Rebuilding the Unity of Health and the Environment A New Vision of Environmental Health for the 21st Century (2001) / Chapter Skim
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Human Health and the Natural Environment
Human Health and the Natural Environment
Pages 11-17
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From page 11... ...
Advances in the field of environmental health have taught us much about human health hazards; for example, air pollution can cause respiratory disease, heavy metals can cause neurotoxicity, global climate change is likely to Mel the spread of infectious diseases. Domestically, the response has been to clean up the environment, a laudable goal, said Rafe Pomerance of Sky Trust.
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From page 12... ...
If so, then the field of environmental health needs to extend beyond mere considerations of toxicity. According to the speakers, research and policy must be directed toward understanding the interactions of human health and the natural environment, from the most personal level- that is, how individuals interact with the world around them -to the global scale that is, how nations agree to reduce pollution, pursue sound agricultural and land use practices, and feed their citizens.
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From page 13... ...
Research on recreational activities has shown that people viewing savanna-like settings report feelings of tranquility, peacefulness, or relaxation. On psychometric testing, people viewing such settings show decreased fear and anger, enhanced positive affect, and improved mental alertness, attention, and cognitive performance.
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From page 14... ...
In the pharmacopoeia, the natural world is continuously offering compounds that are useful in medicine, and the search for biologically active compounds continues. Tom Lovejoy of the World Bank provided examples of this, including compounds obtained from slime molds Tom the banks of the Zambezi River that are effective in the treatment of tumors resistant to Guaranteeing the healthiness of Humans taxol; the tmmunosuppressant cyclosporln, which comes Tom a fungus; analgesics from tropical sea Tom Lovejoy organisms and poison frogs; and lovastatin, which ~ .
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From page 15... ...
Biological systems increasingly are being seen as potential means of cleaning up the water supply through the restoration of watersheds. ENSURING THE FOOD SOURCE WHILE ADDRESSING ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH Agriculture directly affects human health in two major ways: (1)
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From page 16... ...
"Our farmers can grow the most abundant and nutritious produce in the world," said Rominger, "but if Americans do not heed the advice of newly released dietary guidelines, their diets will still get a failing grade." This is more a matter of education than farm and agricultural policy. It is as central to the total environmental health connection as conservation measures on the farm and pathogens under the microscope.
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From page 17... ...
To meet these challenges, several workshop participants stated that we need to develop more holistic and integrated approaches to environmental health that incorporate considerations of human biological and ecological health Ed achieve better understanding of these interrelationships. The systems view of the ecologist must be adopted as a new paradigm for the environmental health scientist.
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