Contemporary Health Issues - Case Study Example

Introduction Health is a very essential part of life. This is because without good health one cannot easily go on with his or her day to day activities normally. Every person desires to have good health despite his or her social status in the society. In this twenty first century; many people are going through various health issues that are affected by both historical and social political factors. This paper is exploring the issue of hypertension or high blood pressure and various historical and socio-political factors that have influenced the occurrence of the disease. (Guyton, 2006) Very many people in the society today are suffering from high blood pressure. While initially this was a disease that was attributed to older people, this is no longer the case. It is now evident that since the twentieth century, very many people of all ages are suffering from this deadly disease. Initially, the disease was referred to as arterial hypertension. There are two types of this disease. One is primary and the other type is secondary hypertension. When this problem becomes very persistent it normally results in heart failure, heart attack or even stroke. That explains why very many people in this era are dying because of the accumulated levels of this disease. This issue is of great interest to me because of the increased rate of people suffering from it. I have the concern of finding out the issues that have greatly influenced the increased occurrence of this disease. This information can help enlighten people so that the disease can be prevented. It will also enable the government to put in place policies that will see to the eradication and prevention of this deadly disease. Hypertension can be defined as a health problem where the blood pressure is highly increased beyond the normal levels. Research indicates that normal blood pressure normally ranges between 120/80 mmHg and below. High blood pressure is highly linked to other diseases or contemporary health problems like diabetes and obesity. There are various historical factors that affect hypertension of high blood pressure. One of them is in line with someone's genetics and the other with other factors like salt sensitivity. Genetics of course are associated with a person's past or inherited attributes. Research shows that this is a complicated health disorder. It is only thirty percent related to hereditary factors. This is supported by very many studies that have been carried out by scholars in the past. (Johnson, 2005) Research indicates that sixty percent of the people that are affected by hypertension have a history of taking too much salt. When salt is taken in excess, it tends to accumulate in the body. This results in the body drawing large amounts of water and this greatly results in pressure mounting up within the walls of the blood vessels. This issue greatly explains why this disease has become quite prevalent in the modern society. During the eighteen century, people rarely took salt. The few that took it took in very minimal amounts. This made them to be less susceptible to diseases like high blood pressure. The levels of salt in the body determine the effects to the body. In this case when salt levels are high in an individual's blood, they tend to result in extraction of water around organs and muscles. This water is directed into the blood so that the levels of salt are reduced. This of course results in the salt content in cells increasing. In the long run swelling takes place. Kidneys are normally responsible for overall regulation of water and salt in the body. Excess water is then taken into the individual's blood when water and slat levels increase around body cells. This normally affects the well functioning of kidneys in the long run. This leads to fluid build up in blood and around both the white and red blood cells. Excess water and salt is drawn away and taken out or excreted as urine. The heart is made to work extra hard in this case and in the long run weakens. (Kuo, 2005) Looking at high blood pressure as a disease, it was never very common during the eighties. That shows that there are factors that have greatly influenced the occurrence of this disease. Historical background of individuals taking some drugs can result in blood pressure. That is why this disease is quite prevalent in the twenty first century. Medicine like ibuprofen can result in users having hypertension. We are living in an era where people are just buying drugs from the counter without this knowledge. This has resulted in many people suffering from this disease without their knowledge. A drug like Licorice prevents an enzyme called 11- hydroxysteroid hydrogenise from catalyzing with cortisol. Another historical factor that affects a person's health in line with hypertension is stress management. As we all know, life has its ups and downs. There are moments when people go through so much stressing and traumatizing situations. This can include loss of loved ones and even loss of property through natural and even manmade catastrophes. This past in a person's life can make the person to be highly stressed making the heart to work extra hard. This results in increased blood pressure. In this era there is so much multitasking. One finds that an individual is doing so many things at ago. An individual could be a student, has a family, owns business and still has responsibilities in the church etc. Anything wrong happening in all these areas can make a person to have a stressed life. When stress takes along time and results in depression it eventually makes the person to have hypertension. This happens by the blood working extra hard to supply blood to the brain that is thinking so much. This makes pressure to mount up and therefore resulting in high blood pressure. Secondary type of hypertension is very prevalent among children of pre-adolescent age. Primary hypertension on the other hand is highly influenced by a family history of hypertension. This normally has many risk factors that are multiple in nature. These are just some of the historical factors that influence the occurrence and also the increase of high blood pressure disease. (Reeves, 1995) In this paper we also look at the socio-political factors that influence the overall occurrence of high blood pressure among people. One of the political issues is in line with government policies. We are well aware that the government is responsible of putting in place policies in relation to the health sector. Policies that allow the sell of drugs over the counter are some of these factors. As earlier on illustrated, there are some drugs that influence the occurrence of high blood pressure in individuals. An example of these drugs is ibuprofen. The society nowadays does not really take it serious to see a doctor after policy like selling drugs over the counter came into effect. People prefer to have self diagnosis and then they just purchase the drugs they feel will work best for them. Or even if a drug worked well the previous time the person was unwell they end up purchasing the same drug. There has been increased drug abuse in this case. This has made people to suffer from high blood pressure without their knowledge .Or sometimes they are asked by relatives or even friends to use the drugs without doctor's advice. This makes them to either overuse or even use drugs that they were not supposed to use. (Sagnella, 2006) The society has also influenced the increase or even the occurrence of high blood pressure among individuals. We are living in a society where evils are very rampant. There are deaths that are very prevalent and these issues are really stressing up people a great deal. Looking at the families that are in our societies today, they have highly influenced the occurrence of high blood pressure. It is knowledgeable that families can easily help a person to overcome traumatizing situations in life. On the other hand, they are the ones that are increasing the stress. Divorce is on the increase in the western world. People have no ear to listen to their life stresses. People are living in a lifestyle of everyone for themselves and God for us all. This has made people to bear by themselves all the issues that affect them in life. There is also a carefree lifestyle. Parents are no longer concerned about what their children are eating. Children do what they wish to. One finds that people in the family set up end up taking the amount of salt that they want. This has been brought about by a lifestyle where salt is no longer cooked or added into food when it is cooking. Salt is put in salt shakers and people have the freedom of using the amount they like. Children and even older people use a lot of salt and this has adversely affected their blood pressure. This societal issue is also evident in hotels and restaurants. A factor that also affects high blood pressure is age. It is known that as a person becomes older, there are fibers in arteriole walls and artery that tend to increase. This makes blood vessels in the person to become stiffer. There is a smaller area of cross-section when there is reduced elasticity in systole area of the heart. This results in increase of blood pressure in the arteries. (Stein, 2006) An individual's past life can influence their health status in line with this disease. Smoking is known to accelerate it very fast. In case a person drinks beer and drinks with a high content of caffeine, then he or she can automatically increase his or her high pressure. That is the reason as to why people who have this disease are advised to stop taking such drinks. On the other hand the government has also played a part in influencing the prevalence of high blood pressure is line with educating common citizens. People are not knowledgeable in matters concerning high blood pressure and the things that make it to be very common. Patients in hospitals are not given education on in line with this deadly disease. Another aspect that emanates from the government is in line with distribution of racecourses. It is very evident that governments have played a part in distribution of resources like hospitals. One finds that these resources that have the best facilities are situated in urban areas while the rural areas are has no equal distribution. For people to know about their health in line with this disease, they need routine check ups. It is not one that a person can easily know unless medical diagnosis is carried out. This makes it hard for people to get essential information concerning high blood pressure disease. (Reeves, 1995) Conclusion One of the contemporary health issues that are affecting people in this era is hypertension. This disease was initially referred to as arterial hypertension. There are various historical factors that influence this contemporary health issue. One of them is an individual's past life of taking too much salt that is rich in sodium. This normally accumulates in the body thereby making pressure to mount up in the individual's blood vessels. Sometimes a person may have taken a drug like ibuprofen for quite a long time. Socio- political factors also have affected high blood pressure prevalence. The government is normally responsible for enacting policies. There are situations where government puts in place policies like that allow people to purchase drugs over the counter. This makes people to buy drugs without prior knowledge on their effect. Sometimes people over use these drugs and eventually they are affected in their health by having high blood pressure. The society has also played part through the kind of lifestyles that people are living. With the kind of diet people have this days they tend to use more table salt and food that increases their weight above normal. This has also played part in influencing the occurrence of high blood pressure among people in the contemporary world. Reference Guyton, H. (2006): Textbook of Medical Physiology; 7th Ed., Elsevier-Saunders, p220 Hideo, I. (2003):- Prediction of Genetic Risk for Hypertension:- Hypertension; 41 (5); 1035-1040 Johnson, J. (2005): Hypertension pharmacogenomics:- current status and future directions- Current Opinion in Molecular Therapy; 7 (3): 218-225 Kuo, M. (2005):- Factors affecting utilization of health services; London; Harvard Press Reeves, R (1995): The rational clinical examination; Does this patient have hypertension' How to measure blood pressure; 273 (15); 1211-8 Sagnella, A. (2006): The Renal Epithelial Sodium Channel:- Genetic Heterogeneity and Implications for the Treatment of High Blood Pressure- Current Pharmaceutical Design 12 (14): 2221-2234 Stein, H. (2006): Empowerment of health in the society; London; Oxford University Press Read More