Freedom in the United States :: essays papers

Freedom in the United States Essay submitted by Unknown No other democratic society in the world permits personal freedoms to the degree of the United States of America. Within the last sixty years, American courts, especially the Supreme Court, have developed a set of legal doctrines that thoroughly protect all forms of the freedom of expression. When it comes to evaluating the degree to which we take advantage of the opportunity to express our opinions, some members of society may be guilty of violating the bounds of the First Amendment by publicly offending others through obscenity or racism. Americans have developed a distinct disposition toward the freedom of expression throughout history. The First Amendment clearly voices a great American respect toward the freedom of religion. It also prevents the government from "abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." Since the early history of our country, the protection of basic freedoms has been of the utmost importance to Americans. In Langston Hughes' poem, "Freedom," he emphasizes the struggle to enjoy the freedoms that he knows are rightfully his. He reflects the American desire for freedom now when he says, "I do not need my freedom when I'm dead. I cannot live on tomorrow's bread." He recognizes the need for freedom in its entirety without compromise or fear. I think Langston Hughes captures the essence of the American immigrants' quest for freedom in his poem, "Freedom's Plow." He accurately describes American's as arriving with nothing but dreams and building America with the hopes of finding greater freedom or freedom for the first time. He depicts how people of all backgrounds worked together for one cause: freedom. I selected Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 as a fictitious example of the evils of censorship in a world that is becoming illiterate. In this book, the government convinces the public that book reading is evil because it spreads harmful opinions and agitates people against the government. The vast majority of people accept this censorship of expression without question and are content to see and hear only the government's propaganda. I found this disturbing yet realistic. Bradbury's hidden opposition to this form of censorship was apparent throughout the book and finally prevailed in the end when his main character rebelled against the practice of burning books. Among the many forms of protests are pickets, strikes, public speeches and rallies.

Blood pressure Essay

Question One: Hypertension (in addition to a number of medical conditions) may be considered as primary or secondary. Explain these concepts giving three examples of secondary hypertension and their pathophysiology. Most of the conditions that cause secondary hypertension involve the overproduction of one of the body’s hormones. Some of the medical problems that can cause secondary hypertension include: Kidney disease. Secondary hypertension is related to damaged kidneys or to an abnormal narrowing of one or both renal arteries. The renal arteries are the major blood vessels that bring blood to each kidney. When the kidney’s blood supply is reduced by a narrowing (called renal artery stenosis), the kidney produces high levels of a hormone called renin. High levels of renin trigger the production of other substances in the body that raise blood pressure, particularly a molecule called angiotensin II. Adrenal disease. The adrenal glands sit on top of the kidneys and produce several hormones that help regulate blood pressure. Sometimes, one or both adrenal glands make and secrete an excess of one of these hormones. Three different types of adrenal gland conditions cause high blood pressure: Pheochromocytoma. A tumour of the adrenal gland that overproduces the hormones epinephrine (adrenalin) and norepinephrine (noradrenalin). Hyperaldosteronism (also called Conn’s syndrome). Both adrenal glands can overproduce the salt-retaining hormone aldosterone or it can arise in a benign adrenal tumour. Hypercortisolism (also called Cushing’s syndrome). Both adrenal glands can overproduce the hormone cortisol or it can arise in a benign or malignant tumour. Hyperparathyroidism. A hormone called parathormone is made by four tiny glands in the neck called parathyroid glands. If the glands produce too much hormone, calcium levels in the blood increase. People with hyperparathyroidism are more likely to have high blood pressure. The exact reason for this association is not known. Question Two: Roger was a symptomatic and only came in for a check up. Why is it important for this ‘silent disease’ to be detected and appropriately treated? As blood flows through arteries it pushes against the inside of the artery walls. The more pressure the blood exerts on the artery walls, the higher the blood pressure will be. The size of small arteries also affects the blood pressure. When the muscular walls of arteries are relaxed, or dilated, the pressure of the blood flowing through them is lower than when the artery walls narrow, or constrict. Blood pressure is highest when the heart beats to push blood out into the arteries. When the heart relaxes to fill with blood again, the pressure is at its lowest point. Blood pressure when the heart beats is called systolic pressure. Blood pressure when the heart is at rest is called diastolic pressure. When blood pressure is measured, the systolic pressure is stated first and the diastolic pressure second. Blood pressure is measured in millimeters of mercury (mm Hg). For example, if a person’s systolic pressure is 120 and diastolic pressure is 80, it is written as 120/80 mm Hg. T he American Heart Association has long considred blood pressure less than 140 over 90 normal for adults. However, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute in Bethesda, Maryland released new clinical guidelines for blood pressure in 2003, lowering the standard normal readings. A normal reading was lowered to less than 120 over less than 80. Hypertension is a major health problem, especially because it has no symptoms. Many people have hypertension without knowing it. In the United States, about 50 million people age six and older have high blood pressure. Hypertension is more common in men than women and in people over the age of 65 than in younger persons. More than half of all Americans over the age of 65 have hypertension. It also is more common in African-Americans than in white Americans. Hypertension is serious because people with the condition have a higher risk for heart disease and other medical problems than people with normal blood pressure. Serious complications can be avoided by getting regular blood pressure checks and treating hypertension as soon as it is diagnosed. If left untreated, hypertension can lead to the following medical conditions: arteriosclerosis, also called atherosclerosis heart attack stroke enlarged heart kidney damage. Arteriosclerosis is hardening of the arteries. The walls of arteries have a layer of muscle and elastic tissue that makes them flexible and able to dilate and constrict as blood flows through them. High blood pressure can make the artery walls thicken and harden. When artery walls thicken, the inside of the blood vessel narrows. Cholesterol and fats are more likely to build up on the walls of damaged arteries, making them even narrower. Blood clots also can get trapped in narrowed arteries, blocking the flow of blood. Arteries narrowed by arteriosclerosis may not deliver enough blood to organs and other tissues. Reduced or blocked blood flow to the heart can cause a heart attack. If an artery to the brain is blocked, a stroke can result. Hypertension makes the heart work harder to pump blood through the body. The extra workload can make the heart muscle thicken and stretch. When the heart becomes too enlarged it cannot pump enough blood. If the hypertension is not treated, the heart may fail. The kidneys remove the body’s wastes from the blood. If hypertension thickens the arteries to the kidneys, less waste can be filtered from the blood. As the condition worsens, the kidneys fail and wastes build up in the blood. Dialysis or a kidney transplant are needed when the kidneys fail. About 25% of people who receive kidney dialysis have kidney failure caused by hypertension. Question Three: The renin-angiotensin system plays a central role in blood pressure regulation. Explain the renin-angiotensin system with reference to Conn’s syndrome. The Renin-Angiotensin-Aldosterone System is a hormone system that regulates BP and fluid balance. When blood volume is low, the juxtaglomerular cells in the kidneys secrete Renin directly into circulation. Plasma Renin converts a polypeptide called Angiotensinogen, which is secreted from Liver into Angiotensin I, which in turn is converted to Angiotensin II (or ATII) by the enzyme called ACE (Angiotensin converting enzyme) found in the lungs. It so happens that Angiotensin II is a potent vaso-active peptide that causes blood vessels to constrict, resulting in increased blood pressure. Angiotensin II also stimulates the secretion of the hormone Aldosterone from Adrenal cortex. Aldosterone causes the tubules of the kidneys to increase the reabsorption of sodium and water into the blood. This increases the volume of fluid in the body, which also increases blood pressure. If the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system is too active, blood pressure will be too high. There are many drugs that interrupt different steps in this system to lower blood pressure. These drugs are one of the main ways to control HBP, heart failure, renal failure and the harmful effects of Diabetes. Angiotensin II is degraded to angiotensin III by angiotensinases located in red blood cells and the vascular beds of most tissues. Angiotensin III has 40% of the pressor action of ATII, but 100% of the aldosterone-producing activity of ATII. Angiotensin II has autocrine, paracrine and endocrine actions on different systems: Cardiovascular effects: AT II is the most powerful vasopressor known, constricting both arteries and veins. Myocyte growth is stimulated through a local tissue RAAS. The same system can be activated in the smooth muscle cells in conditions of HTN or endothelial damage thus contributing to and accelerating the process of Atherosclerosis. Neurological effects: ATII increases the thirst sensation by directly stimulating the Subfornical organ of the brain (Dipsogenic action). AT II also decreases the response of Baroreceptor reflex. ATII increases secretions of both ADH and ACTH besides stimulating postganglionic sympathetic fibers to secrete Noradrenaline. Adrenal effects: Angiotensin II acts on the Adrenal cortex causing it to release Aldosterone, a hormone that causes the kidneys to retain sodium and lose potassium.

Assessment of Health and Nutrition Indicators of Early Childhood in India - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 6 Words: 1888 Downloads: 8 Date added: 2019/03/13 Category Sociology Essay Level High school Tags: Childhood Essay Did you like this example? Introduction Early childhood health and nutrition is a true indication of countries’ level of progress and development. These health indicators are directly linked from beginning to end existing Govt. policies, plans and programmes to countries’ investment in early childhood and respect for children’s rights. Social determinants of health and nutrition are factors that characterize environments to which individuals and the population are â€Å"exposed† and which can influence lifelong developmental and health outcomes. Social determinants act at various levels of influence, interrelate with each another and represent a broad array of characteristics that are not biologically or hereditarily based but rather are entrenched in interactions between individuals and socio-physical environments. For example of the most important social determinants of child health, nutrition and development include living conditions, child parents and peers inter-personal relations, family socio-demographics, learning environments in day care centers and schools, access to premises, neighborhood safety and socio-political context. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Assessment of Health and Nutrition Indicators of Early Childhood in India" essay for you Create order Early Childhood Care and Education builds a positive contribution to children’s long period development and learning by facilitating an enabling and stimulating environment in these foundation stages of lifelong learning. Universal brain research also imposes the significance of early years for brain development. Parents as caregivers are critical in providing a stimulating learning environment to the child and the first two and a half to three years need not be in a formal learning environment. The National Curriculum Framework acknowledges the significance of involvement of parent’s family and community. Early childhood is a stage in human development. It generally includes toddlerhood and some time afterwards. Play age is an unspecific designation approximately within the scope of early childhood. Some age-related development periods and examples of defined intervals are: newborn (ages 0–5 weeks); infant (ages 5 weeks – 1 year); toddler (ages 1–3 years); preschooler (ages 3–5 years); school-aged child (ages 5–12 years); adolescent (ages 13–19) The first few years of life are a critical period during which lifelong patterns of health vulnerability are determined by the complex interplay of social determinants. As action can be taken on environmental conditions in order to improve the people’s health outcomes, researchers, governments and policy makers have increasingly been attempting to improve their understanding of the conditions under which children achieve optimal health and developmental outcomes. Early childhood health and nutrition is a true reflection of countries’ level of development. These health indicators are directly or indirectly linked through existing policies, plans and programmes to countries’ investment in early childhood and respect for children’s rights. Analysis of health and nutrition indicators should include the environmental and social determinants of disease, mortality, poor population, quality of life and the yawning inequality gaps between and within countries. There are three broad stages of development: early childhood, middle childhood, and adolescence. The definitions of these stages are organized around the primary tasks of development in each stage, though the boundaries of these stages are malleable. Societys ideas about childhood shift over time, and research has led to new understandings of the development that takes place in each stage. Basic newborn care include immunizing mothers against tetanus, ensuring clean delivery practices in a hygienic birthing environment, drying and wrapping the baby immediately after birth, thus providing the necessary warmth: The promotion of immediate and continuous breastfeeding, immunization and treatment of infections with antibiotics could save the lives of 3 million newborns annually. Improved sanitation and access to clean drinking water can reduce childhood infections and diarrhoea. More than 40% of the worlds population does not have access to basic sanitation, and more than one billion people use unsafe sources of drinking water. Hunger and malnutrition are an unfortunate reality of the world. While people in industrialized societies live in plenty, malnutrition contributes yearly to the death of 5.6 million children less than five years of age in non-industrialized societies. In the developing world, millions of children develop too slowly and millions of people cannot develop their potential to the fullest. Malnutrition has particularly serious effects on children, above all, infectious secondary immune deficiency, learning deficits and, subsequently, school drop-out. Furthermore, malnutrition threatens girls’ ability to have healthy children in the future and perpetuates the generational cycle of poverty. Good nutrition, in turn, is the cornerstone of survival, health and development not only for current but also future generations. Well-nourished women face fewer risks during pregnancy and labour, and their children develop much better physically and mentally. An Indian Conceptual Framework for Integrated Child Development As the word suggests, an indicator gives an indication that is intended to reflect a particular situation or an underlying reality, usually by providing an order of magnitude, which means that it is difficult to meet the criteria directly. Indicators are variables that attempt to measure or objectify a quantitative or qualitative collective (especially biodemographic) event in order to support political action and evaluate achievements and goals. WHO defines them as variables used to measure changes† Information sources Some indicators may be sensitive to more than one situation or phenomenon; for example, the infant mortality rate is a population health indicator and it is also sensitive enough for use in assessing the general population welfare. However, it may not be specific to any particular health measure because the reduction rate may be the result numerous factors of social and economic development. Health indicators are used to evaluate the effectiveness of courses of action and effects. An indicator requires a reliable source of information and technical rigour in its construction and interpretation. The principal sources of data used universally are the following: Records of demographic events; Population and housing census; Routine health services records; Epidemiological surveillance data; Sample surveys (survey population); Disease registers; Other data sources from other sectors (economic, political and social welfare). The above are sources of routinely and regularly compiled primary data. If these data are unreliable or non-existent, alternative sources may be sought that are generally indirect estimates of the real value. The various health-related items for which indicators are constructed are the following: health policy (resource allocation, % of GDP invested in child health services, and number of hospital beds per x number of inhabitants, etc.); socioeconomic conditions (housing, poverty, food availability, literacy rate etc.); Performance in Public Health Care Health Status:   (a) activity – availability of services, accessibility, indicators of quality of care, coverage indicators could and hopefully would be disaggregated by population subgroup so that gateways for strategic action could be identified; health status indicators – these are the most used and can be divided operationally into 4   types: (1) mortality indicators – widely used, since death is universal, occurs only once and is recorded frequently and systematically; (2) birth – population’s reproducibility, there being a clear correlation between birth rate and health, socioeconomic and cultural standard; (3) morbidity – indicators that attempt to estimate the risk of disease (disease burden) to quantify the magnitude and impact; they are difficult to obtain owing to problems of definition, phenomena to be measured and protracted change over time; (4) quality of life – generally composed of indicators designed to objectify a complex fact such as people’s functional capacity, life expectancy, adaptability to their surroundings, and others. An indicator is not confined to data on which it is based; it usually contains elements (a threshold, a point of reference, a mode of expression, etc.) that can be used universally to assess the information transmitted and facilitate comparisons in time and space. The use of such indicators has been covered extensively by literature in the various sectors concerned. In fact, information associated with an indicator can cover more than the mere quantification of phenomena and should therefore be selected, analyzed and interpreted by a specialist. Data on the malnutrition prevalence rate will, for example, evaluate its severity in public health terms or its likely implications for the broader development context, taking into account its known effects on health, productivity, schooling and social dynamics. The analysis must therefore be conducted by inter-sectoral groups, when many indicators are involved. Indicators of the nutritional situation These indicators should be suitable to characterize each type of malnutrition, which is associated with features of malnutrition itself, the people who suffer from it, where they are, etc., to obtain an indication of the level of risk to various population groups and thus obtain an overview of the situation for the purposes of diagnosis and formulation of overall evaluation strategies – some differentiated and others targeted. It is difficult to determine a person’s nutritional status accurately, and even more so that of a population. This is a global concept that can be gauged only through a series of clinical, physical or functional characteristics, which may be used as additional indicators if a threshold value for separating the malnourished from the well-nourished is incorporated. This task was accomplished after achieving a consensus, mainly on child and adult malnutrition and the widespread lack of three micronutrients with serious implications for people†™s health (vitamin A, iodine and iron). First, the individual’s parameters or indices (e.g. weight, arm circumference, haemoglobin level, etc.) were measured. Then, the information was expressed for the population group concerned as a prevalence rate or as the percentage of well-nourished or malnourished people showing the particular type of malnutrition, according to the selected thresholds. There is no single global indicator to provide a picture of nutrition. consequently, the particular aspect of nutrition to be characterized energy state, protein, iron, vitamin. A must be stated specifically. That said, there is no synthetic indicator, even on the energy state for example. For this reason, the indicator most relevant to the priority issue will be collected: physical, biochemical, functional, and so on. With regard to the measurement of the population’s general nutritional status, a number of individual physical measurements must be taken to be compared with reference values for determining the status of persons (or the population at large) and constitute the set of relevant indicators to be used in preference to any other. However, in using these indicators, their limited validity must be borne in mind: they provide synthetic nutrition information but do not represent all aspects. Cause indicators Once the population groups’ nutritional status and their geographical or socioeconomic distribution are known and goals for improvement have been set, information is needed on the factors that have determined such situation, for example the factors, events or characteristics that affect to some extent the nutritional status of individuals in a particular population. (a) Nutritional insecurity:- includes food production or supply problems, issues of family and community access to food of good nutritional value, in particular regard to purchasing power, but also includes access to fortified foods, supplementation and treatment in certain cases. These data are collected regularly through information systems in ministries of agriculture and trade. (b) Environmental health: access to health services covers water supplies and healthy foods, environmental sanitation, including infectious and parasitic diseases health care systems and their use. The various ministries of health units are responsible for collecting these indicators. (c) Provision of care and care practices:- this concerns care within the family, social protection afforded by the community or State, of household or community members’ attitudes and practices in providing maternal and child care for the most vulnerable, and the providers’ level of education. This type of indicator is rarely collected on a regular basis. In most cases, information collected through specific community surveys must be supplemented, with emphasis on qualitative aspects.