Keeping Quiet Can Keep You Out of the Game

Concussions are a serious problem that high school athletes face throughout the season. Whether they are scared to report them because they do not want to lose playing time or that they do not know the symptons of what a concussion are, athletes are hurting themselves because they are not taking proper care of this serious head injury. Concussions can come from many different things, a header in soccer, a tackle in football, or a collision in basketball and there are not certain symptons that make you have a concussion. Symptons range from headaches, dizziness, naseau, sensitivity to light and sound, and lack of focus or attention. Concussions are serious injuries that have lasting impacts athletes. Raising awareness for concussions is important if we want to save our athletes from brain damage now and in the future.
This video I thought was a very good way to show the seriousness of a concussion. Tracy in the video got two concussions back to back and never said anything about the first one. Her decision to not tell anyone about her injury ultimately hurt her in the long run since after this injury she could not play sports anymore. I feel a lot of athletes now-a-days do the same thing and ignore a head injury because they want to continue to play. If we want our athletes to still play we have to tell them about the terrible conditions a concussion can lead to if they do not treat it correctly. Concussions are very serious and I believe all athletes should see videos like this to raise their awareness about the seriousness of a concussion.

After learning in class today about psychological and sociological explanations of deviance, I found an interesting article about depression that relates to both of these two factors.
In a recent British study, researchers found that people who  battle despression 79% of them have reported that they have faced descrimination at some point. This statistic was not only people from Britain, but it included over 1,000 people from 35 different countries, which makes this a problem people face world wide. People  who believe they are descriminated against because they are depressed, and those who choose not to get help because of the fear of being descriminated against both face a psychological problem. Yet this problem of depression shows that it is not only psychological problems because people are not only becoming depressed because of thoughts or events in their life. People are depressed because they feel descriminated against at public places like work, and school, and in relationships with co-workers, and friends. Much more research is needed, and descrimination in depression is going to be looked at much more because of this recent finding.
This article jumped right out at me after I read it. It related alot of what we talked about in class like psychological and sociological explanations to depression, a mental problem that people throughout the world deal with everyday. Depression is a very serious topic in our country and results for 38,000 deaths a year in the United States alone. I think depression is confusing, no one really knows what a person is thinking about or even why they are thinking about it. The fact that 79% of people who are depressed because of descrimination is disturbing and something that needs to be fixed.

In yesterdays (10/10/12) New York Post in the Health section was an article about breast cancer. I know cancer is a serious and gloomy topic, but I believe it is good to raise awareness and talk about considering October is breast cancer awareness month.
Breast Cancer a majority of the time is cured for most people because with doctors improved screening diagnoses cancer can be seen at early stages. When cancer is found, surgery is the first step to recovery. Two different surgeries can be performed to get rid of the cancer either a lumpectomy or a mastectomy, depending on the condition the doctors choose which is best for one's condition. After surgery there are many therapies that are preformed to stop the cancer from coming back, these are chemotherapy, hormonal therapy, targeted drugs and radiation. Each has their own personal benefits and it mostly depends on the doctors point of view and what they think is best for the patients condition. Cancer is a scary thing but with today's knowledge and advancement, they are well on there way to treating and curing patients of this awful disease.

 I felt this article was a good way to show that although cancer is very serious that there are many cures to make it better. October is breast cancer awareness month and I believe that this is a great opportunity for people to learn about cancer. In my own personal experience three of my family members have battled breast cancer. It is a scary time throughout the process but through successful surgeries chemotherapy and radiation each of them have been healed and healthy.

Today I decided not to blog about health hints and facts but about a serious problem that was discovered today.  Over 91 people throughout the country were charged with Medicare fraud amounting to over 429 million dollars. Doctors, nurses, and other hospital professionals in Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Brooklyn, Baton Rouge, Los Angeles and Miami were involved in the case where they tried to steal taxpayer dollars for personal benefit. The finding of this case is a result of the Obama administrations investigation and interest to stop  health-care fraud. Right now the administration is trying to stop future payments from coming into the health care providers suspected of the crime.
This article really grabbed my attention when I first saw the headline, 429 million dollars is so much money and for these people to be so selfish to take it for themselves is very wrong. This article appealed to me on two levels. Well first off, I want to go into the medical field one day and I cannot imagine being involved in a scheme like this. Taking advantage of taxpayers and patients who rely on these doctors for their health and well-being is awful. These people trust their hard-earned money into these people and for these people to be so inhumane and only think about themselves is terrible. Secondly, this also relates to my religion class, and moral decisions. These doctors and health-professionals definitely did immoral decisions that they will have to live with for the rest of their lives. (most likely in jail). It is scary to think how doctors who are supposed to help people will turn around and stab them in the back for their own benefit. Not only does this now stereotype doctors, because health-care costs are already expensive but its puts them in a villain position. Doctors are one of the highest earning category of people in the US and with this case it targets them as money hungry animals who will do anything for their benefit. This is a very scary topic not only for patients and taxpayers, but for doctors as well. We cannot assume every doctor is like this, and I hope they settle this case and put those who did this corrupt act in jail.