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A health check for the Earth @ the London `Catastrophes` conference
August 17, 2002The condition of our environment at any time reflects not only human influences but also natural processes and phenomena, which may be causing change - whether or not people are present. So how do we know when humans are to blame and when it`s just the environment behaving `naturally`. At Brunel University`s `Environmental Catastrophes` conference, keynote plenary talks by two prominent international scientists will address this thorny issue.
Antony Berger will present a checklist of geological indicators of rapid environmental change. Listed are 27 earth system processes and phenomena that are liable to change in less than a century in magnitude, direction, or rate to an extent that may be significant for environmental sustainability and ecological health.
For Paul Epstein, reading the biological signs and symptoms of environmental change can provide important guides for managing and nurturing ecosystem integrity and the global climate system. He argues that our changing global climate is already having its effect on public health. Since the mid-1970s 30 infectious diseases new to medicine have emerged, old diseases have experienced resurgence while others have undergone redistribution. Climate restricts the range of infectious diseases, while weather affects the timing and intensity of outbreaks.
According to Epstein, we are witnessing the ranges of several key diseases changing in montane regions alongside upward shifts in plant communities and the retreat of alpine glaciers. In addition, extreme weather events are creating conditions conducive to "clusters" of outbreaks. Sequential extremes - e.g. droughts punctuated by heavy rains - can destabilize predator/prey interactions, leading to population explosions of opportunistic, disease-carrying organisms. Explosions of nuisance and weedy species - rodents, mosquitoes and plankton - and diseases emerging across a wide taxonomic range of species are all symptoms of multiple ecological disturbances and mounting environmental instability.
Geological Society of London, The
Infectious Diseases Current Events and Infectious Diseases News RSSVaccine and drug research aimed at ticks and mosquitoes to prevent disease transmission
Most successful vaccines and drugs rely on protecting humans or animals by blocking certain bacteria from growing in their systems. But, a new theory actually hopes to take stopping infectious diseases such as West Nile virus and Malaria to the next level by disabling insects from transmitting these viruses.
New study indicates smallpox vaccination effective for decades
Although naturally occurring smallpox was eradicated in 1977, there is concern that bioterrorists might obtain smallpox from a laboratory and release it into the population.
Study unmasks how ovarian tumors evade immune system
Scientists at Johns Hopkins have determined how the characteristic shedding of fatty substances, or lipids, by ovarian tumors allows the cancer to evade the body's immune system, leaving the disease to spread unchecked
Scripps Research Scientists Shed Light on How DNA Is Unwound So That Its Code Can Be Read
Researchers at The Scripps Research Institute have figured out how a macromolecular machine is able to unwind the long and twisted tangles of DNA within a cell's nucleus so that genetic information can be "read" and used to direct the synthesis of proteins, which have many specific functions in the body.
Study of ancient and modern plagues finds common features
In 430 B.C., a new and deadly disease-its cause remains a mystery-swept into Athens. The walled Greek city-state was teeming with citizens, soldiers and refugees of the war then raging between Athens and Sparta.
Systems biology brings hope of speeding up drug development
Almost every day brings news of an apparent breakthrough against cancer, infectious diseases, or metabolic conditions like diabetes, but these rarely translate into effective therapies or drugs, and even if they do clinical development usually takes well over a decade.
Landmark study defines benefits of early HIV testing and treatment for infected infants
Testing very young babies for HIV and giving antiretroviral therapy (ART) immediately to those found infected with the virus dramatically prevents illness and death, according to a report in the New England Journal of Medicine.
First Holistic Guide to Primate Disease Covers Critical Gap in Global Health
Why are so many infectious diseases jumping from animals to humans? Why do we have so little capacity to predict epidemics, or avoid them?
Applying 'supply and demand' business principles to treat infectious diseases worldwide
Treating infectious diseases while meeting escalating costs to do so continues to pose worldwide challenges, with one of the main issues being the ability to provide an adequate supply of drugs to treat infectious diseases.
Results of landmark study of HIV vaccine published in the Lancet
Results from the Step study, a test-of-concept efficacy study of a Merck & Co., Inc. HIV vaccine candidate, were published online today in two papers in The Lancet. These analyses of the Step study are being conducted, presented and published to inform the continued search for an effective HIV vaccine.
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