Asthma Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Asthma - Essay Example 1). This disease often manifests through various patient-specific triggers, the most common of which include airborne allergens like dust mites, cockroaches, cat or dog dander and irritants like tobacco smoke (National Heart Lung and Blood Institute â€Å"Lung Diseases†). Asthma is a chronic disease and it can attack any time especially when the patient is exposed to any of the triggers. However, as compared to other chronic lung diseases, asthma is reversible. No treatment for the disease is yet available; nevertheless, it is considered a controllable disease (Schiffman, et.al., p. 1). With early treatment, the chances of controlling this disease are good and with proper treatment, asthmatic patients can actually have fewer and less severe attacks; however without treatment and with more frequent asthma bouts, asthma patients can die from the disease (Schiffman, et.al., p. 1). In the United States and other western nations, reports of increased incidence of this disease have been revealed. Scientists and researchers claim that factors which may have contributed to this increase may include: decreased exposure to infection which has made our immune system more sensitive to infection; more people spending more time indoors where exposure to mold and dust is higher; increased air pollution; sedate lifestyle and increased percentage of obese individuals (Shiffman, et.al., p. 1). Asthma also has a major impact on society as it is the disease which causes work and school absences more than any other disease; it is also the most common cause of emergency department visits and hospitalizations and it costs the US economy about $13 billion each year (Schiffman, et.al., p. 1). Aside from the triggers previously mentioned above, the following are also considered risk factors for asthma: family history of asthma; frequent incidents of respiratory infections as a child; exposure to second hand smoke;

NAFTA Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

NAFTA - Essay Example An understanding of the economic effects and the benefits of this agreement is important for those personnel who are to be stationed in near shore positions located in Mexico or Canada. The first benefit for large American based companies who choose to deploy a part of their operations in Mexico or Canada is the economic advantage of lowered recruitment and Human Resource Cost for skilled and unskilled labor as compared to the economic market in America (Wikipedia, 2006). Additionally, American operations managers and executives of companies working in Mexico have the advantage of a higher standard of living in Mexico since the cost of living is lower (World Bank Group, 2001). After a decade of free trade with America, the Mexican economy like the Canadian economy has become very closely linked to the American economic system. NAFTA therefore is essential for Mexico’s continual growth and economic survival as a trillion dollar plus economy. With NAFTA the economy of Mexico has experienced booms but there is still some controversy about the application of the rules under NAFTA (Wikipedia, 2006). The opposition mostly comes from the economic crisis which Mexico went under soon after the signing of the treaty in 1995. However, the data collected by the World Bank and other economic agencies show that NAFTA has been mostly beneficial for the economy of Mexico since the poverty rated have gone down and economic improvement has resulted in greater job opportunities for the Mexican people. Real incomes and salaries have been on the rise and if the government continues to invest in education and other public projects for development Mexico could become one of the fastest growing economies of the world (World Bank Group, 2001). While the trade between the countries has been liberalized like the European Common Market, the national sovereignty of nations has not been changed and the laws for