Public Health Trends

Hannah Hagood
Public Health Trends

I spoke to Dr. Paul Hagood in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He is an urologist at the Hillcrest Medical Center and an Assistant Professor of Urology in the Department of Surgery at the OU School of Community Medicine in Tulsa.  I wanted to learn more about the health trends and issues his area. He informed on me what the biggest trends were.

Increase Diabetes

Dr. Hagood said in general obesity related diseases were increasing, in particularly diabetes. This means that the rate of Type 2 diabetes, which is influenced by obesity, is increasing. Type 2 diabetes is the more common type and usually seen in the aging population, but this seems to be changing. The other than the concern of Type 2’s rate increasing but the age of onset is lowering and it is now seen at younger ages. Even though the rate continues to increase, many more are still unaware their high risk for diabetes.

Lower of Age of Onset of Hypertension

Another issue that is becoming more prevalent is the risk for hypertension increasing because the onset of hypertension is appearing in younger and younger populations. Hypertension is simply high pressure, but it is very dangerous. It can be influenced by several factors, but like diabetes, obesity can lead to hypertension. Because there are no symptoms for hypertension, people can develop heart disease and kidney problems without knowing they have high blood pressure. Even if you have not been diagnosed with high blood pressure, it is important to have your blood pressure checked during your yearly check-up.

Decreased Mortality Rate of Pancreatic Cancer

Dr. Hagood was happy to inform me about the decrease in mortality rate of pancreatic cancer. He says that it is good to see more people who have to battle this cancer are surviving than before. A tumor or cancer in the pancreas may grow without any symptoms in the beginning. Because pancreatic cancer is often advanced when it is first found, not all tumors are easily removed by surgery. On the other hand the life-saving approaches to cancer prevention, screening, diagnosis, and treatment have improved and have influence the decline in mortality rates.

Increase of Reported Learning Disabilities

Learning disabilities includes a range of disorders like dyslexia, ADD, ADHD, autism, and so forth. They do not only impact a child's learning but can emotional well-being also. Dr. Hagood talked mostly about the increase of reports ADD and ADHD in children. He said he doesn't know if this means there is an increase in the actually rate of ADD and ADHD occurring than before though. He says one possible reason for the increase in reported learning disabilities is because we are more sensitive to their signals than previously.  

Increase of Bladder Cancer

I learned that the rate of bladder cancer is increasing. There is no set cause for bladder cancer but smoking, chemical exposure, and bladder infections are thought to influence it. Dr. Hagood said that bladder cancer is normally found in men but lately it’s been increasingly appearing in women. The ratio of bladder cancer used to be about four to one men to women, but now closer seem to be two to one and getting closer. He said the ratio change has had an influenced on the increase in this cancer.