prevention and fitness – Page 9 – watercress words by Dr Aletha

Will fewer guns reduce firearm deaths? Insights from Gun Ownership Study

In September 2024, a second attempt on Donald Trump’s life was made in Florida, but he remained unharmed. A study by Oregon Health & Science University found that gun prevalence, not mental illness, is driving the high rate of firearm deaths in the U.S. Suicide accounts for most firearm deaths in Oregon. Countries that reduce gun ownership have lowered their firearm death rates. In the U.S., legislation to restrict gun ownership faces resistance. The study emphasizes the need to reduce gun prevalence to decrease firearm death rates. It also highlights the importance of safe storage to prevent access to firearms, especially in households with children.

“For the second time in just over two months a man armed with a rifle attempted to assassinate Donald Trump. A Secret Service agent spotted a man with a gun at Trump’s golf course in West Palm Beach, Fla., and fired at him before the man could hit anyone. Trump was unharmed, and the police arrested a suspect.” from The New York Times, Monday, September 16, 2024

Photo by Tom Jackson on Pexels.com (illustration only)

I had already started this post when this incident happened on September 15, 2024. This is the second time Mr. Trump has been a target of gun violence, the first time wounding him and killing two innocent bystanders.

I have written before about the epidemic of injuries and deaths due to gun violence. Whether it’s one person injured in a domestic altercation or a single shooter causing mass casualties, we see far too many of these episodes. They should never happen.

Everyone believes we need a solution but can’t agree on what. Do too many people have guns or do the wrong people have guns, or both?

I found this article interesting and wanted to share it with you. It is from an email newsletter I receive from Oklahoma Voice. Oklahoma Voice provides independent, nonpartisan reporting and is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.

The article reviews a study done at Oregon Health and Science University looking at how gun ownership and mental illness are related to gun violence.

Study finds prevalence of firearms is driving soaring gun deaths in U.S. – not mental illness

by Ben Botkin, Oklahoma Voice
September 12, 2024

If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide or a mental health crisis, call or text 988 for free, immediate support 24/7.

The prevalence of firearms in the U.S. – not mental illness – is driving the surge in gun deaths across the country, a new study concludes.

The research led by an Oregon Health & Science University professor looked at mental health conditions and firearm deaths in the U.S. and 40 other countries. It found the U.S. had 20 times more deaths by firearms than the other countries even when rates of mental illness were the same.

“We have the same degree of mental health issues as other countries, but our firearm death rate is far greater and continuing to increase. In most of the countries, firearms deaths are decreasing.”

Dr. Archie Bleyer, a clinical research professor at OHSU and lead author of the study

Other researchers have looked at mental illness and gun ownership but this study is the first to include this many countries.

Bleyer’s findings, published in the journal PLOS One, challenge the common assumption that mental health disorders are to blame for the high rate of firearm deaths in the U.S., which have risen 23% since 2000 while dropping 27% in other countries.

Bleyer, a pediatric oncologist, dug into the issue after his 12-year-old grandson’s classmate died by a firearm. He said he knew the boy’s mother and her son “left a note and used the gun, but didn’t need to die because he had a bad day.”

“her son left a note and used the gun, but didn’t need to die because he had a bad day.”
Dr. Bleyer, pediatric oncologist

Suicides account for most firearm deaths in Oregon, and young people often are the victims. In 2022, 488 people died from suicide by firearm in Oregon, according to Oregon Health Authority statistics. 127 of them were people under age 35. Another 161 people died in firearm-related homicides.

Overall, 674 people died of firearms in Oregon in 2022, including accidents and interactions with police.

The study found that policies on gun ownership can reduce firearm deaths. Countries that have decreased the number of guns owned by residents reduced their firearm death rates. These include Switzerland, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Israel.

In Australia, the government drove down the rate of gun ownership with a government program that purchased firearms from gun owners. Other countries limit the number of firearms an individual can own or ban assault weapons.

In the United States, Congress has struggled to enact legislation cracking down on gun ownership, with strong resistance from gun rights activists and many Republicans.

Two years ago, following the mass school shooting of 19 students and 2 others in Uvalde, Texas, Congress passed a law to expand background checks for gun buyers. And in August 2024 a law banning “ghost guns,” which are untraceable, took effect in Oregon.

Bleyer said decreasing the number of firearms in the country is critical to stemming gun deaths. He noted that the U.S. has 4% of the world’s population, but almost one-quarter of the world’s firearms, and half of all non-military assault weapons are in the U.S.

Actions that reduce the level of gun ownership will help reduce the deaths that are linked to suicides and accidents, he said.

“By reducing prevalence, we should be able to reduce the firearm death rate,” he said.

Another issue is the ease of access to firearms, especially for households with children. He and other experts recommend safe storage devices that can deter people.

“Even though parents more often than not think their gun is locked and their children do not know where it is or how to unlock it, they’re usually wrong,” Bleyer said. “More often than not, when tested, their children know where it is, how to get into it and they often will play with it when their parents are gone.”

At the same time, Bleyer stressed his study doesn’t change the mental health crisis and lack of treatment that plagues Oregon and other states.

“We do have significant mental health problems, there is no doubt about that,” he said. “We don’t have enough mental health providers, facilities, treatments. It’s the way that we have facilitated killing ourselves that leads to death with firearms where we take this to the extreme.”

Other contributors to this study are Dr. Stuart Siegel, of the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California; Dr. Jaime Estrada, of Texas Doctors for Social Responsibility; and Dr. Charles R. Thomas Jr. of Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth and previous chair of the Department of Radiation Medicine in the OHSU School of Medicine.

Oklahoma Voice is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Oklahoma Voice maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Janelle Stecklein for questions: info@oklahomavoice.com. Follow Oklahoma Voice on Facebook and X.

This article is published under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.

Exploring the HEART of Health

If you or a loved one have experienced gun violence my heart aches for you. I desperately want our nation to address this unacceptable problem. Whether or not you have experienced it, the best solution is to be prepared.

Review this previous post to learn how to survive if you are threatened with gun violence.

How to survive an active shooter

Shootings in the United States have resulted in numerous casualties across diverse demographics. An active shooter poses a significant threat, necessitating preparedness. The recommended response includes three strategies: RUN to safety, HIDE if escape is impossible, and FIGHT as a last resort. Prioritizing personal and collective safety is crucial.

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June 13, 2022August 14, 2025

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Dr. Aletha

Awesome August

August is a busy month despite the absence of major holidays in the US. It marks the start of the academic year and the Olympic Games. In this post I reminisce about starting medical school in August and witnessing changes in the field. Then I discuss the Democratic National Convention and the Paralympic Games.

updated August 26, 2024

August is an exception among months. It has no major or federal holidays in the United States. Although the temperatures still feel hot and muggy, many students and teachers return to school and college for the “fall” semester.

If you planned to buy a new swimsuit it’s too late. If you need a new winter coat, they’re available, if you want to try one on when it’s 95 degrees outside. Halloween, Thanksgiving, and even Christmas merchandise are already on sale.

I started medical school in August

My first day as an MS1, first-year medical student, was August 24, 1974. After four arduous years I graduated, completed a three-year residency in Family Medicine, board-certified, and practiced for 41 years.

Today medical schools hold a White Coat Ceremony for incoming students but not then. But I was still proud to don my white coat and follow residents and attendings around the hospital.

One day a week we were sent off campus to a private doctor’s office to observe and “shadow” them. I watched a family physician interact with a wide variety of patients he treated as friends. That’s when I fell in love with Family Medicine.

Years later we practiced in the same medical group. Since I had been there first, he called me his “senior partner”. But to me, he was forever my mentor. He practiced well into his seventies, then was injured in a serious auto accident and never practiced again.

These are the only photos of me in the yearbook. I don’t think I knew there would be a yearbook. I didn’t socialize much so that must explain my absence.I wonder how they accumulated enough photos since no one had cameras on their phones then.

With that hair and jumper, I definitely look like a ’70s girl. I’ve changed and so has the Health Sciences Center; when I visit now, I hardly know my way around, with new structures and name changes.

Medicine has changed a great deal since then, and perhaps the biggest change is the increased number and percentage of women in medicine. In my class of 150 students, 25 of us were women. In the average medical school class today, that number would be 75 or more-at least half.

There are still more men than women practicing medicine. It will take a few more years to catch up as older male physicians retire and more young women physicians begin practice. I have enjoyed more female colleagues as our numbers increased over the past 40 years.

My school, the University of Oklahoma, now holds a White Coat Ceremony. Several weeks before, they ask us alumni to write a note offering advice to a student. They print it on a card and place it in the coat’s pocket.

I don’t remember exactly what I wrote. I congratulate them for getting this far and welcome them as a future colleague. I tell them all the hard work will be worthwhile because what they do is valuable. I don’t tell them it won’t always be recognized and appreciated.

I don’t know if the school includes our name on the card, but probably not. I have never heard from one of them. I always wonder if they find my advice helpful.

Why women physicians are good for health care

The first woman graduate of a United States medical school was born in Bristol England in 1821. Elizabeth Blackwell came to this country as a child and originally had no interest in medicine. But when a dying friend told her, “I would have been spared suffering if a woman had been my doctor”, she found…

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The Olympics concluded on August 11

Most of the Olympic events occurred in August so we watched many of our favorite events, although they don’t all get equal broadcast time.

The Olympic Games remind me of my trip to Greece. I saw the Panathenaic Stadium, site of the first Olympic games in Athens.

The Panathenaic Stadium was built for the first modern Olympic Games in 1896 in Athens, Greece. It is the only stadium in the world made completely of marble.

In 330 BC a stadium was built at this site for the games of the Panathenaea. It fell into disuse with the rise of Christianity and eventually most of the site was destroyed and forgotten.

After archaeological evidence of the stadium was uncovered in the 1830s, the site was excavated in 1870. In 1895 the new stadium was built there to hold the 1896 Olympics.

From the Panathenaic Stadium, the Olympic flame is officially passed to the host country of each Olympic Games. It continues to be used for sporting events and functions.

click on any photo to start a slideshow

A unique archaeological monument, a living symbol of the ancient and modern heritage of sport and the Olympic Games.
PANATHENAIC STADIUM

The Democratic National Convention-August 19

The Democratic National Convention was held August 19-22, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois.

On July 21, 2024, by letter, President Biden informed the nation that he was withdrawing from his reelection campaign. This marks the first time in 50 years that a sitting president did not run for reelection. (And I remember that time also. Do you know which President it was?)

Chicago skyline from Lake Michigan with Navy Pier in foreground — Chicago city skyline and Navy Pier from a boat on Lake Michigan-photo by Dr. Aletha

President Biden and other Democratic leaders endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris who accepted the nomination. She chose Tim Walz, Governor of Minnesota as her running mate.

The Paralympics begin on August 28

We are not done with international sports competitions yet. The Paralympic Games begin on August 28, 2024, in Paris and conclude in September.

The word “Paralympic” derives from the Greek preposition “para” (beside or alongside) and the word “Olympic”.

Paralympics are the parallel games to the Olympics showing how the two movements exist side-by-side.

Sport for athletes with an impairment has existed for more than 100 years. It was widely introduced after World War II to assist injured veterans and civilians.

On September 22, 1989, the International Paralympic Committee was founded as an international non-profit organization to act as the global governing body of the Paralympic Movement.

The Paralympics reminds me of my late friend Bob who walked with crutches. As a boy, he was left paralyzed due to a bout of polio, before the vaccine was available. But that did not stop him from living a full life.

Bob’s wife, a medical assistant, worked in my clinic. We also attended the same church so I knew him and their three children. Despite his limited walking, Bob learned to bowl and did so competitively, winning several tournaments. He unfortunately passed in middle age of unrelated causes and his family misses him sorely.

You’ll enjoy this video about the Evolution of the Paralympic Games from the official Paralympics YouTube page.

Exploring the HEART of Health

The last President to resign without running for reelection was Lyndon Johnson, in 1968. Did you guess correctly?

I’d love for you to follow this blog. I share information and inspiration to help you transform challenges into opportunities for learning and growth.

Add your name to the subscribe box to be notified of new posts by email. Click the link to read the post and browse other content. It’s that simple. No spam.

I enjoy seeing who is new to Watercress Words. When you subscribe, I will visit your blog or website. Thanks and see you next time.

Dr. Aletha

A tour of the U.S. Olympic Training Center, Colorado Springs, Colorado

A visit to the United States Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs showcases the dedication and resilience of Olympic and Paralympic athletes. Promoting physical activity, it emphasizes the health benefits of exercise, while sharing the “Winning Attitudes” and determination exhibited by champions. The center inspires a commitment to personal excellence and perseverance.

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