Week 1 Discussion/Assignment "Short Turn AROUND" Due Today by 6p

Week 1 Assignment/Discussion

Focus Area Assigned – Vision Health

I chose “Dry Eyes”

My initial Post

Vision Health is my assigned focus area. Within Vision Health one area in particular I would like to focus on is dry eyes.  Dry eyes can be caused by many medical conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis and aging. As a matter of fact, aging brings on natural changes that can significantly weaken your eyes. Dry eyes are one of the most common problems in elderly people. As we get older the body produce fewer secretions which in term causes the eyes to be more sensitive and dry out more frequently. With that being said, there are things to do to help ease dry eyes.  Essentially, drinking more water will keep your body hydrated and help with dry eyes. Unfortunately, some complications associated with dry eyes are eye infection, damage to surface of eyes and decrease in quality of life (Mayo Clinic 2015).

 Shockingly, rheumatoid arthritis causes chronic inflammation of the joints. Rheumatoid arthritis can also cause inflammation of the tissue around the joints. Inflammation also occurs around the eyes and mouth, which causes both to dry out excessively (Bashour 2015). Although, there are many diseases associated Vision Health according to HealthyPeople.gov with the aging of the population, the number of Americans with major eye diseases is increasing, and vision loss is becoming a major public health concern. By the year 2020, the number of people who are blind or have low vision is projected to reach 5.5 million (Kempen, et al., 2004). I find the projected numbers of people that can possibly become blind or have low vision is quite disheartening. Moreover, extensive research should be conducted to decrease this overwhelming number by 2020.

NEXT STEP – Professor’s Comments;

600-750 Words Please address highlighted questions below in discussion.

Hi Andrea

Thank you for the well researched information on your health topic. Now, for this week, can you discuss the following based on this week's readings under the Resources tab:

How might you react to being diagnosed with the disease/condition associated with your Healthy People assigned focus area? What are some of the cultural biases to being diagnosed with this disease? · Describe one primary and one secondary method of preventing the health problem (i.e., upstream methods). Which would you most likely choose? · Describe two biomedical methods (tertiary prevention) of dealing with the health problem (i.e., downstream methods). · In your own words, explain how the social ecology of health model could be used to address this health issue. Give at least one example applying terms from the model. · Be sure to cite your supporting documentation appropriately in correct APA format.

Resources;

Article: Healthy People. (2010). Healthy People 2020: The Road Ahead! Retrieved from http://healthypeople.gov/2020/