Question

What are the major causes of disease and death in the 21st century (e.g., chronic illnesses, communicable diseases, etc.) that continue to affect U.S. citizens in spite of the achievements in public health in the past century? What have been some of the strategies implemented to combat these illnesses on the local and national levels? Have they been successful? Include reference citations where appropriate.

Answer 1

Major cause of death were

1. Cardiovascular diseases
2. Cancer
3. Chronic respiratory diseases
4. Cerebrovascular diseases
5. Alzheimer's disease
6. Diabetes
7. Nephritis
8. Nephrotic syndrome
9. Nephrosis

The identified risk factors were increased blood pressure, smoking, physical inactive state, high body mass index, alcohol use, passive smoking, low fiber diet, increased salts and saturated fats in food.

Some interventions were made like

• Close observation on smokers and other adjacent population affected by smoking, sodium consumption and amount of sodium in canned foods and other food supply, people with high blood pressure on antihypertensives and percentage of people with controlled blood pressure on medications
• Some sort of actions were performed in surroundings like banning smoking in public places or providing separate places for smokers to safeguard people from passive smoking, provide assistance to serve healthy foods by decreasing sodium and give affordable fruits and vegetables in schools , communities.
• Health promotion activities like increasing proper use of antihypertensives, aspirin, and decrease tobacco use, by conducting surveillance process in community to rule out the number of people with hypertension , obesity , mental illness and report back to physicans. With help of all health care providers interventions are made to educate the community about I'll effects of sodium and unsaturated fats in food, physical inactive Ness
• Programmes were planned and implemented for the community like national diabetes prevention programme etc.

Walking, cycling , exercising were encouraged to improve physical activeness.

Smoking free zones were created and artificial trans fat foods were banned .

Healthy foods were been adviced to consume. Obesity prevention in schools were implemented.

Community's active participation only can decrease the chronic illnesses.