Public Health

Public health refers to "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals." It is concerned with threats to health based on population health analysis. The population in question can be as small as a handful of people, or as large as all the inhabitants of several continents. The dimensions of health can encompass "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity"

The focus of public health intervention is to improve health and quality of life through prevention and treatment of disease and other physical and mental health conditions. This is done through surveillance of cases and health indicators, and through promotion of healthy behaviors. Examples of common public health measures include promotion of hand washing, breastfeeding, delivery of vaccinations, and distribution of condoms to control the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.

Importance of public health

Nowadays, few would argue with governments’ role in ensuring that certain basic services, such as clean air and water, are provided. Measures that were previously hotly contested and seen as “nanny state interference”, such as pasteurization of milk and fortification of white bread, are no longer contentious.

Many of the major questions of public-health policy relate to so-called “lifestyle factors” that influence the risks of major killers such as heart disease and cancer. Here people often refer to “lifestyle choices”, but the notion of “choice” can be troublesome, as choices are often constrained by the actions of others, such as industry and government, and by socioeconomic, environmental and genetic factors. Therefore, the ethical justification for government intervention to promote public health deserves close scrutiny. In traditional bioethics, much emphasis is placed on the freedom of the individual. However, in public-health policy, some measures might constitute minor infringements of a person’s freedom but bring about significant benefit for a large number of people, hence the need to balance freedoms with community benefits.

Non-communicable Diseases

A non-communicable disease (NCD) is a medical condition or disease that is non-infectious or non-transmissible. NCDs can refer to chronic diseases which last for long periods of time and progress slowly. NCDs are distinguished only by their non-infectious cause, not necessarily by their duration. Some chronic diseases of long duration, such as HIV/AIDS, are caused by infections. Chronic diseases require chronic care management as do all diseases that are slow to develop and of long duration. NCDs are the leading cause of death globally. In 2012 they cause 68% of all deaths (38 million) up from 60% in 2000. About half were under age 70 and half were women.

Risk factors such as a person's background, lifestyle and environment are known to increase the likelihood of certain non-communicable diseases. They include age, gender, genetics, exposure to air pollution, and behaviors such as smoking, unhealthy diet and physical inactivity which can lead to hypertension and obesity, in turn leading to increased risk of many NCDs.

NCDs include many environmental diseases covering a broad category of avoidable and unavoidable human health conditions caused by external factors, such as sunlight, nutrition, pollution, and lifestyle choices.

Genetic Diseases ·         Achondroplasia ·         Albinism ·         Bardet-Biedl syndrome ·         Bipolar disorder ·         Canavan disease ·         Color blindness ·         Cystic fibrosis ·         Down's syndrome ·         Fragile X syndrome ·         Galactosemia ·         Hemophilia ·         Krabbe disease ·         Muscular dystrophy ·         Neurofibromatosis ·         Noonan syndrome ·         Osteogenesis ·         Patau syndrome ·         Sickle-cell disease ·         Tay-Sachs disease ·         Triple X syndrome ·         Turner syndrome ·         Usher syndrome ·         Von Hippel-Lindau syndrome ·         Waardenburg syndrome ·         Wilson's disease ·         Xeroderma pigmentosum

Environmental diseases ·         Appendicitis ·         Anorexia nervosa ·         Arteriosclerosis ·         Asthma ·         Carpal tunnel syndrome ·         Chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases ·         Emphyema ·         Fetal alcohol syndrome ·         Glaucoma ·         Fibromyalgia ·         Hyperthyroidism ·         Hypothyroidism ·         Irritable Bowel Syndrome ·         Liver cirrhosis ·         Narcolepsy ·         Osteoporosis ·         Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) ·         Tick paralysis

Communicable Diseases

A disease that is transmitted through direct contact with an infected individual or indirectly through a vector is known as communicable diseases. Communicable diseases, also known as infectious diseases or transmissible diseases, are illnesses that result from the infection, presence and growth of pathogenic (capable of causing disease) biologic agents in an individual human or other animal host. Communicable diseases, also known as infectious diseases or transmissible diseases, are illnesses that result from the infection, presence and growth of pathogenic (capable of causing disease) biologic agents in an individual human or other animal host. Infections may range in severity from asymptomatic (without symptoms) to severe and fatal. The term infection does not have the same meaning as infectious disease because some infections do not cause illness in a host.

 List  of  some  communicable  disease  are as follows:

·         Hepatitis B

·         HIV/AIDS

·         Measles

·         MRSA

·         Pertussis

·         Rabies

·         Sexually Transmitted Disease

·         Shigellosis

·         Tuberculosis

·         West Nile Virus

·         Zika

·         Ebola

·         Enterovirus D68

·         Flu

·         Hantavirus

Diseases

The term disease broadly refers to any condition that impairs the normal functioning of the body. For this reason, diseases are associated with non-functioning of the body's normal homeostatic process. A disease is a particular abnormal condition, a disorder of a structure or function that affects part or all of an organism. Disease is often construed as a medical condition associated with specific symptoms and signs.

Commonly, the term disease is used to refer specifically to infectious diseases, which are clinically evident diseases that result from the presence of viruses, bacteria, fungi, protozoa, multi-cellular organisms, and aberrant proteins known as prions. Diseases may be classified by etiology (cause), pathogenesis (mechanism by which the disease is caused), or by symptom(s).

Only some diseases such as influenza are contagious and commonly believed infectious. The micro-organisms that cause these diseases are known as pathogens and include varieties of bacteria, viruses, protozoa and fungi.

Cause

                Injury, infection or an unhealthy lifestyle can all make you ill. So can your genes, the instructions that tell your body how to make all the different proteins it needs to survive and grow. A change in a gene may cause a change in a protein, affecting the way it works in your body. Some genes are involved in common illnesses, while others cause rare genetic conditions.

With acute situations, such as a falling and breaking an arm or developing bronchitis after catching the latest bug going around, the underlying causes are obvious. With chronic disease and aging, however, cause becomes less well defined. It’s not one thing, but lots of little things adding up over time. And they do add up, little by little, every minute of every day. Mental stress, hypertension and unhealthy habits cause  diseases.

               

Physical Exercise

Exercises Increases our lifetime

Physical exercise is any bodily activity that enhances or maintains physical fitness and overall health and wellness. To maintain the health level one should have the habit of daily exercise. It may also help prevent stress and depression, increase quality of sleep and act as a non-pharmaceutical sleep aid to treat diseases such as insomnia, help promote or maintain positive self-esteem, improve mental health, maintain steady digestion and treat constipation and gas, regulate fertility health, and augment an individual's sex appeal or body image, which has been found to be linked with higher levels of self-esteem.

women running

Physical exercise may help decrease some of the effects of childhood and adult obesity. Some care providers call exercise the "miracle" or "wonder" drug—alluding to the wide variety of benefits that it can provide for many individuals.

A review of co-relational studies suggest that physical exercise is important for maintaining physical fitness and can contribute positively to maintaining a healthy weight, regulating digestive health, building and maintaining healthy bone density, muscle strength, and joint mobility, promoting physiological well-being, reducing surgical risks, and strengthening the immune system. Some studies indicate that exercise may increase life expectancy and quality of life.

Children running

According to the “World Health Organization”, lack of physical activity contributes to approximately 17% of heart disease and diabetes, 12% of falls in the elderly, and 10% of breast cancer and colon cancer. The beneficial effect of exercise on the cardiovascular system is well documented. There is a direct correlation between physical inactivity and cardiovascular mortality, and physical inactivity is an independent risk factor for the development of coronary artery disease.

Children who participate in physical exercise experience greater loss of body fat and increased cardiovascular fitness. Studies have shown that academic stress in youth increases the risk of cardiovascular disease in later years; however, these risks can be greatly decreased with regular physical exercise

Healthy food & Balanced diet

healthy food

Any natural food containing vital nutrients, being grown without the use of pesticides, or having a low sodium or fat content is known as healthy food.

Food, from the ancient times to modern age, has always been an important part of human life. Man cannot live without it, because it is the basic need of human being. In this modern age, food has become very easy to prepare with the help of technology, and it takes less time to prepare a variety of food than it took in the past. One can easily buy processed food from the market and it saves time. Unfortunately, these canned foods should not replace the healthy food.

There are several significant advantages of eating a balanced diet. First of all, because this diet consists of the main nutrients, which are proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins and minerals, the body can gain the whole needs of them and support it to work properly. This leads to have healthy nutritious organs and tissues. Secondly, due to the increase number of illnesses around the world, fully completed diet is able to protect the human’s body from the widespread diseases. Cancers is, for instance, a common one among people. If a person's strengths his immune system from an early age by eating balanced diet every day, it is definitely difficult to be affected with these diseases or even the chronic pains.

Balanced diet

 There has been a strong connection between healthy life style and the balanced diet. To conclude, the balanced diet has brought plenty of positives effects, so once the individual maintains on this nutritious diet, the potential cause of having any disorder would be rare. Nevertheless, those people, who are against eating balanced diets, might understand the value of this diet in future.

In order to have healthy life style not only balance diet and healthy food but It's our mind, spirit .To stay healthy our positive thinking and right attitude are also important.

First Aid

First aid is a possible help given to the victim before taking the victim to the hospital. There are many situations which may require first aid, and many countries have regulation or guidance which specifies a minimum level of first aid provision in certain circumstances.

First aid treatment

First aid, however, does not necessarily require any particular equipment or prior knowledge, and can involve improvisation with materials available in the mean time, often by untrained persons. First aid can be performed on all animals also. In order to stay alive, all persons need to have an open airway—a clear passage where air can move in through the mouth or nose through the pharynx and down into the lungs, without obstruction. Conscious people will maintain their own airway automatically, but those who are unconscious may be unable to maintain a patent airway, as the part of the brain which automatically controls breathing in normal situations may not be functioning.

First aid kit

Certain skills are considered essential to the provision of first aid and are taught ubiquitously. Some people undertake specific training in order to provide first aid at public or private events, during filming, or other places where people gather. They may be designated as a first aider or use some other title. This role may be undertaken on a voluntary basis, with an organization such as the Red Cross, or as paid employment with a medical contractor.

Training is generally provided by attending a course, typically leading to certification. Due to regular changes in procedures and protocols, based on updated clinical knowledge, and to maintain skill, attendance at regular refresher courses or re-certification is often necessary.

Physical Health

Physical exercise makes a person physically fit.

Physical health is critical for overall well-being and is the most visible of the various dimensions of health, which also include social, intellectual, emotional, spiritual and environmental health. Long-term coughing, fevers, or other ailments should be addressed through primary care. Emergency treatment should be sought when signs and symptoms are significant or life-threatening. Physical health consists of many components, here is a brief list of the key areas that should be addressed:

·         Physical activity - includes strength, flexibility, and endurance

·         Nutrition and diet - includes nutrient intake, fluid intake, and healthy digestion

·         Alcohol and drugs - includes the abstinence from or reduced consumption of these substances

·         Medical self-care - includes addressing minor ailments or injuries and seeking emergency care as necessary

·         Rest and sleep - includes periodic rest and relaxation, along with high quality sleep

 Some of the most obvious and serious signs that we are unhealthy appear physically. Addressing this dimension is crucial for anyone attempting to sustain overall health and wellness. Most healthy children and adults should be active on a daily basis. This should be a mix of both leisurely physical activity and structured exercise. Examples of leisurely physical activity include hiking, biking, and walking.

Restricting specific nutrients should only be done under the supervision of a licensed health professional. Fluid, ideally in the form of clean water, should be regularly consumed. Substances that alter mood or other bodily processes should be limited or avoided.

Environmental Health

Environmental health are the factors outside of the body that can affect well being or behaviour.

polluted environment causes various viral diseases

 These may include the quality of a person's air, food and supply or their exposure to hazardous materials.
Prevention from the illness, injury or diseases in the community is essential to good environmental health.

The term "Environmental Health" refers to many different factors in a person's surroundings.Generally, environmental health is releated with the following factors:

healthy environment, healthy life

• Air 
• Water
• Food and safety
• Waste disposal
• Hazardous substances

Mental Health

Mental health is a level of psychological well-being, or an absence of a mental illness. It is the psychological state of someone who is functioning at a satisfactory level of emotional and behavioral adjustment.

From the perspective of positive psychology or holism, mental health may include an individual's ability to enjoy life, and create a balance between life activities and efforts to achieve psychological resilience.

 Mental illnesses are more common than cancer, diabetes, or heart disease. Over 26 percent of all Americans over the age of 18 meet the criteria for having a mental illness. Serious mental disorders affect an estimated 6 percent of the adult population, or approximately 1 in 17 people. A little more than half receive treatment. A WHO report estimates the global cost of mental illness at nearly $3 trillion in 2010, with a projected increase to over $6 trillion by 2030.

Mental health and stability is a very important factor in a person’s everyday life. Social skills, physical skills, and someone’s way of thinking are just some of the things that the human brain develops at an early age.

 Learning how to interact with others and how to focus on certain subjects are essential lessons to learn from the time we can talk all the way to when we are so old that we can barely walk. However, there are some people out there who have difficulty with these kind of skills and behaving like an average person.

Health Education

Knowledge of health education helps people be healthy

                          "Health education is a process that informs, motivates and helps people to adopt and maintain healthy practices and lifestyles, advocates environment changes and needed to facilitate this goal and conducts, professional training and research to the same end."

                         Health education is a profession of educating people about health. Areas within this profession encompass environmental health, physical health, social health, emotional health, intellectual health, and spiritual health. Health education can be defined as the principle by which individuals and groups of people learn to behave in a manner conducive to the promotion, maintenance, or restoration of health.

 In order to keep the environment healthy one should have the knowledge of health education and should be applied that knowledge in their life style.

                            However, as there are multiple definitions of health, there are also multiple definitions of health education. The "World Health Organization" defined Health Education as "comprising of consciously constructed opportunities for learning involving some form of communication designed to improve health literacy, including improving knowledge, and developing life skills which are conducive to individual and community health."

Health

               Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being of an individual. The word health is an important factor today in everybody life because if we are physically and mentally healthy then we can definitely enjoy a healthy life too.

A good and a strong health is not something that is sold at a grocery store but it is something that we have to create and also maintain at the same time.

 A good health is achieved by following a few collective patterns which are health related. If we follow this logic then we will also realise the importance of having a healthy lifestyle which will add to the benefits of having a healthy life.

to live a happy life, a person needs to be mentally and physically healthy.

            

               One can start with following the pattern of eating the right things at the right time and also exercising too. These healthy patterns will help to lead to reduced illness which in turn will also help save a lot of money that we turn up spending for recovering from various illnesses.