Complete 4 page APA formatted essay: Reading Review.Download file to see previous pages... In addition, good medicine does not consist solely of treating diseases, but by preventing them before they s

Complete 4 page APA formatted essay: Reading Review.

In addition, good medicine does not consist solely of treating diseases, but by preventing them before they start. Both of these issues are addressed by the work of Wilkinson and Marmot (2003), “Social Determinants of Health: The Solid Facts.” The book looks into the factors that affect the health conditions of entire populations. The intent is to raise public awareness regarding what makes people ill, which in turn could lead to a shift to healthier lifestyle choices. The aim is for prevention, and not for treatment of disease. In a larger scale, the work also aims to influence or guide policy makers in creating policies and programs for the betterment of health of entire populations. There are ten things that affect the health conditions of populations, according to the book. These are the following: (1) the social gradient, (2) stress, (3) early life, (4) social exclusion, (5) work, (6) unemployment, (7) social support, (8) addiction, (9) food, and (10) transport. While all these factors can be altered at least minimally at the individual level, they are best addressed by the society as a whole. The authors present current relevant literature for each social determinant. They talk about how each can lead to diseases of the population and offer recommendations on what policies or programs can be done, or are being done, to address it. An example of disease that has been gaining attention as a lifestyle disease is diabetes mellitus. An article in The West Australian Newspaper (2006) calls it an “epidemic.” Even though great advances in research has thoroughly explained how an individual can develop diabetes, and even though drugs to control the disease and its complications are continuously being developed at a fast pace, the disease continues to spread rampantly. This illustrates how drugs and an understanding of a disease alone cannot control a disease. What is needed is an understanding of how people developed diabetes mellitus, which can be obtained through understanding the social determinants of health. The news article expresses the same sentiment. Diabetes mellitus is no longer a purely medical problem, but of public health concern. Health experts have expressed that legislative measures and health campaigns already needs to be undertaken to address the problem. This paper will look into diabetes mellitus and the social determinants of health that greatly impact the development of the disease among the population. Body Diabetes mellitus is viewed by medical professionals as a lifestyle disease. While genetics play a role in acquiring the disease, it is largely influenced by lifestyle choices. The two social determinants relevant to the development of diabetes mellitus are food and transport. One of the risk factors of developing diabetes mellitus is obesity, which is due to excess intake of food. While it may seem that choosing the quality and amount of food intake is an individual choice, the social determinants of health theory stresses that it is also largely a political issue. People can only eat what is available, and what is available is influenced by a country’s policies on food trade, food regulation, and food distribution. Policies that favor the distribution and accessibility of nutritious and healthy food for everyone can impact largely on the development of obesity.