Community Trends Assignment - John Meyer

John Meyer
Health 100
3/27/2013

I decided to interview my friend’s dad, Hal Mitchell, who is a physician in Sheridan, Oregon.  He used to practice here in Utah, but moved to Oregon around five or six years ago.
He mentioned still seeing a trend of patients with the flu.  He touched on the importance of getting flu vaccines and doing simple precautionary practices such as hand sanitizers, washing your hands, etc.  He explained how smaller children are more susceptible to the flu and the elderly as well.
He also mentioned substance abuses.  This is most typical among teens and younger adults, but that this could also include tobacco use among older adults as well.  He said that substance abuse really worries him and believes that it is a matter of educating young people about the harms of such substances and what actually institutes abuse of substances.  Seems as though a lot of health problems could be decreased just by informing and educating.
He also mentioned obesity or health issues related with weight.  He explained how many patients will come it with health issues or complications such as high blood pressure, heart diseases/problems, cholesterol problems, etc.  These problems can be regulated by healthy eating and regular exercise.  He also expressed the importance of teaching your children good habits from the beginning because obesity/weight issues can start in early ages.
He also mentioned that Diabetes is still a problem among patients.  This can go hand in hand with obesity in eating right and exercising regularly.  He also said that there aren't many people who really know and understand what diabetes is and how it is caused.  Blood glucose levels are very important when talking about diabetes.
He finally mentioned cancers, with breast cancer being one of the prevalent cancers that he had seen among patients.  He said the biggest thing with cancers are early identification.  The earlier they can spot a cancer the better it is for treating it, which can ultimately help save an individual.  He stressed regular checkups and appointments with health professionals.