Short History Of Disease Essay

As the second part of this reflection paper, I selected a book ‘A Short History of Disease’ by Sean Martin. He is a writer and filmmaker also known for his other famous books like The Knights Templar, Alchemy and alchemists, the Gnostics. His films include Lanterna Magicka: Bill Douglas & the secret history of cinema. The most alluring thing which conceives me to cull this book is a history of the disease, as a medical professional, it's always tantalizing to know from where all these begins and this book reaches up to my expectations as it started from the first ever recorded disease in the history of mankind. He isn’t lying when he say this a history of the disease. He starts from the earliest bacteria to evolve on the earth, long before there was anything around to infect. This book is divided into seven chapters, each chapter describes the history of diseases in a particular era. Chapter One: Prehistory, Chapter Two: Antiquity, Chapter Three: The Dark and Middle Ages, Chapter Four: The New World, Chapter

I never really thought about of diabetes as being a health problem in my life until I diagnosed with it. My physician told me one of the risk factor for getting diabetes is family history. My family history has big impact on to been diagnosed with types II diseases. Having one of family members have been diagnoses with diabetes mellitus increase the chance to get the disease than those not have family history. He also mention that race/ethnicity also another risk factor to develop diabetes. Also, been African Americana descent played major roles to be diagnosed

To have Type I diabetes a person needs to inherit risk factors from both parents for the disorder in most cases. The disorder may also be triggered by viruses, or cold weather. Type II diabetes is more likely to be inherited within a family, but it is also possible to gain it through obesity. Gestational diabetes can only occur during pregnancy.

There are several factors, however, that can increase a person's risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Primary concern and cause of type 2 diabetes is obesity or overweight, people over the normal weight baseline of the BMI spectrum. America has always been known as the country that is two/thirds obese and many of American habits contribute to the following daily bad decisions that seem related to type 2 diabetes. Poor eating habits are the number one cause of obesity and type 2 diabetes, choosing to eat bad food and lots of soda can have tremendous effects on your weight and glucose intake. Watching too much television (T.V.) is another related issue towards diabetes, most likely eating snacks while watching your favorite show or movies. Physical inactivity causes the body to have a high blood glucose causing diabetes; muscles use the glucose through physical activity by helping the hormone insulin absorb glucose into all your body cells. Your muscles use glucose better than it uses fat. Sleeping habits such as sleeping less than 5 hours or more than 9 hours a night can affect the body’s balance of insulin and increase the demand on the pancreas to make it. Lastly, genetics has played a big role in determining if a person is at risk for type 2 diabetes. Your risk is higher if your brother, sister, or parent have type 2 diabetes. Genetics is a factor that is out of our control and it is

Symptoms of Diabetes Type II include blurry vision and fatigue. Because the cells aren 't getting enough glucose, they cannot function properly. The patient might be thirsty and hungry constantly; however, they might also exhibit signs of "unexplained weight loss" (mayoclinic.com). Other signs and symptoms include frequent infections,

The first known diabetes symptoms was in 1552 B.C. , when an Egyptian physician named Hesy-Ra, documented the frequent urination as a symptom of a disease that also caused emaciation.( the state of being abnormally thin or weak ) Some ancient healers saw that ants were attracted to the urine of people who had diabetes. In 150 A.D. , a Greek physician named Arateus described what we call diabetes today as “ the melting down of flesh and limbs into urine.” The first ever diabetes treatment was prescribed exercise, mainly horseback riding.

Accompanying genetics, environmental factors, such as lack of exercise and obesity, play major roles in causing type II diabetes.

“He will soon learn to have a thick skin about what he has” - my senior dermatologist told as we walked out of the unit for children with congenital skin disorder, in which skin peels off even with slightest friction. I had gone into dermatology for its challenging complex diseases and hoping for a future with intellectual explorations. I was shocked to see the lack of structure to deal with the psychological aspects of patients. Often, I sat besides bewildered patients, listening to their stories of stigmatization and rejection in the community because of their appearance. I believed in adapting individual approaches to different personality types and cultural backgrounds. I was unwilling to accept everything at its face value, but felt satisfied seeking for causes, asking questions, and above all analyzing the biological, psychological and social aspects of diseases. As I analyzed, I saw each disease being defined by the individual’s experience - her/his way of “being in the world”.

3. The symptoms come on gradually but many people with type 2 diabetes symptoms are diagnosed after a blood glucose test. The Symptoms include: · Feeling tired · Passing urine frequently · Feeling constantly thirsty · Blurred vision · Itching of the skin or genital area · Slow healing infections · Numbness and tingling in hands or feet · Weight loss · Tiredness · Wounds don't heal easily · Increased hunger 4. Doctors prescribe a new diet which helps to loss weight and control diabetes are high protein, high carbohydrate and high fiber diets.

Europe did not have the best of luck when it came to good health in the 19th century and it was mainly due to poor hygiene; some of the deadliest diseases were bubonic plague, scarlet fever, typhus, influenza, and cholera. Each of these known diseases killed thousands of innocent people who believed that they were doing what needed to be done to protect themselves of any one of these diseases; fortunately, yet unfortunately (depending on whose side you took during wars), disease was used as a partially successful weapon. These diseases also helped improve hygienic standards of modern day, improve medical research and medical technology we have in use to this day. Even though disease is dispiriting, it can create exceptional opportunity

There are three main causes to developing Type 2 Diabetes. The most common is insulin resistance. Insulin is a hormone that comes from the pancreas. The pancreas secretes this hormone to the bloodstream, where it then circulates to give sugar to the cells within our body. Glucose is extremely important, it is the main source of energy for our cells that make up our muscles and other tissues. Glucose is able to enter the cells with the help of insulin. Insulin lowers the amount of sugar in your bloodstream so as the sugar levels drop, the secretion of insulin from your pancreas does as well. However, in Type 2 diabetes the process does not always work as it should and sugar often builds up in your blood stream. (Staff, Mayo Clinic 2016) You do not have to be insulin resistant to develop this type of diabetes though. A second cause could be your family history and genetics, as it can be hereditary. Just because your mother or father had this type of diabetes does not mean that you are guaranteed to develop it, but you become much more likely to. As of right now researchers are not sure which genes carry the risk, but research is being done to figure out the genetic

As previously stated, there is Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. Due to the differentiation, the etiology of diabetes is divergent. Being insulin-dependent, Type 1 diabetes is brought about by the immune system eradicating beta cells, leading to the deficiency of insulin. In contrast, Type 2 diabetes has a basis that can often times be prevented to an extent (“Causes of Diabetes”, 2014).

Type 2 diabetic patients have a stronger connection in having heredity as the cause of the illness even though it can still be caused by other factors. However, if the patient has a history of family members who have had the condition it can be challenging to determine if the diabetes was caused by genetics or other risk factors (American Diabetes Association 2016).

Type 2 diabetes risk factors are family history in first or second-degree family members. race/ethnicity is also a risk factor in diabetes and if there are any signs of insulin resistance or conditions associated with insulin resistance may be an indicator for type 2 diabetes (Overview, 6). The age to began testing for type 2 diabetes is ten years old or at the onset of puberty if puberty occurs earlier than expected. The diabetes test should be done every 3 years (6).

Patients who are over 45 are more likely to get diabetes; the older you get the more of a risk you have. If the patient has a family background of type 2 diabetes, it is more likely to develop later in their lifetime. Finally, people who do not watch what they consume or how much physical activity they do, tend to become diabetic easier. In 2014, 29.1 million people were diagnosed with diabetes in America.