1

AllAboutDisease
Diseasesareanoccurringpartoflife.Itisnotsomethingthatjusthappenstohumanit
happenstoplantsandanimalsaswell.Adiseaseiswhenthebodyhasadisorderedorincorrectly
functioningorgan,part,structure,orsystemresultingfromtheeffectofgeneticordevelopmental
errors,infection,poisons,nutritionaldeficiencyorimbalance,toxicity,orunfavorable
environmentalfactors.Inenglish,adiseaseoccurswhensomethinginthebodystraysawayfrom
homeostasis.Whenthebodyisinahomeostaticstate,itmeansthatallofitsorgansandsuchare
functioningproperly,thebodytemperatureisregulated,etc.Itisinmetabolicbalance.Adisease
isintroduced,meaningthatthebodyisfailingtokeepitselfbalancedandinturncauseshealth
issues.Anexampleofadiseasepreviouslydiscussedwascardiovasculardisease(heartdisease).
Thisreferstoaseriesofmedicalconditions,mostofwhicharecausedbyabuildupofplaque:
suchasaheartattackorischemicstroke.Anotherexamplewouldbeobesity.Anobeseperson
hastoomuchbodyfatandthiscanleadtomultipleproblems,mostcommonlydiabetes.One
morequitecommondiseaseishypertension.Hypertensionoccurswhenapersonhashighblood
pressure.Havinghypertensioncanstemfromalotofthings,butmostcommonlyiscausedfrom
heartrelatedconditionssuchasthosepreviouslymentioned.Notalldiseaseareinevitable,
though.Diseasesinoursocietythatarepreventableareheartdisease,lungdisease,diabetes.
Thesediseaseshavealwaysbeenprevalent,butwhathaschangedisthatAmericansare
nottakingcareoftheproblemsandtheyareprevalentallacrossthecountry.Itisnotthesame
everywhere.1inevery4peopledieofheartdiseasethatis610,000peopleayear.Forobesity,
1in5deathscantracebacktoitbeingoneofthemaincauses.Hypertensionfallsundereachof


2
thesecategoriesaswell,goingalongwiththeotherdiseasesatabout1in5peoplesufferingfrom
thisasacauseofdeath.Rightnow,theUnitedStateshasalowdeathratecausedbyheart
disease,butisthe27thmostobesecountryintheworld(whichgoeshandinhandwiththerate
ofhypertension).Asonecansee,therearecountriesouttherethatareworsethantheUnited
States,butinnowaydoesthatmeanthiscountryisingoodcondition.
Inordertofixthecountry,onemustrealizewhatistherootcauseofthesediseases.As
touchedonearlier,thesediseasesareinfactabletobepreventedthroughnutritionandexcersize.
Heartdiseaseiscausedbyplaquebuildupthatrestrictsbloodflow.Thatplaqueistheresultof
badcholesterol,highbloodsugar,anddrinkingalcohol.Alloftheseareselfmadechoices.One
choosestoeatfoodsthatarehighinsaturatedfats,cholesterol,andhighintransfat,aswellas
drink.Alittlechangesuchaswatchingthedailyintakeofapersoncouldpreventhigh
cholesterol,thereforeleadingtopreventionofheartdisease.Sinceobesityisadiseasecausedby
havingtoomuchbodyfat,peopleshouldbeawarethattheyareincontrolofhowmuchbodyfat
theyhave.Bodyfatisaccumulatedbyintakingmorecaloriesthanyouburnapersonislikelyto
becomeobesewhentheyarephysicallyinactiveandeatasthoughtheyareanathleteorgotothe
gym.Ifapersonweretowatchtheircaloriesandworkoutregularly,theamountofbodyfatthey
havewilldecrease,leadingtothemhavingahealthierBMIanddecreasealloftheeffectsof
obesityontheirbodies.Hypertensionisnojoke,anditiscausedbystress,andisacompliment
toobesityandheartdisease.Excersizingisagreatstressrelieveraswellasfatreducerwhich
aidsinthepreventingthepreviouslydiscusseddiseases.Drinkingtea,whichwouldbeachange
indiet,alsocanhelprelievestress,thereforepreventinghypertension.Thepeopleoftheworld


3
havemorecontrolovertheirowndestinythantheythink,andsimpledietandworkoutregimes
canseverelyalterthecourseofapersonslife.
LivinginAmerica,andponderingontheculture,lifestyle,andmydiet,Idonotfeelthat
Iamatriskforheartdiseasenorobesity,buthypertensionmaybe.Beinghere,andbeing
swallowedupinthecitylifeofLosAngeles,itisveryeasytogetsweptawayinthefastpaced
lifestyle.Growingupheremadetheadjustmenteasierforme,buttobehonest,whenIwas
youngerIhadnoconceptofthewholefrequentfastfoodtripscancauseseriousproblems
thing.IwasoverweightwhenIwasyoungerbecauselivinghere,Ifiguredthatfastfoodwas
quickandeasytoeatandIdidnothavetostopmylifeforitlikeIhadtowhenwehad
traditionalhomecookedmeals.Thismademetiredveryeasily,IaccumulatedfatinareasIdid
notlike,andIhadtroublebreathing.AsIgrewup,Ilearnedhowtobetterdealwiththefast
pacedlifestyleandrealizedhowimportantitistomaketimetoeathealthyfoodsasopposedto
foodsthatwereprocessedandhorribleforyourbody.AsIstartedtoeatbetterandeatless
(becausebeforeIwouldeatoutofboredom),Irealizedmybodychanging,Sportsareabigthing
inthecitysoIstartedtoplaysportsandthatexcersize,mixedwiththehealthiereatingchoices,
madefortheveryhealthygirlIamtoday.Iamnotatriskforobesityandheartdiseaseforthese
reasons(Ihonestlydonoteatenoughtobeobese),butschoolandlifeandareasofthatfield
reallygettomeandstressmeoutwhichcanleadtohypertension.Thereissomuchunspoken
pressuretodogoodandstayinschoolandtakecareofalltheresponsibilitiesofgrowingup
whenyouareraisedinthecity.Itteachesyouthatyouhavetobereadytobeonyourownas
soonaspossiblebecausewithalltheconstantchangehereyouneverknowwhenyouwillbe
forcedtobeindependentorbeonyourown.Thatreallystressesmeoutandthatisnotgoodfor


4
myheartormybloodpressure.IneedtolearnhowtorelaxsoIdontgoandgivemyselfanxiety
attacks.MysleepscheduleisalsoquitethrownofffromschoolandgettingbusinessdoneandI
amaverylikelycontenderforsleepapneawhichisnotgood.
Whilewemayhavecontroloverwhatweeatandhowmuchweexcersize,wedonot
alwayshavesocioeconomiccontrolintermsofwhatclasswearein,andthisplusculture
definitelyimpactstheabilityofanindividualtofollowapreventativelifestyle.Forexample,I
comefromamiddleclassfamilyinAmerica.Forustobeabletopurchasefoodandprepareiton
ourowniseasilydoableandablessingseeingasthoughwehavetheresourcesavailabletous
viastore,marketetc.aswellasthemoneytopayforit.Socioeconomicallyitallisgood.Our
culturereliesonfastfoodandmachinestomakeourworkingtimeless,sowehavemore
freedomtochoosewheretoeatandwhentoeatathomeandwhattoeatthingsofthatnature.
Tobeabletochangeourlifestylesinordertoaccommodatehealthylivingchoicesisveryeasy
itisaseasyaspickingupapplesatthemarketinsteadofacandybar.Yetnotallcountriesinthe
worldarelikeAmerica.Therearesomanythirdworldcountrieslivinginpovertythatdonot
havetheaccesstothefoodinwaysthatwedohere.Intheseunderdevelopedcountriesthe
parentsmustrelyontheirchildrentogooutandhuntorbegorbuywhatlittlefoodtheycanget
forwhatevertheyhaveavailabletothem.Theirfoodoptionsaresomuchmoreseverelyscarce
andtheygetfarfromtherecommendedamountoffoodvariations(groups)recommended.They
havehighestriskforthingssuchasheartdiseasebecauseoftheiravailablefoodsupply,and
meanstogetitalltiedtogetherwithmeanstoactuallycookit.
Nomatterhowsomeoneshakesit,questionsit,mixesupthewords,theworldreallyis
whatwemakeit.Whereweareandwherewecomefromaswellasthequirky,diverse


5
customsthatcomealongwithitisnotuptous,no.Yetthewaywereacttothechangesour
bodiesaregoingthrough,andlisteningtoitandtryingtomaintainitinitshomeostaticstateisall
inourcontrol.InAmerica,Iamallowedtosaythat.Butinothercountrieslessfortunatethan
ourswhohavetofightfortheirsurvival,unfortunately,cannotsaythesame.Heartdisease,
obesity,andhypertensionareworldwideproblemsthatareknockingoneveryonesfrontdoor.
Yet,withtheproperprecautionsandpreventiontechniques,Americacanbehealthyandfree
fromthetightgraspofsocioeconomicandculturalinfluencesoftheworldandreachastateof
stablehomeostatichealthiness.

WorksCited
Caporale,Natalia."
Study.com
."
Study.com
.N.p.,2013.Web.29Feb.2016.
<
http://study.com/academy/lesson/whatishomeostasisdefinitionexamplesquiz.html
>.

"HeartDiseaseFacts."
CentersforDiseaseControlandPrevention
.CentersforDiseaseControl
andPrevention,10Aug.2015.Web.29Feb.2016.
<
http://www.cdc.gov/heartdisease/facts.htm
>.

Lloyd,WilliamC."7ThingsThatCausePlaqueBuildupintheArteries."
7ThingsThatCause
PlaqueBuildupintheArteries
.N.p.,18Aug.2015.Web.29Feb.2016.
<
http://healthguides.healthgrades.com/takingcholesterolseriously/7thingsthatcausepl
aquebuildupinthearteries
>.

Mercola."1in5AmericanDeathsNowAssociatedwithObesity."
Mercola.com
.N.p.,21Dec.
2013.Web.29Feb.2016.
<
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/12/21/obesitydeathrisk.aspx
>.

WHO."CORONARYHEARTDISEASEDEATHRATEBYCOUNTRY."
WorldLife
Expectancy
.N.p.,May2014.Web.29Feb.2016.
<
http://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/causeofdeath/coronaryheartdisease/bycountry/
>.