1) Chapters 12 & 13
As I was reading the assigned material for this module, I definitely learned a lot. In chapter 12 it talks a lot about chronic diseases and many of these diseases may have affects our lives to this day in a devastating way. I knew a lot about diabetes because some people in my family have it, but I knew nothing about Gestational Diabetes. Gestational Diabetes develops in 2-10% of pregnant women and those woman have a risk of developing type 2 diabetes in the next 10 to 20 years. The symptoms of detecting diabetes have some that I would have never thought of like hunger and the ability for woman to develop yeast infections. I did know many of the reasons for people developing type 2 diabetes, but I did not think that chronic stress was a factor.
I can honestly say that I did not know much at all about the cardiovascular system and the health aspect of it. I have never herd of Atherosclerosis which is an arterial condition characterized by inflammation, scarring, and the buildup of mealy deposits along the artery walls. I did know that hypertension was high blood pressure and that the long term effects can lead to other forms of cardiovascular diseases and can cause vision loss and kidney disease. Coronary heart disease causes the most deaths in the United States. I did not know almost anything about the different things like Angina, Myocardial Infraction, Arrhythmia and Sudden Cardiac Arrest. After reading this chapter I became very knowledgeable about the information about this. The list of the risks of cardiovascular disease is very long and increased my knowledge of what to look out for and what to try and stay away from.
Cancer is something that affects people in many different ways. There are different risk factors for cancer and some are beyond peoples control. The environment people live in can be a major cause of someone's health. The types of cancer vary and can effect people very differently and some are more common in men than woman and the opposite. Treating cancer is a very hard and painful process for the patient and can change someone's world in a blink of an eye. Changing someone's lifestyle could be the factors that help someone's cancer be cured or just be put into remission. The place you live, the food you eat, your personal choices can help the odds.
When to see a doctor can be more obvious than most things. People should get there regular check ups and going to the different doctors that are required for your health to benefit and to stay as healthy as possible. Health care can be the make or break for people to even go to a doctor because some people need to pay so much and they do not have the money so there conditions get worse. The plans for health insurance can be pretty ridiculous, but different plans can suite different peoples needs.


So how will you be a smarter consumer to help avoid these issues?
There are many different things that people can do to try and prevent these devastating diseases. Eating right, exercising and living in a healthy environment can make a huge difference. I want to try and make my daily life style better and to improve any way that I can, because I know that I do not eat as well as I can and I do not exercise that much and I definitely need to improve. Staying away from smoking and alcohol can help as well and it is a good thing that I don't do either of those things.


I found this website that estimates your 10 year risk of having a heart attack which I found interesting.
I also found this website that gives statistics about cancer and ways to cope with it or even being a loved one who is experiencing someone who has cancer.


2) I have learned many things in this module that I can take with me in the future, but learning about the ways to detect and to learn the risk factors for the diseases is a plus. I will know many different things to look out for and things to stay away from that help me stay healthy.


I would like to improve on my quiz grades, because I have a hard time with them. I will know the information and just get intimidated with the questions and over think everything too much.


To achieve success, I try and understand the text as good as I can and to participate in the discussions to the best of my abilities.


Based on the discussions, I would try and put more information form other sources and to include that in my question background. The discussions are what give me a lot of different information that helps me understand more of the information from the text.