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Health Disparities and the Ancestral Environment

Author : ANTHONY R. MAWSON

Publisher :

Page : 0 pages

File Size : 17,50 MB

Release : 2023-08

Category : Adaptation (Physiology)

ISBN : 9781527514669

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Book Description

This book makes the case that disparities in health outcomes affecting people of West Central African descent in the United States (African Americans) are due, in large part, to evolutionary physiological adaptations to potentially lethal infectious organisms in the ancestral environment of sub-Saharan Africa, in particular Plasmodium falciparum, coupled with exposures unique to the environment of North America. According to the proposed theory, inherited characteristics acquired over millennia from adaptations to endemic tropical organisms helped to increase survivability in the original African environment. However, in the different natural and dietary environment of North America, these adaptations render people of West Central African descent susceptible to the same chronic diseases that affect other Americans. The theory has implications for disease treatment and for overall health and longevity.



Health Disparities and the Ancestral Environment

Author : Anthony R. Mawson

Publisher : Cambridge Scholars Publishing

Page : 189 pages

File Size : 44,24 MB

Release : 2023-08-18

Category : Social Science

ISBN : 1527514927

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Book Description

This book makes the case that disparities in health outcomes affecting people of West Central African descent in the United States (African Americans) are due, in large part, to evolutionary physiological adaptations to potentially lethal infectious organisms in the ancestral environment of sub-Saharan Africa, in particular Plasmodium falciparum, coupled with exposures unique to the environment of North America. According to the proposed theory, inherited characteristics acquired over millennia from adaptations to endemic tropical organisms helped to increase survivability in the original African environment. However, in the different natural and dietary environment of North America, these adaptations render people of West Central African descent susceptible to the same chronic diseases that affect other Americans. The theory has implications for disease treatment and for overall health and longevity.



A Nationwide Framework for Surveillance of Cardiovascular and Chronic Lung Diseases

Author : Institute of Medicine

Publisher : National Academies Press

Page : 200 pages

File Size : 10,27 MB

Release : 2011-08-26

Category : Medical

ISBN : 0309212197

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Book Description

Chronic diseases are common and costly, yet they are also among the most preventable health problems. Comprehensive and accurate disease surveillance systems are needed to implement successful efforts which will reduce the burden of chronic diseases on the U.S. population. A number of sources of surveillance data-including population surveys, cohort studies, disease registries, administrative health data, and vital statistics-contribute critical information about chronic disease. But no central surveillance system provides the information needed to analyze how chronic disease impacts the U.S. population, to identify public health priorities, or to track the progress of preventive efforts. A Nationwide Framework for Surveillance of Cardiovascular and Chronic Lung Diseases outlines a conceptual framework for building a national chronic disease surveillance system focused primarily on cardiovascular and chronic lung diseases. This system should be capable of providing data on disparities in incidence and prevalence of the diseases by race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and geographic region, along with data on disease risk factors, clinical care delivery, and functional health outcomes. This coordinated surveillance system is needed to integrate and expand existing information across the multiple levels of decision making in order to generate actionable, timely knowledge for a range of stakeholders at the local, state or regional, and national levels. The recommendations presented in A Nationwide Framework for Surveillance of Cardiovascular and Chronic Lung Diseases focus on data collection, resource allocation, monitoring activities, and implementation. The report also recommends that systems evolve along with new knowledge about emerging risk factors, advancing technologies, and new understanding of the basis for disease. This report will inform decision-making among federal health agencies, especially the Department of Health and Human Services; public health and clinical practitioners; non-governmental organizations; and policy makers, among others.



Oxford Textbook of Nature and Public Health

Author : Matilda van den Bosch

Publisher : Oxford University Press

Page : 361 pages

File Size : 25,29 MB

Release : 2018-01-05

Category : Medical

ISBN : 019103875X

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Book Description

Human beings have always been affected by their surroundings. There are various health benefits linked to being able to access to nature; including increased physical activity, stress recovery, and the stimulation of child cognitive development. The Oxford Textbook of Nature and Public Health provides a broad and inclusive picture of the relationship between our own health and the natural environment. All aspects of this unique relationship are covered, ranging from disease prevention through physical activity in green spaces to innovative ecosystem services, such as climate change adaptation by urban trees. Potential hazardous consequences are also discussed including natural disasters, vector-borne pathogens, and allergies. This book analyses the complexity of our human interaction with nature and includes sections for example epigenetics, stress physiology, and impact assessments. These topics are all interconnected and fundamental for reaching a full understanding of the role of nature in public health and wellbeing. Much of the recent literature on environmental health has primarily described potential threats from our natural surroundings. The Oxford Textbook of Nature and Public Health instead focuses on how nature can positively impact our health and wellbeing, and how much we risk losing by destroying it. The all-inclusive approach provides a comprehensive and complete coverage of the role of nature in public health, making this textbook invaluable reading for health professionals, students, and researchers within public health, environmental health, and complementary medicine.



Critical Perspectives on Racial and Ethnic Differences in Health in Late Life

Author : National Research Council

Publisher : National Academies Press

Page : 753 pages

File Size : 38,29 MB

Release : 2004-10-16

Category : Social Science

ISBN : 0309092116

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Book Description

In their later years, Americans of different racial and ethnic backgrounds are not in equally good-or equally poor-health. There is wide variation, but on average older Whites are healthier than older Blacks and tend to outlive them. But Whites tend to be in poorer health than Hispanics and Asian Americans. This volume documents the differentials and considers possible explanations. Selection processes play a role: selective migration, for instance, or selective survival to advanced ages. Health differentials originate early in life, possibly even before birth, and are affected by events and experiences throughout the life course. Differences in socioeconomic status, risk behavior, social relations, and health care all play a role. Separate chapters consider the contribution of such factors and the biopsychosocial mechanisms that link them to health. This volume provides the empirical evidence for the research agenda provided in the separate report of the Panel on Race, Ethnicity, and Health in Later Life.



Race, Ethnicity, and Language Data

Author : Institute of Medicine

Publisher : National Academies Press

Page : 286 pages

File Size : 22,85 MB

Release : 2009-12-30

Category : Medical

ISBN : 0309140129

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Book Description

The goal of eliminating disparities in health care in the United States remains elusive. Even as quality improves on specific measures, disparities often persist. Addressing these disparities must begin with the fundamental step of bringing the nature of the disparities and the groups at risk for those disparities to light by collecting health care quality information stratified by race, ethnicity and language data. Then attention can be focused on where interventions might be best applied, and on planning and evaluating those efforts to inform the development of policy and the application of resources. A lack of standardization of categories for race, ethnicity, and language data has been suggested as one obstacle to achieving more widespread collection and utilization of these data. Race, Ethnicity, and Language Data identifies current models for collecting and coding race, ethnicity, and language data; reviews challenges involved in obtaining these data, and makes recommendations for a nationally standardized approach for use in health care quality improvement.



The Social Life of DNA

Author : Alondra Nelson

Publisher : Beacon Press

Page : 218 pages

File Size : 15,20 MB

Release : 2016

Category : History

ISBN : 0807033014

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Book Description

The unexpected story of how genetic testing is affecting race in America We know DNA is a master key that unlocks medical and forensic secrets, but its genealogical life is both revelatory and endlessly fascinating. Tracing genealogy is now the second-most popular hobby amongst Americans, as well as the second-most visited online category. This billion-dollar industry has spawned popular television shows, websites, and Internet communities, and a booming heritage tourism circuit. The tsunami of interest in genetic ancestry tracing from the African American community has been especially overwhelming. In The Social Life of DNA, Alondra Nelson takes us on an unprecedented journey into how the double helix has wound its way into the heart of the most urgent contemporary social issues around race. For over a decade, Nelson has deeply studied this phenomenon. Artfully weaving together keenly observed interactions with root-seekers alongside illuminating historical details and revealing personal narrative, she shows that genetic genealogy is a new tool for addressing old and enduring issues. In The Social Life of DNA, she explains how these cutting-edge DNA-based techniques are being used in myriad ways, including grappling with the unfinished business of slavery: to foster reconciliation, to establish ties with African ancestral homelands, to rethink and sometimes alter citizenship, and to make legal claims for slavery reparations specifically based on ancestry. Nelson incisively shows that DNA is a portal to the past that yields insight for the present and future, shining a light on social traumas and historical injustices that still resonate today. Science can be a crucial ally to activism to spur social change and transform twenty-first-century racial politics. But Nelson warns her readers to be discerning: for the social repair we seek can't be found in even the most sophisticated science. Engrossing and highly original, The Social Life of DNA is a must-read for anyone interested in race, science, history and how our reckoning with the past may help us to chart a more just course for tomorrow.



Health Issues in the Black Community

Author : Ronald L. Braithwaite

Publisher : John Wiley & Sons

Page : 943 pages

File Size : 41,20 MB

Release : 2009-10-22

Category : Medical

ISBN : 0470552662

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Book Description

Health Issues in the Black Community THIRD EDITION "The outstanding editors and authors of Health Issues in the Black Community have placed in clear perspective the challenges and opportunities we face in working to achieve the goal of health equity in America." David Satcher, MD, PhD, 16th Surgeon General of the United States and director, Satcher Health Leadership Institute at Morehouse School of Medicine "Eliminating health disparities must be a central goal of any forward thinking national health policy. Health Issues in the Black Community makes a valuable contribution to a much-needed dialogue by focusing on the challenges of the black community." Marc Morial, Esq., president, National Urban League "Health Issues in the Black Community illuminates comprehensively the range of health conditions specifically affecting African Americans, and the health disparities both within the black community and between racial and ethnic groups. Each chapter, whether addressing the health of African Americans by age, gender, type of disease, condition or behavior, is well-detailed and tells an important story. Together, they offer practitioners, consumers, scholars, and policymakers a crucial roadmap to address and change the social determinants of health, reduce disparities, and create more equal treatment for all Americans." Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, MD, MBA, president, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation "I recommend Health Issues in the Black Community as a must-read for anyone concerned about the future of the African American community. Health disparities continues to be one of the major issues confronting the black community. This book will help to highlight the issues and keep attention focused on the work to be done." Elsie Scott, PhD, president of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation "This book is the definitive examination of health issues in black America issues sadly overlooked and downplayed in our culture and society. I congratulate Drs. Braithwaite, Taylor, and Treadwell for their monumental book." Cornel West, PhD, professor, Princeton University





Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health and Health Care

Author : Elene V. Metrosa

Publisher : Nova Publishers

Page : 248 pages

File Size : 12,40 MB

Release : 2006

Category : Health & Fitness

ISBN : 9781600212680

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Book Description

It is generally conceded that there are significant disparities in health and health care based on a person's racial and ethnic background. Infant mortality rates for black babies remain nearly two-and-one-half times higher than for whites. The life expectancy for black men and women remains at nearly one decade fewer years of life compared with their white counterparts. Rates of death attributable to heart disease, stroke, prostate and breast cancer remain much higher in black populations. Diabetes disease rates are more than 30 percent higher among Native Americans and Hispanics than among whites. Minorities remain grossly under-represented in the health professions workforce relative to their proportions in the population. In addition, despite a large and growing body of scientific evidence, many patients and providers remain unaware that racial and ethnic health care disparities are a problem and perceptions about health care inequalities vary between minorities and whites. closing the disparity gap. This book presents new research focusing on these disparities.