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1) The focus of the article is to question the effectiveness and methods for changing social behaviors. The incentives or precautions set in place for smoking and eating disorders could making individuals vulnerable and discriminated against in the work place. Individuals who smoke or are obese have become a liability for companies. This idealism of having their employees make better health choices could just be a mask for the companies’ attempt to save a buck. Society’s efforts to “nudge” people in the right direction could create more resistance to change. The constant bombardment of information regarding the harmful effects of certain behaviors could make people distrust advice. Also, the information available could present a variety of contradictions that could add to a person’s belief that all information concerning their harmful habits is baseless. [|http://thehealthcareblog.com/blog/2011/11/07/the-fine-line-between-shared-and-manipulated-medical-decisions/#more-34017]
 * ECONOMIC IMAGINATION: **

2) Economically, obesity increases medical costs for treatment, diagnoses, and available services. Obesity also decreases productivity in business. Denmark has implemented a “fat tax”. This action will add more tax of saturated fats, tobacco, and sugary products. To fight off obesity Denmark has incorporated an exercise friendly environment with emphasis of bike transportation. Denmark has long used the tax system to achieve health goals. This history can be seen in their tax on candy and trans-fats. I believe that this method of discouraging unhealthy behaviors will not work in America. Lobbyists for the food industry have been paying millions so that tax on their unhealthy products would not transpire. In order to effectively change the health status of a nation there needs to be restriction on the food companies as well as personal incentives to change one’s eating habits. [|http://thehealthcareblog.com/blog/2011/11/16/denmarks-fat-tax/#more-34441]

3) Viruses have the inconvenient ability to quickly mutate and gain resistance against antibiotics if they are introduced to the treatment repeatedly. The Center for Disease Control has taken a strong opposition to reduce the overuse of antibiotics. The CDC’s consistence ands pressure has paid off and data has shown that antibiotic use has decreased since 1994. But, data has also directed attention toward regional consumption patterns in the Southeast, Kentucky, and Virginia. Over use of antibiotics could be caused by lack of education on the risks, environmental factors, and doctors over willing to give out prescriptions. Preserving the effectiveness of the antibiotics will ensure that easily treatable infections don’t become as dangerous as MRSA. []

4) The current lifestyle of urbanization and economic instability has given rise to evidence of rising cases of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and lung conditions. Buildings in a high carbon monoxide areas lead to an accumulation of toxins in the body that give an individual a higher chance of illness. Childhood asthma cases increased in low-income public housing in the United States from dust and dirt in public housing. There has been a parallel study showing the negative effects of indoor wood burning air pollution in Asia, Africa, and Latin America; indoor air pollution handicapped people’s immune systems which gave them a high chance to get opportunistic infections. The location of buildings could also determine the physical activity of an individual. Efforts to encourage a non-sedentary lifestyle have give rise to assessable parks, fitness centers, and hospitals. In shantytowns the environmental conditions are hazardous and require major improvement in sewer systems and water quality. The shift to a better health standard will have to be community and government based. []

5) Optimum health care runs parallel to affordability. Massachusetts and Hawaii’s health care plan are ranked in the top 10th I affordability. The Commonwealth Fund then measures this standard; they compare family health cost plan and annual deductibles by state to family income by state. Higher income states rank lower than lower income states. Overall the ranking informs that high per capita income does not necessarily mean high performance; on the other end of the spectrum low per capita incomes tie directly to poor performance. The basis of the article was that states determine the amount of money that goes to health costs. The per capita income can determine the quality of care and there should be a change in the system to allow for more coverage and affordability. []

6) The Health policies currently in place have a high ratio of disparity and inequality. Standardized services and walk-in establishments have gained rise in popularity. The health policy community believes that any market should be suppressed and that the availability of services rationed. These views and policies have lead to less access to care and health outcomes in other white populated countries. Discrimination in the free labor market will lead to ineffective costs and will later penalize the business. They have to pay extra to discriminate healthcare toward a certain race and are denying business to others. [|http://thehealthcareblog.com/blog/2011/10/14/why-are-there-disparities-in-health-care-because-it’s-fr/]

**BOOKS**:

1) Humans do stupid things. It is in our nature to find a quick (sometimes physically damaging) solution to a temporary problem. Smoking is a guilty pleasure where the consumer does not want to think about the long-term implications to there actions. Smoking emphasizes on immediate satisfaction and the pleasure you feel from inhaling nicotine. In the book, the tobacco company feeds off of consumer guilty pleasure and does not want to market the health side effects.

2) Personal responsibility is something overlooked and avoided because people do not want to confront the reason why they took up tobacco in the first place. Being a money making business with massive influence in society the tobacco industries failing is not selling the cigarettes to a willing public but not having the inclination to test for adverse side effects of inhaling nicotine. The Oprah show showed how them being so focused on using Nick as a scapegoat allowed a him to retort by saying that there are various other issues that need more attention than smoking. The audience and speakers had a narrow view on the situation by thinking that smoking is bad and not disusing how smoking became to prevalent in society.

3) Media is the key to increasing cliental for the tobacco industry. Television has given viewers a false sense of security and a willingness to accept baseless facts. For example, having a doctor smoking a camel cigarette incorporates a trusted figure in society with a nicotine-inhaling pastime. Nick's rant on how movie celebrities helped publicize cigarettes shows the mass influence passive advertising has on the public. The postwar culture in the United States thrived on cigarettes as an acceptable pastime because of a newly formed concept of what is sophisticated and classy.

4) Recognize your surroundings is an over looked and complex process. You base variations in size, color, positioning, and environment on past knowledge on similar objects. It’s fascinating that there are dozens of variables that influence of visual processing and that each individual experiences image processing differently. In one of Oliver Sacks’ case study a man was unable to make a cognitive judgments about objects that he saw. This would have handicapped him if he did not have music to help him through a structured routine; this partially compensated for his disability.

5) If you’re unable to recognize anyone then your ability to function in society is hindered. Recognizing and processing are the basics of knowing your surroundings, which would help you learn and interact with your environment. William Thompson is a man unable to remember more than a few seconds. He is only able to interpret his surroundings quickly and without background knowledge. His view on the world is composed of fabricated tales of improvisation. He is lost in reality and is unable to experience consistency in his memory; he is unaware of his condition and will strive for an understanding of a world is always changing.

6) Tourette’s syndrome is a condition where there are spastic and repetitive motor tics. The severity of the physical and mental impulses correlates to how well a person functions in a community. Ray was a patient of Oliver Sacks who had violent tics that occur every few seconds. Normally, this would handicap Ray from making a living is it wasn’t for the exception of playing music. Music was away of turning the motor tics into constant rhythmic patterns. Ray incorporated improvisation with drumming to create an identity. He took purpose in his rapid behavior and quick motion, but to keep a stable job he went for treatment of Hadol, which slowed his reactions and changed his personality. To maintain his identity and embrace his neurological disorder he took the medication only on the weekdays. He was able to find the positive of an unlikely situation, which shows that how one coops neurological disorders is different per individual.