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Prenatal Exposure to Air Pollutants: Links to Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
By Roberta Attanasio PHAs — short for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons — are bad actors: they’re toxic, ubiquitous pollutants that readily cross the placenta, causing damage to the fetal brain. Now, results from a new study show that PHA-induced fetal brain damage may lead to severe behavioral problems during early childhood, including aggression and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The deleterious effects of air pollution — greater risk of stroke, heart attacks and cognitive deterioration — are widely recognized. However, the new study assessed prenatal exposure and identified specific physical damage in the brain. The researchers used magnetic resonance imaging to measure the brains of 40 children from a cohort consisting…
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The Global Travels of Chikungunya Virus: Is it Coming to You?
By Roberta Attanasio Chikungunya virus is spreading fast — worldwide. First described during an outbreak in southern Tanzania in 1952, it caused sporadic illness in Africa and large urban outbreaks in Thailand and India in the 1960s and 1970s. As of now, it has been identified in over 60 countries in Asia, Africa, Europe and Americas. The virus, which causes fever and severe joint pain, is transmitted to humans by the bites of infected female mosquitoes, most commonly by Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus — two species that can also transmit other mosquito-borne viruses, including dengue. There is no vaccine and no specific treatment for the infection. Gemma Handy aptly describes…
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Food Additives, Microbiota, and Inflammation
By Roberta Attanasio “For centuries, additives have served useful functions in a variety of foods. Our ancestors used salt to preserve meats and fish, added herbs and spices to improve the flavor of foods, preserved fruit with sugar, and pickled cucumbers in a vinegar solution. Today, consumers demand and enjoy a food supply that is flavorful, nutritious, safe, convenient, colorful and affordable. Food additives and advances in technology help make that possible.” But, are food additives safe? Results from a recent study show that some food additives known as emulsifiers can alter the composition and location of the gut microbiota — the diverse population of 100 trillion bacteria that inhabit…
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Small Predator Diversity Plays a Significant Role in the Spread of Infectious Diseases
By Roberta Attanasio Biodiversity is a term coined to describe the diversity of all living things, from human beings to microorganisms. A New York Times editorial published almost two decades ago aptly describes the importance of the biodiversity concept: “Biodiversity is a hugely important concept that stresses the coherence and interdependence of all forms of life on earth and a new willingness to appraise the meaning of that interdependence, not just for humans but for every one of life’s component parts.” The editorial goes on to illustrate the alarming effects of biodiversity loss: “Biodiversity is a way of talking about what scientists have long understood and a way of reminding…
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TB Unmasked: Healthcare Workers and the Global Tuberculosis Epidemic
By Roberta Attanasio World TB Day, falling on March 24th each year, is approaching — it reminds us that tuberculosis (TB) is a massive global health problem. Indeed, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), tuberculosis is one of the world’s deadliest communicable diseases. It is second only to HIV/AIDS as the greatest killer worldwide due to a single infectious agent. In 2013, an estimated 9.0 million people developed TB and 1.5 million died from it — mostly in developing countries. However, TB is curable and preventable. The WHO estimates that 37 million lives were saved between 2000 and 2013 through effective diagnosis and treatment. Despite the many saved lives, the…
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Climate Change: A Key Driver of the Syrian Conflict?
By Roberta Attanasio Climate change is happening here and now, with significant damage to natural systems and society. The shrinking of the Arctic sea ice, the melting of the Greenland and Antarctica ice sheets, the acidification of the oceans, the sea level rise, the shifting patterns of precipitation, and the amplified threat of wildfires, are some of its well-recognized effects. There are also significant concerns related to the consequences that climate change could have on freshwater availability and agricultural productivity worldwide — resulting in increasing poverty and further weakening of fragile governments. Indeed, climate change has been identified as a “threat multiplier” — it can exacerbate political instability in the…
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Early Menopause: Links to Ubiquitous Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals
By Roberta Attanasio There are as many endocrine-disrupting chemicals (also called endocrine disruptors) as there are deleterious health effects caused by them. These chemicals mimic the body’s hormones and confuse our physiological systems — we respond to them with a series of inappropriate changes that, depending on the specific endocrine disruptor, lead to the development of obesity, cancer, malformation of sex organs, and more. They are pervasive in the environment — they’re found in the soil, air and water throughout the world — and many persist for long periods of time. Thus, it’s not surprising that, in 2013, the impact of endocrine disruptors on human health was defined as a…
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E-Cigarettes and Vaping May Cause Lung Damage and Impaired Immune Responses
By Roberta Attanasio A few months ago, Oxford Dictionaries announced “vape” as its international Word of the Year 2014 – language research conducted by their editors revealed that its use in 2014 had more than doubled compared to 2013 (and increased by 30-fold since 2012), mostly because of the rapidly growing popularity of electronic cigarettes and the expanding debate over their safety. Although e-cigarettes are portrayed as devices that can help adult smokers quit while providing a safe alternative to tobacco smoking, mounting evidence shows that these devices may cause considerable harm. Indeed, about two weeks ago, California health officials said that e-cigarettes represent a rising public-health risk that threaten…
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Tasmanian Devils: Contagious Cancer Drives the Risk of Extinction
By Roberta Attanasio In November 2013, a team of biologists scattered 15 plastic cylinders in the fields of Maria Island, three miles off the east coast of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Each cylinder contained a healthy Tasmanian devil, a marsupial species that until then lived only in Tasmania. Soon, the 15 devils emerged from the containers, becoming the first ever to inhabit Maria Island. The biologists were planning to take more devils to the island. Why? To establish a healthy colony, needed for the survival of the entire species. The Tasmanian devil is on the brink of extinction because of an unusual disease — a contagious cancer that is spreading very quickly.…
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Prenatal Exposure to Pollutants: Influence on the Immune Response
By Roberta Attanasio The development of the immune system during fetal and neonatal life is negatively influenced by exposure to toxic chemicals, resulting in compromised immune function later in life. An example is fetal exposure to arsenic, which has deleterious effects on the immune response to influenza virus infection in adulthood. Now, results from a new study provide additional evidence for the role that exposure to toxic chemicals early in life plays in shaping the immune response to the influenza virus. The study (by researchers at the University of Rochester) focused on a mouse model and the chemical 2,3,7,8-tetrachlordibenzo-p-dioxin, or TCDD for short. TCDD, a known carcinogen, is a persistent environmental contaminant…
