Blog Post Module 12
One disease of civilization that interests me in particular is diabetes because nearly everyone on my mom's side has this disease and it has negatively affected their health and lifestyles. 34 million Americans have diabetes, which is about 10% of the population. In fact, the United States leads developed countries in diabetes prevalence, which is definitely not something to be proud of. Even further, heart disease, which highly associated with diabetes, is the leading cause of death in the United States, taking nearly 2000 Americans each day. First of all, there are two types of diabetes, type 1 and type 2. Type 1 is caused by an autoimmune reaction that destroys pancreatic B cells, the producers of insulin. Therefore, the pancreas is unable to produce the hormone insulin or makes very little of it, causing blood sugar levels to rise to dangerous levels in the blood stream. Type 1 diabetes is usually genetic and there is usually nothing one can do to prevent it. Type 2 diabetes, on the other hand, is accumulated over time and is a result of unhealthy lifestyle choices that lead to too much sugar in the bloodstream, leading to disorders of the circulatory, nervous, and immune systems. Type 2 diabetes is becoming more and more prevalent each year with the creation of easier to access fast-food options as well as a more sedentary lifestyle in the United States. Although diabetes and its effects can be prevented by maintaining a healthy diet and exercising, the way society is structured makes it very tough to commit to these practices. Since the Industrial Revolution, many jobs have become automated and computer science skills have become more prominent than ever. As a result, people are forced to sit at a desk all day, sending and responding to emails, ordering supplies, and doing paperwork. This sedentary lifestyle is very bad for human health. In our early days as hunters and gatherers, human beings were forced to constantly be on the move, hunting down prey and migrating to wherever potential food sources could be. In addition, the food consumed in ancient times was all natural, with no added preservatives, chemicals, and low doses of high fructose corn syrup. Nowadays, food is much easier to come by. One can go from sitting down at work all day, to sitting in their car on the way to a fast food restaurant, to eating this high-fat meal loaded with unnatural ingredients. In general, while I believe that innovation and technology can be good things, it is not easy to ignore the vast change in lifestyle that has occurred in developing countries from being a very mobile and active species, to one that can perform every activity they need to do in a day sitting in a chair.
The image above shows the visual impact a completely different lifestyle can have on the human body.
Works Cited
- https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/library/features/diabetes-stat-report.html
- https://endocrinenews.endocrine.org/u-s-leads-developed-nations-in-diabetes-prevalence/
- https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/type-2-diabetes/symptoms-causes/syc-20351193
- https://scalar.usc.edu/works/post-humanism--the-original-image-of-man/media/feet-of-a-modern-business-man-/-feet-of-a-barefoot-runner-1
Hi Casey,
ReplyDeleteThese are some really great points about how the western lifestyle has greatly impacted the health of our population. Sedentary lifestyles are a major contributor to increased BMI which is a major risk factor for Type 2 Diabetes. You mentioned fast food being a big culprit and something interesting that I have found out over the years is that low socioeconomic areas in the United States are more affected by metabolic disorders such as diabetes due to the presence of food deserts and low access to low fat and low sugar foods.
Hi Casey,
ReplyDeleteI also chose to write about diabetes, or more specifically type II diabetes. I liked how you looked wayyy back to the time of hunter-gatherers to draw comparisons to normal, modern life. It would be really interesting if we knew what percent of the population had diabetes back then, or if it even existed!
Hi Casey! I think you pointed out very important issues in this blog post, which are the health drawbacks that come with a more developed lifestyle. I agree that technology and innovation can be good things but they can lead to problems due to their sedentary nature. Hopefully we can get a handle on the health problems technology and fast food cause before the issue gets out of hand.
ReplyDeleteHi Casey,
ReplyDeleteFirst off, thank you for sharing your thoughts and topic in this blog post. I greatly appreciated the picture you had for reference of how different lifestyles can have obvious physical changes to the body. Diabetes is something that hits close to home because both sides of my family has struggled with type 2 diabetes throughout the years and I even have a couple cousins with type 1 diabetes. One thing that is frustrating is that diabetes affects a 1/10th of our population and yet the treatments that we have (insulin) is very experience still. Learning from my family's experiences, insulin is vital for a long, healthy life. For example, my cousin had an insulin pump that stopped working without warning. We didn't know until she ended up in the hospital with levels close to comatose that it was no longer working. Sorry for going off on this tangent, I really appreciated you talking about this disease!