Emmanuel's Gift

In the United States, we have come a long way in understanding that individuals with disabilities have not only the right to life, dignity and respect but also that they have something to give back to the world around them. While watching this video, I was struck not only by the fact that children with disabilities were killed and/or abandoned, but also by the fact that their lives had no value. Emmanuel beat the odds by putting together a grant package for something as simple as a bicyle so he could bike across a country, and in doing so he impacted an entire country by passing on the generosity. Emmanuel is truly a gift to his culture because he has shown that despite years of beliefs that disability deems an individual worthless and unworthy of life, he has not only proven that he can have a dream and make it happen but also that they can make a difference in the lives of many.

Unnatural Causes

As I watched this DVD, I was amazed at how well it connected all of the things we had been discussing in class. I noticed that those individuals with more education lived at a higher socioeconmic status than those with little or no education. Each district in the video reflected a different set of issues to go with the varying socioeconomic statuses of the individuals. Individuals with little or no education tended to have poor diet and more health concerns than those who were well educated. I also noticed that the lower the socioeconomic status of the individual, the shorter their life span and the more health concerns they had, and that those individuals who lived closer to the poverty line were more likely to suffer from abnormal amounts of stress and health ailments such as high blood pressure and diabetes. It was also clear that the socioeconomic status can have a huge impact on the amount of stress placed upon an individual and can therefore have an impact on their overall health and life expectancy. It was also interesting that in human experiments it was found that those individuals who were of higher status had lower cortisol levels than those of lower status.

E's gift.

In the move of Emanuel's gift it is really heartwarming because it describes the difficulties that 3rd world countries are facing as far as disabilities go. Sometimes due to the lack of nutrition or how the lack of pure water can effect babies while they are in the womb. This is similar to Emanuel's situation. However his disability of not having a limb is very common in his country. People just learn to live with it and adapt to the situation versus really getting improvements such as prosthetics or any doctoral consent. Emanuele just asked for a simple bike, that is what started the whole journey. What struck me in this part was the fact that all he asked for was a bike and not a massive amount of money like most people especially those in the United States would ask for. With his bike that he received, he rode all around his country to advocate for people with disabilities and creating a face for these people of hope that they can accomplish anything even without a limb or disability of any kind. Word got back to the United States and they asked Emanuele to come to the US and spread his story. Which is kind of sad that they asked him to come after the fact that he had accomplished something so great. This story reminded me a lot of Forest Gump and how he ran around the entire company even though he too had a disability. Proving that exterior is nothing compared to the heart of the interior. He became good friends with Rudy who too suffered from not having legs. Only he was born with both of his and asked his parents if he could get them amputated at the young age of five and now is in many triathlons. At the end of the movie Emanuele receives a prosthetic leg and returns back to his homeland where he re-meets his father after he had abandoned them due to the fact Emanuele was born without a leg. This whole part seemed very selfish to me because he just seemed to want interest with Emanuele because he became famous for his story and made something of himself, not because he had a desire to see his son.

Sicko

I watched this documentary once before, and even though it moved me, I had no true understanding of what it was reaching for. Watching this again, after learning more about the health care system it showed such a great representation. I became angry and would leave wanting to do something to fix the problem. It leaves me with the question of why can our country not pull it together to fix the problem before it gets worse? Or is it just too late? The parts of the documentary where Michael Moore visited other parts of the world where they have Universal Health Care, showed how it worked so well. It just makes me angry that we can not have that here. It is true that every place has problems, but lets eliminate the health care one here, so we can fix the other ones. Health care is one, if not the biggest thing that is holding our nation back. I found it to be ridiculous that the people that our government deemed, "heroes" from 9/11, are now dying and living in such bad health condition because of the price of medical care. They gave their lives, time, and hearts out for the rest of us and yet we are not giving anything back to them, it is completely ridiculous. Through the documentary it gave a feeling that some governments care more about the health of their nation than our does, and that may just be a feeling of only mine but that is what the movie brings to my mind. Everyone is entitled to being healthy and the price of health care, something that is there to save their lives, should not make them lose their job, or house, have to work into their 80's or go all the way to Cuba. This problem was thoroughly expressed in a way that hit you in the face, but this should wake people up to what needs to be fixed for the future.

health care movie

It is clear from the videos that we have previously watched in class that health care is not what it seems to be. From the Sicko movie it describes how not everyone has health care in the United States and compares it to places where everyone has health insurance like Great Britain. It is proven that college graduates live two and a half years longer than high school graduates. And average life expectancies vary to the place of living. This is because places like the US make having health care/insurance nearly impossible to have and keep and health is driven by social policies. The average life expectancy for Great Britain is about 75 years old, this is because everyone is given care and not charged for being sick. Another problem is that our budgets dictate the foods we eat and the health care we receive. Sometimes people don't buy certain medications due to the fact that they are too expensive even though they are needed. Graduate level, budget, and place of living indicates how long you live which is wrong. It should be personal choices you make that create the biggest difference. However money sometimes dictates personal choices. People who are working two jobs are not getting time with their families, a full life experience, and usually have less stable jobs to bring food to the table. Most jobs these days don't even have benefits due to the cost to the company. Cortisol is a big reason for stress. It is supposed to enhance your immune function yet in stress it reverses itself and it's enhancements. This study was shown through testing people by using cotton swabs. It is pretty sad and a harsh reality check that our nation is being dictated by prices to companies and income levels indicate how much life someone can live. Everyone is supposed to be entitled to living life to the fullest.

Sicko

This documentary addressed the numerous concerns with the American health care system. 50 million Americans have no health insurance, and many of those who do have insurance are denied basic health care for reasons that are unfair or make no sense. Insurance companies have a certain percentage of claims that are rejected as a standard practice, and will often find pre-existing conditions or mistakes on the applications and use them to drop or cancel insurance policies and avoid paying for medical costs. Unfortunately, America's health care system has become a multi-billion dollar industry and the primary focus is on the bottom line rather than on the health needs of the people. As a result, many of these companies are buying politicans and medical providers to influence outcomes of claims appeals and legislation.
Upon examining the health care systems in Canada, Britain, France and Cuba it is clear that other countries have a much better system for meeting the health needs of the people. In these other countries, health care and medications were either free or available at very low cost meaning that everyone's needs were met regardless of the cost. There are no insurance cards, co-pays or pre-approvals limiting the availability of the care that is needed.

chapter 4

Diseases can be communicable or non-communicable as well as chronic or acute. Non-communicable diseases are amongst the leading causes of death in the U.S. but they are not contagious and may be caused by things such as genetics, environmental factors or lifestyle choices rather than pathogens. Communicable diseases are caused by pathogens and can be spread from person to person through either direct or indirect transmission. An epidemiologist's goal of disease prevention and control exists on three levels. During the primary stage, the focus is on immunization, health education, and promoting good health in general. This stage can be considered the pre-disease stage. In the secondary stage, a disease has been identified and the focus has shifted from prevention to controlling the spread of that disease. Preventative measures at the secondary level may not only include public health education, but may also involve things such as isolation and quarantine. By the time the disease reaches the tertiary level of prevention, the focus has become applying both the primary and secondary measures as well as preventing a relapse of the disease. This could in a sense be the recovery phase of the disease because people are recovering and life is returning to normal.When studying the health of a population, an epidemiologist would be concerned with the various rates of natality, morbidity and mortality. While many of those rates have a margin of error, an epidemiologist can use them to follow the course of a disease through a population or to determine the impact of certain lifestyle choices such as smoking or tanning beds on the health of a population. The results of those studies can be used to make recommendations about the prevention and control of diseases, but people are still choosing to engage in behaviors that put themselves at risk.