Blog 10- Binge Drinking

In the world it is a stereotype that Russian and Irish men can drink the most and drink the most in the world. This is actually not true. There is statistics showing that this is not necessarily true. Yes Irish men do drink a lot, but there are actually women in Vietnam who drink more than the men in Russia. This just shows that binge drinking is actually a problem everywhere, not only in Russia or Ireland. There are also statistics that show that some African countries drink more drinks per week than Ireland does. People only believe that alcoholism is very common in Europe or America, but what people do not know is binge drinking is a growing problem everywhere and it is hurting many people. Another stereotype that people have is men drink more than women, but like I stated earlier there are many countries where the women drink more than the men. This is something that needs to be solved. 

Binge drinking is a problem that will always exist, but it could be reduced. I believe that if people would be taught to drink more responsibly then many problems would go away and many people would not drink to only get drunk. Prohibition would not work and I believe it would make things worse, but like I said it would be better if we taught everyone the dangers of binge drinking. This problem is not only in America or Europe, but it is in every nation and this is a global health issue because binge drinking is killing many people and it is becoming more and more popular  because people are curious. Alcohol is something that needs to be taken more serious around the world and if it is not it will continue to kill more people worldwide.

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/asia-pacific/140415/how-the-world-gets-drunk-4-surprising-charts

Blog 9- The Dengue Killer

In Brazil there has been an outbreak of the dengue fever and this is terrible problem because the world cup for soccer is being held in Brazil this summer. This article has brought up an idea that doctors are thinking about using to try and it is to genetically modify mosquitoes. The dengue fever is spread from mosquitoes and the idea of genetically modifying the mosquitoes is that the male mosquitoes they modify will go out and mate with the normal female mosquitoes which bite humans. When they mate with the females they will produce a larva that cannot survive so it will kill off most mosquitoes. The reason this may be a problem is because it would maybe kill off all mosquitoes and that is never good to kill off a species. The way it kills off the species is when the scientist modify the mosquitoes, the only environment they can grow up in is the lab, but once they are past the larva stage they can survive. They would only allow out male mosquitoes because they do not bite and then they would mate. Once they mated the larva could not survive. It seems logical, but they do not know if the modification they make could effect humans if any females were released.

This is a global social problem because dengue fever is a deadly disease. If this disease is not controlled it could cause an outbreak and kill people all over the world. Doctors are still trying to figure out the modification because if the world cup is held in Brazil and people catch dengue fever they could take it back to there many countries and it would spread like a wild fire.

Blog 8- Ebola outbreak in Guinea

There has been a huge outbreak in Guinea that is causing many people to die. The disease is called Ebola and this disease was discovered in 1976 and what it is is a virus that attacks organs and causes internal bleeding. In Guinea it is a huge outbreak that has happened and it has already caused over 180 deaths in the last week. This virus was first originally found in the Democratic Republic of Congo and was named after the Ebola river. Doctors are saying right now that this disease is one of the most deadly diseases in the world because there is no cure for it and they do not even know how to treat the disease. Doctors believe that it is transmitted from fruit bats. They say the way that someone can get the virus is from the bats bodily fluids. This is the reason that the disease is mainly in Africa because fruit bats are not common in other continents.

Ebola is a social problem because if it is not stopped it could wipe out a huge population. Ebola has killed 1,800 people since 1976 and it will continue to grow rapidly if it is not stopped. The reason this disease is a scary is because there is no cure or vaccine for Ebola and that means once you get the disease you will most likely die. Doctors say that 90% of people who get Ebola die from internal bleeding. The reason that Ebola is a global social problem is that it has been numerous countries and if it is not contained it could possibly kill many people throughout the world. This disease could be like small pox and be a disease that kills a huge population and it is a disease that needs to be stopped.

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/health/140401/why-we-should-all-be-very-afraid-the-unprecedented-ebola-outbreak-guinea

Blog 7- New Drug In North Korea

In North Korea an issue has come up in the drug world. North Korea has been known for crystal meth being its primary illicit drug for many years, but a new drug has surfaced in Korea and it is something that is apparently even worse for you the crystal meth. The drug is known as amidon and what it does is relieve pain and help people feel relaxed. This drug has become so popular because there are many people who long twelve hour days and are so tired and this drug makes them feel better. This drug was used in the second world war by the Germans and it has been a terrible drug for years. This drug is highly addictive and also very easy to overdose on. This is the reason it is terrible for someones health because it is causing many people to die throughout the world. In America amidon kills over 5,000 people per year on overdoses and is causing many people to become poor because people are selling all their belongings to get money to buy the drug.

The reason this drug is a global social problem is because this drug is becoming more and more popular all over the world and it is highly addictive. If this drug is not contained then it is going to continue to kill many people because many scientists are saying it is one of the most addicting drugs ever. Many doctors are also saying that amidon is one of the worst drugs for you because it kills so many brain cells and is ever worse for you then crystal meth. If this drug continues to spread than many people around the world are going to continue to die from it.

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/asia-pacific/north-korea/140325/north-korea-s-new-drug-addiction

Blog 6- Pregnancy in Niger

In Niger, Africa there is a huge issue going on and the issue is that there are many children dying during child birth. The reason this is happening is because there are many women in Niger that are very independent and want to help others before helping themselves. This is a problem though because when the women give everything to their family they leave themselves out and end up starving themselves. When these women do not eat it is terrible for them because pregnant women actually need more nutrients than regular women who are not pregnant. In this article the writer tells about her idea of protein bars called MoBars. Her idea is to teach the women in Niger how to make these bars that contain all the essentials of a pregnant women. Many women in Niger do not trust outsiders and her idea is to teach them how to make these bars so they do not have to be given from outsiders.

This issue in Niger is a huge social issue because there are many children and women dying because they are not eating. This is an issue that can be solved and the girl who wrote this article gave a great idea on how to solve it. Not only does it help the women be able to get there nutrients, but it also gives jobs to many people. This issue is not only a problem in Niger though, but it is also an issue in many third world countries because there are many people who are starving. So this social issue needs to be something that is solved everywhere.

Blog 4- Pregnancy is a Death Sentence

An issue has been brought up all over the world and it is how much of a risk it is becoming to have children. It has been said that 287,000 women die every year in pregnancy and the majority of these deaths are happening in developing countries. Actually a statistic says that 99% of these deaths are happening in developing countries. The reason they say this is happening is because these countries do not have good access to healthcare and this is causing many people to die because of it. This is an issue that can be fixed across the world, but the thing that needs to change is that people need to be willing to help others. Another way to help this is doctors need to make sure they do everything correctly during labor, because there should not be many women dying in labor because if mothers are dying in labor it is also hurting the children because they have to live the rest of their life without a mother. Many women are also very nervous to have children in developing countries because they are so scared of death and this is a major problem also because this is also hurting the population in some places.

The reason this is a social problem is because it is affecting many people and children all over the world. If this problem is not stopped then like I said in the former paragraph population can be impacted. It is a terrible thing that women all over the world have to worry about having a child. This just shows that people all over the world need to be more willing to help each other because most of these deaths are things that can be avoided. This is also showing that there can never be too many doctors in the world because people always need help. If we want these developing countries to develop fully we need to also be wiling to help them and show them how they can become great doctors there.

Blog 3- HIV in Indonesia

In Indonesia there has been a huge increase of people obtaining HIV and this is coming from things like prostitution. The reason they say that so many people are obtaining HIV is because 25.9 percent of sex workers have HIV. The disease is spreading so rapidly because in Indonesia many people are involved with sex workers. In Bali Indonesia it is said that there is over 100,000 clients for sex workers. This is the main reason that HIV is spreading so much, because so many people are involved with sex workers. Another reason that HIV is spreading is because safe sex is so hard for everyone there because it is hard to give out contraceptives to so many workers when they work in thousands of islands in Indonesia. It is also very expensive to give out that many contraceptives to people because it is not all funded by the government. Another thing is that many people do not want to practice safe sex so this is making the problem even worse because the more people that get HIV the more it will spread.

The reason that this is a social issue in the world is that this problem of HIV could spread everywhere throughout the world. Indonesia as a nation needs to take an act on this issue and possibly restrict some aspects of sex workers. This is also a problem because HIV is also not a curable disease so the more people that have it, the more people will die. This issue could be stopped if people were willing to help and I think the first step would be convincing people that safe sex is good and showing them the consequences of not performing safe sex. 

Blog 2- Cervical Cancer

In Guatemala an issue has arose in older and middle aged women and whether or not they are going through menopause or if they have cervical cancer. This issue has come up because many women are dying of cervical cancer or are having to receive much treatment for there issue because they do not know they have cancer until the later stages. The reason these ladies do not know if they have cancer is because the symptoms for cervical cancer are the same symptoms of menopause. There are women in Guatemala who had cervical cancer and they were asked "Why did you not go to the doctor?" and many of the women said "I thought I was going through menopause." This issue is actually happening everywhere throughout the world, but this article talks about how this issue is extremely bad in Guatemala. This article also discusses how family planning may have an impact on causing cervical cancer. The reason they say this is because in Guatemala they believe that birth control can actually lead to cervical cancer. They can not prove that this is true, but it does make women wonder if it has caused them to have cancer and causes them to get checked more for cancer which is always good so maybe them believing it causes cancer is helping them.

In Guatemala this outbreak of cervical cancer has become a huge concern to the world because it is causing many women to wonder if they are going through menopause or if they have cancer. This issue could become great because women could start to overthink things and when they are actually going through menopause they could freak out and make themselves believe they have cancer when they do not. This could cause them to have anxiety and worry too much and cause women to go into depression. There is also the other side of that argument that many women may have cervical cancer, but they just believe it is menopause. This is an obvious issue and doctors need to figure out a way to make women start being tested for cancer, but also helping them to know when their menopause stage of there life is coming. This issue could also be tragic because in many countries they do not have enough health care and if cervical cancer does not get controlled then it could start to cause many more deaths in the world especially third world countries.

http://www.globalhealthhub.org/2014/02/12/menopause-family-planning-cervical-cancer-womens-voices-guatemala/

Blog 1- Multi Drug Resistent Tuberculosis

There is an issue today that is causing much harm in places like Eastern Europe and Central Asia. There has been an outbreak in small Eastern European countries of tuberculosis and doctors have discovered that there is something different about the tuberculosis. They have found that this tuberculosis (TB) is actually harder to cure. Studies have shown that this disease is actually stronger than it has been in the past, because TB actually has a vaccine for it, but people with the disease are saying if they are treated with regular medicine than it actually makes them feel worse. Doctors have said that the problems the patients are having are very severe such as loss of hearing, loss of sight, and severe depression. This outbreak is a terrible and what doctors have found is that it is still curable, but the curing process takes eighteen to twenty four months.

This issue is considered a global social problem because this is a disease that could spread throughout the entire world if it is not stopped. Even though it is curable this issue is terrible for many people because people are losing jobs or even being deserted by families and friends because people do not want the disease or want to wait for them to be cured. This issue is something that needs to be stopped or it could become a huge epidemic. Tuberculosis is also spreading in other places and if doctors to not figure everything out then eventually it could spread to the Americas.

Riley Sigmon
http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2013/06/12/182903139/faces-of-drug-resistant-tb

Current event topic- health

Hello I'm Riley Sigmon and I am a kinesiology major. The reason I am majoring in kinesiology is because I love sports and my concentration is sports medicine. I plan to go to chiropractic school after I get my undergraduate and become a sports chiropractor. This semester I will be blogging on the topic of health because I believe health is a major contributor to competing well in sports.