Culture and Disease Paper

 Running head: CULTURE AND DISEASE PAPER 1
Culture and Disease Paper
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CULTURE AND DISEASE PAPER 2
Culture and Disease Paper
Culture is the set of norms, values, social and moral practices that form the daily life of
certain people. In addition, it refers to the ethically accepted standards of living among the given
group of people. However, a disease is a condition affecting animals’ or plants’ bodies that often
leads to malfunctioning of the body. Diseases are detected through the identification of
symptoms. This paper will focus, basically, on asthma, a respiratory disease. According to
Barnes, Rodger, & Thomson (1998), asthma is a chronic respiratory disease that is always
characterized by breathing difficulties caused by airflow obstruction; besides, the infection is
characterized by constant coughing, wheezing and chest tightness along with pain. The infection
is experienced mostly in the United States among the African-American race. The disease is
boosted by some peculiar conditions faced by individuals of this race. In the United States, many
African-Americans undergo unhealthy living in their residential habitations besides the poor
working conditions that they are exposed to. This unfavorable environment has triggered an
array of allergic reactions resulting into cases of asthma. Similarly, these unhealthy environments
are manifested by overcrowding due to the low economic status of those belonging to this race.
The consequences of overcrowding are devastating since they result into poor sanitation
problems causing allergies that eventually may cause asthma. A research conducted in the United
States shows that 71 per cent of African- Americans reside in the air-polluted zones as compared
to the 58 per cent of the whites that inhabit the air-polluted areas. The foregoing evidentially
manifests the poor conditions that are experienced by the members of this race that finally lead to
cases of asthma among them.
In addition, various environmental factors have led to this disease to be more prevalent in
certain geographical areas. During the cold season, as winter, cases of asthma are on the upper 
CULTURE AND DISEASE PAPER 3
rise. This is owing to the fact that cold conditions induce allergies that are crucial to the muscle
contraction in asthma. Similarly, sudden and dramatic changes during the summer periods induce
cases of asthma among the members of this race along with poor conditions they live in. This
sudden environmental change has demanded individuals’ explicit understanding of the various
conditions that attribute to asthma attack in order to adopt the mechanisms to curb this. Asthma
infections can be transmitted through two major methods. The main and most spread is ,
genetically acquired. Douglas & Elward (2010) opine that siblings in most cases will develop
asthma infections if their parents undergo asthma conditions. This has been proved in the United
States where most cases of children facing asthma conditions are mostly hereditary. Hereditary
infections occur in most cases if parents do not undertake pre-delivery measures to ensure
protection of the sibling. Secondly, asthma is be acquired by individuals due to their living and
working conditions that is to say, their economic and social status. For example, exposure to
extreme cold conditions may result into an individual acquiring asthma.
The spreading of the disease can be controlled through two major methods. Post exposture strategies can be adopted to ensure that hereditary spread avoided. In times of pregnancy,
mothers should avoid indulgence in smoking activities that can increase the probability of
asthma cases as such activity is found to be one of the factors that can lead to the siblings
experiencing cases of asthma. Consequently, adverse environmental conditions that may cause
asthma in pregnant mothers should be avoided. In cases, where one or both of the parents already
suffer from this disease, sudden changes in temperature and humidity can make asthma more
severe thus, may further result into cases of asthma among their siblings. Similarly, Douglas &
Elward (2010) reiterate that precautionary measures should be undertaken during birth to prevent
hereditary spreading of the disease. These measures may include high standards of care 
CULTURE AND DISEASE PAPER 4
undertaken during birth to minimize chances of parent-child spread. In attempt to prevent and
provide treatment of asthma, various measures have been adopted by the African- American race
in the United States. The usage of inhalers and muscle relaxants has massively been adopted in
attempt to provide a short - term treatment. Consequently, identification of the triggers is ensured
to minimize situations that can make the exacerbation of the disease. The effect of these
alternative treatments is that cases of asthma have reduced in the recent past. The introduction of
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