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Global Threats: Climate Change is a Medical Emergency
By Roberta Attanasio For many years, we’ve been aware of the impacts of global climate change on human health and well-being. For example, safe drinking water, sufficient food, and secure shelter are threatened by rising sea levels and severe weather events. Heat waves dramatically increase death rates not only from heat strokes, but also from complications arising from cardiovascular, respiratory, and cerebrovascular diseases. However, the impacts of global climate change on human health are even greater than previously thought — according to a report published today (June 23, 2015) in The Lancet, the threat from climate change is so great that it could undermine the last fifty years of gains…
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Global Threats: Children’s Exposure to Toxic Pesticides
By Roberta Attanasio In 2012, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) released a policy statement to outline the harmful effects of pesticides in children, and to make recommendations on how to reduce exposure. According to the statement, prenatal and early childhood exposure to pesticides is associated with pediatric cancers, decreased cognitive function, and behavioral problems. In addition, the statement pointed out that recognizing and reducing children’s exposure to pesticides requires improved medical training, public health tracking, and regulatory approaches, and made recommendations on specific actions that should be taken to decrease such exposure. Despite the recognition of the dangers associated with pesticide use, and the AAP recommendations on limiting children’s…
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Dante’s Fainting: A Medical Enigma from the Middle Ages
A guest post by Michele A. Riva 2015 is the 750th anniversary of the birth of the Italian poet Dante Alighieri (1265-1321), the author of the literature masterpiece the Divine Comedy. Written between 1304 and 1321, the Divine Comedy is an epic poem that describes Dante’s imaginative and allegorical journey through Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven. The poem has inspired not only the creative efforts of illustrious authors such as William Shakespeare, Geoffrey Chaucer and John Milton, but also an ongoing debate on the “medical conditions” that are so frequently depicted in it. During his Hell-Purgatory-Heaven journey, Dante frequently experiences symptoms such as loss of consciousness, hallucinations and fainting, which he…
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Clean Air: The Effects of U.S. Power Plant Carbon Standards on Human Health
By Roberta Attanasio A little more than a year ago, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that in 2012 around 7 million people died — accounting for one in eight of total global deaths — as a result of exposure to air pollution. These estimates more than doubled the previous ones, and confirmed that air pollution is now the world’s largest single environmental health risk. The WHO concluded that reducing air pollution globally could save millions of lives. But, what policy changes would be most effective at saving lives? The answer comes from a new study published in the journal Nature Climate Change (May 4, 2015.) The study, (US power plant…
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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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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…
