Health is about the overall physical, social, spiritual and mental well being of a person. In the 1980s the World Health Organisation (WHO) defined health as "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity' There can be no absolute fixed 'objective' definition of health, genetics, culture, society, community, circumstance, education, time and place can also be seen to impact upon the perception of health, which is mainly subjective.
Various factors influence and affect an individual's health and can often be related. Genetic factors that are heredity, can increase the probability of contracting chronic conditions. For example, Sickle cell anaemia is a serious inherited blood disorder where red blood cells, develop abnormally. Normal red blood cells are flexible and disc-shaped, but in sickle cell anaemia they can can become rigid and shaped like a crescent (or sickle). The sickle-shaped cells block blood vessels, resulting in tissue and organ damage and episodes of severe pain. The disorder mainly affects people of African, Caribbean, Middle Eastern, Eastern Mediterranean and Asian origin.
Biological factors that happen in the womb can also be identified as affecting a person's health such as women smoking during pregnancy causes low birth weight of their babies. When studying the official health data for the local area, I found that children's attainments of GCSE 5 A*-C (including English and Maths) dropped by 8.7% between 2008-2011. This correlated with the prevalence of an increase of women smoking during pregnancy in the same time-frame in the area, illustrated the links between different factors. Socio-economic factors such as where a person lives, their education and religion can also affect individual's health. Educational success is also associated with better health. It is linked to higher earnings, higher socio-economic status and lower rates of unemployment.
