Reflection from class 11/27/12

 Today we had presentations from groups 10, 11, & 12. Group 10 talked about how sleep aides affect us. This is a public health topic I haven't really considered before. Many college students are prescribed sleep aides that can cause harm if not used properly. Misuse can even result in death. We did not realize that medicines like Ambien that are so commonly prescribed have so many health warnings, including drug interactions that can cause complete loss of memory. Loss of control over the subconscious actions while sleeping is extremely dangerous yet preventable. The key thing I understood from the presentation was that, just like many other medications, one must not become completely dependent on a synthetic drug. Examples of health defects from sleep aides range from snoring to heart problems. The strategies to dependence on sleep aides is to make sure not to quit medicine too quickly, don't mix the drug with other drugs, and exercise daily to help create a routine amount of sleep every night. Insomnia isn't a disease. Instead, it is a symptom of other problems that can be prevented through maintaining a healthy lifestyle. The question I was left with was, are sleep aides prescribed to people of all ages? & what happens in the brain, chemically, when a sleep aide like Ambien is taken?
The next group talked about substance abuse in college students. This is such a valid topic. I loved the video shown. It really helped to show the effects of the specific drugs on personalities. The most important thing we learned was that the brain doesn't finish developing until a person is 20 years old. This means its important to refrain from the harmful drugs that can affect the cerebral growth of young people. Because drugs are so widely available it is important to understand the specific harm that comes from each kind of drug. Many people start doing drugs through friend groups. We think that the easiest way to have a drug-free lifestyle is to choose friends wisely from the start! Some questions I'm still wondering..What kind of chronic body damage is done from even slight drug use? How are these drugs even made since a lot of them are not government regulated?
The last presentation was a little bit of a turn from other topics: food safety. This topic is something that affects everyone. There were health violation cases where sewage water was inside a marinated chicken bin, a man was caught peeing inside the kitchen, and one where there was a chef that was "friendly" with one of the rats that constantly searched the restaurant for scraps. This was absolutely appalling to find out. This could have been one of the restaurants that we have eaten at! It makes us grateful to live in a place with food safety regulations. Mickey and Jake were surprised to find out 76 million people become sick from food borne illness in the U.S. every year. I was mainly surprised to know how careless people can be when handling food. Disease can spread so quickly through food and yet with proper precautions can be completely avoided. The best ways to keep food from contamination is to clean, chill,  and separate items. Poor sanitation can be prevented if everyone does their part in the food business. This includes better training, more thorough inspections, and harsher consequences for violation of safety rules. The best part of the presentation was receiving a list of some of the popular local restaurants' health scores. Since we constantly eat out, from now on we're going to refer to the list provided by group 12 :) How are restaurant evaluations graded? What are some examples of factors that are considered when looking at food safety and cleanliness during an evaluation? What exactly does a health score mean?
In conclusion, all presentations provided new information. Personally, I feel that food safety intrigued me most. Most of us do not really understand where our food really comes from. Also, most of us don't know in what manner, our food is prepared "behind the scenes." I truly think it's worth investigating health scores before putting food in your mouth that could possibly be contaminated.


Jacqueline Pottier
Jake Holtzclaw
Mackenzie McGinnis