Premium Essay

Public Awareness and Human Diseases

In:

Submitted By melbraxton
Words 1365
Pages 6
Public Awareness and Human Diseases
HCA/ 240
Melissa Braxton
May 29, 2011
Gioia Scoppa

Obesity is a major problem in society today. The current generation of children is said to be the first generation of children that will not out live their parents. In the following I will discuss an overview of obesity and a current program that educates the community about obesity. I will also discuss some ways that the program could be improved. An obese person is defined as a person who weighs 20% or more over the ideal weight for their age, height, and gender. Over 40,000,000 Americans currently are considered obese. Most people believe that obesity is caused by over eating, but that is not always the case. In some cases genetics play a part. If a child has parents that are obese it puts them at higher risk for being obese themselves. Over eating and unhealthy food is sometimes the cause. Fast food has become a booming business. With the economy the way it is both parents must sometimes work. Going to a drive thru and picking up some fast food is just more convenient and faster. This unhealthy food can do horrible things to our bodies. Another possible cause for obesity in adults and youth is a sedentary lifestyle. Most people depend on their vehicles to get them around everywhere they need to go. Individuals use elevators and escalators more than actually walking up the stairs. School programs have cut down the amount of time students spend in physical education class, if the school even has a physical education class at all. This lack of physical activity has caused more people to eat more and burn fewer calories. According to the Center for Disease Control, there has been a 50% increase of obesity in adults, and the number of obese children and adolescents has tripled in the last few years (CDC, 2009). Obesity can affect the body in numerous ways. The heavier

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Public Awareness and Human Disease-Obesity

...Determining Diagnosis Code Categories • A 68-year-old male presents to the office complaining of pronounced weakness on the right side of his body and slurred speech for the past 24 hours. Based on the examination, the physician orders an MRI to investigate a possible transient ischemic attack. The physician ordered an MRI to investigate the possibility of a transient ischemic attack. This means that the physician is unsure of the diagnosis. Codes 780-799, used for symptoms, signs and ill-defined conditions, should be used. According to the text, these codes are used for conditions in which a definitive diagnosis cannot be made. If TIA is the diagnosis, I believe it would receive a code between 390-459 (Valerius et al.,2008). • A 44-year-old male presents to the office complaining of intermittent chest pain. The physician orders an EKG to rule out a possible cardiac event. This case, I believe, would also receive a code from 780-799, because of the fact that it states the physician is trying to rule out the "possibility" of a cardiac event. Without further information, that would be my best guess. Now, if the patient were diagnosed with a cardiac event, depending on what it was exactly, it would be coded with a code between 390-459. If the chest pain is not related to a cardiac event, and happens to be related to something in the respiratory system, then it would receive a code from 460-519. Without more information, it is...

Words: 269 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Public Awareness and Human Disease-Obesity

...Obesity is a chronic health condition that is spreading across the nation. Obesity is much like a cancer. A cancer that receives treatment, goes into remission, and often returns doing greater damage than when first diagnosed with obesity. Obesity leads to conditions that are obesity related. Diabetes, sleep apnea, arthritis, hypertension, cancer and even depression are conditions an obese person can encounter (World Health Organization, 2010). Obesity not only strains the healthcare and financial system of the United States it also strains personal and professional relationships as well. In this paper I aim to show how diabetes affects different avenues of a person’s life, what treatment options are available, and what programs are available in my community. I will also show how obesity has affected me personally and professionally. A person can be defined as being obese if their body weight is over 20% of their ideal body weight. Morbid or severe obesity is when a person weight is 100 pounds over their ideal bodyweight or a Body Mass Index over 40. Body Mass Index (BMI) is calculated using a person’s weight and height. Morbid obesity can lead to disabling and severe health crisis for a person(World Health Organization, 2010). Morbid Obesity is actually a condition recognized as a disability by the Social Security Administration. According to the rules of disability a condition must interfere with one or more major lifestyle abilities. I am classified as being morbid obese...

Words: 285 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Hca 240 Final Project

...Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease also referred to as COPD is the name that identifies a group of lung diseases. These diseases consist of bronchiectasis, chronic bronchitis, emphysema, and refractory asthma. An individual can have COPD for years and not know it. When the disease is in the early stages the symptoms are not completely mature and are barely discernible. As the disease matures and progresses the symptoms become more noticeable. Although millions of individuals are living with COPD, this disease is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States; and smoking, second-hand smoke, air pollutants, occupational dust, chemicals, and genetics are factors that can cause the disease for which there is no cure; however numerous treatments are available to help live an active and healthy life (COPD Foundation, 2010). Many people who have COPD are undiagnosed with the disease. Undiagnosis could derive from several reasons, which may include no health insurance, afraid to seek medical attention, or belief that the symptoms are of another illness such as a cold that will not go away. However, most cases of COPD are undiagnosed because of a lack of education concerning the disease. Many communities and employers fail to educate the public concerning diseases like COPD.I was surprised to find that the Dobbins...

Words: 2779 - Pages: 12

Premium Essay

Public Health Management

...Public Health Management Abstract Many low-income countries need to significantly scale up coverage of priority health services. This will generally require additional national and international resources, but better leadership and management are key to using these resources effectively to achieve measurable results. Good leadership and management are about providing direction to, and gaining commitment from, partners and staff, facilitating change and achieving better health services through efficient, creative and responsible deployment of people and other resources. While leaders set the strategic vision and mobilize the efforts towards its realization, good managers ensure effective organization and utilization of resources to achieve results and meet the aims. Public health management is really needed in Africa. For active and resourceful nursing management in Africa, competencies are vital. It is important to know the expertise of the managers on these competencies. It is also important to know if there is a gap between what managers think they know and what they really know in regards to skills. The role of public health for case management is to upkeep early identification of possible circumstances and persons under investigation (PUI) via investigation, mapping communication, awareness activities to healthcare workers and the public. Public health experts can also partake in updating the channeling of PUIs’ likely plus confirmed cases to health care facilities...

Words: 846 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Pulmonary Disease

...Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease also referred to as COPD is the name that identifies a group of lung diseases. These diseases consist of bronchiectasis, chronic bronchitis, emphysema, and refractory asthma. An individual can have COPD for years and not know it. When the disease is in the early stages the symptoms are not completely mature and are barely discernible. As the disease matures and progresses the symptoms become more noticeable. Although millions of individuals are living with COPD, this disease is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States; and smoking, second-hand smoke, air pollutants, occupational dust, chemicals, and genetics are factors that can cause the disease for which there is no cure; however numerous treatments are available to help live an active and healthy life (COPD Foundation, 2010). Many people who have COPD are undiagnosed with the disease. Undiagnosis could derive from several reasons, which may include no health insurance, afraid to seek medical attention, or belief that the symptoms are of another illness such as a cold that will not go away. However, most cases of COPD are undiagnosed because of a lack of education concerning the disease. Many communities and employers fail to educate the public concerning diseases like COPD.I was surprised to find that the Dobbins...

Words: 2779 - Pages: 12

Premium Essay

Ngo Assignment

...long, ranging from poverty that has taken its role in delaying the progress, to mal nutrition and diseases “…Third world nations still share a number of common characteristic, all of them suffer from some aspects of political, economic, or social underdevelopment” (Handelman, 2011, p2). Plasmodium parasite is the disease that causes Malaria which is primarily transmitted and caused by bites from female anopheles mosquito. It is one of the top three killer diseases in Africa “The parasites are spread to people through the bites of infected Anopheles mosquitoes, called "malaria vectors", which bite mainly between dusk and dawn” (WHO.int). Malaria No More is an NGO that demonstrated it’s committed to fight Malaria disease in Africa and providing basic human needs to tackle the infestation of the disease that spread in most Africa’s countries. MNM (Malaria No More) is also working relentlessly to provide vaccination to Africans suffering from the disease on one hand, and furnishing Africans with Mosquito sleeping nets on the other hand as a preventive approach to enable them sleep without getting exposed to mosquito bites at night. MNM efforts is limited to their funding constrains; private donations are the primary sources of funding that MNM relies on. Raising more awareness is one way the organization depends on in their efforts to educate the public about the severity of the disease, getting them engaged is an objective that they strive to reach by committing to the cause in the...

Words: 1000 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Prevent

...Sex education is instruction on issues relating to human sexuality, including human sexual anatomy, sexual reproduction, sexual activity, reproductive health, emotional relations, reproductive rights and responsibilities, sexual abstinence, and birth control. Common avenues for sex education are parents or caregivers, formal school programs, and public health campaigns. Schools have a significant role in imparting effective sex education to adolescents. Research has shown that with effective sex education to young adults in schools, it is possible to push back the age at which adolescents experiment with sex. These programs also have the potential to encourage youngsters to use protection during their first sexual experience. Sex education should be taught in school to create early awareness among teenagers, to prevent social problem, and to develop healthy attitude. The factor why sex education should be taught in school is to create early awareness among teenagers. The importance of sex education is to help teenagers make more informed decisions about sex because teenagers are still too young to make a right decision for themselves and they don’t understand what is the issue that may arise problem from early pregnancy will bring various types bad impact and also social problem. Plus, they need a guidance from the elders especially parent and teacher to make a right decision for them. Sex education taught in school will make teenagers realize disadvantages about unsafe sex thus...

Words: 1038 - Pages: 5

Free Essay

Docx

...Occupational Safety and Health Policy to enhance the framework for implementation of occupational safety and health programmes for the country’s development. Implementation of the policy will contribute significantly to the achievement of the goals of the Economic, Social and Political pillars of the country’s development blueprint, the Kenya Vision 2030. The Kenya Vision 2030 aims to create a globally competitive and prosperous country with a high quality of life by the year 2030. For the country to achieve the aspirations of the Vision, there is need to improve the safety and health of workers. It is expected therefore, that implementation of this Policy will contribute significantly to the country’s competitiveness and development of the human resource, and hence the achievement of the aspirations of the Vision 2030. Kenya faces a major challenge of employment creation, especially for the youth. However, a significant portion of those in employment still face the challenge of unsafe and unhealthy workplaces. It is therefore important that the country not only focuses on creating jobs but also improves safety and health at workplaces. Globalization is ever affecting the business environment in countries. Due to this, firms are continuously being subjected to competition from similar businesses in other countries. Regionally, the recent accelerated efforts towards the creation of a Common Market Protocol for the East African Community will impact significantly on business practices...

Words: 7423 - Pages: 30

Premium Essay

Lyme Disease In Canada

...Canada is a well-known country for having a secure and resourceful public Health Care System. As the economy continues to grow, and demographics changes, there will constantly be new illnesses and diseases to track, and ultimately control. Nonetheless, has someone ever considered that one of the most severe illnesses can be easily caught when someone is simply doing an average outdoor activity? Lyme disease is on the rise in Canada, and lack of awareness, treatment and control is prominent. Measures to reduce, and prevent the spreading of the disease is acknowledged and the Canadian government is working together with physicians and patients to determine the most productive methods. Lyme Disease is a vector-borne inflammatory infection caused...

Words: 821 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Hep C

...Benchmark Assignment: The Epidemiology of Hepatitis B Andrea Elena Medina Grand Canyon University: NRS-427V Concepts in Community and Public Health Thursday, December 08, 2015 Benchmark Assignment: The Epidemiology of Hepatitis B A major global health issue impacting the international health community is Hepatitis B. Hepatitis B is viral condition that injures the liver due to the attempt to eliminate the virus, leading to progressive liver disease and cirrhosis (Hepatitis B (HBV, Hep B), 2014). The incidence of cirrhosis developing in people with chronic HBV is 8-20% (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, 2013; European Association for the Study of the Liver, 2012); the annual incidence of HBV-related liver cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma, is 2-5% of people with cirrhosis (EASL, 2012). A person infected with Hepatitis B can transmit the virus to another person who hasn’t been affected by Hepatitis B in several ways. People can become infected with the virus when they come into contact with contaminated blood, semen and when other body fluids mix with the uninfected person’s body fluids. Examples of transmission occur from sexual contact, blood transfusion before the year 1992, sharing of needles or syringes, and from mother to baby at birth. Hepatitis B can be an acute, or short-term, illness for some people but for others, it can often lead to a lifelong chronic infection. The risk for chronic infection is related to a person’s age at the time of infection:...

Words: 1759 - Pages: 8

Premium Essay

Health Infomation

...provision for preventive care services. Cogan (2011) notes “By requiring … health plans to provide evidence-based preventive services with no out-of-pocket costs, and the PPACA transforms the U.S. public and private health care financing systems into vehicles for promoting public health” (p.355). This report will describe several individual components of the preventive care provisions with identification of stakeholders, implications for the implementation process, and supporting evidence for the impact on the nation’s health. “Through the Prevention and Public Health Fund, the Affordable Care Act works to address factors that influence public health and can assist the nation from a change of focus on sickness and disease to one based on wellness and prevention, ”(HHS, 2014, para. 1). the argument or reasons why preventative care services through the PPACA would improve the health of the United States population is: 1. Improves the health of the American people by being pro-active instead of re-active; prevent diseases, sickness, and illness from reoccurring. 2. Reduces long-term health care costs for the American public through identifying the type of care, treatment, procedures and services, which go along with chronic diseases and sickness. “Chronic diseases, such as heart disease, cancer, stroke, and diabetes – are responsible for seven out of ten deaths among Americans each year. They account for 75% of the nation’s health...

Words: 1189 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

HIV/AIDS In Bangladesh

... Md. Reyad-ul- Ferdous1, A. H. M. Mahmudur Rahman2 _____________________________________________________________________________________ Abstract: In the mid-1980s Bangladesh initiated an early retort to the HIV outbreak. People are unprotected to Sexually Transmitted Diseases-STDs and most importantly the Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome-HIV/AIDS in this Bangladesh because of lack of acquaintance about reproductive health issues when youngsters are more in danger than adults and among the youngsters, girls are more at risk. Information plays a vital role to have...

Words: 1625 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Global Impact of Hiv

...The Global Impact of HIV Grand Canyon University: NRS-427V The Global Impact of HIV Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a non-curable disease that was discovered in 1983. HIV attacks the body’s immune system, specifically the CD4 cells, also known as T cells. Over time HIV continues to multiply in the body and destroy the cells that help the body to fight infection. With the continuous break down of the body’s immune system the body becomes a target for opportunistic cancers and infections to take advantage. Signs and symptoms of HIV vary from person to person and may take weeks to month to develop any type of symptoms, some people will show no signs at all. During the early stages of infection common signs will result in flu-like symptoms such as, fever, chills, night sweats, mouth ulcers, sore throat, ect. As HIV continues to progress in to the clinical latency stage, also known as “chronic HIV infection” there is very low levels of disease reproduction. During this stage of infection patients may have very mild symptoms or none at all. The last stage of HIV is the progression to AIDs. During this stage of the disease patients will commonly experience flu-like symptoms accompanied by rapid weight loss, fatigue, swelling of lymph node, discomfort of mouth, anus, or genitals, discoloration of skin or inner mouth, eyelids or nose. Patients may also experience depression, memory loss and other neurologic disorders. Although these are common signs and symptoms the...

Words: 1603 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Information System as an Effective Force Against H1N1

...INFORMATION SYSTEM AS AN EFFECTIVE FORCE AGAINST H1N1 PANDEMIC Public health leaders and communities face extraordinary challenges when a novel influenza virus emerges. Timely data and information are needed in order to make containment decisions, prioritize antiviral and/or vaccine distribution, deploy personnel and communicate with industry experts and the public. Arguably, the pandemics that occurred before the 2009 H1N1 outbreak were more devastating because we lacked the benefit of information technology to, swiftly and in real time, gather data from diverse locations and process them into information that would guide public health leaders to decisively confront the problem. Application of the combination of business intelligence, information systems, the internet and the World Wide Web offers an opportunity to gather geographic- and location-related data, in real time, to better understand regional and local health trends. Besides tracking viral outbreaks, these systems have been applied in assessing risks, evaluating treats, maintaining situational awareness, documenting disparity, notifying communities and ensuring focused allocation of resources such as vaccines and antivirals. According to Salinksy and Gursky, "the most important building block for improving disease surveillance and timely outbreak response, and for optimizing efficiencies in public health's traditional community-based programs and delivery of personal health care services, will be realized through...

Words: 434 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Windsheild Survey

...healthcare by collecting and interpreting data observed during her service in the Crimean war (Audain, 2014).. Similarly the public health nurse (PHN) attempts to help and influence the community they serve. The windshield survey is a tool for the PHN in obtaining data within the community. Basic physical characteristics about the environment including the inhabitants are gained. This subjective tool is performed while driving or walking, and is used by the nurse to assess the needs of the community. Community Community is a broad subjective term. One capacious definition of the term is, a defined region one lives, works, interacts with others and the environment; inclusive is a semblance of structure and beliefs based within that society where the members define and identify themselves as being part of that group (Standhope & Lancaster, 2012). Using this definition one sees that any group can be a community, and boundaries can merge one into many different types of communities with in the same location. Using this, one sees that the American community is broken down into further sub sets such as states, counties, cities, towns, school districts, and the list can continue ad infinitum. For the purpose of this paper the term community is defined within its relation to the school district of South Huntington, NY. Using the windshield survey the public health nurse assesses the health of the community. This is performed by immersing themselves physically into the area of interest...

Words: 1349 - Pages: 6