Epigenetics and the Biocitizen

2018 ◽  
pp. 70-92
Author(s):  
Kelly E. Happe
Keyword(s):  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Health Sciences ◽  
The Body ◽  
Social Environments

Epigenetics, it is claimed, has opened the door to considering the ways that human bodies undergo environmentally-induced change and more radical still, how those changes can be inherited. Researchers are especially interested in whether epigenetics can explain how physical and social environments influence health outcomes, including those understood to be racially based. The turn to epigenetics as a more compelling, actionable type of evidence of racism over and against what is produced by other health sciences rests on a number of assumptions about the body—including its temporality and embodied becoming—thereby necessitating an elaboration of what we mean by the “bio” of biocitizenship. This chapter argues that epigenetics’ method for constituting evidence and translating it into action enacts a biologistic and deterministic racialism, one animated by a materialism more likely to sabotage than enable biocitizenship and its claims for redress.

scholarly journals A Systematic Review and Appraisal of Epidemiological Studies on Household Fuel Use and Its Health Effects Using Demographic and Health Surveys

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 1411
Author(s):  
Daniel B. Odo ◽  
Ian A. Yang ◽  
Luke D. Knibbs
Keyword(s):  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Exposure Assessment ◽  
Health Effects ◽  
Low Birthweight ◽  
Respiratory Infections ◽  
Epidemiological Studies ◽  
The Body ◽  
Demographic And Health Surveys ◽  
Fuel Use ◽  
Cooking Fuel

The domestic combustion of polluting fuels is associated with an estimated 3 million premature deaths each year and contributes to climate change. In many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), valid and representative estimates of people exposed to household air pollution (HAP) are scarce. The Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) is an important and consistent source of data on household fuel use for cooking and has facilitated studies of health effects. However, the body of research based on DHS data has not been systematically identified, nor its strengths and limitations critically assessed as a whole. We aimed to systematically review epidemiological studies using DHS data that considered cooking fuel type as the main exposure, including the assessment of the extent and key drivers of bias. Following PRISMA guidelines, we searched PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus and the DHS publication portal. We assessed the quality and risk of bias (RoB) of studies using a novel tool. Of 2748 records remaining after removing duplicates, 63 were read in full. A total of 45 out of 63 studies were included in our review, spanning 11 different health outcomes and representing 50 unique analyses. In total, 41 of 45 (91%) studies analysed health outcomes in children <5 years of age, including respiratory infections (n = 17), death (all-cause) (n = 14), low birthweight (n = 5), stunting and anaemia (n = 5). Inconsistencies were observed between studies in how cooking fuels were classified into relatively high- and low-polluting. Overall, 36/50 (80%) studies reported statistically significant adverse associations between polluting fuels and health outcomes. In total, 18/50 (36%) of the analyses were scored as having moderate RoB, while 16/50 (32%) analyses were scored as having serious or critical RoB. Although HAP exposure assessment is not the main focus of the DHS, it is the main, often only, source of information in many LMICs. An appreciable proportion of studies using it to analyse the association between cooking fuel use and health have potential for high RoB, mostly related to confounder control, exposure assessment and misclassification, and outcome ascertainment. Based on our findings, we provide some suggestions for ways in which revising the information collected by the DHS could make it even more amenable to studies of household fuel use and health, and reduce the RoB, without being onerous to collect and analyse.

scholarly journals Visual body size adaptation and estimation of tactile distance

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Regine Zopf ◽  
Veronika Kosourikhina ◽  
Kevin R. Brooks ◽  
Vince Polito ◽  
Ian Stephen
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Adaptation Effect ◽  
The Body ◽  
Size Perception ◽  
Visual Adaptation ◽  
Social Environments ◽  
Body Images ◽  
Tactile Stimuli ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Adaptation Effects

Estimating the size of bodies is crucial for interactions with physical and social environments. Body size perception is malleable and can be altered using visual adaptation paradigms. However, it is unclear whether such visual adaptation effects also transfer to other modalities and influence, for example, the perception of tactile distances. In this study we employed a visual adaptation paradigm. Participants were exposed to images of expanded or contracted versions of self- or other-identity bodies. Before and after this adaptation they were asked to manipulate the width of body images to appear as “normal” as possible. We replicated an effect of visual adaptation, such that the body size selected as most “normal” was larger after exposure to expanded and thinner after exposure to contracted adaptation stimuli. In contrast, we did not find evidence that this adaptation effect transfers to distance estimates for paired tactile stimuli delivered to the abdomen. A Bayesian analysis showed that our data provide moderate evidence that there is no effect of visual body size adaptation on the estimation of spatial parameters in a tactile task. This suggests that visual body size adaptation effects do not transfer to somatosensory body size representations.

Body

2019 ◽  
pp. 23-52
Author(s):  
Nigel Nicholson ◽  
Nathan R. Selden
Keyword(s):  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Human Body ◽  
The Body ◽  
Full Potential ◽  
Healthcare Organizations ◽  
Ancient Greek ◽  
Positive Health ◽  
Patient Health ◽  
Positive Health Outcomes

Chapter 1 explores different conceptions of the human body and their effect on medical care and patient health. Ancient Greek texts offer opposed conceptions of the body, with athletic sources presenting the body as immune to injury and always operating at its full potential and the Hippocratic texts presenting it as weak and highly vulnerable. Similarly divergent narratives also affect modern evaluations of the body by both patients and physicians, interfering with positive health outcomes. Physicians must recognize the operation of these narratives, challenge them with data, and promote a more realistic vision of health and success for patients and healthcare organizations.

Environment and ageing biology

2017 ◽  
pp. 317-322
Author(s):  
Arun S. Karlamangla ◽  
Teresa E. Seeman
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Functional Status ◽  
Life Events ◽  
Allostatic Load ◽  
The Body ◽  
Major Life Events ◽  
Major Life ◽  
The Life Course ◽  
The Impact

Psychosocial factors over the life course and major life events are associated with the health, functional status, and survival of older adults. This chapter discusses the biological mechanisms through which these influences are thought to operate, and how life stresses might accelerate the usual ageing of biological systems. It starts with a brief description of psychosocial determinants of health and functioning before elaborating on the allostatic mechanisms by which the body adapts its internal physiological milieu in response to perceived stressors. The price paid for frequent and recurring adaptation is eventual dysregulation of the mediators of allostasis, or allostatic load. We close with a brief discussion of allostatic load links to health outcomes in older adults and potential interventions that might ameliorate the impact of psychosocial adversities on health.

scholarly journals O4C.6 ‘Healthy on the outside, sick on the inside’ -forestry workers, embodiment and biosociality

2019 ◽  
Vol 76 (Suppl 1) ◽  
pp. A37.2-A37
Author(s):  
Kirsten Lovelock
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
The Body ◽  
Protective Equipment ◽  
Market Prices ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Forestry Workers ◽  
Specific Factors ◽  
Social Entities

Health outcomes for workers in forestry are shaped by a complex range of exposures, including exposures related to the work environment generated by the industry itself and within a natural environment. We understand how the worker experiences these exposures is shaped by a range of contextual factors including external factors such as market prices and legislation; employer specific factors (e.g. pace of work, provision of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)); to task specific factors (e.g. repetition, worker control). And, health outcomes from these exposures can range from immediate to delayed, and in duration from acute to chronic. This paper draws on a qualitative research project conducted with forestry workers, their contractors and the CEOs of corporate forests in New Zealand and argues that we need to know more if we are to intervene effectively. Face to face interviews and focus groups were conducted with 100 participants at multiple sites throughout New Zealand (Northland, Gisborne, Central North Island, Hawkes Bay, Wanganui and Otago). This paper focuses specifically on the experiential aspects of being a forestry worker and contractor and how the concept of embodiment and bio-sociality is a useful means by which to understand how bodies are produced and reproduced through labour, how labour converts bodies into social entities and that the body is not exclusively in either the biological or social world, rather bodies are made, have social value and the sociality of bodies shapes altered biologies. These concepts allow us to understand why it is that workers self-describe and are described as being ‘healthy on the outside, sick on the inside’ or ‘fit on the outside, sick on the inside’ and to unpack how social groups form around biological identities marked by ill health or illness susceptibility.

scholarly journals Future perspectives in addressing the global issue of vitamin D deficiency

2020 ◽  
Vol 79 (2) ◽  
pp. 246-251 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. M. Mendes ◽  
K. Charlton ◽  
S. Thakur ◽  
H. Ribeiro ◽  
S. A. Lanham-New
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Vitamin D ◽  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Vitamin D Deficiency ◽  
Public Health Problem ◽  
Population Level ◽  
The Body ◽  
Global Public Health ◽  
Global Issue ◽  
Wide Range

Vitamin D is a fundamentally critical nutrient that the human body requires to function properly. It plays an important role in musculoskeletal health due to its involvement in the regulation of calcium and phosphorus. Having a low level of vitamin D in the body may be detrimental for a wide range of health outcomes, including risk of osteoporotic and stress fractures, risk of CVD and some cancers, and lowering of the capability of the immune system. Vitamin D is an unusual nutrient; it is not a vitamin, in the true sense of the word but a pro-hormone. The main source of vitamin D is UV exposure, not dietary intake. Interestingly, there are two forms of vitamin D, vitamin D2 and vitamin D3, both of which are metabolised into 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) in the liver, the biomarker of vitamin D status. Vitamin D deficiency is a global public health problem, especially amongst older people and ethnic minority groups. The newest publication from the UK Government's Public Health England Department recommends that vitamin D intake should be 10 μg daily and this recommendation compares well (albeit lower) with other guidelines such as the Institute of Medicine recommendation of 15 μg for those aged 1–70 years and 20 μg for those 70 years or over. Few countries, however, have a specific vitamin D policy to prevent deficiency in populations. Finland leads the way, demonstrating impressive results in reducing population-level vitamin D deficiency through mandatory food fortification programmes. Collaboration between academia, government and industry, including countries from varying latitudes, is essential to identify long-term solutions to the global issue of vitamin D deficiency. This paper provides a narrative review of the evidence related to the role of vitamin D deficiency in health outcomes, outlines controversies regarding setting levels of adequacy, identifies the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency across the globe, and identifies population-level strategies adopted by countries to prevent vitamin D deficiency.

scholarly journals Anthocyanins and Their C6-C3-C6 Metabolites in Humans and Animals

Molecules ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (22) ◽  
pp. 4024 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wilhelmina Kalt
Keyword(s):  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Chemical Properties ◽  
Molecular Size ◽  
The Body ◽  
Phase 2

Research on the bioavailability of anthocyanins has focused, historically, on the non-flavonoid (C6-Cn) products that arise from anthocyanins in vivo. However, this review focuses on the products of anthocyanins that still possess the flavonoid structure (C6-C3-C6). Described herein are aspects of the in vivo pool of C6-C3-C6 anthocyanin-derived intermediates. Properties related to molecular size, shape, and polarity conveyed by six major anthocyanidin structures are discussed. The presence of a glycoside or not, and a variety of possible phase 2 conjugates, gives rise to a chemically diverse pool of C6-C3-C6 intermediates. Chemical properties influence the in vivo stability of anthocyanin-derived products, as well as their suitability as a substrate for xenobiotic conjugation and transport, and their association with the biomatrix. The flavonoid structure is associated with bioactivity and the particular properties of these C6-C3-C6 products of anthocyanins determines their deposition in the body, which may influence in vivo processes and ultimately health outcomes.

Pesquisa sobre a Intolerância, Diagnóstico e Alternativas para os Pacientes com Intolerância ao Glúten

2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erick De Oliveira Lemes ◽  
Amanda Ferreira Lucena ◽  
Kátia Merces Moreira ◽  
Larissa Soares Geremias ◽  
Nathalia Assis Alves
Keyword(s):  
Latin American ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Caribbean Literature ◽  
Health Sciences ◽  
The Body ◽  
Good Relationship ◽  
Gluten Intolerance ◽  
De Medicina ◽  
Latin American And Caribbean

A intolerância ao glúten é uma incapacidade do organismo em absorver os nutrientes do glúten, que é a principal proteína encontrada em alguns cereais. A incapacidade de absorver partes do glúten pode ser devida a um componente genético ou pode ser adquirida em qualquer fase da vida. A intolerância pode ainda se manifestar após a ingestão de alimentos que contém este elemento, ou em casos assintomáticos, em que mesmo com a ausência dos sintomas, o intestino sofre agressões pela ingestão ao glúten. O estudo teve como objetivo pesquisar sobre o diagnóstico, intolerância ao glúten e alternativas de alimentos para os pacientes. O estudo foi composto por um conjunto de publicações contidas em periódicos, livros-textos, monografias, dissertações e teses. A coleta foi realizada nas bases eletrônicas Scielo (Scientific Eletronic Library Online), Bireme (Biblioteca Regional de Medicina), BVS (Biblioteca Virtual em Saúde), Pubmed e Lilacs (Literatura Latino Americana e do Caribe em Ciências Sócias e da Saúde) e publicações como: monografias, dissertações e teses disponíveis eletronicamente, bem como livros-textos no período de 1989 a 2016. Através da realização deste estudo, foi possível perceber que o glúten está presente na maioria dos alimentos disponíveis, sendo encontrado no trigo, na cevada, no centeio, na aveia e derivados, e se faz necessário que existam companhas informativas aos portadores, especialmente, os quais buscam informações quanto a sua deficiência e formas de conviver com ela, sempre prezando pelo seu bem-estar e qualidade de vida. Palavras-chave: Intolerância. Ingestão. Glúten. AbstractThe gluten intolerance is an inability of the body to absorb nutrients, which is one of the main nutrients of some cereals. The inability to absorb the parts can be a genetic component or can be acquired at any stage of life. Intolerance may continue to manifest itself after a process of awareness, that is, in asymptomatic cases, when with the absence of bowel symptoms, in the aggression to the use. The study had a good relationship with diagnosis, gluten intolerance and food alternatives for patients. The study was composed of a set of publications contained in periodicals, textbooks, monographs, dissertations and theses. The collection was carried out in the electronic databases of Scielo, the Regional Library of Medicine, the Virtual Health Library, Pubmed and Lilacs and the publication in English of Latin American and Caribbean Literature in Social and Health Sciences. The monographs, dissertations and theses available electronically, as well as textbooks from 1989 to 2016, are not found in wheat, in barley, rye, oats and derivatives. It is necessary to have information about the patients, especially those who seek information about their disability and ways of living with them, always esteemed by their well-being and quality of life. Keywords: Intolerance. Ingestion. Gluten.

Linking Hawaiian Concepts of Health with Epigenetic Research: Implications in Developing Indigenous Scientists

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dana-Lynn T. Ko‘omoa ◽  
Alika K. Maunakea
Keyword(s):  
Health Disparities ◽  
Environmental Factors ◽  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Native Hawaiian ◽  
Health Sciences ◽  
Native Hawaiians ◽  
Epigenetic Mechanisms ◽  
Concept Of Health ◽  
Concepts Of Health ◽  
Epigenetic Research

Inherent in the traditional native Hawaiian concept of health is the understanding that environmental factors, including nutrition and social behaviors, trans-generationally impact health outcomes in individuals and communities. Epigenetic mechanisms may now explain molecular links between these environmental factors and health outcomes. This article explores the epigenetic concepts present in ancient Hawaiian wisdom of health and highlights this link as a basis for forging a pathway to modern careers in the health sciences to address diseases of health disparities among native Hawaiians and Pacific peoples.

The Assessment of Actions of the Environment and the Impact of Preventive Medicine for Public Health in Poland

2021 ◽  
pp. 809-822
Author(s):  
Anna Rosiek
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Health System ◽  
Influencing Factors ◽  
Preventive Medicine ◽  
Health Sciences ◽  
Healthcare Organization ◽  
Medical Environment ◽  
Single Feature ◽  
The Impact

This chapter describes how the actions of the medical environment is aiming to improve the health of society can and must be seen on many levels. The author refers to the organizational, ethical, legal and psychological aspects. Also covered are not only patients' education, but also the scope of functioning healthcare organization, which adapts to the needs of the changing environment e.g. requirements of the patient, the development of technology, advances in medicine. Public health problems appear as complex components of the system and cannot be dealt with by a single, simple intervention, whether perceived by the prism of a single feature or element, but must be perceived as influencing factors in the system e.g. several attributes, factors. These together may potentially be used in the future to generate better health outcomes or the functioning of the entire health system in the areas of health sciences, medicine or public health.

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