week 4 post 2

        The discussion over the myriad of health issues related to child maltreatment in the media has been extremely successful in the development of new treatment techniques. The discussion has opened new windows for more innovative holistic approaches to adverse situations and prevention techniques. In the article called the poverty Clinic, which discusses how a stressful childhood can make more sick adults, Paul Tough Discusses what Nadine Burke Has done to help an impoverished community.  Burke believes that childhood trauma should be considered a medical issue, and knowledge of the trauma helps to treat the illnesses more effectively. Traumatic experiences can cause tiny chemical markers called Menthol groups, to affix themselves to genes that govern the production of stress hormone receptors, which inevitably disables these genes and prevents the brain from properly regulating stress;  this leads to many more long term health issues. To determine what kind of trauma and extent of trauma someone has gone through Burke and many others use something called Ace scores, which stand for adverse childhood experiences. This scale has been talked about commonly in the media and is now a more widely used term. When a score is higher, meaning that person has persevered through more trauma, the worse that person's health looks on almost every account. These behaviors are linked to more chronic diseases and addictive behaviors. Compared to people who have no recorded history of childhood trauma,  people with Ace scores of 4 or higher were two times more likely to smoke, seven times more likely to be an alcoholic, and six times more likely to have sex before the age of 15. People with higher Aces were twice as likely to be diagnosed with cancer, twice as likely to have heart disease, and four times more likely to suffer from emphysema or chronic bronchitis. This is also related to psychological issues such as suicidal thoughts or depression. This strongly correlates with the idea of child maltreatment and the foster care system, and using statistics and risk strategizing/classifying from the time of conception to provide support to the mothers and potential Children at Risk.  
         Prior to the mass of media surrounding the effects of child maltreatment, it was harder to understand why people in poverty typically stay in poverty and why these people typically are at a higher risk for health issues. While a small section of Specialists were looking at it, it was not as widely talked about in general, and media has helped draw attention to it. For example, in the article the poverty Clinic by Paul Tough, he discusses the issues related to a stressful childhood and being a sick adult and what it takes give long term solutions and to be a more innovative service to these people. While this is an issue that needs to be taken into professional hands, the media has played an essential role in educating the public about this issue. For example, sites like the Greater Good Science Center use their platform to get the discussion out to people in a  scientific but comprehendible Manner. Without stories from people like Monisha Sullivan, who was in the article with Nadine Burke,  this science would not have gotten as far as it has. No matter the topic, writing is an essential part of communication and development.