China
Africa
Explore chapters and articles related to this topic
Community and environment as determinants of health
Published in Ben Y.F. Fong, Martin C.S. Wong, The Routledge Handbook of Public Health and the Community, 2021
Thomas Man-chi Dao, Bean S.N. Fu
Environment is defined as the surroundings or conditions in which a person, animal or plant lives or operates. Human interact with a community of organisms, and their physical environment as an ecological unit, forming an ecosystem (Oxford University). The environment where we live provides shelter, air, water and food for our basic physical needs. It is therefore closely intertwined with the health of an individual. Our environment is fragile to destructions and contaminations. Many people do not have access to proper shelter, drinking water, nutrient supply or sanitary facilities. They may suffer from physical injury, mental illness or infectious disease because of the environmental stressors. In this section, we will discuss two main environmental factors that will influence human health, including pollution and climate change.
Effects of Air Pollution on Allergy and Asthma
Published in Pudupakkam K Vedanthan, Harold S Nelson, Shripad N Agashe, PA Mahesh, Rohit Katial, Textbook of Allergy for the Clinician, 2021
Air pollution is one of the most important environmental factors associated with increased prevalence and worsening of allergic diseases. Exposure to air pollution starts from the womb and continues up to the tomb. Foetal, neonatal and post neonatal exposures to several air pollutants has been shown to be associated with increased risk of developing allergic diseases. This seems to be primarily mediated by oxidative stress-induced changes in the immune regulatory system as well as epigenetic changes. Further exposures to air pollutants both from indoor as well as outdoor sources during early and late childhood further drive the risk of development of allergic diseases. Exposures to motor vehicular pollutants and in particular, diesel exhaust have been shown to drive a whole host inflammatory changes that increase susceptibility to the development of allergic diseases. Supplementation with antioxidants has shown some protective role, although more research is required to substantiate this. Creating public awareness will be the most important intervention that will help not only in making people realize the harmful effects of air pollutants, but will also help develop preventative strategies at local, regional and national levels.
‘New’ Recombinant Ecologies and their Implications – with Insights from Britain
Published in Kezia Barker, Robert A. Francis, Routledge Handbook of Biosecurity and Invasive Species, 2021
Ellis (1993) regarded alien plants as those introduced by people, deliberately or accidentally, and observed that, in reality, and with longer time perspectives, most ‘native’ flora could be considered ‘alien invaders’. This is, of course, due to the dynamic and fluctuating nature of vegetation in a landscape with long-term changes of key factors such as climate. Indeed, this latter point becomes increasingly important as climate appears to be one of a number of key environmental factors changing significantly and rapidly. From a nature conservation context, this complicates the underlying priorities for contemporary management. Furthermore, such recognition serves to emphasise that much important conservation work is based substantially on subjective human needs, opinions and priorities and not necessarily on ecological science. There is increasing awareness that some changes may be inevitable and, even more controversially, might provide answers and solutions to some critical environmental questions (e.g. Pearce, 2015; Thomas, 2013). There has also been a long-term interest in the history and natural history of introduced and exotic plants and animals (e.g. Lever, 1977; Robinson, 1870). The nature and characteristics of invasiveness have also been considered (Noble, 1989).
The triple burden of disease, destitution, and debt: Small business-women’s voices about health challenges after becoming debt-ridden
Published in Health Care for Women International, 2023
Sara Rizvi Jafree, Mudasir Mustafa
As previous research has neglected the health of women borrowers of microfinance (Pouchous, 2012), we aim in this study to add to the empirical evidence regarding health challenges facing women. There is need for more qualitative research (Abed & Matin, 2007), as subjective experiences of women borrowers provide a deeper level understanding of the problem (Green & Thorogood, 2018). To the best of our knowledge, there are almost no studies from Pakistan about the health challenges faced by women borrowers of microfinance. Furthermore, there are benefits to analyzing qualitative data through a theoretical model (Hackett & Strickland, 2018). Development of a theoretical model for classifying health challenges for this study has been derived through the Framework for Assessing Behavioral healthcare (Phillips, Morrison, Andersen, & Aday, 1998). Two broad classifications for challenges influencing health behavior are proposed, as shown in Figure 1. First, “environmental factors” contribute to health challenges; including social, physical, and economic factors. Second, health challenges are also caused by the limitations of the “healthcare delivery system.” For our study, the theoretical frame also helped to establish a link with the MFP, which can support the health needs of poor women clients.
Gender matters in physiotherapy
Published in Physiotherapy Theory and Practice, 2022
Gunilla Stenberg, Anncristine Fjellman-Wiklund, Maria Strömbäck, Therese Eskilsson, Carin From, Birgit Enberg, Maria Wiklund
The ICF model is a potentially helpful tool for physiotherapists to highlight gender issues in clinical practice and in research (Scherer and Dicowden, 2008). The original ICF model included the domains of body function, body structure, activity and participation. The contextual factors were added in 2001, consisting of personal factors and environmental factors. Personal factors include personal background and life history for example sex, age, ethnicity, habits, coping, education, and occupation (World Health Organization, 2008). Environmental factors primarily include the physical, social and attitudinal contexts and environments that impact on the individual’s health and functioning (World Health Organization, 2008). In the ICF model, personal factors and environmental factors are connected and also impact on other domains. However, the ICF model could benefit from further development in terms of gender. Today gender is absent in the contextual factors in ICF. For example, in environmental factors there is a code for violent earthquakes (e230) but it is not clear how to code violence against women. The World Health Organization (2008) having found that violence against women and girls occurs in every country and culture and is rooted in social and cultural attitudes and norms. The consequence is that 35% of the women worldwide have experienced either physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence in their lifetime (World Health Organization, 2017). Exposure to violence affects health to a very high degree and should be made visible in ICF.
Association between Fine Particulate Air Pollution and the Onset of Uveitis in Mainland China
Published in Ocular Immunology and Inflammation, 2022
Handan Tan, Su Pan, Zhenyu Zhong, Guannan Su, Aize Kijlstra, Peizeng Yang
When our samples were stratified by age and sex, the results demonstrated that men and those between the ages of 20–50 are likely to be more susceptible to the effects of ambient PM2.5. This may be explained by the fact that the working-age population and men have a higher exposure to PM2.5. PM2.5 also showed a positive association with the uveitis subtype. An association was found with noninfectious uveitis and uveitis associated with systemic disease, but not with infectious uveitis subtypes. These results suggest that air pollution can dysregulate the immune response leading to autoimmune or autoinflammatory subtypes of uveitis confirming findings in other organ systems.3,5 Asthma is one of the main diseases associated with air pollution since the lungs are directly exposed to this environmental factor.5 The eye is also directly exposed to air pollutants, but further experimental evidence is needed to show how this can trigger intraocular inflammation.