Personal Hygiene: Preventing Infections and Diseases Essay -- clean and

In today’s culture, poor personal hygiene is typically unacceptable and frowned upon. People don’t want to be around anyone who smells badly or isn’t clean. Consequences from poor personal hygiene can develop into potentially serious diseases such as hepatitis A, streptococcus, staph infections, common colds, influenza, typhoid, lice and even dental diseases, including, gingivitis, gum disease, plaque, and bad breath. These are all far too common within our workplaces, schools, and day to day life, but I can easily prevented them by maintaining good personal hygiene, which involves washing my hands, brushing my teeth, bathing, personal grooming, and doing my laundry properly. The key to preventing most of these infections and diseases is properly washing my hands and knowing when to wash them. I can’t see germs with my naked eye, so I wash them when they are dirty, before, during, and after food preparation, before I eat, after using the restroom, touching soiled clothing, animals, animal waste, the trash, or sneezing, coughing, and blowing my nose, and before and after treating wounds and sick people. There is more to washing my hands than soap and water. I must scrub all surfaces of my hand, including my wrist, the back of my hand, between my fingers, and under my fingernails for at least twenty seconds. The combination of scrubbing and an antibacterial soap helps to remove germs. Then I rinse my hands in warm water, drying them well with a clean hand towel, paper towel, or air dryer. If soap is unavailable, I use an alcohol based hand sanitizer. Another factor in the prevention of poor personal hygiene is addressing the prevention of dental diseases and infections. I brush my teeth at least twice a day in a vertical or circ... ...rive in our dirty laundry baskets or hampers. I always use a different basket for my clean laundry. I separate my clothing into three piles, colored, whites, and towels, to wash separately. Washing my colored clothes and towels in cold water and my whites in hot water, I follow the directions on my detergent bottle to ensure the correct amount is used per load. I also use a cup of bleach in my white clothes. When my laundry is done, I dry, fold, and put my clothes away so they stay clean for the next time I decide to wear them. It is essential to maintain good personal hygiene to prevent the spreading of germs and bacteria and to maintain a clean lifestyle and appearance. With the always increasing populations and crowded cities, our members of culture should make sure to take a few spare minutes out of their busy days to take better care of their personal hygiene.

Race-Ethnicity and Diagnosis as Predictors Essay

The purpose of this article was to understand and examine the number of outpatients for patients with substance abuse or mental health problem. The data was collected from 12 outpatient mental health and substance abuse facilities in four U. S. Census Regions. The authors put forward three hypotheses that guided the way that they will approach the research problem. The first hypothesis was by keeping all social-demographic information constant e. g. , sex and age, the condition of non-Latino blacks and Latinos was worse when compared with non-Latino whites. The second hypothesis was that the patients with dual medical conditions e. g. mental problems and substance use disorders could be expected to visit the hospital more times when compared with patients with single medical condition. Lastly, the third hypothesis was that the number of non-Latino blacks and Latinos would have visited the hospital less frequently when compared to non-Latino whites. The target population was outpatients in the United States. The study sample of 1,899 patients with mental health and substance abuse problems was obtained from 12 outpatient mental health or substance abuse treatment centers within a period of two months (May 2001 – June 2002). Out of this number, diagnoses for 1807 patients were obtained from the medical facilities. Patients who had substance and psychiatric problems were included in the study factoring the racial-ethnicity criterion: non-Latino black, Latino and non-Latino whites. The response rate of the study was 95. 26%. This rate of success may be attributed to the fact that information was retrieved from health facilities databases. Nevertheless, specifying that the sample come from only health facilities reduces the relevance of the study because there are patients with medical and substance abuse problems and they do not visit the health facilities. External validity plays a crucial role in defining the extent of success of the project. Some information and data were missing and thus the authors had to approximate the missing data utilizing technological capabilities. However, since the data was obtained from both the public and private medical facilities indicates that all social class population was factored into the consideration. The data that were utilized were obtained from records that the medical facilities keep; hence, the data was specific and applicable in solving the hypotheses. This means that the sampling plan was appropriate to some extent (because they analyzed hospital records and not analyzing the entire community) for analyzing the effect of substance abuse and psychiatric problems. Nevertheless, the sample was not fully representative of the entire population because the sample was only picked from only 12 health facilities. Some people with psychiatric problems and substance abuse do not visit medical facilities. In the case of substance abuse, the authors could have picked additional sample from counseling and other corrective facilities such as jails. The type of study was descriptive because it tries to show the link that exists between race-ethnicity and medical conditions: mental health and substance abuse. The main threats to external validity are the extent of analysis and acquisition of the sample. The data of 92 patients was missing. However, through calculations and approximations these data was obtained, which to some extend jeopardize validity of the research. The study shows that there is some racial and ethnicity difference in substance abuse and psychiatric problems in population of non-Latino black, non-Latino white and Latinos. The study should have extended to other population type such as Hispanics and African-Americans to understand the real extent of mental conditions and substance abuse to the entire population. The independent variables were the group of the targeted population e. g. Non-Latinos white, non-Latino black and Latinos. The dependent variables are the medical conditions that were being analyzed e. g. substance abuse and psychiatric conditions. The intervening variables are the link and relationship that exists between the medical conditions and patients who accessed the medical facility. The authors were able to balance and analyze dependent, independent and intervening variables in achieving the goals of the study. The authors collected the data from outpatient facilities in twelve medical facilities. The data was obtained from the hospital databases and other recordings. Moreover, additional data was obtained through approximation of missing sample data. The authors were able to visit both public and private facilities to ensure for some external credibility. This strategy ensured that specific data was utilized in the study. Obtaining the data from medical facilities increased its validity and reliability. However, the approximation of the missing data was the main weakness and specifying the population that is analyzed e. g. obtaining data from medical facilities rather than obtaining additional data from other agencies. The data that was obtained was grouped into six parts utilizing the BASIS-24 domains with the help of PROC MI in obtaining the missing data. The authors obtained diagnosis for 1,807 patients out of the 1,899 patients. From the analysis, the authors found out that Latino and Non-Latino black patients reported worse symptoms of substance use disorders and psychiatric disorders when compared with non-Latino white. The authors found out that there was no relation between race-ethnicity with medical conditions. The study also showed that Latinos reported greater emotional liability, self-harm symptoms and interpersonal functioning compared with non-Latino blacks and non-Latino whites. Additionally, the study found out that self-harm symptoms were greater in non-Latino black when compared with non-Latino whites. The unique difference that existed between the Latinos and non-Latino blacks is that the severity of substance use disorders in non-Latino blacks is greater than that of the Latino. The authors found that the relationship that exists among the three populations types was depressive symptoms and their (population) functioning capabilities. The findings of the study differed with evidence that indicates lower rates of mental health problems between the Latino and non-Latino black populations in the treatment of substance abuse. The authors have clearly explained strengths and shortcomings that may occur. The strength of the methodology was the ability of the authors to pick specific data in hospitals and utilizing it to understand the medical condition of the population. The methodology that was utilized had various weaknesses, especially in collecting the data and analyzing it. The population that was utilized did not define the entire population because the authors utilized medical records. They could have incorporated other institutions in understanding substance abuse and psychiatric conditions. Moreover, they obtained some missing data through utilization of technological machines. This increase chances of errors in the final analysis. The authors were able to compare their findings with previous research and the conclusion indicates the entire study has achieved its goals.

A Definition of Liberal Media Bias

A  Gallup poll found that just 40% of Americans trust the media to fairly and accurately report the news. Much of this has to do with the liberal tilt of news coverage and stories. In politics, conservatives often deal with an overwhelming liberal bias within the mainstream media, which includes the news divisions of major broadcast networks and major newspapers. This is typically just referred to as media bias. Media bias does not refer to the political punditry class as political affiliations are usually known and the commentary is intended as opinion-oriented. Media bias does not refer to media figures such as Rachel Maddow, Bill OReilly, and Al Sharpton who are expected to give political viewpoints. What Is Media Bias?   Media bias refers to the allegedly objective journalists in print and media who intentionally - and sometimes unintentionally - report or cover stories in a way favorable to Democrats and liberals and unfavorable to Republicans and conservatives. Journalists such as Dan Rather, Bob Schieffer, and Wolf Blitzer who portray themselves as pure newsmen could have their biases exposed by delivering one-sided news stories. Dan Rathers attempted takedown of George W. Bush comes to mind. Examples of Media Bias Barack Obama received free passes in both the 2008 and 2012 presidential races as the media was primarily interested in highlighting the historic nature of Obamas campaign. While Sarah Palin was heavily criticized by the media as lacking the experience to be Vice-President, the question was never a major issue with the decidedly less-experienced Obama. In 2012, the media turned every statement by Mitt Romney (dogs on vacation!) into stories that lasted weeks, while at the same time refusing to cover the Fast and Furious scandal or the Benghazi attacks with seriousness. And CNNs Candy Crowley infamously interrupted a debate exchange between Romney and Obama by debating Romney herself on Benghazi. (She was wrong, but the ramifications were huge.) While VP Joe Biden could barely take the stage without making a hysterical gaffe during his tenure, his sanity or competence was never questioned in the way that Dan Quayles was for once adding an e at the end of potato during a spelling bee. That the card was given to Quayle by the school with the incorrect spelling and that Quayle had questioned the spelling on the card is the part of the story the media always enjoys ignoring. While Democrats regularly get softball question and answer sessions from serious journalists, conservatives are usually left answering absurd questions based on absurd assumptions. When a deranged gunman shot Congresswoman Gabby Giffords of Arizona, the media had absolutely no problem claiming Sarah Palin was to blame because she once had a map on her website that had used a target on it to imply that it was going to be a competitive congressional race. Unbiased, Fair and Objective   The problem with media bias is that the journalist and media personalities are claiming to be unbiased, fair, and objective but typically end up delivering one-sided viewpoints disguised as fact. Many Americans will not look deeper into every issue presented by the media, instead of taking the stories at face value. Any information that might dispel the media bias myths has to be actively sought. Pronunciation: me-di-a bÄ «Ã‰â„¢s Also Known As: Mainstream Media; Lamestream media (Sarah Palin); Dinosaur Media (Laura Ingraham) Alternate Spellings: none Common Misspellings: none Examples In a free country, people depend on the media for their information about government and other powerful institutions. If the press sounds the alarm about some danger, people have to pay attention. But if they have lost confidence in the press – because of its biases – then there’s a good chance we’ll ignore the warning. And that could be dangerous. - Bernard Goldberg on Media Bias 60 Minutes used to be synonymous with gotcha, and it certainly was when it broke the Abu Ghraib story to hurt Bush in 2004, and when Dan Rather flaunted fake Texas Air National Guard documents to hurt Bush months later. In the 2008 election cycle, â€Å"60 Minutes† asked John McCain why he would let the Wall Street executives sail away on their yachts and leave this [bailout] on the American taxpayer? They hammered Romney about avoiding military service – and his five sons avoiding military service. Kroft has never asked Obama about his failure to serve in the military, and he certainly never asked about whether he had premarital sex with his wife – which Mike Wallace threw at Romney. - Brent Bozell