By: Zachary Branco 7-29-19 11:10pm
As I am on vacation, I am having a wonderful time here as the weather is at least 90 degrees everyday and sometimes even hotter. Yesterday was a true scorcher and unfortunately sat out in the sun a little too long and burnt my back. Oh well, if that is currently my only problem in life I am doing something right.
In chapter 10, “Fitness”, I learned several aspects of physical fitness and health related activities that can help the body in numerous ways. First of all, what is fitness? Some may think being fit is having a six pack, being skinny and not overweight, and others don’t have an idea at all. Fitness is being healthy and well-rounded in specific areas of your body such as cardiorespiratory (the ability of the heart, lungs, and blood vessels to supply the body with an efficient amount of oxygen), muscular strength (the amount of force that a muscle or group of muscles can exert at once), muscular endurance (the ability of a muscle or group of muscles that exert force repeatedly without any sign of fatigue), flexibility (the range in motion or amount of movement possible for a joint or set of joints), and body composition (which are the muscles, bones and organs in the body).
A really good way to help achieve fitness or body satisfaction is S.M.A.R.T. goals. The purpose of these goals is to set someone on track to achieve a goal in a timely manner. The “S” stands for specific, as your goal should clearly state what you want or expect to focus on. The “M” stands for measurable, as your goal should be able to be tracked or measured to see improvement. The “A” stands for action-oriented, by this I mean what are you going to do to make this goal achievable? Which steps will you take in accomplishing this task? The “R” stands for realistic, so don’t try to do something that is nearly impossible or overwhelming. An example of a goal that is not realistic is trying to lose 10 pounds in a single day. Instead, a realistic goal would be. something within the lines of, “within 2 weeks of exercising and dieting I should lose 10 pounds”. The “T” stands for time-oriented, so setting a certain amount of time to fulfill the goal and then evaluating yourself. And some of these inter-twine with another, especially realistic and time-oriented.
A good way to make sure that these steps/goals are achieved is with the help and motivation of others. As I said in one of my other blog posts, I had a goal to lose weight and my Roomate helped me extremely. The both of us sat down and came up with a plan, goals, and a schedule in order for me to achieve my goal of loosing a certain amount of weight. It also helps when you have someone encouraging you to strive for the best and except nothing less.
Another good method to achieve goals is the “FITT Principle”, which is used to create an effective workout plan. The “F” stands for frequency and how often you exercise. The “I” stands for intensity and how hard your workout must be. The “T” stands for time and how long each set or session has to be. The other “T” stands for type and which kinds of exercise you are going to do. With this method or principle, you are guaranteed to have a healthier lifestyle and increase your level of overall fitness.
In chapter 11, “Cardiovascular disease and Diabetes”, there were some really interesting and important information all throughout the chapter but especially the diabetes area. The reason I found this more intriguing Is because I have a few family members who have diabetes as well as some cardiovascular diseases involving the heart. On both my mom and dad’s side of the family diabetes is inevitable as well as cholesterol which seems to come from every male on both sides of the family.
A serious type of cardiovascular disease is coronary heart disease, otherwise known as CHD. This disease is considered to be the greatest killer, which accounted for 1/7 deaths in the United States last year, which was over 360,000 people. CHD is is the narrowing of small blood vessels that supply blood to the heart.
There is some good news when looking into cardiovascular disease, and that is the death rates due to CVD has dropped about 30% over the past decade which is a huge number. But there are still over 17 million worldwide deaths caused by CVD each year. Even though the number has dropped, experts believe that in 2030, death rates will go up and are expecting to be about 24 million deaths worldwide. Something very interesting to me was the percentage and possibility of having a CVD changes through race, ethnicity, and gender. Apparently women, African Americans, and Asian/Pacific Islanders have the highest percentage of CVD deaths, as well as non-Hispanic black women have a 47% chance of having CVD. But races and ethnicities such as Native Americans and Natives of Alaska have the lowest percentage of death rates from CVD, to me this was just interesting and I started to think if it had to do with their lifestyle habits or environment.
On to diabetes, there are about 84 million people in the U.S. who are 18 or older that are prediabetic. Diabetes is a serious problem in the world today, to the extent that 1.6 million deaths were caused by diabetes in 2015. There are two types of diabetes, Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. Type 1 is an autoimmune disease in which the immune system attacks and destroys cells in the pancreas that produce insulin. This form of diabetes is typically known as, juvenile diabetes because it is most common in children or teens. People with this form of diabetes are required to take insulin injections on a daily basis. The people who are type 1 diabetics are a very tiny portion of all diabetics as they make up 5% of all diabetics. The other 95% go to the type 2 diabetics, which means that the body doesn’t produce enough insulin or isn’t using it properly. Type 2 diabetes is a very slow process while type 1 is a very fast acting process.
If you are out with friends or family members who are diabetics here are some signs to look out for. Your friend or family member may experience sudden weight loss, extreme thirst, excessive urination, damage to their nervous system, tiredness, blurred vision, and poor wound healing, which may lead to causes such as infections. These are just the main and most common symptoms to look out for, and if they do experience these symptoms get them to an insulin pump or injection right away.
In chapter 12, “Infectious Diseases”, there were so many gross and disturbing pictures that I honestly was not expecting and/or anticipating on looking at. None the less that is part health and there is nothing to do about it. The most valuable information that I took away from that chapter was about the sexually transmitted infections.
There are more than 20 sexually transmitted infections that we are aware of and have symptoms that can be visible and others that are not (which makes them extremely dangerous). STI’s such as chlamydia, syphilis, and gonorrhea are increasing at alarming rates and it is mainly found and reported with young adults between the ages of 15 and 24. All though anyone can be affected by an STI, it is more likely to affect women, infants, and minorities. Also, because these infections are being found a lot from the ages between 15 and 24, college campuses are at risk and should be aware of the situation at hand. It is inevitable that sexual intercourse will occur at a college campus but the school should try and use a community health promotion and offer awareness meetings, free barriers and contraceptives, and even STI tests.
The best way to avoid or prevent getting an STI is by having a low risk behaviors and having safe-protected sex. Ways to do this are by avoiding multiple sexual partners, make sure your partner is tested before having any sort of sexual interaction (even if it is oral sex, it isn’t always safe), use a latex condom which protects from STI’s, be very sanitary (wash your hands thoroughly before any sexual contact), and if you do have a STI or believe you do, don’t waste time. You should see your primary care provider and get tested, seek treatment, and tell your sexual partner that they should get tested as well. The most common STI’s are HIV, herpes, AIDS, chlamydia, syphilis, and gonorrhea which are all serious cases and can lead to some serious problems.
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