Find an article from a lay media source (newspaper, magazine, website) on a health issue.  Summarize the article and identify how the article used epidemiology concepts to explain the disease or condition.  Do you feel they did a good job, or not? What did the article include about possible primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention measures to reduce the impact of the disease or condition?

When responding to your classmates, share your thoughts on other possible interventions. 

Post your initial response by Wednesday at 11:59 PM EST. Respond to two students by Saturday at 11:59 PM EST. The initial discussion post and discussion responses occur on three different calendar days of each electronic week. All responses should be a minimum of 300 words, scholarly written, APA formatted (with some exceptions due to limitations in the D2L editor), and referenced.  A minimum of 2 references are required (other than the course textbook). These are not the complete guidelines for participating in discussions. Please refer to the Grading Rubric for Online Discussion found in the Course Resources module. 

The article talks about RSV and its incidence in the United States. The infection typically runs between late December to mid -February moreover this year an earlier spike warrants a cautious tackling of the problem.

RSV is a cold like symptoms. Most children get it by the age of 2, moreover due to pandemic, and masking, since 2020 many children older than 2 have not yet been subjected to the disease and the current spike is the disease catching up on those children.

The article states that cough, runny nose and fever are the main symptoms in an infected adult while lethargy, irritability and decreased appetite are symptoms exhibited by infected babies.

The article cites professors and pediatric disease specialists to back up its claims and ascertain its facts. (NYP,2022)

The article states that the disease is more serious on infants and toddlers since the latter have smaller airways and underdeveloped respiratory system which make is hard for them to expectorate secretions, unlike older children and adults who could cough up the secretions and clear their airways. (NYP,2022)

Toddlers and infants hence need active suctioning. (NYP,2022)

Premature babies, children under 6 months of age, children with chronic lung problems and those with congenital abnormalities. (NYP,2022)

Avoidance of the disease is primarily by primary prevention, wearing masks, hand washing, not touching contaminated surfaces as the disease can spread via droplets.   Furthermore the article states a vaccine as primary prevention palivizumab. As a secondary prevention, hospitalization. As a secondary prevention, isolation is also warranted to stop the spread of the virus. Symptomatic treatments and preventions of complications like pneumonia are some of secondary prevention states in the article. 

Overall, the article is scientific ,even though, it lacks detailed data. The distribution pattern is well organized and cited moreover, it does lack frequency of the disease. The determinants are well discussed and well organized. Causes and risk factors are clearly presented as well as the population that the article divides into the most at risk and low risk individuals.

Sheikh, K. (2022, October 29). R.S.V. cases are rising. here’s what you need to know. The New York Times. Retrieved January 19, 2023, from https://www.nytimes.com/article/rsv-symptoms-treatment.html 

In today’s healthcare society, there are many chronic health conditions for which patients seek treatment. Conditions such as Diabetes Mellitus, Hypertension, COPD, and many others are extremely important, however, the health issue being discussed is hypothyroidism.  The article chosen is from a reputable website, known as Mayo clinic. Hypothyroidism is defined as when the thyroid gland does not make an adequate amount of thyroid hormone (Mayo Clinic, 2023). While this is a great resource to many, the article may not cover all of the information the patient may be seeking out.  

The article begins with an overview of hypothyroidism and emphasizes the importance of treatment. In addition to sharing the signs and symptoms of hypothyroidism in the adult patient, such as fatigue, weight gain, and dry skin (MayoClinc, 2023), the article, depicts the signs and symptoms for each age group.  For example, if an infant is thought to have hypothyroidism, the parent may notice the infant may have an enlarged tongue or not feed well (Mayo Clinic, 2023). The article also depicts the signs of symptoms that might be seen in children and teens.  Symptoms in children and teens include a delay in puberty, parents might also notice poor growth, leading to short stature (Mayo Clinic, 2023).

            Next, the website then continues to o explain when the patient should be seen by their Health care provider and goes on to explain the potential causes, risk factors, as well as complications if not treated.

            After analysis of the article, it is evident that the condition being discussed is not “ a transmitted illness”, therefore there were limited epidemiological concepts within the article. However, the article did include the various possible causes of hypothyroidism. For example, the patient might have an autoimmune disorder, take medications, or may have had previous surgery (Mayo Clinic, 2023). The epidemiological concept being applied is an explanation of the agent, as well as environmental which is defined as the cause of the disease, and surroundings, Merrill, 2021) which could include the patient receiving radiation therapy (Mayo Clinic, 2023).

            Lastly, all three levels of prevention concepts were included in the article. For example, primary prevention is simply preventing the disease process from occurring (Merrill, 2021). The article does depict that if patients begin to feel fatigued without any other signs of hypothyroidism, they should contact the healthcare provider (Mayo Clinic, 2023).  The concept of secondary prevention was also covered in the article. For example, once the patient visits their health care provider, the physician will order a TSH lab work to detect if there is a too little or high hormone. The article did also implement tertiary treatment for this condition. For example, two symptoms of hypothyroidism include weight gain, and muscle weakness (Mayo Clinic, 2023). The tertiary level of treatment is to encourage the patient to participate in physical activity as tolerated, as well as implement weight control strategies (Merrill, 2021). 

                                                            References

Mayo Clinic. (January 2023). Hypothyroidism(underactive thyroid). https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hypothyroidism/symptoms-causes/syc-20350284

Merrill, R.M. (2021). Foundations of Epidemiology. In R.M. Merrill (Eds) Introduction to Epidemiology. (9^th ed, pp.1-16) Jones and Bartlett Learning.

In an article by the World Health Organization ([WHO] 2021), the problems of obesity and overweight are discussed using epidemiology concepts.  Epidemiology concepts include distribution, determinants, and application (Goodman et al. 2018). The WHO (2021) begins the article using distribution. For instance, after noting that the number of obese individuals has tripled since 1975, it is stated that in 2016 over 1.9 billion adults were overweight, and over 650 million were obese. In 2016, more than 340 million children aged five – 19 were overweight or obese, and in 2020 39 million children under five were overweight or obese. These figures make the issue of overweight and obesity urgent. Furthermore, the article points out that being overweight and obese is no longer a high-income country problem, but middle- and low-income countries now have growing problems with obesity. As an example, the article indicates that in Africa, the number of overweight children under five has risen by nearly 24% since 2000, and half of the children under five who were overweight or obese in 2019 resided in Asia.

The WHO (2021) indicates that the main detriments for overweight and obese individuals are an increased intake of energy-dense foods, which are high in fat and sugars, and a lack of physical activity.  The article also mentions how middle- to low-income countries have a double burden of malnutrition. Given that energy-dense foods are inexpensive, people in middle- to low-income countries, particularly children, are easily exposed to these foods. As a result, individuals become overweight or obese and undernutrition.  Since overweight and obesity are preventable, the application is for the community to help people make healthier food choices and create opportunities for physical activity.

The article provides primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention measures to reduce the number of overweight and obese individuals. The primary prevention measure is for individuals to take it upon themselves to eat healthily and get the needed physical activity to stay fit. The secondary prevention measure is for food companies to act responsibly by using ingredients in foods that are nutritious and do not promote unhealthy weight gain. The tertiary prevention measure is for heads of state and governments to commit to taking action to resolve the problem of overweight and obesity.

Overall, the article does a fine job of briefly presenting the world’s problem with overweight and obesity; however, according to Hedberg and Maher (2018), “epidemiologic data are paramount to targeting and implementing evidence-based control measures to protect the public’s health and safety.”  Although making healthier food choices and doing physical activity are ways to prevent overweight and obesity, the article fails to mention evidenced-based methods such as nutrition education or how to eat healthy with limited resources (Jetter et al., 2019, Murimi et al., 2017, Nekitsing et al., 2018). This article makes the world’s problem with overweight and obesity seem easy to fix.

References

Goodman, R. A., Buehler, J. W. & Mott, J. A. (2018, December 13). Defining field

epidemiology: The CDC Field Epidemiology Manual. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/eis/field-epi-manual/chapters/Defining-Field-Epi.html    

Hedberg, K. & Maher, J. (2018, December 13). Collecting data: The CDC Field epidemiology

manual. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/eis/field-epi-manual/chapters/collecting-data.html

Jetter, K. M., Adkins, J., Cortez, S., Hopper, G. K., Shively, V., Styne, D. M. (2019). Yes we

can: Eating healthy on a limited budget. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 51(3), 268-276. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jneb.2018.12.002.

Murimi, M. W., Kanyi, M. Mupfudze, T. Amin, R. Mbogori, T. &  Aldubayan, K. (2017).

Factors Influencing     Efficacy of nutrition education interventions: A systematic review.  Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 49(2), 142-165. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jneb.2016.09.003

Nekitsing, C., Hetherington, M.M. & Blundell-Birtill, P. (2018). developing healthy food

preferences in preschool children through taste exposure, sensory learning, and nutrition education. Curr Obes Rep, 7, 60–67. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13679-018-0297-8

World Health Organization. (2021, June 9). Obesity and overweight. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/obesity-and-overweight