Monday, February 13, 2017
M3.2 Vulnerable Populations
The information provided in this module shed light on how vulnerable we can be to health issues and environmental toxins. First of all, it is shocking how omnipresent these chemicals are in our day to day lives. The lack of regulation on these chemicals leaves everyone--rich or poor--vulnerable to being exposed. In the first video, Dr. Manchanda really emphasized that health care needs to start upstream and that the more upstreamist in our society can really alter our health care system from "sick care" to actual health care. Another theme that stuck out to me in this module is that detrimental chemicals are not being regulated and are being exposed to our most vulnerable, babies. Although at low doses, Dr. Lanphear emphasized that low doses can effect health by pointing out that a therapeutic dose or Ritalin has about the same parts per billion as the typical amount of lead found in the majority of babies. This is troubling given that there are many critical windows and key developmental stages in a babies life. This module emphasized that detrimental chemicals have been demonstrated to cause developmental, reproductive, and general health issues in everyone from babies to adults and that regulations and policies need to discussed in order to prevent further exposure to future generations.
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I also enjoyed the video by Rishi Manchanda, which discusses the upstream approach and the importance of the environmental assessment in clinical practice. But I am also terrified to learn that children are more vulnerable to chemical exposures. The findings reported in the Little Things Matter video showed that even small exposure to chemicals can have harmful consequences on our health and especially on children. These are facts that we need to address in order to protect the health of our children. We need to be well informed to promote change in our public consciousness and in public policy.
ReplyDeleteThe TED talk given by Dr. Manchanda is the main reason why I decided to go into public health. Medical students are taught to be able to diagnose and treat a disease, but in many cases, they don't have the necessary skills and tools to be able to prevent diseases. I was very concerned that children are the most vulnerable population. The findings in Little Things Matter, made me wonder how safe children are. They are being exposed to chemicals before and after they are born. We need to be able to work with different agencies to be able to prevent high levels of chemicals getting into our bodies. But at the end of the day, it's up to us to make those appropriate changes.
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