W3 Flashcards
describe the history of disease
- infectious disease ravaged human life since we began farming food 11,000 years ago
- during the 1800s industrial revolution, most people died of disease
- europe began to escape disease in the late 1800s and other countries in the 1900s
- the US surgeon general in the 1950s thought we could close the book on infectious disease
- but not anymore, we have climate change, evolution and our economics
what do people need to do to not get sick?
- prevention is much more effective than medicines
- public understanding of preventing disease is vital
what are the key traits of a hunter gatherer life that lead to them living better with less disease
- humans were His for 5Myr
- moved around to find food so faeces and parasites were left behind (these could then be broken down by bacteria)
- small family bands, separated from others, therefore the disease might kill a few, but would then die out
- bands of equal members, shared. humans were evolved to cooperate with each other
- we had a few common diseases, low virulence STDs, gut words and malaria
- humans often survived to fairly old ages
what are the key traits of the agricultural evolution that lead to disease
- life in one place meaning there were high densities, sharing of food and water and excreta where others might contact it
- domestication of animals: therefore many diseases of animals were passed to us. eg. TB from cattle to humans. it is a trait that diseases flourish in crowded animals
- storage of water and grain: this would attract mecum rats, cockroaches and these extra animals can pass on disease
- traders between towns: therefore carried diseases between groups of humans
- restricted diets and lower immunity: therefore more grain and less fruit, proteins, fats and variety
what causes diseases?
- parasites cause infectious disease:
- microparasites are viruses, bacteria, protists and fungi
- macroparasites are worms and arthropods
- some parasites are internal and some are ectoparasites
- organisms that cause severe disease are known as pathogens - genetic mutations or envrionmental stress eg. diet, UV. these are non infectious diseases eg. Down syndrome, fragile X
what are the defining traits of parasites
- to survive, parasites need to infect new animal hosts. much easier when humans or animals are close together
- parasites can jump to similar animal hosts ie. zonoses. infecting humans became easier once they kept animals
- often carried in faeces and urine. transfer is easier once humans lived in towns
- they must be passed on before the host dies: need slow disease or carriers to pass it on or fast transport between places eg. roads and horses. note: ebola had a high mortality and thus, killed humans very quickly
what are some of the domesticated animals that cause disease
dogs, sleeps and goats, cattle, pigs, poultry, horses and rats/mice
note: since poultry are less like us, there is the lowest number of diseases
how were farmers affected by the agricultural evolution
- shorter life expectancy
- more infectious disease and parasite infestation
- human and animal waste contaminated water supplies eg. typhoid is a water borne disease
- shortage of protein and restricted diets lead to lower resistance to disease: Kwashiorkor characterised by an extended stomach, poor wound healing and poor mental development
- drought lead to crop failure and then starvation
describe the industrial revolution in terms of what initiated the process of causing disease later on
- nobles fenced land to farm sheep so the serfs were thrown off the land
- machines were used to pump water and produce goods: steam engines. serfs and small town artisans became unemployed
- factories employed many workers in cities for pittance pay
- Huge growth of cities, as rural areas became poor. this lead to POLLUTED AND CROWDED CITIES
- attitude of control of nature
what were the conditions of the industrial revolution that lead to disease
- migration into cities where there was dense living
- bedpans and cesspits emptied in stress leading to raw sewerage, this infected people
- water supply companies sold water taken from the river and the sewers ran into this
- few public taps for poor so people stored water and this went bad. people seldom washed.
what were the effects of the industrial revolution in terms of disease
- half of birds less than five died of disease eg. TB, typhoid, dysentary, measles
- everyone had human fleas and lice and there was no way to avoid them
- epidemics due to crowding and ignorance. so the flu ,killed 5,000 people
- new diseases arrived such as cholera from India. this was due to fast trade
describe the sanitary awakening in terms of a timeline
- increased awareness of links between disease and environment
- 1842: Chadwick noted that poor living conditions led to disease but this was preventable
- 1848: the first london health officer was appointed
- 1849: major cholera epidemic where the rich infected the poor. this changed the opinions of the rich and powerful
- 1853: in the next epidemic, there was evidence of the cause. John snow’s theory of contagion where the drinking water was polluted with sewerage
what came out of the sanitary movement
- improved conditions where there was reduced poverty and reduced disease
- public ownership of water supplies, aqueducts built
- public sewer system so sanitation was used to break disease transmission
- debar, pasteur, koch, lister: microbes cause disease, hand washing and antiseptic surgery, pasteurisation of mik
there was a push to preventions and not cures and also poverty alleviation
describe vaccinations
- activates the immune system without causing disease. this increases the number of resistant individuals thus decreasing disease transmission.
also protecting unvaccinated individuals - smallpox was eliminated by vaccination
describe smallpox and how it was eliminated
it was eradicated by vaccination and isolation of infected people, humans were the only host
- polio could be eradicated of distrust of vaccination programs could be overcome
describe how public knowledge can be good
don’t get into situations where can get infected, thereby cutting the roots of transmission
describe how public health measures are good
- vaccination can improve immunity when in good shape, thereby not suffer from stress. this is the same for poor diet which reduces the IS
describe the effect of density on disease
when there is a high density of humans, there is high density of hosts. thereby there is efficient transmission of disease. this is the same for chicken and pig farms
describe the effect of a huge population surge
- easier to spread disease
- decried fertility because people now know that their children will survive to grow up
describe the effect of diseases remaining in poor countries
these become reservoirs of new diseases
what are the three main things to a better health globally
public health measures, public knowledge and poverty reduction
describe the issues for health in the future
- evolution of resistant strains: massive over use in agricultural contexts, high density farms lead to virulent diseases in animals that can then pass to humans
- increased human density
- more urban and natural poverty and inequality. thus, there is less public health spending and less resistance
- less public awareness to less immunity.
- world-wide jet transport meaning fast transmission
- more wars over resources meaning more disease (because pekoe are in poor conditions and there is poor sanitation)
- increasing impact on animal ecosystems meaning there are new bugs eg. zoonoses
what are the key traits of a parasite?
- survive lethal attacks from immune cells
- shrive toxins, corrosives and other attacks
- reproduce and produce millions of eggs
- get your offspring and eggs safely out of the host
- survive outside of the host
- get into another host
- invade other host through huge barriers
- repeat