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Related Concept Videos

Types of Toxins01:36

Types of Toxins

Humans continually engage with an environment rich in potentially harmful chemicals. These are introduced to our bodies through inhalation, ingestion, or skin contact. These chemicals exist in various forms, such as air and environmental pollutants, agricultural chemicals, organic solvents, and heavy metals.
Air pollutants, primarily gases, pose significant threats to respiratory health, leading to conditions like hypoxia, lung cancer, and in extreme cases, death.
Environmental pollutants like...
Investigation of Disease Outbreaks01:23

Investigation of Disease Outbreaks

Multistate foodborne outbreaks pose significant public health risks and require meticulous investigation to identify sources and implement control measures. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) utilizes a dynamic seven-step process for these investigations, integrating data from laboratories, interviews, and environmental assessments to protect public health.Outbreak Detection: The detection of multistate outbreaks typically begins with PulseNet, the CDC's national laboratory...
Infection01:20

Infection

When a pathogen enters the body and reproduces, it can cause an infection, damage body cells, and cause illness symptoms that eventually lead to disease. Therefore, its prevention requires breaking the chain of infection.
The chain begins with pathogens: bacteria, viruses, fungi, prions, or parasites such as protozoa helminths. These can be present on the skin as transient or resident flora, or they can be acquired from the environment. Identifying and treating the type of infection and...
Reservoir of Infection01:30

Reservoir of Infection

Infectious diseases arise from intricate interactions between pathogens and their reservoirs. A reservoir of infection refers to the natural habitat where a pathogen lives, grows, and multiplies, serving as a continual source of infection. Reservoirs are broadly classified as either living or nonliving, and each plays a unique role in disease transmission, significantly influencing public health interventions and control strategies.Humans act as reservoirs for a wide array of pathogens,...
Factors Affecting Illness01:18

Factors Affecting Illness

When a person's physical, emotional, intellectual, social development or spiritual functioning is compromised, this deviation from a healthy normal state is called illness. Illness creates stress that in turn harms individuals. Irritation, anger, denial, hopelessness, and fear are behavioral and emotional changes an individual experiences in the phases of illness. A variety of factors influence a person's health and well-being.
For instance, risk factors are connected to illness, disability,...
Infectious Diseases and Their Occurrence01:28

Infectious Diseases and Their Occurrence

Infectious diseases appear in populations through various transmission patterns, influenced by pathogen characteristics, population immunity, environmental conditions, and social behavior. Understanding these patterns is essential for effective public health surveillance and intervention. These categories—sporadic, outbreak, epidemic, pandemic, and endemic—help frame the nature and scope of disease events.Sporadic diseases occur irregularly and infrequently, without a predictable temporal or...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 25, 2026

A High-throughput Platform for the Screening of Salmonella spp./Shigella spp.
06:55

A High-throughput Platform for the Screening of Salmonella spp./Shigella spp.

Published on: November 7, 2018

What's out there making us sick?

Stephen J Genuis1

  • 1Faculty of Medicine, University of Alberta, 2935-66 Street, Edmonton, AB, Canada T6K 4C1. sgenuis@ualberta.ca

Journal of Environmental and Public Health
|January 21, 2012
PubMed
Summary

Nutritional deficiencies and toxicant exposures are key causes of chronic disease, yet conventional medicine often overlooks them. Emerging science highlights their importance, urging a reevaluation of disease origins and clinical strategies.

Area of Science:

  • Integrative medicine
  • Environmental health sciences
  • Epigenetics

Background:

  • Conventional medicine often prioritizes genetic factors in disease etiology.
  • Nutritional deficiency and toxicant exposure are historically recognized but often underemphasized causes of illness.
  • Contemporary understanding of disease is increasingly informed by molecular medicine and epigenetics.

Observation:

  • Historical evidence consistently identifies nutritional deficiency and toxicant exposure as primary disease determinants.
  • Current medical paradigms may neglect the significant role of environmental factors and nutritional status.
  • Emerging scientific disciplines provide robust evidence linking deficiency and toxicity to chronic diseases.

Findings:

  • Deficiency and toxicity states are prominent etiological factors in contemporary ill-health.

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Application of I TASSER, trRosetta, UCSF Chimera, HADDOCK server, and HEX loria for De Novo and In Silico Design of Proteins
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  • Genomic factors, while important, do not solely explain the majority of chronic and degenerative illnesses.
  • A convergence of historical and modern scientific data underscores the impact of nutritional and toxicological factors.

    • Implications:

    • A paradigm shift in understanding disease origins is necessary, moving beyond a purely genetic focus.
    • Clinical strategies for disease management and health promotion require integration of nutritional and toxicological assessments.
    • Expeditious translation of new scientific knowledge into practice is crucial for public health advancement.