Ryan Burke
Professor John Bock
Anth. 342
20 December 2014
Response Paper 4 – How have economic development and globalization changed the ecology of human health and disease? In your discussion, include aging, infectious disease, and chronic disease. You should discuss the concept of epidemiological transitions Prehistoric humans had no notion for the differences between a PPO or an HMO benefits package, nor any reason to concern themselves. Similarly, most people today haven’t the slightest idea how to clean a fish. To be fair to both groups, our environment has changed drastically in the interim, as have our collective needs. A growing population has given rise to new solutions, so as to promote efficiency and minimize want,
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The first epidemiological transition, according to Newman, came with the Neolithic revolution around 6,000 B.C. Populations exploded as agricultural technologies advanced, but the supply of food rarely exceeded the growing need. The widespread effects of resultant malnutrition “are most readily observable in the altered growth and maturation rates of the children surviving dietary crises, their disease susceptibilities, and in the vitality of the adults. […] Another consequence of chronic undernutrition is reduced resistance to [infectious] disease” (Newman, 62). This can be seen in civilizations overly reliant on maize, such as depression-era Southerners in the United States (Bock, 14). Maize comes up short in amino acid content, which in this case led to a condition called pellagra, a niacin deficiency characterized by diarrhea, dermatitis, and dementia. Unfortunately, malnutrition has not subsided with the passing of time, and industrialized agriculture has supplanted infectious disease with its chronic counterpart, at an alarming rate of morbidity.
A large contributor to this most recent epidemiological transition is the old guard of food conglomerates like corn and milk. An informal investigation of the packaged food in the local supermarket will confirm this assertion. Corn, in one form or another, is contained in almost every iteration of “junk food” distributed around the world. From snack
The emergence of agriculture was a major stepping stone in human history. During this birth of agriculture, also known as the Neolithic revolution, humans began inhabiting permanent settlements, grow their own crops, and domesticate both plants and animals for food (Weisdorf, 2005). Considering humans have been hunter-gatherers for the majority of their approximately 7 million years of existence, the emergence of agriculture in the Old World only occurring 10,000-5,000 years ago, marks a significant transformation in food sustenance techniques (Weisdorf, 2005). However, this turning point in history is associated with both positive and negative implications. There is much controversy over whether or not the introduction of
-3 x 1.66 pts. = minus 5 pts. = 45 pts. out of 50 pts. = 90%
Corn even turned up in French fries (23 percent).” (Patrigenaru) What is wrong with all this corn? Growing corn involves an abundance amount of pesticides and fertilizers that release chemicals into the soils that eventually make it to the water tables underneath. the ground. That can be terrible for the environment. Also, eating too much corn can cause an abundance of calories in a diet and not enough nutrients necessary to sustain a healthy body. In other words, corn replaces nutrients with an excess of calories. Patrigenaru also points out, “More than a quarter of products in the average American supermarket now contain corn or its derivatives.” (Patrigenaru) Since corn replaces nutrients with calories and is in almost everything that is consumed in America now, it is plain to see why the United States is one of the fattest countries in the world. Processed food are becoming more and more prevalent in the American diet day to day. Kim Rhyssdal wrote in an article based on an interview, “Processed foods are, plus or minus, 70 percent of what most of us eat.” (Ryssdal) 70 percent is a very damaging piece of evidence to the conviction of the American diet. While corn is the leading source of the unhealthiness of Americans, added sugar and fat are not far behind. Tim Philpot wrote in an article, “As for added fats and sugars, their 2008 levels reached 459 and 641,
American food culture is not like other countries in the world; the diversity in foods and ethnicity creates its uniqueness. However, Americans mindset of “what should we have for dinner” and the poor decision making about food choices created the “omnivore’s dilemma” or what Pollan, in The Omnivore’s Dilemma calls the American national eating disorder. Pollan explored more about the food that Americans consume in “an investigation of food called the industrial food chain”(Pollan, Omnivore 110). While studying the products in supermarkets, Pollan realized that supermarkets offer a large variety of foods that contain corn, an unhealthy component, in most of its products. While Pollan is compelling claiming that American’s healthy food
Corn is not the ideal nutritious food. It wreaks havoc on the animal;s' digestive system and gets turned into sweeteners that makes people obese, aside from giving us an unhealthy diet. In other words, the industrial food chain that American man is sustained on is largely based on corn, whether in its direct form, fed to livestock, or processed into chemicals such as glucose, and the cheapest forms of these are high-fructose corn syrup and ethanol. The former, particularly, through a combination of biological, cultural, and political factors, appears in the cheapest and most common of foods that constitute the American diet. It is the ingredient that results in obesity, and, since it appears in the cheapest products, the ingredients that more poor, than wealthier individuals, consume.
I. Purpose for this investigation is to pin-point problems within the Roanoke branch of Phoenix Advertising which have led to the recent resignations of an art director and an account executive, increasing client complaints about quality of work, productivity and demoralization of employees within that branch.
After reviewing the Balance sheet I have a concern regarding the Current and short term liabilities. Creditors/ trade payable is payment yet to be made for goods already received, if this continues to rise then it will effect the business profit and less stock will have to be ordered so repayments can be made. Bank overdrafts also continued to rise and in the long-term the business will be paying greater interest, which will again eat into the profit. Both increased quite a great deal from the last year-end. If this continues then the business will get into bad debts and owe too much that it will end up having to sale its assets to survive. Finally I can see that due to the above issues and other issues the net current assets/ working capital has decreased so therefore the business is less value then it was a year ago. If the business is worth £1 million now, this could soon decrease within another year.
Thull, is an area where the violence of Kohistani was studied by R. Lincoln Keiser. In this region, the Kohistani, initially did not believe in bloodshed in order to solve conflicts. As elements in their traditional lives changed, Kohistani violence became more and more prevalent in their culture. Three specific changes were the main reasons for the growth in violence. One change led to another change, which then led to a third change. These changes to the traditional culture of the Kohistani were the reason for increased violence among the Kohistani in Thull.
According to Harper and Armelagos the second epidemiological transition is categorized by lower mortality rates and an increase in life expectancy. This is because there is a better control of infectious diseases, better living conditions, and more knowledge of the diseases. It has happened mostly on what are known as well developed countries such as the United States and Western Europe around the early 20th century. The second epidemiological transition is currently in progress in countries that are considered undeveloped or low income. Infectious diseases are controlled better; thus, this transition contains a rise of problems with degenerative diseases, allergies, sexually transmitted diseases, and autoimmune diseases.
When a child is born, the parents hope that they have a better, and longer life then they did. Yet for the first time in modern US history, “Today’s children are expected to have shorter life expectancies than there parents” (Life Expectancy of U.S. Children Cut Short by Obesity). The somber realization is the result of a several decade long epidemic which threatens to poison future generations and prevent them from living long prosperous lives. The obesity rate in the United States has sky rocketed in the last ten years to a staggering 34.9% of all adults (L. Ogden, Prevalence of Obesity in the United States, 2011-2012). This number is only expected to increase with the current generation of children, as diseases such as type two diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and coronary heart disease increase in prevalence (Center of Disease Control and Prevention). The culprit, is what Americans eat. Almost all the food that is accessible by the average American is processed, and therefore contains a ridiculous amount of artificial ingredients such as high fructose corn syrup (Hojjat 86). Many companies such as Coca Cola have been a contributing to the current state of the United states poor health, by advertising to younger ages and relating there product to creating a sense of happiness.
In the discussions of fast food, one controversial issue has been how unhealthy they are and how they are affecting our health due to how much trans fat, corn, and unknown artificial ingredients are in them. Pollan argues how companies are increasing their profits that its even faster than the expansion of US population due to the corn-fed industrial food
Associated with these diseases is, globalization. With globalization all around, there has been a sharp increase in global commerce/business and circulation of people.
Health of population and its distribution are affected by population-level influences, individual level health risks, and the health care system. And these factors are strongly influenced by economy, which are multiple direct and indirect linkages of globalization and the proximal determinants of health between (Woodward, et al., 2001).
In what way does globalisation affect infectious disease patterns? Discuss in relation to at least two diseases.
The need to hunt and gather for subsistence means that people are active through the day and unlikely to indulge in laziness and in wasteful overeating habits that can wreak havoc on human health. Therefore, it stands to reason that lifestyle-linked health problems, such as diabetes, coronary disease, obesity, and in some cases, cancer are less commonplace or non-existent in foraging societies. In an industrial society, we have the technical ability to alter things not intended for human consumption into “food” with questionable safety. I’m thinking about everything from aspartame to Twinkies, to genetically modified organisms… there is no shortage of examples of consumables in an industrialized society that should be considered eat-at-your-own-risk. We have moved away from consuming simple, whole foods and toward an array of fast-food habits just because we can. Unfortunately, the negative health impacts of some of these habits are becoming clearer all the time.