Jarrod
At the age of 25, Jarrod is young and seems to be having good times in his teenage years. His lifestyle comprising of two packs of cigarettes and five drinks per day depicts a lifestyle at its best. His unemployment status means that he has all the time at hand to do as he wishes. A close look at his dietary shows lacks proper planning to what he eats although he has a good BMI of 20. Jarrod seems to care for his fun life than anything else considering the fact that he does not have any sort of fitness plan and his family history is unavailable or unknown. With his kind of lifestyle, Jarrod seems to care less neither for his unemployment status nor about his fitness plan. The above scenario puts his health status at risk as not much is known in terms of any genetic disease in the family. Moreover, his high level of alcohol intake in addition to the daily two packs of cigarettes not only jeopardizes his ability to achieve a good healthy status but also exposes him to many health risks.
Risk Factors
Smoking
The American Lung Association maintains that smoking is dangerous irrespective of the way one does it (Alters and Wendy, 2013). With over 600 ingredients, cigarettes burn and produce over 7000 chemicals, 69 of which are linked to causing cancer. According to Alters and Wendy (2013), smoking increases the dangers of macular degeneration, poor eyesight, and cataracts. In addition, it weakens the sense of smell and taste. Therefore, Jarrod risks endangering his ability to smell, taste, and see normally. In terms of his respiratory system, his lungs will lose their strength to filter out chemicals as the nicotine substances in cigarettes often damage the lungs. The risks of respiratory infections such as colds, flu, are increased as the sacs in the lungs are often destroyed. If he continues to smoke over a long period, he will be a greater danger of lung cancer and other chronic obstructive pulmonary complications. Apart from lung cancer, smoking will put him at risks of developing kidney, pancreatic, and skin cancer. Other types of cancer he may expose himself to include skin cancer, throat cancer, esophagus, and larynx cancer. In terms of his sexual system, Jarrod has a higher risk of infertility and difficulty of achieving orgasm.
Drinking
Coupled with heavy drinking, Jarrod puts his health in danger such as pancreatic complications, damage of the liver, yellowing of the eyes and skin. Alcohol may also endanger his ability to live and have a balanced diet as alcohol reduces the urge to eat. Additionally, his nervous system may also result in poor sensation to the skin, rapid eye movement, and numbness. Over time, his sensitivity to feeling may severely be affected.
Poor/Lack of Fitness plan
Lack of proper physical exercise may cause and lead to many complications in Jarrod’s life. This may include heart complications, high blood pressure, weak muscles, inactivity, joint pains, and plays a critical role in the growth of mental decline as asserted by Alters and Wendy (2013). Poor eating habits further put his health at risk because of lack of essential nutrients and supplements (Radoï et al, 2013). By relying solely on fast food, he risks missing essential nutrients needed by the body for growth, defense mechanism, and healthy status.
At his prime age of 25, Jarrod has the best time to engage actively in physical exercise to help him achieve the best health status. Coupled with chain smoking and alcohol intake, Jarrod is putting his health in great danger. To make matters worse on his health status is the lack of family history. This may put him at risk of developing a complication resulting from his parentage or within the family. He, therefore, ought to take a bold step and seek for medical examination, search for more information on his family health status. Additionally, he should roll in a program that can help him reduce and stop smoking and drinking. If he can find a job, it can take the many hours he spends smoking and drinking.
The sites below may offer important health information that can help Jarrod take charge of his health by living strong and protecting himself from opportunistic infections resulting from smoking, drinking, and lack of physical exercise.
Roger
As a long distance truck driver, Roger has little time for physical exercise. This also does not guarantee him good healthy eating habit, as can be seen, he mostly relies on fast foods and processed snacks. It seems smoking is the only leisurely habit he indulges in over his long distances of traveling. His Body Mass Index is not very impressive which may be due to lack of physical exercise, poor eating habit, and smoking. Even though the occasional walks may help him maintain a balanced body image, the fact that he has no regular physical activity endangers any gain he may make. Additionally, at the age of 55, his body is slowly starting to degenerate and chances of opportunistic infections and complications are high.
Smoking and Lack of Regular physical Exercise
Roger’s health is at great risk more so given that he smokes and has little physical activity. He risks developing joint pains due to long sitting hours, obesity attributed to the fast foods and respiratory complications. His Body Mass Index is a clear indication of the high risk he is in as this is attributed mostly to poor feeding habits. Given that he solely relies on processed snacks and fast foods, coupled with long sitting hours, Roger endangers his life with his blood pressure in addition to heart complications. To make matters worse, Rogers heavy dependence on fast foods and snacks may also play a role in increasing his cholesterol, a very dangerous factor given that his family has a history of high cholesterol. Moodie et al, (2013) maintain that the high unbroken fats in fast foods and snacks may lead to high cholesterol levels in the body.
The many risks he is exposed to due to his smoking habit include poor appetite, lung complications, and long-term addiction to nicotine. Additionally, the high urge to smoke during his long journey has the high chance of lowering his appetite for food hence the heavy reliance on fast foods and snacks, which have little or no value in terms of nutrients and supplements. Moreover, this may also bring in chances or the likelihood of opportunistic infections.
Due to his advancing age, Roger stands a very high chance of opportunistic infections resulting from reduced immunity. Coupled with his smoking habit, poor feeding habit, family history of high cholesterol, and high blood pressure, Roger’s health status is not very impressive and he stands the high risk of succumbing to a serious infection such as respiratory disease. This may mostly come about because, as a long distance driver, he is exposed to different weather conditions, which may endanger his respiratory system. It is made worse by the fact that he smokes one packet of cigarette every day According to Radoï et al (2013), exposure to varied weather conditions may lead to complications in the lungs for example diseases like pneumonia.
To improve on his health and wellness, Roger first needs to quit smoking and adopt a healthy feeding habit. This is by first avoiding heavy reliance on fast foods and snacks. He needs to indulge in a balanced diet to improve his health and keep at bay opportunistic infections such as respiratory diseases. Additionally, Roger needs to have a physical exercise plan to enable him to improve his physical fitness essential for preventing joint and bone complications such as arthritis. In order to avoid succumbing to the family history of high blood pressure and high cholesterol, Roger needs to save time and seek for medical attention to help him track and keep updated with his health status.
Besides seeking medical attention, roger can rely on online health websites for additional information on how to maintain a healthy lifestyle, avoid and keep away from smoking, develop a healthy eating habit and plan for physical exercise. The sites below can offer him information on how to live healthily and improve on his health status. Additionally, the sites can also help him connect with medical practitioners and physicians in case of clarification and more information pertaining to his health status.
References
Alters, Sandra, and Wendy Schiff, Essential Concepts for Healthy Living, Burlington, MA, Jones & Amp; Barlett Learning, 2013.
Moodie, R., Stuckler, D., Monteiro, C., Sheron, N., Neal, B., Thamarangsi, T., … & Lancet NCD Action Group. (2013). Profits and pandemics: prevention of harmful effects of tobacco, alcohol, and ultra-processed food and drink industries. The Lancet, 381(9867), 670-679.
Radoï, L., Paget-Bailly, S., Cyr, D., Papadopoulos, A., Guida, F., Schmaus, A., … & Delafosse, P. (2013). Tobacco smoking, alcohol drinking and risk of oral cavity cancer by subsite: results of a French population-based case–control study, the ICARE study. European Journal of Cancer Prevention,22(3), 268-276.