Reducing the Risk of Assault:

It is all but impossible to completely prevent the chance of being a victim of assault regardless of what someone may do to try. There are a few things women can do to reduce their risk as much as possible. 

A couple of important things that women should always keep in mind when in unfamiliar situations:

• Do not ever leave drinks unattended for any amount of time or leave it for someone else to watch. 
• Do not accept a drink from someone unless it is in a sealed un open container.
• When going to a social event, go in a group: arrive together, lookout for one another, stay with each other and leave together.
• Always be aware of your surroundings.
• Don't allow yourself to be isolated with someone you don't know or trust.
• Think about the level of intimacy you want in a relationship, and clearly state your limits whether it be a friend, significant other or stranger.

Remember, if a woman is assaulted, it is NEVER her fault!!

If something does happen:

- Preserve evidence of the attack - don't bathe or brush your teeth. Write down     all the details you can recall about the attack & the attacker.

- Contact the authorities immediately and get medical attention. Even with no physical injuries, it is important to determine the risks of STDs and pregnancy.

Treatment or Jail for addicts...?

When incarcerating a drug adict the decision to place them into prison or into a mandated drug treatment program is a decision that could drastically effect the addicts future. I personally believe that it should not be solely about punishment for a drug addict if their crime was a drug related crime. Of course, in cases of serious violent crimes (rape, murder, assault, etc) criminals should serve their time in prison. But for non-violent offenders, a drug treatment program should be the first place they should be sent. It is there in which a drug addict can hopefully learn the necessary skills to live a successful, drug free life inside and outside prison. After hopefully overcoming their addiction, these addicts can then learn the proper coping skills, social skills, and job/life skills to build a healthy life after prison to hopefully never return. The percentage of prisoners that return to prison multiple times in their lives is staggering as is the number of prisoners with drug and alcohol dependencies. I believe these numbers are so high is because society focusses on punishment rather than rehabilitation. There are certainly situation where rehabilitaion shouldnt or cant be a possibility but there definately times when rehab would help. We are constantly hearing about different states constantly building new prisons and bigger prisons because of the tremendous overcrowding in the current prisons. I wish some of those millions of dollars that are being spent on new prisons would be spent on developing a drug treatment program. With the way things are now, with the ever growing prison population, trying to develop a program like that definately couldnt hurt. We can keep on building new jails until there is no more land left to put them, but unitl we try something new and/or different things wont get any better.

My part in removing the stigma of mental illness

The best thing that people can do today and what I am doing as my part is exactly what this class is doing now, and thats speaking openly about the issue, sharing and exchanging information and most importantly educating those who dont know. Like almost everything else, the majority of the problem is the lack of knowlege/education that the general public has about any particular issue and the subject of mental illness is no different. When most people think of mental illness they get the picture of someone is severely mental ill, having to be put into a straight jacket and placed in a padded room because they are speaking to people who dont exist. That is not a fair or accurate depiction of mental illness. Mental illness is an issue that almost every person will deal with in their lives whether it be directly with themselves or with someone on their immediate family. A more accurate depiction of mental illness today would be someone whos is dealing with depression. Anyone would be hard pressed to find someone who has not been depressed at some point in their lives. But the majority of those people probably wouldnt consider depression a mental illness. Most people arent as fortunate as I am to have the knowledge of many health issues but I do my part to inform as many as I can about the truths about mental illness, the most prevalent types of mental illnesses, what signs to look out for, and where someone can go for support or more information for themselves or their loved ones. As it always has been, knowledge is power and with that power we treat others the way we too would like to be treated, this world would be such a better place to live in.

World Wide Women's Health: Heart Disease, Cultural Differences, & Diets

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in women in the United States, accounting for more deaths than stroke, lung cancer, and breast cancer. Within the United States, heart disease prevalence is highest among black women, followed by Mexican-American and Caucasian women. Internationally, coronary events among women occur most often in the United Kingdom and least often in Spain and China. The impact of diet on heart health is well established, with the American Heart Association recommending a heart-healthy diet focused on limiting foods high in saturated fats and cholesterol and emphasizing whole grains, fruits, and vegetables. However, a woman's cultural beliefs, traditions, and ethnic preferences exert a strong influence on her diet. In addition, availability, cost, and convenience, as well as role responsibilities, time constraints, and dietary knowledge, influence food selection and preparation. Some of the adopted practices may be healthful, such as reducing dietary saturated fats. Other adopted practices may not promote a healthy diet, such as increasing consumption of soft-drink beverages and fast food. The fusion of traditional eating habits with Western-style eating habits requires an individualized approach that assesses the dietary practices, language proficiency, level of nutrition knowledge, food availability and accessibility, and the individual's level of affiliation with their ethnicity.

References

American Heart Association. "Women and cardiovascular diseases" http://www.americanheart.org/

Levi F, Lucchini F, Negri E, La Vecchia C. "Trends in mortality from cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases in Europe and other areas of the world." Heart. 2002;88:119-124. http://www.heartjnl.com/

Lenfant C. Can. "We prevent cardiovascular diseases in low- and middle-income countries?" Bulletin of the World Health Organization. 2001;79:980-982. http://www.who.org/.

Making a helthy TWU

TWU, like most schools is a place that can have great potential to educate people on many different issues but the most beneficial can be health. Personal health is important to every type of person, in any type of situation and if it is not, it definitely should be. College campuses should take a more active role in the promotion of disease prevention of their students. There are a few relatively simple ideas for TWU to do that. A wellness symposium would be extremely helpful in advertising all the services that TWU has to offer and local offices or companies could attend to provide information and provide free services. Symposiums, forums, and seminars are a very successful in educating. Education is one of the most important aspects in disease prevention. A lot of people don't know about what can be done to keep themselves healthy, the consequences of unhealthy lifestyles and even what services are offered nearby. This is exactly would this type of thing could accomplish. Other that, advertising could be extremely effective. Possibly making a weekly newsletter that could be distributed with the school newspaper providing suggestions on nutrition, exercise, family life, stopping unhealthy habits, etc. No one is responsible for a students help more than the students themselves and I believe these ideas will promote the importance of patient education and accountability.

How to help your friend with a possible eating disorder... whether they want it or not.

Eating disorders are very complicated issues that many times combined emotional, psychological, as with the more obvious physical effects that make it very hard to do deal with for not only the one suffering from the disorder but the family and loved ones of that person. Due to the nature of the disorder, it is hidden from most people so by the time anyone realizes what is happening, the disorder is usually so far progressed it is hard to recover. For anyone who might suspect that someone they care about might be suffering from any sort of an eating disorder there are a few things that they need to keep in mind. 

- First thing that needs to be done is research. If someone suspects anyone else of an eating disorder that should become very informed on all aspects of the disorder. In order to become more certain of things, it is very important to understand and be able to recognize all the signs and symptoms to keep a close eye on the progression on the disorder.

- When someone is finally able to confront their friend about there concerns it is essential to be be delicate about how to voice the concerns. It is important to ensure that the person is reassured that they are loved and that people are concerned about their well being. When speaking it is important for people to use "I" not "you". For example: "I'm worried" or "I am concerned" but stay away from remarks like "you aren't eating enough" "you are getting to skinny" following the "I" statements it is good to follow up with factual information about side effects or damages in order to keep the person from brushing it off as insignificant. 

-Next, tell your friend that you will help them find someone they trust and feel safe talking to to get help and support. Also reiterate that you will be supportive and they can be confident that you will remain by their side.

-If the friend continues to deny the fact of the problem existing or if the refuse help, inform them that because you are very concerned, you are not going to back down and you will continue to find help. 

-The very last thing that can be done is to contact a health professional for assistance in getting treatment.

Many peoples lives have been saved by concerned loved ones who are in tuned to their observations and have the will to do what is necessary to insure the health and well being of their loved ones.  

My Mother and Menopause

  

Three Generations: My mother, my grandmother, and me

I spoke to my mother about menopause and what things were like for her. My mothers experience going through menopause was a little different then the average woman. My mother had a very difficult delivery of me (sorry mom!). The most major issue my mother had after delivering me was a recessed bladder. My mother had to have a bladder sling after I was born. She continued to have problems with her recessed bladder continuously dropping in spite of the sling. When she was 47 she was told she would have to have the problem surgically corrected and that would include a full hysterectomy. Having a full hysterectomy at 47 threw my mother into full menopause. This was a lot more difficult for my mother then other woman because there was no gradual progression for her or her body. Her and her doctor spoke and later decided that my mother would have hormone replacement therapy to help treat the unpleasant side effects of menopause. My mother followed the doctors orders with the hormones but after a few months decided to stop because the good did not out weigh the bad. The hormone therapy was supposed to help with night sweats and bad dreams but it did not help my mother at all. In fact she didnt get more than a few hours of sleep a night. Shortly after using the hormones my mother noticed additional side effects such as hair loss, dry skin, and weight gain. During the time my mother was taking these hormones was there were, and still are, concerns being voiced by some doctors about the usage of these hormones significantly increasing the development of breast cancer. My mother and I both have extremely bad family histories of cancer in general but mostly breast cancer. My grandmother (my moms mom) just passed away in november from breast cancer. My mothers father passed away in 2006 from colon cancer and his mother (my mothers grandmother) also passed away from breast cancer. So with the prevalence of cancer in our family my mother chose to stop the hormone therapy. Though it was a difficult process (for all of us) my mother went through menopause without the use of any hormones and is happy with her choice to do so today. Luckily menopause is not something I have to be too terribly concerned about any time in the near future so hopefully doctors will come to the conclusion about hormone replacement therapy because as bad as my mothers family history is with cancer, mine is worse because my

fathers mother also had breast cancer, though she survived it. So unless there is concrete evidence proving no link between the usage of hormones and cancer I will make the same choice as my mother not to take part in the replacement therapy. 

Me and Nan(R.I.P)

summer '07

I miss you and love you so much. You still are and always will be my hero