Hannah Cutts

For the past month, I have been outlining the efforts that the CDC has been making at affecting positive change in a variety of public health realms. The last topic that the CDC has listed as ...

While the rate of teen pregnancies in the United States has fallen since the 1990s, the number of young women who become pregnant unintentionally is still higher in the United States than in any ...

With the amount of political, media and research attention it has been given in the past 5 years, it is no surprise that reducing rates of obesity is on the list of CDC Winnable Battles. Endless ...

My worst fear revolves around motor vehicle accidents. There is something about the lack of power that each individual driver, pedestrian, biker or passenger has to control their fate in a traffic ...

The HIV/AIDS epidemic appears to have been managed relatively well in the United States because it is no longer a regular presence in news headlines or the source of fear that it once was. ...

When I think of the important battles in public health -- issues that our society recognize as priorities due to widespread problems or needs -- the issue of Healthcare Associated Infection (HAI) ...

Once, I experienced a massive outbreak of what was assumed to be food poisoning, though it was never officially diagnosed. The symptoms were unmistakable: stomach pain and nausea, vomiting, ...

Often in the world of public health, it feels as if failure is the norm and disaster of epidemic proportion is just around the corner. We read headlines that warn us of our deteriorating health ...

This past week I was very lucky to be given the opportunity to attend the Virginia Public Health Association’s Conference on Health Equity. The conference was held in Richmond, Virginia’s capitol, ...

In the past three decades, HIV/AIDS has become a standard part of our vocabulary, our news reports and our preventive care efforts. We know the basics of how the disease is transmitted, what ...

Before doctors and scientists knew what HIV/AIDS was, what caused it, and how the disease was transmitted, they began noticing a rising trend of symptoms normally associated with immunocompromised ...

Mainstream media and entertainment sources tend to imply that a majority of young adults -- especially college students -- are having sex. And while there is nothing wrong with having sex if you ...

We know that people get sexually transmitted diseases. We can all remember the time when someone came into our health class in high school to show us scary pictures of what infected organs look ...

According to a strange mixture of fairy and old wives’ tales, frogs are the culprits behind warts (though if you kiss the right one, he may turn into a prince -- so, possibly worth the risk?). In ...

It is easy to tell someone that if they suspect they have contracted a sexually transmitted disease, they should go get tested and seek treatment. No one is enticed by a penis or vagina that is ...

Many pregnant couples are hesitant to become intimate because they are nervous it will negatively impact the fetus. Men often express a fear of “poking the baby in the face,” and women verbalize ...

During pregnancy, your body goes through all sorts of physiological changes, hormone fluctuations and emotional states. Unsurprisingly, these transformations not only cause you to experience mood ...

Pregnancy is an indescribably miraculous phenomenon. As a woman, your body has the ability to nurture and protect cells, instinctively providing those cells with the hormones, nutrients and space ...

Our nation is slowly beginning to understand that prevention is a more effective, cost-saving endeavor. We suffer through safety precautions at the airport, knowing that while sometimes ...

Just like during pregnancy, while breastfeeding your diet directly impacts the health of your newborn. Your body is still the main source of all nutrients for this child, and as a newcomer to this ...

Slut. According to the dictionary: “a dirty, immoral or untidy woman”. We use it to describe someone who is purposely sexually promiscuous, but also tend to equate the word with revealing clothing ...

A variety of recent studies on the practice of breastfeeding have shown similar two-fold conclusions: 1. Breastfeeding an infant has multiple long-lasting health benefits for both mother and ...

These past couple weeks have been full of ups and downs in the world of women’s health and policy. Let’s review, shall we? Let’s start with the ups! The Institute of Medicine recommended to ...

Recently, heated debate on a simple children’s toy has made national headlines. A baby doll called Bebe Glotten, originally from Spain and quite popular across Europe, is due to hit American ...

Recently, in our farm share bundle, my roommates and I have been getting a lot of cabbage. Cabbage has gained a sad reputation of being somewhat unexciting. It is not colorful like swiss chard, ...

I want to preface this article by first saying, I have not had anal sex. It is on my list of sexual behaviors to explore and consider, though I am still quite apprehensive. I think my sentiments ...

We’ve all been there: an ignorant comment or misinterpreted joke, a too-late realization that there is sauce splattered on your chin, an awkward handshake-hug-kiss-combination during your goodbye ...

Dating new people is tricky and it doesn’t help that our society has turned the “first date” scenario into an inherently high-stress situation. You are expected to feel nervous about the meeting; ...

For a great portion of history, anal sex has been considered somewhat of a taboo activity. There are urban myths attached to its consequences and even biblical references to its sinful nature! But ...

Recently, my roommates and I became part of a FarmShare. This means that for a fee paid upfront, we get to pick up a cartload of fresh, local, naturally grown produce each week. Because they are ...

Doctors, and perhaps you too, have noticed that women tend to get more yeast infections (vaginal candidiasis) during or after their periods. I personally can certainly attest to how unpleasant the ...

In clicking through the archives of Cosmopolitan magazine's version of Kama Sutra, it occurred to me that mainstream media has effectively made the Kama Sutra a widely-accepted household name. We ...

“Please fill out your name tag with something that empowers you.” I have just walked into a room lined with exhibition tables and filled with a group of people – mostly women – whose attention ...

Despite recent assertions that "50% of all marriages in the US end in divorce," according to a report published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, at 3.6 out of 1,000 marriages, the ...

While growing up, how were you taught to view sexual activity? In the hopes of preventing children from engaging in “risky” behaviors, many of us were taught that sex is dirty, inappropriate, ...

In 1982, the world’s first AIDS victim succumbed to the disease in the Rakai District of Uganda, marking it as the birthplace of this epidemic. By the late 1990s, 15 percent of all adults in the ...