Arzola Kimberly

Period: 2
Disease
In America there are a lot of diseases that are caused by a lot of factors. Some may be
from the environment in general and others might be caused by the lifestyle. No matter what the
disease is, it is dangerous. A disease is a disorder of the structure or function in a human body (or
animal or plant), especially one that produces specific signs or symptoms or that affects a
specific location. This is not caused by a direct physical injury. In our society there are some
diseases that are preventable. The majority however come from the fact that Americans are
having a lot of eating problems in their life. They are becoming lazier and eating unhealthy
products. Many Americans eat from packaged meals, candy, and other artificial things. The
three major diseases in the United States that can preventable include: obesity, diabetes, and
heart disease.
Obesity is a disease that over one-third of the American population has. It is a disease that
involves having an excessive amount of fat in the body. Obesity increases the amount of having
other major problems in the body such as high blood pressure, heart disease, and specific kinds
of cancer in your body. There are many causes for this disease and some include: lack of sleep
which makes you crave unhealthy food, not having enough of the vegetables and fruits that the
body needs, and not having enough of physical activity in our lifestyle. Being active and eating
right is a way in which the disease can be preventable and the body can go back to its
homeostatic state. This disease has been prevalent and it is mostly seen in industrialized

countries not in third world countries. Obesity and diabetes started being most common when
industrialization took place and factories started making cheaper food instead of farms.
Diabetes is an after effect of obesity. If the obesity in the body is too high then, diabetes
can emerge as well. Diabetes or otherwise known as diabetes mellitus, a disease in which the
person has high blood glucose. This is either because the production of insulin is inadequate or
because the body does not respond well to insulin or both. Diabetes is a long term condition and
there are two types to it. Type 1 is when the body does not produce insulin and this only affects
10% of all diabetes cases. Type 2, which is the most common, is when the body does not produce
enough insulin for the body to function properly. This disease started emerging when obesity
started to become more and more of a problem in our society. In order to heal this disease one
must do physical activity and maintain a healthy lifestyle as well as taking oral medication. It is
very important that the cholesterol levels and the blood pressure be checked regularly because
diabetes can increase the rate of heart disease.
Heart disease is a condition in which it includes various problems happening in the heart
and therefore it damages the whole body as well. Many of the problems are related to a process
called atherosclerosis which is when plaque builds up on the walls of the arteries. This causes the
arteries to become narrower and decrease the flow of blood and making it a higher risk to get a
stroke or a heart attack. This basically relates to the two previous diseases mentioned because if
people eat too much unhealthy foods then the plaque can be created from too much oils, sugars,
and fats and has the body at a higher risk of having heart complications. The types of heart
diseases include: heart valve problems, arrhythmia, heart attack, and stroke. Treatments for these
problems are medication as well as specific medication for the type of heart problem that the
patient has. This disease is mostly seen in industrialized countries.

Reflecting on my diet and on my lifestyle, I believe that I might be at risk of having

obesity. This might be because of the eating habits that I am used to eating and because of being
Hispanic I believe that some of the food that I eat is not good for my well being. Most Hispanic
families eat a lot of meat, and sometimes oily food. I am part of that and even though I try to not
eat as much of these unhealthy foods, because of my culture, I still eat those things. I believe that
the culture and the atmosphere that one lives in effects the way that one eats. It can be harder for
people to make changes to their eating habits because maybe they are the only ones out of their
whole family to make the change or simply because its a very long process for them.
These diseases as well as all others are a very unpleasant thing to have because it limits
you from having a normal life. That is why one must try to do everything they can to prevent
these diseases. In the long run everything is for the well being of ones self.

Works Cited
"Chronic Diseases and Health Promotion." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention, 09 May 2014. Web. 04 Mar. 2015.
<http://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/overview/>
Medical News Today. MediLexicon International, n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2015.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/info/diabetes/
"What Is Cardiovascular Disease?" What Is Cardiovascular Disease? N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Feb.
2015.
<http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Caregiver/Resources/WhatisCardiovascularDisease/Whatis-Cardiovascular-Disease_UCM_301852_Article.jsp>.