This morning was our last set of lectures at BCU and it certainly did not disappoint. Starting off strong we had a wonderful session about Cardiovascular Disease(CVD) and its connection to smoking. Heading into this meeting I knew that cardiovascular disease was a large percentage of deaths but I did not know that it was the leading cause of death globally with around 18 million deaths per year. In the United Kingdom alone there is approximately 7.6 million of those deaths. In the USA it is quoted that one person dies every thirty three seconds from CVD. While this is a very large issue there are strategies in place to combat the rise in CVD.
One strategy that has been put in place is the Million Heart 2027, by the Center for Disease Control. This is a national initiative to prevent one million deaths by the year 2027. A few of their goals are decreasing smoking, decrease physical inactivity, and to decrease particle pollution exposure. They also have prioritized plans to optimize care for the community.
The following lecture that we had focused on learning disabilities. I was fascinated to learn that what the United States considers learning disabilities is not the same as the United Kingdom’s learning disabilities category. The United States learning disabilities would be dyslexia and dyscalculia while the United Kingdom refers to Down’s syndrome and ADHD as learning disabilities. While those are some examples of it, the effects of learning disabilities are a reduced ability to cope independently both practically and socially. And there is a significant reduced ability to understand and learn complex information. In order to be considered as a learning disability, individuals must be diagnosed before the age of 18, otherwise they are considered to be an acquired brain disability.
The individuals presenting the lecture this morning wrapped it up nicely with a game of truth or false which we all enjoyed thoroughly. Afterwards we headed back to the hotel to make our two hour journey to London.
After arriving and getting all settled into the hotel, we went for dinner with some Pitt alumni who now live in the United Kingdom and discussed how they got to where they were. It was a very wonderful time to meet them, and to sit with my friends and enjoy good food. Tonight I had some delicious fish and chips that came with tartar sauce and mashed peas. While this was my first time trying mashed peas, I did enjoy them.
I am looking forward to tomorrows adventure of going to the Florence Nightengale Museum and then to see Mama Mia!
