Tuesday, August 5, 2008
B Cells: Culture Implications
In the lecture yesterday, Heather A Minges Wols spoke about the science behind our immune systems, but little was said about the cultural significance of vaccinations, and diseases such as STDs and AIDS. What communities or cultures are affected by bad immune systems? Why? What can be done about this? Is there enough research/problem solving being done about these communities and diseases? Discuss thinking locally and globally.
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The first culture that I can think of that is affected by a bad immune system would be Africa. I say that because lots of people who live there have AIDS. I would say over all there isn’t enough research being done for AIDS but it also seems like there isn’t much we can do about AIDS or HIV for that matter. Today it appears if we have moved on from caring about AIDS and HIV to other diseases like cancer or something to that effect. I really have nothing else to say about this whole thing because no matter how many cures there are something will always affect you. We have spent so much money trying to find a cure for AIDS/ HIV, cancer or children diabetes but we still haven’t cured any of it. So in my opinion it’s pointless to waste more money on things we can’t cure.
I think every community and culture is affected by bad immune systems because people now days act a little dirty. Some folks out there will be sick and don’t take care of their selves correctly. A lot of people will have bacteria and won’t even know it and still will be acting normal. I think everyone should go to the doctor twice a month just to make sure that their system is running right and that they’re not sick or contagious. I think that there will never be enough research until god comes back because stds have been going on for ever and still no one has found the cure. Maybe there is a cure and no one is saying anything but I think that that makes things worse for me and our community. People should stop just having sex with just anyone and get more responsible for their body. I really don’t think that there has been enough problems solving because people till this day is still catching stds and not taking good care of their bodies. We need more help from the government and the president because they so call run our America and nothing is being done about stds.
I think that low-income communities and African-Americans are more affected by weak immune systems. People with low income tend to live in poverty, or bad living conditions. If they aren’t getting the proper foods they could face mal-nourishment and become sick. If the people live around filth and polluted air for all of their life they will not have strong healthy immune systems. People around the community could clean up the neighborhood to make it more cleanly around the neighborhood. Factories need to stop polluting the air with factory smoke. I think that the lower class of society will always be overlooked because America doesn’t care about what’s beneath them, they’re just focused on themselves.
African-Americans are affected because we have the highest HIV and AIDS rate in the country. We have unprotected sex, which causes STDS and when the body takes an STD in it will damage the healthiness of the immune system. Also in Africa babies are born with AIDS so from the start they don’t have strong immune systems. People could start using protection, or even try to be abstinent, or celibate from having sex. Scientist try to do their best on STD’s and AIDS, but I think with a little more time and research they will have cures for everything.
During the lecture yesterday, I’m not going to lie I was not interested in it at all. Science was never my forte, but what she was discussing was very relevant to our society today. In many different cultures having sex before marriage is wrong, socially and religiously. I guess in the older times it was the same way, life was different. Now a day’s sex is common, and is frequently talked about, especially, in the younger generations. I see young girls become parents at very early ages. Obviously to become a parent, you have to not be wearing a condom, or perhaps have had a faulty condom. Or the alternative adopting or sperm transplants. For our generation however, its sex that is mainly focused around society. People can have an STD or HIV for years and not even know they have it. They can think they’re not infected and infect their partners.
The main communities or cultures that are affected by having bad immune systems would be those of urban environments, or countries that don’t have any medical support. When I say urban, I mean the hoods across the globe that don’t have hospitals nearby, and the people in them to pay to use the hospital. Countries like, Indonesia, Africa, and Cambodia (others as well) are in poverty, and won’t see a hospital with good clean service for a long time. Sometimes when people are stuck in poverty they lose their hope, and become another statistic. I guess they think just because they live in a bad place, they don’t have to care about themselves and the people around them. I mean a simple thing that we take for granted like getting any form of vaccinations, other people pray to have.There is just not simply enough being done by the government to help those in need. At least just to get the basic vaccinations other people receive. There needs to be a hospital available for every community, every culture, and every person. I truly believe that there is a cure for HIV as well. But will the common public ever see it? I guess only if their money is large enough.
I think we all as a people are affected by HIV/AIDS disease whether we have it or we are close to someone that has it. To slim it down to one specific country I would say Africa would be affected by this disease the most. Africa has been known for being the country with the highest HIV/AIDS victims for a long time. The media has portrayed them to have a bad immune system for so long because they’re not getting the accurate nutrition and medication they need. Research has been done from Africa and signs of a cure have not been revealed so far. I think more research and studies can be done to at least keep the victims of this disease alive and able to live an active life.In my community there are numerous clinics available for someone to get tested. I think more people should take advantage of getting tested and should not hesitate
The cultures and communities that are affected by bad immune systems are ones with little or no resource of medical aid. These cultures can be affected due to lack of health care, sanitation, climate and pollution. We can stop the process of having people be affected by bad immune systems, if we educate them more on how to prevent them from being sick. Secondly if we supply healthier water and food, and medical aid, we can make the numbers of people with bad immune systems drop. If we educated people more on what they can do to help themselves stay healthy we can suppress the number of people affected globally from immune diseases.
I think that country with minorities tend to have the viruses because they haven’t been provided with the proper information and knowledge on how to protect themselves from making bad decisions. From what I know that the virus can be passed from not only person to person but from being careless when it comes to choosing partners, using dirty needles and having unprotected sex. The people seem to have worst immune systems because they have not received better care.
Some places that I think have the worst out breaks of everything from AIDS to different diseases that just kill have to be either Africa and like third world countries such as India and other parts of the Middle East where it is hard to get to doctors and get the proper medical treatments. Though other places may have these diseases as well is that they are able to take care of it because they have more professionals out there to help and have the money which is what counts the most. These countries that have these problems are not the riches places in the world, at the same time they do not have any of the necessary things such as resources that may help richer places such as America, China, Europe, and other parts that I can’t remember at this moment. But if they had something that may be plentiful then I can bet everyone would be over there trying there best to do something that will make them allies to that place. Along with these places not being the riches and not having anything to give they also have different lifestyles then others around. Many do not have money to buy houses or to eat and get food so they start to develop these diseases that affect them mentally and physically. So in order to make money many young children are sold for sex in order for the family to survive. Now what would you do in that situation. You have a mother who is starting to become ill, your father has been killed or abandoned you and you still have to take care of your little brothers and sister. They attend school and you need to make sure that they are clothed and have food. You really have no choice but to go out there and do what you have to in order for the family to stay together. Before people start to judge you really have to start to think about what these people are going through. It’s not like there is any education going on about safe sex or anything so if they do anything its not because there ignorant they just don’t know and want to survive the best they can. If more was put out there like doctors and special educations to help these people know that they are in risk for these diseases then maybe this problem could be controlled and not be called a pandemic.
Many communities in Cape Town, Africa suffer from bad immune system. These areas suffer because of the shortage on food and medication. Cape Town has a population of 3.5 million people. With the high rate of H.I.V. medication is at its highest demand. Therefore citizens are not able to receive proper medical support. Food is also a major issue in Cape Town. Women and children throughout the area die from malnutrition. There is a lot that can be done to help this. Money is a big issue in this, if they had a little more support financially thing could be better.
The whole world has stds and Aids. There are tons of communities that are being hit with the virus of hiv and aids. The continent with the most the most aids is Africa. Around fifty percent of the continent has aids. There isn’t really much that can be done with this till they find a cure. It is very hard to find a cure because it is a virus and most viruses don’t have cures. I think there is enough being done about this. You hear it every year that millions of dollars every year is being put towards aids/hiv/stds. People just need to be careful of what they are doing. Ask this person that you want to have sex with to get a test for you. I know it would be difficult to ask your partner because he or she might not think you trust her. You can’t rely on her word. You also have to wear protection. Also try to stick with one person to have a relationship with and have sex with. Even if you wear a condom with a different person every time, that condom could break and you or your partner can get aids/hiv/std. Also don’t do drugs with needles. There’s ways of protecting yourself from stds , but your setting yourself up for some pain the future.
Jeff raises an interesting point when suggesting, "I think everyone should go to the doctor twice a month just to make sure that their system is running right." Though I feel that a doctor's visit two times a month is a bit much, visiting regularly even when not sick is an interesting idea. Most people in this country visit doctors only when they are feeling sick. In America, doctors are seen more for treatment of diseases and less for preventative care or to keep the healthy body that way. Not all countries share this view of doctors and their role.
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