By: Luke Frankel
My goal for this blog is to talk to you guys about what infectious conditions are, how we can prevent from getting sick with a virus/bacterium, and how my wellness goals have been going these past few weeks.
On the first page of the chapter Donatelle says, “Pathogens can enter the body via several routes of transmission. They may be transmitted by direct contact between infected persons, such as during sexual relations, kissing, or touching, or by indirect contact, such as by touching an object that an infected person has touched. You may also autoinnoculate yourself, or transmit a pathogen from one part of your body to another. For example, you may touch a herpes sore on your lip, then transmit the virus to your eye by touch” (Donatelle 285). This is important to understand because we are constantly surrounded by bacteria, viruses, and other pathogens. There are so many different types of ways to inadvertently get pathogens in your body and there are a few sure fire ways to prevent them from getting you sick. A couple of these factors are well researched and the chapter talks about what we can do to improve our chances of staying healthy such as, “too much stress, inadequate nutrition, a low fitness level, lack of sleep, misuse or abuse of legal and illegal drugs, poor personal hygiene, and high-risk behavior significantly increase the risk for many diseases” (Donatelle 286). The best way to avoid infectious conditions are to not expose yourself to known dangers, such as sick people, unsanitary environments, and making sure you clean yourself whenever you put yourself in a bad situation or when you may have been exposed to something like feces, blood, etc. It is also important to understand the risk factors of sexually transmitted diseases. If you have been having sex without proper protection, a.k.a a condom or dental dam, or even if you take these measures, you should get tested to assure you are not as risk for developing STD(Is).
These past few weeks have been difficult on me. I talked about this in my last blog, however it is important to reiterate that everyone is going through tough times right now. I have been using the University’s online resources and communicating with academic coaching to get back on track. I feel more optimistic about the future, but still feel like all this work I have to do is piling up on me and it is really difficult. Luckily, my girlfriend (a nurse) is no longer COVID-19 positive and she has been back to work at her hospital for a week now. She said that the surge has finally ended and things are slowly getting back to manageable. As for my health goals, I have been having a hard time pushing myself to run or workout. I have been doing a couple sprints here and there along with some pushups, but going to this from working as a personal trainer and training for a few hours every day has been really hard on my mentality.
Luke's Wellness Blog 