Topic: Hidden epidemic of Celiac Disease
Source: http://www.celiaccentral.org/Celiac-Disease/21/?gclid=CK-3s-TinbcCFScV7Aod9l0Aew
Description: The National Foundation for Celiac Awareness has a website dedicated to information and statistics about the disease. Celiac Disease is an autoimmune digestive disease that damages the villi of the small intestine and interferes with the absorption of nutrients from food.. Essentially the body is attacking itself every time gluten is ingested (National Foundation). The article continues to state that Celiac Disease is triggered by the protein gluten, which is found in wheat, barley, and rye. When Celiacs eat gluten, their immune system responds by damaging the nutrient absorbing finger-like villi of the small intestine. When villi are damaged, the body is unable to absorb nutrients into the bloodstream, which leads to everlasting malnourishment. When left untreated, Celiac can lead to other complications such as osteoporosis, thyroid and liver disease, or cancer.
Analysis: Since May is Celiac Awareness Month, I thought I would pay my dues and discuss the horrifying disease, which I myself am diagnosed with. Celiac is a lot more serious than an allergic reaction or a bad intolerance, because when an individual has Celiac, his or her body attacks itself, destroying their insides. Growing up in America, it took my doctors 17 years to diagnose me with Celiac Disease. I had been hospitalized several times within my first 17 years, but no doctors thought to ever test me for Celiac. On the other hand, every individual in Europe is testing by age 6, because it is mainly a European disease. Since I am half Scottish, I am assuming I carried a gene from my European side. A frightening statistic states that Celiac Disease is the most common autoimmune disorder in America, affecting 1 in every 133 Americans; the scariest part being only 6% of Celiac patients being diagnosed. I was lucky enough to discover I had Celiac, but to think about all the individuals globally that have this disease, and cannot afford to stay away from gluten. A gluten-free diet is extremely expensive, because a lot of wheat is mass produced and genetically modified to try to sustain the world's hunger. It is very inexpensive, and is a grain to satisfy people's hunger. The most consumed food in America is bread, which is frightening, because our consumption of gluten in America is what is triggering Celiac in all these Americans. If gluten was eaten in moderation in America, I'm sure that the statistics would drop lower. But with the poverty rate, sometimes all families can afford are cheap, processed foods that contain gluten fillers. Celiac Disease is a hidden epidemic that is now haunting America as well as the rest of the world, and the diagnostics keep rising, because of the amount of gluten an individual consumes daily. If we want our society in the best shape, it would be ideal to have mandatory Celiac Disease testings at a young age, following the footsteps of Europe, to help keep every generation energized and healthy for the future.
Topic: Social inequity due to racism
Source: "Racism Statistics." The Council for Human Rights. N.p., 2012. Web. 06 May 2013.
Description: The article from the Council of Human Rights describes different statistics that determine a variety of acts committed by certain ethnicity groups in America. For example, "Blacks and Hispanics remained approximately 3 times as likely to be poor as whites in 2001" (Race, Ethnicity, and Economic Well-Being). It also describes that of the 7, 722 hate crime incidents reported to the FBI in 2006, 2,640 were anti-black related (1). The article continues to describe statistics like these with comparisons of the Hispanic, African-American, and White population.
Analysis: The idea of racism still occurring in America sickens me. I do not classify people by skin color, hair color, financial income, or anything else that is mainly uncontrollable, I base my opinions on people based off of how they treat other people. I believe heritage has something to do with the make-up of a person; not to mistake that with defining an individual, just that it helps develop certain traditions and morals, just like the culture that an individual grows up in. These statistics are very heart-breaking, because it shows the lack of equality in America in numbers. The African-American and Hispanic populations in America have hardships that are very difficult to face, such as not being able to get an education as easily as a white individual, or that they experience more food and housing hardships versus the white population as well. But what I found most interesting is that no article I looked up on statistics of social inequity in America did it list the hardships any other races experience, in my case being an Arab. Ever since 9/11, the Arab population has been frowned upon by so many, and now has an extremely low reputation to some individuals. Last November, I was taking the Greyhound from Los Angeles to Santa Cruz by myself (the express bus that takes off at around 11pm). I sat down on the bus, and immediately the man sitting across from me stands up and makes yells, "SHE SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED ON PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION, BECAUSE WE DO NOT KNOW WHAT SHE IS GOING TO BLOW UP NEXT. GET HER OFF THIS BUS!" I was very much offended and saddened by this man's harsh words, but the only person that ended up defending me was the bus driver. The man later got arrested for threatening to kill me, but it was shocking that not a single person on that bus stood up for me. This is obviously not just because I'm an Arab (or hopefully not!), but the idea that individuals do not have the courage to speak up for themselves in order to defend another individual's sense of equality is degrading to everyone. America has worked so hard to become a country of acceptance and equality, yet people are so terrified of being confident enough to speak up. I believe this is a responsibility of everyone in America, to defend each other's equality and freedom, and I firmly believe that our country will be a more confident and safe place. But if this country keeps letting race get in the way of progression, our society is going to fall backwards.
