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APES Chapter 17
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Gravity
Terms in this set (51)
Disease
Any impaired function oftue body with a characteristic set of symptoms
Leading causes of death in the world
3/4 of the worlds deaths are caused by disease. 94 percent are cause by 6 diseases
Infectious diseases
Caused by infectious agents, known as pathogens
Chronic diseases
Slowly impair the functioning of a persons body
Acute diseases
Rapidly impair the functioning of a persons body.
Leading health risks in the world
If we consider all deaths that occur and separate them, the leading health risks for low income include issues related to low nutrition and sanitation while high income is from tobacco use and obesity
Transition of risk
As a nation becomes more developed the risk of inadequate nutrition and sanitation decline while the risk of tobacco obesity and poor air quality rise
Epidemic
When a pathogen causes a rapid increase in disease
Pandemic
When an epidemic occurs over a large geographic region like an entire continent
Pathways of transmitting pathogens
Pathogens have evolved a wide warier you of ways to infect humans
Plague
Caused by an infection from a bacterium that is carried by fleas
Malaria
Caused by an infection from one of several species of protests in the genus plasmodium
Tuberculosis
Highly contagious disease caused by bacterium that primarily infects the lungs
Emergent infectious diseases
Infectious diseases that were previously not described or have not been common for at least the last prior 20 years
AIDS
An infectious disease caused by human immunodeficiency virus
HIV
A virus that causes AIDS
The source of HIV
In 2006, researchers found that chimpanzees carried a virus that was genetically similar to HIV
Ebola hemorrhagic fever
A disease caused by the Ebola virus. Highly lethal to humans with no drug or treatment
Mad cow disease
Pathogen slowly damages a cows nervous system by prions mutating into deadly proteins
Prions
Small beneficial proteins in brains of cattle
Bird flu
Spanish flu was an avian influenza, caused by the H1N1 virus
West Nile virus
Lives in hundreds of species of birds and is transmitted among birds by mosquitoes
Neurotoxins
Chemicals that disrupt the nervous system of animals
Carcinogens
Chemicals that cause cancer
Mutagens
Carcinogens that cause damage to the genetic material of a cell
Teratogens
Chemicals that interfere with the normal development of embryos or fetuses
The effects of thalidomide
Thalidomide was widely prescribed to pregnant women in the late 1950's to alleviate the symptoms of morning sickness but it had the unanticipated effect of causing birth defects in tens of thousands of newborn children
Allergens
Chemicals that cause allergic reactions
Endocrine disrupters
Helical that interfere with the normal functioning of hormones in an animals body
Dose response studies
Expose animals or plants two different amounts of chemical and then observe a variety of possible responses including mortality or changes in behavior or reproduction
Acute studies
An experiment that exposes organisms to environmental hazard for short duration
LD50
And abbreviation for lethal dose that kills 50% of the individuals
Sublethal effects
The sex of an environmental hazard that are not lethal, but have me impaired and organisms behavior, physiology , or reproduction
ED50
Abbreviated for effective dose that causes 50% of the individuals to display the harmful, but nonlethal, effect
Chronic studies
An experiment that exposes organisms to the environmental hazard for a long duration
Epidemiology
The field of science that strives to understand the cause of illness and disease in humans and wildlife populations
Retrospective studies
Monitor people who have been exposed to chemicals some time in the past
Prospective studies
Monitor people who might become exposed to harmful chemicals in the future
Synergistic interactions
Risks that cause more harm together then expected based on separate individual risks
Routes of exposure
The way in which an individual might come into contact with the chemical
Solubility
How well a chemical dissolved in a liquid
Biomagnification
But increasing chemical concentration in animal tissues as the chemical moves up the food chain
DDT
And insect to say that has been widely used to kill insect pests in agriculture in to kill mosquitoes that carry malaria and other diseases
Persistence
How long the chemical remains in the environment
Environmental hazard
Anything in our environment that can potentially cause harm
Probabilities of death in the US
Some factors that people perceived as having high risk of death, such as dying in a plane crash, actually are quite low. In contrast, send factors that people rate as low risk like heart disease, actually pose the greatest risk
Innocent until proven guilty
Principle that is based on the philosophy that a potential hazard could not be considered a hazard until the scientific data can demonstrate that a potential hazard actually causes harm
Precautionary principle
Based on the philosophy that when a hazard is possible but not yet certain, we should take actions to reduce or remove the hazard
Stockholm convention
Produced a list of 12 chemicals to be banned, phased out, or reduced
Risks of asbestos dust
Recently workers have been required to go to great links to prevent exposure. Today they dress and chemical suits and respirators when removing asbestos from the building
REACH
An acronym for registration, evaluation, authorizations, and restriction of chemicals, the agreement embraces the precautionary principle by putting more responsibility on chemical manufacturers to confirm the chemicals used in the environment pose no risk to people or the environment.
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