One important way to help deal with stress is by getting enough sleep. We are all familiar with how our bodies and minds feel when our sleep was interrupted or just too short – we feel clumsy, inattentive, moody, fatigued, unable to focus or remember.
There are several stages of sleep and two types of sleep.
Throughout the night, we go through several sleep cycles. At the beginning of the night, we have deeper sleep – more non-REM sleep. Toward the end of the night, the sleep cycles consist mainly of REM sleep.
Studies show the many benefits, both physical, mental and emotional, of getting enough sleep.
How can you get good sleep? Avoid eating, exercising or drinking caffeine too close to bedtime. Try to go to sleep and wake up at the same time every day. Have a restful place to sleep – dark, quiet, and cool. Here are more ideas, from NPR – https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510336/sleepbetter .
When it is not possible to reduce our sources of stress, then we must do our best to cope and manage the stress we do feel. This is particularly important for people dealing with chronic stress.
Go to the BMCC Library website – https://www.bmcc.cuny.edu/library/ and click on Databases. Select Video Databases, then select Kanopy Streaming Videos. If you are not on campus, you will have to log in with your BMCC log-on (the same credentials you use to log into computers on campus). When you are in the Kanopy database, search for Unnatural Causes. Your result will say Collection on it. Watch the movie titled In Sickness and in Wealth. Answer the below questions fully.
Define social determinants of health from the readings and from the movie. Give examples from the movie and your own life. Is the US the healthiest nation in the world? Why or why not?
What are some health behaviors that lead to illness?
What did the Whitehall study show about the connection between health and wealth? Define the wealth-health gradient.
How do the lives of Jim Taylor, Tondra Young, Corey Anderson and Mary Turner exemplify concepts like the wealth-health gradient and the importance of power and control? What does comparing data maps of disease rates in the different Louisville council districts show us? What might explain the differences in life expectancy, rates of disease and rates of excess death?
Describe examples from the film that illustrate how racism imposes an additional health burden on people of color. Give examples of both “everyday” racism (being treated unfairly) and “structural” racism (access to resources, power, status and wealth) and describe how these might affect health in different ways.
What kinds of employment, education, housing, or transportation polices do we need today to promote health equity? Think about some of the programs and policies that other industrialized countries in the world have. What obstacles and opportunities exist now in the United States of America? Are there any programs or policies that you have seen in your neighborhood or community?
What is BMI? How is it defined? How is it used? The BMI does not really measure percent fat, which is body composition. What would be a better way for doctors to measure their patients’ health?
Describe the Bogalusa Heart Study. What did the Bogalusa Heart Study show?
What health issues and diseases that are related to obesity did the movie discuss?
What are the different influences/risk factors on rates of obesity?
The movie shows several cities in the US, and the maps of different neighborhoods and their rates of obesity and diabetes. Why do different neighborhoods have different rates of obesity?
Why is it important that more children are becoming overweight and obese?
Define ideal cardiovascular health. (7 factors) What are some health behaviors that can help people reach ideal cardiovascular health?
What is fatty liver disease? Why is it dangerous? How can it be prevented?
The medical community defines obesity as a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 30 or greater, while overweight is defined as a BMI of 25 to 29.9. Larger bodies have become more common in the United States in the last few decades. In population studies, obesity is a risk factor for heart disease, some types of cancer, osteoarthritis, sleep apnea and several other health conditions. Overweight when present with other factors like high cholesterol, high blood pressure, family history, or cigarette smoking, is also considered to be a risk. It’s important to note limitations of BMI when it comes to individual risk assessment – this is a measurement created for population studies and people should use caution when interpreting this measurement for their individual health. See another perspective on why BMI can be inaccurate here https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/265215.
Learn more about obesity by watching Part 1 of the documentary Weight of the Nation. All parts are available for free on Youtube.
BMI is one of measures of body composition, previously defined here. Body composition is defined as the relative proportion of fat mass to lean mass in the body. It is usually measured by percent body fat, but that can be hard to do day to day. So one approximate measure is BMI, which is a ratio of mass to height. This number does not truly give someone an indication of their fat percent and some groups of people tend to have under- or over-estimates of their body composition when using BMI (athletic people, older adults, people who are below a certain height and so on). You can calculate your BMI here – https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/educational/lose_wt/BMI/bmicalc.htm. Another measure is waist circumference, because abdominal fat puts you at higher risk for health complications.
There are more accurate measures of body composition. Calipers can be used by fitness professionals to do a skin-fold measurement to determine body fat percentage with more precision. There are also scales and handheld tools that use bioelectrical impedence to estimate a percent body fat. Less accessible are things like full body tools like air pods, hydrostatic weighing (under water), or special X-rays.
Become more active in your life. You can start slowly, by walking more places or getting off the bus or subway one stop early. Increase activity levels, including strength training and flexibility, until you meet the recommended activity levels.
You may have had health insurance for a long time, you may be covered under your parents’ plan, you may get it through Medicaid or Medicare, or maybe you don’t have it. But what is health insurance?
Most of the time, if you can get a health insurance plan through your employer, that will be a better deal than getting it on your own. What should you look for when trying to select a plan? https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/health/choose-health-insurance. Consider a few things as well – do you have a known chronic condition? What is your budget for healthcare? Are you generally healthy and don’t visit the doctor often? What is your financial situation at any given moment?
You may be eligible for a plan through Medicaid or Medicare (if you are over 65 years of age).
You may also decide to shop for a plan through the marketplace established by the Affordable Care Act – the New York State marketplace is here. Some information for young adults and about the essential plan can be found on the site.
Healthcare costs in the US are very high, usually much too high for an individual to afford. This video explains some reasons why.
From Bioscope, HUG (Hôpitaux universitaires de Genève), DIP (Département de l’Instruction Publique), Odile Fillod
Some penises are circumcised and some are not. If parents choose to do this for their infants, they will usually do it very close to birth. There are cultural and religious reasons for circumcision, and there may be some health benefits, but routine circumcision is no longer recommended in the United States.
People with testes should do a testicular self-exam monthly. Other care for reproductive health includes HPV vaccination, regular STI exams if they are sexually active with another person, and contraception if they engage in sexual activity with people who may get pregnant.
The main hormone produced by testes is testosterone (though all people produce both estrogen and testosterone). This hormone is responsible for many things like sex drive, sexual development and maturity, and so on.
Humans are social animals – we need some level of social support and social networks in order to be fully healthy. We form relationships from birth and require things like love and nurturing in order to stay socially healthy.
Our first relationship is usually with family – they raise us, they teach us, and they model love. We learn our communication patterns and coping skills from family, whether it is a mother and father, a single parent, a grandparent or aunt/uncle, an adoptive family, or a foster family.
There are several different conceptions of love. One is Dr. Robert Sternberg’s triangular theory of love, which identifies three main components: intimacy, passion and commitment. Different types of relationships may exhibit different types of love.
Dr. Helen Fisher has been studying what happens in the brain during love – see the video below.
You may have heard the term global warming, or the more current term climate change. But how can this affect our help? And what is it, exactly?
The Earth’s climate fluctuates, as can be seen in the history of our ice ages. However, right now we are experiencing a period of global temperature rise, which has led to many other changes in our climate. Most scientists believe that at least some part of the global warming effect has been due to human-made changes like the burning of fossil fuel, land use, and industry.
All of these factors will also lead to increased migration all over the world, as crop yield decreases, temperatures increase, coasts flood, and wild fires and other environmental disasters push people out. This may lead to concentration of people in urban areas, with attendant issues like poverty, violence, gang activity, and others. Read more here – https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/07/23/magazine/climate-migration.html (you may need to sign up for a free New York Times student account).
While the Earth is covered in water, most of that water is not useful for human consumption. Globally, we are already suffering from fresh water shortages and water contamination issues.
Our oceans are vital for regulating global temperature, providing a food source for humans, and providing oxygen in the atmosphere. However, human activity has put the ocean’s food web at risk and increased other effects that can be harmful to our health, like harmful algae blooms. We are also responsible for pollution in the ocean, including plastics, and oil spills. Read more here – https://www.noaa.gov/education/resource-collections/ocean-coasts/ocean-pollution.
