Effects of modren civilization on health?

[weebee]

Modern civilisation is everyone’s environment…so your actually asking what is the effect of our environment on our biological processes….amusing.

WellCookedFetus -it it not be that we're measuring them different, and actually including the lower class in the figures?

 

[ElectricFetus]

It could be but then way in under developed countries to de see lower rates of these kind of problems?

 

[weebee]

Because they are ether so poor that they don’t count (aren’t registered with doctors) or it’s the least of their worries (under nourished, malaria, AIDS).

Amusingly I heard that in Amsterdam the city bough cheap trees to line the canals, -cheap because they cause hay fever…

In the 1990’s in Kula Lumpur in Malaysia there was a huge problem with smog (from burning forest fires :bugeye: ) with the result that you couldn’t see in front of you for 100 meters during some days. The government just changed the way they measured the pollution and said it was safe.

 

[Kumar]

Do we benefits (on health point of view) when we go from a highly polluted big city to any green non polluted city or any hill station? Do we feel that we could breath deeper & gets fresh air in the new environment? Do we feel other betterments in our health, there? If yes, what is the reason?

 

[Buckaroo Banzai]

NEW! Posted on May 14:

McMaster scientists find link between particulate air pollution and heritable genetic mutation
by Julia Thomson
First published on May 14, 2004 at 09:00 AM.
Last modified on May 14, 2004 at 03:16 PM
Particles in the air we breathe may pose genetic risks to humans and wildlife, according to new findings by researchers at McMaster University.

[...]

http://dailynews.mcmaster.ca/story.cfm?id=2697

 

[Kumar]

Danniel , thanks for the link. I don't know how some people can then anticipate for "no effect of modren civilization on health"? However can you tell me basic effects on current health other than hereditory/genetic effects? Can anaerobic activities increase in body due to modren civilization effects?

 

[John Connellan]

However can you tell me basic effects on current health other than hereditory/genetic effects?

Diet is the big one. Anyone else heard that Atkins has been proved right this week!

 

[Kumar]

Something is here about Atkin'd diet.http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/horizon/2004/atkins.shtml

 

[weebee]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,1219060,00.html
might be interesting
Dirty homes bug hygiene scientists

 

[Nasor]

Hello,

Can you please tell me that what can be the effects of modren civilization on the BASIC process of our body systems? I think some basic effects can be as under:-

1. Effect on Oxygen levels i.e. its availability & bio-availability.

2. Effects on pH levels of the body.

3. Effect on Cardiovascular system--atherosclerotic plaques etc.

Can you suggest some other basic effects?

Best wishes.

1. I'm pretty sure that the total percentage of oxygen in the atmosphere hasn't changed significantly in the last few thousand years. This should be relatively easy to look up.

2. The body has a complex buffer system for regulating your pH. If your pH changes much, your enzymes shut down and you die almost immediate. I don't know of any reason to think that modern society changes our body pH. If you try to suggest that acid rain somehow changes our pH, I'll smack you in the head with a biology textbook.

3. "Atherosclerotic plaques etc." are a result of our lazy lifestyles. Just go out and run a few miles a day and you probably won't have to worry about it.

Obviously the net effect of our civilization on our health is beneficial, because people are living longer and longer all the time. And please don't start bringing up that 'quantity vs. quality' crap. If you compare the average quality of life today vs. the average quality of like 200 years ago, I'm pretty sure which way it will go.

 

[Kumar]

1. I'm pretty sure that the total percentage of oxygen in the atmosphere hasn't changed significantly in the last few thousand years. This should be relatively easy to look up.

2. The body has a complex buffer system for regulating your pH. If your pH changes much, your enzymes shut down and you die almost immediate. I don't know of any reason to think that modern society changes our body pH. If you try to suggest that acid rain somehow changes our pH, I'll smack you in the head with a biology textbook.

3. "Atherosclerotic plaques etc." are a result of our lazy lifestyles. Just go out and run a few miles a day and you probably won't have to worry about it.

Obviously the net effect of our civilization on our health is beneficial, because people are living longer and longer all the time. And please don't start bringing up that 'quantity vs. quality' crap. If you compare the average quality of life today vs. the average quality of like 200 years ago, I'm pretty sure which way it will go.

Thanks. I mentioned its bioavailability. You want to say that it is at all not effected due to pollutions. Do we take similar deep breath in city's pollued atmosphere as we take in any green area free from pollutions? Deep & shallow breath can effect bioavailability of O2 to our body. It can also effect pH & deposit "Atherosclerotic plaques etc.

 

[John Connellan]

Thanks. I mentioned its bioavailability. You want to say that it is at all not effected due to pollutions.

I'm sure there are some bioavaliability effects of pollution. Just pick a pollutant (CO) go to GOOGLE^TM and type the pollutant + Bioavailability + oxygen and u should get some medline links.

Do we take similar deep breath in city's pollued atmosphere as we take in any green area free from pollutions?

No, theres more "pollution" in our city breath

Deep & shallow breath can effect bioavailability of O2 to our body.

I would imagine breathing less deeply would cause a slightly higher bioavailability

It can also effect pH & deposit "Atherosclerotic plaques etc.

Really? Can u say how?

 

[Kumar]

I'm sure there are some bioavaliability effects of pollution...
No, theres more "pollution" in our city breath
I would imagine breathing less deeply would cause a slightly higher bioavailability
Really? Can u say how?

There is a differance in temporary & long term effect of 'slightly higher bioavailabilty on breathing less deeply'. Temporary effect may enhance the bioavailabilty by correcting the physiological disorder just like "fasting effect" but 'long term effect can make a body substance physical deficient like a long fasting'. Can you pls tell me effects of breathing less deeply for long term & regularily. Don't you feel that breathing less deeply can cause low pH[lactic acidosis] & "Atherosclerotic plaques etc.?

 

[Nasor]

There is a differance in temporary & long term effect of 'slightly higher bioavailabilty on breathing less deeply'. Temporary effect may enhance the bioavailabilty by correcting the physiological disorder just like "fasting effect" but 'long term effect can make a body substance physical deficient like a long fasting'. Can you pls tell me effects of breathing less deeply for long term & regularily. Don't you feel that breathing less deeply can cause low pH[lactic acidosis] & "Atherosclerotic plaques etc.?

I doubt very much that the decrease in 'bioavailable' oxygen that results from pollution in cities would be any worse than the decrease in oxygen that results from living at a higher altitude. Much of the American mid-west, for example, is well over 5000 ft. above sea level, so the air is much thinner than in low-lying areas, yet people seem to be able to live healthily there. Of course I don't actually have any numbers to back that up, but I'm pretty sure that the oxygen decrease when you live at a higher elevation is far greater than anything you would get from pollution.

In any case, it doesn't really matter. You asked about the effect of modern civilization on our health, and there is no question that people's lifespans have been increasing steadily. So even with all of the pollution, heart disease and everything else that goes along with modern society, the over-all effect is still a positive one. Could it be even better? Certainly. But people are living longer, healthier lives now than ever before. The results are in.

Trying to ague that modern society is bad for our health compared to previous societies is like trying to argue that a runner B is faster than runner A, when runner A has already won the race.

 

[Kumar]

Nasoor,

Pls don't consider the effect of low level or thinner oxygen level but just look at the effect of shallow breathing in city areas instead of deep breathing in natural green & unpolluted areas. Do you say that we are not harmed by increasing pollution levels?

Furthur, increase in quantity(more are living) at the cost of quality(more are suffering) or increase in average age( say all 55) at the cost of individual age (20+80) does not mean we have improved. Are we not encouraging & opposing the natural law i.e. "survival of fittest" by unabling all weak & strong to exist or by increasing uncontrolled population( quantity).

 

[Nasor]

Of course pollution is bad for your health; no one will argue with you on that. The point is that pollution is just one part of our overall society, and the net effect of our modern society on our health is positive. You seem to think that people in the past were living shorter but healthier lives, but that's just absurd. The life span is a direct indicator of how healthy a population is. People (at least in the developed world) are more healthy than ever before. The negative effects of pollution are more than canceled out by our modern sanitation, healthcare, food surplus, etc.

 

[Zarkov]

>> basic change in physiology of humans of pollutions,

Toxic metals, and organic pollutants acting as analogues fo delicately balanced control substances, are bringing our civilisation into madness.

Metals (some are necessary in our biochemistry, but in strict security ) alter enzyme rates and cause both organic and mental illnesses. They bioaccumulate.

The organics are somewhat less predictable in their action... eg ship anti-fouling paint causing female shellfish to start growing penises,,, thus altering conception rates.... hormone additions to food causing precious development in young girls....
mostly these cause organic consequences.

The physical consequence is minor compared to mental illness, because mental illness turns the person afflicted against themselves and others. Makes them exhibit a lack of empathy and their behaviour becomes very self centred.

The level of mental illness in society is increasing very quickly.... see levels of antidepressant consumption etc.

But the outcome is impared decisions by the whole establishment that governs us.

IMO, this situation is fatal.... it has proved to be fatal to all civilisations afflicted with toxic metal poi-soning.

 

[Zarkov]

I forgot to add..

Metal accumulation is slow and insideous, the changes that occur are often recognised first in offspring........ this is why it is so dangerous because the offspring are an expression of genetic stunting. So the generations just become more imbacilic.....

That is both male and female eggs are degraded in their potential to produce the "best" offspring. Females were designed to be pure repositories, but the polluted environment they offer now to their embryo's in many cases result in foetal death, and in other cases negative foetal modification, such as autism, and other such "genetic" illnesses, IMO vey few people are spared some handicap or another.

There are some many more exotic metals in the environment today than a short time ago. Many of these metal we have had very limited short term experience let alone a lifetime of low level exposure.

 

[Kumar]

"However, these mortality estimates alone do not capture the huge toll of illness and disability that exposure to air pollution brings at a global level. Health effects span a wide range of severity from coughing and bronchitis to heart disease and lung cancer. Vulnerable groups include infants, the elderly, and those suffering from chronic respiratory conditions including asthma, bronchitis, or emphysema. For example, air pollution in developing world cities is responsible for some 50 million cases per year of chronic coughing in children younger than 14 years of age (249). However, even healthy adults can suffer negative effects."

Just read at: http://www.wri.org/wri/wr-98-99/airpoll.htm

Air pollutions, fast travels, noise pollutions, medication pollutions, population pollutions, airconditioning-heating pollutions, various radiations exposures, city's fast life, out-door eatings, taking more of acid forming foods, lack of physical work/excercise, vanishing green areas...& so many have effected quality of our life due to modren civilization. We are aware & trying to adopt some measures to protect us from this increasing danger, but not for the purpose of improvement.

However, if we go deep in technicalities of these MC effects, we can find the reason for that is, we are anticipating for over population & all the above effects are due to this reason. Now let us find the clinical effects of all or most of these MC effects. Can we say it can be increased acidity/acidosis & decreased bioabailability of oxygen to our body (due to short breath like breathing under smoked air) causing more anaerobic activities in our system?

 

[John Connellan]

Can we say it can be increased acidity/acidosis & decreased bioabailability of oxygen to our body (due to short breath like breathing under smoked air) causing more anaerobic activities in our system?

What IS short breathing under smoked air? I don't understand!