This certainly fits with the subject of our EHS breadth course - mapping epidemiological data with GIS software. The Slate map Alison posted is just a simple visualization of the data and I do not think it will add to anyone's analysis. It is a nice way to get the public's attention, though. I do wonder how the public perceives this map, however. My first thought was a smug, "Minnesota is doing all right by comparison!" Do all the non-Southerners see this and think that diabetes is someone else's problem?
I was very curious about the high rates of diabetes in Navajo, Arizona, so I did some research on diabetes in Native Americans. I was very surprised that it was such a problem. I found two great resources that examine this problem:
NPR Broadcast: http://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=15149819 - Diabetes was non existent 100 years ago - Its prevalence is attributed to the advent of big highways and fast food
Unnatural Causes Segment: http://www.unnaturalcauses.org/case_studies_01_prob.php - Many reasons for this problem have been suggested (i.e. genetic predisposition), but there are no clear answers
2 comments:
This certainly fits with the subject of our EHS breadth course - mapping epidemiological data with GIS software. The Slate map Alison posted is just a simple visualization of the data and I do not think it will add to anyone's analysis. It is a nice way to get the public's attention, though.
I do wonder how the public perceives this map, however. My first thought was a smug, "Minnesota is doing all right by comparison!" Do all the non-Southerners see this and think that diabetes is someone else's problem?
I was very curious about the high rates of diabetes in Navajo, Arizona, so I did some research on diabetes in Native Americans. I was very surprised that it was such a problem. I found two great resources that examine this problem:
NPR Broadcast: http://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=15149819
- Diabetes was non existent 100 years ago
- Its prevalence is attributed to the advent of big highways and fast food
Unnatural Causes Segment:
http://www.unnaturalcauses.org/case_studies_01_prob.php
- Many reasons for this problem have been suggested (i.e. genetic predisposition), but there are no clear answers
Post a Comment