Managing Chronic Diseases and Disabilities

Essay by Dusky323College, Undergraduate April 2007

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Taking care of our bodies is an important part of our daily lives, although when we are younger we take our bodies for granted and as we get older we realize how important taking care of our bodies really are.

One major contributing factor of serious health problems are caused by smoking. Many people who do smoke start doing so in their teens, not realizing nor caring about the effects it will have on their bodies. Smoking causes heart disease and cancer which are the two leading causes of death among people ages 45-64, smoking is also been known to cause strokes. It is important to realize that smoking affects people of all classes and races. Smoking is highest among American Indians and lowest among Asians and very prevalent in most other races, I feel that the reasons for American Indians to be the highest rate of smokers, and Asians to be the lowest, is greatly influenced by cultural factors.

Wee are always bombarded with anti-smoking campaigns especially targeted at today's youth. Between the years of 1965 through 1990 smoking went on a decline. This means that by targeting today's youth not to smoke when they reach 45+ they are less likely to die from cancers and heart disease caused from smoking.

Weight is probably the second biggest health issues that many of us are facing. Being overweight/obesity a large contributing factor to diabetes, for both men and women. The age at which women's weight is the highest is between the ages of 55-64, and for men it is the highest between the ages of 65-74. Maintaining a healthy lifestyle can be hard for anyone to do, but it is something that is very important in living a long healthy life. People who exercise regularly and have healthy habits find...