“Starvation in midst of plenty” is a phrase, often used to describe diabetes. This disease became so widespread and so “important in its health complications that November 14th has been declared as World Diabetes Day” (Blumer, Rubin, 2009). One of the most common forms of diabetes is Type 2 diabetes or non-insulin dependent Diabetes. More than nine million Canadians live with diabetes or prediabetes according to statistics. Although diabetes has become prevalent in all communities across Canada, the problem has reached an epidemic level among Aboriginal people (Blumer, Rubin, 2009). They have a rate three to five times higher than that of other Canadians (Health Canada). Regarding the high-risk factors as obesity, low level of physical activity, and an unhealthy eating pattern among Aboriginal people, diabetes is a very big concern.
Firstly, obese people are more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes. Approximately 200 years ago, before their first meeting with the Europeans, the Aboriginals enjoyed a simple and healthy lifestyle. They lived nomadically, eating “seasonal foods native to Canada” (Rosenthal, 2009). Their immune system has built a protective mechanism able to adjust to non-consistent food supply in such a way they used carbohydrates in a very efficient way metabolically (Blumer, Rubin, 2009). This mechanism is called “the thrifty gene”. Unfortunately, after being introduced a diet high in calories and saturated fat they started to accumulate the extra calories as fat which lead to obesity. Also, traditional foods such as “wild game, fish, root vegetables, fruit, whale meat, and blubber”, became unavailable during the years due to pollution of water (Rosenthal, 2009). Furthermore, their healthy food was replaced with ...
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... professionals try to “marry the West and North” (Rosenthal, 2009) trying to suit diet and activity to the cultural environment of Aboriginal communities.
In conclusion, even though the rate of diabetes is very high all over Canada, Aboriginal people are more endangered, because of their lifestyle. It is proved that diabetes can cause long term complications like heart disease, high blood pressure, kidney disease etc. The best ways to avoid these diseases are to prevent diabetes by fighting the risk factors through education. Maybe if the programs are more suited to the Aboriginal tradition and culture the effect would be obvious. Fortunately, the gap created between West and North due to cultural and language barriers start to fill up slowly. It is assigned that the rate of diabetes can decrease in the future among Aboriginal people.
During the year 1889, two researchers, Joseph Von Mering and Oskar Minkowski, had discovered the disease that is known today as diabetes. Diabetes is a disease in which the insulin levels (a hormone produced in unique cells called the islets of Langerhans found in the pancreas) in the bloodstream are irregular and therefore affect the way the body uses sugars, as well as other nutrients. Up until the 1920’s, it was known that being diagnosed with diabetes was a death sentence which usually affected “children and adults under 30.” Those who were diagnosed were usually very hungry and thirsty, which are two of the symptoms associated with diabetes. However, no matter how much they ate, their bodies wouldn’t be able to use the nutrients due to the lack of insulin. This would lead to a very slow and painful death. In 1922, four Canadian researchers by the names of Frederick G. Banting, Charles H. Best, John J.R. MacLeod, and James B. Collip had discovered a way to separate insulin in the pancreas of dogs and prepare it in such a way so that it can be used to treat diabetic patients. In the year 2008, there were 1,656,470 people who suffered from diabetes in Canada, and by 2010, it is predicted that this disease will take over the lives of 285 million people . Although there is no cure for diabetes, the treatment of prepared insulin is prolonging the lives of diabetics and allowing them to live freely. The discovery of insulin was important and significant in Canada’s history because Banting was a Canadian medical scientist who had a purpose in finding a treatment for diabetes, its discovery has saved lives and improved the quality of life of those suffering from this disease, and it showed the world Canada’s medical technology was ...
Diabetes Mellitus (Type 2 diabetes/adult onset diabetes) is an epidemic in American Indian and Alaska Natives communities.7 AI/AN have the highest morbidity and mortality rates in the United States.7 American Indian/Alaska Native adults are 2.3 more times likely to be diagnosed with Diabetes Mellitus than non-Hispanic Whites.7 More importantly, AI/AN adolescent ages 10-14 are 9 times likely to be diagnosed with Diabetes Mellitus than non-Hispanic Whites.7 Type 2 diabetes is high blood glucose levels due to lack of insulin and/or inability to use it efficiently.8 Type 2 diabetes usually affects older adults; 8 however, the incident rate is rising quicker amongst AI/AN youth than non-Hispanic Whites.7 This is foreshadowing of earlier serious complications that will be effecting the AI/AN communitie...
Wang, Z., Hoy, W. E., & Si, D. (2010). Incidence of type 2 diabetes in aboriginal australians: An 11-year prospective cohort study. BMC Public Health, 10(1), 487-487. doi:10.1186/1471-2458-10-487
An Introduction to The Great Famine After a warm, uninterrupted summer, the late summer beckoned, and at the beginning of September, when the potatoes were to be harvested, it became clear that entire crops were diseased and unfit for consumption by either man or animal. Within months the disease had spread and the Irish were in the grip of a dire potato blight, which within months had wiped out three quarters of the entire potato crop in Ireland. It should not be thought that the potato blight was the only reason for the famine, granted it was a primary factor, however when coupled with a huge inflation within the Irish population, and that meant due to this, people had significantly less land to grow and harvest crops, this when coupled with the potato blight made it neigh on impossible to prevent the starvation of an entire country. "Our accounts from the northern parts of this country are most deplorable. What the poor people earn on the public works is barely sufficient to support them.
Webster's English Dictionary defines "morality" as: the conformity to ideals of right human conduct. With this in mind, I wonder who determines right human conduct? Religion aside, there is no literary context that strictly states the rights and wrongs of human behavior. So who decides? Who determines what we ought morally to do and what we are obligated to do as a society? An Australian philosopher, Peter Singer attempts to draw the line between obligation and charity with the moral incentives to providing food for the starved in East Bengal. Although he presents many sound arguments, the reality of his utopian world is that it cannot exist. In the following expository, I will justify my reasoning behind this fact.
Overweight and obesity problem is becoming more and more serious in Australia. Not only Australians but also the world’s problem obesity is studied as one of the main causes of chronic diseases such as coronary heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, and some cancers and sleep apnoea as well as other serious conditions, which put national economies and individual lives at risk. Obesity is also regarded as epidemic. Obesity is caused by a calorific imbalance between diet intake and consumed calories. Obesity has become the biggest threat to Public Health in Australia shown by Australia Bureau of Statistics (2013). Also, the prevalence of obesity is predicted as the ratio of obesity in adults and children will be doubled by 2025 (Backholer et al.2012). It is believed that this phenomenon is happening due to many social determinants of health, which have a strong negative impact on not only individuals but also society and economy. (Wilkinson and Marmot 2003) The social determinants of health are explained as conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age by WHO (Wilkinson & Marmot 2013). Different circumstances can be formed depending on their finance, power and global resources. These social determinants seem to be responsible for health inequities, which seem to be unfair and avoidable. Social determinants of health including social gradient, high calorie food intake, excessive amounts of stress and poor early life care are the relevant factors to contribute to be or being obesity. It is important to understand that the correlation of social determinants of health and obesity to manage the health problems and enhance public’s health.
There are three types of diabetes, which are Type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes, and lastly gestational diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is commonly founded in children and adolescents, this occurs when the pancreas is at a point of not producing insulin. Insulin is naturally produced as a hormone by the pancreas in order to keep the body in homeostasis, then synthetically produced and injected manually to prevent having hyperglycemia. Approximately 10 percent of the society happens to have type 1 diabetes. The other 90 percent of the diabetics have type 2 diabetes; type 2 diabetes is when the pancreas is not producing enough insulin or when the body does not use the insulin produced properly. This type of diabetes occurs mainly in adults and due to this factor, children are at risk of getting diabetes because it is in their genetic traits. Gestational diabetes, which is the third type of diabetes, is considered to be a temporary condition that occurs during pregnancy. The pregnancy is a risk factor for the mother and the child because 2 to 4 percent of all pregnancies involve an increase risk of developing diabetes ("Canadian diabetes association," 2014. p. 1). Diabetes has a large impact on an individual’s life; responsibilities are increased by making sure one is taking the proper dosage of insulin, having the proper amount of food and making sure one gets their proper exercise; though more care is required compared to another individual living a life without any precautions. In Canada the rate of diabetes is slowly increasing due to many other factors. According to the Canadian Diabetes Association (2014), it is estimated that out of the nine million Canadians, approximately 5.4 million have pre-diabetes (p.1).
Secondly, the customary health beliefs of the aboriginal populace are interrelated with numerous characteristics of their customs such as kinship obligations, land policies, and religion (Boulton-Lewis, Pillay, Wilss, & Lewis, 2002). The socio-medical structure of health beliefs, which the aboriginal people...
Why are there families with children that go all weekend without a meal while our grocery stores are overflowing with food, and our pantries at home have more than we need? If more people were educated about the reality of hunger in East Tennessee, then more people would be inclined to help resolve the problem. Through education this issue can be eradicated. There are ways to better inform East Tennesseans about the realities that plague our poverty stricken population that are ultimately avoidable. Volunteering and making donations to the food pantries and organizations in the area are two of the best ways to support the less fortunate who need aid. In East Tennessee, hunger is a much larger problem than most people know and could be reduced if more people were educated about it, new ways were found to promote feeding the hungry, people volunteered and donated.
Former senior associate editor of The Atlantic, Matthew O’Brien, in his article, Poverty is Literally Making People Sick Because They Can’t Afford Food, claims that people of low income are more likely to become hospitalized for hypoglycemia at the end of the month. O’Brien’s purpose is to convey the idea that people of the lower class are struggling to pay for their own food at the end of the month and that could lead to severe health issues. He employs techniques within his article such as having a stern tone, using passionate word choice, and a concrete research study in order to evoke emotions of sorrow from his general audience especially those in the upper and middle class.
“Hunger as Ideology” by Susan Bordo has numerous sections that deal with the same concept. She focuses on the idea of image and perception, which she describes in her brief as “reading” images. Bordo digs deep into issues of class, gender roles, and ideology. Although Bordo makes many important points throughout her essay, there are four in particular that I generally agree with and think are correct, that I will point out and elaborate on throughout my response. I will discuss the targeting of women at a young age, sexual appetite operating as a metaphor for eating pleasure, how women are never shown in the act of eating, and the concept that men eat and women prepare. As I discuss these points, I will explain issues of class, gender roles, and ideology, and the roles they play in our generation’s cultural change.
Diabetes is a very common disorder. It is the 8th leading cause of death worldwide. It is projected that the number of individuals with diabetes will almost double by 2030.
Zimmet, P., K.G. Alberti, and J. Shaw.2001. Global and societal implications of the diabetes epidemic. Nature 414 (December 13): 782-86
Poverty has struck Ireland in 1845, which affected almost every single individual living within the country in many different ways. Many people in this era did not have much access to food or even money to live life. In chapter two of the novel, “Transatlantic”, McCann discusses the effects of poverty in Ireland. In the article, “Great Famine”, talks about how people were affected by famine and the exportation of goods. The novel displays different events that convey the tragedies of people living with poverty in 1845, but McCann did not go into depth on how it all started or what really was going on, which the article, “Great Famine”, successfully does.
Entitlement failures are the most common cause of famines according to Sen. Sen defines entitlement as “the commodities over which she can establish her ownership and command” (162). He says “people suffer from hunger when they cannot establish their entitlement over an adequate amount of food” (162). Sen cites three influences on entitlements that affect famines: endowment, production possibilities, and exchange conditions. Famine occurs when many people simultaneously experience declines in their entitlements that cause them to be deprived of adequate food for survival. Sen argues that it is not a lack of food supplies that leads to famines, as the Malthusian would say “too many people, too little food”, but rather the inability of a group