Western Diseases, Their Emergence and Prevention

Western Diseases, Their Emergence and Prevention PDF Author: Hubert Carey Trowell
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 9780674950207
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 484

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Book Description
In this major synthesis of cross-cultural research, 34 distinguished scientists study 25 common metabolic and degenerative diseases characteristic of all advanced Western nations and then examine their incidence in developing countries, among both hunter-gatherers and peasant agriculturalists. Thus the authors provide a unique opportunity to compare epidemiological data reflecting modern modes of life with data influenced by habits and diets dating back 400 generations to the advent of agriculture, and even 200,000 generations or more to the dawn of man. The results confirm the view that diseases like hypertension, lung cancer, diverticular disease, and appendicitis are maladaptations to environmental factors introduced since the Industrial Revolution. They also demonstrate that such diseases become more prevalent when Western lifestyles are adopted in primitive societies. Certain studies reveal a regression of disease incidence when exercise is increased and a diet high in starch and fiber, low in fat and salt, is resumed--characteristics of a simpler way of life. Western Diseases greatly broadens our perspective on some of the most vexing health problems in our society. It will be an essential reference for epidemiologists, nutritionists, and gastroenterologists in particular.

Western Diseases, Their Emergence and Prevention

Western Diseases, Their Emergence and Prevention PDF Author: Hubert Carey Trowell
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 9780674950207
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 484

Get Book Here

Book Description
In this major synthesis of cross-cultural research, 34 distinguished scientists study 25 common metabolic and degenerative diseases characteristic of all advanced Western nations and then examine their incidence in developing countries, among both hunter-gatherers and peasant agriculturalists. Thus the authors provide a unique opportunity to compare epidemiological data reflecting modern modes of life with data influenced by habits and diets dating back 400 generations to the advent of agriculture, and even 200,000 generations or more to the dawn of man. The results confirm the view that diseases like hypertension, lung cancer, diverticular disease, and appendicitis are maladaptations to environmental factors introduced since the Industrial Revolution. They also demonstrate that such diseases become more prevalent when Western lifestyles are adopted in primitive societies. Certain studies reveal a regression of disease incidence when exercise is increased and a diet high in starch and fiber, low in fat and salt, is resumed--characteristics of a simpler way of life. Western Diseases greatly broadens our perspective on some of the most vexing health problems in our society. It will be an essential reference for epidemiologists, nutritionists, and gastroenterologists in particular.

Western Diseases

Western Diseases PDF Author: Norman J. Temple
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1468481363
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 464

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Book Description
Sir Richard Doll, FRS, FRCP ICRF Cancer Research Studies Unit Radcliffe Infirmary, Oxford, UK The twentieth century has seen few changes more remarkable than the improvement in health that has occurred nearly everywhere, most spectacularly in the economically developed countries. In these countries improved nutrition, better housing, the control ofinfection, smaller family sizes, and higher standards of education have brought about a situation in which more than 97% of all liveborn children can expect to survive the first half ofthe three score years and ten that formerly was regarded as the allotted span oflife. From then on, however, the position is less satisfactory. Some improvement has occurred; but the proportion of survivors who die prematurely, that is under 70 years of age, varies from 25% to over 50% in men and from 13% to 28% in women, the extremes in both sexes being recorded, respectively, in Japan and Hungary. Most of these deaths under 70 years of age must now be called premature, even in Japan. For most of them are not the result of any inevitable aging process, but instead are the consequences of diseases (or types of trauma) that have lower-often much lower-age-specific incidence rates in many of the least developed countries.

The Emergence of Zoonotic Diseases

The Emergence of Zoonotic Diseases PDF Author: Institute of Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309169739
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 176

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Book Description
Zoonotic diseases represent one of the leading causes of illness and death from infectious disease. Defined by the World Health Organization, zoonoses are "those diseases and infections that are naturally transmitted between vertebrate animals and man with or without an arthropod intermediate." Worldwide, zoonotic diseases have a negative impact on commerce, travel, and economies. In most developing countries, zoonotic diseases are among those diseases that contribute significantly to an already overly burdened public health system. In industrialized nations, zoonotic diseases are of particular concern for at-risk groups such as the elderly, children, childbearing women, and immunocompromised individuals. The Emergence of Zoonotic Diseases: Understanding the Impact on Animal and Human Health, covers a range of topics, which include: an evaluation of the relative importance of zoonotic diseases against the overall backdrop of emerging infections; research findings related to the current state of our understanding of zoonotic diseases; surveillance and response strategies to detect, prevent, and mitigate the impact of zoonotic diseases on human health; and information about ongoing programs and actions being taken to identify the most important needs in this vital area.

Rickettsial Diseases

Rickettsial Diseases PDF Author: Didier Raoult
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 142001997X
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 400

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Book Description
The only available reference to comprehensively discuss the common and unusual types of rickettsiosis in over twenty years, this book will offer the reader a full review on the bacteriology, transmission, and pathophysiology of these conditions. Written from experts in the field from Europe, USA, Africa, and Asia, specialists analyze specific patho

Under the Weather

Under the Weather PDF Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309072786
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 161

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Book Description
Since the dawn of medical science, people have recognized connections between a change in the weather and the appearance of epidemic disease. With today's technology, some hope that it will be possible to build models for predicting the emergence and spread of many infectious diseases based on climate and weather forecasts. However, separating the effects of climate from other effects presents a tremendous scientific challenge. Can we use climate and weather forecasts to predict infectious disease outbreaks? Can the field of public health advance from "surveillance and response" to "prediction and prevention?" And perhaps the most important question of all: Can we predict how global warming will affect the emergence and transmission of infectious disease agents around the world? Under the Weather evaluates our current understanding of the linkages among climate, ecosystems, and infectious disease; it then goes a step further and outlines the research needed to improve our understanding of these linkages. The book also examines the potential for using climate forecasts and ecological observations to help predict infectious disease outbreaks, identifies the necessary components for an epidemic early warning system, and reviews lessons learned from the use of climate forecasts in other realms of human activity.

Emerging Viral Diseases

Emerging Viral Diseases PDF Author: Institute of Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309314003
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 310

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Book Description
In the past half century, deadly disease outbreaks caused by novel viruses of animal origin - Nipah virus in Malaysia, Hendra virus in Australia, Hantavirus in the United States, Ebola virus in Africa, along with HIV (human immunodeficiency virus), several influenza subtypes, and the SARS (sudden acute respiratory syndrome) and MERS (Middle East respiratory syndrome) coronaviruses - have underscored the urgency of understanding factors influencing viral disease emergence and spread. Emerging Viral Diseases is the summary of a public workshop hosted in March 2014 to examine factors driving the appearance, establishment, and spread of emerging, re-emerging and novel viral diseases; the global health and economic impacts of recently emerging and novel viral diseases in humans; and the scientific and policy approaches to improving domestic and international capacity to detect and respond to global outbreaks of infectious disease. This report is a record of the presentations and discussion of the event.

Global Health and the Future Role of the United States

Global Health and the Future Role of the United States PDF Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309457637
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 385

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Book Description
While much progress has been made on achieving the Millenium Development Goals over the last decade, the number and complexity of global health challenges has persisted. Growing forces for globalization have increased the interconnectedness of the world and our interdependency on other countries, economies, and cultures. Monumental growth in international travel and trade have brought improved access to goods and services for many, but also carry ongoing and ever-present threats of zoonotic spillover and infectious disease outbreaks that threaten all. Global Health and the Future Role of the United States identifies global health priorities in light of current and emerging world threats. This report assesses the current global health landscape and how challenges, actions, and players have evolved over the last decade across a wide range of issues, and provides recommendations on how to increase responsiveness, coordination, and efficiency â€" both within the U.S. government and across the global health field.

Achieving Sustainable Global Capacity for Surveillance and Response to Emerging Diseases of Zoonotic Origin

Achieving Sustainable Global Capacity for Surveillance and Response to Emerging Diseases of Zoonotic Origin PDF Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309128188
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 152

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Book Description
One of the biggest threats today is the uncertainty surrounding the emergence of a novel pathogen or the re-emergence of a known infectious disease that might result in disease outbreaks with great losses of human life and immense global economic consequences. Over the past six decades, most of the emerging infectious disease events in humans have been caused by zoonotic pathogens-those infectious agents that are transmitted from animals to humans. In June 2008, the Institute of Medicine's and National Research Council's Committee on Achieving Sustainable Global Capacity for Surveillance and Response to Emerging Diseases of Zoonotic Origin convened a workshop. This workshop addressed the reasons for the transmission of zoonotic disease and explored the current global capacity for zoonotic disease surveillance.

Social Aspects of Obesity

Social Aspects of Obesity PDF Author: Igor De Garine
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134316216
Category : Health & Fitness
Languages : en
Pages : 360

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Book Description
This collection of essays examines obesity not as an objective medical or psychological problem, but as a subjective social and cultural phenomenon. The contributors take a cross-cultural perspective, examining both the negative casting of obesity in developed countries and the traditional view of obesity as a positive characteristic in subsistence societies which is threatened by the dominance of Western culture.

Contagion

Contagion PDF Author: Mark Harrison
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300123574
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 428

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Book Description
Looks at the connection between trade and disease, tracing the plagues that swept through Eurasia in the fourteenth century and exposes the weaknesses in the current public health system that make our world susceptible to a pandemic.