Blog #13: Fighting Depression with Exercise

New studies are showing that exercise can help enlighten your mood and make you feel better. Nancy Klinger has struggled getting over the end of 26 years of marriage to her husband. She said on the inside her life was filled with pain and emotions that were incredibly high or incredibly low. When suggested by a therapist to take a dose of antidepressant, she refused. Instead, to cope with the stress, she turned to exercise. She started out by getting a trainer through TrainingPeaks website. Through this training she gets an assigned schedule of what to do through each day of the week. She said once she started setting goals for herself and achieving them she already started to feel better. The exercise has become habit for Nancy, a big part of her life. She said she has realized that over the past, several months she is starting to realize that is is okay to be happy and it is great to have goals. She is taking part in a triathlon in the near future and is really looking forward to it. Not only is exercise a healthy option to make you feel better, it is the cheaper and safer alternative of taking anti-depressant pills.

As an almost daily runner I agree with the idea that exercise can help you feel better. Laying down watching tv all day will have a negative effect on anybody's mood. It is encouraging to set goals for yourself and be able to achieve them. Not only does exercise help the mood, but also overall health, psychological and physical. Having a good physical health will have a positive effect on psychological health. It may be very helpful to the many depression patients to let them know that exercising would help them feel much better. This story of Nancy Klinger would be very helpful and encouraging to many people going through the same situations in their own lives.






http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2012/04/20/how-im-fighting-depression-with-exercise/?hpt=he_c2

Blog #12: America's obesity and diabetes epidemic: Junk food kills

A public health crisis has established in America as we are becoming dominated by fast- food restaurants. Every day over 75 million Americans damage their health by eating unhealthy foods from fast- food restaurants. “Forty percent of American meals are now purchased and consumed outside the home, typically consisting of high-calorie, low-nutrition items such as soft drinks, French fries, and low-grade meat, laced with fat, cheap sweeteners, pesticide residues, chemical additives, and salt.” This is becoming an increasing problem as more and more people are becoming obese and more at risk for deadly diseases like heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure etc. The survey estimated that one in every three children born since the year 2000 will develop diabetes sometime in their lifetime. Diet related diseases (such as obesity, diabetes, and heart disease) are now the nation’s number one health problem. These diseases generate about $150 billion in health care costs every year. Nutritionists have stated that millions of youth and adults have actually become addicted to the chemically enhanced junk food served in fast food restaurants. The amount of money spent on fast food by Americans has increased dramatically in the past couple decades. 

As many Americans live very busy lives it is understandable that so many people resort to fast food when they do not have the time to cook and prepare a meal themselves. In order to limit the amount of people relying on unhealthy, fast-food meals, I think an alternative should be created. More “healthy” fast- food restaurants should be created so that people who are too busy to cook can still have a healthier choice than Mcdonald’s or Wendy’s. The new restaurants should encourage more organic foods rather than greasy, fatty foods. I think this would reduce the amount of people relying on fast food and would also reduce the obesity rates. Also, I think the health guidelines of the existing fast food restaurants should be tweaked. Something should be done to make the foods less fatty and bad for people to consume. As over 60 percent of Americans are labeled as overweight and obese it is a social issue that needs to be resolved. If less people are eating only fast food meals, the amount of people at risk for heart disease, diabetes, and other diet related diseases will be reduced. 

http://www.naturalnews.com/035164_obesity_diabetes_junk_food.html

Blog #11: Obesity rate may be worse than we think

For years doctors have used the body mass index (BMI) to categorize people as overweight and obese. BMI is a ratio between height and weight. A new study is saying that the already very high obesity rates may be underestimated due to categorizing people by BMI. Researchers say that BMI is a simplistic measure and it does not take into account physical fitness and overall health, especially among older women. According to BMI, body builders would be classified as obese and a woman with very little muscle and mostly body fat could still have a normal BMI. Based on the findings from the study, researchers say the threshold for obesity should be lowered from 30 to 24 for women and to 28 for men. Braverman, head of the study, says there was a large discrepancy between BMI and body fat of the participants in the study. Because of these differences he believes the guidelines should be revisited. “People aren’t being diagnosed [as obese], so they’re not being told about their risk of disease or being given instruction on how to improve their health.” 

I think it is important to find a new system in measuring wether someone is obese or overweight so people can receive the proper diagnosis. A new system should include ways of measuring ones overall and physical health along with their weight and height. Many of the leading causes of death are related to obesity so it is a social problem in America. Proper diagnosis can lead one to a timely change in lifestyle promoting good health. 

http://www.cnn.com/2012/04/03/health/obesity-rates-maybe-worse/index.html?hpt=he_c2 

Blog #10: Sleep disorder multiplies depression risk

Researchers at the Centers for Disease and Prevention found that having sleep apnea, a breathing disorder that causes sleep disturbances, dramatically increases the risk of depression.  Men who have been diagnosed with sleep apnea are twice as likely as other men to show signs of depression. The results were much higher for women. Women who have sleep apnea are five times more likely to be diagnosed with clinical depression than women who do not have sleep apnea. The study also taught the researchers that sleep apnea is highly under diagnosed.  Over 80% of people who report symptoms such as snoring or gasping for breaths most nights of the week have never received an official diagnosis. The group of people who report trouble breathing but have not been diagnosed with sleep apnea were three times as likely as others to show symptoms of depression. “Sleep apnea is closely associated with obesity, a fact the researchers took into account by controlling for body mass index in their analysis.” The airway can be blocked when there is excess fat surrounding the windpipe. The study shows an association between sleep apnea and depression but does not conclude that sleep apnea is the cause of depression.The researchers are unable to determine if one causes the other. There may be an unidentified factor that contributes to sleep apnea and depression but it is unknown. 

Sleep apnea increases the risk of cardiovascular disease.  As heart disease is the number one cause of death in America I think it is considered a social problem because many times it can be prevented just by taking care of yourself. Routine exercise, eating healthy, and not smoking are a few ways to lower the risk of being overweight or obese which would reduce the chance of getting sleep apnea or cardiovascular disease. 

http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/30/health/conditions/sleep-apnea-depression/index.html?hpt=he_c2

Blog #9: Funding cuts put 3.4 million TB patients at risk: NGOs

Over the next five years, $1.7 billion is being cut from the treatment of patients with tuberculosis (TB).  This cut will leave over 3.4 million patients going untreated for their disease. Around 1.5 million people die each year from the current worldwide pandemic TB . The highly contagious disease destroys patients’ lung tissue. This destruction of the lungs causes the patients to cough making the disease much easier to spread to others. The Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria has saved the lives of over 4.1 million people suffering from tuberculosis. Due to the budget cuts they no longer have the ability to expand their work against the infectious disease. They have been forced to cancel new grants and are unable to make any new funding until 2014. Not only does The Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria support the treatment of TB, they also play a huge role in the detecting of patients who carry the disease. “Since it was founded in 2002, the Global Fund says it has helped detect and treat 8.6 million cases of TB.” With their shortage of income, countries will be left “unable to aggressively tackle their TB epidemics”. The biggest worry of the Global Fund is that not having the same amount of resources they have had in the past is that it will affect all the work they have already done. With more and more patients receiving no treatment for the disease it will only cause the disease to spread even more. 

With the decline of the economy it is realistic that cuts have to be made somewhere but I think it is irrational that such large cuts are being made for a program that is working hard to end a worldwide pandemic like tuberculosis. I see it as a social problem that the economy is forced to cut funding to a program that saves many peoples’ lives each year. It is scary to me that so many tuberculosis patients are going to go untreated since it is such an contagious and deadly disease. I hope the economy will soon be able to provide the Global Fund with the amount of money they need in order to continue the treatment of TB patients and put an end to the worldwide pandemic. 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46829165/ns/health/#.T2zKeBxAh0E

Blog #8: Why your waiter has an M.D.

It is becoming increasingly more difficult for graduating college students to find a job, even for students who have received a PHD. In the US, medial training requires four years of medical school followed by three to six years of residency training. Graduating medical students find out which residency program they will be placed in on Match Day. This years Match Day is today, March 16. The National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) is responsible for the matching of each applicant. Each student makes a list of which program they would like to be placed in order of desirability. Unfortunately not all graduating medical students get matched. “Last year 971 graduates of the U.S. medical schools were shut out, accounting for 5.9% of U.S. grads.” Graduates of international medical schools were even worse, less than 50% obtained a residency. That means that there were more than 7,000 doctors who were left with a diploma that said “M.D.” but no guarantee they would be able to use it. 

This is exactly like what we have been talking about in class. Jobs are becoming harder and harder to find even with a higher education. Having a bachelors degree is becoming less valuable with the large amount of competition fighting for jobs. To make it worse, it will most likely only get worse in the near future. It is distressing to me to learn that even people who have completed medical school are getting denied jobs. As I do not see myself attending medical school, this article makes me consider at least going to graduate school to get a master’s degree in my field. I think it is a social problem that so many people who have spent a lot of time and money on school are unable to find a job when they are done. It is important for our society to fix this problem, even if that means that more jobs have to be created. 

http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2012/03/16/why-your-waiter-has-an-m-d/?hpt=he_c2

Blog #7:Stroke Risk Rises With Duration of Type 2 Diabetes: Study

Studies have found that the longer a person has diabetes, the higher at risk they are for a stroke. For people living with diabetes for longer than 10 years the risk increases dramatically. A study was held in New York City and 3,300 people participated. The average age of the participants was 69 and 22 percent had diabetes. The average length of time of the participants having diabetes was seventeen years. During the duration of the study, 244 participants had strokes. They found that people with type 2 diabetes had an increase of 3 percent risk of having a stroke. The reason the study suggests for the increased risk of stroke is because people with type 2 diabetes may have more plaque build-up in their arteries, particularly in the artery that supplies the brain with blood. The second reason is because of high blood pressure which is more prevalent in people with diabetes. Dr. Vivian Fonseca, president of medicine and science at the American Diabetes Association, said it is very important to control your cholesterol and high blood pressure. 

Because of this finding I think it is very important for people to do everything they can to prevent getting the disease. In order to help reduce the risk of getting diabetes regular exercise and a healthy diet is important. With cerebral vascular disease being in the top ten leading causes of death in the world, it is a problem. By continuing to support healthy diets and regular exercise, peoples risk for diabetes, and stroke, will be reduced. 

http://news.yahoo.com/stroke-risk-rises-duration-type-2-diabetes-study-210306961.html;_ylt=AgIL1Y9jdgODmelQ6QyiHX7VJRIF;_ylu=X3oDMTNnajl0N3FyBG1pdAMEcGtnAzMzMzE0NWRhLTYyZTItMzQ0Yy04ODk4LTY0MmZlOTNhNWY4OQRwb3MDNwRzZWMDbG5fRGlzZWFzZXNfZ2FsBHZlcgMyNTBlMWI2MC02NDIzLTExZTEtYmJmZi0wNzE5YzhiNDk4MTY-;_ylv=3 

Blog #6: Medicare covers yoga for heart disease

With heart disease being the number one cause of death in the world it is considered a social problem. Steps are being taken to encourage people to take action in reducing the risk for heart disease. Medicare will now cover for people to take yoga classes to help reduce stress. Patients can receive up to 72 one hour classes. A couple, Frank and Kathy Korona, have both lost many family members due to heart disease so they decided to take control of their health and joined the Dean Ornish Program for Reversing Heart Disease. This program teaches a plant- based, meatless diet, meditation and regular exercise. Nutrition, stress management, moderate exercise and group support are the four main components to the program. The leaders of the program believe group support is important because when people feel lonely they are more likely to pick up bad habits and feel more stressed and tense. When people feel emotionally close to others, they are usually physiologically healthier, too. There has been much evidence to show that the Ornish program does reverse heart disease. Together the couple has lost 85 pounds and Frank no longer has to take four of his medications. 

As of right now only three insurance companies will pay for the Ornish program. As heart disease is the number one cause of death in the world, I think it is important for more insurance companies to pay for people to be in this program. The Ornish program has proved to be successful for people who already have heart disease and also for reducing the risk of developing the disease. Having a program to follow makes it easier for people to make better choices. If more people were able to participate in this program, their overall health will be better. I am glad there are programs like this one to help encourage people to get healthy and stay healthy. 

http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/25/health/medicare-covers-yoga-heart-disease/index.html?npt=NP1

Blog #5: Why is it so hard for kids to lose weight?

Approximately one-third of children are obese or overweight. Why? Lyn McDonald, a mother of five, examined why it can be so difficult for kids to lose weight and so easy to gain weight. A child’s overall surrounding is a factor to their weight problems. Dr. Stephen Daniels, chief of pediatrician, said “Every day kids are exposed to advertising about fast food instead of home-cooked meals. They’re surrounded by vending and soda machines at school. They have hundreds of channels on TV, own three video game systems and live in neighborhoods that were built without sidewalks.” The environment is leading to the kids bad decisions. Another reason kids are gaining weight is high stress levels. Studies have been completed that show stress hormones hurt the part of the brain that is responsible for our ability to plan and avoid temptations. A team of researchers also found that stress damages a child’s ability for self- control. It is more common for someone who is highly stressed to pick an unhealthy food choice, like chocolate, rather than a healthy snack. 

“Lower income children have less healthy food stores nearby, more junk food available because it is cheap, fewer places to play outdoors, and a harder time curbing impulses.” Children who are living in poverty are at a much greater risk for being obese or overweight. I think in order to fix this issue food prices need to be re-evaluated. If healthy foods, like fruits and vegetables, were not so expensive then low income families would be able to afford to feed their kids with nutritional foods rather than junk food. The major social problem, poverty, has a great effect on the unhealthy weights of children. Children who are obese are much more likely to develop cardiovascular disease, diabetes, sleep apnea, liver disease, and bone and joint problems. I think one of the best things a parent could teach their child is how to say no to a unhealthy food craving they feel like they “need” to have. Making good food decisions is really important for your health and well- being. 

http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/16/health/difficulties-kids-face-losing-weight/index.html?hpt=he_t2

Blog #4: Vending Machine Dispenses Emergency Contraception

Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania is now selling the Plan B pill in a vending machine at the health center on campus. These vending machines were placed on campus after results from a survey showed that 85% of students were in favor of the idea. Plan B is an emergency contraception that can be taken within 72 hours after unprotected sex to avoid pregnancy. This is not an abortion pill because the egg is not yet fertilized, it just prevents this step from happening.  The Vice President of Student Affairs said they placed the vending machine in the health center for privacy of the student, they can get it on their own without having to talk to a doctor or pharmacist first. Doctors have said that the pill is very safe and effective so they do not see it as anymore of a problem of someone taking ibuprofen. 

I think students being able to get access to the Plan B pill by themselves is a good idea. Being able to save the embarrassing conversation with a doctor or pharmacist in order to get the pill may make girls feel more comfortable about it. If the mistake has already been made, I think it is great that they still have a chance to take responsibility and prevent an unplanned pregnancy. An unplanned pregnancy would cause a complete change of life plans for a college student. If they do not have help, they may not be able to graduate, preventing them from obtaining a good job with a good salary. As poverty is a huge social problem in the world today, I think a University giving easy access to a pill that will prevent unplanned pregnancies may help reduce the number of teenage mothers struggling, trying to live off of a low income. 

http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/08/us/plan-b-vending-machine/index.html?hpt=he_c2

Blog #3: New Weight Loss Strategy: Postponing a Snack

Studies have shown that people who hold off on eating a snack that they are craving will desire it less later on. Also the studies showed that they will eat less of that food in the next seven days. Nicole Mead, PhD, an assistant professor at Catolica- Libson School of Business and Economics in Portugal, conducted a study where she invited 99 men and women to watch film clips. She put a bowl of candies in front of each participant. There were three different groups of participants. In one group she told them they could eat the candies as they please. The second group she asked them not to eat any candy. Finally the third group was told they could eat the candy but to wait until later. The participants did not know what she was observing and she would ask them questions to throw them off as to what she was looking for. After the video clips she then told everyone they could now eat the candies. The group that was told not to eat the candies ate the most. The postponing group ate the least of the three groups. Mead also did a follow up of the participants and asked how much chocolate they ate in the next week. The people who were in the postponing group only had chocolate one time throughout the next week. The participants who were told not to eat the candies had four and a half times as much chocolate as the postponing group the following week.

In America, 33.9% of adults over the age of 20 are obese and 34.4% are overweight. At least five of the top ten leading causes of death in the US are caused by being obese and overweight. For this reason I think obesity is considered a social problem in the United States. Not everyone has the capability of being able to go to the gym and exercise everyday so I think little strategy’s like postponing a snack may be helpful for these people. If people who are overweight try this technique and it works for them, they are reducing their risks of heart disease, diabetes, kidney disease, respiratory diseases, and stroke. Postponing a snack is not the only thing an overweight person needs to do in order to lose their extra weight and get a six- pack but it may be the start they need to get themselves healthy and active.


http://www.webmd.com/diet/news/20120130/new-weight-loss-strategy-postponing-snack

Blog #2: New Rules for School Meals Aim at Reducing Obesity

In order to help lower the amount of obese children, new rules are being put in place to make school lunches healthier for kids. Several changes will be taking place. For example, the amount of fruits and vegetables is being doubled, the amount of starchy foods, like potatoes, is being reduced, and all milk that is served must be low fat. Michelle Obama has a campaign to reduce the number of overweight children through better nutrition and exercise. She made a statement that “As parents, we try to prepare decent meals, limit how much junk food our kids eat and ensure that they have a reasonable diet. And when we are putting in all that effort the last thing we want is for our hard work to be undone each day in the school cafeteria”. I agree with Mrs. Obama that school cafeteria food is what is ruining some children’s diet, though for some children, even with the unhealthy food choices, school lunch is the best meal they will have all day. For this reason I think it is of even greater importance for the food to be healthy for the kids whose parents are unable to provide them with healthy meals outside of school. Child obesity can derive from the social problem of poverty because typically healthy foods are much more expensive than junk food. Parents who are striving to provide for their families while making minimum wage are much less likely to be able to feed their children with a healthy meal.  It is much cheaper to buy your children a Mcdonald’s happy meal than it is to buy everything in order to cook a healthy dinner. As junk food is cheaper than healthier foods, children who live in low socioeconomic households are at a greater risks for being overweight or obese than children in a higher class. With school lunches being the best meal of the day for some children, I think it is of great importance for the standards of what is being served and considered “healthy” to be raised. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/26/us/politics/new-school-lunch-rules-aimed-at-reducing-obesity.html?ref=health

Blog #1: In Denial: Why we’re still stressed

A survey from the American Psychological Association’s was recently released. This surveyed showed that a large amount of Americans are stressed. These results were not very surprising to me at all. The idea that stress can lead to serious health issues like heart disease, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity and depression had people questioning why so many people do such a poor job at managing their stress levels. The people conducting the study say that Americans’ reason for poorly managing their stress levels is due to what is called “optimism bias”. David Ropeik, author of “How Risky Is It, Really?” says optimism bias is “a natural human inclination to see our situation and our future through rose-colored glasses”. This means that people see their future as better than what is really logical for it to be. The example in the article says that when someone is asked how many times they will be hospitalized in the next five years, their estimation will be much lower than what is likely for their health conditions. Being optimistic is not a bad quality until people’s perceptions of situations bring them into denial rather than driving them to do something about it. Optimism bias can cause people to be less worried about events that they probably should be concerned about. The bias can allow people to deny that stress is bad for their health, which is much more harmful than the relief that being optimistic brings. Dr. Tali Sharot, author of “The Optimism Bias: A Tour of the Irrationally Positive Mind”, says “there is nothing wrong with people having the belief that they’re going to be okay, as long as it doesn’t end there.” I found this article very interesting because I never thought of being optimistic as potentially being a harmful quality to humans. In some situations it is better to worry so that the appropriate action can be taken to fix it instead of believing it will fix itself. 

http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2012/01/18/optimism-may-keep-stress-levels-up/?hpt=he_c2/