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Environmental Toxins
Published in Gia Merlo, Kathy Berra, Lifestyle Nursing, 2023
A pesticide is a broad term used to describe a substance used to destroy insects or other organisms deemed harmful to cultivated plants. Pesticides can include herbicides, which help destroy weeds; insecticides, for controlling the insect population; and fungicides, which prevent the growth of molds and mildew. Because pesticides are often used in agriculture, humans are exposed to chemicals from pesticides in the food supply (National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, 2021). Some individuals, such as those who work on farms, are exposed to pesticides during the course of their daily work—through skin and mucous membrane exposure. Organic farming systems allow use of some biologically based pesticides that have not been shown to have the same problematic health effects as chemical-based pesticides (Benbrook & Davis, 2020).
A New Perspective Into Affordable, Quality Healthcare: The Case of Pronto Care
Published in Frederick J. DeMicco, Ali A. Poorani, Medical Travel Brand Management, 2023
Adel Eldin, Frederick J. DeMicco
Additionally, this enormous amount of wasted food is contributing to global nitrogen pollution, thus having a direct relationship to global warming, and its impact on the environment. Bacteria in organic waste products produce methane gas which is 25–72 times more potent than carbon dioxide and contribute to global warming. Thus, minimizing the wasted food would not only help solve the food desert but eliminate hunger in more than 50 million in America, and save our environment. This will decrease nitrogen emission from wasted food products which contributes to floods, hurricanes, and wide spread destruction with increased frequency here in the U.S. and around the world.
Radiation-Induced Genetic Damage
Published in Kedar N. Prasad, Handbook of RADIOBIOLOGY, 2020
In 1927, H.J. Muller first demonstrated that X-irradiation of the sperm of the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, induces gene mutation. Radiation is one of the many environmental agents that cause genetic defects. In addition, many spontaneous mutations may result from errors made during the replication of genetic materials. Almost all mutations are harmful to a varying degree for the organisms; however, mutations have been the basis for evolution of animal species.
The intercellular communications mediating radiation-induced bystander effects and their relevance to environmental, occupational, and therapeutic exposures
Published in International Journal of Radiation Biology, 2023
Manuela Buonanno, Géraldine Gonon, Badri N. Pandey, Edouard I. Azzam
In the early work, the expression of bystander effects, measured by cytogenetic alterations and changes in gene expression, was thought to be independent of the dose absorbed by the irradiated cells and saturated at relatively low mean absorbed doses (Nagasawa and Little 1992). However, later studies have shown that the amount of dose absorbed by irradiated cells affects the extent of spread of the induced stress and the magnitude of biochemical changes in bystander cells (e.g. Shao, Furusawa, et al. 2003; Shao, Stewart, et al. 2003; Mitchell et al. 2004; Maguire et al. 2005; Persaud et al. 2005; Buonanno, de Toledo, Azzam 2011; Buonanno, de Toledo, Pain, et al. 2011; Gonon et al. 2013). These observations led to a fundamental change in radiation biology and have been considered of importance in the assessment of health risks associated with radiation exposure, whether from environmental sources or during occupational activities and in clinical settings. Moreover, they advanced the thinking of exploiting the mechanisms underlying bystander effects for beneficial therapeutic outcomes, such as amplifying toxic effects among irradiated tumor cells (‘cohort effects’) (Autsavapromporn et al. 2011) and leading to regression of tumors at distant sites, a phenomenon known as ‘abscopal effect’ (Demaria et al. 2004). In the following, we review the field of bystander responses, and briefly that of genomic instability, two radiobiological aspects that have been impacted by pioneering work of Professor John B. Little.
Complexity of Tumor Microenvironment: Therapeutic Role of Curcumin and Its Metabolites
Published in Nutrition and Cancer, 2022
Sahdeo Prasad, Priyanka Saha, Bilash Chatterjee, Anis Ahmad Chaudhary, Rajiv Lall, Amit K Srivastava
Apparently, cancer is a genetic disease where its genesis is attributed to DNA damage and cumulative mutations in tumor suppressor genes and proto-oncogenes. Several key factors including environmental pollution, tobacco, alcohol, hazardous chemicals, ionizing radiation, viral infection, and unhealthy lifestyle are known to contribute to the genesis of cancer (3). After acquiring abnormalities in nonmalignant cells, its selective growth occurs followed by persistent and malignant growth. The growth of tumor cells is supported by many factors, which surround and feed the tumor cell which is known as the tumor microenvironment (TME). Along with the tumor cells, TME is comprised of various cellular and non-cellular components such as endothelial cells, immune cells, adipocytes, stromal cells, fibroblasts, extracellular matrix, and blood vasculature among many other components. Tumor cells and their TME components such as cytokines, chemokines, growth factors, immune cells, proteins, and enzymes mutually interact and crosstalk (4) to make TME complex (Table 1). Besides these components, other molecules like circulating tumor cells, exosomes, cell-free DNA, and apoptotic bodies have also been reported to crosstalk with tumor cells (5). These interactions and crosstalk cause critical regulation of TME on immune escape, growth, progression, and metastasis of tumor cells, as well as the development of resistance to chemotherapy.
Retail Purchases of Red and Processed Meat by State in the United States
Published in Nutrition and Cancer, 2022
Richard D. Semba, Rebecca Ramsing, Andrew L. Thorne-Lyman, Nihaal Rahman, Daphene Altema-Johnson, Kenjin B. Chang, Ruth Young, Elizabeth Nussbaumer, Martin W. Bloem, David Love
Meat is an important dietary source of essential amino acids and micronutrients such as iron, zinc, and vitamin B12 (1,2). The major sources of dietary protein for U.S. adults are red meat, processed meat, and poultry (3). Dietary guidelines of the American Heart Association (AHA) recommend to “limit intake” of processed meat (4) while the American Cancer Society (ACS) advocates a healthy dietary pattern that “limits or does not include red and processed meat” (5). Dietary patterns associated with positive health outcomes have “relatively lower consumption of red and processed meats” as noted in the dietary guidelines of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) (6). High consumption of red and processed meat was associated with an increased risk of some types of cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and a shorter lifespan (7, 8). In addition, meat and animal feed production is a major source of environmental impacts including greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, land use changes, nutrient pollution, and freshwater use (9). Countries with high meat consumption contribute a larger share of environmental impacts (10), while low-income countries, mainly in Africa, will need to improve diets and increase GHG footprints to meet nutritional sufficiency (11). The per capita consumption of red meat among U.S. adults has declined by ∼16% between 1999 and 2016 (3), but processed meat consumption has not changed despite dietary recommendations to replace these foods with other proteins such as pulses, seafood, or poultry (4–6) and environmental concerns raised about sustainability and planetary health (9).