Environmental Hazards and Human Health Flashcards
What is bloodletting?
Bleeding a patient to restore the balance of the four humours
What are the four humours?
Blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile
What is water cure?
When icy cold water is applied to draw blood away from injured or infected organs
What is the Germ Theory of Disease?
The belief that some diseases are caused by microorganisms too small to see without magnification
What two discoveries stemmed from the germ theory?
Immunizations and antibiotics
What is a non-transmissible disease?
A disease not caused by living organisms that isn’t contagious
What are a few examples of non-transmissible diseases?
Heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s, and diabetes
What is an infectious disease?
A transmissible disease caused by living organisms
What percentage of the water on Earth is saline and freshwater?
97% saline
3% freshwater
What are the percentages of the three types of freshwater?
30% groundwater
69% frozen
1% surface water
How much water is on earth?
330 million cubic miles of water
Give an example of a disease caused by multicellular parasites
Tapeworms
Give an example of a disease caused by fungi
Ringworm
Give an example of a disease caused by Protozoa
Malaria
Give an example of a disease caused by bacteria
Food poisoning
Give an example of a disease caused by viruses
Common cold
Give an example of a disease caused by prion
Mad cow disease
What was the cause of the 1993 intestinal outbreak in Milwaukee?
Cryptosporidium
What is an emergent disease?
A disease not previously known that has re-emerged
What is the hypothesized origin of HIV?
Chimpanzees
What is the hypothesized origin of SARS?
Masked palm civet
What is the hypothesized origin of H1N1 influenza?
Swine farm in Mexico
What is the hypothesized origin of the Spanish flu of 1918?
A swine or avian source
In what type of climate is the malaria Protozoa most likely to be found?
Warmer, humid climates
Three strategies used to deal with malaria in the 1940’s?
Applying massive amounts of pesticide to kill mosquitoes, treating infected individuals with antimalarial drugs to kill the protozoan parasite, and draining the wetland areas where mosquitoes breed
What is resistance?
The ability to survive after exposure
What type of diseases do antibiotics treat?
Diseases caused by bacteria
What are the five chemical regulating agencies?
CERCLA, CAA, RCRA, CWA, and SDWA
Why are bacteria able to evolve resistance more quickly than other organisms?
They reproduce quickly
What are the four misuses of antibiotics that encourage the development of resistance?
When antibiotics are prescribed for a viral infection, given when the person could recover fully without them, a person starts prescription but doesn’t finish it, and antibiotics are used in animal agriculture
What does it mean if a substance is toxic?
It can cause permanent/temporary harm to a living organism
What are the effects of carcinogens?
Increase the risk of cancer
What are the effects of teratogens?
Cause birth defects in an unborn fetus
What are the effects of neurotoxins?
Disrupt the function of the brain, spinal cord, and nerves
What are the effects of hormone mimics?
Amplify the effects of hormones
What are the effects of hormone blockers?
They prevent natural hormones from attaching to their target organ
What is BPA?
Hormone mimic
What does toxicity measure?
How harmful a substance is to the health of a living organism
Any synthetic or natural chemical had the potential to cause harm if…
The level of exposure is high enough
Which type of solubility is more likely to lead to the accumulation of a toxin in the body?
Oil soluble toxins
What is chemical persistence?
When a chemical does not degrade easily
How does bioaccumulation work?
As the substance passes up a food chain, it accumulates at the higher levels
What does mortality tell you?
The percentage of the population killed by the dose
What does the LD50 tell you?
The dose of a chemical that will kill 50% of the population within a given time period
What is risk assessment?
Estimating the likeliness or severity of a specific hazard to human death
What is an acceptable risk with a high probability of exposure? Why is it acceptable?
Mercury; it has low severity
What is an acceptable risk with high severity? Why is it acceptable?
Nuclear power plant; low probability of exposure
What is the greatest cause of death in the U.S.? Lowest?
Heart disease; storm
What is the Miasma Theory of Disease?
The belief that diseases were caused by a poisonous vapor or mist filled with particles from decomposed matter
