There are many societal implication and application relating to the digestive system and its disorders. Below, are some examples you can introduce in your classroom given its current status and challenges it poses to our society today! Since, our existence we have faced enormous challenges when it came to digestive system, however, in the recent century, we've made some significant progress in the field of science and engineering that has helped us resolve many of the challenges we faced earlier. However, our problems now have taken a major shift, and the challenges are different in nature than we faced earlier. Hence, it is always important for us as educators to remain relevant when it comes to sharing our knowledge/understanding of the field we're teaching. It does not in anyway undermine the importance of textbook, though, it is a sound teaching practice to be able to look at and explore themes that have taken a shift in recent times.
# 1: Eating Healthy, the Mediterranean Way - One example of a healthy eating plan comes from the diet of people in countries that border the Mediterranean Sea. The Mediterranean diet emphasizes whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and healthy fats. This diet reduce heart disease and cancer.
Article 1: Mediterranean Diet - Choose this heart-healthy diet option: The Mayo clinic recommends the Mediterranean diet, and break it down by its major constituents. Research has shown that the traditional Mediterranean diet reduces the risk of heart disease. Based on the article, an analysis of more than 1.5 million healthy adults showed that following a Mediterranean diet was associated with a reduced risk of death from heart disease and cancer, as well as reduced incidence of Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends the Mediterranean diet as an eating plan that can help promote health and prevent disease.
Article 2: Take It or Leave It? The Truth About 8 Mediterranean Diet Staples: ABC News presents a report on the Mediterranean diet, including facts and fiction about many common beliefs surrounding this way of eating.
Article 3: What is the "Mediterranean" diet?: Good information from the American Heart Association.
# 1: Eating Healthy, the Mediterranean Way - One example of a healthy eating plan comes from the diet of people in countries that border the Mediterranean Sea. The Mediterranean diet emphasizes whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and healthy fats. This diet reduce heart disease and cancer.
Article 1: Mediterranean Diet - Choose this heart-healthy diet option: The Mayo clinic recommends the Mediterranean diet, and break it down by its major constituents. Research has shown that the traditional Mediterranean diet reduces the risk of heart disease. Based on the article, an analysis of more than 1.5 million healthy adults showed that following a Mediterranean diet was associated with a reduced risk of death from heart disease and cancer, as well as reduced incidence of Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends the Mediterranean diet as an eating plan that can help promote health and prevent disease.
Article 2: Take It or Leave It? The Truth About 8 Mediterranean Diet Staples: ABC News presents a report on the Mediterranean diet, including facts and fiction about many common beliefs surrounding this way of eating.
Article 3: What is the "Mediterranean" diet?: Good information from the American Heart Association.
# 2: Gastric Bypass Surgery as a Method to Treat Obesity - One of the most controversial methods for the obese to lost weight, gastric bypass surgery presents both potential benefits and risks for those who meet the criteria for surgery.
Article 1: Gastric bypass surgery: This page describes the procedures, its risks, and its prognosis for various patients.
Article 2: Gastric bypass surgery: The Mayo clinic explains gastric bypass surgery, and the fact that it is a change to your normal digestive system.
Article 3: Gastric bypass surgery: In-depth information on this complicated surgery.
Article 1: Gastric bypass surgery: This page describes the procedures, its risks, and its prognosis for various patients.
Article 2: Gastric bypass surgery: The Mayo clinic explains gastric bypass surgery, and the fact that it is a change to your normal digestive system.
Article 3: Gastric bypass surgery: In-depth information on this complicated surgery.
# 3: Impact of Digestive Diseases and Disorders - Canadian Society for Intestinal Research (CSIR) covers all areas of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. The impact of digestive disorders affects everyone around the world, Canada including, and it has a significant control over how people choose to live their life. For instance, Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) affects 1/180 Canadians, while Crohn's disease affects 234/100,000, which is highest in the world. Second, there is a Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), which includes abdominal pain, bloating and gas, constipation and diarrhea or alternating between the two stool consistencies. People experiencing this particular syndrome takes a significant toll on their quality of life. For instance, more than 40% of IBS patients report avoidance of some activities, including work, travelling and socializing. Second, QoL for a person with IBS is significantly lower than in healthy persons, comparable to those with clinical depressions. So, it is very important for students to be able to look at these issues from a humanistic perspective, and, hopefully, by revealing these facts students will be able to connect with the material at a deeper level. There are more disorders/diseases, which you can explore by clicking on the button below!
# 4: How does Food Impact Health? - This article is great because it tries to tackle some fundamental questions facing us today! For example, What does food do in our bodies? Why should I care? What is the connection between food and disease? Then, at the end it provides an example of a person with poor eating habits and the implication it had on her.
# 5: Looking at Issues dealing with "Steroids" + "Underweight Modelling" - Article by CBS News looks at a story of Caro, a model, who is on a path to recovery from Anorexic Nervosa (underweight disorder). She reflects on some of the horrific instances of her life (i.e., effect on family members by her choice), and it would give students a great perspective of the struggle and challenges models faces in a process of achieving an ideal, stereotypical body image. In our societal framework, media is considered to be the fourth pillar of democracy, because it shapes and controls a thought-process and has a large role to play than we can experience. Media often portrays a body image that people try to imitate. It is a great opportunity for you to explore the role of media and its impact on shaping societal values. Refer to Lesson 4 for additional resources.