficiency in Iron, thyroid issues, etc. can also be the reason behind hair fall.

Too much of exposure into the X rays can cause hair fall issues; though these are temporary. Taking anti-depression pills often lead to hair fall issues. Apart from these, the psychological diseases like trichotillomania, the disorder that makes people deliberately pull their hair can be dangerous. Anyway, hair fall is common due to aging; especially after the 50s and 60s.  

What are the signs and symptoms of hair fall?

Hair fall is not something that can’t be detected. The symptoms like loss of hair in clumps and unusual thinning of hair are among the prominent symbols of hair loss. Losses of hair from the eyebrows or any other body part, unconventional hair loss pattern, etc., are also the symptoms of hair loss.

People marking receding hairline should also take it as a hair fall symbol. No delay should be made to understand it as a hair fall symptom upon finding patches of broken hairs. Excessive hair falls while shampooing can also be termed as a symptom.

The scope of Homeopathy treatment in Hair fall

Homeopathic treatments or treatments based on homeopathy treatment for hair fall can significantly kindle the root of the hairs to enhance the growth of the hair. The best part about homeopathic treatments is that these are all made up of natural ingredients, which avoids any threat of side effect.

These treatments or medicines can work well with people of all age groups. One doesn’t need to worry about any special care, surgery, or any kind of habitual constraints in this regard. Given below are some of the highlighting scopes of homeopathy in hair fall treatment.

·         The scope of homeopathy treatment for hair fall is there at all levels. To be specific, it acts magically for the most challenging occasions of hair loss due to chemotherapy, which in medical terms fall under the anagen phase disorder category. Proper homeopathy treatment would help in balancing the toxic effects generated around the follicles of the hair. Homeopathy facilitates natural detoxification process and thus strengthening the hair. Solving the problem at the root level helps in quicker results. Moreover, the results are enduring.

·         Homeopathy treatment for hair fall due to excessive use of drugs is quite proven. Apart from this, the issues caused due to the usage of anticoagulant drugs, oral contraceptive, etc. can also be effectively dealt with using homeopathy drugs. Many people in modern times suffer from hair fall issues due to hormonal disorder, which can be perfectly treated using homeopathy treatment.

·         Females facing hair fall issues due to menopausal issues can also find homeopathy treatment effective.

·         Thyroid related issues, be it about hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism, both can be effectively treated through homeopathy treatments or homeopathy medicines.

·         Hair fall issues appearing due to the usage of anticoagulant drugs can be perfectly treated using homeopathy medicines.

·         Apart from these, hair fall due to any type of nutritional deficiency can be perfectly treated using homeopathy medicines.

·         Stress is known as a prime reason behind hair fall issues. Good news is that Homeopathy treatment has a great scope in such cases. Homeopathy treatment helps incredibly in addressing the damaged follicles in a pretty natural fashion. This means there remains no chance of any kind side effect.

·         Homeopathy treatment for hair fall has been fantastic for all types of issues appearing due to different psychological reasons.

6 best homeopathy medicine for hair fall issues

Ultimately, it is evident that homeopathy has a great scope for hair fall treatment. Irrespective of the reason behind hair fall, homeopathy can be incredible. To be specific, the following homeopathy medicines are quite known for hair fall treatment.

1.      Fluricum Acidum:

It’s well known for its ability to counter alopecia. At the same time, it can be equally effective towards prevention of hair fall post-Syphilis hair breakage, and fall issues.

2.      Phosphorus:

It too is known for treating alopecia.

3.      Calcarea carbonica:

It is one of the most popular homeopathic medicines known for its ability to regrow the lost hair.

4.      Vinca minor:

This is best for countering hair fall issues due to dandruff.

5.      Silicea:

It has a proven effect on the serious hair fall issues leading towards complete baldness.

6.      Baryta Carbonica:

It is quite popular among youth suffering from premature baldness like issues.

[joseamooney]

20 Health Tips for 2020

The start of a new decade brings with it new resolutions to improve one’s life, including a healthier lifestyle. Here are 20 practical health tips to help you start off towards healthy living in 2020.

1. Eat a healthy diet Photo: FAO/J. Grey Eat a combination of different foods, including fruit, vegetables, legumes, nuts and whole grains. Adults should eat at least five portions (400g) of fruit and vegetables per day. You can improve your intake of fruits and vegetables by always including veggies in your meal; eating fresh fruit and vegetables as snacks; eating a variety of fruits and vegetables; and eating them in season. By eating healthy, you will reduce your risk of malnutrition and noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) such as diabetes, heart disease, stroke and cancer.

2. Consume less salt and sugar Photo: WHO/C. Black Filipinos consume twice the recommended amount of sodium, putting them at risk of high blood pressure, which in turn increases the risk of heart disease and stroke. Most people get their sodium through salt. Reduce your salt intake to 5g per day, equivalent to about one teaspoon. It’s easier to do this by limiting the amount of salt, soy sauce, fish sauce and other high-sodium condiments when preparing meals; removing salt, seasonings and condiments from your meal table; avoiding salty snacks; and choosing low-sodium products. On the other hand, consuming excessive amounts of sugars increases the risk of tooth decay and unhealthy weight gain. In both adults and children, the intake of free sugars should be reduced to less than 10% of total energy intake. This is equivalent to 50g or about 12 teaspoons for an adult. WHO recommends consuming less than 5% of total energy intake for additional health benefits. You can reduce your sugar intake by limiting the consumption of sugary snacks, candies and sugar-sweetened beverages.

3. Reduce intake of harmful fats

📷 Photo: WHO/S. Volkov Fats consumed should be less than 30% of your total energy intake. This will help prevent unhealthy weight gain and NCDs. There are different types of fats, but unsaturated fats are preferable over saturated fats and trans-fats. WHO recommends reducing saturated fats to less than 10% of total energy intake; reducing trans-fats to less than 1% of total energy intake; and replacing both saturated fats and trans-fats to unsaturated fats. The preferable unsaturated fats are found in fish, avocado and nuts, and in sunflower, soybean, canola and olive oils; saturated fats are found in fatty meat, butter, palm and coconut oil, cream, cheese, ghee and lard; and trans-fats are found in baked and fried foods, and pre-packaged snacks and foods, such as frozen pizza, cookies, biscuits, and cooking oils and spreads.

4. Avoid harmful use of alcohol

📷 Photo: WHO/S. Volkov There is no safe level for drinking alcohol. Consuming alcohol can lead to health problems such as mental and behavioural disorders, including alcohol dependence, major NCDs such as liver cirrhosis, some cancers and heart diseases, as well as injuries resulting from violence and road clashes and collisions.

5. Don’t smoke

📷 Photo: WHO/Y. Shimizu Smoking tobacco causes NCDs such as lung disease, heart disease and stroke. Tobacco kills not only the direct smokers but even non-smokers through second-hand exposure. Currently, there are around 15.9 million Filipino adults who smoke tobacco but 7 in 10 smokers are interested or plan to quit. If you are currently a smoker, it’s not too late to quit. Once you do, you will experience immediate and long-term health benefits. If you are not a smoker, that’s great! Do not start smoking and fight for your right to breathe tobacco-smoke-free air.

6. Be active

📷 Photo: WHO/Y. Shimizu Physical activity is defined as any bodily movement produced by skeletal muscles that requires energy expenditure. This includes exercise and activities undertaken while working, playing, carrying out household chores, travelling, and engaging in recreational pursuits. The amount of physical activity you need depends on your age group but adults aged 18-64 years should do at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity throughout the week. Increase moderate-intensity physical activity to 300 minutes per week for additional health benefits.

7. Check your blood pressure regularly

📷 Photo: WHO/F. Tanggol Hypertension, or high blood pressure, is called a “silent killer”. This is because many people who have hypertension may not be aware of the problem as it may not have any symptoms. If left uncontrolled, hypertension can lead to heart, brain, kidney and other diseases. Have your blood pressure checked regularly by a health worker so you know your numbers. If your blood pressure is high, get the advice of a health worker. This is vital in the prevention and control of hypertension.

8. Get tested

📷 Photo: WHO/F. Tanggol Getting yourself tested is an important step in knowing your health status, especially when it comes to HIV, hepatitis B, sexually-transmitted infections (STIs) and tuberculosis (TB). Left untreated, these diseases can lead to serious complications and even death. Knowing your status means you will know how to either continue preventing these diseases or, if you find out that you’re positive, get the care and treatment that you need. Go to a public or private health facility, wherever you are comfortable, to have yourself tested.

9. Get vaccinated

📷 Photo: WHO/F. Tanggol Vaccination is one of the most effective ways to prevent diseases. Vaccines work with your body’s natural defences to build protection against diseases like cervical cancer, cholera, diphtheria, hepatitis B, influenza, measles, mumps, pneumonia, polio, rabies, rubella, tetanus, typhoid, and yellow fever. In the Philippines, free vaccines are provided to children 1 year old and below as part of the Department of Health’s routine immunization programme. If you are an adolescent or adult, you may ask your physician if to check your immunization status or if you want to have yourself vaccinated.

10. Practice safe sex

📷 Photo: WHO/F. Tanggol Looking after your sexual health is important for your overall health and well-being. Practice safe sex to prevent HIV and other sexually transmitted infections like gonorrhoea and syphilis. There are available prevention measures such as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) that will protect you from HIV and condoms that will protect you from HIV and other STIs.

11. Cover your mouth when coughing or sneezing

📷 Photo: WHO/I. Brown Diseases such as influenza, pneumonia and tuberculosis are transmitted through the air. When an infected person coughs or sneezes, infectious agents may be passed on to others through airborne droplets. When you feel a cough or sneeze coming on, make sure you have covered your mouth with a face mask or use a tissue then dispose it carefully. If you do not have a tissue close by when you cough or sneeze, cover your mouth as much as possible with the crook (or the inside) of your elbow.

12. Prevent mosquito bites

📷 Photo: WHO/Y. Shimizu Mosquitoes are one of the deadliest animals in the world. Diseases like dengue, chikungunya, malaria and lymphatic filariasis are transmitted by mosquitoes and continue to affect Filipinos. You can take simple measures to protect yourself and your loved ones against mosquito-borne diseases. If you’re traveling to an area with known mosquito-borne diseases, consult a physician for a vaccine to prevent diseases such as Japanese encephalitis and yellow fever or if you need to take antimalarial medicines. Wear light-coloured, long-sleeved shirts and pants and use insect repellent. At home, use window and door screens, use bed nets and clean your surroundings weekly to destroy mosquito breeding sites.

13. Follow traffic laws

📷 Photo: WHO/D. Rodriguez Road crashes claim over one million lives around the world and millions more are injured. Road traffic injuries are preventable through a variety of measures implemented by the government such as strong legislation and enforcement, safer infrastructure and vehicle standards, and improved post-crash care. You yourself can also prevent road crashes by ensuring that you follow traffic laws such as using the seatbelt for adults and child restraint for your kids, wearing a helmet when riding a motorcycle or bicycle, not drinking and driving, and not using your mobile phone while driving.

14. Drink only safe water

📷 Photo: WHO/F. Guerrero Drinking unsafe water can lead to water-borne diseases such as cholera, diarrhoea, hepatitis A, typhoid and polio. Globally, at least 2 billion people use a drinking water source contaminated with faeces. Check with your water concessionaire and water refilling station to ensure that the water you’re drinking is safe. In a setting where you are unsure of your water source, boil your water for at least one minute. This will destroy harmful organisms in the water. Let it cool naturally before drinking.

15. Breastfeed babies from 0 to 2 years and beyond

📷 Photo: WHO/T. David Breastfeeding is the best way to provide the ideal food for newborns and infants. WHO recommends that mothers initiate breastfeeding within one hour of birth. Breastfeeding for the first six months is crucial for the baby to grow up healthy. It is recommended that breastfeeding is continued for up to two years and beyond. Aside from being beneficial to babies, breastfeeding is also good for the mother as it reduces the risk of breast and ovarian cancer, type II diabetes, and postpartum depression.

16. Talk to someone you trust if you're feeling down

📷 Photo: WHO/F. Guerrero Depression is a common illness worldwide with over 260 million people affected. Depression can manifest in different ways, but it might make you feel hopeless or worthless, or you might think about negative and disturbing thoughts a lot or have an overwhelming sense of pain. If you’re going through this, remember that you are not alone. Talk to someone you trust such as a family member, friend, colleague or mental health professional about how you feel. If you feel that you are in danger of harming yourself, contact the National Center for Mental Health hotline at 0917-899-USAP (8727).

17. Take antibiotics only as prescribed

📷 Photo: WHO/F. Tanggol Antibiotic resistance is one of the biggest public health threats in our generation. When antibiotics lose their power, bacterial infections become harder to treat, leading to higher medical costs, prolonged hospital stays, and increased mortality. Antibiotics are losing their power because of misuse and overuse in humans and animals. Make sure you only take antibiotics if prescribed by a qualified health professional. And once prescribed, complete the treatment days as instructed. Never share antibiotics.

18. Clean your hands properly

📷 Photo: WHO/F. Tanggol Hand hygiene is critical not only for health workers but for everyone. Clean hands can prevent the spread of infectious illnesses. You should handwash using soap and water when your hands are visibly soiled or handrub using an alcohol-based product.

19. Prepare your food correctly

📷 Photo: WHO/A. Esquillon Unsafe food containing harmful bacteria, viruses, parasites or chemical substances, causes more than 200 diseases – ranging from diarrhoea to cancers. When buying food at the market or store, check the labels or the actual produce to ensure it is safe to eat. If you are preparing food, make sure you follow the Five Keys to Safer Food: (1) keep clean; (2) separate raw and cooked; (3) cook thoroughly; (4) keep food at safe temperatures; and (5) use safe water and raw materials.

20. Have regular check-ups

📷 Photo: WHO/Y. Shimizu Regular check-ups can help find health problems before they start. Health professionals can help find and diagnose health issues early, when your chances for treatment and cure are better. Go to your nearest health facility to check out the the health services, screenings and treatment that are accessible to you.

[kathgilford13]

How Does One Transmit HIV? How Can One Prevent It?

WHAT IS HIV?

HIV is an infection that attacks the immune system, causing it to malfunction. If HIV is left untreated, it affects and kills CD4 cells, which are a form of immune cell known as T cells. As HIV destroys more CD4 cells, the body becomes more susceptible to innumerable diseases and cancers. 

HIV is spread from person to person by bodily fluids like:

sperm and blood 

fluids in the vaginal and rectal canals 

breast milk

The virus cannot be transmitted through air, water, or physical contact.

HIV TRANSMISSION: KNOW THE FACTS

HIV is transmitted from person to person in many ways,

transmission via vaginal or anal sex 

by exchanging needles, syringes, and other injection and other drug-related products

during pregnancy, labor, and delivery

during breastfeeding 

contact with HIV-positive people's blood, sperm, vaginal and rectal fluids, and breast milk.

HIV can theoretically be transmitted through a variety of routes, but this is relatively uncommon

oral sex (only if the person's gums are bleeding or there are open sores in the mouth)

being bitten by an HIV-positive person (only if the saliva is bloody or the person's mouth has open sores)

contact between open wounds, cuts, or mucous membranes and HIV-positive person's blood

HIV does NOT transfer through:

skin-to-skin contact

hugging, handshakes, and kisses

air or water

sharing food or drinks, including drinking fountains

Sweat, saliva, tears

sharing a toilet, towels, or bedding

mosquitoes or other insects

CAUSES OF HIV

HIV is similar to a virus that spread from African chimpanzees to humans. Scientists claim the simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) spread from chimpanzees to humans when people ate virus-infected chimp meat. The virus transformed into what we now know as HIV until it entered the human population. This epidemic took place a long time back, in the 1920s.

TESTS USED TO DIAGNOSE HIV:

HIV can be diagnosed using several tests. Doctors and health providers determine the best test for each individual.

Antibody/Antigen tests:

he most popular tests are antibody/antigen tests. They can show positive results in as little as 18–45 days after a person contracts HIV. 

These tests scan for antibodies and antigens in the blood. Antibodies are proteins that the body generates in response to infection. The part of the virus that stimulates the immune system is called an antigen.

Antibody tests:

These tests do not require any preparation. These tests are conducted using blood tests or mouth swabs. Some tests may be conducted in a healthcare provider's office or clinic and provide results in 30 minutes or less.

Some antibody tests that can be performed at home include: 

OraQuick HIV Test is an HIV test that is quick and easy to use. In as little as 20 minutes, an oral swab gives us the results. 

Home Access HIV-1 Test System- A blood sample is sent to a licensed laboratory after the person pricks their finger. They have the option of remaining anonymous and receiving results on the next business day.

Nucleic acid test (NAT):

This costly test isn't used for routine screening. It's for people who show early signs of HIV infection or who have a recognized risk factor. This test searches for the virus itself rather than antibodies. 

HIV can be detected in the blood for anywhere between 5 and 21 days. An antibody test is typically performed in combination with or in confirmation of this test.

WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS OF HIV?

HIV enters the clinical latency stage after about a month. This period can last anywhere from a few years to several decades. 

During this time, some people may have no symptoms, while others may have mild or nonspecific symptoms. A nonspecific symptom is not associated with a particular illness or disorder.

These nonspecific symptoms may include:

headaches and other aches and pains

swollen lymph nodes

recurrent fevers

night sweats

fatigue

nausea

vomiting

diarrhea

weight loss

skin rashes

recurrent oral or vaginal yeast infections

pneumonia

shingles

HIV SYMPTOMS IN MEN: IS THERE A DIFFERENCE?

HIV symptoms vary from person to person, but men and women experience the same symptoms. 

If a person has been infected with HIV, they may have also been infected with other sexually transmitted infections (STIs). There are some of them: 

gonorrhoeic

chlamydia

syphilis

trichomoniasis

STI symptoms such as sores on the genitals can be more noticeable in men and those with a penis than in women. Men, on the other hand, may not seek medical attention as often as women.

Gay men and other men who have sex with men (referred to as "men who have sex with men" or "MSM"  are 27 times more likely than the general population to contract HIV.

To find out more about The Status of HIV Among Men Who Have Sex with Men click on this link.

HIV SYMPTOMS IN WOMEN: IS THERE A DIFFERENCE?

STIs are more common in HIV-positive men and women. Women and others who have a vaginal canal, on the other hand, maybe less likely than men to find tiny patches or other changes in their genitals. 

Furthermore, HIV-positive women are at a higher risk of:

recurrent yeast infections in the vaginal region 

bacterial vaginosis 

pelvic inflammatory disease (PID)

changes in the menstrual cycle

HPV is a human papillomavirus that can cause genital warts and cervical cancer in women.

Another risk for HIV-positive women is that the virus may be transferred to an infant during childbirth, which is unrelated to the virus's symptoms. Antiretroviral therapy, on the other hand, is considered healthy during pregnancy. 

HIV MEDICATIONS

To treat HIV, several antiretroviral therapy drugs have been approved. They try to stop HIV from multiplying and killing CD4 cells, which assist the immune system in generating an infection response.

This helps to reduce the risk of HIV-related complications as well as the spread of the virus to others. 

These antiretroviral drugs are divided into six categories

nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs)

non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs)

protease inhibitors

fusion inhibitors

CCR5 antagonists, also known as entry inhibitors

integrase strand transfer inhibitors

Despite the efforts of many researchers, there is currently no vaccine available to prevent HIV transmission. Certain precautions, on the other hand, will assist in the prevention of HIV transmission.

Safer Sex

HIV is most commonly transmitted by anal or vaginal sex without the use of a condom or other barrier form. This risk cannot be completely removed unless sex is completely avoided, but it can be significantly reduced by taking a few precautions. 

If you're worried about your HIV risk, you should:

Get an HIV test done. 

Other sexually transmitted diseases should be screened for (STIs). They should get treated if they test positive for one because getting an STI raises the risk of contracting HIV.

Condoms must be used. They should learn how to use condoms and use them whenever they have sex, whether vaginal or anal intercourse. It's important to note that HIV can be present in pre-seminal fluids (the fluids that come out before male ejaculation). 

If they have HIV, they must take their drugs exactly as prescribed. This decreases the risk of the virus spreading to their sexual partner.

IS THERE AN HIV VACCINE AVAILABLE? 

There are currently no vaccines available to prevent or treat HIV. Experimental vaccines are still being studied and tested, but none are close to being accepted for widespread use. 

Although no vaccine exists to prevent HIV, people living with HIV may benefit from other vaccinations to prevent HIV-related illnesses. The CDC's guidelines are as follows: 

pneumonia for all children younger than two years and all adults who are above 65 years.

influenza

hepatitis A and B: Ask your doctor if you should get vaccinated against hepatitis A and B, especially if you are staying in a high-risk population.

shingles for those ages 50 or older

[physiologicdeadspace]

Earle Leonard Nelson was born in 1897 and was executed in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in Canada on January 13, 1928. He was convicted and executed for the murder of Emily Patterson; however this conviction didn’t even scratch the surface of his crimes, as it is believed that he murdered a minimum of 24 women and one child.

Nelson’s mother, Frances, died seven months after Earle’s birth from Syphilis she had contracted from his father, James. The syphilis would take James’s life seven months later. Following James’s death, Earle was placed with his grandparents, Lars and Jennie Nelson, and his aunt Lillian. Lillian was an extremely religious woman who preached to Earle that sex was dirty and had claimed his mother’s life. Her puritanical views and rigid parenting of Earle contributed to significant emotional impairments during his development. At the age of 10, Earle was riding his bicycle and was struck by a streetcar, resulting in serious head trauma. Although he survived the injuries, he was physically scarred and subject to frequent headaches. It is not clear whether this trauma was a precipitating factor in Nelson’s later homicidal behaviour, as Nelson displayed criminal behaviour from a very early age. However, he was a strange and bizarre child, and suffered from symptoms of psychosis such as hallucinations and paranoid and religious delusions during his teenage years. Nelson’s frequent psychosis resulted in multiple hospitalisations in a variety of different institutions.

Whether the murders were motivated by delusional beliefs is unlikely, considering the sexual nature of the crimes. His victims were typically raped and in one instance he had mutilated a victim post-mortem. While his psychosis may not have been a primary motivator to his crime there was no doubt from his extensive history and obvious symptoms of psychosis that he suffered from a severe and enduring mental illness. In spite of this, and the applications for clemency that were made on this basis, the execution of Nelson went ahead and he was executed by hanging. His final words were “I forgive those who have wronged me.”

[scripttorture]

Hi, a couple of questions if that's okay. Firstly: how does medical torture differ from torture used to obtain a confession both by technique/attitude/methodology and by impact on the victim? Secondly: does punishment used by, for example, prison officers work to prevent inmates/victims/etc. from causing trouble or fighting back? You often say that torture makes victims more resistant to their torturers but is this always the case or more in terms of interrogation?

Sorry, me again. I don’t think I was clear when asking about medical torture. I meant to ask more about torturers attitudes towards keeping patients alive, especially if there is a limited number of people they have access to (e.g. people who are born with a genetic mutation that is not very common). Would more advanced technology be more likely to be used, and would that depend on who the torturers are (or who they are supported by). Sorry for asking lots of questions, just answer a few

-

Just answer a few? My friend have you seen the blog? I type more then half of tumblr and there’s no one here to stop me. :)

 In seriousness, I’m passionate about this stuff and I run the blog because I want to share my knowledge. I really believe that we can build a better, kinder world by gaining a better understanding of violence and the long term effects it has on people.

 I think I’m going to leave the first question til last because it’s a little more complicated and it depends on whether you’re talking about something that’s closer to an unethical experiment, or torture with pseudo-scientific trappings. More on that later.

 I’ve seen no evidence that suggests the context or setting torture takes place in effects a victim’s tendency to resistance.

 Most of my regular examples of resistance aren’t actually from interrogation because there is less good record keeping and less evidence. It’s from slavery, forced labour and, yes, prisons.

 Torture in a prison setting makes it much harder to run an effective prison.

 Partly because it increases resistance in the prison population and partly because by doing this it cuts off the best source of information the guards have: reporting from prisoners.

 This does not necessarily mean more overt violence though. When I talk about resistance I mean anything that runs counter to the aims of the torturers. In a prison setting I’d count increased suicides as an act of resistance, because many victims in that setting frame it as an act of resistance.

 Torture can make victims less physically capable of fighting back. And victims can also decide after torture that fighting back is not likely to be successful. But that’s not the same as removing resistance and the flip side of that is some victims will become more aggressive towards the guards (even those who didn’t participate in torture), some will use fighting the guards as a form of self harm and some will just become more determined to keep fighting.

 Essentially whatever your setting as a method of discipline torture fails spectacularly. It might not mean everyone physically fights but it very quickly converts everyone associated with the victims to broadly ‘causing more trouble’.

 The resistance torture produces in survivors seems to be due to how it effects the brain and nervous system. It radicalises other people because we are wired to sympathise with other people’s pain and seeing such extreme examples of it moves us and naturally makes us more supportive of the victim then the attacker.

 There’s nothing in the research that’s available to suggest that the setting or the torturer’s motivation effects the victim’s response in the slightest. Resistance appears to be not just natural and common but a key part of how our brain deals with extreme adversity.

 I think it’s likely that it has old evolutionary roots, predating our species- that’s entirely my opinion because there isn’t much research on torture anyway, let alone on the roots of our responses to it.

 I think that brings me to the ‘medical torture’ portion of your questions.

 I’m still not sure what you mean by that term. Doctors can be torturers and torture has taken place in medical establishments but I think it’s a mistake to label these incidents as ‘scientific’ or ‘medical’.

 For the purposes of writing I tend to draw a distinction between ‘unethical experimentation’ and ‘pseudo-scientific torture’. The difference is whether the villain in your story is actually conducting experiments or not.

 Experiments are not compatible with torture. Experiments require consistent conditions, thorough record keeping and making precise, small, singular changes to measure the effect they have. Experiments require control at a level which is frankly somewhat insane.

 Torture by contrast is completely uncontrolled; it undermines attempts at controlling the environment, confounding factors and any record keeping.

 I think you should start off by reading about what medical testing is actually like. I have a post on how we conduct medical experiments here. I have a post on what unethical experimentation looks like and medical ethics more broadly here.

 Experiments can be smart and cruel but torture is not and can never be inventive or intelligent. My advice is not to conflate the two.

 If you want your villains to be acting like scientists then I’d suggest reading about Tuskegee Syphilis trials, Henrietta Lacks and the Minnesota Starvation experiment. Then step back, put yourself in the villain’s shoes, think about what they want to discover. And pretend the victims are cell cultures or pieces of plant.

 If you want your villains to act like torturers then there’s no room for science. There might be scientific-looking decoration like white coats or bunsen burners or bottles of chemicals, but that doesn’t mean any data is being collected or any systematic control is being applied to the victims.

 In torture the point is pain. In science, ethical or not, the point is results and records. Torturers avoid recording things, lie in records and destroy records. They also regularly refuse to follow instructions or don’t follow them properly, things which would render most experimental results void. Oh and they can also be so focused on causing pain that they don’t even notice the victim’s responses.

 Whichever setting you pick I say again: there is no evidence that the setting, trappings or the torturer’s motivation effects the victim’s response to torture. The torturer has no control over the victim’s response, behaviour or symptoms.

 The rest of the questions depend on whether you’ve decided you’re showing unethical scientific experiments or torture.

 Torturers are unskilled and avoid using complex equipment of any kind.

 Scientists rely on specialist skills, knowledge and often high tech equipment. However most of the famous unethical experiments on humans have not used high tech equipment. Most of them have been variants on ‘lets watch how people die from this awful wound/disease’.

 That said- I do know of a few extremely unethical experiments that did use high tech, specialist equipment. It’s not impossible.

 I don’t remember seeing any examples of unethical experiments where scientists went out of their way to keep experimental subjects alive. The only example I can think of off the top of my head where subjects might have been considered ‘rare’ are- some of the experiments Elsie Lacks was subjected to*.

 Some of the experiments Elsie was subjected to were limited to children with epilepsy and there weren’t very many in the institution Elsie was housed in. To the point where it seems as though every single epileptic child in the institute was used in several experiments.

 No measures were taken to preserve the lives of these children and Elsie herself died very young.

 I can’t say for certain that this is typical because I don’t have enough examples where the experimental subjects were rare. But based on other unethical experiments- I’d say it’s unlikely scientists conducting these experiments would protect the lives of their victims.

 The victim’s death is a result.

 I can’t decide whether torture or unethical experimentation is the right choice for your story. I think if you want any sort of emotional response to the victim (anger, hate, etc-) then a torturer is a better fit. A scientist conducting unethical experiments is unlikely to- see their victim as any more then a piece of equipment.

 In a prison setting both torture and unethical experimentation are possible.

 I think it depends on what you want your villain to be and what they see as the point of the abuse. If the abuse is the point then you’re writing torture, and you should really avoid suggesting it’s scientific.

 If the abuse is incidental and it’s the experiment that’s important to the villain, then a scientist might be a better fit. Which means that- the best way to approach the abuse is as a side effect. It’s not about actively causing the character pain, it’s about ignoring things that are harming the victims. So, a scientist might keep their victims in solitary confinement, not because they’re trying to cause harm but because they don’t care about the fact humans need social interaction.

 Without more details about the story I think I’m going to leave that there.

 If you’re interested in writing unethical experimentation I’d highly recommend reading The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by R Skloot. You might also want to look up Unit 731 from the Second World War.

 I hope that helps. :)

 *See The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by R Skloot

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Textual Reddie & Queer!Eddie: A Masterpost

So I’ve been planning on doing something like this for a while, but it had fallen to the wayside until @skinks​ and I started talking about Reddie again, and my weak little heart was rekindled.  

Speaking of reKINDLEd (ehh? Ehhhhh?), my Kindle copy of IT is full of highlighted textual support of unresolved Reddie feelings, and a queer reading of Eddie specifically. And lo, a disjointed essay-type meta was birthed. This fucker’s about to get long, so if you’re interested, dive on under the cut – but be forewarned, there are massive spoilers for the book and (probably) Chapter 2 below!

(Seriously, cannot emphasize the MASSIVE SPOILERS enough. If you don’t know what happens and you don’t want to be spoiled, don’t read this.) 

As a very general disclaimer, I am not going to be including everything that I highlighted. There is a fuckton, including a lot of small moments of Richie and Eddie interacting that don’t showcase anything other than their closeness. I’ll be paring it down here to moments that prove a larger theme, and some standout cuteness. With that said, IT is a 1,300-page behemoth, and it’s definitely possible that I skipped over something. If you know of anything significant that I missed, feel free to reblog with additions.

Note: I will be using terrible, half-assed MLA citations for this. Pagination is from my Kindle copy of the novel. All quotes will be italicized to help differentiate them visually from my points (if something was italicized in the original text, it’ll be unitalicized here). Unless otherwise stated, all bolded emphasis is mine. “--” will be used in place of em-dashes, “/” will be used to denote paragraph breaks.  

PART I – ASTHMA

“When Eddie’s nervous he reaches for his aspirator.” (King 372)

It doesn’t get much more explicit than this. We’re told in no uncertain terms that Eddie’s psychosomatic asthma is rooted in nervousness, in things that make him scared and uncomfortable. The trigger for this particular explanation is being overwhelmed by the age and significance of Boston, but in an earlier scene:  

“These shoes no longer looked just right... but he supposed they would do for where he was going. And for whatever he might have to do when he got there. Maybe Richie Tozier would-- / But then the blackness threatened and he felt his throat beginning to close up.” (King 112)  

This is Eddie’s first on-page asthma attack. It hits him the first time we see him as an adult, having just received his call from Mike to return to Derry. And yet it’s the thought of Richie, not It or Derry, that makes Eddie nervous enough to need his aspirator. Notably, the thought goes unfinished. We don’t know, nor do we ever find out in explicit terms, what Eddie thought Richie Tozier would.  

Of course, asthma is the most prominent symptom of Eddie’s hypochondria, so the attacks crop up often in the text. The most interesting of these attacks for our purposes (other than Eddie becoming nervous at the thought of Richie) is the following:  

“‘The first of the ‘new murders’ [...] began on the Main Street Bridge and ended underneath it. The victim was a gay and rather childlike man named Adrian Mellon. He had a bad case of asthma.’ / Eddie’s hand stole out and touched the side of his aspirator.” (King 646)

Mike (speaking) tells the gang about the death of Adrian Mellon, and takes care to note three things about him: he was gay, he was childlike, and he had asthma. The connection between Eddie and Adrian is drawn quickly and obviously as Eddie reaches for his aspirator, seemingly out of reflex - but what we can also infer here is that this is making Eddie nervous. He could be nervous because a man with asthma was just killed by It, and he, too, is a man with asthma. He could also be nervous because the parallel that Mike and the prose have none-too-subtly drawn between Eddie and Adrian implies that they have more in common than a respiratory problem. But what?

PART II – EDDIE/ADRIAN

“[The other Losers] are being called--I know that much. Each murder in this new cycle has been a call.” (King 1116)

Mike writes this in the fourth interlude, referring to the way that It’s murders 27 years later all seem to be calling out to the Losers’ Club. By drawing a parallel between Eddie and Adrian through their asthma, King leads us to believe that Adrian’s murder specifically called to Eddie. He also leads us to consider how else they might be linked.

Adrian is virtually Eddie’s opposite. He’s out and proud and in a loving, unstrained relationship. He flirts openly with other men, teases his aggressors, and, to contrast with the neurotic and nervous Eddie:  

“‘He didn’t have much in the way of protective coloration. He was one of those fools who think things really are going to turn out all right.’” (King 27)  

His openness, however, is what gets him killed. While being harassed by some homophobes, Adrian teases and antagonizes them, and the next time they see him they assault him and unwittingly gift him, half-dead, to Pennywise.  

It especially kills me that Adrian’s asthma is not significantly mentioned in his chapter. He makes a comment to his boyfriend that the “air’s better” (King 36) in Derry, which could imply that he has had less problems since he moved there, but the word “asthma” is never used. It’s not relevant to his story, and it’s not brought up until King has to draw a parallel between Adrian and Eddie. Because it’s not relevant to Adrian’s story, the connection that King draws between them feels almost half-assed and weak, until one considers their contrasting personalities and contrasting happinesses in their respective relationships. Along that same line of thinking, the implications of having Eddie directly paralleled by a gay man killed for being gay cast a suspicious light on Eddie’s presumed straightness.  

If we accept that Eddie and Adrian are linked, that Adrian’s murder was a specific call to Eddie, then it goes without saying that there is a strong implication here that Eddie is closeted. He is being contrasted with an out gay man who fears no consequence for being out in a small, violent, hateful town. Eddie’s neuroses and fixation on his psychosomatic asthma are contrasted with a man who hadn’t a care in the world - not even his (presumably) real physical condition. The fear and self-hate that dogged Eddie his whole life never bothered Adrian Mellon, until it killed him.  

If we accept that Eddie and Adrian are linked, and what that implies, then we can infer that Adrian is what Eddie could have been, were he happy, open, and out - and what happens to Adrian is the exact kind of thing that may have kept poor, terrified Eddie in the closet.  

PART III – SEX, QUEERNESS, AND SELF-LOATHING

So, I think we all remember the leper scene--creepy in the 2017 movie, even creepier in the novel. One notable book-only detail is that the leper “[offers] to give Eddie a blowjob for a quarter” (King 400) in addition to chasing him around and being generally disgusting.  

“Come back here, kid, the hoarse voice whispered. I’ll blow you for free. Come back here! / No, Eddie moaned at it. Please, go away, I don’t want to think about that.” (King 394)

Eddie is immediately terrified by the mere thought of getting a blowjob, of being touched by someone diseased, of being touched by a man. He doesn’t even want to think about it... and then the question becomes, does he not want to think about sex with the leper, or sex at all? Regardless, it seems pretty normal for an eleven-year-old boy to be scared of a blowjob from a strange adult with open sores on his face. But there is, of course, more to unpack here.  

Another difference between book and film comes when Eddie recounts the tale to Richie and Bill...:

“‘He didn’t have leprosy, you dummy,’ Richie said. “He had [syphilis].’ / […] / ‘It’s a disease you get from fucking,’ Richie said. ‘You know about fucking, don’t you, Eds?’ / ‘Sure,’ Eddie said. He hoped he wasn’t blushing.” (King 400)

All of a sudden Eddie isn’t just afraid of disease, but of a sexually transmitted disease. Pennywise’s angle on Eddie is a big fuck-off combo of decay and sex--specifically gay sex. Not only is the “leper” a man offering him sexual favours, but Bill is quick to point out that men can get syphilis from “another g-g-guy if they’re kwuh-kwuh-queer" (King 402). Queerness and gay sex are therefore lumped in with Eddie’s fear of the “leper” from word go.  

Since he’s a pre-pubescent child (in that same scene, Eddie recalls trying to masturbate and nothing happening), Eddie’s disinterest in and general apprehension towards sex makes sense without bringing the element of internalized homophobia into the mix. But this is my post, I can do what I want, and Stephen King already brought it into the mix for me.  

Eddie is frightened by the thought of queer sex at another notable point in the novel as well, when he recalls a vignette from his and the Losers’ past:  

“Patrick Hockstetter was down [in the Barrens]. Before It took him Beverly saw him doing something bad. It made her laugh but she knew it was bad. Something to do with Henry Bowers, wasn’t it? Yes, I think so. And-- / [Eddie] turned away suddenly and started back toward the abandoned depot, not wanting to look down into the Barrens anymore, not liking the thoughts they conjured up. He wanted to be home with Myra.” (King 720)

Myra, for those who haven’t read the novel, is Eddie’s wife. If you’re one of those people (or even if you haven’t read it in a while), you might also be wondering what exactly Patrick Hockstetter did to Henry Bowers in the Barrens that made Eddie balk and suddenly crave his wife’s company. Well, my friends, Patrick tried to give Henry Bowers a blowjob. Eddie has to turn away from the mere thought of two men (well, boys) engaging in a sex act. He has to return to his wife, the implication here being that she is there to shield him from queerness, from queer sex.  

And the scene between Patrick and Henry, which we do see later from Bev’s point of view, is extremely telling as to why Eddie has to turn away. Henry gets violent and angry when Patrick propositions him, just like Adrian Mellon’s assailants got violent and angry, just like Eddie’s own mother gets defensive and cruel at the thought of a pair of (unconfirmed) gay men in their town with a nicer house than hers:  

“‘Any two men who bother keeping a house so nice must be queers,’ Eddie’s mother had once said in a disgruntled sort of way, and Eddie hadn’t dared ask for clarification.” (King 712)  

Eddie here is afraid to even question the root of his mother’s assumptions, or the very fact of her prejudice. Questioning, experimentation, being openly anything other than straight in Derry only earns you bile and violence from the rest of the town, and Eddie knows this. Why would anyone come out? How could they? Isn’t it better to just turn away and leave the thought unfinished?  

And it is explicit that Eddie feels somehow wrong and incomplete, in addition to his general aversion to all things queer and sexual. At one point, compounding himself and the homeless “leper”, Eddie has an internal monologue that ends as follows:  

“I got me a disease that’s eating me up. My skin’s cracking open, my teeth are falling out, and you know what? I can feel myself turning bad like an apple that’s going soft. I can feel it happening, eating from the inside to the out, eating, eating, eating me.” (King 405)

By conflating himself with the “leper”, Eddie makes the disease his own. He makes his fear of the “leper” falling apart a fear he has about himself. He fears something within himself, something rotten, turning him “bad” - bad like offering a blowjob to Henry Bowers in the Barrens. It’s a literal fear of disease, to be sure, but that sense of being rotten to the core, being bad on the inside in a way you cannot change, also feels like an apt metaphor for internalized homophobia in light of the subtextual queerness of the rest of Eddie’s fear. And especially in light of another scene in which he feels inferior, rotten, wrong:

“Simply reaching for the cubes of bread [at communion] became an act which required courage, and he always feared an electrical shock... or worse, that the bread would suddenly change color in his hand, become a blood-clot, and a disembodied Voice would begin to thunder in the church: Not worthy! Not worthy! Damned to Hell! Damned to Hell!” (King 1247)  

We will absolutely come back to the fact that Eddie uses Voice with a capital V, but for now let’s focus on the rest of the scene. Eddie’s fear of being damned and unworthy is rooted in a story his Sunday School teacher told him, about a boy who blasphemed. Even as a small child, he has anxiety about his existence or behaviour cursing him – making him diseased, or turning bread into blood. And, of course, for the purposes of this reading, we can’t ignore the fact that queerness and American Christianity don’t typically go hand-in-hand. This compounded with the suggestion that he is rotten from the inside out suggests that Eddie has some reason to think he has blasphemed – and his persistent association with queerness suggests that this reason may be the knowledge or suspicion that he isn’t straight.  

Eddie’s worries even follow him into adulthood:  

“Get off it, Eds, Richie’s voice seemed to whisper. You ain’t solid at all […].” (King 715)

I included this quote because it reinforces my point about Eddie not feeling whole or right within himself. It’s not quite time for the Reddie part of this meta, but I would be remiss if I didn’t point out that Richie is nowhere in this scene and has absolutely nothing to do with it, and still it’s his voice that voices Eddie’s subconscious fears about not being “solid”. Again, I will be going into this in more detail later. First, there’s one more element of this queer reading of Eddie that needs to be tackled.  

PART IV – THIS ONE QUOTE GETS TO BE ITS OWN PART BECAUSE MY GOD

Most of you are probably familiar with Anthony Perkins, even if you don’t know you are – if you’ve ever been exposed to Psycho, either by watching it or through pop-cultural osmosis, you'll know him as Norman Bates. You also may or may not know that he was famously closeted. He reportedly only had relationships with men until he met and married Berinthia Berenson in his early 40s, and never came out during his lifetime. (Obviously one’s sexual history doesn’t necessarily determine one’s sexuality, but most sources I can find suggest that he was gay, not bisexual.)

Now, if you read Eddie Kaspbrak as gay, this may sound somewhat familiar. Married a woman, never came out, horror icon, it’s all there. But why do I bring it up? Well, because of this:  

“Eddie--it was weird but true--had grown up to look quite a little bit like Anthony Perkins.” (King 628)

On its own, it’s a seemingly innocuous, if oddly specific, pop-cultural reference. Nothing to write home about. Compounded with everything else we know about Eddie, and everything else I’ve covered above? It’s telling as balls. King could have simply described Eddie, as he does immediately after this line, but he takes the time to compare a character repeatedly associated with queerness and sexual repression to a closeted gay man who eventually married a woman.  

(Note: admittedly, IT would’ve been written in the early-mid 80s, at which point Perkins was not officially known to be gay, but according to my father there were plenty of rumours. He was, additionally, known as a repressed, shy “mama’s boy” who was made nervous by female attention. Sound like anyone else we know?)  

PART V – REDDIE

And now for the main event.  

If I unpack every individual piece of Reddie goodness to the degree that I’ve unpacked Eddie himself, we’ll be here for another 2,500 words. So, I’m only going to hit three major points:  

PART VA – CLOSENESS

Richie is all over Eddie. He frequently pinches Eddie’s cheeks, calls him cute, and is all-around physically and verbally affectionate with him. Some notable examples:  

“Richie […] pinched Eddie’s cheek. / ‘Don’t do that! I hate it when you do that, Richie.’ / ‘Ah, you love it, Eds,’ Richie said, and beamed at him.” (King 384-85)

This is their first on-page interaction, mind you. This moment sets the stage for the rest of their relationship.

“Richie jumped to his feet a second time and pinched Eddie’s cheek. ‘Cute, cute, cute!’ Richie exclaimed.” (King 390)  

“‘[My aunts] all pinch my cheek and tell me how much I’ve grown,’ Eddie said. / ‘That’s cause they know how cute you are, Eds--just like me. I saw what a cutie you were the first time I met you.’” (King 446-47)  

Listen. Do you think I’ll ever get over this? Do you think I can move on, knowing that this exists? Richie teases everyone, but he only ever uses “cute” for Eddie.  

“‘Take it easy, Eds,’ Richie soothed, and leaned toward him. / ‘Don’t call me Eds and don’t you dare pinch my cheek!’ [Eddie] cried, rounding on Richie. ‘You know I hate that! I always hated it!’ / Richie recoiled, blinking.” (King 668)

This scene takes place when they’re adults, and I love it for a number of reasons – the easy return to form for both of them, Richie genuinely trying to comfort Eddie, and Richie’s surprise at being snapped at. My heart goes out to the man. 

“‘I hate it when you call me Eds.’ / ‘I know,’ Richie said, hugging him tightly, ‘but somebody has to toughen you up, Eds. When you stop leading the sheltered igs-zistence of a child and grow up, you gonna, Ah say, Ah say you gonna find out life ain’t always this easy, boy!’ / Eddie began to shriek with laughter.” (King 1334)

There are quite a few scenes where they make each other laugh, but this one is my personal favourite.  

And the cherry on top:  

“[Richie] slapped Eddie’s can.” (King 1322)  

The context of this is less than shippy (they’re squeezing through a tight passageway, Richie is behind Eddie and needs him to move forward), but there are few ships that can say that party A has canonically smacked party B’s ass, and I think we should appreciate that more as a fandom.  

There’s also a strong element of protectiveness – Richie is very protective of Eddie in a way that Eddie’s mother isn’t. He genuinely pays attention to Eddie’s needs and tries to do right by him:  

“It was Richie and Bev who went to Eddie. […] Richie dug his aspirator out of his pocket. ‘Bite on this, Eddie,’ he said, and Eddie took a hitching, gasping breath as Richie pulled the trigger.” (King 903)  

“Richie heard Eddie cough twice […] and then fall silent again. He shouldn’t be down here, he thought […].” (King 968)  

“...Eddie [agreed to follow Bill into the sewers] last. / ‘I don’t think so, Eddie,’ Richie said. ‘Your arm’s not, you know, looking too cool.’” (King 1251)  

“Richie turned Bill toward him, looked at him as you would look at a man who is hopelessly raving. ‘Bill, we have to take care of Eddie. We have to get a tourniquet on him, get him out of here.’” (King 1396)

Hey fun fact? Fun fucking fact, Eddie’s already dead in this scene and Richie knows that.  

On a cheerier note, and to add one last dimension to Eddie and Richie’s closeness, Richie is the only person with whom we see Eddie intentionally swapping spit/germs (outside of ritualistic bloodletting). Not only does Richie use Eddie’s aspirator at one point, but there’s also this scene:  

“‘I can carry [the Parcheesi board],’ Eddie said, a little out of breath. ‘How about a lick on your Rocket?’ / ‘Your mom wouldn’t approve, Eddie,’ Richie said sadly. […] ‘[…] Ah say you kin get germs eatin after someone else!’ / ‘I’ll chance it,’ Eddie said. / Reluctantly, Richie held his Rocket up to Eddie’s mouth... and snatched it away quickly as soon as Eddie had gotten in a couple of moderately serious licks.” (King 1243)  

The obvious humour of this scene aside (poor Richie, having to share), the fact that hypochondriac Mama’s boy Eddie doesn’t mind Richie’s germs in particular is both sweet and interesting. The imagery here, of Eddie licking Richie’s Rocket despite his mother’s disapproval (compounded with the pre-established association between Eddie and blowjobs) is just... interesting, to say the least. As is the fact that I totally stole this scene and reversed the roles for the sake of a fic that I would like to pimp as a reward for making it this far into this monstrosity. It has a happy ending, don’t worry. 

What does all of this put together signify? Richie and Eddie are close. They clearly love each other as friends, and the almost flirtatious touching, cute-calling, teasing, protectiveness, and Rocket-licking can also all signify the beginnings of something else as well. If nothing else, it’s fun, sweet fic fodder.  

PART VB – THE VOICE (WITH A CAPITAL V)

This is one of my favourite details. Eddie thinks of all the Losers from time to time, but Richie is straight-up one of the voices in his head. Richie refers to his impressions and characters as Voices with a capital V, and Very often, Eddie will think in them. He’ll hear jokes in them, Pennywise will taunt him with them, he’ll hear the very criticism and hate that he fears hurled back at him in Voices. Right from the start:  

“‘Had any good chucks lately, Eds?’ [Eddie] says out loud, and laughs again.” (King 374)  

As he drives to Derry, Eddie is already laughing and delighting in the thought of his friends (specifically Bill and Richie) and the way they used to be. Later in the same scene:  

“‘Sure, kid, EV-ery day,’ he says in a Richie Tozier Voice, and laughs again.” (King 376)  

King quickly establishes that Richie’s Voices are a source of joy for Eddie, and that Richie himself is one of the Losers that Eddie is most looking forward to seeing. Indeed, in several scenes (including one of the ones quoted above), we see Eddie laughing at or with Richie when he does his Voices, both in the present and the past. But Eddie’s love of the Voices gets twisted by his own subconscious fears – I mentioned earlier that it is a Voice with a capital V that tells Eddie that he’s damned to Hell during his imaginary blood-communion. And it’s Richie’s voice that reminds Eddie that he’s not “solid”, to cap off a scene where he literally runs away from thoughts of queerness and sex. Eddie’s fear of himself becomes conflated with the Voices in a way that suggests his fear is of Richie, of Richie’s hatred, contempt, and dismissal. He is afraid that Richie sees him as unworthy, damned, unsolid. He is afraid that Richie sees the thing that’s eating him from the inside out.  

Eddie wants to be home with Myra. It’s easier to keep Richie and his Voices in his head than to risk what they would (--) do if they saw all of Eddie clearly.  

PART VC – EDS & EDDIE’S DEATH

Yes, we all know and love “Eds”. We love Richie being a little shit, we love Eddie being his tsundere self, and we love that Eddie canonically has a soft spot for the nickname:  

“Man, he had hated it when Richie called him Eds... but he had sort of liked it, too.” (King 374)

We also love (or hate) that “Eds” factors into Eddie and Richie’s final exchange in the novel:  

“But there was something else [Eddie] had to say [before he died]. / ‘Richie,’ he whispered. / ‘What?’ Richie was down on his hands and knees, staring at him desperately. / ‘Don’t call me Eds,’ he said, and smiled. He raised his left hand slowly and touched Richie’s cheek. Richie was crying. ‘You know I... I...’ Eddie closed his eyes, thinking how to finish, and while he was still thinking it over he died.” (King 1386)  

(A.k.a. the scene that nearly made me throw my Kindle across the room.)  

This ties into a broader theme with Eddie that I only began noticing when I started compiling my notes for this meta – his thoughts, when connected to other men, queerness, or sex, often go unfinished. He cuts them off before they stray somewhere that makes him nervous (the thought of Richie giving him an asthma attack), before they stray anywhere at all (the memory of Patrick and Henry making him yearn for Myra, not wanting to think about blowjobs), or before they even become thoughts (not daring to question his mother’s homophobic comments). And here, when he has to say one thing before he dies, when he’s finally allowing himself to conclude a sentimental, intimate thought that he doesn’t even know how to word... he’s cut off one last time.  

And we don’t know what he was going to say. We can speculate, we can infer, but we don’t know, just as we will never know what “Richie Tozier would”.  

Richie Tozier seems to know, though. When he realizes they’ll have to leave Eddie’s body behind, he kisses Eddie’s cheek (just as Eddie touched his in his final moments, and in contrast to the way he used to pinch them) and...:  

“Richie got up and turned toward the door. ‘Fuck you, Bitch!’ he cried suddenly, and kicked the door shut with his foot. It made a solid chukking sound as it closed and latched. / ‘Why’d you do that?’ Beverly asked. / ‘I don’t know,’ Richie said, but he knew well enough.” (King 1427)

Richie’s shutting the door on Pennywise and the sewers and the whole horrible tragedy of it all, yes. But he’s also furious with the grief of losing Eddie, and shutting the door that will now forever separate Eddie’s final resting place from the hole where he died. Bev’s question allows Richie to do just what Eddie did, too – keep it quiet, cut it off, not acknowledge what he’s avoiding or what he’s just lost. Still, he knows well enough.  

PART VI – CONCLUSION  

I don’t know for sure that King intended for Eddie to be closeted, but I think he did. He’s gone on the record that he believes in leaving stuff like this for the reader to figure out. There are a lot of scenes, a lot of small moments, that suggest that Eddie is gay, and while many of them make sense without that reading, the entirety of the picture they paint does not. I’m partial to Reddie, and as I’ve demonstrated above, I believe there is a lot of textual evidence to support the theory that they had feelings for each other. Eddie’s death alone, and the fact that the last thing he had to say needed to be addressed to Richie while Eddie held his face in his hands, is... a LOT. But I’ll be honest – my loyalty is to queer!Eddie on its own.  

If Eddie Kaspbrak is gay, then his story is ten times more heartbreaking. It’s a story of fear, not just of the supernatural but of the very real hatred and pain he would have faced being openly gay in Derry. It’s a story of fearing that something inside of him was rotten and sick and sinful, and that one of his closest friends in the world thought so too. It’s a story of self-loathing. And it’s a story without an end, because Eddie could never let himself think of how to finish admitting what he needed to admit to himself. The truth was lost in asthma attacks, in Myra, in death. In that sense, it’s fitting that King never explicitly stated that Eddie was gay, if that was indeed his intent – it's one more thing we’ll never know for sure, because Eddie couldn’t bring himself to tell us.  

THAT BEING SAID. My loyalty is to queer!Eddie. Which means that my loyalty is to making this shit better, exploring and dissecting the hell out of it, and fixing it. Give Eddie Kaspbrak the ending he deserved! Let him finish his thoughts! Take these quotes, draw inspiration from them, and let’s all cling to each other in preparation for Chapter 2.  

[mentalillnesstest-blog1]

Knowing the Mental Health and Mental Condition

mental illness test

Mental illnesses have established itself as a major cause of death as well as disability. From 30 for you to 60 per cent of all affected individuals who consult doctors achieve this primarily for complaints on account of emotional disorders. Many rewarding persons continuously maintain some sort of chronically neurotic adjustment your. And most individuals have trivial emotional disturbances often definitely not recognized but of health significance.

mental illness test

In spite of all this, the person has a curious attitude when it comes to mental health. He confesses the importance of physical health, becomes aware of that not everyone that is up and about is in physical form well, and may even go in terms of to take some elementary steps against disease. If not accurately intelligent about physical well being, he is at least interested all of which will seek advice from physicians, quacks, or maybe advertisements.

But in regard to help his mental health his / her attitude until recently is strangely indifferent. If they thinks about it at all, he / she regards it as something really foreign to him, considerably as he might give driving attention to the antics of an foreign bandit. He issues his friends and contacts as in perfect mental wellbeing; when his attention will this subject by the "sudden" onset of a mental sickness in someone he is aware of, he is surprised and astonished.

If the affected person is a of his own family, he capabilities the disease to overwork, to think about finances, to physical disease, or to some other socially fair factor. If the affected person is simply an acquaintance, he is likely to think of heredity, alcohol, and syphilis as probable causes. Solely rarely does he aim to think intelligently as to why these tips happen or attempt to explain to him by reading as well as by consulting specialists inside field. This attitude feels particularly strange when one particular considers the horror of which mental illness is generally regarded as.

But even when one does indeed try to inform one's home, one meets with complications. In unguided reading, a single finds discrepancies and misunderstanding which may seem completely complicated.

Definite instructions for preventing mental illness cannot be presented but a general understanding of issues and processes involved generally helps enormously in the controlling of minor emotional distresses, the neglect of which is a vital factor in the development of graver ailments. Then in addition to the problem involving avoiding actual insanity, information about the mechanisms leading to mind disturbance is the best guarantee next to inefficiency, failure, and misery in life.

Few realize that typically the psychiatrist deals not only together with the actual insanity but with the many borderline conditions and maladjustment which are not ordinarily viewed as belonging in the category of intellectual Illnesses.

Types of Mental Diseases Among the mental disorders are usually conditions so grave in which even trained person realizes that the patient is ridiculous. These illnesses or désordre, however , usually go unknown until they are so far enhanced that treatment becomes terribly difficult. No severe psychological illness ever comes all of the sudden "out of the blue. micron The symptoms are present for months or even years but usually are covered as nervous breakdown, neurasthenia, or physical illnesses.

The second group comprises persons that happen to be not considered insane by all their associates but who provide various peculiar symptoms of any kind of degree of severity. Morbid doubts, compulsions, and obsessions, commonly diagnosed as psychoneuroses a number of modifying term, are particularly quality of this group. With these may also be placed chronic invalidism, when physical examination does not reveal an adequate basis to the symptoms presented.

The third set consists of individuals who are apparently neither of them mentally nor physically tired, but who fail to generate a socially adequate adjustment. Costly certain types of alcoholics, delinquents, vagrants, and persons connected with unusual sexual behavior. On this group we might include in addition those persons who, even though apparently making a good public adjustment, nevertheless are a good deal hampered by feelings associated with inadequacy, emotional instability, anxieties, and other personality disturbances which often interfere with efficiency and enjoyment.

Problem of children constitute a new fourth group It is now identified that difficulties of training, very poor habits, school problems, temperament tantrums, enuresis, and youth delinquencies are evidences regarding emotional disturbance which may be solved by proper investigation and also treatment.

Feeble mindedness is undoubtedly an incurable congenital deficiency along with a strong hereditary basis along with, as such has little connection with mental or emotional diseases. It is primarily a problem involving eugenics and sociology.

Perhaps such an incomplete listing of psychological problems forces us to distinguish that we can no longer regard emotional illness or insanity as being the only field for emotional investigation. Emotional disturbances in addition to personality problems, which may be believed to be lesser forms of mental health issues, constitute ever-present problems, in contact all of us.

Theory of Intellectual Illness From the scientific records at hand, we have no motive to conclude that heredity is often a major factor in the causing of mental illnesses. Even though this, heredity is commonly considered their most important cause. That belief is unfortunate, for any assumption that mental condition is caused by heredity brings about the conclusion that it cannot be stopped or cured.

To imagine a mental illness is definitely hereditary because it "runs in a very family" is erroneous, as it is impossible to separate the effects of setting, or so-called "social genetics, " from those of real heredity. By social inheritance is meant the transference connected with traits of character or perhaps types of behavior by hitting the ground with and imitation of those men and women with whom one day-to-day lives, while physical heredity indicates the transmission of properties or types of behavior over the reproductive cells.

One has merely to consider the abnormal environment which will exists in a family that has there is a mentally ill man, to realize the great possibility of a young child in such a family becoming in your head unbalanced, even though no innate factors are active in any respect. In order to establish the anatomical character of a disease just one must demonstrate that the sickness was not caused by environmental variables and that it follows accepted laws of inheritance. Neither of them of these requirements has been found in the case of most mental ailments.

Furthermore, it does not follow this, even if a hereditary issue Were present, the development of the ailment could not be avoided by the mau of environmental factors. Thus, we shall do well to turn each of our attention from the heredity idea of mental illness from what may be more profitable treatments.

Certain mental illnesses use a definite physical basis. For instance , the psychoses of typical paresis, arteriosclerosis, senility, harm, brain tumor, etc ., are generally due directly to destruction associated with brain tissue.

Furthermore, delinquency, hallucinations, fears, compulsions, or maybe other emotional disorders could possibly be due to disturbances in the performance of the glands of inner surface secretion; to infectious operations, the toxins of which bring about states of delirium; often the action of drugs; or to precise destruction of brain structure. Such conditions may, is to do, give rise to strange thinking as well as behavior. Their prevention and also cure are problems regarding physical health, just as are classified as the prevention and cure involving any other physical disease.

Conversely, ideas and emotional thought patterns are more often a product with the social environment than connected with physical disease. A man could let his hair raise to shoulder length mainly because his thinking has been crazed by the activity of the spirochete of syphilis in the lettre of his brain; as well as he may wear his locks long because he has been recently taught a religious belief whereby long hair is worn out as a symbol of the Christ like life. In the initially case, we, explain along with treat his unusual habits on a physical basis. Inside second, we explain the item in psychological and societal terms.

In the investigation in addition to treatment of the abnormal actions and thinking which represent the material of poor mind health, it is necessary both to examine those physical disturbances which could interfere with the complex performs of behavior and idea and to recognize those components in the environment which may interrupt these same functions. There is no authentic dichotomy or conflict during these approaches. In some cases physical disorder predominate, while in others intellectual and social situations usually are of major importance.

My partner and i firmly believe that the whole market is inter-connected. Our body, brain and spirit are severely rooted with each other. If if your sick, the mind cannot chill out or feel good. And if head is not relaxed, it will supply birth to stress and that will probably lead to chronic health problems.

Therefore , it is clear that as a way to posses a sound body have to have a calm and calm mind. Without a sound imagination we cannot expect all of our potential growth or progress.

[mcatmemoranda]

Early syphilis includes the primary, secondary and early latent stages during the first year after infection, while latent syphilis occurs after that, when the patient usually has a normal physical exam with positive serology. In primary syphilis, a painless papule usually appears at the site of inoculation. This then ulcerates and forms the chancre, which is a classic sign of the disease. Left untreated, 25 percent of patients will develop the systemic symptoms of secondary syphilis, which include low-grade fever, malaise, headache, generalized lymphadenopathy, rash, anorexia, weight loss and myalgias.

[treatmentdisease-blog]

New Post has been published on Details of the treatment of certain diseases. Human Diseases and methods of treatment

New Post has been published on http://bit.ly/2FTkDIp

How to treat parvo at home - steps to take immediately if your dog has parvo signs of syphilis in mouth

[keyofjetwolf]

Elisabeth: The Last Chance/Malady

Essen Alternate Title: “Surprise Bonus Syphilis Oops” Zuka Alternate Title: “YOU SHOULD DIE”

This is another short song, mostly bringing to bear Franz Joseph’s mermaid sexcapades, opening the door for Death to once again ask Elisabeth to the Sock Hop, and Elisabeth telling everyone to fuck off because she needs to take a walk for the next twenty years.

Once again the Takarazuka and Essen versions are dramatically different, which surely comes as a surprise to one and all. The framework is essentially the same: Elisabeth pursues her true life’s goal to be a carnie and collapses. Her attendants call for a doctor, who is also Death. This is literal in one, it’s metaphorical in the other, and as you might have guessed, it’s about here that the two versions of the song part ways.

Let’s talk first about the literal and metaphorical Death part, shall we? I admit I’m taking a few liberties with that claim; the Essen version could also be Literally Death, but I think it’s open enough to interpretation and more in keeping with the ideas of how Death is handled and interacts with Elisabeth that he’s personified, but never truly real. Death is a concept that Elisabeth is enamoured and tempted by, rather than A Real Dude.

The Takarazuka version has no such questions. DEATH IS REAL AND WANTS ELISABETH AND ALSO HAS AN AMAZING WARDROBE. We know the doctor is Death from the second he walks in, and we even take a moment to pause on that fact before the song starts, as Death lingers by Elisabeth’s side, partially reaching out, wanting to badly to touch her (take her?), but resolving to stick to his plan.

Essen Death, whose visage is more shrouded (though they’re not exactly trying to hide him) pretty much gets right to work, reporting what he’s observing in Elisabeth with a clinical kind of detachment feels entirely correct.

Ultimately, the greatest significance in Death’s presence from the start lies in manipulation of Elisabeth. Takarazuka Death has a VERY specific goal in mind with this visit: to expose Franz Joseph’s affair(s?) in an effort to break them up. He prays on Elisabeth’s devotion to Franz Joseph (wait, her what?), specifically talking about why she’s been pretty much starving herself to death.

Which is ... an interesting way to go with this. By that I mean, what the fuck? Particularly within the context of what the Takarazuka already altered. In our last post, for example, we talked about how “Kitsch” chooses to focus on Elisabeth’s obsession with studying the beautiful women of the world so she can stay ahead of them, also drawing direct lines that Elisabeth’s power lies in her beauty and charm. Coupled with how we’ve had her repeatedly pulling away from Franz Joseph and wielding his love for her as a weapon (SHE LITERALLY HAD AN ENTIRE SONG ABOUT THAT), the claim that she’s doing all of this to attract him comes completely out of nowhere. The only thing that makes less sense is that when confronted with his infidelity, she cries “I can’t live with this!”

Don’t worry, though. Death is here and ready to make betrayal SEXY.

I have no idea how you refuse anyone wearing that shirt. Elisabeth, you are a stronger person than me by far.

When Elisabeth realizes it’s Death and not the doctor (how hilarious if she thought the doctor was saying all this to her though), her mood whips back around to defiance.

That only actually means anything if her heart were open to him up to this point, but literally every other action we’ve seen from Elisabeth says otherwise. Which is really the heart of the problem with this scene in the Takarazuka version: IT DOESN’T MAKE SENSE. It feels, from where I’m sitting, that they’re trying to bend this around to make Elisabeth a tragic blameless victim. The problem is, she’s NOT, and the story just can’t hold up with that as its premise.

Beyond the character holes and vacillating motivations that this version of the song leaves in its wake, it also sucks out all the power. Elisabeth essentially resigns herself to Death being stronger, saying he can go ahead and take her if he wants, but she’ll never love him. That stays Death’s hand, but before he leaves, he shows Elisabeth a dagger (possibly the same she nearly used on herself earlier, I’m not sure), promising her that the day will come when she wants to die. Here’s one of the final images of the scene.

Elisabeth is staggered, nearly doubled over on the couch where earlier she was lain. She looks as if Death’s words were a physical blow. By contrast, Death is walking away, back straight, head high. He lets the dagger drift behind him almost casually, blade pointed at Elisabeth, just waiting for her. There’s no question who has all the power here. You could know nothing about the story around this cap, and you’d know.

I’m jumping way the hell forward here, but let’s compare it to one of the final shots from the Essen version.

Jesus wept, this is some different shit. We’ll look at how we got here in a minute, but again, just the image itself is everything. Elisabeth is the one standing this time, tall and resolute. You can’t tell by looking at her that she’s the one saying “Go!”, but one look at Death makes that clear (you don’t even need the subtitle, I just couldn’t get a cap without it). Even though he’s technically above her, he’s reaching out for her as desperately; the personification of Death, and he can’t hope to touch her. He’s leaving, but not because he wants to, because she’s driving him out, by no more than standing there and telling him to fuck all the way off. I think if you had to summarize the difference between the Takarazuka and Essen versions in two caps, these would be them.

It’s not the entirety of this scene, though, we walk several different paths to get here. As I said above, things diverge sharply when the doctor arrives. The doctor in the Essen version is pretty straightforward and unremarkable, really. Pretty quickly, he notes Elisabeth’s symptoms (no mention of her diet, no mention of her husband) and reaches his conclusion.

CONGRATS IT’S AN STD

He does suggest that she got it from Franz Joseph, which in my “the doctor wasn’t literally Death” theory marks the point where I think he enters the equation, BUT WE’RE NOT HERE FOR MY IRRELEVANT PET THEORIES ABOUT MINOR UNIMPORTANT DETAILS. Essen Elisabeth’s response is immediate and vastly different from her Takarazuka counterpart.

It’s all about her or, more importantly, her reputation. Ahh, character consistency! This makes every kind of sense to me, given what we’ve seen of Elisabeth so far. The power she’s managed to amass for herself depends almost entirely on the public’s perception of her and, fair or not (IT’S NOT), a woman with syphilis -- even if she got it from her husband who literally got it from a prostitute -- is going to be regarded extremely differently than a man with the same disease. Franz Joseph has managed to hurt Elisabeth far more than he could’ve dreamed possible, it just isn’t because of heartbreak (or at least not primarily).

She goes on to say that she’ll leave him, but then immediately thinks of suicide instead, which is a “solution” that’s nipped at Elisabeth’s heels from the start, so isn’t particularly surprising. This is when she hears Death whispering to her, encouraging her to do it, promising her the freedom she’s craved her whole life.

Elisabeth’s response to this is as immediate as it is unwavering.

Franz Joseph doing Elisabeth dirty is a blessing, she says, because now she can do whatever she wants without being hedged in by duty or responsibility, and he won’t be able to say a good goddamn thing about it.

“Go!” Elisabeth commands, and that’s where the scene ends.

Even as Essen Elisabeth says she’ll kill herself, she’s never diminished by what’s going on around her. Not by the doctor’s diagnosis, not by Franz Joseph’s actions, not by Death’s manipulations. It’s such a stark difference from Takarazuka Elisabeth, who, even as she tries to seize the moment and make it hers, is once more subjugated by Death’s obsession.

BREAK THE CHAINS ELISABETH

BUT MAYBE FIRST TAKE SOME PENICILLIN FOR ALL THAT SYPHILIS