Imagine That?

 

Recently, my sixteen-year-old daughter came downstairs to the den where I was sitting to inform me that she was going to the funeral home to view the earthly remains of a male friend who had recently died of a heart attack. Imagine that? When I asked her the age of her friend, she replied "seventeen" as if it was no big deal. Well, trust me, dying at the age of seventeen of a heart attack is not only a big deal, it is a shocker. As a critical care nurse at a local hospital, I encounter many patients (young people) who present to the hospital’s ER with complaints of chest pain and irregular heart rhythms are detected after an EKG is performed.

 

What is happening to our youth today and why is cardiovascular disease becoming a common occurrence? Are unhealthy lifestyles, lack of sleep, stress exercise and unhealthy diets the primary causes? Is the temptation to smoke, drink and drive, consume and distribute illegal drugs, and engage in unprotected sexual behavior driving our youth down the road to perdition and destruction. While reading an article from abcNEWS.com entitled "Dying Young," I read that "while most victims are in their 60s and 70s, the latest study by the Centers for Disease Control reported today the rate of young people dying from cardiac arrest has soared in the last 10 years." The CDC also report that "there are 3,000 of these deaths annually among Americans ages 15 to 34, a 10 percent increase during the past decade.

 

The following account is from a mother whose 11-year-old daughter suffered a sudden cardiac death last April. " Danielle was a picture of health, so we couldn’t understand how this could possibly happen." An autopsy later revealed that Danielle had a genetic condition that triggered an irregular heartbeat. Her siblings now take medication to protect themselves from a similar death. As I read this account, my first thought was how devastating it must have been for this mother. Another thought occurred to me, Are parents to blame for their children’s health problems? Did they smoke, drink, or even take illegal drugs during their pregnancy, which could have contributed to these health issues? Whether their parents or our society is to blame, the fact is still alarming. Our children are "Dying Young."

 

Now that we are aware of the problem, what are we going to do about it? Can we tackle the problem alone, or will we seek assistance from another source?

 

An alarming fact that I have discovered with regard to getting the assistance we need is that our federal government will spend billions of dollars on armaments to protect from war, "but the same decisiveness seems lacking when it comes to saving the lives of millions dying or suffering every year from some ruthless killers. The killers affecting our youth and adults alike are tobacco, drugs, alcohol, stress, unhealthy diets and lifestyles. If unchecked, their use will cripple or kill millions (if not billions) of persons by the year 2030. Of the many risk factors contributing to heart disease and sudden cardiac deaths among our youth, tobacco use seems to be the most prevalent. "The young are attracted to cigarettes, and nicotine is so powerfully addictive that what seemed to be an innocent indulgence has become a pervasive habit. Nearly all-first use of tobacco occurs before high school graduation. One study suggests that if we can keep them from using tobacco when they are adolescents, most people will never start using tobacco.’ This statement supports the Biblical fact in the book of Proverbs, "If we train up a child in the way he should go, when he is old, he will not depart from it."

 

While we know that action is important, very little is being done. Not only are our children addicted to cigarettes, they have progressed to illegal drugs, drinking alcohol, and violence.

 

Why is it that a society capable of producing bombs to destroy their enemies aboard, is doing very little to annihilate the enemies of our youth right here on our native soil?

More and more, our youth are developing chronic health conditions. Heart disease is only one of them.

In a totally separate issue, it was noted that Obesity has rapidly become a major risk factor. "Between 1989 to 1999, the obesity rate among Americans aged 18 to 29 more than doubled from 5% to 12%." Today, the statistics are alarming.

I could continue for hours discussing the problems and risk factors affecting our youth, but I feel the urgency to mention one other killer. Though it is not " a pleasant subject, it’s a fact: suicide has become the second leading cause of death today among young people ages 15-19. At the root of this terrible reality is depression."

"Depression affects people of all ages, but the adolescents years carry special risks. This is a time of transition, and it’s often very stressful." While most young people can handle the ups and downs and uncertainties associated with being a teen, others become extremely overwhelmed and feel that they have nowhere to turn.

According to Dr. Lindsey, Director of Behavioral Services, " Some youth handle their difficulties by self-medicating their pain with alcohol or other drugs, others turn to acts of violence." This group is characterized as being reluctant to talk about their emotions or problems. They feel that by talking, they will become a burden to someone else. Others fear being ridiculed. Whatever their feelings or thoughts, these troubled kids will choose the only option that seems available to them: taking their own lives.

Not all depressed teens commit suicide. But even those who don’t, depression can take a huge toll on their teenage years. They are strung out on Prozac, Valium, Ativan and other antidepressants.

Instead of enjoying their younger years, they are contemplating ways to end it all. For those parents interested in more research about depression and teens, the following Website is available to you: http://www.mercycare.org/other/teen_depression.asp.

Regardless of the method in which teens are being destroyed, we can be assured of the mastermind behind them all: the enemy: Satan. His agenda is clear. "I am come to steal, kill, and destroy."

As with any other problem affecting believers, our only solution is Jesus. After all, He died for our freedom from all these woes. We do not have to be victims any longer. Our job is to teach and seek. We seek the assistance from our Heavenly Father as we attempt to teach our young. One can only imagine what will happen next, but whatever occurs, we can overcome and find security in the arms of a loving Father. We at the Gospel Warriors Ministries wish you and yours a "Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year."

By Travestine J. Wright