Environment and your Health

Memory loss can have devastating effects on an individual’s quality of life. But according to the results of a new Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) study, having an active social life may slow memory loss among the elderly. Researchers who conducted the study set out to test whether memory loss might be associated with social connectedness and found evidence that being socially active may increase feelings of self-worth and emotional validation that could end up helping maintain memory.

Sticking to a healthy diet and exercise plan can prevent or delay the onset of diabetes, an epidemic which affects nearly a quarter billion people worldwide and accounts for 6 percent of all global deaths. Along with diet and exercise, researchers have also found that lifestyle modifications such as drinking less alcohol are also instrumental in delaying the onset of the condition.

Diabetes (types 1 and 2) is characterized by a disordered metabolism and abnormally high blood sugar resulting from insufficient levels of insulin. As a result, diabetics typically exhibit symptoms such as excessive urine production (due to high blood glucose levels), excessive thirst and increased fluid intake (to compensate for the increased urination), blurred vision due to high blood glucose effects on the eye's optics, unexplained weight loss, and lethargy. Too much glucose, or blood sugar, in the blood can cause damage to the eyes and kidneys, and also leads to heart disease, stroke, and limb amputations over the long term.

What is in your drinking water? When you think of the possible contaminants that could be in your water, you don’t usually think of pharmaceutical drugs. But an Associated Press investigation has uncovered a disturbing concoction of pharmaceuticals in the municipal drinking water of at least 41 million Americans.

Hike up to remote areas of snow-covered Crater Lake National Park and you may be miles from civilization, but don't eat the snow because it contains industrial PCBs, the banned pesticide DDT and at least two currently used pesticides.

Go fly-fishing in Golden Lake at Mount Rainier National Park but don't eat the trout because they carry relatively high levels of toxic flame retardant.

Or try fishing Montana's spectacular Glacier National Park but make sure you don't eat them either because the DDT in them is higher than levels found in fish studies from Africa, even though the United States phased out DDT production in 1972 and Africa still uses it for mosquito control.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is asking for public comment on a list of 104 possible drinking water contaminants that may need to be regulated in the future to ensure the continued protection of drinking water. Under the Safe Drinking Water Act, EPA includes on the draft Contaminant Candidate List (CCL) currently unregulated contaminants that are known or anticipated to occur in public water systems and which may require regulation. This draft CCL, which is the third such listing, lists 93 chemical contaminants or groups and 11 microbes, and describes the process and basis for selecting these contaminants.

Lead Poisoning is still a reality for many American citizens. Children, particularly those younger than 5, are especially vulnerable. What makes lead poisoning so alarming is no symptoms present themselves, no cues, such as sight or smell detect the substance, and even dirt and dust which are omnipresent may contain lead. Additionally, once lead is ingested it may remain in one’s body for years, and in the case of bones (where it prefers to reside) may last for decades What is a parent to do? Is there anything a parent can do?

Your latest friend from India gives her child a ‘very effective’ Indian herb when they have a slight tummy ache. It has been used for centuries in her country, and has been very helpful in soothing the stressed infant. She offers you some, when you discuss your own baby’s colic. This may be the god-sent you have been waiting for! Should you take it? Read the following, and then make a decision.

Toys from imported countries have been recalled after lead exposure became a concern. However, imported countries are not the only source of lead based toys: antique or toys from the parent’s childhood, as well as collectables pose a significant risk also. While the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) issues recalls of toys that could potentially expose children to lead; only the parent is aware of home sources of toys which are also dangerous.

Children exposed to lead are at high risk for cognitive, motor, behavioral, and physical disabilities. The CDC has established a toxic dose for children at greater than 10 ug/dl. Exposure below 10 ug/dl. is still undetermined, and therefore, equally unhealthy. Although children are at greatest risk for neurological damage, all ages are adversely impacted.

Once levels rise above 10 ug/dl, it can take months, even years to rid the body of lead. This inordinate amount of time includes the children we medically intervene with to reduce toxic levels. What is especially disarming is that lead is not distributed within the body evenly; 70% of lead resides in the bone and it might be decades before bone levels decrease to normal.

When a disaster strikes a community, emergency rooms near-by go into ‘triage mode’. Triage is from the French language, and means sorting. As victims enter the emergency room they are quickly sorted, or ‘triaged’ into categories: first aid only, emergency and potential for surviving high, emergency and potential for surviving low, and dead on arrival. By triaging, emergency personnel can be utilized to the optimum level to provide care.