Factors Influencing Health Term Paper

Conditions Associated With a Lack of Exercise/Physical Activity

Health is one of the most important things in people's lives, but individuals often fail to focus on this aspect because they concentrate on diverse tasks that they wrongly consider to be more important. As a consequence, many end up suffering greatly as a result of their irresponsible behavior. In addition to causing significant health problems in people's lives, sedentary living is also responsible for costing society billions of dollars every year. The fact that the masses often trick themselves into thinking that they are eventually going to start exercising is extremely worrying and leads to numerous health problems.

Figures associated with sedentary living are alarming, but this is still not enough to influence some people in changing their attitudes concerning the concept. On a yearly basis, "approximately 250,000 people die prematurely because they are inactive" (Corbin & Lindsay 43). Even with this, many fail to acknowledge the delicate situation that they are in because they are inclined to believe that old people are generally predisposed to contracting maladies and that they are thus not going to become sick until they are older.

Cardiovascular diseases are the principal causes of death in the U.S. And have been so for the last nine decades. Surely, it would be absurd to claim that sedentary living is the principal reason why people come to have cardiovascular diseases. However, this factor is nonetheless essential in making people more vulnerable, as it represents one of the most disturbing risk factors linked to the medical condition. High blood pressure is often owed to the fact that people do not exercise. Regular exercise is an efficient method to lower blood pressure, and, as a consequence, it can assist individuals in preventing cardiovascular diseases. A person who exercises on a daily basis is more likely to have a healthy heart and a healthy organism in general, meaning that he or she has muscles that can pump blood through the body at a normal rate.

Cancer is yet another medical condition that can result from a sedentary lifestyle, with breast and colon cancer being among the most common forms of the malady encountered in individuals who do not exercise. "Many of the risk factors for heart disease are also risk factors for cancer" (Corbin & Lindsay 45). Type II Diabetes occurs more frequently in people who are sedentary, as people who exercise are more probable to have normal sugar levels in the blood. Sedentary living can also lead to obesity and osteoporosis, considering that fat accumulates and bones weaken as a result of reduced physical exercise.

People in the UK and their failure to prevent obesity from becoming a major problem in the country

Approximately one quarter of the male population in the UK is obese and numbers are also worrying when considering women. Experts project even higher numbers by 2030, as it appears that approximately half of the UK's population is going to be obese by then if trends continue to progress at this pace ('Half of UK obese by 2030'). This makes it possible for people to have a complex understanding of the gravity of the situation across the country. More and more individuals turned to surgery as a method to address their poor health condition during the recent years, but this fails to solve the problem completely because these respective persons fail to understand that they need to approach different strategies when considering weight loss. According to Evans (2012), "the number of hospital admissions with primary diagnosis of obesity has also risen really quite dramatically too."

When considering that the world as a whole is experiencing an obesity pandemic, it would seem that the UK simply follows in the footsteps of other nations by making obesity one of the principal maladies affecting its people. The situation would surely ameliorate if the authorities were to get actively involved in developing programs meant to assist individuals in acknowledging the risks associated with obesity. The economic benefits related to educating people concerning obesity and the problems that it brings on would be especially large, considering that the nation currently spends significant amounts of finances with the purpose of treating obese individuals ('Half of UK obese by 2030').

One of the most disturbing concepts regarding the recent rise in obesity in the UK relates to how a significant number of child obesity cases have been reported during the last few years in the territory. Children are one of the most vulnerable groups when concerning obesity because they have trouble understanding the difference between attitudes that are beneficial for them and attitudes that are not. The fact that number have gone up since 1995 means that a series of concepts promoted during the recent decade and a half has had a strong influence on how children perceive their health.The fact that technology experienced much progress during the recent years is probably among the reasons why individuals in the UK have trouble understanding the gravity of obesity.

Passive Smoking and Alcohol Drinking -- health effects Smoking and alcohol are two important drugs in the contemporary society and they are constantly promoted as being beneficial for individuals when regarding thinking and socialization associated with the processes. It is actually difficult to understand how it is possible for the social order to continue to accept these two products in spite of the fact that most people are well-acquainted with the terrible effects that they have on people's health.

What is especially upsetting about smoking is that it also affects individuals staying in the vicinity of smokers. Passive smoking is very harmful and it can trigger symptoms similar to the ones seen in individuals who are heavy smokers. "A wealth of scientific evidence now exists showing that the breathing of tobacco smoke polluted air by non-smokers can lead to serious harm, such as increased bronchitis, pneumonia, and other chest illnesses in children, asthma, lung cancer, and cardiovascular disease" (Passive Smoking 1). Many individuals are inclined to consider second-hand smoking to be simply a nuisance and it is essential for society to provide extensive education concerning the dangers associated with the practice (Passive Smoking 1).

People often think of alcohol as being a toxic substance that should not be widely commercialized. However, it is essential to look at alcohol from the perspective of someone who is familiar with the fact that it needs to be drunk moderately in order to avoid unpleasant experiences. "Medical researchers generally describe moderation as one to three drinks per day" (Health). Moreover, alcohol can actually have a beneficial effect on consumers as long as they are aware that they need to install limits. Drinking alcohol in large amounts can have devastating long-term effects on the liver and other organs and can even cause death. In general, "heavy drinking is associated with reduced longevity and increased risk of a diversity of diseases" (Health).

The personal and social implications of contracting a sexually transmitted disease

Contracting a sexually-transmitted disease can be especially problematic for an individual, as he or she needs to deal with a variety of factors, ranging from a reduced self-esteem to the health effects associated with the malady that he or she has. A team composed out of "health professionals, educators, and policy makers" (Genuis & Genuis 1103) is actively involved in reducing the problems linked to STDs.

HIV / AIDS is probably one of the most feared sexually transmitted diseases and this is mainly because of its deadly effects and because the mass media has promoted it as being especially dangerous. Young people are typically the ones who contract the disease and this makes it especially difficult for them to try and function normally. These individuals are virtually provided with the information that their lives are ruined and that it is pointless for them to attempt to make plans for the future. In addition, many are probable to avoid these individuals as a result of associating their presence with the deadly character of the malady. People often have problems understanding what is and what is not dangerous when regarding being present in the company of someone suffering from HIV / AIDS. "Although the urgency associated with AIDS appeared to have decreased in the mid 1990s as combination drug treatments both prolonged the lives of people with HIV and heightened hopes that this would become a chronic rather than terminal illness, increasing worldwide rates of HIV / AIDS have recently brought this impending health disaster into sharp focus" (Genuis & Genuis 1104).

HPV is provided with lesser attention in comparison to HIV / AIDS, but it is actually much more common and is the principal STD in some parts of the world. The fact that people sometimes have trouble detecting the disease means that they are probable to infect others and that this particular STD is actually very dangerous. Genuis and Genuis (1105) found that the majority of individuals at an American University have had HPV at a certain point during….....