What is it about?
This article discusses the growing significance of environmental factors on human health due to rapid industrialization, urbanization, and climate change. It emphasizes the importance of understanding the complex mechanisms involved from a healthcare perspective. Chronic exposure to environmental stressors like air and water contaminants, pesticides, and toxic metals can elicit physiological responses such as inflammation and immune system dysregulation, contributing to environmental diseases. Conversely, physiological stress can worsen susceptibility to these diseases by impairing immune function and hormonal balance, affecting detoxification abilities, and influencing lifestyle choices. This article calls for a systematic, multidisciplinary approach and the establishment of a global research network to understand the link between physiological stress and environmental disease. It focuses on common environmental diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and cognitive degeneration, highlighting the reciprocal nature of the connection. Recognizing the role of physiological stress in environmental health outcomes is deemed crucial for developing comprehensive strategies to protect public health and ecological balance.
Featured Image
Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash
Why is it important?
Understanding how stress impacts conditions like cancer, diabetes, and cognitive health is crucial because it helps us grasp the role of environmental factors in these diseases. By recognizing this connection, we can develop better strategies to protect public health and maintain ecological balance. Additionally, understanding the link between stress and these conditions can guide interventions and treatments, potentially improving outcomes for individuals affected by these diseases.
Perspectives
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: A perspective on the role of physiological stresses in cancer, diabetes and cognitive disease as environmental diseases, Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences, November 2023, Frontiers,
DOI: 10.3389/fmolb.2023.1274221.
You can read the full text:
Contributors
The following have contributed to this page