China 
Africa 
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The Future of Parasitology
Published in Eric S. Loker, Bruce V. Hofkin, Parasitology, 2023
Eric S. Loker, Bruce V. Hofkin
Ecologists have presented a popular view that biodiversity generally reduces wildlife and human disease transmission, by regulating populations of susceptible hosts or by interfering with transmission (the dilution effect, also discussed in Chapter 8). Figure 10.6 exemplifies several ways that the transmission of parasites with complex life cycles could be adversely affected by the diversity of other species living in the same environment. These other species might serve as unproductive decoy hosts, as discussed in Chapter 8, or might even be hyperparasites of the particular parasite in question. Loss of biodiversity could affect disease transmission in an unpredictable way. For example, a reduction in the abundance of competitor or predatory species might favor an increase in the populations of host or vector species of a particular parasite. For instance, the transmission of Schistosoma haematobium in Lake Malawi in Africa has been increased by the reduction of snail-eating fish as a consequence of overfishing, thereby favoring expansion of the schistosome-transmitting snail Bulinus nyassanus.
The Influence of Environmental Pollution on Secondary Metabolite Production in Medicinal Plants
Published in Azamal Husen, Environmental Pollution and Medicinal Plants, 2022
Swati T. Gurme, Mahendra L. Ahire, Jaykumar J. Chavan, Pankaj S. Mundada
Biodiversity is the very basis of human survival and economic well-being and includes all forms of life and ecosystems (McNeely et al. 1990). There are more than 50 million plant species on Earth, out of which about 50,000 to 80,000 are considered across the world to be medicinal plants (Schippmann et al. 2002). India is one of the major centres of origin and diversity of crops and medicinal plants. India contains 2 of the 14 mega-biodiversity hotspots of the world, with a diversity of about 20,000 species of higher plants.
Environment and health
Published in Sally Robinson, Priorities for Health Promotion and Public Health, 2021
Tristi Brownett, Joanne Cairns
The concept of sustainability recognises that the natural systems on earth, the ecosystems, are interconnected and resources are finite. There is concern that the way people are using the earth’s resources is leading to a deterioration of the natural environment. This is fast reaching an ecological ‘tipping point’ which will make it harder for all living things to survive (Koons, 2012). Biodiversity, a variety of plants and animals, is vital for maintaining healthy ecosystems. For biodiversity to thrive, it requires clean air, soil and water and, in turn, these supply the nourishment needed by all living things. As these become disrupted or depleted, the ecosystems become imbalanced, and eventually clean air, soil, water, and then food, land security and energy become scarce. Human conflicts are likely to erupt over highly prized commodities and inequalities in health will widen.
How deep is the cancerous cut of substance use disorders on human rights? The effects of substance use disorders from a human rights perspective: The thinking of Developmental Clinical Social Work
Published in Social Work in Health Care, 2023
Robert K. Chigangaidze, Muridzo Noel Garikai, Simbine Samuel Lisenga
Substance use disorders, in addition, increase the demand of substances whose production heavily contributes to climate change and soil infertility. For example, loss of biodiversity is a consequence of the tobacco industry as seen in Argentina, Bangladesh, Brazil, Cambodia, Ghana, Hondunas, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Thailand, Uganda, and Zimbabwe (World Health Organization, 2017). As substance use disorders proximately or distantly affect the attainability of the human right to a clean and healthy environment, it significantly and consequently impacts on the right to adequate food security and nutrition mainly because the environment is the source of food, energy, and water. The right to a clean environment is part of environmental constitutionalism and is a development that promotes sustainable development (Gill, 2012; Mwansa, 2020; Taddei, 2016). The profession globally strives for social justice, human rights, and social development (Boetto & Bell, 2015). The next section will focus on how substance use disorders affect the attainment of the right to development.
The role of oral microbiome in periodontitis under diabetes mellitus
Published in Journal of Oral Microbiology, 2022
Han Qin, Guangyue Li, Xiaohui Xu, Chuangwei Zhang, Wenjie Zhong, Shihan Xu, Yuanyuan Yin, Jinlin Song
The concept of loss of biodiversity indicates a decline of richness, numbers and distributing evenness of species in a biological community, which may eventually lead to the breakdown of an ecosystem [26,27]. Several studies have reported that loss of biodiversity in dental caries is associated with the severity of the disease [28–33]. However, changes in microbial biodiversity remain controversial in periodontitis with some studies reporting loss of biodiversity in disease [34–38] and others indicating the opposite [39–41]. The latter proposed that the increased microbial diversity in periodontitis is due to the increased amount of nutrients derived from host’s tissue degradation in inflammation [39,40]. In addition, there are also reports indicating no significant difference in oral microbial biodiversity between the healthy individuals and the patients with periodontitis [42,43]. The discrepancy of the results may be attributed to differences in studying methods such as sequencing methods, sequencing region, sequencing depth and sampling sites (periodontal pocket depths) [17,39,44].
The role of mental health professionals in the climate crisis: an urgent call to action
Published in International Review of Psychiatry, 2022
Ching Li, Emma L. Lawrance, Gareth Morgan, Richard Brown, Natalie Greaves, Jacob Krzanowski, Sophie Samuel, Renzo R. Guinto, Gary Belkin
Engaging with the reality of the climate crisis can be daunting, and confronted with the scale of the problem professionals may feel helpless and out of their depth. However, there are numerous ways in which mental health professionals can take action, and in doing so transform feelings of powerlessness into a sense of hope and agency for themselves and their communities. The most appropriate actions for an individual or group of professionals will depend on their existing strengths, skills and situation. Much like the importance of biodiversity for resilient ecosystems, there is a need for diverse approaches to ensure the resilience of future healthcare systems. In this final section we will describe ways in which all clinicians can do their part. See text Box 2 for other useful resources.