Behavior_Risk_Factors

Preventative medicine has changed the shape of modern medicine moving the shift from treatment and curing illnesses and dieses but from preventing them in the first place. In 1984 The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force was founded by the government to develop recommendations for primary care clinicians on the appropriate content of periodic health examinations. In 1990, the Task Force was reconstituted by the Department of Health and Human Services to continue and update these scientific assessments of preventive services. The task force has helped determine when screenings for mammograms take place, informed the public of the importance of immunization, the practice of safe sex etc. With heart disease, stroke and cancer being one of the leading causes of death in the United States why do so many people continue to ignore risk factors such as nicotine use, obesity and excessive alcohol use when millions in spent annually trying to inform the public the importance of a healthy lifestyle. In the paper I will discuss behavioral risk factors and how they pertain to my health science goals. According to the Center for Disease Control or the CDC cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States and has results in approximately 443,000 deaths per year in the United States with an estimated 5 million deaths worldwide annually. Cigarette smoking has been linked to cancer, heart disease, stroke, and lung diseases (including emphysema, bronchitis, and chronic airway obstruction) and cost billions of dollars per year in heath related expenses. With all the illnesses that smoking can cause why do people start smoking and continue to smoke' Nicotine is highly addictive. Most people begin smoking during adolescents where they are more susceptible to addiction. As a child who lost a parent to a smoking related illness, I know firsthand the devastating effect smoking has not just on the smoker but on those around them. More money needs to be invested in preventing smoking as well as smoking cessation programs. While deployed in Djibouti Africa I was a part of NAMRU-3 which has become the largest overseas military medical research facility in the world and plays a key U.S. foreign policy role in terms of medical diplomacy participated in infectious disease surveillance and water treatment studies in order to help improve the quality of life living in the Horn of Africa. Aside from research NAMRU-3 works in educating the masses as well as health care practitioners in HIV and AIDS awareness. Less than 10 years ago Djibouti had the highest documented level of HIV infection with 9.3 percent of cases found in pregnant women. Campaigns with the assistance of international health organizations and MANRU-3 have helped reduce the rate of HIV and AIDS cases. Government-run health center provide free services to the community. The health centers provide invaluable care to the women of Djibouti such as counseling, HIV testing and for pregnant women who test positive with HIV, free treatment. Extensive government campaigns have also helped inform the public the importance of safe sex to help prevent HIV. The people in Djibouti and the neighboring African nations were unaware of the risk factors in sexually transmitted dieses. Extensive educational programs have helped reduces the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases and will continue to make minimizes sexual transmitted disease transmission in the future. https://ehis.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer'vid=3&hid=20&sid=1297a1fb-2097-46f9-a0a0-333f80b95dd3%40sessionmgr15 http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/fast_facts/index.htm http://www.med.navy.mil/sites/namru3/NAMRU3%20Wiki/NAMRU-3%20Provides%20HIV%20Awareness%20Training%20to%20Egyptian%20Medical%20Professionals.aspx