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.

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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

Here are my perspectives: Preventive Healthcare: Recognizing the impact of environmental stressors on health allows us to take proactive measures to prevent the onset or progression of diseases. By addressing stressors in the environment, such as pollution or exposure to toxins, we can reduce the burden of diseases like cancer, diabetes, and cognitive decline. Health Equity: Environmental stressors often disproportionately affect vulnerable communities, such as low-income or minority populations. Understanding the link between stress and disease helps us address health disparities and promote equity by advocating for policies and interventions that mitigate environmental risks and improve access to healthcare resources. Economic Implications: Environmental diseases impose significant economic burdens on individuals, healthcare systems, and society as a whole. By understanding how physiological stress contributes to these diseases, we can identify cost-effective interventions and allocate resources more efficiently, ultimately reducing healthcare costs and improving productivity. Resilience and Adaptation: Climate change and other environmental challenges are expected to exacerbate stressors on human health in the coming years. Understanding the relationship between physiological stress and environmental diseases can inform adaptation strategies and resilience-building efforts, helping communities better cope with changing environmental conditions and minimize health impacts. Interdisciplinary Collaboration: Addressing the complex interplay between physiological stress and environmental diseases requires collaboration across various disciplines, including medicine, environmental science, public health, and policy. By fostering interdisciplinary research and collaboration, we can develop holistic approaches to address environmental health challenges and promote overall well-being. These perspectives highlight the multifaceted importance of understanding the link between physiological stress and environmental diseases, encompassing aspects of health, equity, economics, resilience, and collaboration.

Dr. HDR. Frederic ANDRES, IEEE Senior Member, IEEE CertifAIEd Authorized Lead Assessor (Affective Computing)
National Institute of Informatics

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.
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