Blog 2

Gold that buys health can never be ill spent. ~Thomas Dekker, Westward Ho, 1604

Would you not all agree with Dekker? By the way, this was written in 1604. One would think that the message would have been received 403 years later. It is confounding to realize that in the year 2007, health inequalities and disparities still exist. It is even more baffling to know that women suffer the most when it comes to health issues. Given the fact that women bear children, sacrifice a significant amount of time to raise their children, cater for their spouses needs and keep their homes, you would think women’s health needs would be given priority.

The Economics of Women’s Health assignment really opened my eyes on the health insurance coverage issue and how it greatly affects women. The fact that the higher percentage of the uninsured members of our communities comprise of women was disheartening. Single women are more likely to lack health insurance than married women. I think our government should find a way of compensating single women’s households and ensuring that a plan is in place that is geared towards providing better health insurance coverage to these vulnerable families.

Blog 1

Since heart disease continues to be the major cause of mortality in America, there is need to be concerned with cardiac health. Research shows that heart disease is highly allied with diet and physical activity. For these reasons, emphasis is being placed on ensuring that individuals are watching their diets and maintaining an active lifestyle. Personally, I was diagnosed with mitral valve prolapse about a year ago. I have always maintained an active lifestyle and keenly paid attention to my diet. Sometimes we cannot avoid heart disease due to the genes passed down to us, however, there are things we can do to prevent heart disease and that is what we as a nation should focus on. Obesity is on the rise in America and continues to alarm health workers and our leaders in general.

There is a great need of reducing the obesity trend in our nation. According to Healthy People 2010, overweight and obesity affect an immense proportion of the U.S. population—55 percent of adults. Between 1976 and 1994, obesity increased by 50 percent from 14.5 percent of the adult population to 22.5 percent. Approximately 25 percent of women are overweight compared to 20 percent of men. The high increase of obesity calls for urgent awareness and deserves meticulous emphasis and consideration. Health care providers, health programs, and care organizations need to be attentive to the development of obesity and overweight in their clients and must provide facts relating to the associated risks of obesity. Fortunately, obesity is a condition that is treatable. Healthy food choices and an active lifestyle are the main cures for obesity. Health educators need to monitor the diet and activity levels of their clients. Patterns of healthy eating and exercise need to begin early in life and maintained through adulthood. Education on healthy diet patterns and an active life must begin in schools and accentuated in the work place. Frequently, people make the wrong diet choices when away from home; it is therefore important to address the impact of away-from-home eating and weight management. The objective to reduce the prevalence of overweight and obesity in adults and children should be a vital subject matter of every health educator.

Health concerns among women.

Juana Lotfipour: Juana's health concern is hypertension. Juana states that she has noticed as one gets older, the chances of hypertension increases.

Florence Agola: Florence states that she is concerned with the continued increase in breast cancer and heart disease.