Blog # 5 Views on Contraception

In what ways could someone's culture, beliefs and practices influence contraceptive decision making?


Culture and beliefs make up our decision on most of the choices we make throughout out lives. It is not any different when it comes to contraception. I am half Persian and half white and for me, contraception was kind of a middle ground. What I mean by that is we were taught that it was a safe way to practice sex but at the same time we were also told that abstinence is the way to go. Because my mom was a nurse, she knew what contraceptives could do for young adults and the benefits for using them.


The two main contraceptives I knew of were condoms and birth control. Considering I grew up around my brothers and their friends it wasnt hard to figure out the reason my mom made it clear that waiting is best but that if we were to become sexually active to protect ourselves. She was pretty much talking to my brothers at the time. Being a female, the only daughter, I had responsibilities to wait. Once I turned 17 I realized I needed the help of birth control to regulate my monthly cycle. Growing up in a western culture made this decision easy on me without it looking like I was having sex. But I also knew what birth control could do for me if I were to get married or enter into a serious relationship and although religious fanatics dont believe in the prevention of conception, I personally believe I have a choice. 


Sara Abbasi

Blog 4 Sex Education

Sex education is a very important topic that should defiantly be discussed in public schools. Children and teens should be aware of the risk they are taking and the ways they can protect themselves from STD's and pregnancy. We have seen an increase in both of these topics and I feel this is linked to the amount of education children receive on these topics. No matter what we teach or how much we try to protect teens from having sex or sexual intercourse, it is going to happen. To better prepare them, we need to educate them. This does not mean we should advocate having sexual intercourse, this just means that with knowledge comes power.
I remember in high school all of the girls and boys going around talking about how cool it was to do certain sexual things with one another and I thought, how scary! I don't want to get pregnant or get an STD! I mean, maybe I knew something they didn't but either way, knowing or not knowing, people did what they wanted through their biological drives or peer pressure or what ever it took to make an excuse to get experience. Now I am sitting here with my 12 year old cousin who is looking on the internet for answers because there is not enough education provided on this subject. Children need to know it is normal to feel the hormones and changes going on but that there are options and ways to help protect themselves.  Simply providing abstinence only education has NOT proven effective in the past. I actually attended a private christen school in middle school and found the sexual activity going on there was much worse and a much younger age. This to me was shocking, until later when I found out what sexual intercourse could actually do to a person in a health class. I am very thankful to have gone to a school where this topic did not stray far from the truth about sex and hormones.
I am not saying that abstinence is bad and should not be taught, but that children and teenagers need to be educated on their options should they decide that abstinence is not for them for whatever reason. This web link from WebMD provided insight to my thoughts so please feel free to take a second and read it.

http://www.webmd.com/parenting/features/abstinence-vs-sex-ed


Sara Abbasi

Blog #3 Preventative Practices

When I think about my health, a lot of times I only use certain categories to rate it. I often overlook the amount of sleep I get, the way I handle stress, and the social wellbeing aspect. The healthy idea planted into my brain is, are you eating the right amount of fruits and vegetables, are you drinking enough water, are you exercising, and  lastly do you smoke or drink. I tend to focus primarily on the physical wellbeing of myself, and often overlook the social, mental,and spiritual aspects. When I rated myself, I found that I am not 10 out of 10 which makes me wonder how I could miss such important factors in maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Now that I have seen that I am missing some very important health practices, I need to make a change. 

I know that if I could get 1-2 more hours of sleep, I would feel so much better throughout the day. But by the time 10:00 PM rolls around, I cant seem to settle down. I feel this sense of stress that I need to study for an hour or two longer or that I could use that time to clean or catch up work. I realize now that this is effecting the way I study and do my work throughout the day because I am so tired sometimes. I try to stay up to accomplish more, but I end up accomplishing less because I cannot focus on anything throughout the day except for my really soft, warm, wonderful bed. So to better my health, I am going to implement a new schedule. I will write down a two week look ahead so that I can see what needs to be done everyday and how much time I will need to devote to those things. Then I can plan on setting a strict bedtime, reverting back to the days when I was 5, and sticking to it for two weeks. If I feel better, I can stick with it. However if I do not feel better, I can adjust it to meet a good 7-8 hour sleep schedule. It can help fight disease, help with mood 

I really feel that most people overlook how important sleep is. It's the time our bodies can rest and reload for the next day. I often put this health factor last and when I really think about it, I should be considering sleep as my number health factor. With out it, you really cannot  function to your best. Maybe a few days out of the week will be okay but after that it starts to catch up to you. Harvard health Publications posted something very important about six reasons why getting enough sleep in crucial. It helps for memory consolidation, metabolism, mood and concentration, and overall physical health and immune function.Therefore, I am making a better effort to make this my number one priority and will hopefully see the improvement in the other areas of my life. 

Importance of sleep : six reasons not to scrimp on sleep. (n.d.) Retrieved from

   http://www.health.harvard.edu/press_releases/importance_of_sleep_and_health

Regards,

Sara Abbasi

Blog2- Is Healthcare a Right or Privilege?

Being insured most of my life has really shielded my view of what it is like to be unable to have access to healthcare institutions and medication when I need it. Until a few years ago, I never realized how much we pay for this privilege if I should even call it that. How can something be considered a privilege when you are paying and working for it? Without the people who pay for it, healthcare in essence would not exist and without good healthcare, the peoples health would decline over the years and they soon would not exist. It's a circle that must have a balance. I know that some people say that universal healthcare is going to make our healthcare system jam up and create a low end health system. But those people are like me, insured and secure.

I recently found out one of my cousins in Iran could not come to the US (because of money) to get treatment for a rare skin disorder and that the Iranian healthcare did not have the medical necessities he needed to be treated. The point is, there are people like that here that need treatment and they too cannot access it because a lack of healthcare or money. All I could think about was how this boy was just 3 years old. He cannot help what was happening to him nor could he do anything about it. If we allow healthcare to be a privilege and not a right we are saying that this kind of treatment is acceptable. I agree that I do not want to pay for other people's healthcare in the sense that they do nothing and get it for free while I work hard to pay for theirs and mine, because lets face it... there are people like that all over the world. But if I had to choose what is best for  us all, I would say that healthcare is a right and with the idea that more education and awareness can help reduce health problems the addition of universal healthcare is a good step in the right direction. This may put a slightly bigger dent in our paychecks but I feel as though healthcare is a right and no citizen should ever have to be turned down. A small part of me worries about the people who would take advantage of this and live off of our taxed paychecks but a bigger part of me worries about the men, women, and children who have no where to go and may have lost a job, spouse, or some other determinant that causes them to not seek out proper healthcare. We have to start somewhere and if this does not work, at least we know we tried to make a difference and that if anything we can learn from out mistakes. We need to take a step forward even if it means we do not all agree, we have to make a change and unless there is a better idea, this is definitely where we should start.



Until next week,

Sara Abbasi

Women's Health Concerns

Today, right now, there are so many issues I could tell you that worry me in regards to my health. There are genetic diseases and factors that play a huge role in this thought process as well as environmental roles. I guess I should first tell you what my main concern is that I feel is a huge health issue, and that is cancer. If I had to choose what kind of cancer specifically I would have to say lung cancer. This is not an issue that runs in my family which makes my choice a little odd to some. But lets be honest here, how many people do you know have had lung cancer and survived? As a matter of fact, how many women do you know that have been diagnosed with lung cancer and did not smoke? I can personally say that every woman I know that has been diagnosed has not smoked and has been under the age for 40. And the icing on the cake... they all found out by the time it had spread and were only given a matter of months to live, if that. So, all in all this is my biggest concern. There are very few signs and symptoms that give it away. And to top lung cancer off, it does not discriminate. No matter how old you are, how much you weigh, how much you run and do NOT smoke, what ethnicity you are, this is something that can get you. This type of disease, this type of cancer, is the most worrisome to me.

When I interviewed some women I found out that we all have similar and very different views of what health issues matter most. Each of the three women had different views from one another.
#1 was worried about cervical cancer. Even though there are strides being made to help decrease women's chances, and how treatable it is, this was her biggest concern. As a young Caucasian women of the age 25, she realizes that this is a huge issue to young women all over the world because of lack of health care and education.
#2 was most worried about lung cancer. She is an older Asian woman who runs everyday and does not smoke. She has known a few people who have passed away due to lung cancer and have also been very healthy individuals who showed no signs. I most defiantly agree with her, although I do not favor any issue over another.
#3 was a middle aged Hispanic-American woman who was concerned about obesity. This is largely due to her family history as well as culture. She realizes that with obesity comes other issues such as heart disease and diabetes.

I can not help but completely agree with all three women! I mean it is so hard to say only one issue concerns me. Even when it comes down to deciding the most concerning health issue, more than one most likely will come to mind. I hope that as I get older, new discoveries and advances are made towards understanding each of these issues and more than anything, I hope that everyone tries to live a healthy and happy life... because you honestly never know what the next day will bring.

Until next week,

Sara