Articles: health.
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Historical Article
Chemical and radioactive carcinogens in cigarettes: associated health impacts and responses of the tobacco industry, U.S. Congress, and federal regulatory agencies.
²¹⁰Po and ²¹⁰Pb were discovered in tobacco in 1964. This was followed by detailed assessments of the nature of their deposition, and accompanying dose rates to the lungs of cigarette smokers. Subsequent studies revealed: (1) the sources and pathways through which they gain access to tobacco; (2) the mechanisms through which they preferentially deposit in key segments of the bronchial epithelium; and (3) the fact that the accompanying alpha radiation plays a synergistic role in combination with the chemical carcinogens, to increase the fatal cancer risk coefficient in cigarette smokers by a factor of 8 to 25. ⋯ S. Nuclear Navy. This unnecessary source of lung cancer deaths demands the utmost attention of the radiation protection and public health professions.
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Int J Behav Nutr Phy · Oct 2010
It's not just about the park, it's about integration too: why people choose to use or not use urban greenspaces.
Greenspace has the potential to be a vital resource for promoting healthy living for people in urban areas, offering both opportunities for physical activity and wellbeing. Much research has explored the objectively measurable factors within areas to the end of explaining the role of greenspace access in continuing health inequalities. This paper explores the subjective reasons why people in urban areas choose to use, or not use, local public greenspace. ⋯ We conclude that improving access to greenspace for all in urban communities will require more than providing high quality resources such as parks, footpaths, activities and lighting. Physical availability interacts with community contexts already established and a holistic understanding of access is required. A key cultural component of areas and neighbourhoods is the level of social cohesion, a factor that has the potential to reinforce existing health inequalities through shaping differentiated greenspace access between subgroups of the local population.
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Psychoneuroendocrinology · Oct 2010
Randomized Controlled TrialCortisol, reaction time test and health among offshore shift workers.
The stress hormone cortisol shows a pronounced endogenous diurnal rhythm, which is affected by the sleep/wake cycle, meals and activity. Shift work and especially night work disrupts the sleep/wake cycle and causes a desynchronization of the natural biological rhythms. Therefore, different shift schedules may have different impact on performance at work and health. ⋯ We found no increase in health complaints from swing shift or reaction time in the shift from night to day work. Recovery from night shift takes longer time.
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Burn injuries affect the quality of life of the injured as a consequence of deformities and loss of bodily function. Objective. Changes in the quality of life related to the health were described in the people who had been affected by burns. ⋯ In spite some inconsistency, the most affected quality-of-life components were the physical and emotional performance, with an overall presentation of a low quality-of-life related to health.
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Psychiatric genetics · Aug 2010
Catechol-O-methyltransferase modulation of cortisol secretion in psychiatrically at-risk and healthy adolescents.
Recent research implicates the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) ValMet polymorphism in stress sensitivity, through modulation of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) function. In healthy samples, Met homozygosity has been associated with greater HPA activity (i.e., cortisol) and stress sensitivity, though findings are mixed among clinical samples. To date, there are no reports examining baseline or longitudinal changes in HPA activity as a function of COMT genotype in youth. This study tested the hypothesis that COMT genotype would be associated with cortisol secretion in normal and at-risk adolescents; specifically, that COMT genotype would be linked in a dose-response manner such that Met homozygotes would have the highest salivary cortisol levels, followed by heterozygotes, then Val homozygotes. In addition, this study examined the relation of COMT genotype with longitudinal changes in cortisol. ⋯ Findings are discussed with respect to COMT genotype as a potential genetic indicator of psychiatric risk that modulates developmental changes in HPA activity.