A disease is an illness that affects the body (a single area or the whole system) and/or mind within a single organism (World Health Organization). Basically when a person is in a diseased state, they are no longer classified by modern and traditional medical diagnosis as “healthy”. Some examples of common diseases worldwide are: Influenza A virus, Asthma, HIV/AIDS, HPV, Malaria, and Sickle Cell Anemia. In addition, diseases are generally classified into three categories, which include: Genetic, infectious, and non-infectious.
As is the case with most marginalized groups, people living with a disease(s) are often discriminated against on the basis of their illness. Some researchers have linked negative cultural perceptions of diseased individuals to the common occurrence of discrimination among the ill. The validity of the previous claim remains to be confirmed, however research has shown that cultural differences between the treatment of the ill within traditional and modern societies do exist.
One way to reduce stigma and discrimination of the ill is through education and improvement of community health services and networks. Yet stigma and discrimination of the ill has existed throughout human history in almost all societies and civilizations around the globe, so eradicating its practice is no easy task.
When some of us think of disease we immediately associate it with death and rarely associate disease with life. Although this may appear to be just a matter of commonsense, having a disease does not automatically mean a death sentence. In fact many people who have suffered from a debilitating illness have accredited their disease to teaching them the true meaning of survival. Disease-related advocacy campaigns around the world have focused on survival as their central theme and message because survival signifies hope not just for a future cure but also for life itself. In the end, whether we are diseased or healthy we are all fighting to survive.
In 2006 the World Heart Federation (WHF) leaped from the dreams of a handful of global youth leaders and partners into a fruitful reality as one of the leading disease advocacy organizations in the world specializing in youth advocacy. With chapters in several nations around the world, WHF has taken their advocacy projects from national to local levels of change. Some of their project areas include: Tobacco control, developing advocacy skills, and poor diets and physical inactivity.
Of course beyond the efforts of global civil society agents, youth have also been impacted negatively by disease as in the case of millions of orphans as a result of the global HIV/AIDS epidemic, the hundreds of thousands of children who die each year from Malaria and other preventable diseases, and the growing number of acquired diseases among youth in heavily polluted developed nations. As young people we may not be immune to disease, but we can work to prevent discrimination of the ill and celebrate their survival.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Diseases
A disease is an illness that affects the body (a single area or the whole system) and/or mind within a single organism (World Health Organization). Basically when a person is in a diseased state, they are no longer classified by modern and traditional medical diagnosis as “healthy”. Some examples of common diseases worldwide are: Influenza A virus, Asthma, HIV/AIDS, HPV, Malaria, and Sickle Cell Anemia. In addition, diseases are generally classified into three categories, which include: Genetic, infectious, and non-infectious.
As is the case with most marginalized groups, people living with a disease(s) are often discriminated against on the basis of their illness. Some researchers have linked negative cultural perceptions of diseased individuals to the common occurrence of discrimination among the ill. The validity of the previous claim remains to be confirmed, however research has shown that cultural differences between the treatment of the ill within traditional and modern societies do exist.
One way to reduce stigma and discrimination of the ill is through education and improvement of community health services and networks. Yet stigma and discrimination of the ill has existed throughout human history in almost all societies and civilizations around the globe, so eradicating its practice is no easy task.
When some of us think of disease we immediately associate it with death and rarely associate disease with life. Although this may appear to be just a matter of commonsense, having a disease does not automatically mean a death sentence. In fact many people who have suffered from a debilitating illness have accredited their disease to teaching them the true meaning of survival. Disease-related advocacy campaigns around the world have focused on survival as their central theme and message because survival signifies hope not just for a future cure but also for life itself. In the end, whether we are diseased or healthy we are all fighting to survive.
In 2006 the World Heart Federation (WHF) leaped from the dreams of a handful of global youth leaders and partners into a fruitful reality as one of the leading disease advocacy organizations in the world specializing in youth advocacy. With chapters in several nations around the world, WHF has taken their advocacy projects from national to local levels of change. Some of their project areas include: Tobacco control, developing advocacy skills, and poor diets and physical inactivity.
Of course beyond the efforts of global civil society agents, youth have also been impacted negatively by disease as in the case of millions of orphans as a result of the global HIV/AIDS epidemic, the hundreds of thousands of children who die each year from Malaria and other preventable diseases, and the growing number of acquired diseases among youth in heavily polluted developed nations. As young people we may not be immune to disease, but we can work to prevent discrimination of the ill and celebrate their survival.
As is the case with most marginalized groups, people living with a disease(s) are often discriminated against on the basis of their illness. Some researchers have linked negative cultural perceptions of diseased individuals to the common occurrence of discrimination among the ill. The validity of the previous claim remains to be confirmed, however research has shown that cultural differences between the treatment of the ill within traditional and modern societies do exist.
One way to reduce stigma and discrimination of the ill is through education and improvement of community health services and networks. Yet stigma and discrimination of the ill has existed throughout human history in almost all societies and civilizations around the globe, so eradicating its practice is no easy task.
When some of us think of disease we immediately associate it with death and rarely associate disease with life. Although this may appear to be just a matter of commonsense, having a disease does not automatically mean a death sentence. In fact many people who have suffered from a debilitating illness have accredited their disease to teaching them the true meaning of survival. Disease-related advocacy campaigns around the world have focused on survival as their central theme and message because survival signifies hope not just for a future cure but also for life itself. In the end, whether we are diseased or healthy we are all fighting to survive.
In 2006 the World Heart Federation (WHF) leaped from the dreams of a handful of global youth leaders and partners into a fruitful reality as one of the leading disease advocacy organizations in the world specializing in youth advocacy. With chapters in several nations around the world, WHF has taken their advocacy projects from national to local levels of change. Some of their project areas include: Tobacco control, developing advocacy skills, and poor diets and physical inactivity.
Of course beyond the efforts of global civil society agents, youth have also been impacted negatively by disease as in the case of millions of orphans as a result of the global HIV/AIDS epidemic, the hundreds of thousands of children who die each year from Malaria and other preventable diseases, and the growing number of acquired diseases among youth in heavily polluted developed nations. As young people we may not be immune to disease, but we can work to prevent discrimination of the ill and celebrate their survival.
Diet & Nutrition
Diet and Nutrition: Healthy and Sustainable Food Practices
Although this term has not been commonly used to describe health in years past, sustainable health is a growing movement. What is sustainable health you might ask? Well let’s break it down. Health can be defined as a state of “soundness of mind,” or more simply, a state of feeling good. The word sustainability describes the process by which something can be maintained or can keep going. Thus, sustainable health describes being in a state where you feel good not just once but over an extended period of time.
Today there are many ways to achieve sustainable health, one of the most popular being through the use and production of organic food products. Globally, organic agriculture has helped improve the biological health of human beings while maintaining the ecological ‘health’ of our environment.
Some of the major areas of interest surrounding sustainable health include: Food additives, animal welfare, biodiversity, community farming, genetic engineering, and pesticides.
As globalization continues to rapidly spread information around the world, youth are increasingly being exposed to unhealthy diets, which include diets that are high in saturated and trans fats and low in fruits, vegetables, and complex carbohydrates. Probably the most unsettling realities of unhealthy eating practices have been increased risk of diseases such as diabetes, heart failure, malnutrition, and obesity. The World Health organization (www.who.int) reported in 2006 that out of the 1.6 billion adults who were diagnosed as overweight, 400 million of those adults were simultaneously diagnosed as obese in both developed and developing countries.
Research studies in the area of health have shown that educating school-aged children and young people on healthy and sustainable nutritional habits, will increase the likelihood of those children and young people remaining healthy in the future regardless of socio-economic background. These educational programs not only teach nutrition, but they also teach youth how to prepare and handle food in safe and sustainable ways, achieve a balanced diet with limited resources, and to decrease their risk of acquiring a nutrition related disease or disorder. The Theory of Planned behaviour has been used by many research studies on nutrition to predict the factors that affect youth decision-making with regards to eating healthy. In a study by Lautenschlager and Smith (2007), researchers found that youth in a multicultural low-income community in the Unites States of America who participated in a 10-week program significantly improved in nutrition and eating habits. The success of the nutrition education program for multicultural youth identified several factors that were important to positively influencing the nutrition choices of young people, which includes: A nutrition and cooking curriculum that emphasized culturally diverse foods; participatory learning activities (role-playing), sustainable gardening lessons, in addition to skills to fight racism and poverty discrimination (care of the Youth Farm and Market Project, http://www.youthfarm.net). TPB model has also been used to help identify the ecological and cultural factors that affect indigenous youth in the Americas.
10 Tips to eating and maintaining sustainable health
1. Add a staple food (i.e. fruit, plantain/banana, maize/corn, rice, bread) to each meal.
2. Focus on foods that are high-fibre and low in saturated and trans fats to keep your heart nice and healthy
3. Drink plenty of water. Avoid drinking tea and coffee until 1-2 hours after a meal (when food will have left the stomach) to ensure the maximum amount of absorption of iron by the body supplied in our foods.
4. If you are a youth, you should include food options that are high in iron (especially young women) such as liver, dark green leaves, fish, red meat, and sorghum.
5. Aim for 3 meals and 3-6 snacks per day to create a healthy balance of all your dietary needs.
6. Avoid sugar-rich, sticky, salty, or processed foods and ingredients that are difficult to digest, inhibit healthy growth, and promote pre-mature aging.
7. Exercise regularly for at least 15 minutes at a time.
8. When you are sick, you can decrease the amount of time you remain sick by covering your mouth when you cough and washing your hands regularly.
9. Get lots of sleep, at least 8 hours of sleep every night, and take naps or siestas throughout the day.
10. Grow, buy, and eat food locally and organically to help your body and the environment.
Micronutrient malnutrition describes the plight of over 2 billion people worldwide (www.who.int) who in most cases do not receive enough foods, and in all cases, do not consume enough nutrients to characterize a healthy and balanced diet. Micronutrient malnutrition has had especially devastating effects for poor pregnant and nursing mothers, whose infants are often born and struggle to live with life-threatening cognitive impairments. Of course other factors besides food consumption play a factor in the persistence of this epidemic, such as: Increased population sizes, people living in poverty, lack of government and foreign aid, and ineffective food policies. The latter (i.e. food policies) has become the focus of many food and health organizations today who see the need for more policies that have in the past neglected to understand “health” in terms of sustainability. Now there is a call for more holistic policies that highlight the interdependent nature of health and sustainable agriculture practices.
Sustainable health is not just a personal choice; it’s a way for you to affect change in your community. Youth just like you are building sustainable food systems in their community just check out “The Food Project (www.thefoodproject.org)” for just one example of youth making a difference in the area of sustainable health.
Although this term has not been commonly used to describe health in years past, sustainable health is a growing movement. What is sustainable health you might ask? Well let’s break it down. Health can be defined as a state of “soundness of mind,” or more simply, a state of feeling good. The word sustainability describes the process by which something can be maintained or can keep going. Thus, sustainable health describes being in a state where you feel good not just once but over an extended period of time.
Today there are many ways to achieve sustainable health, one of the most popular being through the use and production of organic food products. Globally, organic agriculture has helped improve the biological health of human beings while maintaining the ecological ‘health’ of our environment.
Some of the major areas of interest surrounding sustainable health include: Food additives, animal welfare, biodiversity, community farming, genetic engineering, and pesticides.
As globalization continues to rapidly spread information around the world, youth are increasingly being exposed to unhealthy diets, which include diets that are high in saturated and trans fats and low in fruits, vegetables, and complex carbohydrates. Probably the most unsettling realities of unhealthy eating practices have been increased risk of diseases such as diabetes, heart failure, malnutrition, and obesity. The World Health organization (www.who.int) reported in 2006 that out of the 1.6 billion adults who were diagnosed as overweight, 400 million of those adults were simultaneously diagnosed as obese in both developed and developing countries.
Research studies in the area of health have shown that educating school-aged children and young people on healthy and sustainable nutritional habits, will increase the likelihood of those children and young people remaining healthy in the future regardless of socio-economic background. These educational programs not only teach nutrition, but they also teach youth how to prepare and handle food in safe and sustainable ways, achieve a balanced diet with limited resources, and to decrease their risk of acquiring a nutrition related disease or disorder. The Theory of Planned behaviour has been used by many research studies on nutrition to predict the factors that affect youth decision-making with regards to eating healthy. In a study by Lautenschlager and Smith (2007), researchers found that youth in a multicultural low-income community in the Unites States of America who participated in a 10-week program significantly improved in nutrition and eating habits. The success of the nutrition education program for multicultural youth identified several factors that were important to positively influencing the nutrition choices of young people, which includes: A nutrition and cooking curriculum that emphasized culturally diverse foods; participatory learning activities (role-playing), sustainable gardening lessons, in addition to skills to fight racism and poverty discrimination (care of the Youth Farm and Market Project, http://www.youthfarm.net). TPB model has also been used to help identify the ecological and cultural factors that affect indigenous youth in the Americas.
10 Tips to eating and maintaining sustainable health
1. Add a staple food (i.e. fruit, plantain/banana, maize/corn, rice, bread) to each meal.
2. Focus on foods that are high-fibre and low in saturated and trans fats to keep your heart nice and healthy
3. Drink plenty of water. Avoid drinking tea and coffee until 1-2 hours after a meal (when food will have left the stomach) to ensure the maximum amount of absorption of iron by the body supplied in our foods.
4. If you are a youth, you should include food options that are high in iron (especially young women) such as liver, dark green leaves, fish, red meat, and sorghum.
5. Aim for 3 meals and 3-6 snacks per day to create a healthy balance of all your dietary needs.
6. Avoid sugar-rich, sticky, salty, or processed foods and ingredients that are difficult to digest, inhibit healthy growth, and promote pre-mature aging.
7. Exercise regularly for at least 15 minutes at a time.
8. When you are sick, you can decrease the amount of time you remain sick by covering your mouth when you cough and washing your hands regularly.
9. Get lots of sleep, at least 8 hours of sleep every night, and take naps or siestas throughout the day.
10. Grow, buy, and eat food locally and organically to help your body and the environment.
Micronutrient malnutrition describes the plight of over 2 billion people worldwide (www.who.int) who in most cases do not receive enough foods, and in all cases, do not consume enough nutrients to characterize a healthy and balanced diet. Micronutrient malnutrition has had especially devastating effects for poor pregnant and nursing mothers, whose infants are often born and struggle to live with life-threatening cognitive impairments. Of course other factors besides food consumption play a factor in the persistence of this epidemic, such as: Increased population sizes, people living in poverty, lack of government and foreign aid, and ineffective food policies. The latter (i.e. food policies) has become the focus of many food and health organizations today who see the need for more policies that have in the past neglected to understand “health” in terms of sustainability. Now there is a call for more holistic policies that highlight the interdependent nature of health and sustainable agriculture practices.
Sustainable health is not just a personal choice; it’s a way for you to affect change in your community. Youth just like you are building sustainable food systems in their community just check out “The Food Project (www.thefoodproject.org)” for just one example of youth making a difference in the area of sustainable health.
Diet & Nutrition
Diet and Nutrition: Healthy and Sustainable Food Practices
Although this term has not been commonly used to describe health in years past, sustainable health is a growing movement. What is sustainable health you might ask? Well let’s break it down. Health can be defined as a state of “soundness of mind,” or more simply, a state of feeling good. The word sustainability describes the process by which something can be maintained or can keep going. Thus, sustainable health describes being in a state where you feel good not just once but over an extended period of time.
Today there are many ways to achieve sustainable health, one of the most popular being through the use and production of organic food products. Globally, organic agriculture has helped improve the biological health of human beings while maintaining the ecological ‘health’ of our environment.
Some of the major areas of interest surrounding sustainable health include: Food additives, animal welfare, biodiversity, community farming, genetic engineering, and pesticides.
As globalization continues to rapidly spread information around the world, youth are increasingly being exposed to unhealthy diets, which include diets that are high in saturated and trans fats and low in fruits, vegetables, and complex carbohydrates. Probably the most unsettling realities of unhealthy eating practices have been increased risk of diseases such as diabetes, heart failure, malnutrition, and obesity. The World Health organization (www.who.int) reported in 2006 that out of the 1.6 billion adults who were diagnosed as overweight, 400 million of those adults were simultaneously diagnosed as obese in both developed and developing countries.
Research studies in the area of health have shown that educating school-aged children and young people on healthy and sustainable nutritional habits, will increase the likelihood of those children and young people remaining healthy in the future regardless of socio-economic background. These educational programs not only teach nutrition, but they also teach youth how to prepare and handle food in safe and sustainable ways, achieve a balanced diet with limited resources, and to decrease their risk of acquiring a nutrition related disease or disorder. The Theory of Planned behaviour has been used by many research studies on nutrition to predict the factors that affect youth decision-making with regards to eating healthy. In a study by Lautenschlager and Smith (2007), researchers found that youth in a multicultural low-income community in the Unites States of America who participated in a 10-week program significantly improved in nutrition and eating habits. The success of the nutrition education program for multicultural youth identified several factors that were important to positively influencing the nutrition choices of young people, which includes: A nutrition and cooking curriculum that emphasized culturally diverse foods; participatory learning activities (role-playing), sustainable gardening lessons, in addition to skills to fight racism and poverty discrimination (care of the Youth Farm and Market Project, http://www.youthfarm.net). TPB model has also been used to help identify the ecological and cultural factors that affect indigenous youth in the Americas.
10 Tips to eating and maintaining sustainable health
1. Add a staple food (i.e. fruit, plantain/banana, maize/corn, rice, bread) to each meal.
2. Focus on foods that are high-fibre and low in saturated and trans fats to keep your heart nice and healthy
3. Drink plenty of water. Avoid drinking tea and coffee until 1-2 hours after a meal (when food will have left the stomach) to ensure the maximum amount of absorption of iron by the body supplied in our foods.
4. If you are a youth, you should include food options that are high in iron (especially young women) such as liver, dark green leaves, fish, red meat, and sorghum.
5. Aim for 3 meals and 3-6 snacks per day to create a healthy balance of all your dietary needs.
6. Avoid sugar-rich, sticky, salty, or processed foods and ingredients that are difficult to digest, inhibit healthy growth, and promote pre-mature aging.
7. Exercise regularly for at least 15 minutes at a time.
8. When you are sick, you can decrease the amount of time you remain sick by covering your mouth when you cough and washing your hands regularly.
9. Get lots of sleep, at least 8 hours of sleep every night, and take naps or siestas throughout the day.
10. Grow, buy, and eat food locally and organically to help your body and the environment.
Micronutrient malnutrition describes the plight of over 2 billion people worldwide (www.who.int) who in most cases do not receive enough foods, and in all cases, do not consume enough nutrients to characterize a healthy and balanced diet. Micronutrient malnutrition has had especially devastating effects for poor pregnant and nursing mothers, whose infants are often born and struggle to live with life-threatening cognitive impairments. Of course other factors besides food consumption play a factor in the persistence of this epidemic, such as: Increased population sizes, people living in poverty, lack of government and foreign aid, and ineffective food policies. The latter (i.e. food policies) has become the focus of many food and health organizations today who see the need for more policies that have in the past neglected to understand “health” in terms of sustainability. Now there is a call for more holistic policies that highlight the interdependent nature of health and sustainable agriculture practices.
Sustainable health is not just a personal choice; it’s a way for you to affect change in your community. Youth just like you are building sustainable food systems in their community just check out “The Food Project (www.thefoodproject.org)” for just one example of youth making a difference in the area of sustainable health.
Although this term has not been commonly used to describe health in years past, sustainable health is a growing movement. What is sustainable health you might ask? Well let’s break it down. Health can be defined as a state of “soundness of mind,” or more simply, a state of feeling good. The word sustainability describes the process by which something can be maintained or can keep going. Thus, sustainable health describes being in a state where you feel good not just once but over an extended period of time.
Today there are many ways to achieve sustainable health, one of the most popular being through the use and production of organic food products. Globally, organic agriculture has helped improve the biological health of human beings while maintaining the ecological ‘health’ of our environment.
Some of the major areas of interest surrounding sustainable health include: Food additives, animal welfare, biodiversity, community farming, genetic engineering, and pesticides.
As globalization continues to rapidly spread information around the world, youth are increasingly being exposed to unhealthy diets, which include diets that are high in saturated and trans fats and low in fruits, vegetables, and complex carbohydrates. Probably the most unsettling realities of unhealthy eating practices have been increased risk of diseases such as diabetes, heart failure, malnutrition, and obesity. The World Health organization (www.who.int) reported in 2006 that out of the 1.6 billion adults who were diagnosed as overweight, 400 million of those adults were simultaneously diagnosed as obese in both developed and developing countries.
Research studies in the area of health have shown that educating school-aged children and young people on healthy and sustainable nutritional habits, will increase the likelihood of those children and young people remaining healthy in the future regardless of socio-economic background. These educational programs not only teach nutrition, but they also teach youth how to prepare and handle food in safe and sustainable ways, achieve a balanced diet with limited resources, and to decrease their risk of acquiring a nutrition related disease or disorder. The Theory of Planned behaviour has been used by many research studies on nutrition to predict the factors that affect youth decision-making with regards to eating healthy. In a study by Lautenschlager and Smith (2007), researchers found that youth in a multicultural low-income community in the Unites States of America who participated in a 10-week program significantly improved in nutrition and eating habits. The success of the nutrition education program for multicultural youth identified several factors that were important to positively influencing the nutrition choices of young people, which includes: A nutrition and cooking curriculum that emphasized culturally diverse foods; participatory learning activities (role-playing), sustainable gardening lessons, in addition to skills to fight racism and poverty discrimination (care of the Youth Farm and Market Project, http://www.youthfarm.net). TPB model has also been used to help identify the ecological and cultural factors that affect indigenous youth in the Americas.
10 Tips to eating and maintaining sustainable health
1. Add a staple food (i.e. fruit, plantain/banana, maize/corn, rice, bread) to each meal.
2. Focus on foods that are high-fibre and low in saturated and trans fats to keep your heart nice and healthy
3. Drink plenty of water. Avoid drinking tea and coffee until 1-2 hours after a meal (when food will have left the stomach) to ensure the maximum amount of absorption of iron by the body supplied in our foods.
4. If you are a youth, you should include food options that are high in iron (especially young women) such as liver, dark green leaves, fish, red meat, and sorghum.
5. Aim for 3 meals and 3-6 snacks per day to create a healthy balance of all your dietary needs.
6. Avoid sugar-rich, sticky, salty, or processed foods and ingredients that are difficult to digest, inhibit healthy growth, and promote pre-mature aging.
7. Exercise regularly for at least 15 minutes at a time.
8. When you are sick, you can decrease the amount of time you remain sick by covering your mouth when you cough and washing your hands regularly.
9. Get lots of sleep, at least 8 hours of sleep every night, and take naps or siestas throughout the day.
10. Grow, buy, and eat food locally and organically to help your body and the environment.
Micronutrient malnutrition describes the plight of over 2 billion people worldwide (www.who.int) who in most cases do not receive enough foods, and in all cases, do not consume enough nutrients to characterize a healthy and balanced diet. Micronutrient malnutrition has had especially devastating effects for poor pregnant and nursing mothers, whose infants are often born and struggle to live with life-threatening cognitive impairments. Of course other factors besides food consumption play a factor in the persistence of this epidemic, such as: Increased population sizes, people living in poverty, lack of government and foreign aid, and ineffective food policies. The latter (i.e. food policies) has become the focus of many food and health organizations today who see the need for more policies that have in the past neglected to understand “health” in terms of sustainability. Now there is a call for more holistic policies that highlight the interdependent nature of health and sustainable agriculture practices.
Sustainable health is not just a personal choice; it’s a way for you to affect change in your community. Youth just like you are building sustainable food systems in their community just check out “The Food Project (www.thefoodproject.org)” for just one example of youth making a difference in the area of sustainable health.
HIV/AIDS
“When the history of our times is written, will we be remembered as the generation that turned our backs in a moment of a global crisis or will it be recorded that we did the right thing?” - Nelson Mandela
HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus. This virus is transferred from person to person when an HIV positive individual’s blood, semen, vaginal fluids, or breast milk comes in contact with another person’s bloodstream (through the mouth, throat, or breaks in the skin). This viral infection usually occurs during unprotected sexual activity, but can also occur between an HIV/AIDS positive mother and her child, through an unsecure blood transfusion, and by sharing used needles.
Once infected it takes as long as 8 to 10 years for the Human Immunodeficiency Virus to effectively breakdown the bodies’ natural immune defences, which leads to the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome or AIDS for short. Although scientists around the world have been working hard to obtain a cure or even a vaccine for the HIV, none are currently available.
According to the United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (2007), about 33.2 million people are infected with HIV worldwide (which is 16% lower than 2006 estimates. So, far 2.1 million people have lost their lives to AIDS. Youth are particularly at risk as young people between the ages of 15 to 24 account for more than 40% of new HIV infections. Young women are also more at risk for contracting HIV; three times more likely than males in Sub-Saharan Africa and almost two times more likely in the Caribbean.
The most devastating effect on the world’s youth, as a result of the spread of the HIV/AIDS virus around the world, has been the alarming increase in the number of children and young people who have been orphaned by the disease. In 2007, there was an estimated 11.4 million AIDS orphans in sub-Saharan Africa.
The new face of HIV/AIDS is undoubtedly global leadership or more importantly youth leadership and education. Youth leaders are raising their voices on the issue of HIV/AIDS all over the world while spreading a message of change and healing among their young peers. For example groups such as “The Young Women of Color Leadership Council” who are striving to educate at-risk youth of color on issues of HIV prevention and community leadership; “Youth Visioning” who aim to encourage and support young leaders living on small islands around the world to propose and implement projects that will effectively impact how youth experience and understand HIV/AIDS; and the “Rural Sensitization Campaign in Cameroon” who is actively challenging youth to learn and be trained on healthy sexual practices, HIV prevention and transmission, testing, and treatment, in addition to targeting young women and men, this campaign aims to involve parents and children HIV/AIDS educational programmes.
There are several other factors that contribute to the spread of HIV/AIDS and the marginalization of people living with HIV/AIDS, which include high levels of: Severe poverty, unemployment, inadequate medical care, and risky sexual activity. However an additional factor that often goes unnoticed is the presence of stigma that becomes associated to people living with aids (PLWA) and who have openly revealed their HIV/AIDS status in their community. Stigma may result in isolation, physical and verbal abuse, and even in the premature death of PLWA. The spread of stigma among PLWA is preventable, but it requires the community and grassroots organizations to work together to minimize the fear and the overemphasis on the problems associated to HIV/AIDS when spreading awareness about the disease.
HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus. This virus is transferred from person to person when an HIV positive individual’s blood, semen, vaginal fluids, or breast milk comes in contact with another person’s bloodstream (through the mouth, throat, or breaks in the skin). This viral infection usually occurs during unprotected sexual activity, but can also occur between an HIV/AIDS positive mother and her child, through an unsecure blood transfusion, and by sharing used needles.
Once infected it takes as long as 8 to 10 years for the Human Immunodeficiency Virus to effectively breakdown the bodies’ natural immune defences, which leads to the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome or AIDS for short. Although scientists around the world have been working hard to obtain a cure or even a vaccine for the HIV, none are currently available.
According to the United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (2007), about 33.2 million people are infected with HIV worldwide (which is 16% lower than 2006 estimates. So, far 2.1 million people have lost their lives to AIDS. Youth are particularly at risk as young people between the ages of 15 to 24 account for more than 40% of new HIV infections. Young women are also more at risk for contracting HIV; three times more likely than males in Sub-Saharan Africa and almost two times more likely in the Caribbean.
The most devastating effect on the world’s youth, as a result of the spread of the HIV/AIDS virus around the world, has been the alarming increase in the number of children and young people who have been orphaned by the disease. In 2007, there was an estimated 11.4 million AIDS orphans in sub-Saharan Africa.
The new face of HIV/AIDS is undoubtedly global leadership or more importantly youth leadership and education. Youth leaders are raising their voices on the issue of HIV/AIDS all over the world while spreading a message of change and healing among their young peers. For example groups such as “The Young Women of Color Leadership Council” who are striving to educate at-risk youth of color on issues of HIV prevention and community leadership; “Youth Visioning” who aim to encourage and support young leaders living on small islands around the world to propose and implement projects that will effectively impact how youth experience and understand HIV/AIDS; and the “Rural Sensitization Campaign in Cameroon” who is actively challenging youth to learn and be trained on healthy sexual practices, HIV prevention and transmission, testing, and treatment, in addition to targeting young women and men, this campaign aims to involve parents and children HIV/AIDS educational programmes.
There are several other factors that contribute to the spread of HIV/AIDS and the marginalization of people living with HIV/AIDS, which include high levels of: Severe poverty, unemployment, inadequate medical care, and risky sexual activity. However an additional factor that often goes unnoticed is the presence of stigma that becomes associated to people living with aids (PLWA) and who have openly revealed their HIV/AIDS status in their community. Stigma may result in isolation, physical and verbal abuse, and even in the premature death of PLWA. The spread of stigma among PLWA is preventable, but it requires the community and grassroots organizations to work together to minimize the fear and the overemphasis on the problems associated to HIV/AIDS when spreading awareness about the disease.
HIV/AIDS
“When the history of our times is written, will we be remembered as the generation that turned our backs in a moment of a global crisis or will it be recorded that we did the right thing?” - Nelson Mandela
HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus. This virus is transferred from person to person when an HIV positive individual’s blood, semen, vaginal fluids, or breast milk comes in contact with another person’s bloodstream (through the mouth, throat, or breaks in the skin). This viral infection usually occurs during unprotected sexual activity, but can also occur between an HIV/AIDS positive mother and her child, through an unsecure blood transfusion, and by sharing used needles.
Once infected it takes as long as 8 to 10 years for the Human Immunodeficiency Virus to effectively breakdown the bodies’ natural immune defences, which leads to the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome or AIDS for short. Although scientists around the world have been working hard to obtain a cure or even a vaccine for the HIV, none are currently available.
According to the United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (2007), about 33.2 million people are infected with HIV worldwide (which is 16% lower than 2006 estimates. So, far 2.1 million people have lost their lives to AIDS. Youth are particularly at risk as young people between the ages of 15 to 24 account for more than 40% of new HIV infections. Young women are also more at risk for contracting HIV; three times more likely than males in Sub-Saharan Africa and almost two times more likely in the Caribbean.
The most devastating effect on the world’s youth, as a result of the spread of the HIV/AIDS virus around the world, has been the alarming increase in the number of children and young people who have been orphaned by the disease. In 2007, there was an estimated 11.4 million AIDS orphans in sub-Saharan Africa.
The new face of HIV/AIDS is undoubtedly global leadership or more importantly youth leadership and education. Youth leaders are raising their voices on the issue of HIV/AIDS all over the world while spreading a message of change and healing among their young peers. For example groups such as “The Young Women of Color Leadership Council” who are striving to educate at-risk youth of color on issues of HIV prevention and community leadership; “Youth Visioning” who aim to encourage and support young leaders living on small islands around the world to propose and implement projects that will effectively impact how youth experience and understand HIV/AIDS; and the “Rural Sensitization Campaign in Cameroon” who is actively challenging youth to learn and be trained on healthy sexual practices, HIV prevention and transmission, testing, and treatment, in addition to targeting young women and men, this campaign aims to involve parents and children HIV/AIDS educational programmes.
There are several other factors that contribute to the spread of HIV/AIDS and the marginalization of people living with HIV/AIDS, which include high levels of: Severe poverty, unemployment, inadequate medical care, and risky sexual activity. However an additional factor that often goes unnoticed is the presence of stigma that becomes associated to people living with aids (PLWA) and who have openly revealed their HIV/AIDS status in their community. Stigma may result in isolation, physical and verbal abuse, and even in the premature death of PLWA. The spread of stigma among PLWA is preventable, but it requires the community and grassroots organizations to work together to minimize the fear and the overemphasis on the problems associated to HIV/AIDS when spreading awareness about the disease.
HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus. This virus is transferred from person to person when an HIV positive individual’s blood, semen, vaginal fluids, or breast milk comes in contact with another person’s bloodstream (through the mouth, throat, or breaks in the skin). This viral infection usually occurs during unprotected sexual activity, but can also occur between an HIV/AIDS positive mother and her child, through an unsecure blood transfusion, and by sharing used needles.
Once infected it takes as long as 8 to 10 years for the Human Immunodeficiency Virus to effectively breakdown the bodies’ natural immune defences, which leads to the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome or AIDS for short. Although scientists around the world have been working hard to obtain a cure or even a vaccine for the HIV, none are currently available.
According to the United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (2007), about 33.2 million people are infected with HIV worldwide (which is 16% lower than 2006 estimates. So, far 2.1 million people have lost their lives to AIDS. Youth are particularly at risk as young people between the ages of 15 to 24 account for more than 40% of new HIV infections. Young women are also more at risk for contracting HIV; three times more likely than males in Sub-Saharan Africa and almost two times more likely in the Caribbean.
The most devastating effect on the world’s youth, as a result of the spread of the HIV/AIDS virus around the world, has been the alarming increase in the number of children and young people who have been orphaned by the disease. In 2007, there was an estimated 11.4 million AIDS orphans in sub-Saharan Africa.
The new face of HIV/AIDS is undoubtedly global leadership or more importantly youth leadership and education. Youth leaders are raising their voices on the issue of HIV/AIDS all over the world while spreading a message of change and healing among their young peers. For example groups such as “The Young Women of Color Leadership Council” who are striving to educate at-risk youth of color on issues of HIV prevention and community leadership; “Youth Visioning” who aim to encourage and support young leaders living on small islands around the world to propose and implement projects that will effectively impact how youth experience and understand HIV/AIDS; and the “Rural Sensitization Campaign in Cameroon” who is actively challenging youth to learn and be trained on healthy sexual practices, HIV prevention and transmission, testing, and treatment, in addition to targeting young women and men, this campaign aims to involve parents and children HIV/AIDS educational programmes.
There are several other factors that contribute to the spread of HIV/AIDS and the marginalization of people living with HIV/AIDS, which include high levels of: Severe poverty, unemployment, inadequate medical care, and risky sexual activity. However an additional factor that often goes unnoticed is the presence of stigma that becomes associated to people living with aids (PLWA) and who have openly revealed their HIV/AIDS status in their community. Stigma may result in isolation, physical and verbal abuse, and even in the premature death of PLWA. The spread of stigma among PLWA is preventable, but it requires the community and grassroots organizations to work together to minimize the fear and the overemphasis on the problems associated to HIV/AIDS when spreading awareness about the disease.
New Guidelines for Treating Heart Failure
- THURSDAY, March 26 (HealthDay News) — New guidelines for treatment of heart failure are being issued by the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology, with a strong emphasis on management of people hospitalized for the condition and also on the treatment of blacks.
“The most important change is the addition of a new section on hospitalized patients,” said Dr. Mariell Jessup, professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and chairwoman of the guidelines writing group. “It’s unusual to have a completely new section, but it is increasingly recognized that hospitalization for heart failure contributes substantially to morbidity and mortality and to health-care costs.”
About 5.7 million Americans have heart failure, the progressive loss of ability to pump blood, and 1.1 million people are hospitalized because of it each year. Heart failure management will cost the U.S. health-care system more than $37 billion this year, the guidelines group estimated.
Guidelines are assessed periodically to determine whether results of new trials or studies require changes, Jessup said. “We found that enough has happened for the guidelines to be changed,” she said. “The most important studies were on hospitalized patients, so we felt there was a gap we had to fill.”
The guidelines are being published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology and in the Heart Association journal Circulation
The new guidelines “outline what has to happen in the initial evaluation, such as measurement of ejection fraction and whether the patient has coronary disease or not,” Jessup said. “They describe what should be done each day to assess the patient and the need to think carefully about which drugs should be given and why.”
Drug assessment includes “the role of cardioactive drugs including nitroglycerine,” Jessup said. “The guidelines also stress the role of evidence-based medicine and also what should be considered in the discharge of a patient from the hospital.”
Special consideration is given to blacks, she said, because “heart failure has a different etiology [cause] and tends to occur younger” in blacks than in others. The guidelines stress the use of two drugs, hydralazine and isosorbide dinitrate, in blacks. Both relieve pressure on the heart by relaxing blood vessels.
“A trial showed that using them in a fixed-dose combination produced a remarkable reduction in mortality in African-Americans, and we really wanted to strengthen the recommendations that they should be used in African-Americans,” Jessup said.
The drugs are effective, because heart failure in blacks has been shown to be more related to high blood pressure than it is in whites, she said. “Also, African-Americans with heart failure don’t seem to have as much coronary disease,” or blockage of the heart arteries, Jessup said.
One revised section of the guidelines contains simplified advice on implantable cardioverter defibrillators, which can prevent sudden cardiac death by delivering a shock to restore normal heart rhythm when the heart suddenly beats irregularly. Various guidelines on the use of these devices have been issued, Jessup said, “and we are trying to simplify what we have said about them,” Jessup said.
Also revised is the guideline section on treatment of people who have both heart failure and the arrhythmia called atrial fibrillation.
New Guidelines for Treating Heart Failure
- THURSDAY, March 26 (HealthDay News) — New guidelines for treatment of heart failure are being issued by the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology, with a strong emphasis on management of people hospitalized for the condition and also on the treatment of blacks.
“The most important change is the addition of a new section on hospitalized patients,” said Dr. Mariell Jessup, professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and chairwoman of the guidelines writing group. “It’s unusual to have a completely new section, but it is increasingly recognized that hospitalization for heart failure contributes substantially to morbidity and mortality and to health-care costs.”
About 5.7 million Americans have heart failure, the progressive loss of ability to pump blood, and 1.1 million people are hospitalized because of it each year. Heart failure management will cost the U.S. health-care system more than $37 billion this year, the guidelines group estimated.
Guidelines are assessed periodically to determine whether results of new trials or studies require changes, Jessup said. “We found that enough has happened for the guidelines to be changed,” she said. “The most important studies were on hospitalized patients, so we felt there was a gap we had to fill.”
The guidelines are being published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology and in the Heart Association journal Circulation
The new guidelines “outline what has to happen in the initial evaluation, such as measurement of ejection fraction and whether the patient has coronary disease or not,” Jessup said. “They describe what should be done each day to assess the patient and the need to think carefully about which drugs should be given and why.”
Drug assessment includes “the role of cardioactive drugs including nitroglycerine,” Jessup said. “The guidelines also stress the role of evidence-based medicine and also what should be considered in the discharge of a patient from the hospital.”
Special consideration is given to blacks, she said, because “heart failure has a different etiology [cause] and tends to occur younger” in blacks than in others. The guidelines stress the use of two drugs, hydralazine and isosorbide dinitrate, in blacks. Both relieve pressure on the heart by relaxing blood vessels.
“A trial showed that using them in a fixed-dose combination produced a remarkable reduction in mortality in African-Americans, and we really wanted to strengthen the recommendations that they should be used in African-Americans,” Jessup said.
The drugs are effective, because heart failure in blacks has been shown to be more related to high blood pressure than it is in whites, she said. “Also, African-Americans with heart failure don’t seem to have as much coronary disease,” or blockage of the heart arteries, Jessup said.
One revised section of the guidelines contains simplified advice on implantable cardioverter defibrillators, which can prevent sudden cardiac death by delivering a shock to restore normal heart rhythm when the heart suddenly beats irregularly. Various guidelines on the use of these devices have been issued, Jessup said, “and we are trying to simplify what we have said about them,” Jessup said.
Also revised is the guideline section on treatment of people who have both heart failure and the arrhythmia called atrial fibrillation.
Swallowing-Breathing Dysfunction Worsens Lung Disorder
THURSDAY, March 26 (HealthDay News) — A disrupted breathing-swallowing pattern may explain why people with moderate to severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are at increased risk for aspiration pneumonia, researchers report.
Patients with moderate to severe COPD show alterations between normal breathing and swallowing patterns (during eating) even when they’re not experiencing exacerbations, according to the study by Roxann Diez Gross and colleagues at the University of Pittsburgh.
“In healthy subjects, the usual pattern is to time swallows to occur during early to mid exhalation. Healthy individuals also nearly exclusively follow each swallow with exhalation. This pattern assures that there is sufficient air pressure below the vocal folds during a swallow and prevents inhalation of food residue after swallowing,” Gross said in the news release.
“In contrast, in COPD patients, we saw that several aspects of their swallowing and breathing timing were disrupted such that swallows were occurring during inhalation or were followed by inhalation,” she said. “COPD patients also swallowed more often at the end of exhalation at lower lung volumes.”
COPD is a progressive, destructive disease of the lungs, usually brought on by smoking. There is no known cure. Symptoms include restricted breathing, secretion of mucus, oxidative stress and airway inflammation.
It had been known that COPD patients “exhibited decoupling of the breathing-swallowing pattern of saliva during exacerbations,” according to a news release about the study. But this is the first study to detail to what extent, if any, disruptions in breathing and swallowing coordination occur during normal eating in COPD patients even when they’re not experiencing exacerbations.
The study included 25 patients with moderate to severe COPD and 25 healthy people. All the participants ate nine wafer cookies and 10 teaspoons of pudding to determine how well they swallowed sold and semi-solid food. There was a marked difference between the two groups, the researchers found.
The respiratory tract may be thrown out of balance by the respiratory burden imposed by COPD, Gross explained.
“Because breathing and eating share the structures of the upper airway, precise coordination is needed to prevent food material from entering the airway while eating,” she said. “In patients with COPD, the competition for the upper airway may cause the respiratory drive to override swallowing function and disrupt the normal patterning. The lungs of COPD patients have less elasticity than those of healthy individuals and this may also play a role in swallowing safety.”
The study appears in the first April issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
Swallowing-Breathing Dysfunction Worsens Lung Disorder
THURSDAY, March 26 (HealthDay News) — A disrupted breathing-swallowing pattern may explain why people with moderate to severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are at increased risk for aspiration pneumonia, researchers report.
Patients with moderate to severe COPD show alterations between normal breathing and swallowing patterns (during eating) even when they’re not experiencing exacerbations, according to the study by Roxann Diez Gross and colleagues at the University of Pittsburgh.
“In healthy subjects, the usual pattern is to time swallows to occur during early to mid exhalation. Healthy individuals also nearly exclusively follow each swallow with exhalation. This pattern assures that there is sufficient air pressure below the vocal folds during a swallow and prevents inhalation of food residue after swallowing,” Gross said in the news release.
“In contrast, in COPD patients, we saw that several aspects of their swallowing and breathing timing were disrupted such that swallows were occurring during inhalation or were followed by inhalation,” she said. “COPD patients also swallowed more often at the end of exhalation at lower lung volumes.”
COPD is a progressive, destructive disease of the lungs, usually brought on by smoking. There is no known cure. Symptoms include restricted breathing, secretion of mucus, oxidative stress and airway inflammation.
It had been known that COPD patients “exhibited decoupling of the breathing-swallowing pattern of saliva during exacerbations,” according to a news release about the study. But this is the first study to detail to what extent, if any, disruptions in breathing and swallowing coordination occur during normal eating in COPD patients even when they’re not experiencing exacerbations.
The study included 25 patients with moderate to severe COPD and 25 healthy people. All the participants ate nine wafer cookies and 10 teaspoons of pudding to determine how well they swallowed sold and semi-solid food. There was a marked difference between the two groups, the researchers found.
The respiratory tract may be thrown out of balance by the respiratory burden imposed by COPD, Gross explained.
“Because breathing and eating share the structures of the upper airway, precise coordination is needed to prevent food material from entering the airway while eating,” she said. “In patients with COPD, the competition for the upper airway may cause the respiratory drive to override swallowing function and disrupt the normal patterning. The lungs of COPD patients have less elasticity than those of healthy individuals and this may also play a role in swallowing safety.”
The study appears in the first April issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
Fish in U.S. Rivers Tainted With Common Medications
THURSDAY, March 26 (HealthDay News) — Fish from five U.S. rivers were found to be tainted with traces of medications and common chemicals, according to a new study from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Baylor University.
The common antihistamine diphenhydramine (Benadryl), an anticonvulsant and two types of antidepressants were among the seven types of pharmaceuticals found in the tissue and livers of fish from waterways in or near Chicago, Dallas, Philadelphia, Phoenix and Orlando, Fla. Each river is considered “effluent-dominated,” because they receive large amounts of wastewater discharge from nearby sewage treatment plants. Read More
The common antihistamine diphenhydramine (Benadryl), an anticonvulsant and two types of antidepressants were among the seven types of pharmaceuticals found in the tissue and livers of fish from waterways in or near Chicago, Dallas, Philadelphia, Phoenix and Orlando, Fla. Each river is considered “effluent-dominated,” because they receive large amounts of wastewater discharge from nearby sewage treatment plants. Read More
Fish in U.S. Rivers Tainted With Common Medications
THURSDAY, March 26 (HealthDay News) — Fish from five U.S. rivers were found to be tainted with traces of medications and common chemicals, according to a new study from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Baylor University.
The common antihistamine diphenhydramine (Benadryl), an anticonvulsant and two types of antidepressants were among the seven types of pharmaceuticals found in the tissue and livers of fish from waterways in or near Chicago, Dallas, Philadelphia, Phoenix and Orlando, Fla. Each river is considered “effluent-dominated,” because they receive large amounts of wastewater discharge from nearby sewage treatment plants. Read More
The common antihistamine diphenhydramine (Benadryl), an anticonvulsant and two types of antidepressants were among the seven types of pharmaceuticals found in the tissue and livers of fish from waterways in or near Chicago, Dallas, Philadelphia, Phoenix and Orlando, Fla. Each river is considered “effluent-dominated,” because they receive large amounts of wastewater discharge from nearby sewage treatment plants. Read More
For All Their Plusses, Pets Pose a Risk for Falls, Too
THURSDAY, March 26 (HealthDay News) — Dogs and cats may be favored companions of many Americans, but they’re also apparently the cause of falls that results in thousands of injuries each year.
U.S. health officials report that 86,629 people annually are injured in dog- and cat-related falls. That’s 240 people a day who wind up in hospital emergency rooms, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“I get asked a lot if pets are a fall hazard,” said Judy Stevens, a senior epidemiologist at the CDC and first author of the report. “We found that of the 8 million falls from all causes, about 1 percent were related to cats and dogs.”
Acknowledging that pets provide benefits, too, Stevens said that the CDC wanted to make people aware that they can be a fall hazard, and the benefits need to be balanced with these risks.
Pets have been linked in several studies to a variety of health benefits, including help in lowering blood pressure and cholesterol levels, reducing feelings of loneliness, depression and anxiety and increasing opportunities for socializing.
In 2006, an estimated 43 million U.S. households included dogs, and 37.5 million households had cats. In addition, almost 64 percent of households with pets had more than one pet, according to the report, published in the March 27 issue of the agency’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
For the study, Stevens and her colleagues collected data on falls from 66 emergency departments across the country from 2001 to 2006. Dogs accounted for 88 percent of the injuries from falls and cats for nearly all of the rest.
Among people injured by dogs, 31 percent tripped over the dog, and 21 percent fell after being pushed or pulled by a dog. Among injuries involving cats, 66 percent were attributed to falling or tripping over the animal.
Women were twice as likely to be injured as men. Those most often injured were either younger than 14 years or between 35 and 54 years old, the researchers found. However, the highest rate of fractures occurred in people 75 to 85 years old. Of people who required hospitalization from a pet-related injury, about 80 percent had a broken bone.
Most falls involving dogs, 62 percent, occurred at home; 16 percent happened in a street or a park. Pet paraphernalia was cited as the cause of about 9 percent of the falls at home.
As for cats, 86 percent of falls involving felines happened in the home, 17 percent of them while chasing the cat.
One way to reduce the risk for dog-related falls, Stevens said, would be to enroll a dog in obedience training, which should be able to stop, or at least lessen, the animal’s pushing, pulling and jumping.
“You can also prevent falls by removing tripping hazards like pet items,” she said.
Colin Milner, chief executive of the International Council on Active Aging, said that keeping fit as you age should also help reduce the likelihood of falls.
People need to keep their homes clean and uncluttered, he said. And, when picking a pet, Milner suggested trying to match the pet to your personality and, perhaps, choosing a more mellow rather than a more excitable pet.
One reason people fall is that they become less coordinated as they age, Milner said. “Many of these fall could be preventable if you had better balance,” he said. “The number of falls could be reduced with a very simple balance and strength-training program.”
U.S. health officials report that 86,629 people annually are injured in dog- and cat-related falls. That’s 240 people a day who wind up in hospital emergency rooms, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“I get asked a lot if pets are a fall hazard,” said Judy Stevens, a senior epidemiologist at the CDC and first author of the report. “We found that of the 8 million falls from all causes, about 1 percent were related to cats and dogs.”
Acknowledging that pets provide benefits, too, Stevens said that the CDC wanted to make people aware that they can be a fall hazard, and the benefits need to be balanced with these risks.
Pets have been linked in several studies to a variety of health benefits, including help in lowering blood pressure and cholesterol levels, reducing feelings of loneliness, depression and anxiety and increasing opportunities for socializing.
In 2006, an estimated 43 million U.S. households included dogs, and 37.5 million households had cats. In addition, almost 64 percent of households with pets had more than one pet, according to the report, published in the March 27 issue of the agency’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
For the study, Stevens and her colleagues collected data on falls from 66 emergency departments across the country from 2001 to 2006. Dogs accounted for 88 percent of the injuries from falls and cats for nearly all of the rest.
Among people injured by dogs, 31 percent tripped over the dog, and 21 percent fell after being pushed or pulled by a dog. Among injuries involving cats, 66 percent were attributed to falling or tripping over the animal.
Women were twice as likely to be injured as men. Those most often injured were either younger than 14 years or between 35 and 54 years old, the researchers found. However, the highest rate of fractures occurred in people 75 to 85 years old. Of people who required hospitalization from a pet-related injury, about 80 percent had a broken bone.
Most falls involving dogs, 62 percent, occurred at home; 16 percent happened in a street or a park. Pet paraphernalia was cited as the cause of about 9 percent of the falls at home.
As for cats, 86 percent of falls involving felines happened in the home, 17 percent of them while chasing the cat.
One way to reduce the risk for dog-related falls, Stevens said, would be to enroll a dog in obedience training, which should be able to stop, or at least lessen, the animal’s pushing, pulling and jumping.
“You can also prevent falls by removing tripping hazards like pet items,” she said.
Colin Milner, chief executive of the International Council on Active Aging, said that keeping fit as you age should also help reduce the likelihood of falls.
People need to keep their homes clean and uncluttered, he said. And, when picking a pet, Milner suggested trying to match the pet to your personality and, perhaps, choosing a more mellow rather than a more excitable pet.
One reason people fall is that they become less coordinated as they age, Milner said. “Many of these fall could be preventable if you had better balance,” he said. “The number of falls could be reduced with a very simple balance and strength-training program.”
For All Their Plusses, Pets Pose a Risk for Falls, Too
THURSDAY, March 26 (HealthDay News) — Dogs and cats may be favored companions of many Americans, but they’re also apparently the cause of falls that results in thousands of injuries each year.
U.S. health officials report that 86,629 people annually are injured in dog- and cat-related falls. That’s 240 people a day who wind up in hospital emergency rooms, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“I get asked a lot if pets are a fall hazard,” said Judy Stevens, a senior epidemiologist at the CDC and first author of the report. “We found that of the 8 million falls from all causes, about 1 percent were related to cats and dogs.”
Acknowledging that pets provide benefits, too, Stevens said that the CDC wanted to make people aware that they can be a fall hazard, and the benefits need to be balanced with these risks.
Pets have been linked in several studies to a variety of health benefits, including help in lowering blood pressure and cholesterol levels, reducing feelings of loneliness, depression and anxiety and increasing opportunities for socializing.
In 2006, an estimated 43 million U.S. households included dogs, and 37.5 million households had cats. In addition, almost 64 percent of households with pets had more than one pet, according to the report, published in the March 27 issue of the agency’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
For the study, Stevens and her colleagues collected data on falls from 66 emergency departments across the country from 2001 to 2006. Dogs accounted for 88 percent of the injuries from falls and cats for nearly all of the rest.
Among people injured by dogs, 31 percent tripped over the dog, and 21 percent fell after being pushed or pulled by a dog. Among injuries involving cats, 66 percent were attributed to falling or tripping over the animal.
Women were twice as likely to be injured as men. Those most often injured were either younger than 14 years or between 35 and 54 years old, the researchers found. However, the highest rate of fractures occurred in people 75 to 85 years old. Of people who required hospitalization from a pet-related injury, about 80 percent had a broken bone.
Most falls involving dogs, 62 percent, occurred at home; 16 percent happened in a street or a park. Pet paraphernalia was cited as the cause of about 9 percent of the falls at home.
As for cats, 86 percent of falls involving felines happened in the home, 17 percent of them while chasing the cat.
One way to reduce the risk for dog-related falls, Stevens said, would be to enroll a dog in obedience training, which should be able to stop, or at least lessen, the animal’s pushing, pulling and jumping.
“You can also prevent falls by removing tripping hazards like pet items,” she said.
Colin Milner, chief executive of the International Council on Active Aging, said that keeping fit as you age should also help reduce the likelihood of falls.
People need to keep their homes clean and uncluttered, he said. And, when picking a pet, Milner suggested trying to match the pet to your personality and, perhaps, choosing a more mellow rather than a more excitable pet.
One reason people fall is that they become less coordinated as they age, Milner said. “Many of these fall could be preventable if you had better balance,” he said. “The number of falls could be reduced with a very simple balance and strength-training program.”
U.S. health officials report that 86,629 people annually are injured in dog- and cat-related falls. That’s 240 people a day who wind up in hospital emergency rooms, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“I get asked a lot if pets are a fall hazard,” said Judy Stevens, a senior epidemiologist at the CDC and first author of the report. “We found that of the 8 million falls from all causes, about 1 percent were related to cats and dogs.”
Acknowledging that pets provide benefits, too, Stevens said that the CDC wanted to make people aware that they can be a fall hazard, and the benefits need to be balanced with these risks.
Pets have been linked in several studies to a variety of health benefits, including help in lowering blood pressure and cholesterol levels, reducing feelings of loneliness, depression and anxiety and increasing opportunities for socializing.
In 2006, an estimated 43 million U.S. households included dogs, and 37.5 million households had cats. In addition, almost 64 percent of households with pets had more than one pet, according to the report, published in the March 27 issue of the agency’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
For the study, Stevens and her colleagues collected data on falls from 66 emergency departments across the country from 2001 to 2006. Dogs accounted for 88 percent of the injuries from falls and cats for nearly all of the rest.
Among people injured by dogs, 31 percent tripped over the dog, and 21 percent fell after being pushed or pulled by a dog. Among injuries involving cats, 66 percent were attributed to falling or tripping over the animal.
Women were twice as likely to be injured as men. Those most often injured were either younger than 14 years or between 35 and 54 years old, the researchers found. However, the highest rate of fractures occurred in people 75 to 85 years old. Of people who required hospitalization from a pet-related injury, about 80 percent had a broken bone.
Most falls involving dogs, 62 percent, occurred at home; 16 percent happened in a street or a park. Pet paraphernalia was cited as the cause of about 9 percent of the falls at home.
As for cats, 86 percent of falls involving felines happened in the home, 17 percent of them while chasing the cat.
One way to reduce the risk for dog-related falls, Stevens said, would be to enroll a dog in obedience training, which should be able to stop, or at least lessen, the animal’s pushing, pulling and jumping.
“You can also prevent falls by removing tripping hazards like pet items,” she said.
Colin Milner, chief executive of the International Council on Active Aging, said that keeping fit as you age should also help reduce the likelihood of falls.
People need to keep their homes clean and uncluttered, he said. And, when picking a pet, Milner suggested trying to match the pet to your personality and, perhaps, choosing a more mellow rather than a more excitable pet.
One reason people fall is that they become less coordinated as they age, Milner said. “Many of these fall could be preventable if you had better balance,” he said. “The number of falls could be reduced with a very simple balance and strength-training program.”
What’s New Dining Out Experts and Bloggers Healthy Cooking Nutrition and Eating Well Shop Smarter Our Experts FOOD AND NUTRITION EDITOR
1. The end of the brown rice rut
Because nobody has an hour to devote to a midweek side dish, quick-cooking quinoa and whole-wheat couscous are truly revolutionary. With the same satisfying texture and nutty flavor as brown rice (plus more fiber), these 10-minute grains give new meaning to fast food.
2. Almonds by the pound
If you’re sick of schlepping to crunchy co-ops to buy nuts, dried fruit, and grains in bulk, you’ll be happy to hear that mass grocery stores are rediscovering these money-saving bins. That means we can buy less-processed, less-pricey raw almonds, unsalted sunflower seeds, organic trail mix, and more where we stock up on milk and other basics.
3. Generation 2.0 market bag
Buying fresh means buying often. And if you’re biking or walking to the market to stock up, you need a tote that’s up to the task. The new reusable, planet-friendly bags do it all—they’re big enough to carry loads of goodies, truly leakproof, and way cuter than granny carts. On the fence about bringing your own? A single reusable bag could eliminate more than 1,000 plastic grocery bags in its lifetime.
4 and 5. Our own herb stash—and mincer!
Fresh herbs add flavor and depth to a dish but practically zero calories and no fat. They also bruise easily, spoil quickly, and aren’t cheap. So we’re all for the grow-your-own-herbs window boxes that are everywhere now. Get an herb mincer to prevent bruising those delicate leaves. If you have a black thumb, herbs in a tube are a good alternative to the fresh stuff. With a fridge shelf life of three months, your cilantro won’t go bad before you can use it up.
Because nobody has an hour to devote to a midweek side dish, quick-cooking quinoa and whole-wheat couscous are truly revolutionary. With the same satisfying texture and nutty flavor as brown rice (plus more fiber), these 10-minute grains give new meaning to fast food.
2. Almonds by the pound
If you’re sick of schlepping to crunchy co-ops to buy nuts, dried fruit, and grains in bulk, you’ll be happy to hear that mass grocery stores are rediscovering these money-saving bins. That means we can buy less-processed, less-pricey raw almonds, unsalted sunflower seeds, organic trail mix, and more where we stock up on milk and other basics.
3. Generation 2.0 market bag
Buying fresh means buying often. And if you’re biking or walking to the market to stock up, you need a tote that’s up to the task. The new reusable, planet-friendly bags do it all—they’re big enough to carry loads of goodies, truly leakproof, and way cuter than granny carts. On the fence about bringing your own? A single reusable bag could eliminate more than 1,000 plastic grocery bags in its lifetime.
4 and 5. Our own herb stash—and mincer!
Fresh herbs add flavor and depth to a dish but practically zero calories and no fat. They also bruise easily, spoil quickly, and aren’t cheap. So we’re all for the grow-your-own-herbs window boxes that are everywhere now. Get an herb mincer to prevent bruising those delicate leaves. If you have a black thumb, herbs in a tube are a good alternative to the fresh stuff. With a fridge shelf life of three months, your cilantro won’t go bad before you can use it up.
What’s New Dining Out Experts and Bloggers Healthy Cooking Nutrition and Eating Well Shop Smarter Our Experts FOOD AND NUTRITION EDITOR
1. The end of the brown rice rut
Because nobody has an hour to devote to a midweek side dish, quick-cooking quinoa and whole-wheat couscous are truly revolutionary. With the same satisfying texture and nutty flavor as brown rice (plus more fiber), these 10-minute grains give new meaning to fast food.
2. Almonds by the pound
If you’re sick of schlepping to crunchy co-ops to buy nuts, dried fruit, and grains in bulk, you’ll be happy to hear that mass grocery stores are rediscovering these money-saving bins. That means we can buy less-processed, less-pricey raw almonds, unsalted sunflower seeds, organic trail mix, and more where we stock up on milk and other basics.
3. Generation 2.0 market bag
Buying fresh means buying often. And if you’re biking or walking to the market to stock up, you need a tote that’s up to the task. The new reusable, planet-friendly bags do it all—they’re big enough to carry loads of goodies, truly leakproof, and way cuter than granny carts. On the fence about bringing your own? A single reusable bag could eliminate more than 1,000 plastic grocery bags in its lifetime.
4 and 5. Our own herb stash—and mincer!
Fresh herbs add flavor and depth to a dish but practically zero calories and no fat. They also bruise easily, spoil quickly, and aren’t cheap. So we’re all for the grow-your-own-herbs window boxes that are everywhere now. Get an herb mincer to prevent bruising those delicate leaves. If you have a black thumb, herbs in a tube are a good alternative to the fresh stuff. With a fridge shelf life of three months, your cilantro won’t go bad before you can use it up.
Because nobody has an hour to devote to a midweek side dish, quick-cooking quinoa and whole-wheat couscous are truly revolutionary. With the same satisfying texture and nutty flavor as brown rice (plus more fiber), these 10-minute grains give new meaning to fast food.
2. Almonds by the pound
If you’re sick of schlepping to crunchy co-ops to buy nuts, dried fruit, and grains in bulk, you’ll be happy to hear that mass grocery stores are rediscovering these money-saving bins. That means we can buy less-processed, less-pricey raw almonds, unsalted sunflower seeds, organic trail mix, and more where we stock up on milk and other basics.
3. Generation 2.0 market bag
Buying fresh means buying often. And if you’re biking or walking to the market to stock up, you need a tote that’s up to the task. The new reusable, planet-friendly bags do it all—they’re big enough to carry loads of goodies, truly leakproof, and way cuter than granny carts. On the fence about bringing your own? A single reusable bag could eliminate more than 1,000 plastic grocery bags in its lifetime.
4 and 5. Our own herb stash—and mincer!
Fresh herbs add flavor and depth to a dish but practically zero calories and no fat. They also bruise easily, spoil quickly, and aren’t cheap. So we’re all for the grow-your-own-herbs window boxes that are everywhere now. Get an herb mincer to prevent bruising those delicate leaves. If you have a black thumb, herbs in a tube are a good alternative to the fresh stuff. With a fridge shelf life of three months, your cilantro won’t go bad before you can use it up.
Health Tip: Depression Among Seniors
The clinic offers this list of risk factors for depression in seniors:
Living alone without much social interaction.
Having persistent pain or illness.
Being overly afraid of dying.
Having a family history or personal history of depression or suicide attempts.
Having had a recent bereavement, such as the death of a close family member.
Having problems with drugs or alcohol.
Taking certain medications, alone or combined with other medications.
Problems with body image after a surgery or major illness, such as cancer or heart disease.
Living alone without much social interaction.
Having persistent pain or illness.
Being overly afraid of dying.
Having a family history or personal history of depression or suicide attempts.
Having had a recent bereavement, such as the death of a close family member.
Having problems with drugs or alcohol.
Taking certain medications, alone or combined with other medications.
Problems with body image after a surgery or major illness, such as cancer or heart disease.
Health Tip: Depression Among Seniors
The clinic offers this list of risk factors for depression in seniors:
Living alone without much social interaction.
Having persistent pain or illness.
Being overly afraid of dying.
Having a family history or personal history of depression or suicide attempts.
Having had a recent bereavement, such as the death of a close family member.
Having problems with drugs or alcohol.
Taking certain medications, alone or combined with other medications.
Problems with body image after a surgery or major illness, such as cancer or heart disease.
Living alone without much social interaction.
Having persistent pain or illness.
Being overly afraid of dying.
Having a family history or personal history of depression or suicide attempts.
Having had a recent bereavement, such as the death of a close family member.
Having problems with drugs or alcohol.
Taking certain medications, alone or combined with other medications.
Problems with body image after a surgery or major illness, such as cancer or heart disease.
Newly Pregnant Smokers Have a 15-Week Window to Quit
It's known that smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, premature birth, small babies, stillbirth and neonatal death, but no study until now has determined whether stopping smoking in early pregnancy reduces the risks of small babies and premature births, the study authors said.
"Pregnant women who smoke should be encouraged and assisted to become smoke-free early in pregnancy," said lead researcher Dr. Lesley McCowan, an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Auckland in New Zealand.
Women who don't quit smoking by 15 weeks are three times more likely to give birth prematurely and twice as likely to have smaller babies, compared to women who stopped smoking, McCowan said.
The findings were published in the March 27 online issue of BMJ.
For the study, McCowan's team collected data on 2,504 pregnant women. Eighty percent did not smoke, 10 percent had quit smoking and 10 percent were current smokers.
There was no difference in the rate of spontaneous premature birth between women who did not smoke and those who had stopped by week 15 (4 percent vs. 4 percent). The same was true for having smaller babies (10 percent vs. 10 percent), the researchers found.
However, women who continued to smoke had higher rates of spontaneous preterm birth than woman who quit (10 percent vs. 4 percent) and higher rates of smaller babies (17 percent vs. 10 percent).
The study also found that women who stopped smoking weren't more stressed than women who continued to smoke, McCowan noted.
"Health professionals who care for pregnant women need to ask about smoking, advise about the importance of stopping, and, where possible, refer for extra support early in pregnancy to assist women to become smoke-free," she advised.
Dr. Richard Frieder, an associate clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of California, Los Angeles David Geffen School of Medicine, said the study authors didn't explain whether this difference in low birth weight and gestational age at delivery actually translates into a measurable difference in newborn health.
"We assume this to be true, but there was only about a half pound difference in birth weight and six days difference in gestational age. These numbers are not very impressive that one would think a big difference in neonatal health would be achieved. Still, we should assume that a half pound and six days more of gestation is better and that we should strive to help women stop smoking," he said.
There are other big issues at play when it comes to babies, women and cigarette smoke, Frieder added.
"Pregnant women who smoke should be encouraged and assisted to become smoke-free early in pregnancy," said lead researcher Dr. Lesley McCowan, an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Auckland in New Zealand.
Women who don't quit smoking by 15 weeks are three times more likely to give birth prematurely and twice as likely to have smaller babies, compared to women who stopped smoking, McCowan said.
The findings were published in the March 27 online issue of BMJ.
For the study, McCowan's team collected data on 2,504 pregnant women. Eighty percent did not smoke, 10 percent had quit smoking and 10 percent were current smokers.
There was no difference in the rate of spontaneous premature birth between women who did not smoke and those who had stopped by week 15 (4 percent vs. 4 percent). The same was true for having smaller babies (10 percent vs. 10 percent), the researchers found.
However, women who continued to smoke had higher rates of spontaneous preterm birth than woman who quit (10 percent vs. 4 percent) and higher rates of smaller babies (17 percent vs. 10 percent).
The study also found that women who stopped smoking weren't more stressed than women who continued to smoke, McCowan noted.
"Health professionals who care for pregnant women need to ask about smoking, advise about the importance of stopping, and, where possible, refer for extra support early in pregnancy to assist women to become smoke-free," she advised.
Dr. Richard Frieder, an associate clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of California, Los Angeles David Geffen School of Medicine, said the study authors didn't explain whether this difference in low birth weight and gestational age at delivery actually translates into a measurable difference in newborn health.
"We assume this to be true, but there was only about a half pound difference in birth weight and six days difference in gestational age. These numbers are not very impressive that one would think a big difference in neonatal health would be achieved. Still, we should assume that a half pound and six days more of gestation is better and that we should strive to help women stop smoking," he said.
There are other big issues at play when it comes to babies, women and cigarette smoke, Frieder added.
Newly Pregnant Smokers Have a 15-Week Window to Quit
It's known that smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, premature birth, small babies, stillbirth and neonatal death, but no study until now has determined whether stopping smoking in early pregnancy reduces the risks of small babies and premature births, the study authors said.
"Pregnant women who smoke should be encouraged and assisted to become smoke-free early in pregnancy," said lead researcher Dr. Lesley McCowan, an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Auckland in New Zealand.
Women who don't quit smoking by 15 weeks are three times more likely to give birth prematurely and twice as likely to have smaller babies, compared to women who stopped smoking, McCowan said.
The findings were published in the March 27 online issue of BMJ.
For the study, McCowan's team collected data on 2,504 pregnant women. Eighty percent did not smoke, 10 percent had quit smoking and 10 percent were current smokers.
There was no difference in the rate of spontaneous premature birth between women who did not smoke and those who had stopped by week 15 (4 percent vs. 4 percent). The same was true for having smaller babies (10 percent vs. 10 percent), the researchers found.
However, women who continued to smoke had higher rates of spontaneous preterm birth than woman who quit (10 percent vs. 4 percent) and higher rates of smaller babies (17 percent vs. 10 percent).
The study also found that women who stopped smoking weren't more stressed than women who continued to smoke, McCowan noted.
"Health professionals who care for pregnant women need to ask about smoking, advise about the importance of stopping, and, where possible, refer for extra support early in pregnancy to assist women to become smoke-free," she advised.
Dr. Richard Frieder, an associate clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of California, Los Angeles David Geffen School of Medicine, said the study authors didn't explain whether this difference in low birth weight and gestational age at delivery actually translates into a measurable difference in newborn health.
"We assume this to be true, but there was only about a half pound difference in birth weight and six days difference in gestational age. These numbers are not very impressive that one would think a big difference in neonatal health would be achieved. Still, we should assume that a half pound and six days more of gestation is better and that we should strive to help women stop smoking," he said.
There are other big issues at play when it comes to babies, women and cigarette smoke, Frieder added.
"Pregnant women who smoke should be encouraged and assisted to become smoke-free early in pregnancy," said lead researcher Dr. Lesley McCowan, an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Auckland in New Zealand.
Women who don't quit smoking by 15 weeks are three times more likely to give birth prematurely and twice as likely to have smaller babies, compared to women who stopped smoking, McCowan said.
The findings were published in the March 27 online issue of BMJ.
For the study, McCowan's team collected data on 2,504 pregnant women. Eighty percent did not smoke, 10 percent had quit smoking and 10 percent were current smokers.
There was no difference in the rate of spontaneous premature birth between women who did not smoke and those who had stopped by week 15 (4 percent vs. 4 percent). The same was true for having smaller babies (10 percent vs. 10 percent), the researchers found.
However, women who continued to smoke had higher rates of spontaneous preterm birth than woman who quit (10 percent vs. 4 percent) and higher rates of smaller babies (17 percent vs. 10 percent).
The study also found that women who stopped smoking weren't more stressed than women who continued to smoke, McCowan noted.
"Health professionals who care for pregnant women need to ask about smoking, advise about the importance of stopping, and, where possible, refer for extra support early in pregnancy to assist women to become smoke-free," she advised.
Dr. Richard Frieder, an associate clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of California, Los Angeles David Geffen School of Medicine, said the study authors didn't explain whether this difference in low birth weight and gestational age at delivery actually translates into a measurable difference in newborn health.
"We assume this to be true, but there was only about a half pound difference in birth weight and six days difference in gestational age. These numbers are not very impressive that one would think a big difference in neonatal health would be achieved. Still, we should assume that a half pound and six days more of gestation is better and that we should strive to help women stop smoking," he said.
There are other big issues at play when it comes to babies, women and cigarette smoke, Frieder added.
Sexuality
Sexuality is often defined simply in terms of sex, but sexuality encompasses many different aspects of our lives beyond just sex alone. Sexuality is determined in part by our genetics and in part by the social expression of our underlining heredity and interaction with others. Three common ways in which sexuality has been described are in terms of: sexual behavior, sexual orientation, and sexual identity. However sexuality like many other aspects of our lives can be best understood holistically whereby both the internal (i.e. sexual identity, sexual orientation, etc.) and external (i.e. gender socialization, voluntary celibacy, etc.) factors that influence sexuality can be addressed.
The majority of educational resources available on sexuality focus on internal factors such as sexual behavior, sexual identity, and sexual orientation. These factors are important to sexuality given that they are responsible for influencing how we think, feel, and act out our unconscious expressions of sexuality. Although the internal factors related to sexuality are in part genetically determined (also referred to as biological determinism), human beings are rational beings and therefore have the ability to exercise choice in determining whether or not these internal factors get expressed publicly. Moreover, internal factors are not necessarily static and thus can change over time as we age and experience new places, situations, and people.
However what often gets neglected in discussions on sexuality is a dialogue on the diversity of external influences on sexuality. The most well known external influence on sexuality is gender socialization, which occurs in almost all aspects of our community including our family, school, media, and even politics. Some external influences that are less often associated to the development and expression of sexuality are sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, the presence of conflict or war, and spirituality, which could be thought of as both internally and externally influencing.
Of course the two greatest influencing factors on sexuality throughout history have been culture and religion. Culture is one of the central ways human beings define and express themselves including in terms of how we develop sexually. Cross-culturally sexuality means different things, and the expression of sexuality has different restrictions (or none at all) depending on where you go and who you talk to. Generally speaking, culture carries the most weight in sanctioning the expression, suppression, misuse, and even loving gesture of sexuality.
Despite what some people might think religion’s influence over sexuality is not about restrictions instead religion acts as a means by which sexuality can be channeled for the purposes of expression and even celebration. Although different religious doctrines propose a diversity of mandates when it comes to the ways in which sexuality should be channeled, most religions produce specifications on the basis of martial status, sex, and one’s personal spiritual growth.
Over the years as sexual expression has increased in many parts of the world so has the use of sexuality for the purposes of abuse. Project Respect (http://www.yesmeansyes.com) is a non-profit organization that focuses on educating youth, young adults, and adults on various means of prevention with concern to sexual violence (i.e. rape, sexual assault) and on the sharing of prevention strategies with the rest of the community. The ultimate goal of this organization is to erase the presence of violence in sexuality and to promote a world of sexual expression without fear of harm.
References
Asexual Visibility and Education Network
http://www.asexuality.org
Project Respect (http://www.yesmeansyes.com/)
Glossary
Biological determinism = the belief that human behaviors, thoughts, and even choices are controlled by their genetics.
Sexual behavior = a set of actions directed towards sexual ends (purposes).
Sexual identity = a descriptor used to refer to a collection of traits associated with an individual in terms of how they perceive themselves sexually.
Sexual orientation = reflects a preference for sexual expression towards another based on the sex of the other individual.
The majority of educational resources available on sexuality focus on internal factors such as sexual behavior, sexual identity, and sexual orientation. These factors are important to sexuality given that they are responsible for influencing how we think, feel, and act out our unconscious expressions of sexuality. Although the internal factors related to sexuality are in part genetically determined (also referred to as biological determinism), human beings are rational beings and therefore have the ability to exercise choice in determining whether or not these internal factors get expressed publicly. Moreover, internal factors are not necessarily static and thus can change over time as we age and experience new places, situations, and people.
However what often gets neglected in discussions on sexuality is a dialogue on the diversity of external influences on sexuality. The most well known external influence on sexuality is gender socialization, which occurs in almost all aspects of our community including our family, school, media, and even politics. Some external influences that are less often associated to the development and expression of sexuality are sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, the presence of conflict or war, and spirituality, which could be thought of as both internally and externally influencing.
Of course the two greatest influencing factors on sexuality throughout history have been culture and religion. Culture is one of the central ways human beings define and express themselves including in terms of how we develop sexually. Cross-culturally sexuality means different things, and the expression of sexuality has different restrictions (or none at all) depending on where you go and who you talk to. Generally speaking, culture carries the most weight in sanctioning the expression, suppression, misuse, and even loving gesture of sexuality.
Despite what some people might think religion’s influence over sexuality is not about restrictions instead religion acts as a means by which sexuality can be channeled for the purposes of expression and even celebration. Although different religious doctrines propose a diversity of mandates when it comes to the ways in which sexuality should be channeled, most religions produce specifications on the basis of martial status, sex, and one’s personal spiritual growth.
Over the years as sexual expression has increased in many parts of the world so has the use of sexuality for the purposes of abuse. Project Respect (http://www.yesmeansyes.com) is a non-profit organization that focuses on educating youth, young adults, and adults on various means of prevention with concern to sexual violence (i.e. rape, sexual assault) and on the sharing of prevention strategies with the rest of the community. The ultimate goal of this organization is to erase the presence of violence in sexuality and to promote a world of sexual expression without fear of harm.
References
Asexual Visibility and Education Network
http://www.asexuality.org
Project Respect (http://www.yesmeansyes.com/)
Glossary
Biological determinism = the belief that human behaviors, thoughts, and even choices are controlled by their genetics.
Sexual behavior = a set of actions directed towards sexual ends (purposes).
Sexual identity = a descriptor used to refer to a collection of traits associated with an individual in terms of how they perceive themselves sexually.
Sexual orientation = reflects a preference for sexual expression towards another based on the sex of the other individual.
Sexuality
Sexuality is often defined simply in terms of sex, but sexuality encompasses many different aspects of our lives beyond just sex alone. Sexuality is determined in part by our genetics and in part by the social expression of our underlining heredity and interaction with others. Three common ways in which sexuality has been described are in terms of: sexual behavior, sexual orientation, and sexual identity. However sexuality like many other aspects of our lives can be best understood holistically whereby both the internal (i.e. sexual identity, sexual orientation, etc.) and external (i.e. gender socialization, voluntary celibacy, etc.) factors that influence sexuality can be addressed.
The majority of educational resources available on sexuality focus on internal factors such as sexual behavior, sexual identity, and sexual orientation. These factors are important to sexuality given that they are responsible for influencing how we think, feel, and act out our unconscious expressions of sexuality. Although the internal factors related to sexuality are in part genetically determined (also referred to as biological determinism), human beings are rational beings and therefore have the ability to exercise choice in determining whether or not these internal factors get expressed publicly. Moreover, internal factors are not necessarily static and thus can change over time as we age and experience new places, situations, and people.
However what often gets neglected in discussions on sexuality is a dialogue on the diversity of external influences on sexuality. The most well known external influence on sexuality is gender socialization, which occurs in almost all aspects of our community including our family, school, media, and even politics. Some external influences that are less often associated to the development and expression of sexuality are sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, the presence of conflict or war, and spirituality, which could be thought of as both internally and externally influencing.
Of course the two greatest influencing factors on sexuality throughout history have been culture and religion. Culture is one of the central ways human beings define and express themselves including in terms of how we develop sexually. Cross-culturally sexuality means different things, and the expression of sexuality has different restrictions (or none at all) depending on where you go and who you talk to. Generally speaking, culture carries the most weight in sanctioning the expression, suppression, misuse, and even loving gesture of sexuality.
Despite what some people might think religion’s influence over sexuality is not about restrictions instead religion acts as a means by which sexuality can be channeled for the purposes of expression and even celebration. Although different religious doctrines propose a diversity of mandates when it comes to the ways in which sexuality should be channeled, most religions produce specifications on the basis of martial status, sex, and one’s personal spiritual growth.
Over the years as sexual expression has increased in many parts of the world so has the use of sexuality for the purposes of abuse. Project Respect (http://www.yesmeansyes.com) is a non-profit organization that focuses on educating youth, young adults, and adults on various means of prevention with concern to sexual violence (i.e. rape, sexual assault) and on the sharing of prevention strategies with the rest of the community. The ultimate goal of this organization is to erase the presence of violence in sexuality and to promote a world of sexual expression without fear of harm.
References
Asexual Visibility and Education Network
http://www.asexuality.org
Project Respect (http://www.yesmeansyes.com/)
Glossary
Biological determinism = the belief that human behaviors, thoughts, and even choices are controlled by their genetics.
Sexual behavior = a set of actions directed towards sexual ends (purposes).
Sexual identity = a descriptor used to refer to a collection of traits associated with an individual in terms of how they perceive themselves sexually.
Sexual orientation = reflects a preference for sexual expression towards another based on the sex of the other individual.
The majority of educational resources available on sexuality focus on internal factors such as sexual behavior, sexual identity, and sexual orientation. These factors are important to sexuality given that they are responsible for influencing how we think, feel, and act out our unconscious expressions of sexuality. Although the internal factors related to sexuality are in part genetically determined (also referred to as biological determinism), human beings are rational beings and therefore have the ability to exercise choice in determining whether or not these internal factors get expressed publicly. Moreover, internal factors are not necessarily static and thus can change over time as we age and experience new places, situations, and people.
However what often gets neglected in discussions on sexuality is a dialogue on the diversity of external influences on sexuality. The most well known external influence on sexuality is gender socialization, which occurs in almost all aspects of our community including our family, school, media, and even politics. Some external influences that are less often associated to the development and expression of sexuality are sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, the presence of conflict or war, and spirituality, which could be thought of as both internally and externally influencing.
Of course the two greatest influencing factors on sexuality throughout history have been culture and religion. Culture is one of the central ways human beings define and express themselves including in terms of how we develop sexually. Cross-culturally sexuality means different things, and the expression of sexuality has different restrictions (or none at all) depending on where you go and who you talk to. Generally speaking, culture carries the most weight in sanctioning the expression, suppression, misuse, and even loving gesture of sexuality.
Despite what some people might think religion’s influence over sexuality is not about restrictions instead religion acts as a means by which sexuality can be channeled for the purposes of expression and even celebration. Although different religious doctrines propose a diversity of mandates when it comes to the ways in which sexuality should be channeled, most religions produce specifications on the basis of martial status, sex, and one’s personal spiritual growth.
Over the years as sexual expression has increased in many parts of the world so has the use of sexuality for the purposes of abuse. Project Respect (http://www.yesmeansyes.com) is a non-profit organization that focuses on educating youth, young adults, and adults on various means of prevention with concern to sexual violence (i.e. rape, sexual assault) and on the sharing of prevention strategies with the rest of the community. The ultimate goal of this organization is to erase the presence of violence in sexuality and to promote a world of sexual expression without fear of harm.
References
Asexual Visibility and Education Network
http://www.asexuality.org
Project Respect (http://www.yesmeansyes.com/)
Glossary
Biological determinism = the belief that human behaviors, thoughts, and even choices are controlled by their genetics.
Sexual behavior = a set of actions directed towards sexual ends (purposes).
Sexual identity = a descriptor used to refer to a collection of traits associated with an individual in terms of how they perceive themselves sexually.
Sexual orientation = reflects a preference for sexual expression towards another based on the sex of the other individual.
Fitness & Sport
The busier our lives get, the more dependent we become on things that make our lives easier. Unfortunately, time-savers, such as cars, computers and television sets can also encourage us to be less active in addition to disconnecting us from interacting with the ‘natural environment.’
Unlike most attributes, defining physical fitness is not a subjective matter; in fact determining what it means to be physically fit can be a matter of life and death. Some of the physiological characteristics most often characterized as a measure of physical fitness are: Cardiorespiratory endurance, muscular strength and endurance, body composition, flexibility, and mental clarity. These components of physical fitness are primarily influenced by regular physical and mental exercise. Besides the ‘outer’ benefits of physical fitness, regular exercise has been linked to improvements in self-esteem, reduced anxiety and depression, in addition to better endurance, and lowering the risk of heart disease (www.who.int).
It is a great thing to be a fitness “nut” but not so great to be a nutty person obsessed about being fit. Being physically fit is a way of life that is part of an overall healthy lifestyle. However social pressures to be thin or very full figured has distorted the importance of being physically fit. As a result many developed nations and even some developing countries have seen physical and mental disorders such as anorexia and obesity climb to an all time high within their populations.
We all know that when we think of sports the first thing that pops into our mind is the environment…umm well maybe not all of us think that way but some of us definitely should. Cross-culturally participation in sports has had both a positive and negative impact on the environment and our ability to sustain it.
According to the environmental protection division of the United Nations (www.unep.org/sport_env/) threats like soil and water pollution as a result of pesticide use on sport fields along with spectator traffic can lead to long-term environmental damage. While at the same time environmental instability poses a real threat to the future of most outdoor sports as a consequence of threats such as air pollution, which has been linked to a rise in the number of diagnosed respiratory illnesses (www.unep.org/sport_env/).
When it comes to engaging the world’s youth through sport the non-profit organization (NGO) Right to Play takes top honours. With projects across Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, Right to Play promotes healthy lifestyles, life skills, and even peace using the universal message of sport. The programs hosted by this NGO that garner the most attention for this super energized NGO have been the following: Basic education and child development; health promotion and disease prevention; conflict resolution and peace education; and community development and participation. Street youth, former child soldiers, refugees, and children living with HIV/AIDS have benefited from these programs and by inspiring international sport ambassadors made up of Olympians and famous athletes.
Remember to PLAY to LIVE and LOVE the SPORT!
References
MEDICAL NEWS TODAY
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com
News at the University of Toronto
http://www.news.utoronto.ca
Right to Play
http://www.righttoplay.com
Sport and the Environment
http://www.unep.org/sport_env/
World Health Organization
www.who.int
Glossary
Body composition = refers to the relative amount of muscle, fat, bone, and other vital parts of the body
Cardiorespiratory endurance = is the ability of the body's circulatory and respiratory systems to supply fuel during sustained physical activity
Flexibility = is the range of motion around a joint
Mental Clarity = the method by which the human mind handles stress and life in general, which is influenced by the overall effectiveness of the method.
Unlike most attributes, defining physical fitness is not a subjective matter; in fact determining what it means to be physically fit can be a matter of life and death. Some of the physiological characteristics most often characterized as a measure of physical fitness are: Cardiorespiratory endurance, muscular strength and endurance, body composition, flexibility, and mental clarity. These components of physical fitness are primarily influenced by regular physical and mental exercise. Besides the ‘outer’ benefits of physical fitness, regular exercise has been linked to improvements in self-esteem, reduced anxiety and depression, in addition to better endurance, and lowering the risk of heart disease (www.who.int).
It is a great thing to be a fitness “nut” but not so great to be a nutty person obsessed about being fit. Being physically fit is a way of life that is part of an overall healthy lifestyle. However social pressures to be thin or very full figured has distorted the importance of being physically fit. As a result many developed nations and even some developing countries have seen physical and mental disorders such as anorexia and obesity climb to an all time high within their populations.
We all know that when we think of sports the first thing that pops into our mind is the environment…umm well maybe not all of us think that way but some of us definitely should. Cross-culturally participation in sports has had both a positive and negative impact on the environment and our ability to sustain it.
According to the environmental protection division of the United Nations (www.unep.org/sport_env/) threats like soil and water pollution as a result of pesticide use on sport fields along with spectator traffic can lead to long-term environmental damage. While at the same time environmental instability poses a real threat to the future of most outdoor sports as a consequence of threats such as air pollution, which has been linked to a rise in the number of diagnosed respiratory illnesses (www.unep.org/sport_env/).
When it comes to engaging the world’s youth through sport the non-profit organization (NGO) Right to Play takes top honours. With projects across Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, Right to Play promotes healthy lifestyles, life skills, and even peace using the universal message of sport. The programs hosted by this NGO that garner the most attention for this super energized NGO have been the following: Basic education and child development; health promotion and disease prevention; conflict resolution and peace education; and community development and participation. Street youth, former child soldiers, refugees, and children living with HIV/AIDS have benefited from these programs and by inspiring international sport ambassadors made up of Olympians and famous athletes.
Remember to PLAY to LIVE and LOVE the SPORT!
References
MEDICAL NEWS TODAY
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com
News at the University of Toronto
http://www.news.utoronto.ca
Right to Play
http://www.righttoplay.com
Sport and the Environment
http://www.unep.org/sport_env/
World Health Organization
www.who.int
Glossary
Body composition = refers to the relative amount of muscle, fat, bone, and other vital parts of the body
Cardiorespiratory endurance = is the ability of the body's circulatory and respiratory systems to supply fuel during sustained physical activity
Flexibility = is the range of motion around a joint
Mental Clarity = the method by which the human mind handles stress and life in general, which is influenced by the overall effectiveness of the method.
Fitness & Sport
The busier our lives get, the more dependent we become on things that make our lives easier. Unfortunately, time-savers, such as cars, computers and television sets can also encourage us to be less active in addition to disconnecting us from interacting with the ‘natural environment.’
Unlike most attributes, defining physical fitness is not a subjective matter; in fact determining what it means to be physically fit can be a matter of life and death. Some of the physiological characteristics most often characterized as a measure of physical fitness are: Cardiorespiratory endurance, muscular strength and endurance, body composition, flexibility, and mental clarity. These components of physical fitness are primarily influenced by regular physical and mental exercise. Besides the ‘outer’ benefits of physical fitness, regular exercise has been linked to improvements in self-esteem, reduced anxiety and depression, in addition to better endurance, and lowering the risk of heart disease (www.who.int).
It is a great thing to be a fitness “nut” but not so great to be a nutty person obsessed about being fit. Being physically fit is a way of life that is part of an overall healthy lifestyle. However social pressures to be thin or very full figured has distorted the importance of being physically fit. As a result many developed nations and even some developing countries have seen physical and mental disorders such as anorexia and obesity climb to an all time high within their populations.
We all know that when we think of sports the first thing that pops into our mind is the environment…umm well maybe not all of us think that way but some of us definitely should. Cross-culturally participation in sports has had both a positive and negative impact on the environment and our ability to sustain it.
According to the environmental protection division of the United Nations (www.unep.org/sport_env/) threats like soil and water pollution as a result of pesticide use on sport fields along with spectator traffic can lead to long-term environmental damage. While at the same time environmental instability poses a real threat to the future of most outdoor sports as a consequence of threats such as air pollution, which has been linked to a rise in the number of diagnosed respiratory illnesses (www.unep.org/sport_env/).
When it comes to engaging the world’s youth through sport the non-profit organization (NGO) Right to Play takes top honours. With projects across Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, Right to Play promotes healthy lifestyles, life skills, and even peace using the universal message of sport. The programs hosted by this NGO that garner the most attention for this super energized NGO have been the following: Basic education and child development; health promotion and disease prevention; conflict resolution and peace education; and community development and participation. Street youth, former child soldiers, refugees, and children living with HIV/AIDS have benefited from these programs and by inspiring international sport ambassadors made up of Olympians and famous athletes.
Remember to PLAY to LIVE and LOVE the SPORT!
References
MEDICAL NEWS TODAY
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com
News at the University of Toronto
http://www.news.utoronto.ca
Right to Play
http://www.righttoplay.com
Sport and the Environment
http://www.unep.org/sport_env/
World Health Organization
www.who.int
Glossary
Body composition = refers to the relative amount of muscle, fat, bone, and other vital parts of the body
Cardiorespiratory endurance = is the ability of the body's circulatory and respiratory systems to supply fuel during sustained physical activity
Flexibility = is the range of motion around a joint
Mental Clarity = the method by which the human mind handles stress and life in general, which is influenced by the overall effectiveness of the method.
Unlike most attributes, defining physical fitness is not a subjective matter; in fact determining what it means to be physically fit can be a matter of life and death. Some of the physiological characteristics most often characterized as a measure of physical fitness are: Cardiorespiratory endurance, muscular strength and endurance, body composition, flexibility, and mental clarity. These components of physical fitness are primarily influenced by regular physical and mental exercise. Besides the ‘outer’ benefits of physical fitness, regular exercise has been linked to improvements in self-esteem, reduced anxiety and depression, in addition to better endurance, and lowering the risk of heart disease (www.who.int).
It is a great thing to be a fitness “nut” but not so great to be a nutty person obsessed about being fit. Being physically fit is a way of life that is part of an overall healthy lifestyle. However social pressures to be thin or very full figured has distorted the importance of being physically fit. As a result many developed nations and even some developing countries have seen physical and mental disorders such as anorexia and obesity climb to an all time high within their populations.
We all know that when we think of sports the first thing that pops into our mind is the environment…umm well maybe not all of us think that way but some of us definitely should. Cross-culturally participation in sports has had both a positive and negative impact on the environment and our ability to sustain it.
According to the environmental protection division of the United Nations (www.unep.org/sport_env/) threats like soil and water pollution as a result of pesticide use on sport fields along with spectator traffic can lead to long-term environmental damage. While at the same time environmental instability poses a real threat to the future of most outdoor sports as a consequence of threats such as air pollution, which has been linked to a rise in the number of diagnosed respiratory illnesses (www.unep.org/sport_env/).
When it comes to engaging the world’s youth through sport the non-profit organization (NGO) Right to Play takes top honours. With projects across Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, Right to Play promotes healthy lifestyles, life skills, and even peace using the universal message of sport. The programs hosted by this NGO that garner the most attention for this super energized NGO have been the following: Basic education and child development; health promotion and disease prevention; conflict resolution and peace education; and community development and participation. Street youth, former child soldiers, refugees, and children living with HIV/AIDS have benefited from these programs and by inspiring international sport ambassadors made up of Olympians and famous athletes.
Remember to PLAY to LIVE and LOVE the SPORT!
References
MEDICAL NEWS TODAY
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com
News at the University of Toronto
http://www.news.utoronto.ca
Right to Play
http://www.righttoplay.com
Sport and the Environment
http://www.unep.org/sport_env/
World Health Organization
www.who.int
Glossary
Body composition = refers to the relative amount of muscle, fat, bone, and other vital parts of the body
Cardiorespiratory endurance = is the ability of the body's circulatory and respiratory systems to supply fuel during sustained physical activity
Flexibility = is the range of motion around a joint
Mental Clarity = the method by which the human mind handles stress and life in general, which is influenced by the overall effectiveness of the method.
Health & Wellness
The World Health Organization defines health as a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. Eating right, exercising, and sleeping well play an equal role in the prevention of infections and diseases. However, a good sense of self, a loving support network, and the potential for continued personal growth is also important to our overall wellbeing.
Many of us are not in control of the factors that cause us to become ill whether they be genetic, environmental, or something else entirely. There are many avenues we can take to improving our health, which include the use of traditional and modern medicines when we are ill.
However, most people cannot access or afford proper health care such as healthy sanitation and hygiene, which is necessary to prevent the spread of disease.
Moreover, a large proportion of the global population are disenfranchised because of poverty, geographic location, disability, or social stigma against those who are ill. In addition, sexual health continues to be a highly contentious issue around the world particularly with concern to the method of transmission of some of the world's deadliest diseases such as HIV/AIDS. Furthermore, one of the most pressing issues in terms of health and wellness is the education, prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS. The Millennium Development Goals seek to address this issue specifically in Goal 5: Improve maternal health and Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other diseases.
While people of all ages should maintain good health, young people face special challenges as they transition from childhood to adulthood. With the onset of puberty, the body changes to accommodate physical and emotional growth, but it also marks one of the most vulnerable stages in a young person's life. During this time, females tend to struggle more than males with body image and self-esteem issues which can lead to dangerous eating disorders and even death. On the other hand substance abuse, depression, self-mutilation and suicide have higher incident rates in males than females and if left untreated these health concerns may lead to permanent mental and physical damage.
Given that everyone’s body and medical history is different, it is important to be aware of what makes you sick and even what makes you feel better on a personal level.
There is extensive international research documenting the ways in which the health status of individuals or groups is significantly determined by social and economic conditions as well as by therapeutic care or personal health behaviours. Social determinants of health (SDOH) are social and economic conditions that influence the health of individuals and communities. A wealth
of research on SDOH provides evidence that: health follows a social gradient; stress damages health; the health impacts of early development and education lasts a lifetime; poverty and social exclusion cost lives; stress in the workplace increases the risk of disease; job security improves health;
unemployment causes illness and premature death; social supports and supportive networks improve health; alcohol, drug and tobacco use are influenced by the social setting; healthy food is a political issue; and healthy transport means walking and cycling and good public transport. Other basic determinants of health, such as genetics, interact with SDOH to present a broad overview of why
some individuals and communities are healthy while others are not.
In 2002, Canadian researchers, policy-makers and community representatives gathered together at a conference entitled “The Social Determinants of Health Across the Life-Span” to comment upon and discuss the current state and health
implications of key SDOH in Canada. The conference produced “The Toronto
Charter for a Healthy Canada” which identified ten key SDOH for Canadians as recognized in Health Canada and World Health Organization (WHO) documents. The ten determinants, in alphabetical order, include: early life; education; employment and working conditions; food security; health services; housing; income and income distribution; social in/exclusion; the social safety net (including contributions from the voluntary and community sector); and unemployment and job security. SDOH are directly related to the ways in which resources are organized and distributed among the members of a society.
Many of us are not in control of the factors that cause us to become ill whether they be genetic, environmental, or something else entirely. There are many avenues we can take to improving our health, which include the use of traditional and modern medicines when we are ill.
However, most people cannot access or afford proper health care such as healthy sanitation and hygiene, which is necessary to prevent the spread of disease.
Moreover, a large proportion of the global population are disenfranchised because of poverty, geographic location, disability, or social stigma against those who are ill. In addition, sexual health continues to be a highly contentious issue around the world particularly with concern to the method of transmission of some of the world's deadliest diseases such as HIV/AIDS. Furthermore, one of the most pressing issues in terms of health and wellness is the education, prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS. The Millennium Development Goals seek to address this issue specifically in Goal 5: Improve maternal health and Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other diseases.
While people of all ages should maintain good health, young people face special challenges as they transition from childhood to adulthood. With the onset of puberty, the body changes to accommodate physical and emotional growth, but it also marks one of the most vulnerable stages in a young person's life. During this time, females tend to struggle more than males with body image and self-esteem issues which can lead to dangerous eating disorders and even death. On the other hand substance abuse, depression, self-mutilation and suicide have higher incident rates in males than females and if left untreated these health concerns may lead to permanent mental and physical damage.
Given that everyone’s body and medical history is different, it is important to be aware of what makes you sick and even what makes you feel better on a personal level.
There is extensive international research documenting the ways in which the health status of individuals or groups is significantly determined by social and economic conditions as well as by therapeutic care or personal health behaviours. Social determinants of health (SDOH) are social and economic conditions that influence the health of individuals and communities. A wealth
of research on SDOH provides evidence that: health follows a social gradient; stress damages health; the health impacts of early development and education lasts a lifetime; poverty and social exclusion cost lives; stress in the workplace increases the risk of disease; job security improves health;
unemployment causes illness and premature death; social supports and supportive networks improve health; alcohol, drug and tobacco use are influenced by the social setting; healthy food is a political issue; and healthy transport means walking and cycling and good public transport. Other basic determinants of health, such as genetics, interact with SDOH to present a broad overview of why
some individuals and communities are healthy while others are not.
In 2002, Canadian researchers, policy-makers and community representatives gathered together at a conference entitled “The Social Determinants of Health Across the Life-Span” to comment upon and discuss the current state and health
implications of key SDOH in Canada. The conference produced “The Toronto
Charter for a Healthy Canada” which identified ten key SDOH for Canadians as recognized in Health Canada and World Health Organization (WHO) documents. The ten determinants, in alphabetical order, include: early life; education; employment and working conditions; food security; health services; housing; income and income distribution; social in/exclusion; the social safety net (including contributions from the voluntary and community sector); and unemployment and job security. SDOH are directly related to the ways in which resources are organized and distributed among the members of a society.
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