Globally, how many people die of problems related to environmental factors?
Nearly 25% of all deaths and the total disease burden are related to
... [Show More] environmental factors.
What are the 3 P's?
"Pollution, Population, and Poverty"
They are interrelated: Population growth is associated w/ poverty, and both poverty and population growth are associated with pollution.
Written by Warren Winkelstein
How is global warming GREAT for spreading mosquito-borne diseases?
Mosquitos thrive in hot and humid environments. The higher the population of mosquitos are, the more likely there will be transmission of mosquito-borne diseases.
What is an adverse effect of treating farm animals with antibiotics?
It can contribute to the proliferation of antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria.
Who is most likely to be affected by environmental hazards (who is most vulnerable)?
The elderly, persons with disabilities and chronic diseases, pregnant women, and children are more likely to be affected by environmental hazards. Age groups most likely to impacted are children under 5, children as old as 10, and adults 50 to 75 years old.
Describe environmental risk transition
The changes in environmental risks that happen as a consequence of economic development in the less developed regions of the world.
How many people were added to the global population between 1987 and 1999?
1 billion people
Describe completed fertility rate
It is the number of children a woman has given birth to when she completes childbearing. Also known as "Total fertility rate."
How many of the world's residents are migrants?
More than 1 billion of the world's residents.
What is the term used to describe the shift of morbidity>mortality from infectious diseases to chronic diseases?
The term "epidemiologic transition"
What are some megacities?
The term "megacity" denotes an urbanized area that has 10 million or more inhabitants. Examples of megacities are: Tokyo, Shanghai, Mumbai, Sao Paulo, Mexico City, New York, and Los Angeles.
There is an interesting little tale of 29 reindeer in chapter 1. Recount the story.
In the animal kingdom, the carrying capacity of an environment governs population size. In Nature, the factors of food availability, reproductive behavior, and infectious diseases tend to keep animal populations in check.
An example of animal population kept in check by food availability follows:
The U.S Coast Guard shipped 29 reindeer to St. Matthew Island in the Bering Sea during the World War 2 era. The deer were supposed to be eaten by personnel on the island. They never were killed and the 29 reindeer remained on the island when the war ended. The deer population increased to 6000 by the early 1960's but due to the depletion of food sources and overgrazing the population declined to less than 50 in 1966.
The growth of animal populations appears to be sequenced according to the following characteristic patterns:
-Logistic Growth: responding to immediate negative feedback, as carrying capacity is approached.
-Domed/ Capped Growth: responding to deferred negative feedback but necessitating a period of excess mortality.
-Irruptive Growth: with a chaotic post-crash pattern.
What is First Essay on Population?
In 1798 Thomas Malthus wrote the "First Essay on Population," which theorized that the human population had the potential to grow exponentially. According to this scenario, the population could out-strip available resources. Malthus suggested that "positive checks" for excessive population growth rates were epidemics of disease, starvation, and population reduction through warfare. The growth of the population could also be constrained through "preventive checks" such as not allowing people to marry.
What refers to the different types and variability of animal and plant species and ecosystems in which they live?
Biodiversity
What consequences could the loss of biodiversity pose?
The loss of biodiversity may pose a danger to food production as a result of the growth in numbers of invasive species and the eradication of helpful plants and insects. An example of the loss of biodiversity is the destruction of tropical rain forests that has culminated in the extinction of some flowering plants that may have had future medical value.
What does a toxicologist do?
A toxicologist is a scientist who has a strong understanding of many scientific disciplines, such as biology and chemistry, and typically works with chemicals and other substances to determine if they are toxic or harmful to humans and other living organisms or the environment.
What are a food inspector's responsibilities?
They may be responsible for examining the methods for handling, processing, and serving of food so that these procedures are in compliance with sanitation rules and regulations.
What is the response of organisms to exposures to toxic substances called?
Dose-response relationships
What can become increasingly concentrated in foodstuffs and pose hazards as potential carcinogens AND hurt the reproductive system?
Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)
Epidemiology helps the environmental health field through what 4 ways?
1. Concern w/ populations.
2. Use of observational data.
3. Methodology for study designs.
4. Descriptive and analytic studies.
What did Prof A.H. Smith say?
Professor A.H. Smith wrote, "The epidemiologic input to environmental risk assessment involves the interpretation of epidemiological studies and their application to estimating the potential health risks to populations from known or estimated environmental exposures."
Give examples of demographic characteristics.
Age.
Gender.
Race.
Ethnicity.
Geographic Area.
Educational attainment.
Income level.
How would you calculate an incidence rate if the number of new cases over a time period was 130, the average population at risk was 1,000 and the multiplier was 100,000?
Incidence Rate= (130/1,000) X 100,000=13,000.
Incidence rate = Number of new cases during time period/Avg. population at risk during same time period x multiplier
If the cases for HIV infection in a region are 40 cases and 2 of these cases were fatal, what would the CFR (case fatality rate) be?
CFR%= (2 fatalities/40 cases) X 100 = 5%
CFR% = number of deaths due to disease/number of cases x 100 during a time period
Why is Sir Percival Pott thought to be the first person to describe an environmental cause of cancer (what did he observe?)
In 1775, Pott observed that chimney sweeps had a high incidence of scrotal cancer. He argued that chimney sweeps were prone to this malady as a consequence of their contact with soot.
Why is John Snow famous?
-English Anesthesiologist
-Linked cholera outbreak in London to contaminated water from the Thames River in the mid-1800's.
-Employed a "natural experiment," a methodology used currently in studies of environmental health problems.
List the different types of studies
-Experimental Studies: Intervention Study (Clinical trials & Quasi-experiments).
-Case Series Study.
-Cross-sectional Study.
-Ecologic Study.
-Case-control study.
-Cohort Study
What is the epidemiological triangle?
A model that includes 3 factors: Agent, Host, and Environment. It provides a framework for organizing the causality of other types of environmental problems.
Latency Period:
refers to the time interval between initial exposure to a disease-causing agent and appearance of disease.
What is your book's definition of toxicology?
Toxicology is the science of poisons. Toxicology is the study of the adverse effects of chemicals on living organisms.
Nero used what to poison Claudius?
Nero was said to have used arsenic to poison Claudius.
______________ investigates dispersion of pollutants into the physical environment, their impact on biological chains like food chains, and their toxic effects within the ecosystem.
Ecotoxicology
_______________ is the degree to which something is poisonous.
Toxicity
What is the difference between a toxicant and a toxin?
Toxicants are manmade or result from human activity. Toxins are substances made by living organisms like reptiles, insects, plants, and microorganisms.
Why are Amanita phalloides called "death caps"?
Because they are highly poisonous.
What is "LD50"?
"LD50" means (lethal dose 50) which is the dosage (mg/kg body weight) causing death in 50 percent of exposed animals.
Recall the "short story" about Thalidomide (used for morning sickness)
Thalidomide was prescribed during the late 1950's to treat morning sickness in pregnant women. As a result, these women gave birth to more than 10,000 children who had severe birth defects, such as missing limbs.
What components does an exposure assessment consist of?
Exposure Assessment is defined as the procedure that identifies populations exposed to the toxicant, describes their composition and size, and examines the roots, magnitudes, frequencies, and durations of such exposures.
Three-step Process:
(1) Characterize the point of exposure setting and scenario
(2) Identify exposure pathways
(3) Quantify the exposure. [Show Less]