Most enjoyable topic

The part of women's health that has left a lasting impression on me is the Born into Brothels video. Watching the documentary was so intriguing and it gave me a lot of insight about life in the red light district. My heart went out to the children in the video. Zana worked so hard to get these children enrolled school and her efforts were totally doomed when many of the parents removed the kids from school. The children were my greatest concern throughout the video. I could not believe the type of lifestyles these kids lead and the exposure they faced because of what I believe to be a generational curse. Sadly to say, many of the girls in the documentary probably ended up being prostitutes for no other reason than to have the basic necessities of life. After watching the video I developed an interest in advocating against women and human trafficking. I only hope time will allow for me to explore this health issue in the future.

Female Circumcision

Wow, the video about the female circumcision is unbelievable. Growing up in an American culture which is educated compared to these villagers makes it extremely difficult for me to understand how someone can believe that cutting a women's clitoris off will keep her from dying because it will prevent the clitoris from growing into her head. When I began watching the video I thought the reason the female circumcision would be much different, perhaps it would keep the girls pure or prevent them from having sexual temptations. I'm glad the did not include actually footage of the atrocious practice; it would have been too much for me to watch. Knowing that this belief is a cultural way of life is sad because the people are really committed to keeping the practice as it is. It just seems like it's an old wise tale that turned into extreme skepticism and it's really sad.

TWU Smoke Free

I am not a smoker but I believe our campus should have designated areas for smoking. The reason I say this is because although we know smoking is not good for us, I believe it is something a person can not just stop cold turkey. Most people who smoke can not go long without getting nicotine because they may get headaches or feel anxious. There are many withdrawal from smoking and if I were a smoker I think not being able to smoke between classes would lead to a distraction in my lectures. I believe as an effort to discourage the smokers of their bad habit the smoking areas should post facts and statistics about the side effects of smoking. This would hopefully made the smokers think about what they are doing to their health.

Living with a chronic illness

For this blog I decided to interview my father who has been totally disabled since May of 2000. After my father became ill he was not diagnosed until a year from his intial symptoms. When my father was diagnosed with Ankylosing Spondylitis I experienced alot with him but there were many experiences he encounter that I didn't understand nor did I know how it affected him as a man.After my father was diagnosed with Ankylosing Spondylitis which is a serve form of arthritis in the spine, he became totally disabled. When I ask my father how becoming disabled made him feel he said, " it was very frustrating because I could no longer support my family and give them the basis needs". He also told me he had alot of guilt for several years because our family loss our home due to the halt of his income. My father also explained dealing with fear and depression because of the disease and feeling shameful for being ill.Once a week my father has to give himself injections for the Ankylosing Spodylitis. The shot allows him to function without pain and it also reduces inflammation in his joints. My father told me that he recently bought a treadmill to exercise on which helps with his disease and controls his weight. Although he is not able to work he currently volunteer's at his church as the security guard and he takes my mother to and from work everyday. He says that living with his disease has become easier because he now has medicine to control his pain and he now able to contribute to the family income since he gained approval for his disability.

Interview of Woman Taking HRT

At the age of 41 my bestfriend has started having early symptoms of menopause. For the past 8 month she has complained about her breast being continuously sore and a increase in bust size during her menstrual. After dealing with the agony for several months she decided to see and doctor and thats when she was informed that her unpleasant breast pains were because of menopause. My friend was very surprised that it happened so early but she also learn that her mother experience menopause rather early too. She has decided to take hormone treatments and hope she can find a way to deal with her new life and menopause. She also hopes her mood swings doesn't run her boy friend running in a different direction!

STD Statements

"Many people equate STDs with immorality, promiscuous behavior and low social status". The question is do you or do you not believe this is true. Excuse me if the my seem blunt but having an STDs is not like cheating on spouse. I don't think that a person should not be label as immoral if they contact an STD. After all, all is take contract any STD is have sex once. Immorality is passing the STD around, Immorality is having an STD and choosing not to tell you sex partner about your disease. I have a girlfriend who is the greatest person I have ever meet and unfortunately she got the gift that never leaves, herpes. The immoral person in this situation was the guy she sleep with who knew he had the disease and chose not to inform her before sex. We all know that sleeping around increases your risk of contracting STDs but just because a person has an STD doesn't mean we have to assume its all because of immorality, promiscuous, or low socioeconomic status. STDs can affect anyone even your grandmother or mother it does mean they are the immoral one or the promiscuous person. Too many times my mother has observed wives of over 20 yrs of marriage discover that they have an STD because their husband cheated. Instead of making the judgment first stop and think about the underlying factors of each person case.

Choice to Parent Interview

Having children is a really sensitive subject depending on a couple or a individuals personal desires. The hard thing about making the decision to have children in a relationship is that your partners views may change over time. Unfortunately, I can personally testify to situation because it happened to me. After being married a short time and experiencing troubles in my marriage my husband decided that he did not want kids anymore and totally disregarded my feelings about the issue.

As time has past and we have taken our separate paths I still yearn to have a family. Now that I am 26 years old this issue continues to become worrisome in my mind. I am not in a rush to have children and in fact I have made several goals to achieve before having kids... like finishing my education and becoming stable in my career. In spite of my strong desire to have children I have always been very responsible about birth control methods and planned parenthood. I have used oral contraceptions, plan B, and condoms as methods to avoid unwanted childbirth.

I believe having a child is a blessing but I also believe it is a personal decision to made between a couple. What works for one couple is not for all couples and it is each individuals responsible to voice their concerns about childbearing before entering a committed relationship. My only fear concerning childbearing is that it will be to late to have a kid by the time I find my true companion.

Personal Health

Overall my preventative practices aren’t bad but there is room for improvement. If I were rating myself according to the questions in the book I would say my practices are fair. Some of the areas in which I really need to improve are stress reduction, healthier eating and more physical activity. These three health concerns are crucial to everyone because I believe they must be aligned and balanced in order to live a healthy lifestyle. My ratings for these practices unfortunately are poor and it concerns me very deeply. Recently I started trying to practice better methods for eating healthier, releasing stress, and trying to find more ways to be physically active. I also started seeking preventive care from my doctor and was screened for diabetes and high blood pressure since it is apart of my family history. Some other preventative practices I am already practicing include nonviolent conflict resolutions, I do not smoke or do drugs, and most recently I started taking a multivitamin and fish oils to improve my health. My personal rating was fair and I am not happy about that rating. Therefore I have committed myself to living a life that is healthier in all aspects of wellness.

Blog 1

My major health concern at the present time is obesity and diabetes. Over the past few years due to personal life changes I have gained weight and I am struggling to loss it. As I grow older I become more and more concerned about developing diabetes due to my obesity. All of my family members on my mothers side has diabetes which they developed later in life. Most of the family members with diabetes are not considerably overweight but I'm sure the weight does play a factor. More than anything I think the disease is more heredity in my family but at the same time I also know being overweight is a risk factor for developing diabetes. I am 26 years old and an African American women, these uncontrollable factors subject me to the disease as statistics show that diabetes is common among African American people.

Doing this assignment showed me how everyones health issues and concerns vary between individuals. When I interview a 41 old Hispanic woman and asked her what her health concerns were she said, her joints and liver. She explained to me that she had recently started experiencing pains and cracking noises in her joints which has never happened before. This issues concerned her mostly because she is trys to be very healthy by eating well and exercising daily. Her concerns about her livers mostly stems from her daily drinking habits. During our conversation she explained how she thinks constantly about how she is ruining her liver and that her twin she is struggling with her liver because of health issues. She hopes to soon stop drinking as much and conserve the health of her liver.

The second lady I interview was 64 years old and major health issues were vertigo and arthritis. During the interview the 64 year old Hispanic lady explained that she is constantly worried about her vertigo because it is a health problem which comes and goes without any symptoms. Her arthritis was a new health concern for her because she was recently diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and now she is always aching and feeling old. She talked about how she feels tired sooner and has less energy and strength since her diagnosis for RA.After interviewing these to ladies and comparing all of her health issues I realized that every stage of your life new health issues arise and we are all different.

After interviewing the 64 year old lady I thought about what health issues I would have when I reached her age. Maybe, I will have arthritis too or maybe when I get over 40 I might start to feel more aches and pains. Each of us had very different concerns which shows that health issues are a wide spectrum.