What Impact Does the Environment Have on Health Factors
Environment means our surroundings. It involves many factors such as weather conditions, air quality, plantation, population, sanitary conditions, buildings, traffic, industrial waste, etc. All these factors affect our health in some way. We depend on our environment for food and shelter. For the survival of any species, the environment plays a significant role. For example, plants need an adequate supply of water and sunlight for their growth and sustenance. Similarly, the environment influences human life in multiple ways that directly relate to the tendency to survive and grow. A healthy life is ensured primarily by consuming a nutritious diet, a salutary and active lifestyle, prevention of diseases, and protection from calamities and natural disasters.
Sometimes, it is impossible to maintain a constant supply of the attributes contributing to healthy living due to unwanted changes in the environment. How does our environment impact our health? Let’s get a few answers to this question.
Impact of Toxic Substances
Toxic substances are harmful chemicals that damage the human body. These hazardous substances can enter the human body through different routes such as inhalation, ingestion, or skin absorption. These substances can cause severe injuries and even death in some cases. These substances are present in every household products, such as cleaning or disinfecting liquids, chemicals, cosmetics, alcohol, prescription drugs, and pesticides. The smoke emissions from motor vehicles also contain injurious toxic substances that enter the body through inhalation.
Inhaling the toxins can cause acute and intense chronic effects on the body. Acute effects are the immediate effects that instantly occur upon exposure, like cough, sneezing, sore throat, etc. Chronic effects are long-term and usually result in cancer and lung disease. Like benzene, certain deadly chemicals can cause cancer that can remain dormant for years and show up in later stages.
Humans need to learn about how to create a sustainable future for themselves and the generations coming. It’s time for students to learn about renewable energy, sustainability, etc., to protect our environment. It is best to join an on-campus degree or opt for an online sustainability degree that helps learn how to improve sustainability and environmental issues. And also take responsibility to preserve natural resources and protect global ecosystems for health and wellbeing.
Impact of Poor Sanitation on Health
Polluted water creates many different problems for humans worldwide. There is a need for authorities to provide clean and healthy water to the population. Lack of sanitation leads to a 10% of worldwide disease burden, mainly due to diarrheal diseases. Poor sanitation practices lead to illnesses on an enormous scale. Usually, people drink and use water from a common source. If that source is infected or contaminated with germs and bacteria, everybody who drinks that water becomes ill. The water-borne diseases spread very rapidly and are often lethal if not treated timely. Few examples of diseases that occur due to polluted water are Cholera, Hepatitis A and E, typhoid fever, and schistosomiasis.
These infections cause dehydration, diarrhea, stomach aches, weakness, gastrointestinal problems, and kidney or bladder issues. The majority of people experience diarrhea once in a while after some time so, it is a routine problem. The city or town authorities should regulate clean water supplies to minimize the threat of getting bacterial or parasitic infections and chlorination to disinfect water. People should also take several precautions to reduce the risk of catching the disease. These measures include washing hands after using toilets and before handling food. Use safe methods for cooking and food storage, and consume clean water for drinking and washing purposes. By following these crucial tactics, one can avoid catching such infections.
Impact of Industrialization on Health
Industrialization means establishing heavy industries in a country on a large scale to promote economy and development. It has both merits and demerits. Undoubtedly, it has opened numerous doors of opportunities for people by providing them jobs and labor. Moreover, industries are like engines of a country that make money to run the country and fulfill its people’s needs.
However, there are some adverse effects of industrialization that have affected people’s health poorly. Industries have increased the air and water pollution by many folds, heavy soil contamination, worsening and collapse of life quality and life expectancy. Unlimited working hours have caused severe consequences on laborers and workers. High-stress levels and fatigue have deteriorated their health status and made them prone to many diseases and illnesses.
Keeping that industrialization and increasing population in mind, there is a shortage of healthcare professionals. The hour’s need is to create more healthcare leaders to tackle the problems well. Therefore universities are designing degrees to fill this gap. Students have the option for an Online Master’s in Healthcare Leadership Program that educates them about techniques and methods to manage preventive care, quality assurance, regulation, and population health.
Impact of Loss of Ecosystem on Health
An Ecosystem is a community where living and non-living things live together and interact to form an environment. Several nutrient cycles and energy flows connect them. Ecosystems principally rely on biodiversity. If biodiversity is damaged, ecosystems lose their stability resulting in the outbreak of infectious diseases, compromise progress and development, protection and security from natural disasters and calamities, and nutrition.
Economic systems and societies are immensely affected by changes in the ecosystem because we rely on plants, animals, and other organisms for food and shelter. The building material in the form of wood comes from trees; as deforestation occurs rapidly, we are losing trees and hardy plants. We extract and derive particular medicines from the plants, and we need fruits and vegetables to meet our nutritional requirements. The loss of trees and plants is genuinely alarming and frightening! The food security and pharmaceutical industry are in danger because of incorrigible loss of biodiversity. People will die of hunger and incurable diseases in the future if we fail to conserve and control acute changes in the environment.
Impact of Weather on Health
The weather has acute and profound effects on human health and wellness. Weather and climate change are closely related to birth rate changes, outbreaks of serious infectious diseases, high levels of pollution, sperm count, and pollen allergies. Bioclimatology is a recently developed branch of science that deals with studying the effect or impact of climate on living beings. The air we breathe can considerably modify our systems by triggering our endocrine, autonomous nervous, and vegetative mechanisms.
Weather changes that disturb and strike human health are rising temperatures, precipitation changes, air quality alteration by smoke and pollution, intense cold, disruption of the ozone layer, and rising sea levels. Some of the awful outcomes of devastating weather conditions are stroke, dehydration, respiratory, cerebrovascular diseases, cardiovascular disease, asthmatic effects, pollen allergies, premature deaths, eyesight problems, skin diseases. Besides health-related conditions, extreme weather conditions, like floods, hurricanes, intense hot temperatures can lead to drought, famine, starvation, damage to buildings and infrastructure. They also pose a threat to the wellbeing and health of people.
Conclusion
This article has covered all the aspects that show that above given environmental factors influence human health tremendously. It is the need of the time that humans should protect the environment of the globe. Humankind should satisfy its needs without compromising or damaging the planet.
