A lot of people do not understand how powerful preventative measures can be, until they

find themselves dealing with a disease: a disorder of structure or function in a human, animal, or
plant, especially one that introduces specific signs or symptoms or that affects a specific location
and is not simply a direct result of physical injury. There are a few diseases in our society
considered preventable: heart disease, cancer, stroke, lung disease, and diabetes. However, we
discussed two specific ones in our class which are diabetes and heart disease.
Becoming familiar with the leading health threats, people can have a better understanding
of the steps to take that may reduce the risks and help avoiding the leading causes of death.
Diabetes, also called diabetes mellitus, is a group of diseases that result in too much sugar in
blood, or high blood glucose. The four most common types are Type 2 diabetes, Gestational
diabetes, Prediabetes, and Type 1 diabetes. You can prevent this by physical activity, consuming
plenty of fiber and whole grains, losing extra weight and skipping fat diets by making healthier
choices. Another disease we learned was Heart disease: damage or disease in the hearts major
blood vessels. Some symptoms include chest pain, shortness of breath, pain, numbness,
weakness or coldness in legs or arms if the blood vessels in those parts of your body are
narrowed, pain in neck, jaw, throat, upper abdomen or back. You can reduce the risk by treating
the conditions that contribute to them: high cholesterol, diabetes and high blood pressure.
The third disease is cancer: a disease in which abdominal cells divide uncontrollably and
destroy body tissue. Most common types include Prostate, Breast, Colon, Lung, Lymphoma,
Leukemia, Melanoma and Basal Cell cancer. Symptoms vary regarding the type of cancer. These
diseases have been prevalent throughout the world, and even though there are better ways to treat
them than years ago, the diseases will still be harmful to those who have them. Heart disease and
Diabetes are the diseases that involve nutrition and exercise as part of their prevention.

In the recent years, there has been an increase of cancer related deaths from the
community I am from in Mexico, including some family members. My culture is known by its
traditional unhealthy, but delicious, food. We tend to eat the unhealthiest foods in big portions.
Not that long ago, Mexico became the worlds number one most obese country with 69.5%,
surpassing the U.S. whos now in second place with 68%. This will cause an increase of heart
related diseases including diabetes. Even though diabetes does not run on either side of my
family, cancer does. Both maternal and paternal grandparents died of cancer; including other
family members.
There are some socio-economic and cultural issues that would affect the ability of an
individual or family to follow a preventative lifestyle: health status, income, food choice, drug
use, traditions and believes. People who do not have health care find it difficult to regularly be
checking their health due to high amount of money they would have to pay while their income
isnt going to cover the bill. Those who are drug addicts and are trying to quit, will constantly
keep going back to their addictions that will eventually kill them. The constant desire of wanting
to eat fast food and not being able to control it can definitely affect an individual trying to follow
a preventative lifestyle. Cultural issues like traditions and believes can also be an affecting factor
since different cultures have certain traditional foods for certain days.

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"Por Qu Mxico Es El Pas Con Ms Obesos Del Mundo?" Por Qu Mxico Es El
Pas Con Ms Obesos Del Mundo? N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Mar. 2015.