Chapters 14 and 15

12/12/18

Chapter 14 is related to environmental health.  The first topic it mentions is overpopulation.  Since 1950, the population has increased from 2.5 billion people to over 7 billion. By 2050, the population is expected to keep growing to almost 10 billion.  Pregnancy rates are higher in areas that have less educated women or women who have little to no say about reproduction rights.  The human population is not only growing in size, but also growing in demand.  People need bigger houses and properties, more cars and more resources to sustain our lifestyles.  The chapter also talks about air pollution, which is the presence of substances not found in clean air.  These polluted air particles can be either natural or caused by humans.  There can also be polluted particles indoors, these can be related to tobacco smoke, wood burning stoves, or even chemicals found in our homes.  These can often increase our risks of cancer.  Pollution contributes to climate change in a number of reasons.  Some of the chemicals polluting our atmosphere can eat away at the ozone layer.  Excess greenhouse gasses are contributing to climate change which causes a threat to human life. The average temperature of our planet has steadily risen over a noticeable number of years.  Chapter 14 mentions how 75% of the Earth is covered with water yet less than 2% is available to drink. Though we have safe drinking water for the most part in the United States, some third world countries are not as lucky. Solid waste is one of our biggest contributors to land waste.  Every day an average person will contribute 4.5 pounds of garbage.  Late in the chapter, it mentions radiation as a particular form of pollution.  There are two types of radiation, non-ionizing and ionizing.  The ionizing radiation is the harmful one which needs to be limited.  Nuclear power plants are only responsible for about 1% of the radiation we are currently exposed to.  The number of nuclear plants in the US is expected to go up though.  To try and help this situation, we need to first be aware of it.  We need to live unselfishly and be aware of what we use and why we use it.  One useful tip is to try to reduce the amount of trips we take in a car, either through carpooling or using a green option such as a bike.

Chapter 15 is all about the healthcare system and how to make educated decisions as well as be aware of your healthcare.  For minor health problems, self-treatment is often the cheapest option.  Sometimes our health has to be treated by professionals or it may become dangerous.  Picking a good doctor is important, as well as asking proper questions when you have an appointment.  We should look for doctors who have no problems communicating clearly the problem and treatment options.  Conventional healthcare, or allopathic healthcare, uses evidence based medicine where the treatments are based on a combination of clinical expertise, patients values, and current best scientific evidence.  There are different types of drugs, both over the counter and prescription. Typically about 3 in 4 doctor visits ends with some sort of prescription medicine being prescribed.  These are typically stronger medications that can be dangerous when not monitored. Over the counter drugs are self-medications which can relieve many common ailments.  People often skip out on reading the labels and may accidently abuse OTC drugs, which can cause some side-effects.  Complementary health approaches are non-mainstream practices and products that can be used along with other conventional medicine.  Someone who avoids conventional methods may be seeking alternative health approaches.  Someone who incorporates both may is using integrative medicine.  We have chiropractic medicine which focuses on the disorders of the muscular and skeletal system and the use of various modalities to decrease the negative health effects from these problems.  The chapter discusses mind and body practices such as acupuncture and acupressure, both of which use the same acupuncture points in order to make someone feel better.  The chapter also discusses natural products such as the food we eat as well as dietary supplements.  It states that supplements may be the most used yet also the most controversial because they are not FDA regulated.  Health insurance is something that just about everyone has to deal with.  If you seek treatment you can often use health insurance.  It is not free, however, as you usually have to pay a premium based off a prediction of health care cost for the population.  Our health care system is not perfect and has a few issues, mainly access and cost.

As for my health journey this week, it has been very productive.  I’ve had a good few days of going to the gym and eating healthy so naturally I feel great.  I really can’t complain as when picking a health journey for the semester I set out to improve and get back to where I was at the beginning of the summer.  I really feel like I am well on my way to getting back where I need to be.